Page 3 of Harbinger of Destiny

“Hi, Mrs. Shipley, I know I’m early, but I can wait if Kelly isn’t quite ready.” He made a step toward her to enter, but she didn’t move. In fact, she blocked him.

“Yeah, uh, about that…” She cast a nervous look down the hallway to where the kitchen and dining room were located.

“Is something wrong?” Joshua asked, a weird feeling spreading in his gut.

“Mom? Are you coming?” Kelly called out from the hallway. “We want to open the champagne.” Kelly came into view. “We are—” She abruptly stopped when her eyes fell on Joshua.

“Kelly…” he said, but his voice trailed off. She was dressed for their date, wearing a short azure-blue dress that accentuated her slim figure and her long blond hair that cascaded over her shoulders. The sight took his breath away.

“Joshua… uh…”

There was an undertone of something in her voice that he couldn’t quite identify. It couldn’t be a surprise. After all, she knew he was coming. Was it dread? Impossible. Still, her facial expression was one of discomfort. But why? She couldn’t be sick. After all, she’d just mentioned opening a bottle of champagne. But why before the date? Had she guessed that he was planning to propose tonight?

All those questions raced through his mind in a millisecond.

Mrs. Shipley turned to Kelly. “I thought you sent him a message,” she said low under her breath, though Joshua had no trouble hearing her.

“What message?” Joshua asked, his gaze ping-ponging from mother to daughter. Neither seemed to find the words to answer him.

Suddenly a man came from the hallway and appeared in the foyer. It wasn’t Kelly’s father, but rather a much younger man, perhaps ten years older than Joshua.

“Darling,” he said and put his hand possessively on Kelly’s lower back. “What’s going on?”

That’s when Joshua noticed it: the diamond ring on Kelly’s finger. All air left his lungs. He stared at Kelly and the man whose arm was around her waist.

“Kelly?” But Joshua was unable to ask the question that lay on his tongue. Why ask it, when he already knew the answer?

“Corbin, why don’t you and I join my husband on the terrace, and give Kelly a moment?” Mrs. Shipley said suddenly.

“Of course,” the man said, and a moment later the two disappeared down the hallway.

“I’m sorry, Joshua,” Kelly finally said. “You must have known that I… that you weren’t the only one who…”

Frozen, Joshua clamped his jaw shut, fighting for self-control, fighting not to run after the bastard that had taken Kelly from him and beat him to a pulp. Instead, he glared at Kelly.

Kelly sighed. “I’m really sorry, Joshua… but—”

“But what?” he interrupted. “You played me. You used me to get a better offer. What was I to you? A prop?”

“It wasn’t like that,” she protested. “Corbin and I are just more compatible. Our families are in the same circles…”

That’s when it clicked. He knew who Corbin was. Or rather, he knew about his family. Inside him, his heart was breaking.

“Save your breath! Why don’t you just admit that he bought you! I’m not stupid. The Carmichaels want their heir to have children, so they bought him a woman who can guarantee that their name lives on.” He welcomed the anger fueling his words now. Better anger than showing her that she’d hurt him. “I hope you’ll be happy with him.”

He pivoted and left, not waiting for an answer.

2

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO?

“Where to?” the car’s driving system asked him.

For a moment, Joshua couldn’t think. He didn’t want to go home and have to admit to his parents that he’d failed and that Kelly had chosen somebody else over him. All these months, he’d simply been an accessory for her until she could attract a bigger fish. And one such fish had bitten and swallowed the bait hook, line, and sinker.

“Just drive around…” he said.

“Drive around? I can’t find this destination. Please clarify.”