About thirty minutes before Jada angrily stormed out into the night, in search of Nathan, she was seated in the hall, scowling at the newly engaged couple and wondering why Nathan hadn’t played his part. She still couldn’t give up hope, as even though everyone in the room had accepted Rina with open arms, Jada couldn’t allow herself to do that. She was the one person for Zayn, and she was going to prove that to herself and anyone else who cared to watch.
The minute Zayn softly pulled Rina away from Mago and headed out of the hall, Jada’s eyes followed them, venom darting their way. She counted to ten in her head before grabbing her clutch and making her way out of the hall, trying to make it less obvious that she was tailing them. There was no need for her to walk for too long because she found them on the red carpet, smiling at the cameras clicking away at their faces.
Jada wondered why she hadn’t seen Zayn on the red carpet, and she had her answers right there. He knew he was going to propose and wanted to be there as the fiance of Rina Powers. If Jada didn’t feel so angry, she would have thought it was a really sweet thing to do. But to her, she should have been the one standing beside Zayn, her arms tucked underneath his and gazing up at him like he was the most wonderful person in all the earth. Because he was.
She watched as Rina laughed at something Zayn said, her body easily leaning into his like she’d been doing it for a while now. It made sense – the reason Zayn had jumped to her defense back at his office, what she had been doing there in the first place. Jada hated to think she’d been the unwelcome one, but that was the truth. It was still a mystery how they had managed to date without the whole world finding out, how Zayn had managed to ignore all the backlash and harsh talks Rina got on the internet and even out on the streets. She knew how much he loved having control, how he loved being at the helm of affairs. Yet, for Rina, he had been silent.
Zayn’s hands wrapped around her waist and Jada saw him tease Rina with his fingers, grazing her exposed back. She shivered from the touch and turned to look at him with slightly parted lips as if thinking about devouring him at that moment. A camera flashed in that moment, and Jada could already imagine the headlines that would follow with that image. They looked so in love, with Rina unable to keep her eyes off him. They moved together, like yin and yang, two peas in a pod.
It irked Jada more than she could describe, more than she could let happen. So, she hung around, waiting for her moment to play out.
“We have with us on the red carpet, the reason we are gathered here today. Mr. Zayn Graham, one of the richest men back in his country has decided to expand his business to the shores of Hong Kong. How pleasant it is to have you here.” The host of the red carpet looked way more excited than she had been for all the other interviews she’d conducted that day. “This launch is amazing. What was the plan when you decided to come to Hong Kong?”
Jada watched with awe as Zayn answered the question with an aura of confidence and power circling around him. He didn’t stutter, even for a minute, and neither did he take his hands off Rina. Instead, he pulled her closer, ending his response with a curt nod. Jada hadn’t gotten anything the whole time because she spent the minutes glaring at their connected hands.
“The whole world is dying to know how you met Ms. Power here,” she chirped. “And by the way, Ms. Powers, you look so stunning in that dress. Where is it from?”
“Pages of Claire,” Rina answered simply and elegantly. She looked great in anything and everything.
“It looks like it was personally tailored for you,” the host went on, patronizing Rina. But she knew that not everyone would take her engagement to Zayn with open arms. She might have her teeth out now in grins and smiles but who knew what went on in her mind?
“You are far too kind.”
“Back to you, Mr. Graham. How did you meet?”
Zayn smiled at the camera like he’d been waiting for that moment. “The first time we met, it was at a dinner event hosted by Scottsdale Entertainment at the end of the production year. Rina…she didn’t know I had my eyes on her throughout the night. She was the most stunning woman in the room, moving about with so much ease and confidence that I felt a compelling need to talk to her, to know her. But nature didn’t give me a chance as I had somewhere else to be and had to leave. I looked for her in the crowd before I left, but she was on stage receiving an award and I couldn’t interrupt that.”
Rina looked up at Zayn as he spoke, her eyes filled with wonder at what he was saying. She recalled the event he talked about, the one where she almost lost her breath when she suddenly saw him sitting there at the VIP table. Rina remembered she had been unable to stay put, moving all about the place to stop herself from hyperventilating. But that didn’t prove anything. Zayn might have made up the story, or at least, the bit about his feelings. And with his expression, there was no ascertaining which it was.
“Then you met again,” the host urged on.
“Yeah,” Zayn chuckled. “On another odd day years later. I’m so glad I had nowhere important to go, and she wasn’t on a stage getting an award. But now that she’s mine officially, I can’t wait to accompany her to all the award-giving ceremonies and applaud the loudest because she is the best there is.”
“Zayn…” Rina whispered, unable to keep it in anymore.