Chapter 3: When the Past Sits at the Center Table

A year later.

Tessa shoved a few spoonfuls of yogurt into her mouth and almost choked. She was running late again, and her sleazy boss would have plenty to yell about.

Her stomach still ached with hunger, but she had no choice. She left the bowl on the table.

Smokey, the gray cat she had been taking care of for the past few months, watched her from the corner of the apartment.

“I’ll be back later, Smokey. Don’t cause trouble, okay?” she said, rubbing his ear.

The moment she stepped outside, she ran down the stairs and slammed right into the one person she least wanted to see.

Mr. Hayes. The landlord.

“Great…” Tessa quickly stepped back, glancing left and right for an escape. Too late. He had already spotted her.

“Finally caught you!” the old man barked, snapping his folded newspaper against his palm before jabbing it at her chest. “You’re two months behind on rent!”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Hayes… I’ll pay as soon as I get my paycheck.” She gave him her best pleading look, trying to slip past him.

“That’s exactly what you said last month.” He tapped the newspaper on top of her head. Not hard, but enough to sting. “You think I’ve got all day to wait around? I could rent this place out to someone who actually pays on time, you know!”

Tessa bit her lip, swallowing the heat that rose in her chest. He had the power to kick her out and she knew it. “I really will pay. I just… had some personal problems,” she said quietly.

Living alone wasn’t easy. A meager paycheck, a stomach that kept betraying her, and a house that always seemed to fall apart. Cooking was a nightmare. She had once blown the lid off a pressure cooker and left a dent in the ceiling. Ever since, the kitchen felt like enemy territory.

Most of her money went straight to medical bills, thanks to the gastritis that flared up constantly. But Tessa kept going, balancing the pain, the empty wallet, and the chores, hoping someday things might actually get better.

“Personal problems?” Mr. Hayes scoffed. “Everybody’s got problems. You’re just the only one who uses it as an excuse not to pay.” The paper smacked her head again, this time harder.

“I’ll pay you soon, sir.” She pushed past him with a tight jaw.

“Blood never lies,” he sneered. “A family of scammers breeds another scammer.” He chuckled at his own joke, the kind of cheap line he probably repeated every day.

Tessa sped up, her heart clenched but steady. She was used to this. The cruel comments never stopped. She had even dyed her blond hair black so people wouldn’t immediately recognize her. It worked, most of the time. Some just thought she looked a little like Tessa Caldwell. But there was one man she could never fool.

She reached the bar with only a minute to spare. Her breath came fast, her hands trembled. The boss always found a reason to humiliate her.

“Tess! Another marathon?” Mia nudged her while polishing glasses.

“Shhh, not so loud. I’m already out of breath.”

Mia smirked. “Relax. He already came looking for you. I told him you were in the bathroom.”

“Thank you,” Tessa whispered, swallowing the tension and forcing herself to look like she was ready for the night. Every move felt heavy but deliberate, the weight of customers’ stares pressing down harder with each second.

She pasted on a smile for the first table, her one goal repeating in her head. Don’t screw up. Not once. One slip and her boss would pounce, berating her in front of everyone.

Cleaning tables was the easiest part. The worst part was always the customers who thought they could treat her however they wanted. She would give anything for one shift without some disgusting comment. A night like that felt impossible.

By midnight the place was packed, and orders came one after another. She relied on memory, refusing to let her aching stomach break her focus.

Her insides twisted with fire. The gastritis clawed at her, but she stayed upright. Not tonight. She wouldn’t let it win.

“Work harder, Tess.” Her boss slapped her back, his hand lingering too long at her waist. A shiver ran down her spine. She nearly shoved him away. “Go serve the center table. Big group. Fancy crowd.”

Fancy? In a dive like this?

“Yes, sir,” she muttered, swallowing the disgust that rose when he licked his lips and walked off.

He knew she was stuck. A twenty-five-year-old woman with no real experience, a family name dragged through financial scandal, and nothing that looked good on paper. Even working as a cashier in a grocery store felt out of reach.

She approached the center table without looking up, and that was her first mistake.

Nathan was there.

Perfect suit, calm confidence, laughing with his well-dressed friends.

Her world shrank in an instant. The noise of the bar vanished. All she heard was the thud of her own heartbeat. Her body locked in place.

She had spent the past year trying to erase him from her mind, burying the remnants of what they once had. Yet life seemed to enjoy mocking her, dragging him back in front of her at the worst possible time.

She had seen him in gossip magazines, praised as one of the country’s most innovative CEOs, the bachelor everyone wanted. All in just a year.

And Tessa… had nothing.

Why was he here? How could he possibly end up in this bar?

“You’re not gonna say hi, sweetheart?” one of the men at the table teased. She didn’t look at him. She couldn’t take her eyes off Nathan.

She hated him. God, she hated him.

Nathan’s stare sliced right through her. Cold, detached, dripping with superiority. A faint smile played at his lips, not warm but satisfied. As if watching her sink this low was exactly what he wanted.

“Are you deaf?” The man slammed his hand on the table, drawing attention from the rest of the bar.

Tessa forced herself to exhale, her face calm. She pretended Nathan wasn’t sitting there, pretending he didn’t exist.

“Excuse me, sir,” she said evenly to the loud one. “What can I get for you?”

They rattled off orders one by one, and she scribbled them down, rushing back to the bar.

Her chest heaved, her heart hammering so fast it hurt. She pressed a hand against it, trying to breathe.

She stood at another table while waiting for the drinks, pretending not to notice Nathan’s gaze burning into her. Breathing felt impossible.

“Damn it, Tess…” she muttered under her breath as her hand shook. A glass slipped. The shattering sound snapped through the air, and several customers turned with annoyed looks.

Mia rushed over. “Oh my God, you’re bleeding!” She grabbed Tessa’s hand. Blood trickled from the cut on her finger.

Heat flushed Tessa’s face. Whispers spread from table to table. More humiliation. More money docked from her pay. Which meant rent would be even further out of reach.

Her stomach churned, nausea building. Still, she bit her lip, grabbed the tray of drinks, and walked to the center table. She set the glasses down without ever glancing at Nathan.

Suddenly a rough hand clamped around her wrist. Not Nathan. The jerk from earlier.

“You look familiar,” he said with a smirk, then laughed as realization hit. “Nath, isn’t this your ex-wife?” He pointed at her, laughing loud enough for the whole room to hear.