CHAPTER 47
After work, Jasper didn’t drive home. At the last moment, he jerked the wheel, crossed a double yellow, and cut through traffic toward the antique shop on the corner. Nolan kept his office there—an inconspicuous place, perfect for his kind of business.
Jasper pulled up to the curb, got out, climbed the porch in two steps, and pushed the door open. A bell chimed overhead.
A young man in a white dress shirt stood behind the counter.
“Nolan here?” Jasper asked curtly. He didn’t have time to wait. He needed answers now—before Frank pulled another stunt.
The guy visibly flinched. He knew who Jasper was, but right now clearly wished he hadn’t seen him at all. That struck Jasper as strange.
“Uh… just a minute, let me warn the boss,” the guy mumbled, snapping his laptop shut.
“No need to warn anyone,” Jasper said with a dismissive wave. “I know the way.”
He headed toward the door barely visible from the entrance.
“Hey, wait!” the clerk stepped after him, but Jasper didn’t even look back.
“I have to warn Nolan. Even for you. Those are the rules,” the guy tried again, but Jasper was already in the hallway.
“To hell with the rules. I’m not in the mood today. Just leave me alone. Bring us something to drink instead,” he threw over his shoulder.
He reached the right door.Didn’t knock. Just pushed it open and froze.
He blinked several times, convinced his eyes were lying to him. Because how else could he explain what he was seeing?
Nolan stood there, pinning his daughter against the wall.
Jasper's daughter.
He had his hands on her waist. Her fingers were tangled in his hair. They were kissing—too intensely, too surely, for it to be written off as a mistake.
Jasper couldn’t believe it.
A heartbeat later, fury erupted through him like an explosion.
“What the hell is going on here?!” he roared.
Nolan jerked back. Lynn jumped away, eyes wide, hands shaking as she tugged her sweater straight.
Jasper stood in the doorway. His heart hammered in his chest. His fists clenched on their own.
Nolan looked at him, not even trying to defend himself. He only exhaled and closed his eyes for a moment.
In that split second, Jasper knew: he either broke Nolan’s nose right now, or he waited for an explanation impressive enough to make this look like a twisted joke.
Lynn pressed herself against the wall—flushed, hair mussed, her gaze darting between them.
“Dad…” she whispered hoarsely.
Her voice trembled.
Jasper stepped forward. Slowly. Like a wounded animal backed into a corner.
Nolan slid sideways, palms raised defensively.
“Jasper,” he said—too calmly for the situation. “Let me explain.”
“Explain?” Jasper’s voice was so even it frightened him. “What exactly are you going to explain, Nolan? How you’re making out with my daughter in your office?”
Lynn flinched as though he’d slapped her. Her cheeks burned, her eyes glistened with tears.
“Dad, please…” she sobbed.
But Jasper didn’t hear her. He moved closer to Nolan. Nolan tensed, understanding full well that every passing second mattered.
“Do you even realize,” Jasper asked quietly, staring straight into his eyes, “who you’re touching?”
Nolan clenched his jaw.
“I realize. Believe me, I realize exactly who she is.”
“Then why the hell—”
Lynn stepped forward, desperation in her voice.
“Stop it! We were just—” She bit her lip, the words failing her.
Jasper looked at her. At her flushed face, trembling hands, the guilty, pained look in her eyes. And for the first time in a very long time, he saw clearly: she wasn’t a little girl anymore. She was a grown woman. And whatever he did now, there was no undoing any of this.
Nolan spoke again:
“I didn’t plan this, Jasper. I swear. It just happened. And I’m…” he grimaced, as if the admission hurt, “I’m an idiot. But I wouldn’t have touched her if I didn’t know it was serious. You know me.”
Jasper exhaled through his nose, trying to steady himself. His fists still throbbed from how tightly he'd clenched them.
Then Lynn whispered one sentence that only poured gasoline onto the fire:
“Dad… I’m not a child. I get to choose who I love. I’m grown. I don’t have to follow your rules.”
Those words stabbed straight into his chest.
Love.
She didn’t say she liked him or had a crush. She said love.
Jasper shut his eyes for a second. Felt the blood slam against his temples. Why couldn’t she have chosen some kid from her university? Or a young intern from the clinic?
His breath hitched.
In the ringing silence, he understood: if he didn’t leave right now, he would do something he couldn’t take back.
He stepped back abruptly.
The blood in his veins felt like molten metal. Every muscle shook from barely contained rage. The air thickened—heavy, suffocating with fury and pain. His heartbeat thundered so loudly it drowned out everything else.
He was shaking.
His fingers had gone white. He turned, slowly, mechanically.
Two steps.
Nolan only managed to lift his gaze. He didn’t get a single word out before Jasper swung—and punched him so hard in the jaw that something cracked in his own hand.
A deep, sickening thud. Nolan flew back, grabbing his face, but he didn’t even try to defend himself.
Lynn screamed:
“Dad! Stop! Please!”
But Jasper didn’t hear her. He heard nothing but his ragged breath and the roar in his ears.
He stood over Nolan, burning from the inside out. Everything in him demanded another swing. And another. Only one thing stopped him from losing control entirely—
Lynn’s voice.
Her terrified voice.
She shook where she stood, tears gathering in her eyes. And Jasper forced himself to retreat. A single step. Heavy as stone.
He wiped the blood from his knuckles onto his jeans, breathing slow and deep, clinging to whatever self-control he had left.
“In thirty minutes, I want you home. Not a minute later. If you don’t show up—you’ll regret it.”
And he walked out of that damned office, still trying to process what had just happened.
The cold air outside slapped him across the face, but the burn inside him didn’t fade. He’d had one problem before. Now he had two.