Bye-Bye Jerk, Hello Mr. Right by Rosie Steppe

Chapter

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"You said you'd been suspicious of Wayne for a while. What about Jace? You were working with him, but when he was surrounded by crocodiles, you just... stood there. Why?" I finally asked, a question that had haunted me for ages. Even though Jace and I had ended things, that moment stuck in my head, like a bad movie scene I couldn't skip. I'd even dreamt about it.

I'd asked Jace once, but his answer didn't feel real. Hayden's answer? That's the one I needed.

"Testing him," Hayden said, cool and straight to the point.

"Testing him? He's Wayne's brother."

"He is," Hayden said, not budging. "But not entirely. There were... other reasons.

"Like what?" I pressed, trying to stay patient.

I was sitting sideways, avoiding his bandaged arm. His face was out of view, but his voice stayed steady.

"Because everything pointed too perfectly at Wayne, like it was staged," he explained.

His words pulled me back to

of

I moved into Wayne's villa. The danger seemed aimed at me, but somehow, Hayden and the rest ended up in

random. The setup wasn't about me at all-I was just bait in a trap for Hayden. That's why,

continued, "Wayne liked you. Jace knew that. But since you and Jace were done, he had no reason to stop Wayne.

for Jace: one, to 'prove' how much he loved you, risking his life and all that. And two, to clear suspicion. Who'd suspect someone fighting

victim to mess with me? That's why you didn't help him-you wanted to see how far he'd

as ever. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the doctors finish wrapping his wounds and quietly leave the

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nurses handle that," I teased, gesturing to his bandages." Pretty sure they'd

eyes locked on mine, unflinching. "I didn't want any

1 froze, blinking.

man just rizzed

smacked his arm lightly. "Be

expression softened. "Everything he did was for

me. It was about control, ambition, and power. I was

me. But the memory of that moment, when Hayden had stood

still act so indifferent, like it didn't matter if I lived or