Yes, things with Kuang would most likely become messy. But choosing Dawn again…it felt right in his chest.
That evening, he had to put some necessary extra protections in place and call Han back home from Hawaii. There was a surprising reluctance on his chosen brother’s part, but in the end, he agreed to return to Rhode Island. And the following morning, it had taken hours with their accountants to ensure that The Silent Triad’s fortunes would not be disrupted by the sudden dissolution of their ten-year partnership with Kuang.
But after Victor was done with all of that, he returned to the Providence house with alacrity. Eager to see Dawn and tell her the truth he’d been denying for over a decade.
He loved Dawn. He could finally admit that again. That was why he could forgive her for what she’d done when she was a young woman. Why he’d chosen her again. And why he always would.
Less than twenty-four hours after choosing Dawn a second time, Victor ceased hitting Asher. The man she’d held in her heart while Victor had been helplessly falling for her all over again.
Victor had thought something real had arisen out of their game of pretend. He’d given up his partnership and taken on a formidable enemy for the chance to be with her beyond May 25th. He’d assumed she had felt the same. Why else would she have asked for his forgiveness?
But the sex…the cherry blossoms…her saying that she truly had loved him the first time around…every emotion he thought he’d felt sparking between them had been a lie.
She had simply been biding her time with him until she could be with the man she truly wanted. Acting…just like she had in Japan.
A cold, weak feeling washed over Victor as he rose to his feet and took a step back.
Asher also came to a stand. His nose was bleeding, and his face was a mess of bruises.
“You’re a fucking psycho!” he yelled at Victor. “No wonder Dawn’s so desperate to get out of this marriage!”
Words. Just words. But they hit Victor the same as a punch thrown. He flinched, then raised his fists, ready to fight again.
However, Dawn got between them before he could throw another punch. With her back to Victor, she pushed at Asher urgently. “Just go, Asher. Please.”
Asher’s expression softened when he looked down at Dawn. “I’m sorry,” he wheezed through his possibly broken nose. “I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”
“It’s okay. I just need you to go,” Dawn answered, glancing back at Victor as if he were a volcano that could erupt at any moment.
Asher had the audacity to cut his eyes at Victor as well. “Are you…. Are you safe with him? I don’t want to leave if—”
“I’m fine,” she insisted. “Victor’s angry, but he won’t hurt me. I promise. Just go.”
Asher looked between the two of them before bending down to scoop up the glasses Victor had punched off his face. “I’ll see you in school tomorrow?”
Dawn all but shoved him out the door without answering that question.
“If I don’t see you in class tomorrow, I’m calling the police!” Asher shouted on the other side of the door, after Dawn slammed it in his face.
Was that a threat? Victor stepped forward, ready to end his unworthy opponent all over again. But Dawn once again stepped between him and killing the man who was actively planning to be with her after her marriage to Victor was done.
“Hurting him won’t solve anything,” she said in a rush. “This is between you and me. Just us.”
His blood boiled at her words. She seemed to care nothing of herself, only of this Asher.
“You made plans!” he said, his signs coming out fast and angry. “This whole time you were with me, you were making plans to be with him!”
“I wasn’t with you!” she replied silently, her signs just as angry as his. “I’m your prisoner, you psycho! What did you expect? That I’d never imagined being with someone else? I’m sure you weren’t faithful for all 364 days between our fucked up anniversaries.
The fact that he had indeed been faithful to her this entire ten years, helplessly so, made him feel even more stupid than Kuang had accused him of being the day before.
“Why him?” he demanded. He hated himself for asking this. But he had to know. “Why would you choose him to follow me?”
“Because he was nice to me!” she screamed with her hands. “Because he treated me decently. Because he wasn’t a total monster. Because he wasn’t punishing me for ten years for something that wasn’t my fault. Because he didn’t blame me for his shitty father’s death. That’s why!”
Her words were even worse than Asher’s. They hit him like bullets, even though her only weapons were her hands. Gone was the tearful and apologetic woman who’d inspired him to end his practical engagement. Here was the real Dawn. The one who still had no remorse for her actions, even nearly ten years of punishment.
Kuang’s words echoed inside his head. “There are consequences for your stupid actions. That’s something you must learn. Someone will have to teach you that lesson, once and for all.”
Most likely, Kuang had assumed that he would be the one to teach Victor this ultimate lesson. But in the end, it was Dawn.
The woman he thought he loved.
The woman he’d given up everything for, only to be thrown aside by her.
Again.
Victor had felt certain about his actions as he left that bar on Saturday. He had believed her. Believed that they could make their relationship work this time. He’d been so sure that this was their happy ending delayed. But now…
Now, there was only one more thing he had to know.
“Do you love him?” he asked her.
This question she answered out loud, her voice quiet but hard. “No, I liked him. And from what life has shown me so far, like is way better than love.”
They stood there, that truth resonating between them as violent as a spray of bullets.
There were a thousand things he could sign in reply. A thousand punishments he could mete out right then and there.
But in the end, he strode forward toward the door.
Mistaking his intention, she immediately scrambled away. Apparently, she was not nearly as confident that he wouldn’t hurt her as she’d assured Asher.
He could no longer be surprised. The new trust they had been building up over the last few weeks—the one he’d felt as he walked out of that meeting with Kuang—had only been an illusion.
Perhaps it surprised her when he simply walked out of the house. He wouldn’t know.
Because for the first time when he left her, he didn’t look back.
Part VI
Is that…?
32
DAWN
Victor left. Without another word. Without looking back.
And, just like that, the illusion we’d created over the last few weeks had shattered.
Two more security guards arrived to supplement Wayne after he left. One was stationed at the door, and the other patrolled the neighborhood. I wasn’t sure if they were there to ensure that I didn’t get out or that no other guys—specifically Asher—got in. Either way, it was overkill. And it made me feel even more imprisoned than I had over the past nine years.