But standing in the middle of the Han Industries auction hall tonight, Vincent suddenly understood.
Because the ugly feeling clawing relentlessly at his chest every time he looked at Cassian and Juliet together was exactly what Juliet had tried so desperately to explain to him all those times.
The bitterness.
The anger.
The overwhelming sense of revulsion whenever he saw Cassian's hand resting possessively on Juliet's waist or watched Juliet smile up at another man.
It hurt.
God, it hurt.
For the first time, Vincent realized that Juliet had never been exaggerating.
She had been telling him the truth all along.
And he had simply never cared enough to listen.
The realization settled heavily in his chest, making it strangely difficult to breathe.
"Don't tell me you're actually taking this seriously."
Griffin's voice abruptly pulled Vincent back to the present.
Vincent turned his head.
Standing beside him, Griffin casually swirled the champagne in his glass before taking a leisurely sip, looking entirely unconcerned.
"Juliet's obviously putting on a show," Griffin continued with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Women do this all the time after breakups. She's trying to make you jealous."
Nolan nodded in agreement.
"Exactly. Look at her. Since when has Juliet ever acted like this in public? She's definitely putting on an act."
Griffin smirked arrogantly.
"It won't be long before she gets thrown out anyway."
Vincent frowned slightly.
"What do you mean?"
Griffin let out a scoff.
"Come on. This is Cassian Han we're talking about." He lowered his voice, though the mockery remained obvious. "Either she's just a temporary plaything and he'll toss her aside once he gets bored, or he's using her for something."
Alexa immediately chimed in, eager to reassure Vincent.
"Griffin's right," she said softly, gently rubbing Vincent's arm. "After everything Juliet did to Cassian, there's no way he'll ever seriously commit to her."
She counted on her fingers as she spoke.
"She stole his business deals, publicly embarrassed him, betrayed him, and even got him attacked."
Alexa shook her head confidently.
"No man would forgive all that."
