CHAPTER 272: CHAPTER 272 MIRA: A COUPLE AT A SINGLES’ EVENT

‘You’re a liar,’ I said the moment she picked up the phone.

‘What did I do?’ Yvaine yawned.

‘You told me this was a singles’ cruise.’

‘Yeah.’

‘It’s not.’

‘Why not?’

‘I saw Ashton.’ I closed my eyes, but his image wouldn’t leave.

It had been close to three months since I’d last seen him.

It should have been impossible, yet he seemed taller somehow.

Everyone else wore T-shirts and Bermuda shorts. He had shed his jacket, but the black shirt and black trousers remained, making him both impossible to ignore and impossible to approach. Add his aura of aloofness, that silent warning to keep away, and people steered clear.

Even the girls brave enough to be drawn in by his face lost their nerve when they noticed the woman beside him.

‘Did you?’ Yvaine’s voice was falsely surprised. ‘What a coincidence.’

‘Liar. Did he put you up to this?’

‘Nope.’

‘Lie again.’

‘Still nope. He’s single, isn’t he? So are you. Like I said, this is a singles’ cruise.’

Smugness clung to her words no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

‘This isn’t over. The moment I get off this ship, I’m coming to your house—’

‘Yeah, yeah. You can do whatever you like when you get off. Which won’t be for another week. Meanwhile, have fun!’

She hung up.

I tossed my phone onto the bed and then followed it, flat on my back, staring at the low ceiling.

Seven days, trapped on the same boat as Ashton, the man I had spent two months trying my damned hardest to forget.

Could there be anything worse?

Turned out, the answer was yes.

The only thing worse than running into your ex was running into him with his new girlfriend, while you stood there pathetically alone.

At the welcome ball, which was basically a singles’ mixer, I had wanted to turn and leave the moment I saw them. But the crowd behind me—a pack of college kids—pushed forward, and I was carried with them.

Lea wore a wine-red dress with a flaring hem, auburn hair pinned in an elegant knot. She clearly loved red, and I had to admit, it suited her.

She wasn’t clinging to Ashton’s arm, but the way she leaned in close, whispering now and then, made it clear enough they were together.

I kept my distance, though I couldn’t keep my eyes off him.

He must have felt it.

The moment he turned his head, I ducked behind a column.

Then I cursed myself. Why was I hiding?

‘Hi there.’ Lea appeared in front of me, glass of wine in one hand, the other extended. ‘I’m Lea Lopez.’

I shook her hand briefly. ‘Mirabelle Vance.’

She smiled. ‘I know. We should have met a long time ago, in Paris.’

‘Yeah,’ I said drily.

I knew exactly what she meant. Her arrival in Ashton’s life had marked the beginning of the end of ours.

I glanced past her. Ashton had disappeared.

‘Didn’t expect to run into you here,’ she said.

‘Same here.’ I wanted to slip away, but she blocked the exit.

Then, suddenly, she said, ‘I envy you.’

‘Huh?’

Her voice was gentle, oddly at odds with her striking looks. ‘I was an orphan. People said my birth father was a murderer. I was bullied for it. Later, I was adopted, but it wasn’t the life-changing gift I’d imagined. It was...’ Her voice faded.

I frowned, baffled by why she was telling me this.

‘People raised in loving families can’t understand those like me. Luckily, I met others with similar backgrounds. Ashton, Kylian, Olivier. At first, we looked out for each other. Then we started running... operations. Not exactly on the right side of the law, but it brought in money. And money meant independence. Freedom from the families we despised. That was all we wanted.’

I shifted on my feet. What was this? A sympathy bid? A boast that she had known him longer than I had? I already knew that.

Lea’s tone softened. ‘I get why he was drawn to you. You had difficult parents too, but you turned out differently from us. You’re not bitter or vindictive. You’re... normal. Opposites attract, I suppose.’

My brow furrowed.

Her smile brightened again. ‘But it never lasts. Sooner or later, you realise you and Ash don’t share the same outlook. You’re too different. The relationship was doomed from the start.’

Ah. There it was. She was here to gloat.

‘Ashton and I are over,’ I said evenly. ‘The relationship has already failed. Are you telling me this just to congratulate yourself on predicting it?’

Before she could reply, a man’s voice cut in. ‘May I have this dance?’ He was looking at her.

She smiled, took his hand. ‘Of course.’ She threw me a gracious smile before gliding onto the dance floor with him.

‘May I have the pleasure of this dance, my lady?’ A French-looking man in a white tuxedo bowed before me, hand extended.

He was handsome in a dandy way, with a smile that called to mind a young Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic.

‘I’m not good at dancing.’

‘I could teach you,’ he said.

Persistent, but not pushy.

I nodded.

But before I could take his arm, an iron grip closed round my wrist. ‘She’s taken.’

‘That’s a shame.’ The man glanced between us, shrugged, and walked away.

‘What are you doing here?’ I pulled free of Ashton’s grasp.

‘I could ask you the same thing.’ His voice was as hard as his expression.

‘I don’t owe you an answer.’ I stepped back, putting space between us. ‘If you’re looking for your girlfriend, she’s over there, dancing.’

Ashton frowned, following my pointing hand. ‘Lea’s—’

‘Not my concern. I’m hungry.’

I fled.

Damn it. I stuffed myself with prawns in garlic butter, muttering curses in my head. Why couldn’t I act normal around him? I had thought I could. Smile politely, treat him like any other man, maybe ask how he was and wish him and Lea well.

But the words refused to come.

I couldn’t bear to hear him say her name, couldn’t bear the end of that unfinished sentence.

Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.

I was the one who broke up with him. So why was I still so hung up?

Maybe I wasn’t. Maybe I just hated the thought that he had already moved on while I was still stuck in the past.

Determined to prove otherwise, I accepted the next man’s invitation to dance.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lea now dancing with Ashton. The music swelled, the pace quickened. They drew closer to where I stood.

Someone bumped me from behind. I faltered, tripped on my heel, and heard the rip of fabric.

Lea gasped. Her hand flew to her chest. I had stepped on the hem of her dress, and one of its narrow straps slipped from her shoulder, baring even more skin.

Ashton immediately shrugged off his tuxedo jacket and draped it over her.

‘You all right?’ he asked.

‘I’m fine.’ She straightened, clutching the jacket. She glanced at me.

I opened my mouth to apologise, but the words froze as I stared at his jacket around her shoulders.

I kept staring as they left the ballroom together.