Belle didn't answer. She wanted to lie—to wrap herself in the same blanket of denial she used whenever Ceres pressed the issue. But Jackson was different. He was the one person destined to always be on her side in the future, bound by the undeniable reality of Ceres's presence inside her. Besides, no matter how many times she forcefully told Ceres that she had no feelings for Eli, she knew the foreign soul could read the genuine truth vibrating beneath her defensive words.
So, she chose silence.
"Don't worry, Belle," Jackson said softly, interpreting her quietness perfectly. "Your secret is safe with me. Honestly, I was just worried that you had only agreed to be his girlfriend because Ceres pressured you into it."
"I already promised I wouldn't interfere or flirt with Eli anymore," Ceres interjected, abruptly seizing the reins of Belle's physical body without a single word of warning.
Jackson chuckled, leaning back. "So, you actually did plan to flirt with him?"
