Jaded (WTF? Series Book 1) by Andrea Smith Read Free Book Online Page B

and less to do with choice.
                  Getting back to Jade, I understand what life has dealt her and it had been cruel. No matter how beautiful she is, in her own mind, it will never be enough. She's not so different than me in that respect. She's living out her mother's hopes and dreams for her--all well-meant of course, but not of her choosing.
                  Jade has settled, the same way that I have settled. But the thing is, I care enough for her and about her that I will do whatever I need to do to ensure that she's happy and content.
                  That means I not only have had to read between the lines of what she says to me, but I also have to dissect the unsaid, which is no easy task with her. She's simply not one to complain, or to appear ungrateful or unfulfilled. She doesn't play it that way, and never has.
                  So, now we get to the crux of my story. Nearly a year ago, I had sensed a subtle change in Jade's demeanor. Though she never verbalized it, her body language and her avoidance of discussing it had been my biggest clue.
                  And then there had been the secret computer she had purchased.
                  Yeah, that had been the most obvious signal of her detachment and discontentment. She knew that there was no reason why she had to purchase anything secretly; all she had to do was buy it, and I paid the monthly credit card bill.
                  So obviously, there had been a reason why she made this particular purchase covertly. She must've purchased it from cash withdrawals made a little bit at a time. She knew damn well I would've questioned large cash withdrawals, because that is simply my nature.
                  I concluded that she must have had something she felt compelled to hide from me.
                  Oh, she had no clue that I knew about it, but part of my obsession with Jade had been to make sure I was always aware of what she was doing when I wasn't around.
                  I had inadvertently rifled through her bedside drawer one morning while she was in the shower, looking for nail clippers when I discovered the wireless hot spot. Since she had consistently refused my offer of a home computer, I found it odd.
                  The only electronics Jade owned were her smart phone and her e-reader, both of which were covered on my cell phone plan. Why then did she require a separate hot spot?
                  I had powered the device only to discover she had used 2 GB's of a 6 GB monthly plan. A plan she apparently had been paying in cash on her own.
                  Two days later, while Jade and I were out to dinner, one of my associates combed through her condo and discovered the secret laptop.
                  Within a day, I was tracking her Internet movements and quickly discovered that my instincts had been on target. Jade was restless, lonely, and unfulfilled in some incomprehensible way.
                  She had been visiting some on-line chat room called "Owners of a Lonely Heart." Looking for something, or maybe someone to make her life complete.
                  Of course, I had been dismayed at the idea of losing her, and it became apparent to me that I must somehow find a way to fill whatever void in her life had prompted this erratic behavior.
                  That is when I assumed the identity of "Adam."
                  Yes, I am Adam . The not quite thirty investment counselor at some bogus firm in Chicago living the dream of Corporate America, and being too focused on his career and the stray dog he's adopted to cultivate a relationship outside of an Internet chat room with Pressley Patterson, Jade’s pseudonym or alter ego, the latter being a more accurate description.
                  Pathetic?
                  It