Chapter 21
The next day, Candace went with Zayne to meet his parents.
During the visit, Shawn sent hundreds of messages, desperately begging her not to do anything rash. He even promised to transfer 10% of Hamilton Group shares to her if she’d just come back to him.
She blocked him immediately and got a new phone number.
Meeting Zayne’s family went smoothly. His parents didn’t give her any attitude for being divorced with a child. Instead, they were incredibly warm and considerate.
After dinner, Candace and Zayne walked hand–in–hand to the emerald jewelry store to pick out engagement rings when she heard someone calling her
name.
She turned around to see Shawn rushing over. He was shirtless with bloody scratches covering his torso, and he even dropped to his knees right in front
of her.
His face was pale and haggard as he pleaded, “Candy, I’m sorry. I made so many mistakes during those eight years and broke your heart completely. Please give me a chance to make it up to you!
“Don’t get engaged to him, I’m begging you!”
The entire place erupted in chaos with people talking over each other.
“Mr. Hamilton is like royalty, yet he’s humiliating himself in front of all these people for Candace. He’s totally obsessed with her.
“She should just give the guy a chance! They were together for so many years. It’d be such a shame if it ended like this.”
“Mr. Hamilton already took back everything he gave Yelena and separated her from her kid as punishment. What more does Candace want?”
“It’s rare for a man to realize his mistakes and come back to his family. She shouldn’t push him until he runs out of patience, or she’ll probably be crying about it later!”
“Just forgive Mr. Hamilton for the kid’s sake! They’re father and son, after all. You can’t let the child grow up with that kind of void!”
Noticing Candace’s silence, Shawn looked hopeful and said gently, “Candace, I’ve transferred ownership of Golden Heights International to Jamie. Consider it a gift for meeting my son. Please accept it for the baby, okay?”
As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd erupted again.
“Oh my God! Golden Heights International is a premier high–end office building in Bloomingville! It’s worth over 100 million dollars! Mr. Hamilton’s gift is seriously impressive. Now that’s what I call sincere!”
“Mr. Hamilton’s son is only two years old, and he’s already worth over 100 million dollars. I’m so jealous! If I were Candace, I would’ve said yes already.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to live comfortably as a pampered rich wife? Why bother running a bakery?”
Candace didn’t take the property deed that Shawn held out. Her expression was cold as she said, “No matter what you do, I’m not changing my decision to get engaged to Zayne. Let’s just part ways amicably and stop wasting everyone’s time.
“I
With that, she reached out and smiled brilliantly at Zayne. “Zayne, I love the ring in style number nine. Put it on me, and let’s see how it looks.”
Zayne carefully slipped it onto her finger and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. Candace then wrapped her arms around his neck, stood on her tiptoes, and gave him a sweet kiss.
“Zayne Pearson! Let go of her!”
Shawn was absolutely furious, his eyes bloodshot with rage as he lunged forward to pull apart the kissing couple. However, he was immediately blocked by countless bodyguards.
He stared at Candace, unable to get close, and collapsed to his knees while sobbing uncontrollably. Tears gradually blurred his vision.
In his haze, he saw himself kissing Yelena instead, while Candy stood by the elevator as she wiped the tears from her eyes over and over. Even then, they just wouldn’t stop flowing.
Now that the tables had turned, Shawn finally understood how desperate Candy must have felt back then. He could only watch helplessly as the woman he loved kissed someone else, feeling powerless to change anything.
He was consumed with regret, wishing he could go back in time and kill his past self for mistaking someone else for her.
Shawn traced the image on his phone’s screen, lingering on the radiant smile of the woman in the photo, saying hoarsely, “I won’t give up, Candy. I’ll find a way to win you back!”
