Page 122 of Don't Leave Me

I felt a hand on my back. I knew it was Michael.

“Everything alright?” he asked, now at my side and looking between me and Jess.

“Yeah,” I feigned confidence.

Jess gave us a quick frown, her eyebrows furrowed.

“I just told Hana that Jack is my brother. I didn’t want to say anything but it felt wrong to keep it from you guys, especially now. I’m so sorry for not saying anything sooner,” Jess blurted out.

I felt Michael’s hand on my lower back again. He looked over at me, a little shocked, but didn’t seem angry. I don’t know how I looked, but I was terrified. The last time we spoke about Jack and his feelings for me, I was tied up and left alone in our bedroom.

“Don’t apologize, Jessica. You didn’t do anything to us, or to Hana. I’m sure it’s not easy to bring something like this up,” he said to her, then looked back to me as if looking for reassurance that he was saying the right thing.

“Yeah, it’s…it’s totally fine,” I said quietly.

Jess took my hand and smiled a little. “Thank you. It’s sometimes embarrassing to be related to him when he does things like…well, you know,” she laughed nervously, speaking to both me and Michael.

“I understand completely. Siblings are a pain in the ass,” Michael laughed, then put his arm around my waist, squeezing a little.

Jess laughed and I still felt like a deer in headlights.How is he taking this so well?

Michael suddenly was preoccupied again by another friend of his congratulating us and Jess took my hand again.

“Thank you,” I whispered to her, squeezing her hand.

“Go celebrate with your fiance,” she smiled, then gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before she went back to the kitchen, I assumed to get more champagne.

My parents congratulated us again and the faces and congratulations began to blur. I was feeling overwhelmed by all of the attention, by the two glasses of champagne I had ingested with little food, and I just wanted to go upstairs and have my fiance relieve all of my tension. This wasn’t before I grabbed my phone from where it was charging in the kitchen, next to Emily and Adam, and began to furiously text Billie: “I can’t believe you just left like that.”

“Did you see Billie and John just fucking left right after we announced it?” I angrily said their way.

“They have been arguing all night. They were bumming out the party. Don’t feel bad about it,” Emily consoled me, putting her arm around my shoulders.

“I just don’t understand,” I shook my head to myself, watching as the typing bubbles popped up, showing me that Billie was typing.

I read her response and gasped, tears filling my eyes immediately, my heart dropping at every word: “This is all ridiculous, Hana. You’re best friends with Jessica and you won’t even tell your own fiance that she’s Jack’s sister. And she’s a fucking psycho stalker TOO, which I’m sure you haven’t heard about. You just started dating Michael what – a month ago? And you guys broke up like 80 times and now you’re ENGAGED? Let me know if you’re still engaged next week – now that’s a party worth celebrating.”

Emily was of course reading over my shoulder and as soon as I finished reading, I heard her mutter to herself, “Fucking bitch. Hana, just ignore her. She’s clearly jealous of you. You have it all and she’s still living by herself in her tiny apartment,” she scoffed, but the hurt had already settled in.

Michael suddenly appeared in my teary-view and I quickly set my phone down, not wanting him to get involved in this mess.

“What’s wrong, babe?” he asked, already knowing something was wrong.

I shook my head.

“She’s upset that Billie, her supposed best friend, just fucking ditched her. What a fucking asshole!” Emily declared, her eyes wide as she looked between Michael and Adam.

Michael took my hand and led me to my office, the noisy music and chatter trailing behind us. He closed the door after he switched the light on and took my face in his hands.

“She will come around, my love. Please don’t let this ruin your night,” he whispered, his eyes looking dark and intense in the dim lighting.

He grazed his thumb along my cheek and I nodded.

“I love you,” I whispered.

“I love you, Hana,” he whispered back before he gently put his lips to mine.

Of course, that’s all it took to take my mind off of everything. We soon headed back out to the party where I snuck more champagne, danced with Emily and Jess while Michael watched, and then groggily said goodbye to our guests before Michael fucked me to sleep.

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