Chapter Sixty-Two: Lies and Alibis

Chapter Sixty-Two: Lies and Alibis
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO: LIES AND ALIBIS

ANNA SERRANO

Goodnight, Mother."

She turned and glided back down the hallway to her room, leaving me standing there in the dim corridor feeling more confused than ever.

After a moment, my legs finally remembered how to move, and I made my way back toward my own room.

What in the hell was that?

Mother thought the scandal was part of the plan. She wasn't concerned at all. She was impressed.

Meanwhile, I was over here feeling like my skin was crawling with irritation and disgust.

Yes, the scandal was fake. Obviously fake. Nothing would ever happen between me and Abel Donovan, not now, not ever, not in any universe. But then why did it bother me so much?

Mother's question echoed in my head: Why are you worried about it?

I didn't love him anymore. I didn't care about him. So if you get into a fake dating scandal with someone you don't care about, you just ignore it, right? You brush it off as tabloid nonsense and move on with your life.

But no, if you get into a dating scandal with someone you hate, someone who represents everything wrong and painful in your past, then of course you're disturbed. Of course you're disgusted. Of course you're desperate to make it stop.

Yes. That justified what I was feeling. That made sense.

I pulled out my phone again and tried calling Abel. It rang and rang and went to voicemail.

He caused this. We need to fix this together.

Or maybe he wasn't bothered because I didn't matter to him anymore. Maybe this was all part of some twisted game he was playing, and my distress was exactly the reaction he wanted.

The thought made my jaw clench.

After the third attempt with no answer, I gave up on calling Abel directly and dialed my secretary instead.

She answered almost immediately, her voice thick with sleep. "Ma'am? Is everything alright?"

I felt a twinge of guilt for waking her so late, but I pushed past it. "When Abel Donovan came to see me earlier today, did he come alone?"

That seemed to jolt her more awake. "No, ma'am. He came with another man. Mr. Donovan told him to wait at my desk while he went into your office."

My stomach sank. "You're saying both of them came up to the executive floor?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And did this other man do anything... suspicious? Anything unusual?"

There was a long pause. "Ma'am, I... well, honestly, I wasn't at my desk the entire time. I was dealing with the flower you asked me to handle, and then I had to run some documents down to accounting, so I can't say for certain what he—"

"It's fine," I cut her off, biting my tongue in frustration. "Thank you. Goodnight."

I hung up before she could say anything else.

Abel had planned this. He'd brought someone with him specifically to take photos. The flowers, the sweet act, the whole performance, it had all been calculated. But why? What did he gain from pushing a false narrative about a fake relationship?

Was he trying to get under my skin? To humiliate me? To destroy my credibility somehow?

Damn him.

My phone rang, and I snatched it up eagerly, thinking it was finally Abel calling back.

But no. It was Sherry.

I sighed and answered. "Hey."

"Girl, I saw the news!" Sherry practically shouted, laughter bubbling through her voice. "The entire internet is going absolutely crazy right now. The comments are wild—"

"Stop it," I snapped, gritting my teeth. "It's not funny."

She kept laughing, the sound grating against my already frayed nerves. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But seriously, how did this even happen?"

"Abel did it," I said flatly. "He set it up. Brought someone to take pictures and leaked them deliberately."

"But why would he do that?" The laughter had faded from her voice, replaced by genuine confusion.

"I don't know yet, but I'm sure it's part of whatever plan they have. They're trying to bring me down somehow, I just haven't figured out the angle yet."

"Tsk." She clicked her tongue in disgust. "Abel Donovan is such a jerk."

I nodded even though she couldn't see me. "Listen, were you able to drop off those documents at Alexander's place? His phone has been off all day and Mother wants to see him. Was he there?"

"Yeah, he was there." Her tone shifted suddenly, something guarded and uncomfortable creeping into her voice. "He was at his penthouse."

I straightened, my instincts immediately picking up on the change. "What's wrong? Did something happen between you two?" I couldn't help the teasing note that entered my voice. "Were you alone together in his house?"

She snorted. "Nothing happened. I dropped off the documents and left."

That confirmed it. Something had definitely happened, something had upset her, and from her tone, it wasn't good. "What did my stupid, clueless brother do this time, Sherry?"

"He didn't do anything. I'm serious." She paused. "But... does he and Claire live together?"

My eyebrows shot up. "What? No, they don't. Why? Did you see them together?"

"She's blonde and tall, right? Really put-together?"

"Yeah, that's Claire. What happened?"

"I saw them together at his penthouse. Very casually. Very comfortably. You didn't tell me your brother has a girlfriend now."

My eyes widened. "He doesn't! Not that I know of, anyway. Wait… you're saying Claire is staying with him? At his house?"

"Yes, Anna. I know what I saw. She wasn't there to pick something up or drop something off. She was dressed casually, like she lived there. Like she was comfortable and settled in. She's staying with him, probably for a while."

I was speechless for a moment. "No, that can't be right. Maybe she was just—"

"No excuses," Sherry cut me off firmly. "I know what I saw. She's staying there with him."

I swallowed hard. "I can ask him about it."

"You don't have to." Her voice was too bright, too forced. "I really don't care, Anna. It's fine. I just had a little crush on him, that's all. It's already fading anyway. Doesn't matter."

But I knew better. It wasn't just a tiny crush. Sherry genuinely liked Alexander, and had for years now. And seeing another woman so comfortably established in his space must have hurt more than she was willing to admit.

Damn you, Alexander. You have no idea what you're missing until it's too late.

I quickly changed the subject, steering the conversation toward lighter topics—funny things Hermione had said, ridiculous celebrity gossip, anything to lift Sherry's mood. We talked and laughed until we were both yawning, finally saying goodnight close to midnight.

\---

The next morning, I woke up feeling completely drained. My body was heavy, my head foggy, and I seriously considered just staying in bed and calling in sick.

But I forced myself to get up, shower, and get dressed—though I stayed in comfortable casual clothes rather than my usual work attire. Maybe I'd work from home today. Maybe I'd actually take a sick day. I hadn't decided yet.

The mansion was eerily quiet as I made my way downstairs. Hermione must still be asleep, which was unusual for her. Normally she'd be up early, making noise, asking a million questions before I'd even had my coffee.

I walked into the dining room and stopped short.

Alexander sat at the table, eating breakfast with his usual methodical precision.

"Good morning," I said, pulling out a chair and sitting down. I poured myself a glass of water and took a long drink.

He nodded in acknowledgment, not looking up from his plate.

"Mother's been looking for you," I said, reaching for an apple from the fruit bowl. I started slicing it carefully. "Your phone's been off."

"I know. I saw her this morning."

"Why was your line unreachable yesterday?"

"I was busy, and—"

"Are you and Claire dating?" I interrupted, not bothering to let him finish.

Alexander froze mid-bite, then slowly set down his fork and looked at me. "What's with the interrogation this morning, Anna?"

"Nothing." I bit into a slice of apple, keeping my expression innocent. "It's just that during the Vale party, you didn't show up because you were supposedly with Claire. And now she's apparently staying at your place. So obviously I'm suspicious."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't have anything going on with her. And that night, something came up. I wasn't with Claire."

I picked up my plate of apple slices and stood. "Whatever you say."

"Did Sherry tell you something?" he asked suddenly as I was walking away.

I stopped and turned back to look at him. "No, she didn't say anything. Why? Did something happen when she came to drop off the documents?"

"No! No, nothing happened." He shook his head almost too quickly, too emphatically.

"Oh. Good then." I gave him a long look. "See you later."

I walked out of the dining room and headed back upstairs, my mind turning over the conversation.

Liar.

He was absolutely lying. Something had happened between him and Sherry yesterday, I was sure of it.

But now I don't know what to believe. Did he have something with Claire or not? Was he interested in Sherry and too emotionally stunted to realize it? Was he just completely oblivious to both of them?

Men, I thought with exasperation. They make everything so unnecessarily complicated.

I retreated to my room, closing the door behind me and finally letting myself collapse onto my bed.