Jiya
My phone kept buzzing with messages from Geeta while I was having lunch with Harper. He had taken me to Granville Island.
“It’ll take your mind off things,” he had said to me in the car while driving there.
Beautiful views, artisan vendors, and quaint shops made it a charming spot, but sightseeing was the last thing on my mind. My thoughts stayed fixed on the hotel, on Caleb, on everything that could go wrong.
I silently prayed that Lucas wouldn’t mention Harper spending the night at the hotel. Even though nothing inappropriate had happened, I knew how easily appearances could be misunderstood—especially now.
“Miss, would you like to try some fresh lobster and smoked salmon?” a girl in her early teens asked, handing Harper and me a paper plate with free samples.
“Thank you,” I replied, taking a small bite.
“So I’ll come to pick you up at about half-past six in the evening on Friday?”
“What? Why?” I asked.
“The double date with Caleb and Tatiana,” he said, frowning. “Remember, I mentioned it.”
“Oh!”
I didn’t want to go. Why in God’s name would I want to sit across a table from Caleb and his fiancée, pretending everything was normal? The situation between us was already chaotic enough. Adding another layer to it felt like pouring fuel on a fire.
“You could have your chance to talk to him while I distract her,” he said, stopping to throw away the plate in the garbage can.
“That might actually work.”
“Do you think... never mind,” he said, shaking his head.
“What?” I asked quickly.
I wanted to know the rest of that thought.
“I don’t want you to get mad, Jiya.”
“Why would I?”
“All right,” he said slowly. “Do you think the reason this is not working out with him is that it’s not meant to be?”
“Why would you say that?” I asked, throwing my plate into the garbage can and turning to face him with my arms folded across my chest.
“Because it just doesn’t seem to come together,” he replied. “You’re trying from your end, but things keep stopping you. Isn’t that a sign?”
I lowered my gaze to the ground.
Is it a sign?
“Plus, do you want him to hate his mother days before his wedding?” he asked, placing his hands carefully on my shoulders.
I looked up at him.
“But he needs to know the truth,” I said firmly. “If not about his mother, then at least about the fact that I didn’t collude with Jeremy to get his nieces kidnapped and that I didn’t steal the money. Most importantly, I want to tell him about Emma.”
“He’s going to marry a woman he loves. He’s chosen her. He proposed to her. Do you think he will change his mind based on the information you tell him?”
His words forced me to confront a possibility I had been trying to avoid.
Hearing the reality of the situation laid out so plainly made my thoughts spiral.
I wanted to set the record straight. I wanted the truth to stand on its own.
I wanted his family to see me for who I truly was—not the villain they believed me to be.
But what would happen after that? Would his mother lie again and dismiss my evidence as false? Would Caleb walk away from his fiancée and choose me? Would the truth fix anything at all?
I had come back to tell him the truth, convinced that honesty would set everything right. Now doubt crept in, quiet but persistent, making me wonder whether I had been na?ve to believe it would be that simple.
Minutes must have passed, because I suddenly realized I was no longer hearing the sounds around me. Harper’s voice sounded distant at first, pulling me slowly back to reality.
“Jiya... Jiya?”
I lifted my head and saw him staring at me, his eyebrows drawn together.
“Sorry. I was thinking about what you said.”
“Give it a real thought,” he replied. “And if you still feel like you need to tell him or the family the truth, go for it.”
I nodded slowly.
My phone buzzed again in my hand.
I glanced down at the screen.
A picture of Caleb with my children eating funnel cake filled the display.
Back at the hotel that evening, I couldn’t stop replaying Harper’s words in my head.
Was he right?
Was I chasing something that no longer existed?
I stood near the window of my hotel room, staring out at the city lights. After everything Caleb had said to me, after the anger in his eyes and the distance in his voice, I no longer knew what to believe.
I called Elle.
“I don’t agree with him, Jiya,” she said firmly over the phone.
“Really?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t. I agree with Jack and your mother. You need to clear your name. Your truth needs to be heard. Why should everyone think that you are a thief and some kind of schemer when you’ve done nothing but try to protect and save them—not once, but twice?”
That was exactly what I had been debating in my head. I felt like I was doing the right thing, but Harper had confused me. But why?
“I think Harper is a nice guy,” Elle continued, then sighed softly. “But I’m sorry, I think he has an ulterior motive. I think he said what he did so that he can patch things up and get back with you.”
I had known Harper for a long time. I didn’t believe he was capable of such a move. If he had any feelings for me, he would have told me. He wouldn’t try to manipulate me. He wouldn’t do that to me. Not after everything I told him.
“Do you think there is a relationship left to salvage between Caleb and you?” Elle asked.
“I thought there was,” I replied, pacing slowly across the room.
“Thinking and being sure are two different things, Jiji. And right now, you need to be sure of the outcome.”
I thought long and hard about what she had said, and for the first time, I admitted something to myself—I didn’t know if Caleb wanted to be with me anymore.
If he still wanted me, he wouldn’t be getting married. If the truth could change his decision, surely he would have given me a sign... something... anything that left no room for doubt.
There had been moments, glances, conversations and silences that felt heavy. But there had also been anger, accusations, and hurt. And I no longer knew which version of Caleb was real.
Would that anger turn into love just because he learned the truth?
Yes, it would make him upset with his mother—definitely. But would it make him come back to me? Would it erase the fact that I had hidden his daughter from him?
I didn’t know.
I had tried relentlessly to talk to him, but somehow things never worked out.
After Harper said what he did, I had almost convinced myself to walk away and leave things as they were.
After all, he was a man, and hearing a man’s perspective had made it easier to justify giving up—but Elle’s words pushed me forward.
Caleb deserved to know the truth before he walked down the aisle.
And I was going to try to tell him—no matter how difficult it would be—during our double date.
On Friday, I got dressed and waited for Harper to pick me up.
My phone rang.
It was Harper.
“Hey, I’m here,” he said.
“I’ll be right down.”
The children and Geeta were at Elle’s place for a sleepover, safe and happy, which gave me the freedom to focus on what I needed to do tonight.
Taking one last look around the room, I slipped the hotel key card into my clutch and headed out the door toward the elevator.