Leonie could already picture the look on that guy''s face when he learned her aunt had returned to Starfall City to marry her uncle. The thought alone made her grin with anticipation.


    This was the second time Gwh and Hawthorne hade to see McNeil together; the first had been after their engagement. Now, their wedding was just around the corner. Time had flown, yet for Gwh, it felt like an entire century had passed. They walked hand in hand to McNeil''s bedside. Gwh gazed down at her father, her heart aching with a grief so deep it felt bottomless. The doctors said he would never wake up, but he was still alive, his heart still beating. Why couldn''t he wake up, just once more, so their family could be whole again? Tears filled her eyes. Why was life so unfair? Her mother had endured so much—why did good people never seem to get a happy ending?


    "Maybe after we get married, your grandfather''s condition will improve," Hawthorne said softly. "As for your father... try not to dwell on it too much."


    He looked at McNeil, lying still and unresponsive in the bed. This, he thought, was the price the man had to pay for his past actions. Seeing him like this, devoid of life, Hawthorne felt no sympathy. At least he was still breathing. At least his family could still see him. The same could not be said for Hawthorne''s own family, who would never be reunited with their loved ones again.


    But no words offort from Hawthorne could ease the weight in Gwh''s heart. "Our wedding isn''t real," she said tly. "It won''t change anything."


    Hawthorne didn''t take her dismissive tone to heart, but he feltpelled to exin. "Whether you believe me or not, there is nothing going on between Patti Yale and me. It''s all a misunderstanding."


    Gwhughed, a bitter, hollow sound. "Hawthorne, do you have any idea how to lie with a straight face? Do you dare tell all our colleagues at thepany that you have no rtionship with Patti Yale? dare tell them that I am Mrs. Everhart? She couldn''t believe someone could be so convincing an actor.


    o you


    "I don''t know what your reasons are for this charade, for saying one thing and doing another. At the exhibition, you gave me the authority to handle troublemakers, but the troublemaker turned out to be your little mistress, whom you allowed to humiliate me in front of everyone." Gwh took a deep, shaky breath, a horrifying. thought suddenly striking her. She looked at Hawthorne with eyes full of disbelief. "Did my father have some kind of history with your family? Is that why you''re marrying me? To get revenge on us?"


    At this, she gasped. But Hawthorne''s expression remained calm, almost unnervingly


    so. "Gwyn, I''m a businessman. I admit that a businessman''s tactics can be ruthless, but I would never use them against you."


    Gwh ignored his exnation. "So, if I were your enemy in business, your methods would be even more despicable and shameless, is that right?"


    Hawthorne didn''t meet her wounded gaze, instead looking toward McNeil on the bed. "You shouldn''t be asking me that question."


    Gwh followed his line of sight, and her expression grew even more desperate. So her suspicions werez true. "Then who should I ask? Should I ask my father, who is lying in this bed and never wakes again? Or should I apologize to you on his behalf? Because my father once wronged you, ruined your family and


    now you''re taking it all out on me. Is that it?"