Chapter 2200

She had misjudged him. Jason’s restraint snapped.

He swept her off her feet, carried her to the door, slammed it shut, and pinned her against the wall—all before she could even gasp his name.

His breath brushed her ear, his voice rough with emotions he no longer tried to hide. “Are you serious?”

A flicker of fear shot through Chelsea’s chest, bravado dissolving into a tremor she couldn’t control.

Jason lowered his head. Inch by deliberate inch, he closed the distance, a slow eclipse that erased everything but the heat of his nearness.

Chelsea’s pulse thundered. She lifted a hand, meaning to push him away, but her fingers stalled halfway, suspended between dread and desire.

Time seemed to freeze—seconds stretching into something endless—before either of them dared to breathe again.

At last, the door opened.

Chelsea stepped out, her clothes neat, her dignity intact. Behind her, water roared in the bathroom as Jason showered, as though trying to scrub temptation from his skin.

Nothing had happened. Once again, he had refused to touch her.

Chelsea sank onto the couch. Heat still flared across her cheeks, her heartbeat stubbornly refusing to slow.

“What a ridiculous turn,” she muttered, pressing cool fingers to her flushed face. “I meant to tease him, and somehow I ended up being the one shaken.”

Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice Jason emerge from the bedroom, fresh clothes clinging to shoulders still damp from the shower.

He stopped a few steps away. “Are you leaving or not?” The question landed between them like a thrown gauntlet.

Chelsea blinked, pulled back to the present. She met his gaze without flinching. “No,” she said, steady and clear.

Exhaustion and helpless affection mingled in Jason’s eyes. “Why, Chelsea? Life with me is nothing but hardship. Why won’t you walk away?”

Only then did she understand the real reason behind his sudden insistence on breaking up.

“Hardship?” She laughed softly and stepped closer. “I don’t feel any. Being with you has taught me so much. I’m happy, Jason. I really am.”