Jacqueline Jax Novel Abandoned Love

1
I took a bullet for my boyfriend of ten years.
He survived, unscathed, and in the heat of the moment, he promised hed do anything for me.
Everyone assumed I would seize the opportunity to demand marriage. After all, Id proposed to him multiple times before, and I was three months pregnant with his child.
But to everyones shock, I looked him in the eye and dumped him. Right there. Then I turned my back on him.
Someone told him to chase after me.
But he just scoffed, his expression dripping with disdain. "Why bother? Everyone knows Jacqueline is desperate. Shes pathetic. Shes carrying my kid; shes just playing hard to get. If I chase her now, Im just falling for her little game."
He didn't know that I had already died once.
In my past life, my proposal was successful. But Lyla, the young girl he had 'saved,' slashed her wrists and screamed for him. Blaming me for her distress, he locked me in our house like an animal. He broke my legsthe legs I used to dance with. On the day I went into labor, he strangled our newborn with his own hands, leaving me to bleed out in agony.
Heaven had mercy. I was back.
And this time, I was going to give him exactly what he wanted.

My thigh burned like it was being branded with a hot iron.
A sharp jolt of pain snapped me back to reality. The nurse was gently wrapping gauze around the wound, her voice soft. "The antiseptic is going to sting a bit, honey. Just hang in there."
Standing nearby, Jax let out a cold, mocking laugh. He was handsome, with that sharp jawline that used to make my heart race, but now his eyes were full of contempt. "Oh, now you feel pain? What happened to all that bravery earlier? If you hadn't gotten in the way, I would have caught that dealer. Youre useless, Jacqueline. You ruin everything."
I looked down at my legs, smooth and unbroken. I stayed silent.
In my last life, to avenge Lylas imaginary grievances, Jax had shattered these legs with a baseball bat. It had been so long since Id seen them whole.
The other officers in the room exchanged uncomfortable glances. They had been there during the raid. Two hulking drug traffickers, one with a loaded piece. If I hadn't thrown myself in front of Jax, that bullet would have buried itself in his heart, not grazed my leg.
Seeing that I wasn't fighting back, Jaxs mood darkened. He kicked a metal stool, sending it skittering across the linoleum floor.
"Enough with the silent treatment, Jacqueline! You stalked me to a crime scene and interfered with police work. Do you have any idea how stupid that was? And now you have the nerve to give me attitude?"
He paced, agitated. "Look, I said Id grant you a request for saving me. So? Spit it out. What do you want?"
He looked like he was seconds away from hitting me.
Time is a cruel thief. It stole the passionate, devoted boy I fell in love with and left this violent, bitter stranger in his place. He had forgotten that he once swore to protect me with his life.
No, he hadn't forgotten. He just found someone else to protect.
My gaze drifted to his hand. The silver band we bought together years ago was gone. In its place, on his ring finger, sat a cheap, hand-woven string ring with a tacky plastic puppy charm.
I knew who made that. Lyla.
The eighteen-year-old orphan Jax met six months ago. The "innocent" victim.
I let out a dry, bitter chuckle. "Anything? You'll agree to anything?"
Jax paused, his eyes flickering to the cheap ring on his hand. A shadow of guilt crossed his face, quickly replaced by annoyance. He gritted his teeth. "Yes."
A few rookie cops shuffled closer, grinning. They knew our history. Ten years is a lifetime.
"It's a life debt, boss! Might as well offer yourself in marriage," one joked.
The room erupted in laughter.
"Yeah, Jax! Jacqueline said last year she wanted to be married before thirty. Tick tock!"
"Count me in for the bachelor party!"
I was about to shut them down when the door burst open. A breathless nurse rushed in.
"Officer! Its bad. The girl you brought inshes trying to slash her wrists!"
Again.
I couldn't count how many times Lyla had pulled the suicide card. Just like in my previous life, she knew exactly how to steal the spotlight.
Jaxs face drained of color. Without a glance at me, he sprinted out the door.
I scoffed, ignored the pain in my leg, and limped after him to the second floor.
By the window, Lyla looked frail and tragic, wrapped in Jaxs oversized police jacket. Her face was pale, her large eyes swimming with tears.
When we left the scene earlier, Jax had carried her to the ambulance like she was made of glass. I remembered nowwhen the dealer aimed the gun, Lyla had stood there in silence. Only after the criminals fled did she collapse into Jaxs arms, sobbing and fainting on cue.
Seeing me in the doorway, Lylas expression shifted minutely before she ramped up the hysterics.
"I know Jacqueline took a bullet for you, Jax! You promised her anything. Youve been together ten years. She wants to marry you, so you have to say yes, right?"
She held a fruit knife to her slender wrist, pressing just hard enough to dent the skin. "But Jax... Im an orphan. Im just a stray dog nobody wants. You gave me a home. You saved me. The thought of losing you... Id rather die!"
"Put the knife down, Lyla! Please! I can explain everything," Jax pleaded, his voice trembling with a tenderness he hadn't shown me in years.
It was almost funny. Lyla had some kind of dark magic. From the moment he saved her, Jax became obsessed with "fathering" this homeless girl. He gave her a credit card. He moved her into his apartmentour future apartmentclaiming she needed warmth and safety.
Whenever she cried, he ran. When I nearly died in a car wreck last year, he screamed at me over the phone for interrupting his time comforting Lyla after a nightmare.
If youre hurt, call an ambulance. What the hell am I supposed to do? Youre so dramatic.
That was the moment my heart began to shatter.
Jax saw a helpless eighteen-year-old in Lyla. He conveniently forgot that his twenty-nine-year-old fiance had also grown up in the foster system. He forgot that he was the one who dragged me into this love story.
In my last life, jealousy and unwillingness to let go led to my destruction.
But this time? He could keep her. I was done.
Jax lunged forward and wrestled the knife from Lylas grip. He pulled her into a crushing hug, kissing the top of her head repeatedly.
"Don't ever scare me like that again! You hear me?"
Lyla buried her face in his neck, sobbing theatrically. "But youre going to marry Jacqueline... and Ill be homeless again. Why did you even save me?"
I watched from the doorway, fighting the urge to vomit. It was such a clumsy performance, yet Jax bought every second of it.
He glared at me over her shoulder, eyes filled with resentment, before looking back down at Lyla gently. "I promise you. Married or not, your place in my heart won't change."
He sighed, as if forced to reveal a burdensome truth. "I have no choice, Lyla. Jacqueline and I have been together for a decade. Everyone knows shes desperate to marry me. When my dad died, she paid for the police academy. She took care of my mom for years. Its a debt. I have to pay it back."