All Chapters of One Year To Lose You: Chapter 71 - Chapter 79

JAYThis is my Maya. My eyes are not playing tricks on me.Her reaction confirmed it just as much as mine did. She looked frozen, like she had seen a ghost. Her fingers tightened around her clutch, the same habit she has always had whenever she is nervous. Some things never change.“You know my soon-to-be daughter-in-law?” Austin asked, clearly pleased.His words echoed in my head, daughter-in-law.My eyes dropped slowly to her hand, and there it was. The diamond ring, sitting perfectly on her finger, shining under the lights, Maya is engaged.“I am sure they do,” Austin’s son said quickly.He stepped forward and shook my hand; his grip was firm. He tapped my shoulder lightly and leaned closer, his voice low enough for only me to hear.“Please, play along. I don’t want my father to know the whole story.”I didn’t even know what story he was referring to.Everything in my head was already spinning.How I managed to sit down at that table, I have no idea. My body was there, but my mind

MAYA“Tell me, Maya. Is that why you told me you’re not ready? I saw the way you looked at him. You have never looked at me like that. Tell me, do you still love him?”I looked away immediately.It wasn’t that I didn’t have an answer. It was that I didn’t trust myself to say it out loud. Seeing Jay again after all these years had affected me. I had buried carefully, something I had convinced myself no longer existed. “I’m tired,” I said instead, “I can’t do this right now. Work on your insecurities. I am getting married to you, not him.”John stepped outside, running his hands through his hair in frustration. I watched him go, feeling a dull ache settle in my chest. He didn’t deserve this confusion, this version of me that kept slipping away from him at the slightest trigger. John is a good man. He has always been a good man. And I will not do to him what I did to Ray.I haven’t forgiven myself for that.I walked back into the room slowly and reached for my purse on the makeup table.

JAYShe ended the call and looked up at me. “I’ll call him later.”Nothing had changed about Maya, same eyes, and softness, the kind that made you forget everything else for a second. If time could pause, I would leave it right here, just us, no complications, no past, or future.“Come and show me the kitchen,” she said, already getting up. “I need to make food for my daughter before she wakes up.”“Yes, boss.”I led the way, watching her from the corner of my eye. The apron was hanging right where it always was. She grabbed one, and without thinking, I grabbed the other.“What are you doing?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at me.“Helping a gorgeous woman in the kitchen. Your assistant chef is here, ready to take orders.”I gave a small bow, copying the way chefs greet in restaurants. She burst out laughing, the sound filling the space in a way that made me smile as well. I have missed seeing her laugh this hard.“I just want to make something she’ll like,” she said, still smiling.“A

MAYAI looked away immediately, avoiding his eyes completely.“It doesn’t matter how I feel,” I said quietly. “I’ll be marrying John in four weeks.”The words sounded rehearsed, like I was trying to convince myself more than him. Maybe if I repeated it enough times, it would finally settle inside my chest and stop feeling wrong.If I stopped seeing Jay, stopped hearing his voice, stopped allowing myself to remember what it felt like being in his arms, I would finally focus on the life I built in Ireland.But how do you stop seeing someone you share a child with?“Okay,” he said after a pause. “If that’s what you want, good luck.”His calmness hurt more than anger would have.I wanted a reaction, a fight, something reckless and emotional. Something that sounded like, No, pumpkin, don’t do this. Stay with me. I’ll fix it.Instead, he simply carried Maya into his arms.“I’ll take her to her room.” And then he left.I sat there staring at the empty doorway, feeling stupidly disappointed.