Chapter Forty-three

“What do you mean by you have been watching me?” Derek asked in surprise. “How?”

Yasmin exhaled slowly. “I know you are probably going to hate me more than you already do by the time I am done with this next round of my confession,” she said and sounded tired even though her face still looked flawlessly beautiful and her youthful skin still glowed as before.

“I don’t hate you,” said Derek. “I simply don’t know you.”

“I understand,” she said indulgently. “Now, back to my confession. I have a friend named Ariana Connolly. We’ve been friends since high school and all through college. She was my maid-of-honor when I married your father. She was with me all through those years when I suffered emotional abuse from your father and when I seemingly spiraled out of control and started getting involved with different men. You see, Ariana has a daughter. This brilliant girl finished top of her class in Princeton and her dream was to work in the Fraser empire with you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, and when Arian