“I don’t know, Jimmy,” Avey began, her voice breaking as she struggled to get the words out. “I just feel like killing myself whenever I think about Lucian being hurt or worse, hating me. You know… these last few days, he’s been trying to avoid me. He’s cold, distant… Yesterday, he even ignored me completely, and that…” Her voice cracked as tears welled in her eyes. “That’s not like him. He’s never done that before, not to me.”
She paused, her breathing uneven, before continuing, “He’s always been so warm, so patient. And now… now he’s like a stranger. It’s like he’s slipping away, and I can’t”
“Enough.”
Jimmy’s voice cut through the air like a knife, stopping Avey mid-sentence. His tone was sharp and final, leaving no room for argument. He leaned forward, fixing her with a piercing glare.
“I can’t even tell you how disappointed I am in you right now,” Jimmy said, his voice cold, yet trembling with restrained anger. “Lucian hating you? Are you seriously sitting here saying that?” He let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head in disbelief.
“You think Lucian rejected you because he hates you?” Jimmy leaned back in his chair, his disappointment etched into every line of his face. “That’s what you’ve convinced yourself of?”
Avey flinched under his gaze but didn’t dare to interrupt.
“I’ll tell you what’s actually happening,” Jimmy continued, his voice rising slightly. “Lucian still loves you. He loves you more than anything in this world. That’s what makes me so damn angry! He loves you, but he knows he knows you’re not good for him. That’s why he rejected you. Not because he stopped caring, not because he lost his feelings for you, but because he finally realized you’re hurting him. That being with you is destroying him.”
Jimmy’s words were like a whip, lashing out with raw frustration. “You think he’s cold to you now? You think he’s avoiding you? That’s because he’s trying to protect himself. To keep himself from breaking even more than he already has. And you…” Jimmy pointed a finger at her, his voice trembling with emotion, “you have the nerve to sit here and act like he’s in the wrong? Like he’s the one who made the mistake?”
Avey’s body trembled, not from the volume of Jimmy’s voice but from the truth of his words. She opened her mouth to speak, but Jimmy didn’t give her the chance.
“No,” he said firmly, his tone dropping into something harsher, deadlier. “Don’t you dare talk like Lucian was wrong. The problem here isn’t him it’s you. You humiliated him, disrespected him, tortured him, all because he loved you. And now you want to sit here and talk about forgiveness and getting back together? Do you even realize how selfish that is?”
Jimmy exhaled sharply, his fists clenching at his sides. His next words came out in one breath, a flood of pent-up frustration.
“If you’re just here to say this kind of garbage, then you shouldn’t even be here at all. I don’t have the patience to listen to this. And if you keep this up, I’m going to lose it and do something I’ll regret. So let me make this clear: Lucian wasn’t wrong to reject you. He was right. You’re the one who’s wrong. So don’t sit here and try to twist this into something it isn’t.”
Jimmy stopped, his chest heaving as he finally took a moment to breathe. He leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to calm down. Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire
Around them, the quiet buzz of the restaurant had died down, replaced by curious murmurs and sidelong glances. Jimmy’s voice had been loud enough to attract attention, and now several diners were looking in their direction with a mix of amusement and curiosity.
“Just great,” Jimmy muttered under his breath, noticing the stares but too frustrated to care.
Avey sat frozen, her hands trembling in her lap. She didn’t flinch at the stares from strangers or Jimmy’s anger it was his words that shook her to her core.
He was right.
She’d spent so long convincing herself that Lucian’s rejection was something temporary, something she could fix with a few apologies and declarations of love. She’d told herself that everything would go back to the way it was if she could just get him to forgive her. But she hadn’t stopped to think about what he’d been through or how her actions had left him in pieces.
Her chest tightened, and her mind buzzed with the weight of realization. She closed her eyes, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I’m… I’m a shameless person,” she murmured, her tone empty, her eyes blank.
Sitting beside her, Cassandra frowned, concern flickering across her face. She leaned closer to Avey, placing a gentle hand on her back. “Don’t say that,” she said softly, her tone calm but firm.
Avey didn’t respond, lost in her own thoughts.
“It’s okay,”Cassandra said, patting her back soothingly. “We’ll figure something out, Avey. Don’t give up. Mistakes happen… but we’ll find a way through this.”
Cassandra words were meant to comfort, but they felt distant, muted, as Avey sat there, trembling under the weight of her guilt.
Jimmy, still taking deep breaths to calm himself, looked at her one last time. His anger was still there, but beneath it was something else: sadness. Disappointment. A deep longing for his friend to finally find peace, even if it meant cutting Avey out of his life.
And that, above all, made the moment even heavier.
suddenly
“Garry, you motherfucker,” Jimmy growled, rubbing his temples in frustration. “I’m doing so much here, the least you can do is hand me some water. Now, gimme!”
Garry, who had been sitting quietly in his chair with his arms crossed, was staring at Avey with a mixture of disappointment and pity. The sound of Jimmy’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
“Oh uh, yeah, right,” Garry muttered, clearly distracted by whatever had been running through his mind.
—-