Love Rents A Room
Chapter 141: The Other Side

Chapter 141: The Other Side

"She has a hard time accepting help," Liam said quietly. "Growing up, we... we had to rely on help to get by. I didn’t mind it much, but Jo..." A small smile tugged his lips as he recalled the past. "...she hated it. She’s prideful, always has been. Do or die, she’d rather do it herself than owe someone."

Jeffrey nodded. He knew that part of her. Still, the way she shut him out stung. The way she trusted suffering alone more than she trusted him, hurt.

"She’ll come around," Liam added after a pause, seeing Jeffrey in deep thought. "It’s you."

Jeffrey frowned. Liam’s tone was strange, like he knew something Jeffrey didn’t. "What’s different about me?"

Liam pressed his lips together, a conflicted look passing over his face. For a moment, he seemed on the edge of saying something, but then he sighed and let it go. He wondered if Jeffrey was bragging or something. He didn’t mind, though.

"After they remove the bandages," Liam said instead with a slight chuckle, "she won’t let you see her bald head. So don’t go sulking then too..."

Jeffrey’s frown deepened, but Liam just chuckled. "You know, I still remember how shy she was the day she saw you... said she didn’t have ’good clothes.’ That was the first time I ever saw her embarrassed. We used to roll around in dust and puddles like wild dogs. But the moment she saw you, suddenly she knew shame."

Jeffrey froze. His heart skipped.

"She told you that?" he asked, carefully. She wasn’t that dirty the day he met her in the barn, was she?

Liam arched a brow. "She didn’t have to. We don’t talk about feelings and crap, but... I saw the change. I knew her all my life, and that day, she became someone else. Maybe..." He gave a half-smile. "Maybe I shouldn’t have left her alone with you that day... and our life would have been different..."

A flicker of sadness crossed Liam’s face but then he shrugged it off. He had the perfect life now. He wouldn’t change it for anything. If Joanne was meant for Jeffrey, whatever he did wouldn’t have worked.

He had the perfect wife any man could hope for. Yeah, first love hurt, but he was glad he found the woman for him.

Jeffrey blinked. "That day?" he echoed, struggling to follow. Joanne was not close with Liam when he met her as the paying guest.

Liam tilted his head. "When you came to town with your grandfather. Fifteen years ago. She didn’t shut up about that day for weeks. Even though she almost died that day, even though you had forgotten her, memories of you sustained her."

Jeffrey’s world tilted slightly. He felt it, in his gut — the first tremor of something breaking loose. "You... know who I am?" Then he leaned forward, voice breaking in panic, "Does-does she know? Joanne?"

Liam’s brows drew together, confusion flashing across his face. "Wait... you thought she didn’t?"

Jeffrey’s blood turned cold. "She knows?"

"You’re dating," Liam said flatly. "Of course she knows. She’s smart. You thought she was just playing pretend with someone named Jeffrey Daniels?"

Jeffrey sat back, pale. "She never said anything... she never even hinted."

"She never asked you about it?" Liam sounded incredulous. "Didn’t throw something at your head for keeping it from her?"

"No. She doesn’t know." Jeffrey shook his head, denial stiffening every line of his body. "She can’t."

Liam watched him for a long moment, then let out a long sigh — frustrated, sympathetic, exhausted all at once. "Man, if you think she doesn’t know, then you’re not being honest with yourself. And you sure as hell aren’t being honest with her."

Liam exhaled slowly, the weight of unspoken things pressing down on him. He’d never liked meddling in other people’s relationships, especially not Joanne’s. And definitely not when it came to the man she was with now. It wasn’t his place, not anymore.

He should’ve walked away. He wanted to walk away. But damn it, he cared. She deserved to be truly happy. And he knew, better than anyone, just how deeply she had loved Jeffrey. From the moment she met him all those years ago, that love had never once wavered. Not even when it hurt her.

He stood, but then hesitated. There was more he wanted to say, and he hated that he was the one saying it but he did it anyway.

"Why didn’t the wedding happen?" he asked, turning back. His voice was quieter now. Not angry, just sad.

Jeffrey looked up, startled. "What?"

"Four years ago. Whatever happened there... it destroyed her." Liam’s voice was low, but laced with steel. "She came back wrecked. Wouldn’t let anyone in. Threw herself into work like it was the only way to breathe. That wasn’t healing, man. That was survival."

Jeffrey didn’t respond. He couldn’t. The silence around him pressed in like a vice. Not once had he thought of it from her side. He’d wallowed in his own bitterness, his own version of loss, about the future he thought he gave up.

But what about her?

From what Liam said, Jeffrey could infer that Joanne liked him for years.Years!

She didn’t just lose a dream. She lost him — the man she had waited for, heart full of hope. He didn’t just leave; he vanished without a word, without the decency to face her, to explain, to say goodbye.

Wrecked. That’s what Liam said.

And now he knew why.

She wasn’t wrecked because of her debts. Her debts were handled. It was not about the money at all for her. She said it was complicated, but the truth was something cruel.

Her world collapsed, and she was wrecked because he abandoned her when all she did was love him. She wanted to marry him and he abandoned her. That was cruel. What he did to her was cruel.

To top it off, he almost had her killed. What a terrible man he was!

He was the one who broke her.

And that was why he never could have the guts to tell her who he was. That was why she could never know who he was.

Liam stepped closer. "You might think she’s strong enough to take anything, but she’s not invincible. Don’t be the reason she breaks again. Pull your shit together. Otherwise..." He fisted his hands. "You’ll have to answer me. Don’t think she has no one."

And with that, Liam walked away, leaving Jeffrey in the middle of the too-quiet hospital room, staring into a reality he had refused to face.

Liam was wrong. There was no way she knew who he was. Otherwise, how could she smile at him that way?

Now, he was ashamed of himself for thinking she shut him off. He was a coward who couldn’t even tell her the truth. What right did he have to blame her for having secrets?

Jeffrey composed himself and got back to Joanne’s room. He might not deserve her, but he sure as hell desired to be with her.