“You knew?” She said, flabbergasted.
Before she could ask who had planned the whole thing, she found herself surrounded by well-wishers: all the friends she’d made in Solvang and even some who had traveled all the way from their hometown.
Her eyes landed on Amy who was grinning from ear to ear. Tasha narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her waist, pretending to be angry.
Amy laughed. “Am I a good actress or what?” she said proudly, giving Tasha a hug. “Happy birthday!”
“So your dog isn’t in pain?” Tasha asked.
“Nope.”
“Oh, you!” Tasha exclaimed. “You got me worried!”
At first, her initial assumption was that Alex and Amy were the ones who had organized the party. But then, everything seemed so grand that she knew somebody else was probably behind it.
It is Bret’s hotel, Tasha thought. She scanned the crowd for him, but he was nowhere to be found. Maybe Carter? A tinge of hope fluttered in her heart.
The sight of the woman approaching her, however, made her forget all about Bret and Carter. She squealed. “Oh, my God! You’re here!”
Her sister Tyra, looking great in a simple royal blue gown, came forward with her husband and two kids in tow. She embraced Tasha tightly. “Oh, my gosh, Tasha! You are much gorgeous in person! I can’t believe I haven’t seen you in more than a year!”
“How’d you make it here?” Tasha wanted to know after hugging her brother-in-law John and also their children who immediately went off to the candy bar after.
“Excuse me,” John said politely with a smile, before heading off to follow the kids.
Tasha and Tyra hugged again.
“I just can’t believe it,” Tasha said, her eyes tearing up again. She tried to control the crying, though, as it would ruin her makeup.
“Me too!” Tyra said excitedly. “I mean, you are big time, little sister! Your personal assistant called me up and sent me airline and accommodation tickets just last week. Of course I had to do everything in my power to file my sick leave at work quickly just to make it to your surprise party.”
“What? You got free tickets and accommodations?” Tasha asked in shock. “Which assistant called you?”
“Amy Quinn. I met her a while ago.”
“She is Carter’s assistant,” Tasha whispered, her heart beginning to race.
“The Carter Smith?!”
“He’s now known as Carter Crawford. It’s a long story.”
Tyra wanted to know more, but then Tasha spotted Carter. She excused herself and headed to him.
“What is this about?” she demanded.
Carter faced her with a grin. “Hey, it’s nice to see you too, birthday girl. You look radiantly beautiful tonight.”
Tasha blushed at the way he was looking at her. She also noticed how his navy tuxedo suited him perfectly and brought out his well-built physique. He certainly looked like a real billionaire that evening.
“You’re staring.”
“I’m not,” she countered at once.
He grinned.
“You put together this whole surprise party for me, huh?” Tasha was getting emotional again. She couldn’t believe he’d gone to all the trouble, and to ask her only family, her sister, to come all the way from Singapore.
A look of worry crossed his handsome features.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, squeezing her hand. “It did get a little bit more extravagant than I had planned. I think Amy went overboard and just too excited.”
“It seems she’d acquired all the best and most expensive suppliers in town,” Tasha said, motioning to their surroundings.
“Looks like it,” Carter agreed.
Tasha smiled to reassure him it was okay. “I appreciate it all, Carter. It may be a little too much, but I love it.”
“Really?”
“Yes, but you didn’t have to do this!”
“I wanted to make you feel special,” Carter explained in a soft tone. “What’s the use of having a lot of money if I can’t even spend it on people I care about?”
His words warmed her heart. “Well, you do have a point.” She said, a smile forming on her lips.
The lights dimmed then and a string quartet began to play a soft, beautiful melody.
“May I have this dance?” Carter asked with a smile, extending a hand.
She placed her hand in his and looked into his eyes. “Absolutely,” she whispered.
As they gently swayed to the music, the words in the letters he had written to her years ago came back to Tasha. “About your present, Carter… I read a few of the letters…”
He was silent, simply gazing into her eyes. A look of sadness and anxiety seemed to reflect in his eyes.
“In the cottage, I saw you wearing our matching pendants,” Tasha began. “And then now, the photo of us you had kept after all… and the letters…” Her voice faltered.
He raised a hand to caress her cheek. “I decided to give them to you because I’ve changed my mind.”
“About what?”
“Seeing you again, Tasha…” he said, his voice laced with pain. “It pierced me with so much pain. I tried to avoid any personal connection with you, but I couldn’t resist. I had made a promise to myself to stay out of your life forever… but the past few weeks we’ve been spending time together, I just… I couldn’t…”
Tasha waited for him to go on.
“I wanted you to know that I cared all those years and never really stopped loving you. I wanted you to know because I want you again in my life, Tasha.”
Hearing those words being uttered by the man who had broken his promises and caused her tremendous pain was too much for Tasha. “I’m sorry, Carter. I can’t face this right now.” She stepped back and went to join her other friends, feeling more confused than ever.
During dinner, they were entertained by amazing world-class performers. The food was also superb. Soon Tasha was able to brush off her worries and just focus on having fun.
She tried to avoid Carter as much as possible for the remainder of the event. But when he cornered her, she couldn’t say no. After all, he’d instigated that birthday surprise.
“How are you, Tasha? Having fun?” he asked casually.
“Yes, thank you,” she said. Then wanting to keep the topic light, she motioned to the first thing she saw, the Eiffel Tower. “So why this theme? Did you choose this or was it Alex?”
He stepped closer, making her heart pound harder. “Don’t you remember? You said Paris was at the top of your bucket list. Alex also said you still haven’t gone there.”
Tasha did recall that they had once talked about going to Paris and having a romantic getaway there.
“We can go there together this weekend, Tasha…” Carter whispered. “You and me.”
“There’s no you and me,” Tasha answered flatly. “You left me a long time ago.”
She was done with pretensions. All this time that they had been enjoying each other’s company without thinking about the past, she had just been fooling herself.
* * *
Because the party was held at the grand ballroom, the hotel management gave them a free overnight stay. Tasha didn’t want to stay at Bret’s hotel longer while Carter was there. It was all too confusing. Besides, she wanted to rest at home so she let her sister and her family use the suite.
Apparently, it was Amy who had booked that hotel. It made sense, since it was the poshest venue in town.
Tasha wondered, though, if Amy or Carter was even aware of her dating history with Bret Walton.
Back home, she faced another major decision: read the rest of Carter’s letters or just burn them and completely let him go from her life.
Alex couldn’t sleep either, so they ended up having a serious conversation at the kitchen counter.
“He seems sincerely into you, Tasha,” Alex offered gently. “I honestly think he still loves you. Even your sister thinks so.”
Tasha
nodded. “Yeah, maybe. But it’s just so hard to suddenly jump back into a relationship with him after everything that had happened. Besides, how can I trust him again if he doesn’t even want to tell me why he’d left in the first place?”
Alex looked at her sadly. “I understand. But give it time, he might come to his senses soon. Don’t shut him out just yet. Who knows? Maybe now is the time for you guys.”
Tasha shrugged and stared once again at the unopened enveloped in front of her.
“Read them all, Tasha,” Alex urged. “Maybe you’ll understand him more… where he was coming from at that time.”
Tasha did as she was told. Alex said goodnight and left her to herself. One by one, she read the rest of the letters, more tears spilling down her cheeks, her emotions in great turmoil.
He never revealed in the letters why he’d left. The only clue about it was when he mentioned he didn’t want to get her into trouble. But one thing for sure, she could feel his love overflowing all throughout the eight years they had been apart.
Tasha woke up late. The first thing on her mind was Carter. She wanted to speak to him, but was somehow afraid and unsure.
A beep came from her phone. It was a message from Bret Walton. Dread came onto her when he said he was back in town and wanted to see her at once. She didn’t even know what to say to him.
Alex knocked on her door. “Open up, Tash! You’ve got someone waiting outside!”
Tasha’s heart seemed to break into a sprint. She quickly opened the door. “Who?”
“There’s a limo parked in front. I’m guessing it’s your Walton lover-boy or at least his driver.”
“Oh, shut up…” Tasha said, groaning. She hurried down the stairs without bothering to freshen up.
“Tell him to get lost!” Alex called after her.
Tasha was suddenly filled with the resolve to put a stop to what was left of her relationship with Bret. After all, he hadn’t been contacting her that often lately. And now that he’s back, was she going to be his booty call again?
She asked the chauffeur to wait for her while she got ready.
He took her to an open field in the countryside where a helicopter was waiting. You can always count on Bret to have a grand entrance!
“Hi, honey,” he greeted, giving her a peck on the cheek. “I’ve missed you.”
Since when did he start calling me ‘honey’? Tasha wondered in disgust. “Bret, it’s good to have you back. Can we talk somewhere quiet?”
“Of course, my love,” he replied with a smile. “But I was thinking maybe we could go on a tour outside of town first in my helicopter? I want to point out to you our new hotels in the area.”
“I see,” was all Tasha could say as she climbed into the helicopter with him. It was only now that she seemed to notice his arrogance and self-centered ways. Perhaps she’d been too blinded before by his wealth, fame, and power. Or she’d assumed that all billionaires were like that.
Inside the chopper, he tried to seduce her, but she had resisted subtly, always shifting his attention to other things.
Soon, to her relief, they positioned to land on the rooftop of a tall building in a nearby city.
Bret took her hand and asked her to look down. To her utter shock, she saw the words “I love you, Tasha” spelled with big, colored stones on a garden at the rooftop. She was speechless.
Bret pulled her closer to him as they landed. He led her out of the helicopter and onto the romantic pocket garden that had been styled elegantly with fresh flowers and ribbons. The surrounding city view was fantastic, giving the whole setup a different ambience.
All of a sudden, a violinist appeared and began playing a romantic melody.
“Uh, what’s up?” Tasha asked, turning to Bret. She secretly wondered if it was his birthday surprise for her.
He smiled at her then and knelt on one knee. Holy shit.
“Tasha Winters…” he began, pulling out a small box from his pocket. “Will you marry me?”
Tasha was in shock. For a while, she couldn’t speak. Then she pulled him up to his feet and softly said, “I’m sorry, Bret. This is just-”
He put a finger to her lips to silence her. “I understand it seems too fast and shocking for you, Tasha. You need time to think about it and I respect that. But I also want you to know that while we were apart, I’d realized just how much I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“That’s very touching,” she murmured, confusion evident on her pretty features. “But as you said, it is very shocking. I didn’t expect this from you. I mean, I couldn’t even define what we had between us.”
“I know,” he said, taking both of her hands in his. “And it’s my fault, Tasha. Someone like you shouldn’t have been treated like that. You are definitely wife material for a billionaire like me.”
In her mind, she could see Alex guffawing at that line.
* * *
The following week was the most chaotic in Tasha’s love life, as she tried to avoid Carter’s attempts to talk to her while getting confused over the big romantic gestures of Bret.
“It should be a no-brainer,” she told Alex one time. “Bret has always been good to me, even if he hadn’t been willing to commit before. But these past few days, he has shown me that he’s evolved into that ideal man.”
“And what about Carter?”
“Carter is someone I want to forget. Our history’s just too painful. I want to start anew.”
“So then you have your decision right there,” Alex said. “As you said, it’s a no-brainer.”
“Yeah… So why am I still confused?” Tasha asked in frustration.
“I’ll tell you why,” Alex said in a firm tone. “It’s because your heart is saying otherwise. You’re in love with Carter and you won’t admit it. Come on, Tash. You’ve never loved Bret!”
“It’s still too soon,” Tasha said. “It’s like we’re starting over now.”
“Are you having sex again?” Alex blurted out, her eyes wide.
“No!” Tasha answered.
“Good.”
“He’s being real sweet about it too,” Tasha added.
Alex snorted. “I don’t know, Tasha. There’s something about him that bothers me.”
Tasha didn’t say anything, but deep down she agreed with her best friend.
For the next two weeks, Tasha spent more time working and pampering herself rather than entertaining invitations from the two billionaires in her life. She knew other women would die to be in her place. But to her it didn’t matter if both of them left. She could fend for herself. She didn’t need either of them. Furthermore, she wanted alone time to think the situation over.
She had just finalized the first batch of websites for Walton Enterprises in their New York headquarters. After leaving the conference room where she’d met with some of the top managers of their US hotels, she headed to the room that had been granted to her for a short stay so she didn’t have to hurry back to Solvang.
While resting, a few knocks came at the door. Then she saw a brown envelope being slipped through the thin slit beneath the door. Curious and somehow alarmed, Tasha grabbed the enveloped and threw the door open. She looked out the hallway. There was no one there so she ran toward the elevators, where she caught a glimpse of the creepy bald guy that had been following her around in Solvang.
“Wait!” She shouted, stopping the elevator doors from closing just in time. She stepped in and faced him bravely. “Who are you?” She demanded.
“Nobody,” he answered curtly. The elevator started moving downward.
“Please, why have you been spying on me?” Tasha asked. “What do you want?”
He looked away.
Tasha remembered something that her sister Tyra had said. She took a deep breath and asked, “Do you work for my real dad? Who is he? I want to meet him.”
He couldn’t very well get rid of her then, but he obviously didn’t want to talk. She pleaded with him until th
ey reached the lobby.
He got out fast.
“I’m going to call the cops on you! The CCTV has you on camera and I know the owner of this building. I swear you’re going to jail!” Tasha said angrily, her voice growing more panicked every minute.
That made him stop and turn around. He looked annoyed. “I’m not afraid of any cops, but your father will kick the hell out of me if we get any form of media coverage,” he growled.
“My father…” Tasha repeated in a whisper. “Who is he? Tell me.”
He started walking to the front doors where a Rolls Royce was waiting for him. “Get in,” he instructed to her. Without thinking, she climbed into the luxurious car with him.
“For years after you were born, since your father found out about you, he’d been trying to locate you. When he finally did, he hired me to look out for you but to never reveal anything about him.”
“Why?”
“He was rebuilding his career and his reputation, trying to be a better man so that someday he’ll feel more deserving to be called your father.”
“Please, I want to meet him,” Tasha begged.
“That’s not possible at this time,” the man said, shaking his head. “I’m already in trouble to even be talking to you now. But … I wanted to warn you…”
“About what?”
He gestured to the envelope she was holding. “Open that.”
When she did, she pulled out some photographs that made her blood boil and the color drain from her face. They revealed Bret Walton with all the women he’s been seeing and sleeping with in various places.
“When we discovered that he’d proposed to you, we figured it was time to let you know that he’s a total fake,” he spat out. “He’s using you, Tasha.”
“What for?” she asked, wonderful memories of her time spent with Bret running through her mind.
“He’s a ruthless businessman,” the bald guy told her, his eyes flashing with anger. “He’s so greedy he’s gone to all this trouble to woo you and gain your trust.”
“Why me?”
The man looked her in the eye seriously. “Your father owns more properties than Walton. They’ve been competing for decades. Most of his secret acquisitions are in your name. You’re a billionaire too, Miss Winters.”
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