Jacqui was confused. The way Khizar talked, it was almost as if he knew her great-uncle more personally than he’d suggested.
“Well, it must be nice for her then that you can share stories about him. Are you still planning on buying the mine from her? Or asking for it as a wedding gift?” Adil chuckled at his own joke.
Jacqui wasn’t sure what they meant. Khizar was buying the Bauer mine?
“I’ve learned, actually, that the mine is tapped out. Bauer must have known that, which is why he wouldn’t sell it before. I’m not sure why he even proposed selling it to me right before he died.”
“At least it brought the two of you together.”
Sonja sounded happy, but Jacqui wasn’t sure what she meant. Khizar hadn’t known there was any connection between her and William Bauer when he walked into her bakery.
Jacqui wasn’t sure what expression was on Khizar’s face, but it must have been strong enough to prompt his father to ask a more specific question.
“You did go to Milwaukee in order to talk to her about the mine, right?”
She heard another sigh, almost a sound of defeat.
“No. I went to see what she knew about the Bauer Diamond.”
Khizar’s father laughed.
“Bill’s legendary find? That hasn’t been seen in decades. If she didn’t know him, how would she know about it?”
“I wasn’t aware that she didn’t know him. I arranged to meet her at her bakery, and made an effort to get to know her. I thought if she trusted me, she’d open up about Bill and the diamond.”
Jacqui gasped, her sudden intake of breath choking on the beginning of tears as Khizar continued.
“I thought that the best way to get her to trust me was to date her and then propose. Once we were engaged, she’d tell me about her inheritance of the diamond. I was going to buy it from her, and make sure she had enough money to support her business and have financial security.”
Jacqui was frozen in place, even as tears poured down her cheeks.
It was all a lie. He’d known more about her than she knew about herself, and he’d always known it. The fake surprise at finding out they knew someone in common, the willingness to help her find out more about her great-uncle. It all made sense now. He was only looking for the diamond; he didn’t want Jacqui at all.
Jacqui’s face flushed pale and then red. She was so embarrassed. And scared. She was halfway around the world from anything or anyone she really knew, and she wasn’t sure how she would get back home. And right then, all she wanted was to go home.
She didn’t care about the diamond or about her great-uncle or finding anything else out. Jacqui just wanted to go home and crawl into bed and come out again sometime next year.
Khizar was still talking, however.
“I needed that diamond. The value of the jewel would cause the net worth of Jamshidi & Company to skyrocket, yes, but the prestige alone would be worth it. The Bauer Diamond is the stuff of legend, and if it became our legend, the company would be set for decades to come.”
“And what about Jacqui?”
“She’s a lovely girl. I didn’t know just how much I would enjoy spending time with her. But my proposal was entirely about the diamond.”
Hearing that she had accepted a proposal from someone who cared nothing for her was the final straw. Jacqui couldn’t hide the great gulping sobs that racked her body, and so, she pushed away from the wall and ran.
She almost tripped over a server, who just barely avoided her, calling after her as she made it to the door.
Jacqui didn’t pay attention to where she was going. All she wanted was to get away from the restaurant and away from Khizar. She dashed across the street to put some distance between them, walking as fast as she could.
She couldn’t stop crying, prompting more than a few strange looks from people on the sidewalk. Not wanting to cause a scene, she ducked down a side alley and through a stone archway. It looked like a small park; the path was lit with bright hanging lanterns and Jacqui could see a small pond up ahead.
There were benches, too, and so she collapsed onto one of them. Then, she put her head in her hands and cried.