Semua Bab Let Me Go, Boss!: Bab 41 - Bab 50

Jax’s POV“What am I doing?”The office was too quiet for a Tuesday morning. Not that it was ever loud—but today it had that odd, pressurized silence that made every movement sound louder. The shuffle of papers. The low hum of the AC. The click of my pen tapping uselessly against the surface of my desk.I hadn’t even realized I’d been staring at my computer screen for five straight minutes until the cursor blinked again and again, waiting for me to start typing.I ran a hand down my face and exhaled.Riley had stayed late last night—without being pressured—wrapping up the budget report for that last-minute pitch I’d thrown at her. I didn’t expect her to finish it. Hell, I hadn’t even meant to dump it on her, not really. It just… slipped out. One of those reactive things I did when I was overwhelmed and didn’t want to admit it.And she’d done it. Delivered it on my desk at 9:03 PM sharp, barely looking at me as she handed it over and left.That should’ve been the end of it. But now I c

Jax’s POVCamilla sat across from me on the edge of the sleek couch in my condo, sipping mineral water like she hadn’t just dropped a nuclear bomb into my life some days ago. Her perfectly manicured nails tapped the side of the glass, slow and rhythmic, like she was waiting for an applause.“So,” I said, folding my arms as I leaned against the kitchen counter. “I’ve been thinking.”Her eyes flicked up, lips already curling into that smile. The one she used when she thought she had the upper hand.“Dangerous habit for you,” she said lightly, crossing her legs. “What’s on that overthinking brain of yours?”I ignored the jab. “I want a prenatal DNA test.”She blinked, then she laughed. It wasn’t a little chuckle or a nervous giggle—it was the kind of loud, full-bodied laugh that echoed through the room and made my jaw clench.“You’re serious?” She finally asked, wiping the corner of her eye like I’d just told the best joke of the year.“I wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t.”The laughter

Riley’s POV The headline slapped me harder than my morning coffee ever could. “Jax Maddox Refuses Responsibility for Unborn Child — ‘I Never Wanted a Kid,’ Says Tennis Star.” —Exclusive by ShowBuzz News I stared at the words, my heart stuttering in disbelief. Below the headline was a still frame, a picture of Camilla’s face twisted just enough to look heartbreakingly vulnerable, like a woman scorned by the man who left her high and dry. But it was the quote that did it. “I never wanted a kid. I just need to be sure. The procedure is not that dangerous.” Cold and cutting. Out of context, it sounded like something monstrous. And I knew, in the pit of my stomach, it wasn’t the full story. My thumb hovered over the screen as I reread the article. It was detailed. Almost too detailed. The reporter cited a “private conversation” and “exclusive audio,” painting Jax as a man willing to pressure his ex into dangerous tests just to dodge accountability. My blood boiled. Not because I

Riley’s POVI didn’t owe him anything.That was the line I kept repeating to myself all morning as I packed folders, answered emails, and avoided eye contact with every person who stared at me like I’d walked out of a soap opera.I didn’t owe Jax Maddox a damn thing.Not for the protein bar. Not for the job. And certainly not for the way he barked orders at me one day and then left a protein bar on my desk the next like some emotionally unavailable fairy godmother.Still, when I opened my browser and saw another headline blaring across my screen, something in me twisted.“JAX MADDOX: PRESSURE, PATERNITY, AND PR BLINDNESS.”Below it, the byline: Valerie Quinn for The Daily Pulse. Of course it was her. Val was ruthless. Always had been.I skimmed the article, scanning for anything redeemable. It was brutal. Quote after quote pulled from Camilla’s little performance. The supposed leaked audio. That infamous line: “You know I never wanted a kid.”That wasn’t the man I saw in the quiet hou

Jax’s POVThe conference room was too damn loud. Phones buzzed every passing second, my PR agents voices overlapped, and the screen in front of us blasted the headline across every news outlet like a slap to the face:“You know I never wanted a kid.” – Jax Maddox EXCLUSIVE.And there she was. Camilla. Sitting on that sleek white couch, legs crossed like she owned the world, crocodile tears smudging her mascara as she leaned toward the host with a soft, tragic smile.“I just want to share my truth,” she started, her voice quivering. “He told me to my face…that he didn’t want a child. He begged me to end it and remove the baby.”“Cut the volume,” I growled, unable to stand one more of her lie.No one moved fast enough and it kept playing out, her voice irking and grating my eardrums.“I kept quiet for so long because I didn’t want to ruin his career,” she continued, blinking dramatically. “But then he demanded a paternity test—said he had to be sure the baby was his. Like I was some lia