“I mean… I’ve idolized my parents—at least professionally. I was conflicted and thought it all might just be Gareth and my parents had nothing to do with anything. So I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that they might be interfering with our relationship.You and I, I mean. I didn’t think they were capable of that. So, the truth made me realize that they’re definitely the type of people who’d sacrifice their own son for their agenda.”
She audibly swallows as she averts her gaze yet again. But I can see the discomfort flushing through her reddened face.
“They did it once,” I admit. “And they’re doing it again.”
The silence from her thickens the atmosphere. She doesn’t say anything for a while.
Finally, her fingers tap on her phone and scroll to the next damning evidence of my stupidity.
I cough out a wet sigh. “This… is from today. I-I’m so sorry for letting her get that close to me. I was spiraling after I learned that the clause was nothing but a tool for my parents to control my life and continue their fucked up activities. I was… I didn’t notice. I’m sorry.”
She clears her throat, setting the phone on the coffee table. But she stares at it with something close to fear. I can feel the hurt radiating from her.
“I’m sorry,” I repeat uselessly. “I should’ve told you everything from the start. I—”
“You said you wouldn’t let me be blindsided.” She cuts me off softly but there’s an edge to her tone. “And I’m… wondering if there’s more that’ll somehow catch me off guard because… because you failed to share. So, is there anything else?”
My mind whirls with the accusation. It’s true, though. I’ve let her be blindsided again even though I promised transparency.
I trace back to the day Iris came back into our lives and run through every interaction I’ve had with her. Anything I stupidlykept from my Cece.
My whole frame goes rigid when I come across a memory.
The dinner. That damned dinner I went to with both Astor and Wentworth VPs of operations. Taewon was there. But so was Iris.
I was so incredibly stupid in having her tag along.
Jesus Christ.
She wasn’t even officially our consultant back then. Just a vendor we had been reviewing.
I remember Taewon’s disapproving glare when I agreed to her joining us after my VP, Roland, invited her casually.
But all the color drains from my face when I recall what I did immediately after. I was walking with everyone to the nearest restaurant, phone in hand, absently typing a message to Cece.
Me: Sorry. Coquitlam complex causing a mess. Working late tonight with Tae.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck,fuck. Did I really cancel on her that night? Giving her a half-ass excuse that wasn’t entirely true?
“I’m guessing you remembered something,” she mumbles, studying my face with a mix of curiosity and wariness.
I have no plans on hiding. Not anymore. But I know this will hurt her even more. Fuck. I force the words out anyway. “The night I texted you about the Coquitlam Complex—that I was busy… I-I was at dinner with our VPs, Taewon, and… Iris.”
I expect wide eyes, surprise, maybe even anger. But I get none of it. Just a quiet defeated smile. I don’t want this. Christ, I don’t want her giving up before I’ve even tried to fix things.
“You canceled on me that night,” she whispers, nodding to herself.
A broken, dry sob escapes me. I’m losing her. I know it.
“She… I went to the bar to get a refill,” I continue, watching her frame freeze as she braces for some impact. “She followed me and said something about the clause and how my parents… how they were weirdly involved in my personal life.”
Her lower lip wobbles violently before she bites it hard.
But I can’t—won’t—hide anything. “That got me thinking about everything. I started going through memories, how everything happened ten years ago. I wanted answers. I felt like I missed something critical and—”
“You did,” she says quietly, without looking at me. “Well, I’m glad you know now. After reliving through a life you never told me about.”
Then she silences herself, almost in embarrassment. My eyes sting at the fact that she feels left out of the world I’d been sinking in for the last few weeks. Fuck. I should’ve told her everything.
