2 | "It wasn't mine!"

“How could someone be that cold-hearted?” Molly Carter grumbled as she sat at a café near the airport with her best friend, Carmen Price.

After the unpleasant encounter with Jenna in the kitchen, Carmen woke up the next morning and left for the airport as quietly as possible. She didn’t want to make any scene or give Ronin or Jenna a reason to believe she had no intention of leaving. The last thing she wanted was to give them another chance to humiliate her. Thus, as soon as the sun came up and the alarm on the nightstand went off, she was out of bed and out of Ronin’s hair in less than an hour.

However, half an hour before her departure, Molly arrived with a furious scowl and literally dragged her out of the airport.

“It doesn’t matter now.” Carmen attempted to placate her enraged friend, tracing the rim of the hot cup of coffee. “Let’s just forget about whatever happened.”

“Are you sure you can forget about it?” Molly cocked her brow, knowing Carmen wasn’t the type of person who could readily let go of her emotions. They had been best friends since they were toddlers. She knew Carmen well enough to know she wouldn’t be able to move on unless something was done about it. “Because I don’t think so. We need a plan to get back at him. To make him realize what he had done. To make him pay for it. To make him suffer.”

“Molly!” Carmen sighed defeatedly, suddenly lacking the stamina to hold the exhausting conversation. “We are doing no such thing. We both knew this was going to happen one day. So don’t pretend as if it came out of nowhere, because it didn’t.”

“You’re still trying to defend him,” Molly pouted, folding her arms over her chest. “Even after everything he’s done to hurt you.”

“I’m not.” Carmen was adamant that she was not. She was only being reasonable. Or so she hoped. “All I’m trying to do here is to be a bigger person.”

Molly snorted. “What’s the fun in that?”

“Not everything is meant to be fun, Molly.”

“That’s only because you choose to be boring. Duh!” she brooded. “If I were in your shoes, I’d make him regret his entire life.”

“Well then, it’s a good thing that it’s my life and not yours.” Gently, she reached Molly’s hand, sincerity in her eyes. “As much as I appreciate you are taking a stand for me, just let me handle this on my own. Trust me when I say this. I know what I’m doing. And if I don’t, I’ll figure it out somehow. Just…just trust me, okay?”

Despite the certainty in her voice, Carmen was failing to assure her of the same. The truth was beyond her perception. She knew this was her destiny long before she signed the marriage contract. What made little sense to her was why it hurt more than it was warranted. Why did she expect so much from a man who never even spared her a full glance? Despite the bitter reality of their relationship, why did she play the role of his wife with such sincerity? He didn’t deserve that, did he? Not after he pushed her into a relationship that he had no intention of taking seriously. She was just an object to him. An object he had no consideration for. No respect.

Molly had no choice but to give in. Carmen was already stressed enough; she couldn’t add to her worries.

“Fine.” She fussed, perhaps a touch unwillingly. “But only because I love and trust you and know you won’t let anything knock you down.”

Carmen smiled, happy that they were in agreement. She hated when they argued over anything, literally. “Great. It’s settled then.”

Molly took a sip of her coffee before another thought came to her mind. She quickly placed the cup back on the table. “Wait, one more thing.”

“What now?” Carmen asked humorously, nibbling on a fry.

“I have already set the paperwork in motion, but I still need you to say yes.”

Carmen had no clue where her friend was going with that. Her brows bunched in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“To join my company,” Molly revealed enthusiastically as if it was the biggest surprise of the day she had been waiting to pop. “In fact, I’m offering your partnership.”

Molly!” Carmen shook her head. “Don’t.”

“Why not?” Molly inquired, frustrated. “I have a business to call my own because of you in the first place. My startup wouldn’t have seen the light of day if you hadn’t helped me with the funding.”

“It belonged to Ronin,” Carmen said regretfully, her gaze falling on her lap. “It wasn’t mine.”

“Yeah, which he very conveniently handed you in exchange for marrying his asshole self.” Molly rolled her eyes. “Come on, Carmen. You didn’t take a single dime from him. You gave it all to me. And I’ll be honest, I used to be torn between thanking him and punching him in the face, but I have no regrets. Not anymore. For what he did to you, he deserves far worse than hell.”

Carmen sagged in her chair, unsure of what to say next. Ronin had indeed paid her to be his wife. When Jenna grew cold feet merely a few hours before the wedding, he was desperate to fix the problem. Carmen was never given the choice. Or the opportunity to figure out what the hell was going on. She had tried to reason with him. But given the dire circumstances, he wasn’t ready to hear anything from anyone. Nobody, not even his parents. Or his grandfather, whom he admired beyond everything else. Everyone failed in front of his firm determination.

“You’re not going to drop him off your hit list, are you?” Carmen finally said, lifting a brow.

“Nope!” Molly shrugged, smugly.

Carmen knew this conversation was going to bite her in the ass the moment she saw Molly at the airport. She should have left when she had time. Now with Molly on her back, she wouldn’t be able to crawl her way out of this. Molly was just as stubborn as was humanly possible. She wouldn’t let go until she was proven wrong.

And right now, Carmen didn’t have the energy to engage in another round of disagreement. She was tired and lacked the will and strength to do anything at all. All she wanted was to find a comfy bed and collapse on it.

With a thwarted sigh escaping her lips, she gave her a nod and huffed out a chuckle. “Fine.”

Molly squealed with joy. “Yay! You won’t regret this. I promise—”

“I’m ready to go back to work,” Carmen cut her off before Molly’s excitement could shoot through the roof. “…but NOT as a partner.”

“What? Why?” Molly looked confused, her enthusiasm dimming fractionally.

“Because you did all the hard work, and this business belongs only to you. No one can take that away. Not even your best friend. I’m more than happy to work under you. And that’s my one and only condition,” Carmen added, taking another long sip of coffee, drawing her time, if only to aggravate her overjoyed friend. She gave her a beautiful smile. “For now.”

Molly grimaced before requesting the bill and returning her gaze to her friend. “This isn’t over.”

Carmen laughed, blessed to have a friend like her. “We’ll see about that, won’t we?”

* * *

A black SUV with tinted windows pulled across the cafe as Carmen and Molly exited and made their way to Molly’s car parked on the side of the road.

The man in the backseat answered the phone.

“Are you certain she’s no longer a problem?” He addressed whoever was on the other end.

“Sure thing. She’s out of Ronin’s life for good. We can now move to the next phase of our plan.”

The man hummed, his gaze fixated on the laughing and chattering Carmen.

“I’ll take your word for it. But if the plan backfired—”

The other person on the line didn’t let him finish.

“It won’t. Have some faith. Just let me know whenever you’re ready to initiate our next step.”

The man hung up the phone and narrowed his eyes. He waited until Carmen and the other woman with her got into a car and drove away. Only then, he returned his gaze to the other man in the car. Other than the driver.

“Is this the right time?” He inquired, his brow furrowed.

The second gentleman grinned. “Without a doubt! While the iron is still hot, strike it.”