Chapter 65 Chapter 0065

Chapter 65 Chapter 0065
•SLOANE•

When I got back to my apartment, I found Riss in the kitchen, humming a song and cooking dinner.

He and I had only been seeing each other for six months, and we weren't exclusive yet. I wasn't even sure about that route because I wasn't ready yet to commit to somebody else.

And when we started sleeping together, I told him everything I was expecting from our little affair. At that time, he seemed to understand my point and said he felt the same way too.

But over the last two weeks, he had been seeing me too often, bringing me breakfast in the morning, and lunch at work.

I never thought much about it until I walked into my apartment and found him making dinner for me.

I had totally forgotten to take the keys from him when he slept over some other time and was supposed to lock the door on his way out.

"Baby, you're home," he said as I closed the door and leaned toward the counter. "I made your favorite dinner, and it will be ready in a sec."

He was a sweet man, but I never wanted things to get this far. We were supposed to have fun and end things there.

"Oh, that's lovely of you, Riss." I placed my handbag on the chair near the counter and glanced around the kitchen. It looked clean, which meant he had been waiting for me for some time. "How long have you been waiting for me?"

"Oh, I wasn't waiting," he chuckled softly. "I thought I should stop by since I wasn't working today and cook something nice for you. You probably had a long day at work and need some time in the shower. So, you won't be able to do all this."

"Well, ah—" I cleared my throat. "I thought we had an agreement that what we have is nothing—"

"Serious," he finished my sentence and laughed. "Yes, you've told me that a couple of times. But it shouldn't stop me from trying, right?" He winked and I sighed as I took my handbag and went to my room.

I closed the door behind me and leaned against it. I closed my eyes and exhaled.

My chest tightened when I thought about my father and calling Brian. Even though I didn't want to hurt him, this version of him didn't look for me when I disappeared.

He stayed for years and didn't even know if I were dead or alive.

As for Valerie, she made my life difficult even when I had done nothing to her. She deserved to lose the twenty-five million lawsuit filed by Brian.

I pushed myself off the door and went to the bathroom to take a quick shower. When I was done, I put on a nice little dress and told myself I was going to get a drink.

Perhaps I would find Riss gone when I came back.

I told him I was going to get a package from the main gate when I left.

•••

I went to the small bar that Linda had taken me to during my 29th birthday last year.

We drank so much that we were too drunk to walk out after that, and we spent almost the entire night at the bar, sleeping at the back booth.

And whenever she mentioned coming here after that, I made excuses and didn't want to come with her.

But now, I pushed the door open and walked inside by myself. My head was still spinning from meeting my father and Valerie.

I was still processing the fact that these versions of them had never met me before.

They were carrying on with their lives as if I were long dead, and Valerie probably made sure that he never went out there to look for me.

When I woke up in that hotel and arrived at Amberfield, I never confronted myself about everything that had happened. I went on with my life and told myself to make the most out of it.

So, for the first time since I came back to life, all the emotions that I had buried inside me, finally came forward and almost left me breathless.

"Two shots of margarita please," I said to the bartender once I had settled down.

He nodded and went to make them.

I pulled out my cell phone and saw a text from Brian. He hadn't reached out since our last conversation.

Brian: "How do I know that this isn't Tank Hale's setup? I have had my life threatened for suing him and his wife. So, how can I trust you?"

I looked at the text for a moment, and though I hadn't thought about going against them in court, I didn't want Valerie to mess up someone else's life as she did with mine.

Me: "You can trust me. And we can meet tomorrow morning as I had suggested earlier and you can judge me from there. But I won't let Valerie get away with hurting someone else again."

Brian: "Very well then. We will talk tomorrow, Miss Vale."

After two shots of margarita, I was ready to go home and sleep them off. So, I slid my cell phone back into my pocket and got up from the bar stool.

I bumped into someone on my way out and blamed it on the shots.

And when I got home, I found Riss's note on the kitchen counter. He had gone home to give me some time to think about what he said.

I emailed the locksmith to arrive in the morning before I went to bed.