All Chapters of This Time, I Jumped Ship: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Marissa had a vague suspicion but no proof. She stared Elliot down, her gaze sharp enough to see right through him.Elliot instinctively took half a step back. Then his eyes welled up as if he were about to cry, and he tried to defend himself."You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? Marissa, I've bent over backward for you lately. How could you think so badly of me? I'm the one in the wrong here to begin with. Why would I go and tell him about us?"As usual, Elliot turned the blame back on Marissa, then mixed sweet talk with pressure to get her to stop thinking about Gideon."Besides, I think things are fine the way they are. You two were never any good together in bed anyway. Now he's had the sense to bow out on his own, and nobody's ever going to get in our way again..."It was cold-blooded and cruel. He didn't care in the slightest whether Gideon was alive or dead. All he cared about was the trip, as if his own good mood mattered more than a human life."Shut up!" Marissa

"I need to report a missing person! My husband has been gone almost twenty-four hours. He left home yesterday morning and never came back. His phone is off, he didn't leave any message, and I can't reach him no matter what I try. Please help me find him before it's too late!"She poured out the situation in a rush. The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became, and her face looked awful.The officer on duty calmed her down a little, then followed procedure and looked up the basic information she'd given him for Gideon Whitaker.But only a few minutes later, the officer looked up, puzzled."Ma'am, are you sure your husband's name is Gideon Whitaker, and that this is his ID number?""Of course." Marissa nodded without hesitation.But the officer's answer was not what she expected."You might want to double-check. The two don't match up. Surely you know your own husband's name and ID number?"Marissa stood there stunned, her mind blank, and shot back, "Of course I

The nurse did as he asked. About twenty minutes later, a woman in uniform came rushing up to the emergency room doors.She looked frantic, her forehead beaded with sweat, though she just managed to keep her voice steady."I'm Elliot Carver's wife. Is he still in there?""Yes. Mr. Carver has acute cholecystitis and needs emergency surgery. Please sign the consent form first."The nurse handed her a fresh form.Marissa stood off to the side like a forgotten extra, completely dumbfounded. She couldn't make sense of what this stranger was saying.What did she mean, she was Elliot's wife?Wasn't his so-called wife just a story he'd made up for Gideon's benefit?The woman was oblivious to the stare fixed on her. She signed the form as fast as she could, then turned to the nurse, tense."Please, you have to save my husband. I'm begging you!"The sincerity in her voice wasn't remotely fake. Even the way she looked, rumpled from the road, made it obvious she'd rushed straight over the

To be fair, Naomi had a lot going for her. If she'd ever been single and dating, she'd have had no shortage of interest.On top of that, she was completely devoted. She'd never gotten too close to any man other than Elliot.Marissa never imagined Elliot had come after her for such a ridiculous reason. She stood frozen in place, struck speechless.So all that irresistible charm she thought she had was fake.The reason he'd chosen her had nothing to do with her. It was all about getting back at Gideon.Now that Gideon had walked away on his own, nothing he'd done meant anything anymore, so naturally he stopped pretending.Elliot unleashed all his spite toward Gideon right in front of her, without a shred of restraint."Every time I thought about how I was stuck living a lonely life while he got to be happily in love, I went crazy with jealousy. So I made up my mind to take the thing he cared about most. And now it looks like I won!"He'd proven to himself that he was more "irresi

The woman quickly reached out to steady the easel and explained with a smile."Don't worry, I'm not here to accuse you of anything. This is a public place. You're free to draw whatever you like. You just seemed so approachable, so I got curious whether that was me."Up close, Gideon couldn't help noticing her great figure, and his face started to burn. He answered honestly."It is."The woman studied the unfinished drawing carefully for a while, nodded in appreciation, then made a request."Your figure work is really polished. Would you be willing to paint a portrait of my grandmother? I know it's forward to ask when we've only just met, but you can think it over before you decide. Here's my card. I'm Margot Leclair, and I'm staying at a resort estate nearby."Before she'd even finished, she pulled a business card from the pocket of the jacket draped over her shoulders and handed it to him. Besides her name, it listed her title and her company.They were strangers who had only j