Platinum (All That Glitters #3)(98)

Trihn released a deep breath. “Yes. I’m glad that happened.”

“I wanted to say something, but I thought…everyone else should see.”

A slap rang out across the deck, and Trihn turned to witness Preston with his head turned to the side and Lydia shaking out her hand.

“How f*cking dare you!” Lydia cried.

“Lydia, babe—”

“Don’t even try it. You lied to me. This entire relationship is a lie. You made me turn against my own sister when she was right all along, wasn’t she?” Lydia shook her head. “After two years, you still consider her your plaything, and all the while, you’ve been using me to get ahead.”

“And me,” their mother said, stepping out onto the patio.

“Lydia, you know it wasn’t like that,” Preston all but pleaded, losing his composure. “Mrs. Hamilton, of course I would never use you or your daughter.”

“The wedding is off,” Lydia told him. She was wiggling out of her engagement ring.

“What?” Preston gasped.

Trihn found herself gasping, too. After all this time, Lydia was finally seeing the man that she had chosen. She was seeing the person who Trihn had left behind all those years ago. Trihn was starting to wonder if maybe getting away had been the better deal.

“It’s over!” Lydia cried, pushing the ring into his hand. She hit his chest a couple of times, and when he reached for her, she shoved him away. “Get away from me. Don’t f*cking touch me. I want all of your shit out of my apartment.”

“Lydia, you can’t do this.”

“You’ll find that I’m perfectly capable of making my own decisions without your input.” Tears started falling out of her eyes. “Now, leave.”

“Lydia—”

“Go!”

Preston opened his mouth to say something more, but he just slunk away like the rat that he was.

“And Mr. Whitehall,” Linh said, getting formal, “I’ll need to see you and your supervisor in my office on Monday morning. We have some…rearranging we’ll need to do in the marketing department.”

Preston’s mouth hung open, but he just mumbled something incoherent and stumbled away.

For a solid minute, everyone just stood outside in shock with only the sound of Lydia crying breaking up the silence.

Trihn finally moved out of Damon’s arms and walked over to Lydia. “Hey,” she said, pulling her sister into her arms.

Lydia kept crying hopelessly for a few more minutes before her tears began to wane, and she was just left with a pitiful hiccup. “I’m sorry,” she said, wiping at her eyes.

“You just dumped your fiancé. I don’t think you should be saying sorry to anyone,” Trihn said.

“No. I’m sorry for not believing you. I have never seen that man before. Not once. He was never that way with me. I just…I can’t believe the things he said to you and the way he acted,” Lydia whispered. “Do you think he cheated on me…besides with you?”

“I really don’t know,” Trihn said. She figured he had. It was in his nature. But she wasn’t about to say that to her sister when she was hurting.

“Yeah. He probably did,” Lydia whispered. “If he’s so nonchalant about you…then probably.” She covered her eyes and took a few deep breaths. “God, I am an idiot.”

“You just fell for it. We both did,” Trihn said.

“And the way I treated you…” Lydia shuddered. “I’m so sorry, Trihn. You’re my baby sister. I should have been there for you instead of assuming that you were lying to me. We were both so young and stupid, but it’s not an excuse. I was wrong. I just didn’t know it. How could you ever forgive me for all of that?”

“I already have,” Trihn admitted.

She hadn’t really known it until that moment, but it was true. She had forgiven Lydia for her callousness and bitchiness when everything had gone down. Trihn had been on the wrong end of Preston before, and Lydia had been blinded by it. Her sister was sincere, and Trihn had moved on. And since Lydia had now cut the cancerous man out of her life, there was no obstacle between them any longer.

“You’re too good to me.”

“No. I’ve just had two years to think about what would happen if this moment ever came about, and now, we’re here. I love you, Ly. You’re my older sister. I hate seeing you unhappy.”

“I was going to be married in a month. What will I do with the dress and the decorations and all the vendors?” Lydia asked in a ramble, seeing all the hard work she had spent the last six months doing unravel before her eyes.

“Don’t worry about it, dear,” Linh said. “I’ll handle everything. If we can’t return it, I’m sure there is a perfectly good girl in need who would want a one-of-a-kind wedding dress.”

Lydia hiccuped both a laugh and a groan. “You’re right. It should go to someone else’s big day.” Then, she burst into tears all over again.

Preston left in his SUV without so much as a word, and it was another hour before Lydia was consolable. Ian and Renée showed up at the tail end of it. Both hesitantly looked around, as if they were entering a war zone.

“What’s going on, everybody?” Renée said.