Chapter 60 Dinner.
Chapter 60 Dinner.
Chapter 60.
Dinner.
Suddenly, Lucas stands up, his mind racing a thousand miles an hour to convert the news disaster into a controlled narrative. A small jazz orchestra begins to play a melody that gives him an idea to change the pace of the evening.
“We are not finished,” Lucas says, offering his hand to Alicia. “It's your graduation day, and you're just sitting here. Come. Alicia Jank, dance with me.”
Lucas gives her no option. He pulls her away from the table. Carolina is disconcerted, but Lucas ignores her for a moment. Lucas and Alicia move to the small dance floor; their dance is a forced choreography of uncle and niece, but the closeness is torture for both. Lucas whispers in her ear: “Stay close. People are watching. We have to look strong.”
Just then, a commotion erupts near the entrance of the Winter Garden. A dozen paparazzi burst in, their flashes exploding like fireworks. Evidently, someone, with knowledge of Lucas’s recent “dating ban,” had leaked their location.
Lucas, seeing himself cornered by the lenses, reacts instinctively. In an abrupt movement, he lets go of Alicia and grabs Carolina, pulling her toward him. Carolina, who had been following his movements, immediately enters the game. The new strategy is clear: to fake the relationship with his fiancée to divert attention from the "jealous uncle" scandal.
Lucas and Carolina smile for the cameras, projecting an image of a stable marriage that completely ignores the “niece drama.”
One paparazzi, more audacious, shouts: “Mr. Jank, is it true that you are overprotective of your niece due to recent events? Are you vulnerable because of Carolina's kidnapping?”
Carolina, with a dazzling smile, leans dramatically on Lucas's chest. “That's absurd. Of course, it's for protection! Alicia is the adoration of the house. Protecting her is our priority, and Lucas is a very protective man. She has been through a lot this year, even sexual harassment, which is why my Lucas guards her with such fervor. It’s a paternal instinct.”
The lie about “sexual harassment” is a masterful move to silence the press, but a devastating blow to Alicia.
Alicia, a few steps from the scene, does nothing but pretend that everything is fine. Her lips stretch into a forced smile, but inside she crumbles, watching her life turn into a series of public lies.
Another reporter shouts: "And you, Mr. Jank, when will your official commitment to resume your marriage be?"
Carolina takes advantage of the moment, hugging Lucas tightly. She looks him in the eyes and kisses him on the lips with a passion that she knows the cameras will capture.
“Soon,” Carolina replies, pulling away from him, but not before giving him one last, prolonged kiss that stirs up the paparazzi.
Alicia watches them from a distance. Carolina shows off to the cameras with him, acting the perfect couple. Alicia's stomach churns. The farce is escalating too far; it has gone from being a mere fiancée to a more public relationship, looking beyond just a facade.
At the end of the evening, Lucas is exhausted, but satisfied with the narrative turn.
They walk toward the car. Lucas, with an automatic gesture, takes off his jacket and puts it on Alicia, a small act of possession in the midst of the lie.
She doesn't even bother to fight for the front seat. Seeing Carolina practically throwing herself into the car, claiming her rightful place, Alicia takes the back seat without a problem, resigned to her role as a secondary passenger.
All the way back to the mansion, Alicia is silent, distant. The silence is only broken by the voice of Lucas and Carolina, talking placidly about the success of their "performance" and plans for the coming days.
Alicia looks at her cell phone. She finds a new message from Alexei, apologizing for what happened at graduation. The incident at the university had been as viral as the dinner.
> “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to cause you trouble. I didn't know it was such a delicate matter.”
Alicia, feeling obligated to protect Lucas from outsiders, types:
> “It's okay. My uncle is a bit complicated. They have tried to kidnap me, that's why he acts like this, exaggerating the protection.”
> “That's bad. I'm sorry, sweetheart, I didn't know. I feel like an idiot.”
> “Don't worry. It wasn't your fault.”
Alexei continues:
> “I know you said not to write to you, but after what happened, I couldn't let it go. Are you having fun at your celebration?”
Alicia looks at Lucas in the front seat, talking in a low voice with Carolina, their heads together, complicit in the lie. Then, she looks at Alexei's message. She no longer knows what is real and what is not. Lucas demands that she not have friends and forbids her from dating, but she has to tolerate him kissing and using Carolina for a public facade. It seems a bit unfair to her.
The seed of resentment germinates.
She replies to Alexei:
> “Let’s say it’s fine.”
> “Let’s say? That doesn't sound like you’re having a good time. Was the party boring?”
> “Well, it's been a long day. The press has contributed to my bad day. Having to pretend, to keep up appearances, is exhausting. For once, I would like to be myself. To be free from what people say, to do and feel what I want, in public or in private. Is it that difficult?”
> “Wow, I didn't know you were having such a hard time.”
> “It hasn't been easy. But I can handle it. It's the price of being a Jank.”
> “I think I can help you with that. To be yourself for a little while.”
> “How?”
> “Leave it to me. I have a plan.”
> “Are you going to pick up your things from your locker at the university tomorrow?”
> “That's the plan, yes. After noon.”
> “Great.”
> “What are you planning?”
> “You'll see. Rest, pretty girl. Everything is going to get better. You have a friend.”
Alicia turns off the screen, her heart beating with a dangerous emotion. It is not love, it is the temptation of freedom. She has broken her own no-contact rule. Now, Lucas's facade has a price: Alicia's emotional disloyalty.
The Jank mansion appears through the car windows. The ride back has been a martyrdom of silence for Alicia. When the vehicle stops, Lucas rushes to go around the car to open Alicia's door, an act of chivalry that she now sees as an extension of his need for control.
Lucas helps her out, his hand touching her waist. Alicia remains stiff. Once she is standing, she removes Lucas's jacket with deliberate movements and hands it to him.
“Don't say anything,” she asks, her voice flat and emotionless, an absolute contrast to the overflowing passion they share in private. “Thank you for the evening. I hope you have a good night.”