Too Late, Mr. Matthews

4: 4

Friday afternoon, I finished handing off all my work.

Thirty hours left before my flight to Chicago.

I went back to Jerome's villa and started packing my few personal things into the small suitcase.

Jerome had been buried in an acquisition all week, out before dawn and back after dark.

Last night he'd texted that once this stretch was over, he'd take me to pick out a wedding dress.

I'd replied with a single word: "Sure."

I was folding the last coat when a screech of tires cut through the quiet downstairs.

I stepped out onto the second-floor landing and looked down.

Jerome shoved the door open, seething. Right behind him came Lola, and a young woman I didn't recognize.

"Jerome, spell it out for me! What gives you the right to cancel every one of my credit cards?"

Lola's eyes were red as she screamed it.

Jerome slammed the car keys down on the coffee table, turned around, his eyes ice-cold.

"Lola, I canceled them because you disgust me. When you were taking my money to keep those pretty boys, did you ever feel disgusted with yourself?"

"Let me be clear. This is what you get for throwing me away for money back then. Even if you got down on your knees and begged me now, I'd only see a whore selling smiles."

He hurled the words, hysterical, every one of them a sharpened blade aimed straight at the softest, rawest part of her.

Lola was shaking under it, tears pooling in her eyes, but she bit down hard on her lip and refused to break.

"Jerome, that's enough!"

The young woman beside her finally couldn't take it. She pulled Lola behind her, jabbed a finger at Jerome's face, and let loose.

"You think you're the wronged one here? You think Lola left you back then because she loved money more than she loved you?"

"Your mother was in the ICU, dying, burning through more than twenty thousand a day. Who got down on her knees in front of a loan shark to borrow at their rates? Lola did! She made up a reason and broke it off with you on purpose, to pay off your debt, to keep from dragging you down!"

"You think this high and mighty life of yours came from nowhere? Lola bought it for you!"

A dead silence dropped over the whole living room.

Jerome went rigid where he stood, staring at Lola, his chest heaving, the color draining out of his face in an instant.

"You... what did you say?"

His voice shook and he couldn't stop it.

Lola's tears finally broke loose. She shoved her friend aside and screamed at Jerome, coming apart.

"Stop it! Why are you telling him any of this? He's powerful now, he's got money, he's got that dazzling fiancée of his. What am I to him?"

Watching her cry, the mask and the hatred in Jerome's eyes crumbled in a heartbeat.

He panicked.

But that pitiful pride of his was still working on him. Eyes red, he ground the words out low through his teeth.

"What good is saying any of this now? You think you're so noble? Back then you left without a word, and now you crawl back shameless, asking for money. Even if you did it for me, you brought it on yourself! And besides... besides, I have Regina now!"

What a ridiculous thing to say.

I stood in the shadow of the second floor, watching this farce of a tragic romance play out, and couldn't help rolling my eyes.

I didn't want to watch any more.

I turned, went into the room, and dragged out the black suitcase.

The wheels rolled over the wood floor, the sound unnaturally clear in the dead-quiet villa.

The three of them downstairs jerked their heads up toward the stairs at once.

I was wearing the plainest trench coat, the case in one hand, and I walked down expressionless.

The moment Jerome's eyes landed on the suitcase, the panic on his face turned to shock. He took a step forward without thinking, his voice trembling.

"Regina, where are you going?"

I stopped on the last stair, my gaze sweeping over Lola's tear-streaked face before it settled on Jerome's stunned one.

I tugged the corner of my mouth into something like a smile and slid the six-carat engagement diamond off my finger.

"Jerome, now that the truth's out, this grand tragic love story of yours can finally have its happy ending."

I loosened my grip.

The brilliant ring dropped onto the marble floor.

"The role of the leading lady is yours. I'm stepping aside."