Chapter 42 The Evidence
Serena
I was forced to attend another dinner party, this time at the sprawling mansion of a celebrity whose name I still couldn’t remember, even though I’d nodded politely when Saint introduced us.
My dress was the undisputed center of attention.
Saint and Sin had personally chosen it from New York’s most exclusive fashion catalogue, a breathtaking remake of one of Marilyn Monroe’s iconic looks.
People were openly gushing, whispering, and snapping discreet photos. I wasn't naive to not hear the badmouthing remarks being made about me.
I felt exposed, not just because of the dress, but because of the two men who refused to leave my side.
Saint and Sin flanked me like twin bodyguards, none of them shy about their obsessiveness and possessiveness.
Every time I tried to create even an inch of space between us, Sin’s hand would find my waist and gently tug me back.
“Do not think the ongoing tension in the family has made us forget you are ours, Serena,” he whispered, using Saint’s body as a shield so he could squeeze my ass.
I was thankful for the loud music, because the gasp that escaped me was anything but quiet.
“Why don’t we join the other couples on the dance floor, sweet Sin?” Lara purred, appearing beside us in a slinky red dress. She gestured toward the classic slow song other couples were swaying to.
Sin completely ignored her. I caught the flash of irritation on her face as she dug into her purse, pulled out wads of cash, and discreetly handed them to a couple of her friends standing nearby.
It clicked instantly. She had lost a bet. Ouch. She’d been so sure Sin would come running back to her the moment the family put pressure on him.
Mrs. Rivers marched up to us next, pretending to pull me into a warm motherly hug while speaking directly to Sin over my shoulder.
“Let her go this instant and go take a dance with your fiancée,” she hissed. “What do you want people to think? That my sons are playing some reverse harem trope like one of those silly books trending these days?”
I stilled immediately.
“I respect you, Mother,” Saint said calmly, but there was steel beneath the politeness. “Do not stand in the way of my personal life.”
Mrs. Rivers’ smile didn’t reach her eyes. “If you still want access to your inheritance, especially you, Sin, because you haven’t worked a single honest day in your life, you will let go of this garbage bag and go over to your beautiful fiancée. I do not like repeating myself.”
The air around us turned thick with tension. I felt Sin’s fingers flex on my waist, and Saint’s hand settled on the small of my back, steadying me.
I looked up at Mrs. Rivers, refusing to shrink under her glare.
“I’m not a garbage bag,” I said quietly, but clearly enough for those nearby to hear. “And I’m not going anywhere unless I choose to.”
The guests pretended not to stare. But everyone knew. The Rivers family was fracturing in real time. And I, the girl who was supposed to be disposable, was standing right in the middle of the break.
I felt Sin's hand drop as he left reluctantly to go meet Lara.
Mrs Rivers brought her lips to my ear, and I prepared for the venom she wanted to spit inside.
“Right now, I will let you know that none of my sons will marry you, so wake up and stop being a delulu queen. And, oh, I'm letting you remain by Saint's side not just because Sin no longer has to hide and is now paired with Lara, but because you must face the consequences of trying to murder their father.” Then she pulled back and playfully tapped my chin, the gesture so condescending it made my blood boil.
The anger that surged through me was enough to drown every single person at the party.
The woman had some nerve. She was calling me delulu while openly admitting she wanted me to take the fall for poisoning her own husband?
“What did she tell you?” Saint asked the moment she walked away.
“Oh, nothing serious,” I lied, forcing a smile.
“Don’t lie.”
Just as I opened my mouth to stammer something, because there was no way I was repeating that conversation, one of the family’s bodyguards approached us.
“Master Saint, Detective Gilbert wants to see every single member of the family right now,” he said. “He found something.”
I was innocent. I had nothing to feel guilty about.
But my heart still started hammering like it was trying to escape my chest.
“Prepare the convoy,” Saint ordered calmly.
As soon as Sin got the message, he abandoned Lara without a second glance.
She twirled dramatically and crashed into another couple because Sin didn’t even bother to steady her before turning away, they'd been dancing before Sin got the memo.
My heart was jumping as we left the hall, because I couldn’t stop thinking about what the detective could have found. And where he found it too.
Was it in Mrs Rivers' room? Or Lara's?
“Lara must go in the car with Sin,” Mrs. Rivers ordered just before she was escorted into the car behind us.
Sin clenched his fists but didn’t protest as Lara sidled up to him with a smug little smile.
When we got into the limousine, Lara immediately tried to perch on Sin’s lap like she belonged there.
He carefully lifted her off him, like she was a fragile, plastic doll, and placed her on the seat nearest the door.
Saint tugged me forward and dragged me onto their laps instead, placing one thigh on Saint’s and the other thigh on his own so I was straddling both of them at once.
Lara gasped when Sin turned my face toward him and captured my lips in a deep, possessive kiss.
“Oh my God!” she exclaimed with an audible gasp.
Sin kissed me harder, his tongue sliding against mine, while Saint threaded his fingers through my hair, tilting my head exactly how he wanted it.
I was so lost in the taste of Sin that I barely noticed when the car finally stopped.
Lara all but leapt out of the limousine the second the doors slid open.
Detective Gilbert was already waiting for us outside, standing stiffly like the house itself was trying to chase him away.
“Good thing you arrived on time,” he said as we formed a loose circle around him. “I found disturbing evidence.”
“Get on with it, detective!” Lara whined. “Some of us don’t do well with suspense.” Why was she so eager to hear it?
Detective Gilbert shot her a hard, unimpressed look, the kind that said he already knew she was full of drama.
He clapped his gloved hands once and announced in a dramatic voice, “Let us make haste to Miss Serena’s room.”
What?