She'd appeared in court and had pled guilty. John had been too injured to attend. But she'd seen his picture in the paper back then, and she could admit there were similarities such as the dark hair. But there was still enough of a difference between then and now in his appearance.
Karma was a bitch. She should have known she was due to pay for the pain she'd caused him. She just never would have guessed in a million years, it would have been this painful. There was nothing she could say or do that would ever make up for the hurt she'd caused him. And still, she couldn't make herself walk, leave his office to never return. She wiped her tears. She had to get a hold of her emotions before she broke down completely.
"How could this have happened?"
John's tone was like a splash of cold water. He must be feeling a thousand horrible things about her. She couldn't blame him one bit. She wanted nothing more than to rush in there, to make sure he knew she hadn't planned this. But how would he receive her? How would seeing her at this moment make it better somehow? It wouldn't, and she knew it never would.
"She must have known who you were from the name on our site, and sought you out,” Sean replied. “Maybe in her weird way, her fantasy was an apology to you. Sicker things have happened in this world. I warned you the end result wouldn't be to your favor."
Sean was making her sound like some twisted being. Anger gave way to the need to defend herself and then warred with the need to run. She never knew what exactly made her feet move to the office, what pulled her to open the door to confront them both without so much as a knock in warning. And even now as she stood before them, emotions rushing through her, she could still feel how much she wanted and needed John. As she stared at his surprised gaze, in that moment she realized how much she loved him. But with the realization came the hard truth: because of their past they would never work out.
Her gaze settled on him. She tried to memorize every detail, knowing this would be the last time she'd see him. How was it possible for her heart to physically hurt from such emotional pain?
"Ariel? What are you doing here?"
John moved around his desk, closer to her. But she raised her hands. She couldn't read the emotions in his face, and that in itself made her want to run.
"I came by because I wanted to surprise you...speak with you. But then I heard what you and Sean...” She stumbled and swallowed against the ball of emotions rising in her throat. “I heard you and Sean outside your office door."
"Wait, Ariel,” John interjected as he took a step toward her.
"No"—she shook her head—"please, I only need a few minutes of your time. I heard everything your brother said. But there is one thing I want you to believe. I never knew you were the same person from that horrible night.” She thought she had control over her tears, but they began to flow once more. “When I first read your name, I immediately thought how it always brought the memories forward...and how unlikely it was that you could be the same John I had injured. What were the possibilities that we would both end up in the same city? And what were the chances we would ever cross paths? And if I had known it was you after all these years when I applied to Capture Inc., I would have apologized a million times to you before walking out. I never intended to hurt you then, and I have no intentions of hurting you now."
"Your tears are wasted here,” Sean replied, anger evident in the tone of his voice. “We would have never allowed you into Capture Inc., and we know what your plan was."
Ariel forced herself to turn to Sean. There was a seething rage in his gaze, and she couldn't blame him one bit. She could have killed his brother, and nothing in this world would have been more unforgivable. But was there more to Sean's anger? It wasn't something she could handle thinking about right now.
She glanced at John, who watched her.
"I don't expect you to believe me. I can't blame you for what you're thinking. After today, you won't see me again. My past has come back to take a huge bite out of me, and the hurt I'm feeling right now is nothing compared to what you had to go through. I never meant to hurt you. And it's something I'll carry with me always. I'm deeply sorry for the pain I've caused you."
She turned and walked out, hearing Sean's parting words, “Good fucking riddance,” right before she heard John yell her name, and her heart really did break into a million and one pieces.
SHOCK, WARINESS, AND a whole other set of fucked-up emotions held John immobile. He fought between the desire to go after her, or punching the living crap out of his brother. Anger boiled inside him at Sean's careless, senseless words. John had just been blindsided with the surprising information, and all he could hear was Sean's contempt for Ariel. Sean had never given her the benefit of doubt, but instead found her guilty and punished her by hurting her with his words.