Ashton suddenly kicked me under the table and raised his eyebrows at me, indicating for me to say something.
I looked at him and then at Jackson. After a deep breath, I decided to blurt it out.
“Jackson.” I looked at him seriously. “Why didn’t you tell me before leaving for M Country? Why didn’t you invite me to your wedding? W-why did you block me on WhatsApp?”
As I spoke, I heard my voice beginning to crack. Disappointment and confusion welled up in my heart and pushed my tears out of my eyes.
Jackson was no different from Macy to me. Therefore, I felt like a child who had been abandoned by her parents—lost, confused and just wanted to know what I had done wrong.
As he heard that, Jackson’s hand froze and he sat in silence for a few seconds before going back to picking up dishes nonchalantly. “There’s no reason. It’s useless.”
That made me both angry and even more curious. “What do you mean by ‘useless’? Are you just going to throw away our friendship like that? Even Macy would never…”
“Don’t talk about Macy!” Jackson raised his voice. He tossed his chopsticks away and stared straight at me. “Scarlett, I didn’t want to say this, but you forced me to.”
He turned away as if he didn’t want to look at me anymore. “Macy died because of you. I can’t just forget that. If it wasn’t for our past friendship and Macy’s wishes, I would never have let Summer go with you. I already gave up so much, but it looks like you just couldn’t wait to have a kid of your own instead, huh?”
It seemed like even Ashton did not expect that from Jackson. His expression darkened and warned, “You’d better watch what you’re saying.”
It felt like there was a lump stuck in my throat. I couldn’t pinpoint anything wrong or right when it came to Macy. She might not have died so young if she never got to know me, so Jackson had the right to hate me while I couldn’t say anything in my own favor.
Jackson didn’t seem to calm down at all. If anything, he got even angrier. He scoffed coldly at Ashton’s warning and looked at me again with an almost empty expression. “I only came for one reason, and that’s to take Summer back. She’s more important than life itself to Macy, and I won’t just leave her with the two of you to act like a shadow for someone else…”
“That’s enough!” Ashton slammed a fist on the table, which even shocked me. He rarely threw such a temper, and even the maids next to us held their breath in fear.
Jackson showed no signs of feeling threatened and continued glaring at me. “Scarlett, I want you to give up the custody of Summer. You can’t say no to me, not if you still love Macy.”
Jackson looked at me with those eyes as cold as shards of ice. I had never seen this side of him before. Inwardly, I was panicking like a headless chicken.
He knew me too well. He knew I wouldn’t be able to say no because of Macy. Despite that, I found it hard to believe the words he had just said. Ashton and I had never treated Summer as anyone’s shadow. Does Jackson really think that lowly of me?
Jackson treated my silence as an agreement and stood up. “I’ll come to get Summer the day after tomorrow. Please help her pack whatever she needs,” he said blandly.
After that, he turned to leave, but not before I finally stood up. “Jackson.”
