CHAPTER 6

NALANI

When I drag myself to the door to answer after the third ring, I speak without even looking up because I fear that the tears will break free.

“I’m sorry for answering so late, please come in.”

“No need to apologize,” comes a reply, and a small gasp escapes my parted lips as my head snaps up to the sound of the familiar voice.

It’s him.

The stranger who saw everything at the party yesterday, came after me, and promptly left after I yelled at him.

“You. You’re…”

“Keith Pierre,” he supplies with a warm smile, cutting me off politely. “The director whom you and your husband are having dinner with tonight,” he adds in a distinct accent, but the sound of “my husband” is the last thing I hear before my thoughts overtake me.

For years and years, I have loved Daniel wholeheartedly and selflessly, all for my suspicions about his relationship with Gwen to have been right all along. The act itself hurts like being crushed by a train while being fully conscious to feel the pain, but what hurts the most are the lies, and how he always made me feel guilty for suspecting that there was something going on.

He betrayed me…led me on all along, while saying sweet words meant for me to another woman.

My heart tightens to a fault, physically hurting in my chest, and I let out a strangled whimper.

“Ma’am, is everything okay?” The tall guest asks with a genuine look of concern on his face, and I shake my head.

“I’m sorry. Please come in, Mr Pierre,” I say, forcing my legs to move.

I lead him to the dining room and show him to his seat, and I see the moment where his confusion sets in when there’s no sight of Daniel, so I clear my throat and speak when I sit across from him.

“I’m sorry, my husband…” the word hangs in my throat, and I visibly flinch. How can I still call him that after all the vile things I just heard him say to Gwen? “Daniel,” I correct myself, “is not around at the moment,” I say. ‘He’s out f*cking his business friend’. Is what I want to actually say, and even if I don’t say it out, the thoughts fuels something hot and angry inside me. Something that asks for retribution.

“Well,” Mr Keith starts, his facial expression unreadable. “I was supposed to receive a final presentation this evening before we sign our official contract. If Mr Price is not here…”

“I’ll deliver the presentation,” I cut in absentmindedly, and he pauses to watch me for a few seconds before he nods once.

After all, every single thing Daniel’s business puts out comes from my head. They’re all my ideas, so there’s no one better to do the job.

I deliver the best speech, promising that his company will get ten percent more in profit than his team deems as the highest possible return that can be achieved in six months, and when I’m done telling him how we would achieve this, I can tell that he’s impressed, but I don’t know why I did that.

Why am I still helping Daniel when I know exactly where he is and what he’s doing right now?

“Wow! You bought me over, Mrs…” he pauses when I shake my head.

“Nalani,” I say after a long pause, and I don’t know when a tear quickly and silently breaks free, sliding down my left cheek.

“Nalani,” Mr Pierre calls, reaching forward, but stopping himself from touching me. “Why are you crying? Is everything okay?”

I laugh, but there’s no humor behind it, and no matter how aggressively I wipe my face, the tears keep pouring faster.

“Nothing is okay,” I confess, breaking down to a complete stranger, but I can’t help myself because the emotions creating a massive whirlwind in my head have become too much to keep to myself. I feel hate, anger, sadness, foolishness, and a lot more, all at once. “Because I just gave a stupid speech on behalf of a man who has spent years using…deceiving, and gaslighting me into believing that I was the problem, when all I did was give up my hopes and dreams for him.”

My phone pings on the table, and I wouldn’t have picked it up if it wasn’t for Gwen’s name that I saw.

She sends me three pictures of beautiful apartments, and she captions them. [Dan and I picked these three apartments to stay in for our coming trip. Aren’t they stunning?]

I scoff and slam my phone back down on the table as fury overrides me, and all I see is red.

“Then why are you still here?” Mr Pierre asks, a frown wrinkling his forehead in displeasure.

I shake my head, pressing my lips together, because I have no reason why. But leaving just like that, with nothing, would only solidify that I’ve been stupid all along, and that I deserve what Daniel did, so I snatch my phone from the table. I don’t bother to respond to Gwen. I go straight to Daniel’s dm, and I type furiously.

[Goodluck with your new life. I don’t need to be your partner anymore because I’m taking everything from right under your feet!]

Then I face Mr Pierre again with a look of resolve on my face, the resolution already cemented in my heart. Even before I speak, I see the small smirk on his face.

“I’m not anymore.” I stand up. “I’m sorry, but I won’t be signing this contract on Daniel’s behalf, nor will I be here to carry his business on my back like I have always done.”

I don’t expect what I hear from him.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to get across. I don’t want to sign with Daniel. I want to help you, Nalani.”