Jonathan’s hand froze halfway as he set the bottle down.
He stared at Marina, his gaze steady, watching the tears shimmering in her wide, pleading eyes.
To say he didn’t feel a stab of pain would be a lie.
After all, Marina was his first love–the girl who had stood by his side through thick and thin in that grim juvenile center, when they’d both been just kids with nowhere to turn. Back then, she was Rina, his Rina.
But now…
“I’m sorry.”
The words came from him, unprompted.
Marina looked stunned.
She knew better than anyone how rare it was to hear those three words from Jonathan–and how much it meant when he actually said them with sincerity.
But right–now, those were the last words she wanted.
Not now, not ever.
“Jonathan…”
She could see the pain in his eyes, how much he still cared. But beneath it, she saw something else even more clearly: the cold, unyielding resolve.
“I can’t give you my love anymore.”
His tone was calm, but every word landed with finality.
“I told you this the day you came back and I picked you up from the airport.”
A hollow ringing filled Marina’s ears.
Yes… she remembered. The day they reunited after years apart, Jonathan had looked her in the eye and told her–plain and simple-
“I can’t give you my love anymore… because I’m married.”
But Marina had never truly believed it.
So what if he was married?
11:35
Jonathan hadn’t married Niamh out of love. She knew that. He’d done it out of spite, out of a twisted need to get back at her, and because his grandfather had Insisted on it.
Now that she was back, all he had to do was divorce Niamh, marry her, and everything would fall back into place–just as it should.
“So what are you saying, exactly?”
Marina clutched at Jonathan’s shirt, desperate, refusing to let go.
“Are you telling me you’ve fallen in love with Niamh?”
” »
“Is that it? You’re leaving me because you love her now?”
Her voice cracked as she shouted, raw and desperate.
“No…”
Jonathan shook his head.
But Marina couldn’t tell which question that “no” was answering.
The first one? The second? Or neither?
“From the moment you chose to break up with me and go abroad… there was no way back for us.”
His voice was steady, emotionless. The words knocked the color from her face.
He had once believed he’d never stop loving Rina.
When they’d found each other again in their final year of high school, he’d cherished her, adored her, tried to give her the world.
But his grandfather had never approved of her.
And just when Jonathan.was bending over backward to change his grandfather’s mind, Marina chose to leave–to pursue her degree overseas, right when his grandfather was in the hospital.
He couldn’t leave his grandfather’s side, so Marina left him instead.
Jonathan had never imagined that his Rina would force him to choose between the person who’d raised him and the girl he loved.
To this day, he still didn’t understand.
11:35
Was it him who had changed?
Or was it her?
Seeing the confusion, the conflict, and the pain flicker across Jonathan’s face, Marina shoved him hard, sending him stumbling back.
“No… That’s not true. You still love me. You’re just punishing me for walking away back then, aren’t you?”
“Jonathan, you swore you’d love me and only me for the rest of your life! Are you really going to break that promise?”
Her accusations, wild and desperate, left Jonathan speechless.
It was because he didn’t want to betray that promise that he’d tried–God, he’d tried. He’d done everything he could for her, even letting her keep her dignity in front of everyone else.
But in the end…
Jonathan grabbed a bottle of expensive champagne and downed it, glass after glass, until it was empty.
Even with all that alcohol burning in his stomach, his dark eyes stayed sharp and clear.
“What do you want from me, Marina? Tell me what you want and I’ll make it up to you… somehow.”
At the hospital.
Niamh was thumbing through her phone when Peter dropped by to see her.
“I’ve got a piece of news you’re going to want to hear,” he teased. “Want to know what it is?”
