Chapter Twenty-Three Jasmine
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Jasmine
After kissing Derek goodbye as he left to walk Tora, I made myself a cup of tea, hoping the warm, soothing liquid would prepare me for what could potentially be the hardest day of my life. My hands trembled slightly as I sipped, my mind racing with everything that needed to be done.
The first step was telling Cassie the project was dead.
The thought alone filled me with dread. Cassie had poured just as much of herself into this project as I had.
She didn’t answer when I called, so I left a message that I knew sounded more desperate than professional, followed by an urgent email.
I hated dumping this on her without a real plan, but I needed time to figure out what to do next.
My next move was a long shot. I needed to scour every corner of the internet to find a way—any way—to keep Miller’s Cove intact and out of the hands of Edward Mason.
The obvious choice was the town library.
It wasn’t the most modern resource, but I figured it was my best shot at digging up something useful.
So, after a quick shower and packing up my laptop, I headed out the door.
Four hours later, the library proved to be as much a hindrance as a help.
The cell service was nonexistent, the internet only worked in one precarious corner of the room, and while I did manage to find some early legal documents signed by the town’s original founders, the legal jargon was far too complicated for me to decipher.
My optimism waned with each passing minute, but I soldiered on, making copies of everything I could, even though using the ancient copy machine ate up more time than I’d planned.
By the time I left, my brain was fried, my nerves were shot, and I hadn’t come any closer to a solution.
The weight of the evening ahead loomed over me as I returned to the apartment.
Dinner with Eleanor and David was inevitable, and I dreaded it more than anything.
Those two incredible people, who had become more than just residents of a town that was the subject of a work assignment—they were friends—and they deserved the truth.
I had to tell them I’d been deceiving them, but I hoped that showing them I was actively working on a solution would soften the blow.
As terrified as I was, I found solace in knowing Derek would be by my side.
We were building something real—on a foundation of love and, most importantly, trust. We’d shed the baggage of our parents’ mistakes, made promises to one another, and finally found a way to move forward.
No matter what tonight held, I knew I could face it with Derek.
“Honey,” I called as I stepped into the apartment, the daylight filtering softly through the curtains. Tora rushed to greet me, his tail wagging furiously as he licked my hands. I leaned down to scratch behind his ears. “Well, hello to you, too, handsome. Where’s Daddy?”
The apartment was eerily quiet. I flipped on the light switch in the living room and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw Derek sitting on the couch, shrouded in shadows.
“Derek!” I clutched my chest, feeling my heart race. “What were you doing sitting here in the dark?”
I took a cautious step toward him, but the look on his face stopped me cold. His expression was a storm of emotions—sadness, confusion, and anger. But it was the anger, raw and biting, directed squarely at me, that made me recoil.
“Derek?” I asked tentatively, my voice trembling. “What’s wrong?”
“You really had me fooled.” His words were low and venomous.
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t,” he spat, his voice rising. “Don’t stand there and deny it. You’re not just shady, Jasmine—you’re sadistic.”
“Sadistic?” My confusion was quickly morphing into defensiveness. “You need to tell me what the hell is going on right now.”
“Oh, you want me to spell it out for you? Fine.” He stood abruptly, his movements sharp and agitated. “Your project got approved last week, Jasmine. Last week. Right after we promised to always be honest with each other. Right before you agreed to marry me.”
“What?” I whispered, my voice barely audible. None of this made any sense.
“Just stop it!” He cut me off, pacing now. “I’ve seen the reports, the emails. MasonCorp is moving forward with your project. You didn’t just lie to me—you sold out this town, Eleanor, David… all of it. And you did it behind my back.”
My legs gave out, and I sank onto the couch as tears spilled down my cheeks. “I didn’t do this, Derek,” I pleaded, my voice breaking. “I swear to you, I didn’t.”
“I can’t listen to any more of your lies.” His tone was cold, detached, but his eyes betrayed him. They were full of pain.
“Derek, please. I was at the library all day trying to find a way to fix this before we had to see David and Eleanor for dinner. I didn’t even have cell service. I’m trying to help!”
He cut me off again. “There’s no dinner with David and Eleanor. They already know everything, Jasmine. MasonCorp went to them directly, with all the dirty details. And now they know the truth about who we really are, and how we’ve been lying to them this entire time.”
My tears turned into sobs. “Derek, you have to believe me. I didn’t do this. None of this makes sense,” I muttered, my voice cracking under the weight of my frustration.
“You’re right,” he continued, his tone hardening. “It doesn’t. And you know what? I’m done trying to make it make sense.” He grabbed a duffle bag and began shoving clothes into it haphazardly.
“Derek, don’t do this,” I begged, my voice hoarse. “Don’t leave.”
He disappeared into the bathroom and reappeared with his toiletry bag, slinging it over his shoulder. “I can’t be around you right now.” He slapped his thigh, and Tora jumped up, trotting over to him with his leash in tow.
“Derek, please,” I whispered, my chest heaving with the effort of holding back another wave of sobs.
“All of my instincts told me not to trust you.” His voice was quieter, more resigned. “But I didn’t listen. And now I’m paying for it, just like my parents did when they trusted yours.”
“I thought you said we weren’t our parents,” I whispered through my tears.
“Yeah, well, if we don’t learn from the past, we’re doomed to repeat it, and I guess this is me learning that lesson.”
With that, he opened the door and walked out, Tora trailing behind him. The sound of the door clicking shut was like a dagger to my heart. I sat there, motionless, feeling the emptiness of the apartment close in around me. It felt like the end of everything.
The first thing I did after Derek left was try to call Cassie again.
I refused to believe that she could have betrayed me, but nothing else made sense.
My stomach churned as the phone rang once, then twice, then a third time.
I was bracing myself to leave another voicemail—something incoherent and desperate—when Cassie’s voice came through the receiver, startling me so much I nearly dropped the phone.
“Jasmine?” she asked, her tone clipped, her irritation unmistakable.
“Cassie!” I blurted out, relief and tension colliding in my chest. “Where have you been? I’ve been trying to call you all morning!”
“I’ve been a little busy,” she snapped, “trying to figure out what in the world is going on with the Miller’s Cove project.”
“That’s exactly why I’m calling.” I paced the length of the living room. “How could you submit the report without telling me first? I thought we agreed we were going to wait!”
There was a long, heavy pause on the other end of the line before Cassie spoke again, her voice icy and controlled. “Wait,” she scoffed. “You think I did this?”
“There’s no other explanation, Cassie.” I hissed into my phone. “You’re the only one I told.”
“Are you forgetting,” she said, her tone dripping with venom, “that we have an entire department? Designers, interns, assistants. They’ve all been working their asses off to pull this presentation together. Any one of them could have leaked this report without my approval.”
“Cassie, I—”
“I’m not done,” she snapped, cutting me off before I could get another word in.
“I know why you don’t want to move forward with Miller’s Cove.
And no, I’m not talking about Derek Carter.
Do you think I’m some vapid, materialistic trust fund brat who doesn’t understand what’s at stake here?
My grandfather was the first Black heart surgeon in Kansas.
My mother was the first Black female partner at her law firm.
Do you really think I don’t see what MasonCorp is trying to do? ”
“Cassie, I’m so—”
“I said I’m not done,” she interrupted again, her voice rising.
“You need to understand that this isn’t just about you, Jasmine.
You have an entire department—an entire team—whose livelihoods could depend on the outcome of this project.
You don’t get to cut us out of the process just because you’re too busy playing house in Florida. ”
“I wasn’t thinking—”
“No, you weren’t,” she shot back. “We’ve been working together for six years, and friends for even longer. You should’ve known better. I didn’t do this, Jasmine. But I have a pretty good idea who did.”
I froze, her words hitting me like a ton of bricks. “Who?” My voice was barely above a whisper.
“I’m not saying anything until I’m sure,” she said, her tone softening slightly.
“I might be pissed off, but I’m not stupid.
The last thing I need is an HR nightmare or even worse, a lawsuit.
If you’d come to me with this sooner, we could’ve been working on a solution together.
But now? Now it’s out of both of our hands. ”
“You’re right.” My voice trembled with guilt. “I’m so sorry. What can I do?”