Chapter 49: Chapter: 49

ANDREA

I stared at the photo of Jules and me, utterly confused. Jules was seated at one of the tables at the back, near the storage room, dressed in a short white pantsuit. I was standing in front of her, passing her a menu.

I had on high-waisted pants and an apron tied around my waist. I remember the day, but not meeting Jules; it was Saturday, one of the busiest days in Alice's restaurant.

I remember the day because it was the last time my parents visited me. I had just finished speaking to them over the phone, and they were on their way to Brooklyn to see me. This picture was taken months before I even applied for a job at Mont's Bridal.

“How? Who? Why don't I remember this? Who took this?”

“Logan. And you don't remember because you didn't know. You didn't remember seeing Jules, probably because we sometimes don't remember people we meet in a crowd. You looked distracted in this picture. Were you busy?” I nodded.

“I was, my parents were coming to see me. The restaurant was full, and we were understaffed. It was hectic. I don't remember meeting her, though not surprisingly, there were so many customers waiting to place an order.” Nick took the picture.

“I understand. Now, why don't you tell me everything that brought you to Nico-tech and me?”

My heart was triple-pounding, and suddenly I was sweating even though we just finished taking a bath. I swallowed, took the wine bottle Nick had placed on the table, poured a generous amount into my glass, gulped it down, poured a second glass, and then told him everything.

I confessed how Jules told me he was cheating on her, how devastated she was, how she came to me with the offer to sleep with him and make a sex tape because she was afraid he was going to take everything away from her. Why I accepted the job, how much she paid me, and how she provided me with the cameras.

Nick's eyes took on a deadly glint with every word out of my mouth, making me shiver, my hands shake, and my whole body tremble.

When I finally stopped talking, I swallowed the rest of my wine. It took several seconds, seconds that felt like eternity, before Nick finally said.

“The only one cheating was that lying, deceitful, manipulative bitch. She just needed a pawn to get her grubby hands on NICO-TECH. She used you, Andrea. Accept it, I was right to keep an eye on her all this time.” Nick says calmly.

No, no, Jules wouldn't do that. I mean, it was suspicious how she didn't tell me we'd met before. But she wouldn't be that conniving.

“No, I don't believe that. Why would she do this to me? And why would she need your company when she already has her own? She told me you're going to take Mont's Bridal from her and also separate her from Natalie.”

“Lies all of them, she was the one who cheated first, and for your information, Mont's Bridal is mine and Meredith's, with Meredith having the majority of the shares. I had given my shares to Natalie when she turned one. Mont Bridal was the company we inherited from our birth mother after her passing.

Juliette was working there even before our mother's death, and she was good at her job; it was no wonder that she quickly rose up the ranks and became the CEO of MONT CLOTHING.” He swirls the drink in his glass before drinking it.

“I have been suspicious of Juliette. I believe she had a hand in Meredith's kidnapping. She has the motive, but I don't think she's alone in this. There's someone behind her. I think she knew I suspected her and wanted to trap me before I found out the truth about her.”

“That's serious accusations. And Jules is your wife, which makes Meredith her family. I'm sure at one point you both must have loved each other, it is why you got married, right?”

He snickered. “You're right, we did love each other as friends, but I never intended to marry Juliette. I knew that, and so did she. We were friends with benefits.”

“Then why did you?” he arched his brow. “Oh! She became pregnant?”

“Yes, and I'm not one to shirk my responsibility. I made the right decision, and because of that, I have such a beautiful daughter.”

Natalie!

“Now, do you believe that you were a pawn?” he asked.

I was left with my mouth gaping. Everything Nick was saying sounds believable. I couldn't believe I'd fallen for Jules' lies. Could everything Nick's saying be the truth? Had I been trusting a horrible, conniving bitch all this time?

My eyes glance back at the picture of Jules and me taken in Alice's restaurant, but what else could explain this? Another picture under the piles of files and dozens of pictures caught my eye.

I pulled it out, scattering the others on the floor, but I didn't care. My breath froze in my lungs.

My eyes fixed on those familiar hazel eyes I haven't seen in five plus years.

Luke!

Luke and Jules are sitting together in her Aston Martin right outside Alice's restaurant, a few dozen steps away from me. If I weren't sitting, I would have fallen and fainted.

Luke and Jules.

Jules and Luke.

Dear God!

Bile rose up fast, I scrambled up, the chair clattering to the floor in the process, I was trying to get to the bathroom but my legs gave way, strong hands hold onto me and before I say anything Nick was running towards the bathroom, a few seconds later I was retching my gut out while Nick held my hair away from my face.

Hot tears ran down my face as I retched for what felt like eternity before it finally subsided. I rinsed my mouth and washed my face; my body was shaking, whether from the cold or from the shock of seeing my bastard of an ex-boyfriend with Jules, I couldn't tell.

I slid down the wall and was about to sit my ass down on the cold marble tiles when Nick swiped my feet under me and carried me back to his bedroom. He didn't take me back to the chair and table, where the evidence of Jules' deceit and betrayal was.

He placed me gently on the bed and sat behind me. I was too shocked to cry, too shaken to analyze my feelings. I hugged myself and curled into a fetal position.

Nicklaus was suddenly there, spooning me from behind. We stayed that way for a long time, not talking or doing anything, just lying there, with Nick's strong hand over me. It centered me, before his voice cut through the silence.

“Tell me who he is and what he did to you, Andrea.” Even though his words were phrases as such, it really wasn't a request; it was an order. So I did. I told him about Luke and Jake and what they did to me at UChicago.

Nick's hand tightened around me when I reached the part when I realized what they'd both planned for me—squeezing me hard against his chest. I wasn't frightened; it oddly felt calming, and I felt safe.

“I promise you, Andrea, they will both pay. I will make sure they never come after you again.”

It was like I was waiting to hear those words because that's when my feelings burst free, hot, salty tears leaked out of my eyes, then I was sobbing, soaking his chest with my tears, my shoulders shaking with the force of my cry.

Nick smoothed my hair, repeatedly kissed my hair and forehead, and whispered words of how we're going to get our vengeance.

If it were anyone else, they would have soothed me with platitudes and whatnot. But Nick has a unique way of consoling someone. I would have told him he didn't know what comforting someone meant, but it surprisingly worked.

Hearing his promises of death, suffering, and torture to both Jules and Luke shockingly comforted me. I must be more blood thirsty than I knew.