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“Donovan is being acquired by Gerhard.”
My brother’s words still don’t make sense. He says them again, then again with slightly different wording. Still, they won’t sink in. If Donovan and Gerhard are merging, then they must have been in negotiations for weeks…months. Gerhard is in a position to acquire them, so they must have been sniffing around Donovan Enterprises’ business interests.
Business interests in Nord.
Eyes wide, I grab the phone Jonah thrusts at me. He runs his fingers through his hair over and over, worrying at his lip, as if he’s scared of what I’ll read. I’m scared of what I’ll read. I hold my brother’s gaze for a few moments, then drop my eyes to the article.
Penned by Jacinthe Crawley. What a surprise.
Swallowing back my panic, I read through the article. My heart drops, and drops, and drops.
Asher knew about Donovan Enterprises. He probably followed him to Nord to figure out what Reginald Donovan was planning. Horror ices my veins as my eyes widen.
That day at Gabriel’s wedding, I told Asher. I said I was supposed to be talking to mining moguls about staying out of Nord. I handed him Donovan’s plan right there in the cup of my hand, and I knew there was something weird about Asher’s reaction.
He told me he came to Nord because he hoped to see me? He told me he was here for me? And I fucking believed him?
My hand shakes so hard Jonah grabs the phone, coming around my desk to put a hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay, Pen?”
“I…I…” My mouth opens and closes. I try to swallow, but my throat is so tight it’s painful. A violent cramp makes me double over, and I reach for the garbage can under my desk just in time. My vomit splashes against the edges as Jonah rubs his hand over my back, saying words I don’t hear.
The only thing in my ears is the sound of wind rushing. The sound of my heartbeat. The sound of betrayal.
Asher knew all along. He knew about Donovan. He probably knew about the diamond mines—no wonder he was able to get the application in so quickly.
He lied.
How could he wrap his arms around me and tell me he was here for me? How could he tell me he wanted this child—how could he smile at me and tell me he wanted to marry me? My hand shakes as I grip the trash can, another body-racking heave making me double over.
“Pen, I’m getting the doctor.” Jonah sounds so far away as he rushes around the desk and calls out into the hallway.
It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter that I’m puking. It doesn’t matter that I feel like the world is crashing around me.
Asher lied to me. He weaseled his way into my life and made me love him, and all the while he was keeping this news from me. He let me propose this business deal to him, let me think it was my idea. From the beginning, he’s been manipulating me. Making me think I was making a good decision for the people of Nord. Allowing me to believe I was saving them from a company like Donovan Enterprises—all the while he was planning this.
He. Was. Planning. This.
Frederick rushes in, then gets on the phone and calls for a doctor. I lean back in my chair, accepting a glass of water from someone. I don’t know who. My eyes are unfocused.
I stare at my abdomen, the true horror of my situation settling into my bones.
Asher lied to me, manipulated me, betrayed me—and I’m carrying his child.
In a daze, I answer a doctor’s questions. I let him take my blood pressure and check my pulse. I stare at the wall, replaying every interaction I had with Asher over the past few months. Every moment when he could have come clean, could have told me the truth.
That evening, in his hotel room—he made me laugh when he said he wanted to admit he hated fishing. Had he wanted to tell me then? Or when I walked in and told him about my pregnancy—were the words on the tip of his tongue?
Maybe he was happy to keep this information from me forever. Maybe he never intended to tell me the truth at all. Thought I wouldn’t find out. Thought he’d weaseled his way into my bed and my heart, and there was nothing I could do to turn him away.
The fucking nerve of him.
Ice covers my body and it’s hard to think about anything except the caving of my chest. Betrayal, betrayal, betrayal. Every lie Asher said over the past few months replays in my mind on a loop, and my stomach sinks down, down, down.
I’m cold. I can barely feel anything, hear anything. I shake the doctor off as I stand up, stalking out of my office. I barely hear the protests from my staff. Barely feel my brother’s hand on my arm. I need to be alone. I need to think. I need to know if I was really as big a fool as I think I was.
So starved for attention I let that snake into my home. My bed. So cold and alone that the first drop of affection made me feel like a new woman.
Pathetic.
