Chapter 28 Leaked Diary
The heavy velvet curtains barely muffled the discussions of the crowd. I could feel the vibrations of the music and the clinking of champagne glasses. My hands were ice cold. I went through the motions of my stretches, my mind a whirlwind of fear.
“Still feeling nervous?”
I turned around to see Barth leaning against an equipment crate. He had ditched his suit jacket, his white dress shirt rolled up his sleeves, the collar open.
“I can’t feel my legs,” I admitted with a deep sigh.
He walked over, his boots silent on the wooden floor. He didn’t say a word, just took my cold hands in his. His warmth was comforting. He began to rub my knuckles.
“The music starts, the lights go down and the world disappears. It will just be us, Yvonne.”
“And Tan? Our parents?”
“They don’t exist,” He responded, his gaze meeting mine. “Only us.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage Barth Vanguard and Yvonne Smith.”
The announcement rang and I inhaled a sharp breath while Barth led me out onto the blinding spotlight. The applause was deafening but as the first notes of the cello began to flow from the speakers, the room was quiet.
We moved.
It was the best I had ever danced. Every lift was effortless, every turn precise. When Barth held me, it no longer felt like a performance, my body reacting to his touch before I could even think.
It felt like a confession of every word we couldn’t say and a bonding of our souls as we looked into each other’s eyes, the world blurred away leaving us two under the white light. The heat of his palms around me and the rhythm of our hearts.
When we reached the final moment, Barth spun me out and I slided back into his arms for a final lift. I saw my mother’s eyes shimmer with tears as we finished our performance.
The crowd thundered with applause as we took a bow and I felt my lips widen into a genuine smile, feeling a heavy weight rolling down my shoulders. Barth was right, there was no need for me to have felt so nervous. There’s absolutely nothing that would go wrong now.
Suddenly, the applause died down, changing into gasps and horrified whispers that went out of everyone’s lips as the screen behind us came on. I raised a brow wondering what was going on as I and Barth turned.
I felt the colour draining from my face so fast that I felt dizzy, my lips moved but no words could form as I stared at the screen that had been lowered behind the stage. Barth’s grip on my hand went limp, his fingers slid away from mine and my eyes watered feeling exposed and betrayed.
“No,” I muttered, shaking my head as the room began to spin. “No! Make it go away.”
I turned back to the crowd, waving my hands frantically at the sound booth. “Remove it! Stop this right now!”
My eyes spotted my mother in the crowd, her eyes were wide with shock and disappointment as her gaze met mine. I swallowed hard when I glanced towards Aurick who was seated beside her, his eyes hardened making him look like a matured version of angry Barth.
This had ruined things forever.
Barth stood rooted to the stage, not moving.
Tan stepped out of the crowd and claimed the stage. “Just like I had thought. The little sister has a crush on big brother. Hehe, what a cute discovery, don’t you think so?”
“It was you?!” I muttered underneath my breath, my tears hot as they followed freely down my cheeks. “How?”
She had leaked photos of my dairy. The pages I had hidden under my mattress. Places where I had written my unfiltered thoughts.
‘I can't stop thinking about the way he looks at me. It's wrong, he's my brother, but I want him. I want Barth Vanguard to be the only one who touches me…’
“How?” Tan repeated with a vicious smirk. “Simple. When you were busy folicking with your step brother, I had sneaked into your room. Turns out you are not as innocent as you look. You fooled everyone and now the truth is out and I was right about you. Barth, can you see now? She deserves to be set back to Brooklyn. She has stained your family’s name! She can’t be here anymore. She doesn’t belong here!”
“That’s enough!” Barth’s voice echoed in the hall, through my tear filled eyes I could see the way his fist clenched hard.
“That’s enough!” He roared, glaring at Tan, making her take a step backward and flinching.
Tears streamed down my face as the embarrassment burned into my skin.
“What?!” Tan snapped back, clearly not backing down. “I wasn’t lying. After all, you yourself said you can never even go close to her or accept her as your sister because she was ordinary and not fitting into your status and would only stain your reputation…”
My eyes darted to Barth. His jaw tightened and his eyes fleeted around the stage avoiding my gaze. My lips parted slightly, my chest felt heavy.
“Is… is that true, Barth?” I stammered, staring at me, pain almost clouding my vision.
He looked guilty. He looked horrified, but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t deny it.
I let out a sad laugh. He had always hated me right from the first day I had stepped into his home.
My mind flew to his threat when I had first arrived.
‘Don't get too comfortable. Guests eventually leave. I'll make sure of it.’
But I had gotten too comfortable. Mistaking his taste of conquering a conquest to… love. He didn’t care about me. And now, all that doesn’t matter anymore to me.
I stepped down from the stage, the crowd giving way as cameras flashed in my face. I didn’t even bother to hide my face, there was no need. I felt disgusted with myself. Yet again, he had proven me wrong in the most miserable way ever.
For the second time in my life, a man had let me down and it was all my fault and now, I was alone.