And suddenly, she knew she couldn’t do it.
She could not marry a man she did not love.
For any reason.
“Where is Umar?” she whispered, pressing her hands against her tightly corseted waist, struggling for breath. “He said we would talk before the wedding. Please find him.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea—” her father began ponderously.
“We’ll find him,” her mother said, giving her husband a sharp look. She smiled at Jasmine. “Don’t worry.”
“Wait.” She grabbed her mother’s wrist. A lump rose in her throat at the sudden fear that Jasmine would never see her again.
“Why Jasmine,” her mother said softly, stroking her hair though the veil as if she were still a little girl. “What’s wrong?”
Would they forgive her for calling off the wedding? Would they ever forgive her?
She would pray they would. She’d do everything she could to help her sister. She’d do everything she could to show her family she loved them.
But not sacrifice her soul.
“Mother,” Jasmine said, fighting back tears, “I know I haven’t always made you proud but…” Sniffling beneath her elegant veil, she looked from her mother to her father, then shook her head. “I love you both so much.”
“And we’ve always loved you, Jasmine,” her mother said, squeezing Jasmine’s hand. “We always will.”
“Come,” her father said gruffly, pulling his wife away. “Let us leave Jasmine in peace.”
Her mother’s hand slipped away. The door shut softly.
With a deep breath, Jasmine opened her eyes in the flowery pink bedroom designed by Umar’s dead wife. Jasmine saw moving rainbows against the wallpaper. She looked down to see the enormous diamond on her hand with its endless reflecting facets. She pulled the ring off her finger.
The stone was so cold, she thought, looking down at it in her palm. So hard. So dead.
Teach me how to feel nothing, like you. I’m tired of having a heart. From the moment I loved you, it has never stopped breaking.
Kareef had already left Qais, she’d heard, returning to the city on his helicopter. Tomorrow morning, he would be crowned king—alone.
Jasmine had finally gotten what she wanted. She’d finally pushed him away.
The ring fell from her lifeless hands. Jasmine sank to the floor, enshrouded by layers of white tulle as she fell forward into the voluminous white skirts. Her head hung down as her whole body was racked with sobs of grief.
“Oh my God,” she heard Umar say in the doorway. “Someone told you.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, covering her veiled face with her hands. “I’m so sorry….”
She felt Umar’s arms around her. “I’m the one who’s sorry,” he said. “I should have told you days ago.”
Staring up at him, she said, “Told me what?”
“I’ve been courting you for so long, but you pushed me away…and she was right there, warm and loving. She was never the type of woman I thought I would take for a bride. She has no money, no connections, no particular beauty.” Shaking his head, he stared at the floor. “In the middle of our engagement party, she called me. She said she thought she might be pregnant.”
“Pregnant,” Jasmine breathed. “Who? Who are you talking about?”
“Léa,” he whispered. He shook his head. “I never should have allowed my courtship of you to continue while I was sleeping with another woman. I told myself Léa didn’t count. She was a servant. But my children love her, and she’s pregnant with my child. I must marry her.” He pressed his hands over hers, his voice pleading for understanding. “I want to marry her. Though she is nothing like the bride I imagined…I think I could love her.” He pressed her hands to his forehead as he bowed his head. “Forgive me,” he said humbly.
“There’s nothing to forgive,” she said. A half-hysterical laugh burbled to her lips. “Because I myself…”
He gave her a sideways glance. “You and the king?” He smiled. “Gossip that rich travels swiftly, even to Brittany, where I was getting permission from Léa’s father to marry her.”
Umar had four children already, and would soon have a new baby. Shaking her head, Jasmine stared at the carpet. In the shifting patterns of colored light from the round window, she could imagine a meadow of flowers, hear a child’s laughter. She looked up into his face. “I wish you every happiness,” she said softly. “You and your precious little ones.”