Liam looks confused. “What’s happening?”
Then I remember the second thing I sprinted up the beach to accomplish. The first was to make a big scene and get the things that bothered me most off my chest. Check.
The second thing is to throw the ring back at him. So, I reach down and pry the monstrosity off of my hand. “You see this? I don’t need it. I don’t need your charity and I don’t need you, you self-absorbed prick.”
I throw the ring back at him. At his head, to be exact. It plinks off of his left temple and falls into the sand. I breathe a sigh of relief. Ha, victory is mine. Scene caused; ring thrown. Now I get my storm-off.
If only I had been able to sneak off the night after our one-night stand, this whole thing could have been avoided and I’d still have my normal life.
It’s a bummer that I now have to settle for a storm-off. No, I take that back. As I turn and stomp away through the beach sand in the general direction of the Beaky Tiki, I feel a sense of completion. A small sense of accomplishment, and it makes me feel a little bit better.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chase
I watch Kaylee leave. My chest is so tight it hurts, and I feel like I’m struggling to breathe. I have never felt this ripped apart in my whole life. When my other ex-fiancé left, I felt nothing but a sense of relief. And that was a real relationship.
It’s like a hole has been ripped out of me, leaving me an empty husk. Which doesn’t make sense. I won. The board of directors found in my favor. I’m leaving on a private plane in a couple of hours. This was our plan from the beginning. So why do I feel like I just made a colossal mistake? And why is she so mad?
I stand for a moment processing, blinking into the sun. All of a sudden, I feel the stares of onlookers and hear the clicks of the cameras of both paparazzi and tourists alike.
It makes sense. A scene of that magnitude is going to bring them out of the woodwork. And there’s no way a couple of plainclothes guards can hold back dozens of sneaky photographers with zoom lenses.
The strange thing is now they’re not helping me, now they’re documenting my pain and misery. And I don’t care. Suddenly I don’t care about anything.
I turn to my brother, who sits there with a confused expression and his arms crossed.
Ashley sighs and slumps into a lounge chair. She shakes her head sadly. “What did you do this time, brother?”
It’s time to face the music. I’ve lost her. And oddly, nothing else matters. Not the company, not the money, not even the judgy looks from my family members or the unwanted intrusion of the paparazzi.
I just stand here, having no idea what to do next.
“Sorry, man,” Liam says. “You can’t win them all.”
But I did win. I got what I wanted, just like Kaylee said. And yet all I have is a twisting feeling in my gut.
My phone vibrates in my pocket. For a brief second, I feel a glimmer of hope. Maybe it’s Kaylee. I pull the phone out of my pocket faster than a quick draw artist in the old westerns I used to watch when I was a kid.
Once glance, though, and the hope is gone. I have a text, but it’s not from Kaylee. It’s from Mark. I frown at it.
Congratulations, Chase. The better man won. I hope there are no hard feelings and you understand it was nothing personal. I just wanted what was best for the company. With that in mind, and realizing I was wrong, I resigned my position on the board of directors, effective today. I wish you and Kaylee lots of happiness.
I put the phone back in my pocket. It feels like Mark kicked me in the teeth with the text, even though I know he didn’t mean them that way.
“Why?” It’s all I can say without my voice cracking with disappointment that the text isn’t from Kaylee.
“Who was that?” Liam asks.
I sit down in the lounge chair. “It was a text from Mark. He resigned from the board of directors, just like you said.”
“Chase, what happened?” he asks.
“Well, like you said. Mark didn’t want to stay on the board since the decision didn’t go his way.”
Liam sighs. “I’m not asking about Mark, you idiot. I’m asking about Kaylee. What the hell happened?”
“I don’t know.” I know that I was mad at her this morning. Thinking back, I really was an ass. I run my fingers through my hair. Kaylee says I do that when I’m stressed. She’s right, too. She knows almost everything about me. I pushed her away. I just never thought it would hurt this bad to see her walk away.
“Oh shit.” Ashley says. “Chase, what the fuck did you do? You guys looked for-real engaged last night when we left. How did it all go to shit so fast?”
“We went out to celebrate,” I begin.
“Did you get drunk?” Liam asks. “Did you throw up on her? Pass out in the middle of, well, you know.”
Ashley snort-laughs at that.
“Nothing like that,” I say defensively. “I overheard her talking on the phone. About how awful I was. How I just throw my money around and don’t care about anyone. I don’t remember all of it but trust me it was brutal stuff.”
“Way to prove her wrong about being awful,” Ashley deadpans.
“Look, I got her flowers and everything. Then I overheard the conversation. She didn’t know I was there. So behind my back, she hated me and to my face, well, I thought there might be something there. I
