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Meanwhile, she was trying very hard not to notice anything about him. How striking he looked in his slim, black suit and open-necked dress shirt. How elegant his long fingers looked wrapped around his glass. He’d lost weight. His boyishly handsome face was now sharp and edgy. The face of a man who had known pain and survived. She tried to notice none of it. He wasn’t hers anymore. Was never hers to begin with.
But she had something to relay to him, so she calmed her churning emotions.
“I want you to know that I’ve found some evidence connecting Rotelle Corporation to Yami. There were some suspicious activities in an overseas account belonging to one of Rotelle’s shell companies. My father hid his tracks well, but some forensics showed the money being transferred to an account here. It isn’t enough to put my father away, but it’ll be enough to keep him from coming after Hansol Corporation and your family again. I’ll make sure of that.”
“Thank you, Jihae.”
“No need to thank me. It’s the right thing to do.” Having said her piece, she was ready to find a dark hole to crawl into. She couldn’t bear to be near Colin anymore.
“You look lovely,” he said, his voice low and hesitant.
“Don’t.” Her numb frozen heart cracked and bled.
“Jihae, I just want to know that you’re okay.”
She froze as fury leaped to the surface. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. And she didn’t want to believe the tenderness in his eyes.
“No, you don’t get to see if I’m okay. What you get to do is stay away from me. I’m barely beginning to live again. You can’t pop back into my life and ask after me. You forfeited that right when you destroyed me.”
“I’m sorry. God, I didn’t mean to... I’m an idiot. I’m sorry.”
Enough. Jihae drained her drink and shot to her feet, but before she could storm off, Colin gave her a curt nod and strode off toward the opposite end of the hall. God help me. She wanted to run after him. Because despite everything, she still loved him with all her broken heart.
It was the night of Adelaide and Mike’s wedding rehearsal. His cousin held a special place in his heart and she was marrying a man who actually deserved her. Colin was happy for them but the feeling was dull and faded.
His world was devoid of Jihae, and he was hollowed out. Life had lost its vitality, and he merely endured and survived it. Not that he deserved anything more. He’d betrayed her and broken her trust so completely, he couldn’t even try to apologize to her again. He didn’t deserve her forgiveness. For months, he’d tortured himself with thoughts of should’ve, could’ve, would’ve. He should have done a million things differently. Maybe then, he’d still have Jihae in his life.
But it was too late for regrets. He had poured all his energy into finishing the production of Best Placed Bets. At the very least, he’d kept that promise to her. Now he would have something they’d created together to hold on to. To keep him afloat in an existence he could hardly stand.
Colin was Mike’s groomsman so his presence was mandatory, and there was no way he would ever let them down. Garrett and Natalie were the best man and the matron of honor respectively, so they had made the trip home from New York with their two daughters in tow. Colin’s sorrow and anguish were his to bear, and it was time to take care of the people who loved him.
The wedding party bustled around the small chapel like tiny figurines in a shoebox. While everything seemed chaotic, Adelaide’s wedding coordinator had the situation under tight control. If he remembered Garrett and Natalie’s wedding correctly, the woman was a genius at what she did.
He found Natalie standing near the edge of the commotion, holding an infant in her arms.
“Hey, there,” he said, giving her a one-armed hug and a peck on her cheek. Then he stole a peek at the sleeping angel, just three months old. “Does she have superpowers? How is she sleeping through this ruckus?”
“Riley sleeps through anything as long as I’m holding her. But the moment I put her down in her car seat, she’ll wake up in a second.”
“May I hold her for a bit?”
“Oh, my God. Yes, please. My arms are burning,” Natalie said as she gingerly transferred the little bundle into Colin’s waiting arms. “You’re a saint. Truly.”
“And where is my dear cousin while you carry his daughter to the point of exhaustion?”
“Why, he’s on the more difficult task of toddler duty.” She laughed lightly and pointed past his head. “Look over there.”
He spotted Garrett’s tall, broad form easily, made all the more prominent by the three-year-old on his shoulders. His cousin was leaning his head toward Mike to hear what was being said, but the bellowing commands of his preschooler seemed to make it difficult for him. Colin chuckled quietly, shaking his head.
“So Sophie still rules the household, I see.”
“Hey. That’s only because I allow her to.”
“What about Garrett?”
“Oh, no. He doesn’t get to rule. He’s putty in us women’s hands.”
Surprised laughter escaped his lips, and he worried he’d disturb the sleeping baby in his arms. Thankfully, Riley really could sleep through anything.
