Chapter 6 Refused

• "JILLIAN!" Victoria shouted angrily just seconds after Sake left. He had just dropped them off after dinner at his family’s house. "Don’t you dare turn your back on me! We need to talk!"
• Annoyed, Jillian stopped climbing the stairs and followed her aunt into the study. She was barely holding onto her composure.
• "Now, explain to me why you refused the wedding?!" Victoria was still furious.
• "Are you kidding me?" she snapped. "That was never part of our deal! You said we’d wait for Julia to wake up!"
• The reason Lora had invited them over for dinner was to ask Sake and Julia to move up their wedding. Sake had been surprised too—though the wedding was already set for two and a half months from now and the preparations were underway.
• But Jillian was even more shocked. She hadn't prepared herself for the idea of marrying him. She was hoping Julia would wake up before the wedding day.
• "You don’t have the right to refuse!"
• "What?" Jillian stared at her in disbelief. "Do you even hear yourself, Aunt Victoria? I’m not Julia! You know exactly what marrying Sake would mean!"
• "We need the Fortalejos to save the family business, Jillian!" Victoria pressed. "Do you really think, after you turned Lora down, she’ll still want you for Sake?"
• "Aunt Lora never liked Julia to begin with, but Sake was still going to marry her. So, you have no reason to be upset. Besides, I didn’t exactly refuse the wedding, did I? All I said was that we should wait for the original date. There’s no need to rush!"
• "Lora was disappointed in you, Jillian. And didn’t you see? You disappointed Sake too!"
• She knew that. Lora hadn’t hidden her disappointment. She had been surprised—she said it was the first time she had openly supported their relationship, so she’d hoped Jillian would agree to an earlier wedding. Still, she said the final decision was up to Jillian and Sake.
• Even though Sake supported her decision, Jillian knew he was disappointed too. He told her he understood and was willing to wait until she was ready. She had hurt him—and she knew it.
• But should she really be prioritizing his feelings, or Lora’s, or even Victoria’s? No.
• She had to think about herself—her feelings. Why was she even pretending in the first place? Wasn’t it to mess with them?
• The truth was, she had succeeded in hurting Sake. That had been the goal all along, right? So why did it bother her now, seeing him sad after she declined the rushed wedding?
• "You’re so stupid!" Victoria hissed. "Do you think Julia would’ve said no if she were in your place?!"
• "I don’t care," she said, trying to sound firm. "You’re the one asking me for a favor, Auntie. Don’t pressure me!" She turned away and walked off, ignoring her aunt’s calls.
• —
• Jillian couldn’t sleep. All night, she kept replaying the brief flicker of sadness in Sake’s eyes when he heard her response to Lora’s offer. Though he recovered quickly and agreed with her, saying she was right, Jillian couldn’t forget the look. And somehow, it kept her up all night. She was worried that she had truly hurt him.
• She woke up early the next day and decided to visit her sister at the hospital. Her chest felt heavy. She couldn’t make sense of her emotions.
• When she first arrived two weeks ago, she was driven by revenge. That had been her only reason for pretending to be Julia—to hurt the people who loved her sister: Valeria and Sake. She wanted them to feel rejected, unloved.
• But the hatred she had carried for years had started to unravel far too easily.
• She wasn’t a bad person. All she ever wanted was to be loved. And now she had finally felt it—but not as Jillian. That reality pained her.
• On the way to the hospital, Jillian began to cry. She couldn’t keep doing this. The guilt was slowly tearing her apart. Her mother was sick—not just physically, but mentally. What Valeria needed was genuine care, understanding, and love.
• And yet Jillian was lying to her. What would happen when Valeria found out the daughter she loved was still in a coma—and the one standing by her side was the one she despised?
• And then there was Julia. Wasn’t Jillian being cruel by stealing her life? Julia loved Sake deeply, and Jillian wasn’t doing her any favors by pretending to be her. How much worse would it be if she actually went through with marrying him?
• Then there was Sake Fortalejo—a sincere, loving man from the start. All he ever did was care for the woman he believed was the amnesiac Julia. He had no idea she wasn’t who she claimed to be. And Jillian was certain: once he found out, he would never forgive her.
• No one would appreciate what she was doing. Not Valeria, not Julia, not Sake. They would all hate her.
• "Julia, please wake up," she whispered when she reached her sister’s room. "Aunt Victoria’s pressuring me to marry Sake! You wouldn’t want that, would you? You need to wake up. You’ve had enough rest. Wake up and take your life back before it’s too late."
• She stood silently for a while, staring at Julia. They say coma patients can still hear you.
• "I’m sorry," she whispered again after a while, taking Julia’s hand, her tears falling freely. "I’m sorry for lying to the people who love you. Aunt Victoria said this is for your sake too... for Mama... to save the company. I know I should never have agreed. But it’s too late now. What am I supposed to do?"
• She cried at her sister’s bedside, finally admitting that she couldn’t go on with the plan any longer.