Chapter 432 Building Understanding

432  Building Understanding

“You don’t need to apologize if you believe that you haven’t done anything wrong,” he replied bluntly.

Although he was telling me that I shouldn’t be apologizing, it made me feel like I should be apologizing all over again. Ace continued looking at me intently and I started to tremble slightly under his intense gaze. It wasn’t like I truly believed that I was void of all fault.

“I’m sorry…” I apologized softly.

“Are the rumors completely false?” Ace asked after a short moment of silence between us.

Completely false?

I didn’t miss how he placed stress on the word ‘completely’. I had just told him that the rumors are false but were they completely false?

Of course, I was more than aware that what I had done must have led Jeremy on in some way or another even if it was unintentional. I didn’t think that we would end up doing anything inappropriate and I wouldn’t consider sharing meals as going too far but I had to admit that I had failed to consider the full implications of my actions and how Ace might feel about it.

My mind immediately recalled how much I hated just the thought of seeing Ace with Elizabeth and I didn’t want to face the reality that he had probably been having more meals with her than with me as of late. Perhaps similar to how I felt about that, Ace also felt the same way when it came to my interaction with other men.

Was that it?

Is this what this is really about?

Is he…jealous?

“I’m sorry. I did something wrong. Even though, it wasn’t my intention at all, I guess I spent too much time alone with Jeremy…” I apologized before trailing off.

Ace’s face was quite emotionless and frankly extremely hard to read, and I had no idea what he thought about my sincere apology just now. Since turning back time wasn’t a realistic option, the best that I could do was make sure that I would do better in the future. Ace continued staring into my face as I struggled to keep calm.

“I won’t let something like this happen again next time. I’m going to be even more careful than ever before. I won’t spend any alone time with him, and I won’t see him unless it is strictly for work…” I promised while wondering if that was good enough for Ace.

Although I thought that my offer was quite a good one, it didn’t seem to impress Ace in the least. Ace looked at me with a passive look in his eyes like nothing caught his attention at all. My heart sank in my chest as I wondered what more he wanted from me. Just when I thought that I couldn’t come up with any more ideas, Ace spoke up.

“Are you sure that you can do something like that?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

Thinking about it realistically, it will probably be very difficult and extremely awkward to keep on avoiding Jeremy forever. However, if that was what is required to satisfy Ace and smooth things over between us, then I was willing to go through with it. I wasn’t going to lie to myself that it was going to be an effortless feat, though.

“I’ll try my best to fulfill my promise…” I replied.

I guess I didn’t sound convincing enough because after staring at my face for a few seconds, Ace shook his head slowly from side to side. A stinging pain pierced my lower lip when I bit on the inside of it to hide my overwhelming frustration away from Ace. To be realistic, I wasn’t sure if I could fulfill my promise completely, but I was more than willing to try.

“Rina…” Ace called my name, and he sounded quite stern.

“…Yes?” I replied softly while not quite looking forward to what he had to say.

“What makes you think that you need to do something like that?” he asked.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked as I cocked my head slightly to the side.

“Exactly like how it sounds. What makes you think that you need to do something like that?” he asked again.

“Well…I thought it might help reassure you that something like this wouldn’t happen again,” I replied while still not quite following what Ace meant.

“Did I ever tell you that I wanted you to do something like that?” he asked.

“Well, no…” I replied while wondering where this conversation was headed.

Of course, Ace didn’t tell me what he wanted or didn’t want me to do. I was the one who came up with that idea and proposed it to him in the hope that it would mend things between us for now and also help prevent the same problem from occurring in the future. Despite how I felt, I sensed that Ace seemed to be against my proposal. After staring at me in silence for a short moment, Ace let out a soft sigh.

“There is no need for you to do something like that or to go that far,” Ace said before he smiled a little my way.

“Really?” I asked with clear disbelief as I failed to see why he would turn down my proposal.

“Really. You don’t have to do anything as extreme as that. It’ll just be hard on you, right?” Ace said warmly before he smiled at me again.

“But…” I began protesting but halted my words when Ace held up a hand to stop me.

“There’s really no need for you to do all that. Not seeing Jeremy in your private time and alone is probably a passable idea but there’s no need for you to be overly guarded,” Ace said calmly.

I knew well enough that things would get awkward between Jeremy and me if it hadn’t been awkward enough already. Thankfully, I managed to turn him down directly when he confessed. At least, that shouldn’t give him any hope that our relationship could develop into anything beyond just plain friendship. I wondered if Ace would still say the same thing if he knew that Jeremy actually has feelings for me.

--To be continued…