Chapter 4

A crowd had started to gather. People were pointing fingers and whispering about Kayla. Sarah didn't hesitate. She walked right up to Jonah and slapped him across the face. "Are you out of your damn mind, Jonah?" Sarah snapped. Jonah had never been hit in his life. Stunned, he turned to glare at Kayla. "Wow. Real classy of you—dragging a pregnant woman here to make a scene? Kayla, the great designer—where's your dignity?" Sarah raised her hand again, but Kayla stopped her. "Let it go. My ride's here." Without even sparing a glance at Jonah or the drama queen Lily, who was still on the floor, Kayla grabbed Sarah's hand and turned to leave. Jonah had never been ignored like that by her before. Infuriated, he grabbed her wrist roughly. "Stop right there and apologize to Lily." When he saw that Kayla didn't respond, Jonah tightened his grip as he ordered, "I said, apologize to Lily." The pain in her wrist was nothing compared to the ache in her chest. Kayla took a deep breath and turned to look at Jonah. "Apologize? For what? I didn't say a word. I didn't do a thing. And last I checked, this hospital doesn't belong to you. You can show up here, but I can't? Professor Simpson, tell me—where's your sense of decency?" Kayla's eyes had a chilling indifference, like she was looking at a complete stranger. While looking at her, Jonah suddenly felt something chill crawl up his spine, and he loosened his grip. Kayla didn't want to argue anymore. She pulled Sarah along and walked straight to the hospital doors. Behind them, Jonah stood awkwardly as Lily tugged on his sleeve, her voice small and full of guilt. "Did I mess things up again, Jonah?" After snapping out of his thoughts, Jonah patted her hand gently. "This isn't your fault. I've just been neglecting her lately." Yeah, that had to be it. He'd just been too busy, and that made Kayla feel neglected, which started all this drama. He just needed to smooth things over, and it would all blow over. She had always been the understanding one—easy to talk to and easy to reason with. With that self-reassurance, Jonah shoved down the unease creeping into his chest and stepped into the elevator with Lily. That evening, he decided to go home. On the way, he stopped to buy Kayla's favorite—pink tulips. When he walked through the door, Kayla was on the phone. "Okay. Draft the agreement and send it over. Yeah, as soon as you can." At that, she hung up. "What agreement?" he asked, trying to keep things light and pretending like that disaster in the hospital never happened. "It's work stuff," Kayla replied flatly without even looking at Jonah before turning to leave. He caught up and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Darling, I'm home." If this had been any other day, Kayla would've turned around, cupped his face in her hands, and kissed him with a smile. But now? She didn't even want to talk to him. She forcefully shoved his arms off and walked straight into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Jonah stood there, frozen, confused. He couldn't understand it. He was home now, so why was she still giving him the cold shoulder? … Kayla hadn't been sleeping well during her hospital stay. Every time she shut her eyes, she saw Jonah repeatedly defending Lily and Sally. Later that night, Jonah came into the bedroom, fresh out of the shower, steam still clinging to his skin. He lifted the comforter and slid into bed beside her. He snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her close, resting his face in the curve of her neck. "Kayla, I know I've been neglecting you these past few months. You must've missed me, huh?" As he spoke, his hand started to wander under the covers, his lips brushing against her skin. Kayla felt nothing but disgust. She turned her face away from his, yanked his hand off her body, and shoved him away. "Don't touch me."