Chapter 3

Ximena's POV:

After leaving the girls to whatever problems they had to themselves, I walked towards the elevator and pressed the button walking in. Earlier I had found out that just like us, the Sparks was having a rehearsal in the company. That's where I'm headed. The elevator bell dinged and I walked out. I walked towards the dancing room specially made for them and watched them as they danced. Due to how popular they are, they get a different treatment than the rest of the stars this industry has ever produced. Their latest song is a testimony to that.

After a while they were done with the rehearsals and they seemed ready to leave. I walked over to a machine and collected a bottle of water, walking into the room. The rest of the boys saw me and greeted, I nodded in reply. Dean, just focused on his phone. I scoffed. What's up with the cold treatment?

"Hi Dean…" I greeted sweetly. "How are you?" I asked as I stretched out the bottle of water, flashing him my best smile. He looked at me and scoffed.

"You sure have a lot of nerve, don't you?" He muttered.

"Dean! It's just a bottle of water." I prodded.

"No thanks. I'm fine." He said curtly, using a towel to dab off the sweat on his face. Handsome as always.

"Hey D!" Someone spoke up. It was Chad, Dean's best friend, second in command and my cousin. Yeah, you heard me. My cousin.

"We'll be leaving for the penthouse soon. You coming?" He asked.

"No, not yet. You guys go on ahead." He replied.

"Okay… Let's go guys." He said and the rest of them left, leaving the two of us alone in the room.

"Dean… I already said I'm sorry. How many times do you want me to apologize?" I asked. It concerned our former relationship.

"It has nothing do with the amount of times you're going apologize. You're never going to change." He mumbled. He hardly ever raises his voice.

"I'll change… For you." I muttered, giving him puppy eyes. He stared at me again.

"We all know that's a lie," he replied before standing up.

"Where are you going?"

He walked a bit before turning. "Isn't that obvious?" He asked before walking out of the room. I stomped on my feet angrily. Why is he being so hard?

I got little chance to show my grievance as my phone rang. I checked the caller and saw it was my mom. What is it now? I picked it up.

"Ximena, to my office. Right now." She ordered and hung up immediately.

Oh boy.

***

I knocked on my mom's office and without waiting for a reply, walked in. She was busy with a call, so I sat on a chair and waited for her. Eventually she was through, and she put the phone down and glared at me. I looked away.

"You called me." I began.

"Yeah, I did. What is this I hear about you throwing Alya down the stairs?"

"Throw? I totally did not throw her. She slipped and fell," I lied.

"Everyone is blaming the accident on you! Your teammates said it was deliberate!"

"I guess they didn't see properly. It's pretty obvious that Alya slipped and fell. Why would I want to hurt her? She's my teammate." I defended. My mom groaned and held her face, taking in deep breath as I watched her.

"The doctor called. He said she fractured her right leg and it would take months to heal. Even when it eventually heals, the guarantee that'll she'll be able to dance properly is uncertain."

"How long?" I asked.

"Four months maybe?"

"I can't wait that long! I'm sorry but we'll have to look for another teammate."

"You think it's easy to find another dancer that is as good as Alya? Your group was made of the best girls I ever met!"

"Mooom…" I drawled. "It can't be that hard. We start an audition and filter for the very best. There's a lot of girls out there killing for a chance like this." I explained. Her brows furrowed in thought as she pondered on my suggestion.

"I'll think about it. But I'll have to compensate for Alya's family first. It's sad a thing like this had to happen to her. Hopefully she'll get better and be able to continue with her career."

I hope she never does, I thought within me. She's such a pest.

"Now that's everything been settled, can I leave now?" I asked.

"Whatever. Get out of my sight." She muttered. I smiled in return.

"Thank you, Mom." I said and walked out of her office. My sweet attitude dropped the second the door closed behind me. Good riddance.

***

Author's POV:

While the rest of the boys had gone to the Sparks penthouse… A mansion, really, Chad had stayed behind waiting for Dean. He knew he'll be out soon. Sure enough, Dean sauntered out and Chad went to meet him.

"Hey, you good?" Chad asked as he passed a bottle of coke. Dean collected it.

"Yeah… I'm fine." He muttered.

"You know…" Dean began. "I'm surprised she's your cousin. If I didn't know better, I'd say you behave just like her."

"Nah… No cousin of mine would behave like that. I honestly don't know where my uncle got her from." Chad replied, shaking his head. Cage Turner is Chad's uncle, who is the owner of Beamlights Entertainment. Nikita is his wife and Ximena her daughter.

"Can't believe he wrote an entire album for that witch." Dean muttered disgustedly.

"She may not be the one, you know? It could've been someone else." Dean scoffed.

"He clearly said, he wrote the songs in the album for his daughter. If Ximena isn't his daughter, who else is?"

Chad had no reply for that. Dean was right. If Ximena wasn't CG's daughter, who was? He strongly believed there was something wrong somewhere, but he didn't know exactly what.

"Let's not think about it now. Remember we've been at it for years and it's still the same answer. Was hoping we could hang out later sometime. It's been long since we had some buddy time."

"Yeah, me too. Maybe tomorrow? Just you and me?" Dean suggested.

"That'll be great. I'll go look for a place where we can spend time together."

"Cool. I'll be waiting." Dean replied, and they walked into the limo that was already parked for them amidst bodyguards. Chad's phone beeped, and he brought it out. It was a notification on his social media feed. He clicked on it. Dean was already in the limousine. He got in as well as he read the news.

"What?" he muttered, eyes widening.

"What happened?" Dean asked.

"It's Alya," he muttered.

"What about her?"

"She got into an accident," he relayed. "Her teammates are saying it was caused by Ximena."

Dean glared understandably at Chad before looking away. Chad sighed and relaxed in the chair. What the hell is wrong with Ximena?