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“Photos and some of my paintings,” Sakura said. “But that’s okay. I’m going to shut it down soon anyway.”
“Oh?” James turned to her. “Why? It’s making you good money, isn’t it?”
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sp; Sakura nodded. “I have other plans.”
“Mind telling me what they are?” James asked curiously.
Sakura cast her eyes downward to avoid his gaze. Her heart suddenly ached in her chest. She couldn’t possibly tell him now, could she? He’d be very upset, and she didn’t want him to be upset, especially when the wedding was so close and all.
James understood immediately. He sighed. “I see.” There was an uncomfortable silence in the room as the brothers wondered what was going on. Finally, James said, “Why don’t we go to lunch?”
The brothers agreed. Sakura followed them, her mind far away.
They met up with the rest of the brothers—Tristan, Logan, Hayden, Darcy, and Conrad—down at the ground-floor restaurant. Conrad rushed over to Sakura the moment he saw her and grabbed her wrist, leading her to the buffet area. As she took a plate, Sakura felt Darcy’s intense gaze on her. Her stomach flipped, and her heart raced.
He’d not spoken one word to her yet, and he looked as though he were pissed with something, his face a dark, stony mask. Conrad kept putting food onto her plate, chatting away animatedly as Sakura kept taking peeks at Darcy, who now and again also happened to catch her eyes. Instantly, she’d flicked her gaze away, embarrassed. She wondered why he was keeping his distance. Her heart jolted within her chest. What about that kiss in the woods? Had that really meant nothing to him? She was totally confused by his actions.
A few moments later, Mary, Peter, and Richard joined them. Sakura sat down and had lunch beside Mary, who kept chatting animatedly to Peter. Conrad chose to sit on her other side, who also kept on a constant conversation, which Sakura couldn’t seem to take in as she was too deep in her own thoughts. Then she felt someone watching her. She lifted her head and saw Darcy gazing at her from across the table, his face a hard mask, his mauve-gray eyes intense on her face. He looked as though he were in a dilemma, in pain.
Darcy was in fact in a very deep, dark dilemma. What to do? Oh, God, just looking at her caused his insides to ache. How could he back out of wanting this woman to be his when he loved her so much? But then again, his brother Sebastian was also in love with this woman. How could he steal Sakura from Sebastian? They were family. But he loved this woman. Shit! His heart hurt.
Sebastian, sitting beside Nicolas and Conrad, noticed Darcy and Sakura staring at each other and frowned darkly. The atmosphere was indeed tense.
At that moment, a voice sang out to them. “My, my. The whole family here at the hotel?”
Sakura looked up to see Alaina walking toward them. Behind her were Tara and another woman Sakura thought looked oddly familiar to her. As they came closer, Sakura felt as though someone had just punched her in the face. It was Kate Anderson, her ex-classmate, the popular cheerleader who had bullied her in high school.
Mary nearly choked on her orange juice the moment she saw Kate. “Shit!” she swore under her breath. “What the hell!”
“What’s wrong?” Peter asked his fiancée.
The brothers looked up then and all swallowed hard, staring at the brunette beauty that was heading their way. They knew Darcy was in deep shit now.
“Holy cow!” Hayden shouted out. “It’s Kate!”
Darcy went rigid instantly and his impassive face turned even colder. Since his back was to the door, he was glad he didn’t have to look at his ex-girlfriend.
“Hi, everyone,” Kate said pleasantly as she scanned around the long table. Then she spotted Darcy and smiled with delight. The smile, however, didn’t last long as she spotted Sakura opposite her boyfriend.
Oh, Tara and Alaina had told her about her ex-classmate all right, that the bitch Sakura was trying to steal Darcy from her, and that was why Darcy wouldn’t return her calls. Kate wanted to snort with disgust. There was no way she’d let someone like Sakura Princeton—the fake Princeton—steal her Darcy away from her. She had all her plans worked out. Yes, all she needed to do was to kick the bitch out and take Darcy back, and she’d do anything to get her Darcy back, even if it killed her.
She cleared her throat and said loudly so that everyone could hear her, “Darcy, darling!” Then she rushed over and hugged him from behind, kissing his cheek in front of everyone.
Sakura felt as though she’d just died. Kate? Darcy? Her head spun, and she felt sick to her stomach. Suddenly, her body started trembling.
Mary noticed and took hold of her hand to support her. Mary, however, didn’t know it was because of what Kate had implied about her relationship with Darcy. Sakura wasn’t afraid of Kate, as Mary thought.
Sakura glanced up and her eyes met Darcy’s, intense and blazing.
“Did you miss me?” Kate asked, snuggling her face against his neck.
Tara and Alaina looked at each other, smiling, pleased with how things had gone so far.
James cleared his throat. “I’m afraid we haven’t met,” he said.
Kate chuckled and said to James, “I’m Kate, Darcy’s girlfriend.”
Sakura sucked in her breath and wanted to die right there and then. Why she had such a reaction she didn’t know, but God, how that very statement really affected her. So that was why he was keeping his distance. She couldn’t believe it! Couldn’t believe he had kissed her, yet he was dating Kate.
Darcy scowled darkly. He was still staring at Sakura, his eyes intense. Please, Sakura, don’t get the wrong idea, he wanted to shout out. But he didn’t, and Kate giggled as she kissed him on the cheek again.
Everyone was watching them, even the brothers, waiting for Darcy to do something.
Suddenly, Darcy was pissed. Why the hell did she have to turn up here and now of all places? After all, he had told her their relationship was over.
He shoved his chair back, which caused Kate to jump back in surprise. He turned to look at her then, his face a mask of anger and his eyes dark. The look on his face scared Kate shitless, but she managed to compose herself because she was here for a reason. She wasn’t going to back out now.
Without saying anything, he stalked out of the room. Kate felt embarrassed for only a split second and then followed him. Tara and Alaina grinned at each other, knowing very well that their plan had gone rather well thus far.
Sebastian turned his eyes to Sakura and noted her hands were shaking. His stomach knotted in dread. Shit!
Sakura chose that moment to get up and excuse herself, her voice shaking. Then she rushed out and headed straight to her car. Alone and with her heart still thumping hard within her chest, she drove out.
Oh, God! She could feel herself shaking, and her heart wouldn’t slow down its furious beatings. She felt tears rolling down her cheeks. Why was she crying? Why?
Soon she came near the Princeton Estate, and instead of driving up to the house, she parked the car on the side of the road and ran into the woods until she reached her cherry tree, the very same tree where Darcy had kissed her.
She collapsed against the tree and cried her heart out, her body shaking and her heart trembling. She stayed there, for how long she didn’t know, staring up at the beautiful pink cloud of cherry blossoms as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Oh, God, she couldn’t believe it. She was still crying even at this age. She was turning twenty-four soon and here she was still crying. Crying for what? The stupid crying wouldn’t change anything, would it?
Once she’d used up all her tears, she sighed, feeling a lot better. She sat up, wondering why she was crying so hard. Darcy. She thought that he—
She chuckled. How stupid of her. Yes, Sebastian with Tara and Darcy with Kate. They were two perfect couples.
She’d known her whole life she was never that lucky, that she just had to make the best of what she had. She chuckled again. Yes, she was stupid after all. There was no hope at all, was there? After the wedding, everyone would return to their own lives. Had she forgotten that her life and theirs were completely different? That whatever happened, none of the brothers would ever choose her? Hadn’t she seen it already when
Alaina and Tara had tried to kill her by drowning her in the pool when they’d known very well that she didn’t know how to swim? And the brothers? They hadn’t done a thing.
Since they were little, the brothers had always chosen Alaina and Tara over her. How stupid of her to even think that would change. Now it seemed Kate was a part of that privileged group as well.
She sat up and squared her shoulders. That was it. She didn’t care anymore. From now on, she was resolved to keep her distance from the brothers. She no longer wanted to get hurt. Besides, had Nicolas not told her already that none of them ever wanted her as their sister?
Before this day, she’d longed to be their sister, longed for them to love her and care about her. Now, however, she’d had enough. She didn’t care that they didn’t want her as their sister anymore. After this wedding, she was going her own way, to find her biological mother, to begin anew. Yes, and they’d get what they all wanted for so long, even Alaina and Tara. She would no longer be a member of their family. She would no longer be a Princeton.
Her face now dry of tears, she spread her arms as she stared up at the petals of cherry blossoms raining down on her, landing on her face and body. She chuckled and whispered, “Spring is nearly over.”
