Shine Bright Like A Diamond: A BWWM Billionaire Love Story (16 page)

“That’s what I find confusing,” said Yifeng. “Mr. Adamson… I have seen the way in which he looks at you. No one who would be willing to give up his wife would look at her so passionately, with so much adoration. I know that it started out as a charade, but I don’t see how the way he so obviously loves you could possibly be anything other than real, true love.”

“Then why would he tell Jeremy that he wants me to leave?” asked Almasi, frustrated. “I overheard him saying it. He said ‘fine, let her go with him’. I’m no more an expert in matters of the heart than anybody else, but I know that a man who loves a woman wouldn’t give up on her like that. So you’re wrong, Yifeng. Jacob doesn’t love me. He couldn’t possibly love me if he plans to abandon me to Mr. Kofi Kumi like that.”

Yifeng furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. This still didn’t make sense to her. There was something that didn’t add up. “It still seems… off to me. Are you sure you heard him correctly? Did you stay for the entire conversation?”

Almasi shook her head. “No, I left after I heard him say that. I was going to go in and talk to him, but those words hurt too much. I had to get out of there.” She paused. “Why?” she asked. “Do you think that he meant something else when he said those things?”

“Well,” said Yifeng carefully, “I wasn’t there, so I don’t know for certain, but I think that, especially if he knew about your current state,” she gestured to Almasi’s belly, “he would never abandon you like that.”

“But see, that's another thing,” said Almasi. “I don’t want to use my pregnancy as leverage for getting him to stay with me. That would be just as manipulative as Mr. Kofi Kumi’s attempts to pressure me into going to Ghana with him. That’s not the kind of person I am, and I don't think I could do that to Jacob. If he doesn’t love me, he shouldn’t feel obligated to stay with me.”

“But the pregnancy is half his!” exclaimed Yifeng. “You’re not just carrying your child, Almasi. You are carrying the child of the man you love, of a man who I’m
certain,
regardless of what you may think, loves you back just as much as you love him.”

Yifeng put her hands on her hips. “And what will happen when you raise the child? Will you forever lie to your baby about his or her father, even though it will be clear as the color of the child’s skin that he or she is a mixed race?” She looked Almasi directly in the eyes with an intensity that Almasi had never previously seen in her normally friendly stylist. “If you want to punish yourself for something that isn’t your fault, fine. If you want to punish Jacob for it too, that’s less reasonable, but still understandable, but how
could
you punish your own unborn baby by denying him or her the truth of his or her parentage? That, Almasi, is cruel, and you’re pragmatic, but I don’t think you’re a cruel person.”

Almasi was dumbstruck. She hadn’t expected this outburst from Yifeng. Yifeng was right, though, she realized. How could she do that to her child? How could she raise her own son or daughter with these ridiculous secrets? She’d felt like her yearning to stay was selfish before, but this was not only for her sake.

She needed to do it for her child. The lies had to end now. “You're right,” she said finally, looking back at Yifeng. “No matter how much it hurts, and even if it turns out that Jacob truly doesn’t love me back, I have to do the right thing and dismantle these lies.”

“I absolutely believe that you can do it,” said Yifeng. “Now, let’s get this dress finished. You need to look fabulous for this confrontation.”

Almasi smiled. She really did have the best stylist in the world.

When Almasi had said goodbye to Yifeng and emerged from the dressing room, she felt like she was on a mission. She made her way down the stairs, figuring that Mr. Kofi Kumi wouldn’t be too hard to find. Jacob was nowhere to be seen, which was unfortunate, since she would have preferred to talk to him first, if he would listen, but her most important task at the moment was to find Mr. Kofi Kumi and to reject him.

She was almost shaking in excitement, and no small amount of nervousness. She would show him. She would tell that horrible man just what she thought of him, and she would emerge with a clean slate. No more lies. It was time for it all to end.

When she finally came across Mr. Kofi Kumi, he was sitting in the living room next to the foyer, smoking a cigar and reading a book. Almasi frowned. She didn't think that he’d been given permission to smoke indoors. Then again, she remembered, he was part of the important pair of brothers who had to be satisfied to save the diamond deal.
Well, diamond deal be damned
, thought Almasi. She was going to straighten out these lies once and for all and give her child a better future than this whirlpool of deception. She cleared her throat, and Mr. Kofi Kumi looked up and saw her standing in the doorway.

He smiled, charm oozing out of his every pore. “To what do I owe this pleasure?” asked Mr. Kofi Kumi. “I was under the impression that you were packing. It’s a long way to Accra, my dear, and you’ll want to bring all of your favorite possessions with you. You won’t be back here in the United States of America for a long, long time.” His smile was conniving. Almasi marveled at how she had ever trusted him in those first few weeks of his visit.

“I have no packing to do,” said Almasi calming. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying here with Jacob.”

Mr. Kofi Kumi put out his cigar and stood up. “You’ve said that before, but you know it’s not true. Why are you lying to yourself? You know that the end of the week will come, and you will be off to Ghana with me, or else dear Mr. Adamson will suffer greatly and the diamond deal will not go through. Is that really what you want?”

Almasi stood her ground defiantly. “It’s not what I want, but I know that Jacob will support me, no matter what, and the only person who has been lying to me is you, Mr. Kofi Kumi.” She spat his name as if it tasted bitter on her tongue. “And I’m finished with your lies.”

“My darling,” said Mr. Kofi Kumi, still trying to work his charms. “Dear, dear Almasi. Think about my offer still. You could have everything you’ve ever dreamed of wanting. Riches, power, glory. A husband who dotes on your every whim.”

“What I want is here,” she said plainly. “And I already have it. I’m not giving it up. Go ahead, tell your brother about the circumstances of my marriage to Jacob. Tell him it was all contrived, tell him it was a farce to make money off of your diamond company. Go ahead. See if I care.”

Mr. Kofi Kumi’s expression darkened. “Don’t do this, Almasi,” he said. “Don’t test me like this. I know you’re strong willed, feisty even, and I can relate to that. I too am strong willed, but this is not the battle to choose.” He walked up closer to her, looking down, his gaze hard on her eyes. “I have tried being nice, and I have tried being sweet, but if you don’t comply with my wishes,
I will destroy you.
”

Almasi’s pulse was racing and her hands were shaking in fear, but she laughed. Mr. Kofi Kumi looked disconcerted. “See?” she said. “You’re so easy to read. You disguise yourself as a charming man, a considerate friend and a good ally, but the moment your wishes are not adhered to, you threaten violence and show your true nature.”

She had gone too far, as Mr. Kofi Kumi had suddenly grabbed her hard by the shoulders and brought his face down close to hers. “Maybe I just know how to get what I want,” he said. “Maybe I, unlike some people, don’t waste my time sitting around and playing dumb while the person I want to be with becomes distant.” He squeezed her shoulders hard.

Almasi looked directly into his eyes and said, “There is a difference between being strong willed and being a bully, and that is why you and I, Mr. Kofi Kumi, could never be together. Because I refuse to be bullied by you.” And with that, she kneed him in the crotch, and when he let go of her shoulders in surprise, she ran.

He cried out in pain and doubled over. He didn’t follow her as she ran, but he called down the hall, “My brother will hear of this!”

She stopped and turned. “Let him!” she shouted back. “Let him find out that his brother is a manipulative, two-faced, greedy, good for nothing pig of a man who tries to force himself on married women!” Then she turned away and continued to run, heading all the way out and down the path to the garden.

Chapter10

Almasi walked around in the garden, trying to catch her breath. That confrontation had taken a lot of guts, and although she had shown plenty of bravado while talking to Mr. Kofi Kumi, she wasn’t so sure that she felt very brave. The satisfaction of having kicked Mr. Kofi Kumi in the groin was one thing, but the consequences of her decision would be another thing entirely.

She knew she’d done the right thing. Even if this would cost them the diamond deal, she would explain everything to Jacob, and he would hopefully understand. She had done it for the sake of their unborn child, and for the sake of her love. She just hoped that love was worth more than diamonds.

Eventually, Almasi exhausted herself walking around. She sat down on a bench near the lavender patch, and eventually the soft smell of the flowers combined with the warm late afternoon sunlight had her feeling calmer and sleepier. She stretched herself across the bench, laying on her back with her hands on her belly, and she quickly found herself falling asleep.

When Almasi woke up, she opened her eyes and saw a man standing about twenty feet away, by the zinnias. She blinked and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. When she sat up, the man turned around. It was Mr. Arko Kumi.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Adamson,” he said, walking toward her. “I hope my presence did not alarm you. I saw that you were sleeping, and I was hesitant to awaken you, so I have been waiting for you to wake up on your own.” He stopped at a respectful distance. “I came out here because I know it’s one of your favorite refuges.”

He noted the expression of surprise on her face. “Don’t be so alarmed. Just because I don’t talk much doesn’t mean that I haven’t been paying attention, but in any case, that’s not what I’m here to discuss. I’m here because I believe that we need to talk,” he said.

Almasi sighed. Well, here it was. “Have you told Jacob yet?” she asked.

Mr. Arko Kumi’s expression remained neutral. “Told him what?” he asked.

“That you’re out of the deal,” she said. “That he will be losing your business partnership.”

Mr. Arko Kumi gestured to the space on the bench next to her. “May I?” he asked. Almasi nodded, so he moved to sit down. He didn’t stare too intensely at her, deciding instead to set his gaze into the distance. “I have told Jacob nothing of the sort, because I have not come to that decision yet,” he said seriously. “I wanted to talk to you first before jumping to conclusions based on minimal evidence.”

“Then…” Almasi paused. She turned to look at the man sitting next to her. “What is it you want to ask me?”

“I would like to hear your side of the story,” he said, sounding detached as always. “My brother made some rather harsh accusations about the nature of your marriage to Mr. Adamson.”

“Well,” said Almasi. “I will admit, some of those accusations are true.” He raised his eyebrows, but said nothing, so she continued. “You see, I was an intern at Jacob’s office, and he approached me with a proposition. He said he needed a wife in order for this diamond deal, explaining that the owner of the company he was partnering with would be more in favor of signing with him if he were married.”

“That is true,” said Mr. Arko Kumi. “I pride myself on being a man who upholds traditional family values. It shows that he has dignity, and that he can commit to things. It takes a lot of commitment to be married to someone, and it isn’t a duty that is to be taken lightly. When I work with married men, I know that they can be responsible adults. I know that they can negotiate with others and maintain lasting relationships.” He looked at Almasi. “But I digress. Continue telling me what happened.”

Almasi took a deep breath. “Well, Jacob is a very good man, but he hadn’t gotten around to marriage yet, and he really, really needed this deal to go as well as possible. He respects Kumi Diamonds, and he thought that being married instead of single would show that his values aligned with yours.

So he interviewed me, and I signed a contract promising to marry him. I would not be forced into anything sexual if I didn’t want it, but I had to play the role of his wife while you were here, and then we were planning on getting an annulment once you left, but things… they ended up different than we’d planned.

After spending so much time with him here, I began to fall in love with him, and,” Almasi paused, uncertain. “I believed he had fallen in love with me as well. The problem is that neither of us can talk about it. I don’t know about Jacob, but personally I was too afraid of coming off as unprofessional to him by admitting my love. So, by the time you arrived, we were already together, just like any normal married couple, but we still had to hide that secret.” She paused and tried to read Mr. Arko Kumi’s facial expression, but he hadn’t budged throughout her story.

She continued, hoping for the best. “But then it got a lot more complicated. You see, I had been writing about my feelings in a diary. I know it sounds frivolous and silly, but it was a good way to sort out my thoughts without giving away my secret to anyone, but then the diary fell into your brother’s hands, and, well… He used that information to threaten me. He said that if I didn’t sleep with him, he would reveal the ruse to you.

I was so embarrassed to have been caught, and I thought that surely Jacob would hate me for ruining his business deal. Besides, I had made a commitment, and keeping commitments is one of the most important things to me.”

Mr. Arko Kumi nodded. “So even though I dismissed Kofi’s advances, I didn’t tell Jacob what had happened, but Kofi kept appearing in places where I was, trying to talk me into being with him. I continued to refuse, but he kept pushing, even forcing kisses on me, and saying that I should come back to Ghana with him and be
his
wife.

I didn’t want that, but he made me promise to consider it if I wanted to save Jacob’s deal, and I did consider it, for a while. Even though I’m in love with Jacob, I wasn’t sure if he loved me back enough for it to be worth more than the diamond deal to him, and you see… ”

She paused. “Jacob doesn’t know this yet, and I have only just barely begun to show, but I’m pregnant with his child.  I was so afraid that I would have nowhere to raise the baby if I didn’t go with Kofi, since I was unsure of whether or not Jacob would be willing to have me stay with him.

In the end, I could never raise my son or daughter away from his or her father. That is no way to have a family, and I could never be away from Jacob. I love him too much. So, I know that it is selfish, but I chose to let Kofi reveal the truth to you.” She turned to look at Mr. Arko Kumi, who had stayed silent this entire time. “Even if it means that Jacob loses the diamond deal.”

Mr. Arko Kumi remained silent for a long, long time, and Almasi’s heart raced with fear. What was he thinking? Did he understand her side of the story now, or would he condemn her for being a liar? If he really cared so much about family values, he would understand Almasi’s desire to be with Jacob and to have their family together in the United States, but he could just as easily find fault in their deception and call the entire deal off. She held her breath and waited for him to answer.

Eventually, after the longest moment Almasi had ever experienced in her life, Mr. Arko Kumi spoke. “This is a complicated situation that you have found yourself in, Mrs. Adamson,” he said. “And I can certainly see how your deceptions might be condemnable.” He paused, and she waited.

“However,” he continued, “I am impressed by your loyalty to your husband. Regardless of how your marriage started out, you have shown that you are faithful and caring toward him in adverse situations. You are a strong minded woman, Mrs. Adamson, and that may get you in trouble once in a while, but the depth of your sense of right and wrong is admirable.”

Almasi felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. “So… Will you continue with the deal?” she asked tentatively.

“I will, so long as you promise me one thing,” he said. Almasi tilted her head quizzically, and he continued. “That you will stay with this man and raise your child together.”

“There’s nothing I want more in the world,” said Almasi. “But I don’t know if he feels the same way.”

“I will go speak to him,” said Mr. Arko Kumi. “I will explain the situation as you have told it to me, so he may be assured that you have not been unfaithful, and tomorrow, Mr. Adamson and I will sign the deal, and I will fly back to Ghana with my brother.” He looked at her sideways. “Who, rest assured, will be getting a serious talking to from me when we get home.” There was a hint of a smile playing at his lips, and Almasi tried not to grin too widely.

“Thank you,” she said. “Thank you so much, Mr. Kumi.”

“No,” he said. “Thank you. Thank you for proving to me that my future business partner and his wife will be well-equipped to deal with any challenges that come along. You have gotten through this situation, which I can tell was very, very difficult, but your courage and compassion have seen you through, and if I were you, I wouldn’t worry about Mr. Adamson forgiving you. Anyone can see that he is deeply in love with you.”

That last statement made Almasi’s heart leap. It meant so much coming from Mr. Arko Kumi, who, in spite of being standoffish, seemed to be very observant and a good judge of character. As Mr. Arko Kumi stood to leave, he turned to Almasi and offered her his arm. “Would you like to walk back to the house with me, Mrs. Adamson?” he asked.

She smiled at him, and let him help her up. “Thank you, I would,” she said. So they walked back to the mansion in silence, Almasi enjoying the breeze and the beautiful quiet of the evening. Thank God, this would be all right. She trusted Mr. Arko Kumi to talk to Jacob, and she wanted to trust his perception of Jacob’s love for her, too. In any case, this arrangement would work out somehow. Almasi allowed herself to smile. Everything was going to be okay.