"Someone saw you speaking with Charlotte Takahashi. That tells me everything I have to know, and it's why I've come here."
"I'm afraid I don't understand—"
"I'm offering you a graceful exit. I'm not sure what lies you've fed—"
Hope shook her head. "I've never—"
The other woman cut her off with a scornful look. "And you expect me to believe you just because you said so?" Princess' words took on an irritable tone. "You're a woman, Hope. Underneath your goody-two-shoes image is a woman, and we all operate the same way. We'll do whatever it takes to keep our man."
Princess couldn't be any more wrong,Hope thought. But she also realized that the other woman might not yet be ready to accept the truth.
"You may have him fooled right now, but it's not going to last. Colin ismine.He's always been mine. Even when I was married to someone else. Even when twenty-five years had already passed since he last had a taste of my body." Princess' expression turned vengeful. "He's always been mine, and can we just be real for a second here? Do you really think someone as boring as you has a chance against someone like me?"
Hope kept waiting for her to feel hurt, but her heart remained free from pain.
Because of God.
And another thing that He had changed?
The ability to view Princess without the green lens of jealousy and instead see her for who she really was: a woman who had also been let down by the people she cared for, which in turn made her mistake money as the only reliable thing in the world.
Hope cleared her throat. "I know you care for Colin—"
"Stop it."
The sudden sharpness of Princess' tone startled her, and the way Princess also jerked to her feet was equally startling.
Hope stood up and looked at Princess uncertainly. Why did the other woman look so furious all of a sudden?
"Do you think I don't know what you're doing?" Princess spat. "You think you're so much better than me, don't you? So much nicer and kinder?"
"I never—"
"Colin will always be mine," Princess said in a hard voice. "I'm his first love. And you're nothing but a replacement."
Hope couldn't speak, her attention stolen by the red-tailed hawk circling the sky.
It was a sign.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" the other woman was screeching. "Are you trying to piss me off by acting like I'm not even here?"
Her tears started to fall, and Hope's eyes closed just as Princess charged toward her.
Thank You, God.
"You bitch—"
The words startled her into opening her eyes again, and all she could see was Princess with her hand already raised.
But the slap never landed, with a strong grip intercepting Princess' wrist mid-swing.
Colin.
"That's enough, Princess."
The muddy tracks on the porch made Hope realize he had come her from the garden, but neither Princess nor her had heard his footsteps.
The other woman whirled around, her expression one of hurt. "Colin, it's not what you think! Your wife—"
