Page 67 of Broken Destiny

“That is correct,” Liam said with a breaking voice.

“I’m sorry,” I said, leaning forward slightly. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes, sorry.” Liam sniffled and cleared his throat. “My brother, Cole, Jiya’s husband, used to do that for us.”

Fuck!“I’m sorry,” I repeated, meaning it this time.

“It’s fine. It’s still hard at times.”

I knew this was my chance to dig a little further and find out more information. The opportunity sat in front of me like a door left slightly open, inviting me to push it wider.

“I saw his picture on your website,” I said, clearing my throat. “It’s weird, it says his wife’s name is Eva, not Jiya.”

“Ahhh!” Liam said. “We haven’t updated his information yet. Jiya wanted it to remain unchanged.”

Here comes the truth!This was going to confirm my suspicions. This was going to prove that I had been right all along, that she had been the other woman, that my anger had been justified.

“She wanted Eva to be always remembered as his first wife… to have that importance even on the website,” Liam continued. “You see, Eva and their daughter, Chloe, had died in an airplane crash in Nepal when they had gone on vacation. My brother was devastated, and Jiya was a blessing. She saved Cole. He and her?—”

Liam’s phone rang.

He glanced at the screen and excused himself, stepping out of the room, but not before his words struck me like a sudden blow to the chest.

No.

That couldn't be right.

I stared at the empty doorway after Liam left.

Eva was dead?

Chloe too?

My mind scrambled through every assumption I had made over the past few weeks, trying to find a way to make them fit.

None of them fit anymore.

The entire story I had built in my head collapsed.

The hum of the air conditioner faded into silence. The ticking clock on the wall disappeared. Even the light streaming through the window felt distant, as if the world had stepped back and left me standing alone in the middle of a truth I had never expected.

He had lost his wife.

He had lost his daughter.

And Jiya had stepped into a broken life and helped him rebuild it.

I remained seated, unable to move.

I had judged her wrongly and had accused her.I had assumed she had betrayed another woman, stolen a husband, and built her life on someone else’s pain. I had thrown cruel words at her without knowing the truth.

A tight knot formed in my stomach.

Coming back into the room, Liam cut the meeting short, apologized politely, and left.

The door closed behind him with a quiet click.

I sat there alone in the conference room, crumpled in the chair,cheeks burning. I loathed myself as the memory of her face hit me. I wished I could rewind time, swallow those words before they left my mouth, and spare her the pain I had caused.