I look up at him again and then at Sky, as if asking her if she also heard what he just said.
"I love you," he repeats, a little bit louder this time, and I hold my breath.
And only then I notice that his eyes are wet too, and his voice is shaking just like mine.
It's hard for him to speak, maybe as much as it's hard for me to listen to this.
He just confessed that he loves me. Isn't that what I wanted to hear? Isn't that what every woman wants to hear from the man she's in love with?
Yes, it is, but it's not enough. Jack Harden betrayed my trust, and there's nothing he can say to me to change that.
"It doesn't mean anything." I shake my head as I speak, crossing my arms on my chest. "You will never change; you’ll always try to deceive me."
"I will never…" he begins, but I raise my hand to stop him.
"You will," I interrupt, trying to take a breath, but it seems like I can't breathe at all. "I will never be good enough for you."
The first tear falls onto my cheek, and I wipe it off.
I want to run, to hide under the sheets of my bed and never see Jack Harden again.
But instead, I'm standing in front of him as if I'm glued to the ground.
"You are better than me, Crystal," he says after a long pause. "And I knew that from the very first minute I saw you. That's why I wanted you to quit."
He runs his hand through his hair and inhales deeply.
"I was terrified when I found out that the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life also happened to be smart, fearless, and all those other things that shouldn't be mixed in one person. I thought it was simply impossible." He swallows when his eyes lock with mine again.
My heart is beating so loudly that it seems like it’s trying to pop out of my chest. I wish it could stop beating at least for a second, if only to erase this pain I feel inside.
"You were right about me." He takes a step closer, and this time I don’t stop him. "I avoid working with women."
My eyes widen as he says it. That's not what I expected to hear. I didn't mean it when I accused him of being a sexist.
"I was in love with her," he continues, clearing his throat. "The mother of my son. I fell in love with her in college, and she lied to me and told me she was on the pill, only to blackmail me after. She asked me to give her one hundred thousand dollars for an abortion or she'd give birth and ask for alimony."
For a moment, I forget everything that happened between us and look at Jack as a young college boy whose heart was broken so brutally.
And for a moment, I feel pain because I sympathize with him.
"I offered her one million dollars to give birth and give up the rights to our child." He swallows. His voice is trembling and his eyes are blurred with tears. "She agreed, and I haven't seen her since then. She tried to blackmail me years later, threatening that she'd come and meet Zac if I didn't give her more money. And then I threatened to sue her for blackmailing me, and she disappeared. I don't know where she is now."
It’s only after he stops talking that I feel my cheeks are wet from tears. I didn’t even notice I was crying.
I take a look at Sky and see that she's crying too, trying to be invisible while we talk. My poor little girl is trapped, and there's nowhere to hide from what Jack just said.
"I tried to avoid working with women, not because they need to go on maternity leave or anything like that." Jack takes a step closer and now he’s standing three feet away from me. "I was avoiding them because I didn't want my heart to get broken again."
When he takes another step and stands in front of me, I hold my breath.
"Until you," he whispers and holds out a hand to me.
When I feel his touch on my wrist, my arms fall to my sides.
"The second I met you, I felt something that I've never felt before." He takes both of my hands in his and cups my fingers in his palms. "I knew from the very beginning that something was happening between us, but I didn't know what exactly. I tried to prove to myself that you were lying, that you were fake, and you'd betray me at the first opportunity. And that's why I asked Virginia for a favor. I'm sorry, Crystal, I'm such an idiot."
The moment the last words escape his mouth, Jack falls down on his knees in front of me and brings my hands to his lips.