Chapter 31
Isabella
These last two months had been a turning point in my life, and I was forever grateful for it. I was true to my word. I tore that damned villa down brick by brick and with it, the pain and suffering Nathan inflicted on me. It was like a rebirth. I wanted it all gone, every single memory, each argument, and all the lies to be brought to rubble. I wanted it and any memory of Nathan to be erased, cleansed, from me so I could start over.
The divorce settlement was quick and painless for the most part. Maya provided the proof of his infidelity to the courts from the night we caught him in my house with those—those women. He didn’t want anything from me in the settlement. No long, drawn-out court battles or alimony. I just wished it didn’t take six months for it to be finalized. I wanted to be done with him as soon as humanly possible. I’ll see you soon, he said to me in court before leaving with his lawyer. That was the last I’d seen him.
I guessed that he planned to flee the country so he wasn’t implicated with Oliver in the accounting scandal they’d put on the Zinghai Ma Corporation. The sting was supposed to have happened last week, but we had to delay it since Nathan revealed his involvement in all this. The FBI needed to conduct further investigation.
I would never have thought Nathan would go as far as posing as an accountant to plant false accounting and tax records on the Zinghai Ma Corporation books, then having Oliver notify the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division of the fraud they’d created to see to it that our business dealings with the corporation would crumble. The fact that someone as inept as Nathan had been capable of such a thing dumbfounded me. Luckily, with the help of Gaspard and his connections in China, the FBI was able to find the people Oliver and Nathan had bribed into planting the false documentation.
The two working with him were Chinese nationals, and I didn’t even want to think of the punishment they received. This scandal was going to seriously affect the reputation of Aerial & Kam Cosmetics, particularly in China. As long as people knew the truth about what happened and those involved were held accountable, then I was confident we could bounce back from this. Dante’s backing would help with the Asian market we’d just entered.
Nathan had me jumping through so many hoops and dealing with so much emotional stress that I’d failed to see what Oliver was up to. I should have been keeping a closer eye on our finances. Juggling multiple tasks almost cost me everything. Nathan almost cost me everything. I should have appointed a COO years ago before expanding into the Asian market.
Maya had done such an excellent job of identifying the fraud that I decided to make her the permanent COO. I guessed it was true that one should keep a closer eye on their friends than their enemies. Oliver had been with me just as long as Maya and I would never have thought he would betray me like this.
In retrospect, I should thank them. If it weren’t for their idiotic plan, the partnership with the Zinghai Ma Corporation would have gone through successfully, and I would never have met Dante. I hadn’t seen him in almost two months. He’d been working with us through Gaspard. Each time I tried to get Dante to come to one of our business meetings in Beijing, Gaspard would inform me that he was busy with business in Europe.
I hoped he wasn’t avoiding me after our last encounter at the Viceroy L’Ermitage. I was really starting to miss him. So much had happened since then, and I needed to tell him everything. I worried that I might have broken his heart when I’d confessed that I was still in love with my husband at the time. Whatever feelings I’d had for Nathan were long gone now. I just wished Dante would agree to meet me so I could tell him that.
Maybe I’d come on too strong the last time we spoke at the hotel. I didn’t mean to pressure him into revealing his feelings for me that way, but he was driving me crazy. Why couldn’t he just be forthright instead of dropping little hints here and there?
While he never actually said he loved me, I could see it in his eyes. The fact that I belonged to someone else must have torn him up inside. I could imagine how he felt, which was why I needed to speak to him as soon as I could. Gaspard had told me Dante would come and see me when I was ready. Not sure what that meant, but I hoped it was soon.
“Isabella, the agents from the FBI are waiting downstairs,” said our company attorney over the intercom. We were just a single floor up from the lobby in our building, and Oliver was in his office, oblivious to what we were planning. I nodded to Maya so she could escort Oliver into the meeting room with us. Maya smiled and left for his office. She wanted this just as much as I did. Seeing the look in his eyes when the Feds put him in handcuffs was one thing I needed.
I wanted to see them perp-walk his ass out of this building so he could gaze at each person whose life he was going to destroy. All the lives he would have ruined would be staring him in the face. He needed to be shamed. I turned my gaze down the hallway through the glass door of our meeting room. Our attorney was by the door with several FBI agents. It was time.
“Isabella!” shouted Maya. I stood up and rushed out of the meeting room.
“What is it?”
“Oliver must have seen the agents coming down the hallway from the elevator lobby, because he took off running. I walked into his office right before he jumped out the window. He landed on a car and started limping away as fast as he could down Fourth Avenue. The bastard had the nerve to flip me off before running,” she said. I ran into Oliver’s office, as did the agents. We peered out the window, but he was already gone.
“That coward,” I mumbled to myself.
The head agent whispered something into a tiny microphone attached to her collar and held her earpiece in with her index finger. She looked up at me and smiled. “Don’t worry, Mrs. Williams. We got him. We have agents on the ground in cases like this. We also picked up your husband.”
“It’s Ms. Kam, and he’s my ex-husband,” I said swiftly.
“Yes, of course. Nathan was at Oliver’s house with his wife. Thank you for your cooperation. The DA will be in touch once the trial proceeds. You may have to testify.”
I couldn’t believe Nathan would be dumb enough to stay at Nathan’s house with everything closing in on him. What was I thinking when I married him?
“I’ll do so gladly,” I said. Our attorney escorted them out and our admin staff handed them all the documents they’d requested for the case.
“I still can’t believe that bastard had the nerve to flip me off,” said Maya.
“I’m pretty sure he knew we were on to him once we asked for all the financial records dating back to 2015,” said Gaspard. “He got defensive when we asked for them, even though it was at your request, Isabella. Right then I knew something was off. That’s what led us to start digging, and I’m glad we did.”
Maya looked at Gaspard, slightly stunned. “I didn’t know you were here,” she said.
“You thought I was going to miss this? Oliver’s been a dick to me since day one.” Maya gave him a slight grin.
“Gaspard.” I approached him. “Have—have you heard from Dante?”
“That’s the real reason I came here. Dante wants to see you. If it’s all right, I can take you to him now.”
My heart sped. “Yes, please. Maya, you can handle things here, right?”
“Yes, of course. Oh, and there’s something I need to tell you before you go. Remember the night we confronted Nathan, and you asked me how I knew you were going to your house and I sort of evaded your question?”
I nodded.
“Well, it’s because Dante told me. He knew everything, and he asked me to try and calm you down before you got there.”
“How could Dante have known?”
“I think it’s best for him to tell you that. He said he wanted to be the one to tell you everything.”
“Tell me what? What the hell’s going on?”
“Isabella, it’s not what you think. He’s the good guy in this, trust me,” she said. My excitement had now turned into suspicion. How could he have known anything about this? We left the office, and Gaspard escorted me to his car. I didn’t say a word the whole trip. I just sat back and stared out the window. I was racking my brain trying to understand what Dante had to do with Nathan and Valentina. Looking around, I started to notice this area was familiar to me. Why were we going back to my old neighborhood?
“Gaspard, where are we going?”
“To see Dante.”
“Does Dante live around here?”
“Yes,” he said without elaborating.
He was giving me half-assed answers, and I wished he would be more forthcoming. We drove past the space where my old villa used to be and on to the next one. Dante was standing in the front yard in gym clothes. Gaspard pulled into the driveway, where Dante opened the passenger door for me. I looked around, and I could see the empty lot that used to be my old place in clear view from here.
“What the hell is going on, Dante? Do you live here?”
“I can explain everything. Please come inside,” he said. Gaspard pulled out of the driveway and drove off. I stood there shocked. Was he a part of this mess too? We went inside, and I sat on the couch in the front room, waiting for an explanation.
“Would you like some tea?” he asked. Tea was the last thing on my mind right now, but I said yes anyway. He poured me a cup and sat next to me, preparing himself to tell me whatever it was he had to say. I could tell he was nervous, which made my anxiety that much stronger. He took a long, deep breath and sipped his tea. His palms were red, and I began to see little droplets of sweat had formed on his forehead.
“Dante, it’s all right. Just tell me the truth. Did you and Nathan share women here or something? Was your plan to seduce me so Nathan could have his way with my cousin?”
His eyes opened wide. “Of course not! Is that what you think of me?”
“Come on, Dante. Tell me what’s going on. You never told me you lived so close.”
He placed his tea on the table near the couch, turned to me, and looked me in the eyes. “Isabella, I’ve lived here for about eighteen months. I’ve been watching you for the last two years. I fell in love with you long ago. It wasn’t until I found out your husband was cheating that I decided to purchase this place so I could be closer to you. I didn’t want to interfere with your marriage, so I kept silent. I wanted you to find out your husband was cheating on your own.
“To express my love for you, I started to write you letters. Every letter you received was from me. It was the only way I could convey my feelings for you. Since I’ve been here, I have seen Nathan do some of the most sadistic acts. So, I took a more forceful approach and decided to help your company. It was all a pretense to get closer to you. My patience was running thin, and you were no closer to finding out what type of man you married. It tore me up inside that we couldn’t be together, which was why I accompanied you to Korea. It was my time to show you what life could be like if we were together.
“I never suspected my love for you would grow that much stronger the night I held you in my arms. It was maddening. What was even more maddening was when we got back. When you told me Nathan had abused you, I wanted to kill him. But I knew his actions would eventually lead you to leave him. It wasn’t until your cousin Valentina came knocking on my door after Nathan had been torturing her that I decided I’d had enough.
“I had no idea she was your cousin until she confessed everything to me after I told her I was going to call you. The night Valentina called you she was here. I told her to tell you everything. I couldn’t take the silence, the lies, and the cheating any longer. I did what I thought was right, and if that caused you pain, I hope that you will be able to forgive me.
“Remember that day in your hotel suite you asked me if I loved you? My answer is yes, Isabella. I love you with all my heart. I’ve waited years for you in the hopes we would find a way into each other’s lives someday. I love you truly, and I love you only, dancing my dance and singing my songs,” he confessed.
I had no words. I stared into his eyes, and there was no doubt in my mind that he was telling the truth.
“Why didn’t you just come to me? Why the secrets, Dante? Two years is a long time to wait for someone. It’s as if you’ve been stalking me this whole time. Why not just come to me outright?”
“You were married. What could I do? It wasn’t my place to tell you your husband was cheating on you. I’m sure your friends told you about him many times, but did you believe them? How would it look if some guy you didn’t even know told you your husband was cheating? You’d hate me for even bringing up such an allegation.”
“What about the letters, Dante? Why didn’t you tell me about the letters? Why keep them a secret?”
“You never directly asked me if I was sending you these letters.”
“And if I had asked you, would you have lied?”
“Probably, only because I don’t think it would have been a good idea to reveal my love for you while you were still married. I couldn’t hold back my love for you. I had to express to you how I felt, even if you didn’t know it was me.”
“I don’t know, Dante. This is all a bit much. I really do care for you. You’ve shown me things that I never knew, and you’ve guided my feelings on the road to bliss as well as on an uncontrollable waterfall.”
“Just tell me you love me, Isabella.”
“Dante, I’m sorry, but I don’t know if I believe in love anymore.” He stepped close to me and touched my chin with the side of his index finger.
“Believe in this.” He then kissed me with his soft, warm lips and embraced me in his muscled arms. It felt like the first kiss I ever had as I melted in his embrace. He kissed me as if he had never kissed anyone as passionately in his entire life. My tongue slipped into his mouth and his into mine. As he hugged me tighter, I could feel his heart beat and his body shake. The answer to my question that I’d asked myself in South Korea was revealed—
The heartbeat of someone nervous or someone in love? And yes, he was in love. We laid on the couch and continued this gift of passion. This kiss lasted over half an hour before we stopped to look each other in the eyes, for breath, only to start again. I had never kissed anyone like this. He gave me the feeling I had been waiting for my whole life.
“Do you love me, Isabella?” he asked again.
I was hesitant to say it. What if he hurt me the same way Nathan did? I didn’t think I would be able to take such heartbreak again. First, he was afraid to say it, and now I had taken his place in reluctance.
“I can’t be hurt again. I just can’t be.” Sorrow flooded my eyes.
“I’d sooner leap off my helicopter into an exploding volcano than hurt you. You are my everything. I’ve sacrificed so much just to be closer to you.” The look on his face was sincere, and I could tell he meant every word.
“Yes, I love you, Dante. I was going to tell you the day you came into my hotel room. I fell in love with your letters. I fell in love with your soft touch in Seoul. And I fell in love with your sweet kiss just now. You are everything I could want. It’s amazing that a guy like you exists, let alone has fallen in love with someone like me. You’re like a dream. I can’t begin to understand how all this could be real.”
He brushed the hair out of my face, as he always did, and kissed me on the forehead, holding me tight. This man was a multi-billionaire with the world at his fingertips. To think he had been pursuing me for two years. I didn’t know if what he was saying was true, and I really didn’t want to be hurt again.
I also didn’t know if I should jump into another relationship before my divorce was even finalized. I just didn’t know. All I did know was this felt real. He felt real. I was still confused, so I hoped he didn’t hate me for what I was about to tell him.
“I’ll give you whatever you need as long as you promise to trust me and give me your heart—I’ll do the same.”
“Dante . . . I have something to tell you,” I said nervously. He hugged me tightly. I think he knew what I was going to say.
“Yes, Isabella?” His voice cracked a little.
“I’m not sure how to say this, but . . . I think we should wait a while.”
“What do you mean?” I noticed him attempting to hid his displeasure.
“I need time to find myself, to rediscover who I am. Nathan hurt me so much, and I’m not sure I’m ready for another relationship so quickly. I need time.”
“But we love each other. You told me you loved me.”
“And I do, so much. But I just need time to figure things out. I don’t want to rush into something and start bringing my insecurities from Nathan into our relationship. I need time to figure out where my head is at. Nathan was the only man I ever opened myself up to. I just need time, Dante. Can you wait for me?”
He looked me in the eyes, and I saw tears starting to form. He stood up and turned his back toward me.
“Please don’t be that way. I love you, I really do,” I said, hugging his waist.
He sighed. “I could never hate you or be upset with you for what you just said. What you’re saying is completely reasonable. It’s also exactly what you need. I’ll wait for you for as long as it takes. My heart will always be here when you’re ready—no matter what. If I have to prove my love’s resolve for a while longer, then that is what I’ll do.”
He turned around to face me and held me tight, picking me up off the floor. I promised him we would be together once I had my mind sorted out and I was free of Nathan’s mentally abusive grip on me. I loved this man more than he would ever know and hoped he would be here when I was ready.