Page 60 of Beginnings By the Sea

“No,” I said, peering around at our surroundings for photographers.

It made me wonder if Cohen still had people following me. I turned my focus back to Candace, my gaze penetrating hers.

“How do you know Cohen Sumner?”

Her smile dropped instantly, and she shook her head. “I have no clue who that is.”

She tried to walk away, but I kept up with her. “Yes, you do,” I claimed, refusing to back down. “He hired you to sabotage me. And it’s not the first time he’s done it either. You did this to me once before, many years ago.”

Her eyes widened and she froze, mouth gaping in shock. “You remember me?”

It was those words that confirmed everything.

My hands started to shake, but I clenched them tight. “I thought you looked familiar last night, but I didn’t know for sure until now.”

Cohen had lied from the very beginning. He didn’t just try breaking me and Nyla up now, but he’d also tried it several years ago. Our rivalry ran deeper than I ever could’ve imagined. What infuriated me was that Cohen knew Nyla was mine back then—lying bastard.

“It was years ago,” I began, watching Candace fidget nervously with her fingernails. “You wanted my help with a flat tire, and afterward, you tried to make your move, but you and the photographers didn’t get the kiss you wanted at the end.”

Candace threw her arms in the air. “Okay, my acting sucked back then, and my timing was off. You got me. I owed Cohen some favors after he helped me get an acting gig.”

“So, Cohen paid you to come between me and Nyla. Not once, but twice.”

She shrugged flippantly like it didn’t bother her that she could’ve helped ruin a real, true relationship.

“It didn’t work then, and I doubt it worked last night,” she said, rolling her eyes. “That’s probably why he took matters into his own hands.”

I didn’t like the sound of that.

“What do you mean?”

She shook her head and laughed. “You and everyone else in this tiny little town are so clueless. It’s kind of cute how slow everything is here.” Her gaze shifted to my pocket where I had my phone. “Your precious doctor and Cohen got engaged last night. It’s all over the internet.” She batted her eyelashes impatiently. “If you don’t believe me, look it up. It’ll be the first thing that pops up.”

I dreaded looking online because I knew it was what Cohen wanted me to do; he’d said there would be a story. But of course, no matter how much I resisted, curiosity got the best of me.

My fingers trembled as I pulled out my phone and tapped the screen. As soon as Cohen’s name was in the search bar, the first article that popped up was of his engagement—to none other than Nyla Clark. My breath caught in my throat when I saw the photo. He was on one knee, a diamond ring glimmering in his hands as he slid it onto her finger.

“That thing has to be worth half a million dollars; it’s huge. There’s no way she’d say no to that,” Candace said from behind me, her voice almost jealous.

Heart pounding, I looked away from my phone. “What did Cohen tell you about this whole situation?”

Candace huffed as if I was annoying her with my questions. “Not that I really care what Cohen does with his personal life, but he bought out some surf shop down here to give him a reason to stay in town. He knew Nyla was here.”

It was one thing to make my life miserable but another to involve Nyla; she had nothing to do with our family feud.

“Why did he bring Nyla into all of this? If he’s dead set on making my life miserable, he could’ve done it a million other ways instead of involving her.”

Candace shook her head. “No, he wanted Nyla. He saw her with you at some family reunion a long time ago. Ever since then, he was intrigued by her.”

That piece of shit had lied to Nyla from the very beginning. He’s always known that she was my ex-wife.

Candace stepped closer to me and glanced at my phone. “I don’t even know why he’s so hung up on her; she’s not good enough for him.”

My eyes narrowed at her words, and I snapped back. “He’s the one who’s not good for her.”

Candace rolled her eyes and hopped on her feet, ready to get back to running again. “Cohen forks out a lot of money to pay people to do many things for him. He always gets what he wants.”

Fury rose inside me and my knuckles turned white as I held onto my phone. “Yeah, well, not this time.”

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