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The rehearsal dinner was held on the Song family’s garden terrace. After the harried wedding rehearsal, the setting was perfectly intimate and peaceful. When Adelaide’s bridesmaids and Michael’s bickering parents left, the cousins relaxed into the evening. His grandmother finally stood and bid everyone good-night after a long, pointed look at Adelaide.
Garrett had put his two girls to bed at some point in the evening, and sat with his arm around his wife’s shoulder. And Adelaide and Mike held hands on the table and cast blushing glances at each other. Never had Colin missed Jihae more than he did now.
“Will you please stop making those lost-puppy-dog eyes, Colin?” Adelaide said. “It makes me want to fuss over you and shower you with affection.”
“Yeah. It’s pretty damn heartbreaking,” Garrett added.
“Screw you, dear cousins,” Colin replied mildly. But he was panicking inside. Of course, his family would know. They could see his suffering as clearly as he could see their happiness.
“Hal-muh-nee debriefed us on your truly mucked up situation. I can see why she enlisted all of us to help. You’re a mess, dear cousin,” Adelaide said gently. “I think it’s a Song family trait. When we fall in love, we love deeply. We love forever. You have to find a way to win her back.”
“That’s not possible. She would never forgive me. Nor should she.” Colin gave up trying to maintain a light mood. They would see through him, anyway.
“Just look at me and Garrett, man,” Mike chimed in. “We both messed things up so royally, we shouldn’t be sitting at this table with these amazing women by our sides.”
“But their capacity for love and forgiveness is greater than what we could possibly imagine,” Garrett said, his voice rough with emotion. “And I don’t know where I would be today if Natalie hadn’t taken me back.”
“Oh, honey.” Natalie kissed Garrett softly on his mouth and leaned her head against his shoulder. “It was the best decision I ever made.”
“Sometimes you have to forget about weighing things out, and just trust your gut instinct.” Adelaide linked her fingers through Mike’s. “If I hadn’t taken a leap of faith, I wouldn’t be the happy bride that I am.”
“Are you happy, baby?” Mike asked her with such tenderness in his eyes. “Because that’s all I ever wanted.”
“I am. So happy.” Adelaide cupped Mike’s cheek in her hand and he leaned into it. “And I can’t wait to start the rest of my life with you.”
“God, could you guys all stop being so goddamn happy for a second?” Colin raked his fingers through his hair. He was pleased for his cousins, but it reminded him of what could’ve been. It hurt to think about Jihae. “I thought you guys were doing some kind of intervention for me. Not rubbing salt into my wounded heart with your love fest.”
“We’re just showing you what you could have if you got over your guilt and focus on your love,” Adelaide said.
“What we’ve learned is that love makes us stupid brave. Maybe a little reckless, but mostly brave.” Garrett smiled as though being stupid in love was the greatest thing in the world. “That bravery could help you do anything.”
“What about the investigation?” Colin said, feeling terrifying hope spark to life inside him. “Aren’t we going to bring charges against Rotelle Corporation and Chairman Park?”
“Bring charges against the devious devil himself? I wish,” Garrett said. “But he was so thorough in covering up Rotelle’s involvement that our PI ran out of leads again. And Sylvia Taylor hasn’t made a peep. Jihae made it pretty clear that there will be no introduction to the talent agency, so she wisely gave up.”
“Besides, Hansol discovered the espionage scheme before permanent harm could be done. And Natalie and Garrett are doing great. Right, guys?” Adelaide said, giving her brother and sister-in-law a big thumbs-up. “We could leave the past in the past, Colin. If you love Jihae, we’ll stop the investigation against Rotelle Corporation. And I say this with Hal-muh-nee’s stamp of approval. We don’t need to go after her family and hurt her.”
“Do you love her?” Natalie asked gently.
“More than life,” Colin replied. He loved Jihae so much that every cell in his body ached to hold her again.
“Then go win her back.” Adelaide kicked him under the table. “Do the bravest, stupidest thing you can think of and overwhelm her with your love. She won’t be able to think past her love for you.”
“And we’re all here to help you,” Mike said. Everyone at the table nodded their support. “Just say the word and we’ll do whatever you ask.”
Emotion lodged itself in his throat, and Colin let himself weep for the first time after losing Jihae. But the tears were meant to cleanse away his guilt and regret, and prepare him to win back the woman he loved. Because if he knew anything, it was that he loved Jihae more than anything in the world and he would do everything in his power to make her happy. No matter what happened, he wanted her to know that he was hers and would always be hers. She deserved to know that his love was real.
Fourteen
Jihae checked into a hotel near the premiere location to get herself ready for the red carpet. Her stylist was scheduled to come in an hour. After a quick shower, She wrapped herself up in a plush bathrobe and dried her hair, absentmindedly running her fingers through it.
She’d chosen a warm, rose-and-gold dress for the occasion. She now only wore white when she damn well felt like wearing white. After the wrap party, she realized that if she wanted to survive, then she had to move on. And the first step had been to break free of her father’s hold on her. Hiding behind Princess Jihae’s persona was what was expected of her. She was not Princess Jihae. The princess belonged to her father. She had been a puppet controlled by her father. Never again.
She was Jihae Park, film producer and business executive. She was the one who had brought Rotelle Entertainment to the next level. That took skills, intelligence, perseverance and plain old hard work. After the premiere, she was going to submit a formal resignation letter to her father. It was time to devote herself to getting her production company off the ground. And with the evidence she had against Rotelle Corporation, her father wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing to stop her.
The hollow, cold feeling where her heart used to be showed no signs of diminishing, but she couldn’t let her life and happiness depend on another human being. It was no one’s job to find happiness for her. It was hers and hers alone. She was still too ragged to feel whole, but she would find joy in her life, and make something of herself.
She wasn’t a nobody just because her father saw fit to discard her like a used paper plate. She had been fooled by a man who claimed to love her, but she wasn’t a fool for it. Someday, these things would make her stronger. It was too soon, but she would rise above everything she’d gone through.
