Page 88

“Don’t listen to her,” I said, even though I could see Brenda’s words had found their mark.

“She wanted to pay you back. For what you and your friends did to her in high school.”

“Shut up, Brenda!” She was going to ruin everything.

“Is that really what this is about?” Evan asked. “You’ve been waiting ten years to get me back? Like some kind of long con? To turn into my perfect woman and then destroy me?”

“No!” That had never been my intent. I could feel that I was losing him. That with every word he spoke and every protest I made, he was slipping farther away from me.

And I didn’t know how to make it stop. My throat became so thick I could barely breathe. A crushing, shooting pain started in my stomach and then spread throughout my chest. I blinked away hot tears. I had to keep it together. I wouldn’t break down and lose it. Not while I still had a chance of trying to convince him.

He looked down at the floor and then back up at me. “I would have given you everything. Every part of me. All of my future. And this was just a way to publicly humiliate me?”

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t what happened.”

“An apology is not a magical token you can turn in for instant forgiveness,” he said.

But I was sorry. I had felt terrible about keeping a secret from him for such a long time. I didn’t know how to make him understand that.

When I didn’t respond, he said, “The worst part is you lied. Over and over again. You lied to me.”

“I’m sorry,” I repeated, and guilty, defensive anger sneaked its way in to mingle with my fear and sadness. “But I’m not the only one who lied.”

“What?” He looked taken aback. “When did I lie?”

“You lied for your career, too.” Maybe I was grasping at straws, but I wasn’t thinking clearly and was throwing anything I could at him. “You lied about our engagement to get your contract renewed.”

“That’s not the same thing!”

“It was exactly the same.”

“No, it wasn’t. Because I did it only to be close to you! I couldn’t have cared less about my contract. I wanted to be with you. You lied to destroy me. They aren’t the same.”

“She wanted to hurt you,” Brenda added. I knew that if I lunged for her, Security would escort me from the building, and I might never get another chance to fix things with Evan. Not that I was anywhere close to doing that now. I had just accused him of lying! How was that going to solve anything?

“Well, mission accomplished,” Evan said sadly. There was such a note of finality in his voice that I realized there was nothing I could say or do to change his mind. He walked over to me and held out his hand.

For one hopeful moment I thought he was offering it to me, wanting us to go somewhere to work things out, despite his anger.

Instead, he said, “I need the ring. It was my mother’s.”

“Your mother’s ring?” My throat tightened even more, and I felt several tears escaping. He’d given me his beloved mother’s ring? He’d said he’d have his assistant pick one up, and the entire time it had been his mom’s? The ache in my chest intensified a hundredfold. “I didn’t know.”

“What does it matter?”

“It does matter. That you would let me wear this.” Somehow it made everything worse. I sniffed, wiping at my nose.

He lifted his hand. “Please give it back.”

With my tears blinding me, I pulled the ring off and let it drop into his palm. I noticed he made sure not to touch me.

“Not many people can pull a perfect blindside on me. You can at least feel good about that,” Evan said before he turned to walk out of the studio.

“I love you!” I called in a panicked voice and watched as he stopped. My heart lurched with hope. I hadn’t told him yet; could that be enough?

It wasn’t. He squared his shoulders, lifted his head, and walked out of sight. The fissures covering my heart began to break apart, drifting away one piece at a time until there was nothing left.

“That was perfect,” Brenda gushed. “Now just sign this release, and tomorrow we can discuss your new position.”