Page 93 of The Jaded Notes

“How so?” My dad leans in closer.

Jax squeezes my leg, comforting me and giving me the strength to get through this.

Oh, fuck me. Who am I kidding? I’m about to die.

My hands are shaking, so I hide them under the table. I hold my head high even though I’m about to faint.

I suck in a gust of bravery, and my words follow on the exhale. “Livianna Grace Designs will be renamed within the next month.”

Thump. Thump. Thump. Can they hear that? I’m sure they can.

My throat goes dry. A part of me wants to stop talking, but I’ve put it out there, so it’s time to finish this.

Jax shifts into a protective stance, placing his arm around the back of my chair and angling his legs toward me. He stills his breath.

My gaze stays on my mom as I fight the urge to dig my fingernails into my wrists. “I’m launching Lehlani RoseDesigns for my next collection. I’ll be retiring Livianna Grace Designs from this moment on.”

The silence is vicious. I swear the entire restaurant goes quiet.

Their smiles fade. My dad’s face pales. My mom blinks once, twice, then her lips part, but are empty of words. After a few beats, they come.

“Lehlani Rose…” Mom’s whisper is jagged, a shard of glass slicing through the space between us. “How do you even know that name?”

“I know.” My palms sweat, but my voice doesn’t falter. “I know about her. I overheard you talking about her right before my fourteenth birthday.”

My mom places her palm over her heart. “That’s not possible.”

“It happened.” I glance at Jax, who’s staring at me in awe. That’s all I need to keep going. “I heard you. You two were in your room one night talking about her. I heard everything, and I’ve lived with it every single day since.”

My dad’s jaw hardens, his gaze locked on me. “Livianna, that was never meant for you to carry.”

“But I do.” My chest heaves with the admission. “And I’m done pretending she didn’t exist. She matters to me. To what I create and to the empire I’m building. She deserves to be seen, and what better way than to honor her beauty?”

The air quakes with everything they don’t say. My mom’s hand trembles as she finds her wineglass. My dad sits back, shoulders weighted in disbelief.

Jax leans forward, addressing my parents. His arm stays stretched along the back of my chair, his presence pressing steadily into me.

“This isn’t rebellion.” His voice cuts low with iron-laced respect. “It’s bravery, and it’s exactly why Livianna will succeed.”

His gaze shifts to me for a heartbeat, pride alive in his eyesbefore he turns back to my parents. “You raised a daughter who refuses to bury the truth. That’s not shame. That’s strength.”

My mom swallows with tears threatening to fall, but her voice barely holds. “Lehlani was… She was our heartbreak. And we thought we were protecting you by never speaking her name.”

I shake my head, my throat raw. “You weren’t protecting me. You hid her and in the process, you erased a part of me.”

The weight of it lands like a crash none of us can walk away from. My mom drops her gaze to the tablecloth, her lashes wet. My dad doesn’t move or speak. His stance is heavier than any curse he could throw at me.

The tension threads tight enough to choke on. I can’t tell if they’re furious, broken, or both.

Jax stays unmoved beside me, an anchor in an ocean of guilt I’ve been drowning in for years. His hand slides over my back, gentle yet firm, like he’s daring the world to come at me.

No one breathes.

And then the soft clink of plates. The server returns, her polite approach a dagger of normalcy driving through the wreckage.

“I hope you’re hungry.” She sets lamb in front of my father, salmon in front of my mother, and scallops in front of me.

She places Jaxon’s filet down with practiced elegance, oblivious to the ruins sitting at this table. The aroma of rosemary and butter fills the air, cruel in its ease. My dad thanks her, still in a daze from my reveal.