Page 58 of Unveiled

I place the smaller box next to her on the bed. As she picks it up, I walk out of the room. I’ve dreamed of seeing her reaction to it, but that was when I had a plan. Seeing her reaction to me giving it to her like this is going to break me, especially if she still wants me out of her life.

Chapter 22

Ainsley

Ifeel like an ass.

No, worse than an ass. Is that possible?

Staring up at me from the smaller box is a black, emerald shaped diamond, surrounded by three rubies on each side and set into a silver band. It would be huge on my finger, impossible for anyone to miss. It matches the necklace perfectly.

He was out buying me a present for a birthday he was in a coma for and having a new ring made for me to match that present, while I was listening to some girl tell me he only wanted to hurt me.

After all the times he’s asked me to marry him and I told him no, he still bought me another ring.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the plan he had was to surprise me with them and propose to me properly, and I ruined it.

“Cain?” I call out as I enter the living room. My voice is broken, refusing to be as loud as I want it to be. But, in the emptiness of the living room, I know he hears me.

He’s sitting on the couch with his head in his hands, pulling at the long, black locks I love to run my fingers through. At the sound of my voice, he flinches, but he doesn’t raise his head to look at me.

This must be how I made him feel, except I’ve actually done something wrong. And I don’t know how to fix it. So, I do the only thing I can think of.

As I sit on the couch next to him, I pull a hand from his head and place the box inside of it, giving it back to him.

“It’s yours,” he tells me, trying to hand it back. “I bought it so I could -”

“Stop,” I cut him off, pushing his hand away from me. “Don’t tell me. I want it to be a surprise.”

We both know what he was about to say, but as he wraps his hand around the box and holds it in his lap, we come to a new understanding. Whatever just happened between us is in the past. Something that was meant to tear us apart, but will only make us stronger.

“I can’t make it a surprise unless…” he trails off, letting me finish his thought for him.

“I believe you,” I tell him. Even when Christina was spouting her lies at me, I struggled to believe her. Cain would never do anything to hurt me, no matter how much I hurt him. I should’ve told Christina to go to hell.

Cain raises his eyes to look at me, letting vulnerability shine through. I’ve never seen him look so defeated. Not even last night, when he thought the only way to keep me safe was by pushing me away.

“You believe me?”

I nod my head as I push his arms away from his knees and take their place on his lap. This is where I belong. It doesn’t matter what happens or who tries to tear us apart; he belongs to me, just as much as I belong to him.

As a reflex, his hands land on my hips as he holds me in place against him. “I believe you,” I repeat.

His shoulders drop at my declaration, the weight of trying to convince me he loves me finally gone.

There are still a lot of questions I have. She knew too much; not only about Cain, but about me, too. I don’t blame Cain, or at least I don’t think I do, but I still need answers to move on from this whole ordeal.

“Let me take you home,” Cain pleads with me.

His eyes track my movements as I pull my bottom lip between my teeth and chew on it. What must have only been an hour ago, there was a woman telling me Cain wanted to hurt me, leading to me driving here and throwing up the contents of my stomach. Then, Cain came bursting in, determined to prove his innocence.

Too much has happened today for me to process it all. Can I just go back to him like nothing happened?

“Ainsley,” he calls out, pulling me out of my head and bringing my attention back to him. “It’s me and you, baby. Stop thinking about what’s right and what’s wrong, and decide what you want.”

What I want? What I want is to go back in time and stop myself from going into the basement. I want to hold myself back from going to the ball, even if it means holding myself back from giving into Cain. Maybe I would even go back and stop myself from leaving him and spending all these months without him, trying to convince myself that I hate him.

But, above all else… “I want revenge.”

---