My hands wrap around the cool balcony railing, so tight the blood flows away from my knuckles. I’m pissed at Jia for pretending to be someone she’s not, but I’m more pissed at myself for walking straight into her trap.

How could I have been so blind? Am I such a terrible judge of character? But then again, she could have fooled anyone. She looks all innocent, it’s hard to imagine something dark lurking below the surface.

What hurts the most is that I love her so much my mind keeps going to her sleeping on the streets. I push the thought to the side. I can’t handle it right now. I need to focus. I can’t allow her to fool me again. I don’t even know if everything she told me is the truth. For all I know, she’s still married. She has certainly mastered the art of lying.

A gust of wind sweeps through my hair, drying the sweat on my scalp. I shut my eyes, wishing the wind could blow away the pain buried inside my chest. I open my eyes again and focus on the raging sea, desperate to sink into its depths. But I can’t run away from this. I cannot run away from what Jia—or whoever she is—has done to my heart.

Maybe I should have stayed back there instead of escaping to another suite on the LaClaire. But I couldn’t stay in the same room with her. I would have lost myself.

I stay on the balcony for half an hour, sitting in one of the lounge chairs, trying to calm my racing heart. After ten more minutes of feeling lost, it hits me that I made a mistake. Cursing under my breath, I scramble to my feet. I shouldn’t have left my daughter behind. How could I have been so stupid? Jia could be dangerous.

Wishing I’d brought my cane with me, I stumble back to the room. My head feels like it’s about to blow up. I burst into the room, expecting to find it empty, to find her gone with my child so she can use her to squeeze money out of me.

But she’s still in the room, on the bed, crying. She looks up when I enter, her eyes red and empty.

An image of her homeless on the streets of New York, alone and afraid, flashes through my mind again, but I ignore it. I want to hold her, but at the same time, I want to hurt her for betraying me.

“Lance.” Her lips part as she rises, twisting her engagement ring around her finger, a piece of jewelry that lost its value. “Let me explain, please.”

“I’m not here for you.” I walk out of the master bedroom, headed for Rose’s room.

I sit on the bed for a moment, watching my daughter curled up in a ball underneath the sheets, snoring softly as she navigates dreamland.

I place a hand on her warm forehead, sweep away the soft curls, and press a kiss to her smooth cheek. Some of the ice around my heart melts, but not all of it.

“Daddy?” She yawns, her arms stretching out on both sides of her.

“Yes, my angel, it’s me.”

“Did the sun come out?”

“It’s still early.”

“Is it breakfast time? I don’t want to sleep anymore.”

“Not yet. But if you want, you can have some already. Come with Daddy.”

She nods and slides out of bed. We step out of the room together, my hand holding hers, while she carries Teddy—the teddy bear—in her other hand.

The moment Jia sees Rose, she smiles through her tears. “Morning, Princess—”

“We will be staying in another room,” I say, cutting her off. She has no right talking to my daughter when she’d ruined both our lives. “We’re getting off the ship at the next port.” I pause and glance at Rose. “Angel, go and grab a fruit from the living room. Wait for Daddy there, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy.” Before I can stop her, Rose runs to Jia, jumps onto the bed, and kisses her on the cheek. Then she jumps from the bed again and bounces out of the room.

As soon as she’s out of earshot, I pick up my cane and walk with it to the door. I turn to meet Jia’s eyes. “Feel free to stay as long as you want on the ship. If you decide to come back to Boston, I want you to stay away from me and my kid.”

“Don’t do this, Lance. I love you.” She sniffs. “I only took that money to pay Kirk so he could get out of our lives. It’s you I want to be with.”

“You paid him to keep his mouth shut,” I shoot back. “If he hadn’t shown up, would you have told me the truth?”

She drops her gaze.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. You were prepared to keep on lying to me.” I grip my cane tight. “Or maybe you were planning to divorce me soon after we got married.”

“No.” Her voice is smothered with tears. “I’m not ... I don’t do that anymore. I’ve changed.” She clutches her hands against her chest. “You changed me.”

“How can I ever believe a word that’s coming out of your mouth? As far as I’m concerned, we were a damn lie.” Every touch of her hands on my body, the feel of her kisses on my lips, every single moment between us was a complete illusion.

“How can I prove to you that you’re wrong? What do you want me to do?”

“Stay away from me. That’s all I want from you.”

“You’ll just throw us away?” She shakes her head. Her tears fly in all directions. “You’ll pretend we never happened?”

“If I could, I would. You seriously think I’m going to continue this relationship after everything you’ve told me?”

“But I’m not a bad person. Kirk manipulated me. He made me do all those things. I was weak and vulnerable at the time.”

“The fact remains that you lied to me ... about every damn thing. Goodbye, Jia. If you still have the money you took, keep it. Use the engagement ring to buy yourself another name and life.” I walk away without a backward glance, my heart scorching my chest.

I want to go back, to pretend she’s not a liar, but I remind myself that my decisions don’t only affect me. They affect Rose, who I find on the living room couch, biting into a granny smith. I reach for her hand, and we leave Jia behind.

Inside the other suite, I call for our personal butler, Jacob, and instruct him to collect our belongings from the suite I’d shared with Jia.

When Rose asks why our clothes have been moved from the other suite, I realize I’m not prepared to answer her questions. How the fuck am I going to explain to her that Jia is no longer a part of our lives? How will I explain it to my family?

“We’ll be staying in here until we go home tomorrow.”

“Why?” Rose takes another bite of her apple, the juice running down her chin.

“Because it’s much nicer here.”

“Is Jia coming, too?”

“No.” I swallow hard. “She likes the other room better. Now go ask Jacob to get you breakfast.”

“I don’t want eggs,” she chirps, already distracted.

“There are many other things on the menu. I’m sure Jacob is waiting for you.”

After Rose leaves the room, I sit on the bed to make a call. I’m surprised to find a voice message from Mitch. I remembered my phone ringing last night, but I didn’t care. The only thing that interested me was being buried inside Jia. I had no idea it would be for the last time.

“Where the fuck have you been?” I ask Mitch when I return his call. “I’ve been trying to reach you.”

“Sorry about that. I was out of town. When I’m busy, I keep my phone on silent.”

“Cool. What do you have for me?”

“I’d rather talk about it in person if you don’t mind.”

“That’s not going to happen because I’m on a LaClaire cruise right now. I’m paying you for information, and I want it now.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Spit it out.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I don’t have time. My daughter is waiting to have breakfast with me.”

“I’m afraid it’s bad news, Lance.”

“Give it to me. I’m ready.”

“Okay.” Mitch pauses. “Jia Summers doesn’t seem to exist. There’s no record of her anywhere, not at the schools you said she attended or even the hospital you said she was born in. No one I contacted has heard of her. All the references you gave me with her resume could not be reached.”

“What do mean?”

“The numbers were all disconnected. It sounds kind of fishy to me.” I hear a knuckle cracking. “Maybe there’s a perfectly good explanation.” He waits for me to respond, but I don’t. “Lance, are you there?” he asks.

“I’m here,” I say. “Thanks for looking into it. You can stop the investigation.”

“Are you sure? I could dig deeper.”

“No need. Jia is not my problem anymore. I called off the wedding.” I hang up and call the wedding planner to let her know that we no longer need her services. I also call my brothers to pass on the same information. They’re all speechless when I tell them everything Jia had shared with me.

Now that it’s over, the best thing for me to do is to cut my losses and move on with my life. I’d be damned if any other woman ever fools me again. I’m done.