Lahat ng Kabanata ng Love's Redemption: Kabanata 581 - Kabanata 590

Hernan's gaze flicked to Hayden holding my hand, and he raised an eyebrow. "So, it's because of this, huh? Haddy's loyal, you know that, right?"In the middle of what felt like a showdown, Hernan was somehow calm enough to be all chatty."Haddy," he went on, "you thought breaking up with this girl and parading around with someone else would fool me? You must think I'm a total idiot."My heart skipped a beat, hard.I glanced at Hayden, hoping for a reaction, but he stayed silent.Hernan, ever the drama queen, turned to me. "Keira, I bet you don't even realize how loyal this guy is."He once had a dog, and after it died? Never got another one. Won't even look twice at a dog on the street now."A guy like that? Once he loves someone, he's not sharing his heart with anyone else."He gave a smug little smirk. "Right, Haddy?"Something tightened in my throat. I got what Hernan was implying—that Hayden's breakup with me and his engagement to Yara had all been a setup, a way to keep m

Jace was staring out the window like me, his lips pressed together. "Yeah," he muttered.It was just one word, but it was all I needed. He knew.I turned to him. "So you knew? Then why the whole act? Why bother with all this?"Jace's jaw tightened, but he didn't say anything.As the police car drove past us, Hernan gave a tiny wave in my direction.We were in our car with tinted windows, so there's no way he could've seen me... but then that wave. It was like he knew exactly where I was, exactly who was sitting here.So, this whole thing was under his control the whole time? Yet, he still let himself fall into Hayden's trap.That's when it hit me. Hernan's capture? That wasn't the end. It was just the start of whatever mess was coming next.A cold shiver ran down my spine as I remembered what he'd said. "Jace, Hernan told me there's someone else pulling the strings.""Hm?" Jace glanced at me, clearly waiting for me to explain more, but I just pressed my lips together. Hernan h

Jace turned to look at me, like he was waiting for my reaction. "You know what he regrets missing out on?"Oh, he was testing me. Trying to see if I got the whole Wayne-likes-you thing.I played it cool. "Guess only Wayne knows what he missed."Jace didn't push it. We kept walking, and when we passed a koi pond, he casually mentioned, "He's got a lot of fish in there. I heard when he calls 'Dinner time,' they all swim right up to him.""Wait, so Wayne's a fish whisperer now?" I laughed."Don't believe me? Let's test it out," Jace said, grinning as he led me to the edge of the pond. Sure enough, the water was full of koi—red, yellow, white, even some speckled ones. They looked plump and healthy, like they had their own personal chef. And they were way too cute."Go ahead, give it a try," Jace encouraged.I reached out to touch the water, but as soon as I did, the fish scattered like I was some kind of monster. "Uh, how exactly am I supposed to try this?""Just call out 'Dinner t

Lena sent another message: [Seriously, if you hadn't responded in another hour, I was going to call the cops. Do you even know what was going through my head? I was lowkey convinced Jace had done you in after... you know, having his way with you.]I had to laugh. Lena's imagination was next level. I just hit her with a thumbs-up emoji.Lena: [It's not that crazy. Stuff like that makes the news all the time, you know? Anyway, when are you coming back? Are you flying home today? Did Steve win the competition??]I glanced at her barrage of questions, then at my situation, and hit her back with the safest reply I could think of: [Not sure yet.]Lena: [???]Me: [Might stay here a bit longer. Not sure I'll be back to this place anytime soon.]I didn't want Lena to freak out, so I threw in a little white lie.Lena: [Alright, live your best life then. Let me know when you're back—I'll throw a mega welcome-back party. 🎉]Reading her message, I suddenly felt this weird, heavy feeling in

I thought about it for a second, then strolled over to the bookshelf, grabbed a random book, and flopped down into the lounge chair to read. I stayed there for what felt like forever, lost in the quiet, until Lizzy called me down for dinner."You're even prettier in person than in the paintings," Lizzy said, just as I was about to take a bite of my food. I froze, fork mid-air, totally caught off guard."Paintings? What paintings?"She smiled. "Mr. Johnston's paintings. All of them are of you. They're in the studio upstairs."Wait. What?When I went up to the terrace earlier, I'd passed the second floor, but I hadn't bothered checking any rooms. I had no idea there was even a studio up there.And the craziest part? Wayne paints? I'd never known that.We grew up together before he went abroad, and as far as I knew, art was not his thing. Did he pick up painting in the last few years? And he's been painting... me?I glanced over at Lizzy, busy in the kitchen. She had to be messing