The Unwilling CEO's Love Game novel Chapter 186

Jocelyn returned to her apartment and double-locked the door behind her.

She flopped onto the couch, her gaze unfocused, her mind a jumble. After a while, she started fiddling with the ring on her finger, a bitter smirk curling her lips—a mix of mockery and scorn.

Melvin had played his cards with a cruel hand. He had lifted her up with hope, only to shatter it without a second thought - not the slightest shred of sentiment for their shared past.

Was it really necessary to embarrass her like this?

Jocelyn slid the ring off, rolling it between her fingers as her eyes wandered to the trash can beside her. With a flick of her wrist, the ring tumbled into the bin.

She lay back, stretching out on the couch, feeling a dryness in her eyes and a tightness in her throat that hinted at a dull ache.

It felt as if there was a boulder pressing down on her chest—how was she ever going to push it away?

She felt suffocated, as if wrapped from head to toe in airtight clothing that wouldn't let her breathe.

After a spell, she got up, retrieved the ring from the trash, and tossed it into a drawer instead.

She washed her face, applied a heavier layer of makeup to conceal the exhaustion on her features, and hailed a cab to school.

She was supposed to have taken the day off.

She hadn't mentioned why, but Ursula had her suspicions.

When Jocelyn showed up at the office, Ursula was taken aback. "Was I wrong? Weren't you supposed to be getting hitched today?"

"Guess not," Jocelyn replied with a forced smile. "Just some errands I thought would take all day, but they were done in a jiffy."

Ursula's brows knitted together. "Something's off with you."

"What's off?" Jocelyn asked, returning to her desk and pulling out her textbooks.

"You're wearing makeup today, and it's thick."

The makeup wasn’t really heavy; it just seemed so compared to Jocelyn's usual bare-faced look.

Jocelyn laughed, arching an eyebrow playfully. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Seeing her so upbeat, Ursula started to doubt her own instincts.

"Absolutely, like a siren," Ursula teased, with a suggestive waggle of her eyebrow. "The kind that enchants souls."

Jocelyn's smile held a tinge of bitterness. She hadn't enchanted Melvin's soul, after all.

That afternoon, Jocelyn went about her lectures and chats with colleagues as if nothing was amiss.

It was as though the day's events had never happened.

She didn’t have her phone with her the whole time, and she had it on silent.

After evening study, she returned to the office to find thirteen missed calls on her phone.

Three were from Daisy, two from Calvin, and the rest from Yasmine.

The sight of Yasmine's number made Jocelyn's breath catch.

They hadn't been in touch for so long, and a call today of all days was almost certainly about Melvin.

Had Melvin told Yasmine he stood her up?

Jocelyn didn't return the call, opting to call Daisy back first.

The phone was answered after just one ring.