Chapter 202
Niamh could practically hear her own heartbeat pounding in her ears.
She rolled over, forcing herself to fall asleep.
Just as she thought Jonathan must have dozed off long ago, his voice drifted quietly from behind her. “Good night.”
Without realizing it, Niamh slipped into sleep. Maybe the exhaustion of traveling these past few days finally caught up with her, because this time, she overslept until late morning.
When she woke, Jonathan was already up and dressed, a bag of breakfast in his
hands.
“There’s only fast food around here–just a breakfast combo from KFC. Hope that’s alright.”
“This is great, actually,” Niamh replied.
She would never turn up her nose at a KFC breakfast, even if it was just reheated and packaged.
What she really worried about was whether Jonathan could stomach it.
The two of them sat across from each other in the cramped hotel room, eating burgers. More than once, Niamh almost asked if Jonathan’s stomach problems had flared up again.
But every time she opened her mouth, the words stuck in her throat. After all, Jonathan had Marina looking after him now–she had no right to be concerned.
She and Jonathan… It was best described as a doomed entanglement.
Once they finished eating, they hit the road again.
The rain had finally stopped, so Jonathan pressed down a little harder on the gas, but Niamh no longer felt the restlessness that had gnawed at her before.
The project no longer required her raw materials.
A week and change passed in this coming and going. When Niamh returned to The Thomas Group and saw Marina again, there was a triumphant gleam in Marina’s
eyes.
“The higher–ups decided to go with my design,” Marina announced. “Too bad made the trip for nothing.”
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19:54
“It’s no big deal,” Niamh replied, turning to leave–but Marina stepped in front of her. “I know Jonathan drove you back.”
“Oh…”
Niamh’s response was cool, almost indifferent. Marina bit her lip.
“Jonathan just happened to be out of town on business. You really lucked out, running into him like that.”
Niamh hadn’t planned to bother with Marina, but seeing how much Marina cared, she had an idea.
“Do you really believe Jonathan and I just happened to bump into each other?”
“What are you saying?”
Seeing her take the bait, Niamh flashed a brilliant smile, radiating composure and poise.
“Jonathan came to pick me up on purpose. He was worried about my safety.”
“Impossible! You two are getting divorced!”
Marina’s reaction was instant–and exactly what Niamh had hoped for. Calmly, she countered, “But what if we don’t get divorced?”
Marina’s face twisted as if she’d just bitten into something rotten, and Niamh felt a wicked sense of satisfaction.
She and Jonathan would never stay together. But if she could make Marina squirm a little before the end, why not?
Niamh’s words stirred up more than a little turmoil in Marina’s heart.
What if Jonathan really did start caring about Niamh, and decided not to go through with the divorce…?
Biting her thumb, Marina paced the conference room in agitation, unable to settle her thoughts.
She didn’t sleep a wink that night. The next morning, just after eight, she found herself alone outside Aldénville High School-
Her alma mater.
Jonathan’s alma mater, too.
19-54
It was a golden autumn, and Aldenville High was celebrating its hundredth anniversary. As one of the school’s most distinguished alumni, Jonathan had been invited to give a speech, and both teachers and students welcomed him with open
arms.
When the speech was over, Jonathan stepped out of the auditorium.
Two rows of ginkgo trees shaded the path outside–their leaves had turned a soft yellow, fluttering down in a gentle shower, carpeting the stone steps with a thin layer of gold.
Jonathan’s gaze landed on someone without even meaning to.
A woman.
She was riding a bicycle along the ginkgo–lined path, her ponytail swinging behind her. She wore an ivory tracksuit, her smile radiant, giving off a youthful energy that seemed to defy her age.
