My legs had gone numb from sitting on the floor for hours after Derek and Tora left. The tears had long since dried on my cheeks, and all that was left was a hollow ache in my chest. I stood to go to bed, flooding my legs with an intense stinging sensation thatfaded as I limped toward the bedroom door. But as the pain in my legs faded, it was replaced by a simmering anger.
As much as I loved Miller’s Cove, there was nothing left for me here. My life in New York was unraveling, and I had to salvage what was left of my career.
After a long, scalding shower that left my skin pink and raw, I dressed and packed my belongings in record time. It took me less than an hour to pile all my things by the door. Then I opened my laptop and typed up a resignation letter to MasonCorp. After reading it twice, I cc’d Cassie on it and hit “send” with a sense of finality.
Next, I wrote a three-page, handwritten apology letter to Eleanor, pouring out every ounce of regret and gratitude I had. I folded it neatly and placed it in an envelope to leave at the front desk with Cynthia.
Finally, I walked into the kitchen, the place where Derek had presented me with the gold and emerald wedding set nearly a month ago, and slipped off the rings he’d given me. I placed them in the center of the kitchen table, where they gleamed under the overhead light like little reminders of everything I’d lost.
With one last glance around the apartment that had once felt so full of promise, I picked up my bags and walked out the door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Derek
Unemployment has its perks. Even though I returned to New York to find my career intact. It turns out Marty had gone to bat for me personally with Edward Mason, who ultimately decided that I was too valuable to lose. Nevertheless, I resigned from MasonCorp on general principle. The corporate rat race didn’t excite me anymore. Honestly, nothing excited me anymore. My life, once neatly compartmentalized into boardroom victories and perfectly tailored suits, now felt like one long, aimless drift.
I tried running away from my problems, but the ghost of Jasmine Morgan followed me to every beach resort, casino, and nightclub. She was everywhere. I saw her face every time I closed my eyes, her laugh echoing in my ears at the most inconvenient moments. Sometimes I could swear I saw her out of the corner of my eye—just a glimpse of someone with her curls or that distinct sway in her walk—and my heart would leap before I realized it was just my imagination.
After six weeks of bouncing around the world, trying to outrun my pain with overpriced cocktails and meaningless conversations, I gave up and came home. My apartment felt foreign, like stepping into someone else’s life. The first thing I noticed was a package sitting on my entryway table, postmarked from Florida. My heart thudded in my chest.
I ripped it open like a man possessed, dumping the contents onto the table. It was a stack of photocopied documents and a smaller padded envelope. I didn’t have to open it to know what was inside. The weight of the envelope, the familiar outlines—it was Jasmine’s wedding rings. I couldn’t bring myself to look at them, not yet. There was also a note from Cynthia, The Derry House’s owner, explaining that she found the jewelry along with some other things after we’d checked out and wanted to return them.
The fact that she’d sent them to my home address let me know she’d figured out my true identity. That pang of guilt hit me like a hammer, as I remembered that that Jasmine and I had lied to her, too. Cynthia had been nothing but kind, and we’d repaid her hospitality with deception. I sank deeper into my misery.
I poured myself a drink, something strong enough to dull the edges of my swirling emotions, and sank into my familiar cycle of anger, betrayal, and self-pity. The only thing that changed this time was the location. I was angry at myself for taking my eyes off the ball at work, letting my emotions dictate my decisions. I was angry at Jasmine for playing me the way she had. I was angry at myself for being fool enough to have fallen for it. And I was angry—no, furious—that Miller’s Cove was going to end upgutted by MasonCorp, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
But most of all, I was angry because I missed Jasmine. I missed her so much that I couldn’t think about anything else. I couldn’t escape the memories of her—the way her eyes sparkled when she was up to something, the way she made every moment, even the most mundane, feel like an adventure.
And I wasn’t the only one suffering. Tora hadn’t been the same since we left Miller’s Cove. While I was rushing around the apartment, packing to leave, I’d accidentally stuffed one of Jasmine’s T-shirts into my bag. Tora had found it, and ever since, he’d been sleeping with it every night, his nose buried in the fabric. Sometimes, when I walked past him curled up with that shirt, I felt an almost overwhelming urge to take it from him so I could do the same. That’s how bad things had gotten—I was jealous of my own dog.
My mind kept circling back to the last thing Jasmine said to me before I left. Her voice played on a loop in my head like a broken record. “This is it, Derek… You need to make the choice to believe me.”
I wanted to. God knows, I wanted to so badly it hurt. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. And for the life of me, I couldn’t understand why. I’d been spending every single day of the last six weeks trying to figure that out. Trying to figure out if it was her I didn’t trust—or if it was myself.
My phone buzzed on the coffee table. I stared at it, willing it to stop, but it didn’t. Finally, I picked it up.
It was CJ.
I almost let it go to voicemail. Almost. But then, somethingin me snapped. I needed to talk to someone, and CJ was the one person left in my life I could trust.
“What?” I barked into the phone.
“Wow, okay. Nice to talk to you, too, little brother.” His voice was calm, but I could hear the underlying concern. “I haven’t been able to get more than a three word text message from you in almost two months. If this Price/Waterford litigation wasn’t kicking my ass, I’d be over at your place kicking yours. I know you’re not at MasonCorp anymore. What happened to you?”
“What happened?” I let out a bitter laugh. “Everything. Jasmine played me. She went behind my back and submitted her proposal to MasonCorp. Now Miller’s Cove is screwed, David hates me, and Eleanor is heartbroken.”
“Slow down, Derek. What are you talking about?”
I told him everything he didn’t already know—from the fake marriage, to the berries, to my decision to back out of the deal, and finally, to the bombshell I’d learned about Jasmine’s betrayal. CJ listened without interrupting, but when I finished, there was a long silence on the other end of the line.
“You still there?” I asked, my voice rough.
“Yeah, I’m here. Look, I’m not saying Jasmine didn’t make a mistake, but you’re not seeing the full picture.”
“What full picture? She lied to me, CJ. She lied to all of us.”
“You’re right. She did. But have you considered why? Have you even talked to her?”
