ログインMADEA "What are you saying, Matt?" My voice came out quieter than I intended, and I hated that. I cleared my throat and tried again, steadier this time. "What do you know?" He didn't flinch. Just looked at me the way a person looks at you when they have already decided something and are simply waiting for you to catch up. "Have you been following me?" The suspicion was out of my mouth before I could weigh it. Hot and unfiltered, and I meant every word of it. The idea that he had been watching me, tracking my movements, showing up wherever I was — my skin prickled at the thought. "Answer me. Have you been following me?" "I—" He started, and then something stopped him. His jaw tightened. He looked away briefly, like he was searching for a sentence he had lost, and then he looked back at me and let out a slow breath. "Madea." His voice had dropped. "I want you. That is enough." The room didn't change. People were still moving around us, glasses still clinking somewhere behind me, t
MONALISA "Jealous?" Jason said, sliding his arm around my waist with the particular smugness of a man who knew exactly what he was doing. Aaron's expression didn't change but his eyes did. Just slightly. "Of what exactly?" "Oh don't," I said quickly, already seeing where Jason was taking it. But Jason was already warming up. "Of this," he gestured loosely between us. "Of love. Of what we have. Of the fact that some people in this room are deeply, spiritually, and romantically fulfilled and others are—" "Jason," I said. He looked at me. Relaxed. Almost entertained. "I'm just painting a picture." I stared at him for a moment. Something moved through me — not the explosive kind of anger that makes you raise your voice and say things you regret. No. This was quieter than that. Colder. The kind that starts in your stomach and rises slowly until it settles right behind your eyes. "Put the brush down." He tilted his head slightly, like he was considering whether I was
MONALISA "Jealous?" Jason said, sliding his arm around my waist with the particular smugness of a man who knew exactly what he was doing. Aaron's expression didn't change but his eyes did. Just slightly. "Of what exactly?" "Oh don't," I said quickly, already seeing where Jason was taking it. But Jason was already warming up. "Of this," he gestured loosely between us. "Of love. Of what we have. Of the fact that some people in this room are deeply, spiritually, and romantically fulfilled and others are—" "Jason," I said. He looked at me. Relaxed. Almost entertained. "I'm just painting a picture." I stared at him for a moment. Something moved through me — not the explosive kind of anger that makes you raise your voice and say things you regret. No. This was quieter than that. Colder. The kind that starts in your stomach and rises slowly until it settles right behind your eyes. "Put the brush down." He tilted his head slightly, like he was considering whether I was
MONALISA "Aaron?" I blinked. "What are you doing here?" Aaron stood there with that signature grin of his, hands in his pockets, completely at ease. that was the way he always was, like he had never been caught off guard a day in his life. He was Jason best buddy and never like Madea for him so he supported our relationship from the start. More reason I liked him. " Don't worry I will make sure Jason stays with only you." He has assured me one time we hang out together. Him, Jason and I. And till now he had somehow managed to kept to the promise. I turned to Jason, who had the decency to look at least slightly guilty, his eyes sliding away from mine just a second too late. "You knew he was coming?" "I called him," Jason admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. I stared at him for a moment then looked back at Aaron. Something clicked. "How is that possible?" I said, my eyes fixed on Jason. "I have been with you all along.". Jason held my gaze without blinking. "Yes."
MADEAI didn't know what to say.Honestly, I was still trying to figure it out when a scream came from somewhere behind me and we both turned at the same time.For a second — just one — I felt relieved. Which was terrible. But I did.It was a proposal.A guy was on one knee, ring out, hand shaking a little. The girl froze. Then her face just crumbled in the best way. She said yes before he even finished asking, pulling him up off the floor and into her arms. They were laughing and crying at the same time. The whole restaurant started cheering.I watched longer than I meant to.There was something about them — the way they were holding on to each other — that made my chest feel tight in a way I wasn't expecting.And just like that, my mind drifted somewhere else entirely.To Jason.We never had that. No knee on the floor, no ring catching the light, no room full of strangers cheering us on. No fairytale. Not even close. And somehow I had still ended up married to him.I don't know how
MONALISA “It’s nothing,” Jason said when I asked what was wrong. Just like that. Two words. Two tiny words, and a smile that was way too perfect, way too practiced. It could fool anyone who didn’t know him, and for a second, I almost let it fool me too. I wanted to take that excuse, wrap it around the tight, restless feeling in my chest, and just let it go. But I couldn’t. I knew that smile. I knew it like I knew every line on his face, every way his eyes betrayed him. And his eyes… his eyes never lied. “Come on,” he said, reaching for my hand. “Let’s just go as we planned.” I looked at him. Really looked. At his hand, stretched out to me. At the tired set of his jaw. At the face I had driven across the city just to see. Something was wrong. I’d felt it the moment I stepped inside, and now, standing in front of him, I wasn’t guessing anymore. I didn’t know what you were supposed to do when the man you loved looked at you like that—like he wanted you to understand, but also wante
MADEA Jason did not answer immediately. He held my gaze for a moment longer, and this time, it felt different. There was something heavier behind his eyes, something he was trying to bury before it could surface. He let out a slow breath and loosened his grip on his glass, but not before his f
MADEA “The Forever Love Project,” Mrs. Beaumont said, her voice calm yet firm. I looked at her, confused, muttering softly to myself. My stomach twisted with unease. She noticed and leaned closer, clarifying. “I mean the one I explained earlier,” she said. I nodded slowly, my mind racing. She
MADEA I sat there with Jason’s hand covering mine, and an unexpected flicker danced between us—hope, uncertainty, or a silent warning. I held my breath, waiting for him to speak, but he remained stoic, unreadable. His calm only magnified the storm I sensed beneath the surface. The room seemed t
MADEA “Cassandra, you just got here. Go inside and settle down. We will talk when I get back.” Jason’s tone was calm, detached, as if the tension in the room barely registered with him. A small, involuntary smile tugged at my lips before I could stop it. For a fleeting moment, I let myself belie







