His lips raised in a smirk, torn between amusement at the whole situation and Finn’s effrontery, walking up to meet him at a wedding to make such ludicrous demands. Zayn had seen this coming, from the instant he noticed Finn trying to get back with Rina. The last time, he had gone to her cottage to see her, unknown to him that she no longer resided there. But since Zayn had already put his men on Finn’s watch, it was easy to chase him away with a stern warning. He also knew that it wouldn’t be enough to keep him away, that he would want to make a much bigger scene just to show how much he wanted Rina or at least, how much he wanted the fame she had gathered to herself.
“I don’t understand you, Mr. Smith,” Zayn finally said after a moment of silence. “Could you please explain in detail?”
Stupidly, Finn thought that he had a chance with that response. “Your name slips out of the lips of every member of my household, including myself. So you know I had to think this through a million times before coming here. I wanted our first personal meeting to be on much better terms, but what better term is there than declaring love for the woman I have always been with and want to be with for the rest of my life? Rina is all I know, Mr. Graham, and…”
“Are you certain about that?” He tilted his head to the side, regarding him in a condescending manner.
“What?”
“You just said Rina is all you know, yet everyone is abreast with the fact that the moment you walked out on her, you started going out with Kayla, her former best friend. That doesn’t tally, Mr. Smith, and since you said you know me, you must also know how much I detest lies.”
“That was a moment of weakness,” Finn murmured. “I promise you, I have never loved Kayla in the same way that I love Rina. I thought that since they were best friends, I would be able to heal my hurt with her. But it turns out that no two persons are the same. I felt terribly bad when I saw everything that was happening to Rina, but I was too embarrassed after leaving her to suddenly appear before her. But I have never stopped loving her.”
“You keep lying and it keeps getting on my nerves,” Zayn said suddenly, shaking his head. “You can’t fool me of all people, Smith.”
He paused and tried to put up a tardy act like he was searching for the lie in his head. “I am telling you the truth, Mr. Graham. That was the reason I went to Kayla. Nothing more. I cannot love Kayla because she isn’t Rina. I am just sorry I came to that realization pretty late.”
“Are you sure it had nothing to do with her wealth?” Zayn questioned. “You see, you were with Rina when you had almost nothing, but she made you into the wealthy trader that you are today, always selling you and your vision out to the people she met. But she got blacklisted and that meant you would have been on the verge of losing those clients since you were her husband and they came through that source. So, you needed something to keep your feet strongly rooted to the ground. What better way to do that than to move on to the next available person? It is funny that you don’t even realize little Ms. Reese was playing you too. Still playing you.”
Finn looked for a way out of that, a way to explain what Zayn had just fished out. He knew that Zayn had his ways of getting information and carrying out acts since he’s heard from reliable sources and it was one of the reasons he was so feared all around. But at the same time, it had never happened to Finn since the both of them had never had a reason to meet until now. Having it happen to him firsthand, Finn felt goosebumps all over his skin. Fighting the urge to take a step backward, he looked at the ground right in front of his feet.
“I just want Rina back.” He made his voice break at the right point, but he could have done it for a thousand years with neither Zayn nor William falling for it.
“Humor me,” Zayn said, smiling. “I got engaged to the most beautiful and focused woman in the country and exchanged rings in front of the whole world. But for some reason, you think I am not in love with her because I can have any woman I want at my disposal.”
Finn blinked. “You love her?”
“One thing you don’t understand, Smith,” Zayn began, stalking closer to him menacingly. “Is that you don’t stand a chance where Rina is concerned? I’m certain you know that you are not a worthy contender where I am by Rina’s side. You will only fizzle into nothingness, and I’m certain you don’t want your family to have to go through that.”
Finn took a step backward, swallowing in fright.
“I am going to say this only once because that is all the patience I have. Finn Smith, Rina is my woman, and unlike you who thought she was easily disposable, tossing her into a corner after your own web of deceits against her, I am never going to watch her go through that. I am going to get married to her, and you are going to get an invitation and watch us take the vow together, exchange rings, and kiss passionately. Because she is worth more than you could ever be.”
“No!” Finn suddenly snapped, like a deranged man. He lunged at Zayn, who expertly stepped out of the way, causing a collision with William. Finn knew he was in a lot of trouble with the smirk on William’s face.
A crowd started to gather as William tossed him to the ground.
“Stay the hell away from Rina,” Zayn said in the calmest of voices. “You don’t want to get into my notes.”