Chapter 639: What if karma had always been there all along?

Nina sat quietly in the corner of the restaurant, clasping her hands in her lap. Last night had been a shock to her, and even this morning, the thought of it felt surreal. She couldn’t believe it happened and Penny got hurt.

However, after spending a day resting at the Cortez household, with Jessa lecturing her the whole time, Nina was finally able to sort through her thoughts. Despite the rollercoaster experience of last night, one fact remained clear:

Finn had lied to her.

And she wanted to know why.

Moreover, she had a vague memory of Finn stopping her from helping Penny last night. She wasn’t sure if it was due to confusion or drunkenness, but she planned to get her answers today. After hearing Lily’s sentiments about her breakup with Aiden, and after witnessing what Aiden could do, Nina didn’t want the lingering fear in her heart.

The mere thought of marriage already made her nervous, and her engagement had added enough pressure on her life. She couldn’t allow this feeling of uncertainty and fear to creep in now. Thus, Nina waited patiently in the restaurant, filled with determination.

"Sorry, I’m late." After a couple more minutes, Finn arrived and sat down opposite her. "Did I make you wait long?"

Slowly, Nina lifted her eyes to the man across from her. As usual, Finn looked dashing in his perfectly ironed clothes, neatly brushed hair, and unblemished skin. Unlike Nina’s bare face, which displayed natural fine lines and exhaustion under her eyes, his skin looked flawless.

"Nina?" Finn’s call snapped her out of her thoughts. "Is everything okay? You’re staring at me with such a strange gaze."

Nina blinked and smiled. "Yes... I mean, I hope."

"What does that mean?" He furrowed his brows, moving his hand to hold hers. "I don’t like your tone. Are we okay, hon?"

"Well." Nina cleared her throat, glancing at his hand that was holding hers. Her heart softened a bit, making her sigh heavily as she looked up at him.

She opened her mouth, but her voice wouldn’t come out. She didn’t know what had made her stop talking when she had already decided to get answers from him. Was it the confrontation itself? Or was it the fact that she knew she wasn’t ready—her heart wasn’t ready—to hear the answer?

"Let’s eat first," he suggested with a wry smile, sensing that she seemed more nervous than he was. "What do you want to eat?"

"It’s okay." Nina shook her head and carefully pulled her hand from his. Smiling subtly, she added, "I’m full. Aunt Jessa fed me all day with real food and a lot of scolding on the side."

Finn glanced at the hand she had awkwardly pulled from his grip before snapping his eyes back up at her. "What happened?"

"You don’t know?" she replied, making him furrow his brows. "Finn, last night... when I called you, where were you?"

"Ah. About that..."

"Don’t lie to me, Finn," she breathed out before he could give her an answer. "Just... don’t."

Because if he did, it would leave a crease in this perfect relationship that wouldn’t be ironed out no matter what. And she knew she wouldn’t be able to stay, even if she wanted to.

The two of them stared at each other in silence, with Finn studying the countless unspoken words swirling in her eyes. The corners of her eyes were already turning red as thin layers of tears coated them, making them shine more brightly and honestly, displaying her heart so openly.

"Well." Finn took a deep breath and cleared his throat, straightening his back before leaning forward. He stretched his hand over the table, tapping the surface with his fingertips.

"I was in a nightclub," he confessed, staring her straight in the eye.

Nina shook her head, holding her breath until her neck looked taut. "Why did you lie to me?" she asked, looking back at him.

"Because ignorance is bliss."

"What?"

Finn sighed heavily, sporting a complicated look. "I was there because I was meeting someone very important. I don’t like the venue, so I thought you might not want to hear that your fiancé is in a nightclub without you."

"Nina, my business... requires a lot of things that I don’t want to burden you with," he continued sincerely. "We’ve talked about it before, so I thought I was doing the right thing. Obviously, lying was never the right thing to do."

Nina observed his expression, pressing her lips even tighter. She gulped down the tension in her throat, raising her slightly creased brows.

"That’s it?" she asked again. "There’s no other reason why you lied to me? Or were there other times when you lied to me, just like last night?"

Finn went quiet, and his brief silence answered her last question. Nina let out a shallow laugh as she nodded, taking a deep breath as she tried to process everything.

One lie... just one lie... opened the question: how many more lies had he told her?

Nina wasn’t the best child growing up. She had a past she regretted. It was everyone’s love for her that helped her try to help herself. It was Penny’s forgiveness, Jessa’s understanding and tough love, Allison’s and Charles’s patience, and her cousin’s cheers that made her who she is today.

Even so, Nina believed it wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies. Karma exists, and it would come for her for what she had done in the past. After all, even if she repented and changed, she could never erase the fact that at one point, she wanted Penny to die from the bottom of her heart. That desire had been pure and real back then, to the point that it still scared her to this day.

Thus, she knew that all the bad deeds she had done in the past would eventually come back to haunt her. That was why she was careful. But what scared her the most was one question:

What if her karma had been with her all along?

Nina kept her lips pressed into a thin line before she blurted out under her breath, "Let’s call off the engagement."