Never Too Far Novel

Chapter 1998

“What?!”

A shocked Willow was ready to look, but Troy placed his hand on the side of her head and stopped her. “Don’t look. Let him take the photos.”

“Do you really want to be in the headlines tomorrow?” Willow asked.

“Since you can’t find Jasper, why don’t you present yourself to him? Make him feel a sense of urgency. Even if he doesn’t come looking for you, you have to let him know that you’ve been doing well without him.”

Willow found him sensible, so she nodded. “Alright, I’ll play along.”

Troy picked up a flower from the vase and presented it to her with one knee on the floor, looking as though he was proposing to her.

Willow was startled for a moment before taking the flower from him with a smile. The paparazzo never stopped taking photos of them since this was big news. He managed to capture the photos of Willow getting proposed to.

After Willow and Troy were done putting on an act, they left the place. Meanwhile, the paparazzo contacted the biggest media company, wanting to sell those photos to the other party.

When the person from the media company heard that, he immediately bought the photos from him and decided to make it the headline the next day.

The next morning, Willow’s phone started ringing while she was still asleep. When she realized it was Troy calling, she picked it up groggily. “Hello?”

“We’re really in the headlines now.”

“Well, how do I look in those photos?” Willow asked.

“You look gorgeous.”

“That’s great,” Willow replied. “Anyway, I still have to get some shut-eye.”

“Wait a minute. Send Jasper a message and tell him to attend our engagement party tonight. I’m looking for a suitable venue now.”

“What?! Are you serious?” Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Yes, I’m serious. If he comes to the party, it shows that he still cares about you. If he doesn’t come, you can give up on him.”

“But—”

“I’ll make all the arrangements. Let’s see if he cares about you. I’ll book a banquet hall and send you the address.”

“Alright, I’ll text him.” Willow was fully awake at this point. He’s right. If Jasper doesn’t care about me, I’ll stop wasting time on him.

Ten minutes after the call ended, Troy sent her the address.

Willow calmed herself down and thought that she should give it a shot. What if I don’t have a special place in his heart? She took screenshots of her getting proposed to and sent them to Jasper via the contact number he had given her. Then, she wrote, ‘We’re friends, after all. It’ll be my engagement party tonight. Why don’t you come over?’

When she was done with that, she hoped that Jasper would reply to her. It was fine even if he only sent her one word. Nevertheless, after waiting for 30 minutes, she still didn’t receive any reply.

In the end, she felt helpless and thought that Troy’s effort would go to waste. The man probably wouldn’t come to the party.

…

Jasper had been tailing his target for the entire night until 8.00AM the next day. Not long after he checked into a hotel and lay down on the bed, he received a message. This phone was meant for important messages only, so there wouldn’t be advertisements or unnecessary information. As such, he picked it up and took a look, only to see a message that was unrelated to work.

What?! Is she getting engaged already?

Jasper zoomed into the photos and the news article, looking at the images of Troy proposing to Willow. Jasper’s gaze darkened as he pressed his lips together. However, calmness was soon restored to his gaze.

His urgent sense of sleepiness seemed to have vanished all of a sudden. He could clearly remember the hotel’s address and the contact number written in the message.

He snorted as if mocking himself, but there was a hint of frustration in his expression.

Soon, it was evening. Willow and Troy headed to the hotel together. The man had even found people to act as guests, whereas Willow was told to change into a formal dress and put on some delicate makeup. By 7.00PM, the venue was turned into an engagement party.

Willow sat down in the lounge and looked gratefully at Troy. “Thanks for doing all this for me, but I think your efforts will likely go to waste. He won’t be coming.”