CHAPTER 137 — Leo Finds Out
CHAPTER 137 — Leo Finds Out
Lisa's POV
The next two days were relatively uneventful.
Relative is the word. Leo is still distant still sleeping in the guest room, still leaving early and coming home late. But there has been a little thaw — he actually ate the dinner I made last night, and this morning he asked me how I slept.
Small things. Baby steps. But after cruel cold for almost two weeks, these seem like steps in the right direction.
“I want to back off but not give the impression that I'm going to be there waiting at the end of the conversation," he said. “I'm fighting for us, I'm not giving up.”
Maybe we'll make it after all.
"Hello?"
"Hi, is this Lisa?" Female voice, professional and amicable.
“Yes, this is she.”
“Hi Lisa, this is Jennifer Chen from Hartman & Associates. I work with Leo Hart?”
My heart skips. "Is Leo okay? What happened?"
"Oh no, nothing like that!" She laughs. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you. I’m actually calling because I was the witness to something yesterday that I thought you should know about. Well, Leo should know about, but since you’re his wife...”
“Witnessed something?” Confusion replaces panic. “I'm sorry, I don't understand.”
“I was at a networking lunch yesterday at the Meridian Hotel in downtown.And I See This Scene -- a Man is making a massive scene in the lobby, really begging this woman to help him. It got pretty loud and security got involved .” She pauses. “It was you, Lisa,” said the woman.
My blood runs cold. "Excuse me, did you say when this was?"
"Yesterday. About noon. At the Meridian.”
Immediately I say, “That wasn't me. I was at my office all day yesterday. You must be thinking of someone else.”
“Really? Because I could have sworn... The man kept calling her Lisa. And he said something about how she was his only hope and that her boyfriend, Leo Hart, could help save his company.”
The room tilts.
No.
“Are you sure he said Leo Hart?” I sound really far away when I listen to my own voice.
“Positive. I know Leo from a few of these business gatherings. That’s why it caught my attention. thought it was odd his girlfriend was meeting a despondent man in a hotel.”
“Look, I don't want to cause any trouble. Just thought Leo should know in case...in case...”
“Thank you for calling,” I say. “But I think you’ve got the wrong idea. That wasn’t me.”
“Oh. Anyway I’m sorry to have disturbed you. Must have been someone else.”
We say our goodbyes and I end the call, my hands trembling.
Someone posing as me. At home with Andre. In the name of Leo.
Who would—
Claire.
It hits me like a train. My stepsister. Wife of Andre. The woman he left me for.
She looks like me. Same height, similar build, complexion alike. From afar, if only looking at my photo, one might easily confuse her for me.
And for André to come to my office, he must be really desperate. he’ll go so far as to send Claire to meet with potential investors, posing as me, leveraging my relationship with Leo as a bargaining chip.
I'm going to be sick.
I run to the bathroom and dry heave into the toilet, trembling all over. Oh, this is so much worse than I thought. Andre is not only stalking me, he’s impersonating me and trying to use my connection to Leo for his own benefit.
I have to tell Leo. Right now. Right now. Just now.
I snatch up my phone, and with shaking fingers I dial his number. It rings four times and then goes to voicemail.
"Leo, it's me. Call me back as soon as you get this. It is urgent concerning Andre.” I hesitated. “Please. I want to talk to you.”
I end the call and pace around the kitchen, anxiety eating at my mind. What if someone else got to “me” and Andre? What if rumors are already circulating in Leo’s professional world that his girlfriend is asking a potential set of investors to fund her deeply has-been ex-husband?
What if Leo finds out from somebody other than me?
My phone is ringing. I grab without looking at the number.
“Leo?”
“No, it’s David Chen.” Leo’s business partner. His voice is stiff, formal. “Is Leo there?”
“He’s at work. I just tried calling him—”
“I dialed his office. He does not answer.” There is something “off.”
“Were you at the Pinnacle Restaurant yesterday evening? Around seven?”
“No. I was home all evening.”
“And you were at the Meridian Hotel yesterday afternoon?”
“No. I already told someone else – I was in my office all day.”
“Someone else called you? Who?”
“Jennifer Chen. She said she saw me at the Meridian with a man, but it was not me — ”
“Lisa.” He cuts me off and now he sounds angry. “I saw you. With my own eyes. So you were at Pinnacle dining with some man. “You were holding his hand across the table.”
“That wasn’t me! I scream in panic. “David, I swear it wasn’t me. I think it was my stepsister. She looks like me and she’s married to my ex-husband and they’re trying to use my name—”
"This is crazy. I could never believe you would lie about this. I saw you, Lisa. I was there with clients. I almost went over and said hello before I realized that you were definitely on some sort of date.”
“Not me!”
“Save it. I’m calling Leo right now and telling him what I saw. He should know what his girlfriend is doing under his nose.”
“No, please, David, just listen—”But he’s already hung up. “No no no.” I’m shaking so badly I can hardly hold the phone. I call Leo again. Voicemail. I try sending texts.
Leo, please call me. Someone has been pretending to be me. It's not what you think it is. Please, I have to explain.
I send it and and then I call again. Voicemail.
I'm down the rabbit hole now, pacing the kitchen, breathing in short gasps. This is a nightmare. This is the worst nightmare for which I could hope.
People think they’re seeing me with Andre. Leo’s business associates. His partner. People he’ll be told things by, people he will believe, because why wouldn’t he? He’s already doesn’t trust me.
I need to get ahead of this. Need to find Leo before David does.
I grab my keys and purse, my hands trembling so violently I lose hold of them twice. I’m moving toward the door when it swings open. Leo stands there, a mask of rage on his face I’ve never seen before.
“Leo—” I mutter under my breath.
“Don’t.” Which stops me cold in my tracks. “Don’t say a word.”
“Please, let me explain—”
“Explain what ?” He goes in, slamming the door maybe somewhat more forcefully than necessary. “Explain why my partner in business just rang me up to say he caught you having dinner with another guy? Explain to me why Jennifer from Hartman called to tell she saw you at the Meridian with someone? Could you tell me from the bottom of your heart why several people claim to have laid eyes on you and your ex throughout town?”
Not my words!” The words were out, desperate. “Leo, I swear on everything, that wasn’t me.” I think it’s Claire—my stepsister. She looks like me and she’s trying to—“
“Stop.” His voice is like ice. “Just stop lying.”
“I’m not lying!”
“You’ve done nothing but lie to me for two weeks!” He is shouting now, his so-far steady demeanor completely falling apart. “Two weeks of lies and secrets and now this? Now you’re out dining romantically with your ex while I’m at work wondering if there’s even a point to this relationship?”
I “wasn’t eating with anyone!” I can feel the tears rolling down my cheeks. “I was here ! I’ve been here! Leo, please, you have to believe me—”
Believe you?” He laughs bitterly. “Why should I believe you? Nothing about you suggests I should trust anything you say.”
Because “I’m telling you the truth! Someone is impersonating me—”
“That’s the silliest thing I ever heard.” He runs his hands through his hair, is near manic. “Do you hear yourself? You sound insane.”
I've been accused of everything and I'm innocent. Andre is desperate and he's using Claire to pretend to be me, to use your name—"
The word booms through the hall. "I have been in the bathroom too long, Lisa. The lies, the excuses, the enemas, your evil-ex-husband’s terrorizing of our lives, that’s enough.”
"You don’t know what you’re talking about."
"You’re not trying hard enough!" His voice is breaking. "You had me fooled
You informed me that you dealt with it. You told me he was gone. And now, who knows, he’s apparently around town with you — or someone who looks like you — destroying my reputation, making me look like a clown.”
"Leo, please—"
"David thinks you’re cheating on me." His voice drops, turns almost hollow. “My business partner. My friend. When he rang me, worried, believing I should be aware that my wife was seeing another man.”
"How am I supposed to trust anything you say when you keep lying to me?”
"I wasn't lying about this! I didn't even know this was taking place until an hour ago!"
“A hour ago.” He shakes his head. "And you didn't think to call me right away? Warn me that there's someone out there who could be you?"
“I called you! Several times! You didn't answer!" 7
“Because I was on the phone with David,” he says coldly. "Hearing him go into such detail about the romantic dinner you had with someone else. “
That you were holding hands. That’s the way you were holding hands. The two of you were looking at each other.It's just that it's always thinking you're lying, or you're hiding something, or you're meeting with your ex behind my back."
"I'm not!"
"Prove it." The challenge hangs between us. "Prove that it wasn't you at those restaurants. Prove that someone is impersonating you. I can’t show that I’m right in questioning you.”
“How? How do you prove a negative happened?”
"Exactly." His voice is empty. "You can't. Which means that I have to decide to either trust you, or wile my own business partner, who observed you with his own eyes."
"Please," I plead. "Leo, please, believe me."
He closes his eyes and when he reopens them, they are resigned.
"I can't."
The words destroy me.
"I'm at a hotel," he says as he heads for the staircase. "Tomorrow, I'll come by your job to collect some more of my things."
"No, please, don’t leave—" I run after him, gripping his arm.
He pushes away. “Don’t touch me.”
The rejection is physical. “Leo—”
"I need space, Lisa. Real space. Not just ‘sleeping in another room’ space. I gotta get away from you, from this house, from it all." He’s already heading up the stairs. "I have to see if I can ever trust you again."
"And if you can't?" I whisper so low, even I can't hear.
He hesitates on the stairs, with his back to me. "Then I guess we're done. He goes up the stairs, and I fall to the floor in the hall, my entire body shaking with sobs.
This is it. This is the end.
Andre has finally won. He's ruined my relationship entirely.
About twenty minutes later, Leo comes back down with a duffel bag. Not once does he look at me as he passes me, still plopped on the floor.
“Leo please,” I attempt one last time. “Don’t do this.”
He stops in the doorway, hand on the knob. “I love you Lisa. But I can’t be with anyone I don’t trust.”
Then he's gone.
The door shuts behind him, a soft click, and suddenly I am alone in my home, my world shattering.
I don’t know how long I sit there on the floor. Long enough for the light outside to fade. Long enough for my tears to dry into salt tracks along my cheeks.
At last, I take out my phone with trembling hands.
“I know what I need to do.”
I get Andre’s old number—the one I blocked and deleted but that still sits on the blocked list on my phone.
I unblock it.
And I call him.
He answers on the first ring. “Lisa?”
“We need to meet,” I say, my voice dead. “One more time. And you are going to tell me everything you and Claire have been up to. Or I swear to God, Andre, I will rip you apart.”