Chapter 76 CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX: OPEN CONFRONTATION.
ZARA
My entire body tensed up in response to Lysandra’s voice. She is hanging off Aiden’s hands as they walk in. They stopped in front of us. Aiden smirked, eyes glossing from me to Michael.
I took a quick look at Michael, who seemed especially unfazed by his boss standing in front of him.
“Ms Crawford?” He stretched his hand to me as if expecting me to cuddle him. I inhaled sharply, feeling the breath brush against my nostrils.
I stretched my hand and took his hand while still holding tightly to Michael by my side. Aiden took my hand to his mouth and pressed a lingering kiss against it. I felt my body crawl in reaction. I cleared my throat and pulled my hand away.
“Mr Knight?” I said in the most curt voice ever.
I just couldn't figure this man out. He had called my family a pack of leeches and now was holding onto me as if I were the only one who could save him in the end.
“I didn’t expect to run into you here,” I continued.
“Why?” He asked with a pout that was extremely out of his character. He coughed and pulled down his suit before darting around the dance floor.
“Mr Campbell invited me, so I had to come.”
I wanted to mention the decoy situation, but it was supposed to be confidential. I was not supposed to even know about it in the first place. I didn't want to get Michael into any form of trouble, so I just smiled instead.
“Michael, I didn’t expect to see you so out in the open, especially after what happened the last time,” Lysandra said as if she had crammed that to say.
I turned to Michael, but he looked just as confused as I was. “What happened the last time?” he asked, and she shrugged.
“With the meeting you had to attend,” she muttered. “I am afraid that you have been playing a role for too long and that you are getting caught up in it.
What did that mean? Of course, Aiden would tell his childhood friend about the decoy situation, but did she think it was okay for her to just speak about it so easily?
“I am very fine, Ms Velaren.” Michael’s back straightened. “You always worry about me, but I can take care of myself.”
“I just don’t want you losing the real you,” she said. It felt as if I had walked in on their conversation and had gotten lost midway.
I grabbed Michael’s elbow and pulled him closer.
“Thank you very much for your concern, but we can handle our lives,” I said, hating that she was enriching in every way.
She nodded with a smile; that same sinister-coated smile stretched across her face. “You both look very cute.” She pointed to my dress.
“It’s like a uniform,” she added, gently raising her eyes. “Michael must be used to it.”
“Well, if you are ever in a real relationship, then you might understand what it feels like.”
She blinked rapidly and managed to revert to her smile. I had hit a nerve. She wanted the relationship I had with Michael and was not even hiding it as well as she did when I first met her.
“Right,” she said, trying to play it off with laughter but failing at it woefully.
We stood there in silence, the kind that made ears ring endlessly.
“Zara, why don’t you come with me to the powder room?” Lysandra took a step forward. “My makeup is a bit smudged.”
I stared at her perfect face. She was going to start a useless battle with me in there, but I couldn't miss it even if I already knew her intention.
“You know us girls,” she continued as if anyone asked for an explanation. “We hate going alone,” she finished.
I pulled out of Michael’s grip after I had squeezed his hand. We both walked to the bathroom; she made sure to check every stall. As soon as she confirmed it was empty, she turned to me.
“Michael being with you is dangerous.”
It was the first time she didn't coat her words with subtle, useless concern. She was direct. Her dress glistened under the dim light of the bathroom.
“How so?” I turned to the mirror, taking out my lipstick from my bag and adding an extra useless layer over it.
“I can't go into the details now, but you…”
She didn't need to speak for me to know that the danger she was speaking about was nonexistent. Every single warning she had given me before now was just for her to plant a seed in my heart for a moment like this. I couldn't believe that each time I had gone days thinking about it and what it truly meant.
“Are you trying to tell me to leave him?” I cut her, carefully closing the lipstick and turning to her. She looked taken aback by my response.
“Isn’t that the right thing to do? If he was hurting you, he would do the same,” she said as if she had it all figured out.
“You want me to leave him so you have a chance with him?” I said.
Her eyes opened, and her mouth stayed ajar. I tilted my head, and she looked away. “Aren’t I spot on?”
“I was supposed to be with him, but you just came in out of nowhere, and he is giving it all up because of you,” she snapped.
“If you’ve known him for years and not once did he ever consider you, then you should have taken the hint instead of embarrassing yourself like this. Trying to claim a married man”
“Michael is mine!” She stomped her feet like this was some kind of play where she had to get her way. “I am the only woman who…”
I raised my hand to stop her. “I only ever respected you because you were my husband’s friend, but I can assure you that from now on, I will treat you like a rival. The same way I should have treated you from the start.”
I do not wait for her to recover. I stormed out of the room and found Michael having a heated conversation with Aiden.
I barely got a word of what they said. Aiden stopped talking as soon as I stood beside Michael.
“Can we leave?” I asked, feeling my blood boil over. I should have said a lot more to her instead of taking her words like a fool. “Now!” I added.
“Sure,” Michael said without asking me any questions.
I kept to myself during the car ride. I had to make sure that I didn't fall into any trap that Lysandra was setting. Now that she had come out with her intentions, I knew she had a big plan.
“Zara?” Michael snapped his fingers in my face. I tried to help him. “Your phone.” I looked down, and suddenly the sound of the phone was audible. I had been so lost in thought that I hadn't heard anything.
“Hello, Mom?”
“Good, I got you. A friend of yours needs a place to stay over the next few weeks. Do you think you can help them out?”
“Of course,” I said without thinking and then it licked. I had no friends, and the people who could come close had multiple gaffs and didn't need a place to stay.
“Wait, who is it?”
“Lysandra Velaren”
My heart dropped as I realised she was closing in; she wanted to be close, so her plot would work.
“I don't think…”
“She will be over tonight. “Thank you, darling.”