Chapter 55 The Heir Should Be With His Own Kind
The flashes from the cameras outside the office window felt like they were burning through Sarah's eyelids even when she closed them, and she sat at her desk with her head in her hands, feeling like the air in the room was getting thinner every time Joseph's name appeared in a new headline.
She had spent the last three days watching her past being dug up and polished for the public, and the stress was making her hands shake so much she could barely hold a pencil, and she felt like she was drowning in a world that didn't care about the truth as long as the story was loud enough to sell papers.
"I can't stay here, Alex, I need to get away from the city for a few days, I need to go somewhere where people don't know my face or my age or my business," she said when Alex walked into her office that afternoon.
Alex walked over and knelt beside her chair, taking her hands in his and squeezing them gently.
"I want to take you away, I want to drive until the buildings disappear, but my father just announced the annual Harrington gala for tomorrow night, and he made it very clear that my attendance is not optional if I want the board to keep their hands off your contracts," Alex told her, his voice sounding like a low growl, and he looked at the floor because he hated that he was the one bringing her more bad news.
"A gala? Alex, I can't go to a gala, the press will be everywhere and everyone in that room will be staring at me like I'm a car crash," Sarah said, pulling her hands away and standing up to pace the small office, her heart starting to pound in her chest.
"He tried to tell me I should bring someone else, he suggested some girl named Beatrice from a banking family, he said it would help stop the rumors and make the company look stable," Alex said, standing up and stepping into her path so she had to stop and look at him.
"I told him to go to hell, I told him I'm bringing the woman I love or I'm not going at all, and he finally backed down, but he has a look in his eyes that I don't trust, Sarah."
"Then don't go, let him be angry, we can just leave tonight," she said desperately, but Alex just shook his head and pulled her into his arms, holding her so tight she could feel the hard lines of his body through his clothes.
"If I don't show up, he wins, he gets to tell the board I'm unreliable and he gets to restart the audit on your firm as a penalty, so we have to go, we have to stand there and show them that they can't break us, and then I promise I will take you wherever you want to go," Alex whispered, his voice sounding too sure, and Sarah felt her resolve crumbling because she didn't want him to lose everything he was fighting for just because she was tired.
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The next night was a nightmare before it even started, and Sarah sat in front of her mirror for two hours, putting on a deep red dress that felt like a target on her back, and when Alex arrived to pick her up, he looked at her with an intensity that made her breath hitch, his hand going to the small of her back and staying there like he was claiming her in front of the whole world.
The ballroom was filled with gold light and the smell of expensive flowers, and the moment they walked through the doors, the room went quiet for a split second before the whispering started, and Sarah felt a hundred pairs of eyes scanning her face and her dress, and she could feel the judgment in the air.
"Keep your head up, you're the most beautiful woman in this room and they're just jealous because they don't have half of your class," Alex said into her ear, his hand tightening on her waist as he guided her through the crowd, and he didn't let anyone get close to her, he stood like a shield between her and the socialites who were mostly talking and giggling behind their silk fans.
Richard walked over to them with a glass of champagne in his hand, looking perfectly at home in the middle of the luxury, and he smiled at Sarah with a look that was so polite it made her skin crawl.
"Sarah, you look lovely tonight, that color really brings out the... maturity in your features, I'm so glad Alex convinced you to come out of hiding for such a big night for the family," Richard said, his voice loud enough for the people nearby to hear, and Sarah felt her face turn hot with a shame she didn't deserve.
"She wasn't hiding, Richard, she was working, something a lot of people in this room don't know anything about," Alex snapped, but Richard just laughed and patted Alex on the arm like he was a temperamental child.
"Always so protective, it’s a trait you got from me, Alex, but you have to remember that in this world, we have to be careful about what we choose to protect, because sometimes the cost is higher than the reward," Richard said, and he gave Sarah a long, cold look.
The rest of the night was filled with passive-aggressive comments and cold stares, and every time Alex walked away to speak to a board member, someone would slide up to Sarah and ask her a question that felt like a slap in the face, asking her how long she had known Alex's father or if she found the transition to high society difficult at her age.
Sarah watched from across the room as Alex blended in so well with the powerful men of the town who were present. Perhaps, she wasn't made for this world.
"I need some air, Alex, I'll be on the balcony," she whispered when he came back to her side, her eyes looking desperate.
"I'll come with you, I'm done with these people anyway," Alex said, reaching for her hand, but a group of investors blocked his path, pulling him into a conversation about the Veridian budget, and he gave her a frustrated look and mouthed the word "five minutes" to her.
Sarah walked out onto the balcony and breathed in the cold night air, trying to stop the tears from falling because she didn't want to ruin her makeup and give them another reason to laugh at her, and she stood there for a few minutes listening to the muffled music from inside the ballroom.
She heard the sound of the glass doors opening and she turned around, expecting to see Alex, but instead, she saw a young woman walking toward him inside the ballroom, a girl who looked like she was probably twenty, with long blonde hair and a dress that looked like it was made of diamonds.
The girl didn't hesitate, she walked right up to Alex in front of the investors and the board members, and she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him right on the cheek, her hand resting on his chest in a way that looked like she had done it a thousand times before.
Sarah watched from the shadows of the balcony, her heart stopping in her chest as the girl laughed and looked at Alex with a bright, adoring smile that didn't have any of the worry or the history that Sarah carried in her own eyes.
"Alex, you've been away for way too long, I'm so glad your father finally brought you home to us where you belong," the girl said, her voice carrying through the open doors, and she didn't even look toward the balcony, she just kept her eyes on Alex like he was the only person in the world.