Back at the cinema, Rina waited for the credits to roll before picking up her bag and walking out of the hall. It was the perfect facade she needed so no one would question her whereabouts. Walking out to the red carpet, gratefully devoid of a crowd since most of them were inside, Rina walked out to the front and ordered a ride. She had come with Zayn in his car and even though she knew there was no way he was going to leave her there without sending another car over, Rina didn’t want him or the driver knowing of her whereabouts.
Finn was beginning to get overbearing, making audacious threats now. The last time, he had appeared in Hong Kong to see her at the brand’s building, with a sinister smile and dark eyes. He had absolutely nothing to lose, as he had made quite clear that day, but Rina’s reputation would be on the line. No one could see them together, especially now that she was to get married to the most powerful man in the country. That alone had drawn a lot of attention, and with how she had wielded it in her own light, turning it around and letting it slip out of her hands wasn’t even an option.
When her ride got there, Rina got in and asked him to take her to her cottage. There, she paid for his services and walked inside. It had been months since she had last stepped in there, but because Zayn had hired cleaners to ensure it was always clean round the clock, the absence of humans wasn’t obvious. Even the flowers were changed frequently, the scent of fresh tulips filling the air. Rina closed her eyes and stood in the middle of the living room, taking it all in. But her moment of silence was rudely interrupted by the beep of her phone.
Rina’s eyes fell open, knowing who it was without even needing to check the phone. Still, she grabbed her purse and retrieved it, sighing when she saw the message icon with his name on it.
“Are you standing me up, Ms. Rina, soon-to-be Mrs. Smith once again? You know what happens when I get mad and I am certain you are not trying to see that part of me.”
Rina hated all of this, hated the fact that Finn had something to play her with. But without any other option, she walked into her room to get to work.
Keeping Finn waiting was probably a wrong idea, because it would take him nothing to contact Zayn and the rest of the world with just one click on his phone. She rummaged through her closet, armed with that thought, searching for something that wouldn’t give her identity away.
Getting to work, Rina grabbed a bunch of dyes and started working on her hair, changing the brown color to a loud pink. Next, she put on a jumper she hadn’t worn in ages, wiped her face off every makeup, and put on a pair of white heels. Still not satisfied, she added a large scarf, a hat, and sunglasses to the mix before stepping out of her cottage and ordering another ride at the next street.
Finn was sitting at a booth at the far end, sipping a cup of boba, much to Rina’s surprise. When she had told him that she wanted to be discreet so as not to let people know what was going on, he had laughed at her, a cold brutal laugh that still rang in her ears. Finn had found it humorous that she cared about what people thought when the tape wasn’t even out yet. He said the person she should be the most scared of was him, and not some stranger who he didn’t give a fuck about, and neither should she.
Navigating through the tables, Rina headed towards him with a fake smile plastered on her face. She just wanted to get through the day without drama but Finn seemed to want the opposite. He looked up as she approached, angling his head and peering his eyes in her direction. After a full minute, with Rina pulling the seat out in front of him, his eyes lit in sudden realization and his face broke into a chuckle.
“Wow!” He beamed. “You should really think about accepting scripts where there are secret agents and all of that, you know? It would fit you so much. Look at my wife, going undercover.”
“I am not your wife, Finn. And you forced me to do this.”
“You are the one so concerned about people seeing you with me. I don’t really care about that.”
“Yes. Because you are a low-life who gets off on people’s downfall.”
He laughed and brought the straw up to his lips, sucking noisily before dropping the cup down. “Now, that is no way to talk to the person you spent almost ten years of your life with. But I will forgive it because of how much I love you.”
“Finn,” Rina whispered harshly, scooting to the edge of the seat. “You need to stop this now. I am sick and tired of your games. Zayn is beginning to wonder what is going on, and it is just unfair that I am treating him this way because of you. What do you want from me?”
“I already told you, Rina. I want you to call off your marriage with that fucker and come to me. I have been with you longer and can take care of you.”
“Don’t you have any sense of decency? You left me for my best friend, Finn. And now, you think you have some claim over me.”
“I don’t,” he answered, shrugging. “But the tapes do, and I doubt they can be patient for that long. You know how it is, right? Just one click. And do not even think about hurting me. It is not going to stop me from uploading it.”
The hair on the back of Rina’s head seemed to stand as she turned around, her eyes falling on the last person she’d hoped to see in there.