Chapter 42

HARPER

N ever in my entire life have I ever worn so much makeup. My face felt like it weighed an extra ten pounds once Magda and her team were finished. I hated dressing up, wearing dresses, and makeup, and doing my hair in more than a ponytail or a bun

I stood in front of a huge oval mirror, admiring the girl looking back at me as I held up the beautiful designer dress and I didn't recognize her.

The reflection I saw was of a girl ready to take on the world. The smile she was wearing was something I had forgotten I was even capable of. Don't get me wrong; I always smiled when I was with Aster or at the bookstore, but the smile that spread across my face at this moment was so genuine and pure that I couldn't suppress it even if I tried. It was a smile that I felt deep within my soul.

Is this what true happiness feels like?

I turned to lay my dress out over the duvet when my phone started screaming promiscuous girl. The music was deafening in the quiet of the room, startling me. I smiled, knowing precisely who would be on the other end as I walked over to the nightstand, unplugged the charging cord, and answered the call. Our last conversation was a bit unusual, and I felt somewhat guilty for not having checked in with her since then.

"Hey Chica! How's it going on the other side of the world? You lucky bitch." I teased into the phone. Anticipating a bit of playful banter in return, I was taken aback by the sound of sniffles and harsh breathing that met me instead.

"Aster what's wrong?" I all but yelled into the phone. Silence filled the line. My stomach dropped when the only response I got was a deep sob followed by raged and shaky breaths as if she had been crying for some time.

I had to calm myself from the angry pits that were burning deep inside my stomach so that I could be useful to her.

If that bastard hurt her, there would be pain and fury coming his way. "Aster sweetie, what happened? Are you hurt?" I questioned trying to be as calm as my emotions could allow me. I was so heated and ready to climb through the phone to hug her. Aster was the sweetest, most caring person and for someone to hurt her and make her cry like that, he had to have done something awful.

After several minutes of sobs and whimpers, she finally cleared her throat, and in a weak and small voice she explained that Prestyn had left for a meeting, Aster decided she didn't want to be cooped up in the suite anymore, so she went out taking one of the security details that had been with her since she arrived in London. She went to some shops and some sights that were on her list to visit since she would be leaving soon, and Prestyn had been busy working most of their trip. After a few hours of roaming the beautiful streets of Paris, she stopped at a cute little diner to have some lunch still accompanied by her security, when she walked in and took a seat, she saw Prestyn there with a young and attractive woman. Naturally, she approached the two of them to introduce herself, and when she did Prestyn told the women he didn't know her. The woman spoke very fluent English not containing even the slightest bit of an accent. She left embarrassed and confused.

When she returned to her suite, which she shared with Prestyne, a hotel staff member informed her that she had received a message from him. The message was that he wouldn't be back at the hotel for the night, he had made other arrangements. She called him several times until he answered.

He admitted that he had brought several women to London and had separate suites at various hotels to accompany them. He confessed to not actually working, instead, he was dividing his time between her and the other women.

Something she should have expected from an egotistical, rich asshole . I didn't get a good feeling about him when I first saw him either, Aster was head over heels.

"Harper, I want to come home, I can't get a ticket. I've maxed out my credit card shopping, and I don't want to call my parents, just imagine that conversation," she whimpered into the phone.

She was right, her parents would never let her live this down if she had to call and explain what happened. They would get her home that I was certain of but not without a million questions and even more lectures on her lifestyle and choices.

"Okay Aster don't worry; I have some saved. I'll book you the earliest flight I can, and don't worry about getting home, I'll meet you at the airport to pick you up."

"Thank you, Harper." My best friend in the world said with so much relief in her voice that it broke my heart not to be there to hug her and give her some reassurance.

Once I booked the flight, I would relax and put my mind where I needed it to be, until Aster was home safely.

I would go home with her, and we would get some cheap wine and blab about everything that's happened in the past week. I would have to tell her that I finally let somebody hit this as she would say, the thought of sharing something so intimate and private made me feel dirty for some reason, if even with Aster. Maybe I'd keep that part to myself for a while.

Wow, it's only been a week. It feels like a lifetime since I first came to the penthouse.

I opened my laptop to book her flight, but it was dead. I hadn't charged it in days. Because of the beautiful man walking around this penthouse, it was easy to get a bit distracted and preoccupied. I smiled at the thought of Jasper walking around in nothing but a pair of grey sweatpants that fell low on his hips giving the slightest teasing glimmer to his tan, muscular, and very well-endowed, I might add, physique.

I opened the bedside drawer to get my charger out and plugged it into my laptop. It must have been very drained because it wasn't showing any signs of powering on. I looked at the clock and saw that it was already five fifteen and Jasper was picking me up at six. I still needed to finish readying myself for the event. The idea of needing to skip it crossed my mind, but no matter what, Aster's flight would be at least twelve hours so there was no need to miss out on my big night, and the huge opportunity that tonight would bring for my career. I didn't want to let Magda and her team's hard work go unnoticed, and honestly, I couldn't bring myself to skip it.

I couldn't wait any longer, so I ran down the hall toward Jasper's home office. I reached the door in a hurry, but I stood in front of it second guessing whether I should go in without his permission. I sort of felt like it could be an intrusion of his privacy, but I quickly pushed that thought aside when remembering how I was pressed for time.

I anticipated a locked door, but to my surprise, it wasn't. This alleviated my guilt about entering. I mean, if he didn't want me in there, wouldn't he have locked it?

I figured I could use Jasper's computer to book her a flight. I was certain there would be a guest sign-in option or similar feature to prevent snooping on his private files on the computer.

My hands trembled as I moved the mouse to bring life to the already powered-on monitor. I was shocked to find an unsecured and unlocked sign-in screen.

‘ Home office ' was the only option available. I looked around anxiously before clicking on the icon. Then I sat with my hands in my lap bouncing my foot as I waited for the next screen to load.

I hoped Jasper didn't decide to come home early and find me in his private space. I wasn't doing anything wrong, but it felt deceitful.

I navigated to the Yahoo website, ready to log in with my email credentials to find some flight promo codes I had stored in a file for a potential holiday Aster, and I had tried to plan. However, When I moved my mouse to sign out of the email account that was already logged in, I realized it was an account I recognized.

My heart plummeted to my stomach, and time seemed to freeze for a moment as the pounding of my blood echoed in my ears.

[email protected]

All the emails I'd sent to J.W. over this time were right there.