The initial daze faded, and as she slowly grew accustomed to his presence, Naomi Shaw felt her heart pound so furiously it might leap from her chest. 'So this is how wonderful it feels to kiss the one you love.'
"Juliet, what games are you playing now? Why are you so inexperienced today, like a little girl? You know I don't like that…"
He murmured in her ear, instantly extinguishing her passion. She shoved him away with all her might, and Julian Donovan stumbled back several steps before catching his balance. When Naomi Shaw looked at Julian Donovan again, tears were already glistening in her eyes. 'He said he doesn't like inexperienced girls like me…'
A bitter sorrow clutched at her heart, making her want to cry. She just stood there, looking at him through a blur of tears.
"Julian, it's me, Naomi Shaw!"
Tears fell before she could finish speaking. To hide her embarrassment, she turned, covered her mouth, and ran.
The shove had sobered Julian Donovan up a bit. Now, hearing her words, he narrowed his eyes and peered in the direction she had run. Upon recognizing the pale yellow figure, he slammed his fist into a nearby pavilion pillar in frustration.
He was in a terrible mood today. Just yesterday, he was a medical student with a bright future, but now he had fallen into the criminal underworld. The thought was suffocating. Compounding that was the blow of Juliet Jennings leaving him, and now being in this completely foreign environment. That was why he had grabbed a bottle of wine after the banquet and come here alone.
He had only come here to unwind, not expecting to get involved with her. He could see she had a childish crush on him, but her type… she was fine as a little sister, but he had no interest in her as his woman.
He irritably tossed the wine bottle aside, loosened his tie, and staggered back to his room.
Don't blame Donovan for being heartless; he simply wasn't in love.
Naomi Shaw ran back to her room in tears. She curled up on her bed, crying miserably, the stinging on her lips a lingering reminder of his presence. At eighteen, in the flower of her youth, she yearned for a perfect love. She dreamed of someone appearing whom she could love and who would love her in return. She would marry him, bear his children, and they would grow old together, hand in hand.
She had many admirers at school, and she was aware of Tyson's feelings for her. But she felt nothing special for any of them. Tyson's kindness touched her, but it didn't make her heart flutter. The only one who could make her blush and her heart race was Julian Donovan, the man she had just met today.
'But… what can I do? He's already in love with someone else.'
'If he just didn't like me for now, I could still try to win him over. But he already has someone else in his heart, and he loves that woman so much… There's no way I can ever replace her, is there?'
'Why couldn't I find the kind of love I wanted, like Lara Nash and her boyfriend? A love where two people are completely devoted to each other?'
She cried herself to sleep that night, silent and heartbroken. The next morning, when she got up to wash her face, she discovered her eyes were terribly red and swollen. Left with no choice, she found a pair of large, black-framed glasses to wear, hoping they would hide the worst of it.
When Naomi Shaw went downstairs for breakfast, Ian Shaw and Tyson were already seated at the dining table. Julian Donovan was nowhere to be seen. She glanced at the empty seat, a hollow feeling echoing in her own heart. 'He must be avoiding me because of last night,' she thought bitterly.