Chapter 43: Friendship
The drive back to the company was silent, too silent even.
Bella kept her gaze fixed on the window, watching the city blur by in streaks of glass, steel, and light. She didn’t trust herself to look at him. Not after what he had pulled. Not after he had dragged out secrets she had buried in the deepest corners of her heart.
Her fingers twisted tightly around the strap of her bag as if it were a lifeline. Every so often, she stole a glance at his reflection in the window.
Jake’s hands were steady on the wheel, his jaw set in a line of unreadable calm. To anyone else, he would have looked like a man simply driving back to work.
But Bella had seen the flicker of guilt in his eyes before they left the restaurant. It haunted her now, nearly as much as her own words haunted her.
When they pulled into the underground garage of StoneTech, Jake turned off the engine but didn’t move. The hum of silence pressed down heavier than any words could. Bella reached for the door handle, desperate to leave, but his voice stopped her.
"Bella."
She froze. He rarely called her Bella. It was always Miss Howells or Isabella in the office, and then she’d call him Mr. Stones in return. A shield of formality that she needed. Hearing her name spoken in his low, steady tone made her skin prickle and she didn’t like it, not for one bit.
"What you did was wrong," she said sharply, still not looking at him. "You tricked me, Mr Stones. You lied," she said, wanting desperately to hold on to that and use it to keep them from crossing her lines.
"I know." His reply came quickly, almost too quickly, like a man afraid she’d shut the door on his words or shut him out like she’d done five years ago.
Her eyes narrowed. Slowly, she turned to face him. "Then why? Was humiliating me your goal? I guess it was seeing how you looked so happy telling me you knew."
Jake leaned back against his seat, exhaling a heavy breath. For once, he looked stripped of his usual armor — no arrogance, no mockery, just a man wrestling with regret. "I didn’t bring you there to humiliate you. I just wanted... answers. I wanted to know you. And I went about it the wrong way. I’m sorry about that."
Bella’s lips pressed into a thin line. She wanted to laugh bitterly. The wrong way didn’t even begin to cover it. Five years ago, he had lied to her and changed the course of her life, without knowing the destruction that followed.
And today, he had manipulated her again, as though her choices, her comfort, her boundaries, were negotiable when it came to him.
"Mr. Stones—" she began, but he interrupted.
"Jake."
Her throat tightened. She hated how hearing his name on his own lips did something to her but she steeled herself.
"Fine. Jake. Do you have any idea what your lie did to me?"
He met her gaze squarely, and for the first time, she thought she saw remorse — raw and unguarded.
Were they still talking about his trick to get her to the restaurant? He wondered but then pushed the thought aside. How could he think it was something else when that was the only lie he’d told her?
"I know it hurt you. And for that, I am sorry. I won’t excuse myself. I only ask..." His voice softened. "...that you let me make it up to you. Not as your boss. Not as anything else. Just as... a friend."
Bella blinked, stunned for a moment. A friend? She almost laughed. This man, who had upended her world once and threatened to again, wanted to be her friend?
"You think it’s that simple?" she asked, her tone sharp but unsteady. "You think you can just say the word and erase everything that happened?"
"No," Jake said firmly. "I know I can’t erase the past. But I don’t want our past to stop our future. You’re working for me now and if not for anything, I’d need to be your friend. Besides, I couldn’t help you in the past because we weren’t close. Won’t you let me be someone you can at least... talk to when you need someone? If you don’t, I do. I need someone I can.... trust."
The word trust landed like a stone in her chest. She swallowed, her heart hammering. Trust was not something she could afford to give him or have him give her.
She couldn’t let that. Not when Timothy’s existence hung in the balance. If Jake ever found out about her son, everything could shatter.
And yet... refusing him outright would make him suspicious. She had seen how relentless he could be when he wanted answers. If she pushed him away too hard, he might dig deeper. And if he dug too deep, Timothy’s secret would not survive.
Perhaps, this was when keeping ones enemy closer would come in handy.
Bella drew a slow breath, steadying her racing thoughts. Keep your enemies close, she reminded herself. It had always been her strategy in business, in life. Perhaps with Jake, it had to be the same.
"Friendship?" she repeated, her tone almost mocking, though her insides trembled.
"Yes." His gaze didn’t waver. "No games. No lies. Just friendship."
Her lips twisted into a bitter smile. "You don’t even know what that word means, Jake. You control. You manipulate. You take. Friendship isn’t in your vocabulary."
He flinched, almost imperceptibly, but didn’t argue. "Then let me learn," he said quietly.
Silence stretched. Bella searched his face, looking for the smirk, the hidden trick, the arrogance that always lurked. But what she found instead was sincerity. Genuine sincerity. And that was somehow worse. Because it made her want to believe him.
But she couldn’t. She wouldn’t.
Her fingers curled tighter around her bag. "Fine," she said finally, her voice clipped. "We can be friends. But don’t mistake that for forgiveness. And don’t think for one second that it gives you the right to cross boundaries again."
Jake nodded, his expression unreadable but calmer. "Understood," he said, and Bella shook her head, an attempt to cover up her smile.
She wasn’t supposed to accept this friendship but somehow she had. She hoped she wasn’t going to regret this decision.