Jonathan’s words carried a gravity that left no room for doubt.
If he’d dropped to one knee right then and there, it would have been a textbook proposal.
For most people, Jonathan wouldn’t even need to kneel. That dazzling diamond ring alone would be enough to make anyone tear up on the spot.
But Niamh’s eyes remained cold, almost clinical.
To her, sparkling jewels like this one were just part of the job. Nothing more.
“For me?” she asked, her voice calm and measured.
“Yes,” Jonathan said, his answer unwavering.
The next moment, he saw a strange, brilliant smile flicker across Niamh’s face–beautiful, but edged with something dangerous.
“Is this because Marina’s reputation is in tatters and you’ve got no one else to give the ring to? Or is it your way of congratulating me for taking The Thomas Group off your hands?”
Without waiting for a reply, Niamh–umbrella or not–brushed past him and walked straight out into the pouring rain.
Jonathan tossed aside the umbrella and caught up with her in just a few quick
strides.
“That’s not what this is about!” he shouted, grabbing her arm.
She wrenched free, her glare icy and unyielding.
Within moments, both of them stood in the middle of the street, rain drenching them from head to toe. Thunder and rain swallowed up the world around them, forcing Jonathan to raise his voice.
“Niamh, The Thomas Group is yours. We can start over,” he called out.
Something in Niamh’s face changed instantly.
“You make it sound like The Thomas Group is some gift you’re bestowing on me,” she snapped. “I fought for it myself.”
Jonathan opened his mouth, searching for words, but fell silent under Niamh’s fierce gaze.
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Had Niamh really taken The Thomas Group by herself?
Yes… and no.
When Jonathan noticed that a new company called Rising Star, registered in Coralis, was quietly snapping up shares from The Thomas Group’s smaller investors, he’d done his own digging.
Just as he’d suspected, the legal owner was Niamh.
He’d realized she was trying to seize his company, just like Julian and those other ambitious outsiders had.
Jonathan’s poison pill strategy was meant to protect The Thomas Group from hostile takeovers–including from Niamh’s Rising Star. But before triggering it, he’d quietly added Rising Star to the list of exceptions.
That’s how Niamh was able to buy up so many shares.
So really, saying he’d handed The Thomas Group to her wasn’t an exaggeration.
And the diamond ring? It wasn’t some leftover meant for Marina.
He’d picked it out for Niamh–carefully, deliberately.
If none of that mess with Marina had happened, he would have taken Niamh out for a romantic candlelit dinner and asked her, formally, for another chance.
Not like this. Not in the middle of a storm.
But Jonathan was out of time. The longer he waited, the more he felt Niamh slipping away from him. The moment he realized she was after The Thomas Group, he’d decided to give her both–the company and the ring–hoping it might just win her back.
“Niamh, I meant it when I said I don’t love Marina anymore. Without her in the picture, we could have a fresh start…”
Before he could finish, Niamh slapped the ring out of his hand.
“A fresh start?” she echoed, her eyes wide, shining with unshed tears, her voice trembling.
“You destroyed our child on purpose…”
The words hit Jonathan like a blow. His eyes went wide in shock.
“You only chased after me to get back at Marina. Then, when she returned, you
sided with her at every turn–helped her, protected her–just because she was your
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first love, the one you could never let go of. So I gave you what you wanted. I divorced you. Now you’ve found out Marina isn’t the woman you thought she was, and on top of that, I’ve become the majority shareholder of The Thomas Group. So you come running back? Or is this just another one of your father’s schemes? Win me back so you can snatch my shares the first chance you get?”
