Chapter 10: Intercepted

“Joan,” Alex muttered.

He was standing by the desk, his jacket hung on his shoulder, while Marcus sat on the edge of the table with his phone in his hand.

“What party were you talking about?” I asked.

My voice didn’t shake and that surprised me.

Marcus’s eyes widened and he slowly glanced at Alex.

The office was silent for a while.

Then Alex turned to me.

“Joan…” he said, his voice soft and remorseful.

“No,” I cut him off, raising my hand.

“Don’t do that. Don’t start with my name like you are about to calm me down.”

“You were saying something about a party being fake,” I continued, turning to face Marcus.

“So… I will ask again. What party were you talking about?”

Marcus opened his mouth to talk, then closed it again.

Alex took a step closer to me.

“You weren’t supposed to hear that,” he said.

That statement made me lose it. It was the worst thing to say.

“Of course, I wasn’t supposed to,” I laughed loudly.

I crossed my arms, suddenly feeling cold as I glared at the two men.

“Because if I heard it, I would feel stupid for falling for your ridiculous trick, right?”

“Joan, it’s not what you think,” Alex said quickly.

“Then explain it,” I snapped, my fist clenched at my side.

“Explain why I keep walking into half-truths and feeling stupid when it comes to you.”

Alex looked dejected. His mouth opened and closed several times as he wanted to speak.

“Maybe we should all calm down,” Marcus said as he stood up and gestured to me to keep it low.

“I…”

He wanted to continue talking, but I turned to him so fast that he flinched.

“You already said enough,” I said curtly.

I looked back at Alex.

“What was that about?” I asked, my voice dropping.

His eyes searched my face as if he were trying to decide which version of the truth would hurt less.

The hesitation told me everything I needed to know.

“So…” I said softly, nodding to myself.

“You took me for a complete fool.”

“That’s not true,” Alex said, his eyes gleaming with remorse.

“So, what’s true? What the hell is true?” I snapped.

I took a step back, my legs shaking.

“I feel like I’m the only honest person in this room.”

“Finding myself at your place… was that all part of it?”

Marcus sighed.

“Joan… he just wanted to…”

“Stop,” Alex cut in.

Then he turned back to look at me.

“I never meant to hurt you, and I promise it’s not what you think.”

“Here we are again,” I scoffed.

My hands were literally shaking but I didn’t even bother to hide it.

“I think I’ve heard enough,” I said.

“Joan, please,” Alex said, taking a step forward.

“Don’t follow me,” I shook my head.

“I don’t know what this is… but whatever it is, I don’t want to be the last person to understand it,” I added, my voice breaking despite the effort.

With that, I turned back and walked out the door, my chest tightening so hard that it hurt.

The door closed slightly behind me, and somehow that even hurt more.

I took a cab straight home. I didn’t even remember that I was supposed to pick up my car from the office.

Inside the cab, I fought so hard to make sure the tears didn’t fall down my cheeks.

“God,” I muttered several times.

When I got out of the cab, I walked absent-mindedly into the house.

Lena, who was on the couch, looked up and lost the smile in her eyes.

“Joan,” she said slowly.

“What happened?”

I let my bag fall out of my hand and stared at the blank space for a while.

“I’m going to my room,” I muttered sluggishly.

“Joan…” she called.

“I said I’m going to my room.”

With that, I dragged my feet towards my room. She didn’t follow me and that was good because if she had, I might have broken down completely.

I locked the door behind me and leaned against it, sliding down until I was sitting on the floor.

My hands were shaking. I pressed them onto my thigh but that didn’t help.

“God,” I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut.

“I’m so stupid.”

Different questions started popping into my mind.

“Were they laughing at my foolishness?”

“Was he having fun deceiving me?”

I stood up and stopped in front of the mirror.

“What were you expecting?” I said to my reflection.

My phone buzzed on the floor, and my heart betrayed me for a second, thinking the message would be from Alex.

I walked slowly to pick up my phone only to see that it was a notification from an app.

I hissed and flung the phone to the bed.

“He won’t call,” I said softly.

“I know he won’t.”

I slid down onto the edge of my bed, my heart burning with disappointment.

Then my gaze landed on my wrist.

“My bracelet,” I muttered and started crying.

The cry wasn’t because of my lost bracelet. I just needed an excuse to cry.

I lay back in the bed and stared blankly into the ceiling, tears rolling down and slipping into my hair.

Just then, a thought crept into my thoughts.

“What if I’m wrong? What if the lie wasn’t meant to hurt me?”

I sat up immediately.

“No… stop,” I said aloud.

“If that’s the case, he wouldn’t have let me walk away like that,” I muttered and lay back in bed, pulling the blanket around myself even though the room wasn’t cold.

“I’m done,” I whispered under the sheets.

ALEX HART’S POV

I didn’t get angry with Marcus.

Maybe if I did, it would have made me feel better.

We sat at the bar after work and ordered drinks.

He talked, but I just nodded. My mind was filled with different thoughts that I couldn’t even process anything he was saying.

“I should have calmed her down and explained,” I said, somewhere between the second and third glass.

“You tried to,” Marcus sighed.

“I hesitated. I let her walk away,” I muttered.

Marcus didn’t say further.

By the time I got home, the alcohol buzz had turned to exhaustion filled with regret.

The living room lights were on.

My mother sat on the couch, composed as always. Cassandra was there too, her legs crossed neatly as if she belonged there.

“Good evening, Mom,” I said flatly.

“Welcome home, son,” she smiled as if everything was fine.

I didn’t wait for questions, I just walked past them and headed straight into my room.

I closed the door behind me and leaned against it for a moment as I exhaled.

All I wanted to do was sleep.

I loosened my tie, kicked off my shoes, dropped my phone on the nightstand, and dropped onto my bed.

For a few minutes, I just turned and tossed in bed.

Then there was a soft knock.

I didn’t answer but the door opened anyway.

I looked up only to see Cassandra standing at the doorway.

She had just showered. Her hair was damp, and a towel was wrapped around her chest.

“What are you doing here?” I asked firmly.

She smiled nervously and stepped inside, closing the door behind her.

“I thought you might want company,” she said, her voice softer than normal.

“No,” I said and stood immediately.

Her towel loosened slowly as she moved before finally dropping to the floor, revealing her bare body.

“Huh,” I muttered, my jaw dropped.