Hey Babe, Do You Still Love Me? novel Chapter 4

Joey froze, his eyes wide with shock.

Nash reached for the file, but Joey snatched it away.

“Don’t you think I know my own wife? I’d know if she was pregnant! This is bullshit! You all know her father – she wouldn’t just… die! Not like this!”

Nash’s voice was firm. “Joey, this is serious. This isn’t a game. And there are still so many unanswered questions from that case. Open the file. If it’s really Aria…”

He didn’t finish the sentence.

Joey roared. “Nash! Are you questioning me?! I know my wife! She even left me a goddamn voice recorder! It can’t be her!”

Nash sighed and fell silent.

Even as a ghost, I felt the pain, the tightness in my chest.

Everyone doubted that case, except for him.

He’d never listened to me.

He’d only ever listened to Jamie.

My father and Jamie’s father had been business partners. They’d started a company together.

I’d met Jamie in college, through my uncle. She was dating a football star, and Joey had been relentlessly pursuing her, driving her crazy.

She’d said she’d known Joey her whole life, that he was like a brother to her.

Joey had thought she was too young to be dating, even though she was legally an adult.

Jamie had come to me, singing Joey’s praises, hoping I’d fall for him. If I was with him, maybe he’d finally leave her alone.

The blame fell on my father.

The workers rioted, surrounding our house, throwing blood on the walls, screaming insults, leaving dead rats on the doorstep.

I was terrified.

I called Joey.

His voice was ice cold. “Aria, your father killed Jamie’s father. You only know me because of Jamie. You’re a disgusting, manipulative bitch. You just want everything that was supposed to be Jamie’s, don’t you?”

I tried to explain. Yes, I’d met him through Jamie, but my feelings were real.

“Shut up, Aria! Don’t even try to pull another one of your stunts! I’m telling you, I will take care of Jamie for the rest of my life!”