CHAPTER 101: THEY CHOSE YOU

Jake didn’t know how long he’d been driving after he left his parent’s house. He looked ahead of him, driving and trying to concentrate, but all he could see were fragments of everything that had just happened. Evelyn’s tears. Charles’s face. Raymond’s voice screaming You lied!

He ran a hand through his hair, the air thick and unmoving. His chest ached, his mind screamed for quiet but there was none. Just the hollow, ringing silence of a truth too heavy to carry.

He wasn’t Jake Stone. Not really. Not by blood neither by birth. And the most ridiculous thing was that he didn’t even know who he was. Not anymore.

He slowed down as he reached a familiar street, his eyes landing on the small, warm-lit apartment he’d been to a handful of times before.

Jake didn’t remember how he got to Chloe’s apartment.

He wasn’t even sure how his car had made the turns, how the lights had changed, or how the streets had passed under his tires. All he remembered was needing to breathe and somehow, the only place his heart had pulled him toward was her.

By the time he stood at the doorstep, his legs felt like lead. His head throbbed, his chest ached. Should he be here at all? Would she want to see him?

Should he let her be or should he just tell her all she needed to know? It had gotten to this so why waste time waiting and complicating things? Why leave her to continue in pain when he could stop it now by telling her everything?

Deciding that, he knocked weakly and waited even though he wasn’t sure speaking to her would be possible. Moments later, the door creaked open and he looked up in relief.

But that ounce of hope disappeared when he saw Chloe whose eyes widened when she saw him.

He looked nothing like the confident man she was used to seeing. He was still in the same clothes he’d worn to work that day and his hair was disheveled, eyes bloodshot, his expression utterly defeated.

It seemed to her like a lot had happened since he left her office declaring he’d search for the truth of what happened the night before.

"Jake?" she said softly, surprise and worry blending in her tone. "What are you doing here? You look...." she hesitated, "you look awful."

Jake swallowed hard, his voice low and uneven. "I need to see Bella....."

"I don’t think this is a good time, Jake," Chloe said, not sure if she was doing the right thing by trying to keep him away.

Jake nodded but didn’t move. "I know but please... just tell her I’m here."

Chloe hesitated. The exhaustion in his face, and the faint tremor in his voice told her more than words could. She gave a small nod. "Wait here," she murmured gently, then slipped inside.

Bella was sitting on her bed, her eyes red and puffy, her phone clutched in her hand as though she’d been staring at it for hours. She didn’t even look up when Chloe entered.

"Bella..." Chloe began carefully. "Jake’s here."

Bella’s head snapped up and she stiffened immediately. "What? I don’t want to see him."

"Bella..."

"I said I don’t want to see him, Chloe." Her voice broke slightly, though she tried to sound firm. "I can’t bring myself to face him again; I can’t. Just tell him to go and let me be."

Chloe sighed, crouching beside her. "I get it. But... you should at least hear him out. He looks terrible, Bella. Like.... like he’s been hit by something worse than guilt. I don’t think this is just about you."

Bella frowned, glancing away. "Then what? He came to make another excuse? I don’t want to hear it. Seeing him with Helena is more than enough explanation already."

Chloe hesitated before saying carefully, "Actually... about Helena, I think he was set up."

Bella’s head snapped toward her, a confused frown creasing her brows. "What? What do you mean ’set up’?"

Chloe nodded slowly. "He.. uhm came to my office. He told me earlier about the lounge, about Raymond going to meet him there as he waited for you. He said he only had one drink, then everything went blank. Next thing he remembers, he woke up with Helena in his house. He said he doesn’t even have her number, Bella. He swore he’s never had anything personal with her so having her in his house was sketchy. He’d said he’d get to the bottom of it so I think he has hence he’s looking the way he is."

Bella’s frown deepened. "That’s what he said?"

"Yes. And honestly," Chloe said softly, "you should go talk to him. Maybe he deserves a chance to explain. He looks like he needs it."

Bella hesitated, staring at the floor for a long moment. Her heart waged a silent war with her pride. She had been angry, heartbroken... but now curiosity and concern began to seep through the cracks.

Finally, she exhaled shakily. "Fine. Send him in."

Chloe gave a small smile and nodded before heading back to the door.

When she opened it again, Jake looked up, hope flickering faintly in his eyes. "She’ll see you," Chloe said quietly. "Be gentle."

Jake nodded once, his throat tight, and stepped inside.

Bella was standing in the living room now, her posture tense, her hands clasped in front of her. Their eyes met and for a moment, neither of them moved.

Then Jake did something neither of them expected.

In a blink of an eye, he crossed the room and pulled her into his arms.

Bella gasped, startled, her hands instinctively pressing against his chest. But the moment she felt the tremor in his body and the silent, aching way he held her, something in her softened and her resistance melted into quiet stillness.

He held her like a man drowning, clinging to the last piece of something real.

After a long, heavy moment, he pulled back slightly, eyes glistening. "I’m sorry," he whispered hoarsely. "I shouldn’t have done that. I just... needed a hug."

Bella blinked at him, still catching her breath. "Jake... what do you want?"

"I’m sorry, Bella. I know I hurt you but I never intended to. I wasn’t my intention. I’m not apologizing because I’m guilty of what you saw but because I’m guilty of dragging you into my messed-up family drama. One I didn’t even know existed until all these," he said, looking away.

Her frown deepened. "Your... family drama? What do you mean?"

Jake ran a trembling hand through his hair, his voice cracking slightly. "It was Raymond. He set me up, Bella. He said he needed to talk to me. I thought it was something important and when he came, I bought his story of being heartbroken. But none of it was true. He spiked my drink and brought Helena over to take advantage of me."

Bella stared at him, stunned. "What? Raymond? Why would he do that?"

Jake let out a humorless laugh. "Because I was stupid enough to believe we were close. That we actually looked out for each other. But I was wrong. While I’d looked out for him all my life, he was busy holding a grudge over some misunderstanding... or maybe not. Perhaps, he’d done all that because he only saw me as an outsider."

Her brows knitted in confusion. "Jake, what are you talking about? Why would Raymond think of you as an outsider?"

He looked up at her, pain swimming in his eyes. "Why won’t he? I’m not his brother. Not really. Turns out, I was adopted."

Bella froze. "Adopted? Oh my God."

He nodded slowly. "I was adopted and Raymond kenw. He knew all this time and didn’t say a thing. Tonight, he threw it in my face out of anger and when I confronted my parents, they confirmed it," he said and went ahead to tell her all about what he’d learned.

"Oh my God..." she whispered softly, unable to imagine the heartache he must be feeling.

Jake gave a bitter chuckle. "But the biggest twist? Raymond’s adopted too. He didn’t even know. He was just as shocked as I was. Everything we thought we were, everything I believed about family was all a lie."

Bella’s heart clenched at the way his voice trembled. He looked like he was barely holding himself together.

She stepped closer, her tone soft. "Jake... I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine how that must’ve felt. But... how are you holding up?"

He gave a quiet, humorless laugh. "I don’t know, Bell." he said quietly, looking at her with tired eyes. "Right now, all I feel is betrayal. I feel betrayed by the very people I thought loved me. And I can’t tell anymore if what they felt was real or if it was just pity."

Bella’s gaze softened. "Don’t say that."

He looked away, jaw tightening. "Why not? Maybe they just loved me because they needed someone to fill the hole their real kids left behind."

There it was, that raw, wounded bitterness that made Bella’s chest ache. She understood that pain too well.

"Jake," she said gently, her voice barely above a whisper. "Listen to me. Whether you were adopted or not doesn’t change the fact that they raised you. That they chose you. That’s what love is."

"Even if it feels like I was just a replacement?" he muttered.