Chapter 4
Jasmine walked into the apartment she had shared with Dante for two years.
For two years, this had been her home. She looked around and it felt as if she could still picture the two of them together in this house.
It had been warm and cozy.
Now, it felt as if she may have let herself believe that.
There was nothing warm about this place anymore. It was black and cold.
It smelled more like him now. Cedar-wood and tobacco, a smell she had come to despise.
Jasmine didn’t sit down. She went straight to the bedroom and opened the drawer.
The box was there. Black velvet.
Inside were the rings she had made.
Platinum, plain band. Inside, the engraving she’d paid extra for: J+D
She had designed it on the night he’d said, “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
She looked at it for three seconds and then walked up to the kitchen bin, lifted the lid and dumped it in.
It hit the other trash with a soft, final clink.
There were no tears in her eyes and no hesitation in the actions she was about to take. She should’ve left him long ago. She shouldn’t have been so desperate for someone to love her.
Granted, she didn’t get that from her family but it still wasn’t enough reasons to blindly love someone else.
From now on, she was only going to love herself. She’d never make space in her heart for anyone else.
Jasmine walked back to the bedroom. They both shared the same walk-in closet and as she packed up her clothes. She saw some of his shirts at her side of the closet, his hoodies, some of the couple T-shirts they had bought together.
She packed only her clothes into one luggage.
Everything that reminded her that they were a couple stayed behind. The mementos stayed, she looked at them once, the first trip they’d taken together. The concert tickets. The keychain he’d never used.
She felt nothing. Not anger. Not grief. Just the absence of something that had already rotted.
She zipped the luggage and headed for the door.
Walking out, she left the key on the console table outside. This was the end.
The end of Jasmine and Dante.
The end of anyone ever making a fool out of her.
Not long after Jasmine left the hospital than Dante arrived. After confirming the room number, he hurried away just as the Nurse had more to say.
Once he got to the ward, he opened the door and was surprised to see the bed empty. He looked around. There was no sign of Jasmine. It felt as if no one had been in here.
Did the nurse give him a wrong room number?
“Mr Esteban?”
He turned to see the nurse catching up to him.
“I was about to tell you, Miss Gallo was discharged an hour ago.”
“Discharged?” His voice was sharp. “Where did she go?”
Why would she get discharged without telling him first?
Was she that angry?
“I don’t have that information, sir.”
Had she gone home?
Now he was getting upset. She couldn’t even call him to come pick her up?
He pulled out his phone and dialed her number.
“The number you have dialed is not reachable at the moment.”
Not reachable?
That was when he recalled she hadn’t replied to his text the other day.
Sliding into the message box, he discovered that the text didn’t even go through.
She blocked him?!
Now she was going too fucking far!
Can’t she just let them talk things out as usual?!
His jaw tightened. He turned and walked off, phone in hand.
Franco was waiting by the elevator. “Well? Are you two done talking already?”
“She’s gone.”
He frowned. “Gone where?”
“Out of the hospital, probably went home and she fucking blocked me!”
Franco tapped his shoulder. “I guess she’s still angry. You really have to do a lot to placate her. Buy her a lot of gifts. She’ll be over it soon though.”
Nope!
Dante felt she had gone too far this time. No matter how upset she was, how could she block him?!
He had to make her come to him on her own accord.
He had to turn this situation around and make it seem like she had reacted too much and her reaction had hurt him.
Playing the “reaction” card always worked for him. She didn’t want him getting hurt and so she’d be deeply sorry and they could finally move on from this.
Dante sat on his desk, going through some documents.
His assistant, Alex, stood with a tablet.
Mr. Esteban, about the General Manager position. HR needs a final name.”
He didn’t look up from his laptop. “Who did Jasmine recommend?”
He instantly saw this as a perfect opportunity to make Jasmine come over to the company and then they’d finally talk.
If he went over to the house, he’d seem like a pushover. So she had to come to him instead.
“Miguel Cruz,” Alex said. “Ten years in entertainment management. He grew her last project by 40%. HR’s notes say he’s the most suitable.”
Dante’s pen stopped.
Miguel. Jasmine’s pick. The man she’d called “very reliable” when she recommended him.
He should have said yes.
But to spite her, he let out. “We’ll go with Cole Diaz.”
Alex blinked. “Cole Diaz? He’s…he was fired from two agencies for mismanagement.”
“I know.” Dante signed the form. “Appoint him.”
Alex hesitated. “Mr. Esteban, Miguel is better for…”
“Did I ask your opinion?”
“No, sir.”
“Then do it.”
Alex nodded, curtly and left.
Dante leaned back on his swivel chair.
If Jasmine wanted her candidate to be appointed, she’d have to come to him and apologize for throwing such a tantrum.
He didn’t care about mixing business with personal life. He always did anything, stoop to any level to ensure things go his way.
