“No, coming was the right thing to do if you believed you had to be here.” I clasped my hands together, keeping them from fumbling. “You did it for Gonzalo, and that’s very brave of you.”
He laughed with bitterness. “I don’t think anyone at that table would agree with you. Except maybe Gonzalo, and he wouldn’t use the word brave.” His hands slipped into the pockets of his slacks.
Again, he wasn’t wrong about that either. My parents had always been polite even if distant, but just for Gonzalo’s sake. For Isabel’s sake too. They knew how important Daniel was to him and how, without him, they wouldn’t have Gonzalo in their lives, and they loved him to pieces. But I still didn’t have a doubt that they’d never forgive Daniel for breaking my heart all that time ago. For having a part in what I had gone through.
“Listen,” Daniel said before releasing a breath. “I know it’s probably too late for this, but I wanted to tell you that I am sorry. I don’t think I ever did.”
No, he had never apologized.
“But I never meant for everything that went down to happen. I never even imagined it was a possibility.”
Of course he hadn’t, and hadn’t that been part of the problem? He dragged me along, and when things started looking ugly, he fled the ship. Leaving me there to sink with it. And that had been exactly what I did; I had been pulled under the surface, and I’d had to fight my way up. Alone.
His apology was long overdue—perhaps it was even too late—but at least I was finally getting one. And that counted for something.
“It’s water under the bridge,” I told him, and I meant it. Even though a little part of me would always remember that he had been a big player in something that left a scar I’d always carry around. “Don’t worry about what my dad said, by the way. He’s a little emotional.” I waved my hand in front of us, stopping myself the moment I realized I didn’t owe Daniel a single thing. I shouldn’t have been trying to make him feel better. I cleared my throat. “You know how weddings bring out the best and worst of us.”
I was the living proof of that, my fake boyfriend sitting at a table with my family, finally facing my newly engaged ex.
Although the problem with coming back home for Isabel’s wedding—single, dateless—had never been about seeing Daniel. It was about facing everyone else while doing that. It was the anticipation, the idea, of having every single person who had seen me grow up, fall in love, get my heart broken, lose a little part of myself for a while, and then flee to a different country. It was about facing a man who had clearly put his life back together when I hadn’t. That was what had set this whole thing into motion, exactly what had made me push the panic button.
And how stupid had that been? How dumb had it been to let something like that drive me to lie? To create and sell them this ridiculous and wholesome image of myself that I’d thought would make me complete and happy in their eyes?
I realized now, as I stood in front of the catalyst of this whole mess, that it had been very fucking stupid.
“I hope you mean that, Lina. This whole thing is better left in the past anyway.” Daniel looked at the ground for a moment and then nodded his head. “Are you happy now? With your life? With him?” He tilted his head. “You don’t look completely happy.”
My throat dried, my eyes widening, as I tried to process his words. “Of course I am,” I said, but it came out in a breathless way. Pure shock swirled in my body, mixing with stupid fear at being called out on my lie. “I’m happy, Daniel,” I repeated, those two emotions turning into something else. Something that tasted a lot more bitter.
“Are you sure about that?” he asked calmly, in a confident and patronizing way that had me rearing my head back. “He seems like a stand-up guy, this Aaron. Although he looks a little … dry. Stuffy,” Daniel continued, and my eyes fluttered closed for a fraction of a second, a strong sense of protectiveness washing over me. “But I guess he’s good to you. He has been stuck to your side since the moment I met him.” He chuckled. “Not my style, this guard-dog vibe, but I could understand the appeal.”
My lips parted as I found it hard to believe the words leaving my ex’s mouth.
“But are you really happy, Lina? I know you, and this is not the carefree Lina you are. You have been on edge in the short time you’ve been here, and I’ll be honest, I can’t help but be concerned.”
Concerned? I blinked. Then, I did it again. And again and again.
Had I been on edge? I could believe that. I had certainly felt that way more than once. But … whether what he thought was true or not wasn’t important. It was the fact that he believed he had any right to deny something I was telling him myself.
Oblivious to my growing outrage, Daniel kept going, “It could be coming back home. That must be a lot of pressure for you. Or maybe it’s that Isabel is getting married and you aren’t.”
A breath got stuck in my throat.
“Or maybe it’s him. I don’t know, but—”
“Stop,” I hissed. Something lit up inside of me. Like a bonfire. I could even hear the flames crackling and sizzling. Burning away the remains of my patience. “Don’t you dare do that, Daniel.”
His brows wrinkled together, his expression one of confusion. “Do what?”
“Do what?” I repeated, my voice going up an octave. Closing my eyes, I tried my best to get back my composure. “Do not pretend that you care or that you even know me anymore. You have no right to judge or doubt my happiness.” The pace at which my breath entered and left my lungs increased, my anger not receding. “So, stop throwing in my face whatever it is you think you know or see. You lost that right a long time ago.”
He shook his head, sighing loudly. “I’ve always cared about you, Lina. And I always will. That’s why I’m worried about you. Why I’m trying to have a conversation.”
“You’ve always cared about me? You’ll always care?”
“Of course,” he puffed out. “You are like a little sister to me. We are about to become family.”
Something deep inside of me turned to ice. The marrow in my bones freezing, rooting me to the spot.