The Billionaire Recluse & The girl who stayed.

The truth.

~ Jasper ~

The gym usually helped.

Control.

Repetition.

Silence.

It was the one place where my mind stopped racing long enough for me to breathe.

But not today.

Today, every movement felt wrong.

Every weight heavier.

Every thought louder.

I slammed the bar back into its rack harder than necessary, running a hand through my hair as I paced the length of the room.

I couldn't focus.

Couldn't shut it off.

Lexi.

Her face.

The look in her eyes lately—confused, searching, waiting for something I refused to give her.

And Lilly.

Her words still sat heavy in my chest.

"You left her."

I exhaled sharply.

I hadn't left her.

I had done what I always did.

Kept distance.

That was how things stayed manageable.

Controlled.

Safe.

For everyone.

Still—

Something in me shifted.

Annoyingly persistent.

I needed to fix it.

Not emotionally.

Not personally.

Just—

Clarify things.

Set boundaries.

She needed to understand.

I wasn't part of that world.

Not anymore.

Charlotte might be.

Tom definitely was.

But me?

No.

I walked away.

I chose something different.

Something clean.

And Lexi needed to know that.

Because whatever she thought she saw—

Whatever she thought I was—

She was wrong.

—

I left the gym, heading straight for her office.

Empty.

Of course.

I checked the kitchen.

"Seen Lexi?" I asked.

Coraline shook her head.

"Not since earlier, sir."

I frowned slightly.

Then I remembered.

The library.

She liked it there.