Chapter 387 Say It Isn't So



Although I couldn’t see him, I could imagine Kyle squirming and suffering endlessly through that. While I wouldn’t call myself a sadist, it did amuse me to see him suffer. Unfortunately for him, there seemed to be a very dark spot in my heart, and I must have been a mean person. I could have easily told him something to reassure him, but I didn’t feel the slightest urge to say anything that would ease his pain or worries.

“I don’t know anything. Maybe, just like you, I’m just Ace’s plaything. So, he doesn’t tell me much. If you want to know anything, you should just ask your wife...or you can simply just watch the news,” I replied lightly.

“Rina…” he growled, and I could feel his anger.

A part of me wished that I could see his face at that moment. Even though I knew that I had nothing to gain from his apparent suffering apart from my own satisfaction, I still couldn’t find it in me to help him.

“My name is Karina,” I replied coldly.

I did wonder what else he had to say to me, but I didn’t wait long enough on the line to find out. Before he could say anything else, I just hung up. It was sad but I had to admit that he wasn’t the one facing problems, I had problems of my own to deal with as well.

When will Ace get in touch with me?

The seconds turned to minutes and then the minutes turned to hours. Time passed by painfully slowly and it took a lot of self-control to suppress the urge to bite on my nails. Waiting for Ace never felt this torturous before. Unlike the times before when I doubted him, this time I was consumed with my worry for him. Whatever Ace was facing wasn’t something pleasant and I felt like a failure for not being there by his side even though I am hiding away based on his orders. I just wished that there was something more that I could do for him.

It was quite late in the evening when I heard the sound of my doorbell ringing. Immediately, I jumped out of my bed and headed for the door. Ace told me that he would get in touch with me, but I had not received a call from him. That was precisely why I was pleasantly surprised to find Ace standing right in front of my door.

“Ace…” I said his name in a breathless whisper when I opened the door wide to greet him.

“May I come in?” he asked teasingly before flashing me a charming smile.

If I hadn’t known about all the chaos that was going on, I would have been tempted to believe that it was just any other normal evening and Ace was just paying a surprise visit to my room. The fact that he seemed to be fine and in one piece filled me with relief. Although it wasn’t like Ace went out to war in the practical sense, it still felt pretty much like it.

“Yes. Please come in,” I replied as my eyes kept staring at his face as if to make sure that he was real and that he was really here with me.

After Ace entered the room, I couldn’t help but look up and down the hallway to make sure that no one was there and that no one had seen us. I felt so alert and that made me feel like we were criminals on the run although we hadn’t done anything wrong. I hated it and it made me feel like I was ready to go crazy at any moment from my consuming worries. Without wasting any more time, I closed the door and quickly locked it.

“Is everything ok?” I asked the first question that came to mind before regretting just how stupid it sounded.

Of course, everything wasn’t at all ‘ok’.

Ace had made himself quite comfortable as he sat on the side of my bed. I watched as he slowly shrugged off his suit. He seemed tired but apart from that, it looked as though there was nothing off about him.

“Come here, Rina,” he said before he smiled a little my way.

I was too worried about him to do anything and ended up just standing there and staring at him. His invitation got me moving and I approached the bed before sitting down next to him.

“Ace…” I called his name softly and my voice was filled with worry.

“Don’t look so worried. This isn’t the first time that the media is just trying to attract attention with fake news and gossip,” Ace said before showing me a reassuring smile.

I stared up at his face while thinking that it wasn’t easy for me to stop worrying. If I could control my state of mind perfectly like magic, then life wouldn’t be so hard or so painful at times. It hurt me that Ace had to comfort me on top of dealing with his own problems. Regardless, I appreciated the warmth of his hand as he stroked my back gently to comfort me.

“It’s not true…right?” I asked just to make sure.

“Did you worry that it might be?” he asked in return before he chuckled softly.

“Ace…” I whispered his name.

Without warning, Ace suddenly wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a tight embrace. The warmth of his chest against my cheek made me smile a little despite the dire situation that we were in. I didn’t think that there was something going on between him and Elizabeth, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking him.

If nothing else, I probably just wanted to hear him say it to put all doubts to rest. After seeing Elizabeth so miserable because of her father and his disapproval of her marriage to Kyle, I could sense that she did not have any romantic feelings towards Ace. They had a special relationship that I didn’t fully understand but I was certain that it bordered more on a sibling’s love and respect for each other.

--To be continued…