Chapter 86

Chapter 86

As much as I want to grab Carmella by the wrist and drag her away from here so she can leave, I can’t. That’s because if I do that, it might turn into a scandal as there are cameras around, including the people passing by.

Keeping my distance, I sigh deeply, rubbing my hand on the back of my neck, my heart racing with panic.

“You need to go, right now. My dad’s on his way here.” My voice is laced with urgency.

“That’s even better.” She nods. “Today, he’s going to find out what’s been going on between us.”

“Don’t start with that bullshit. I can’t let him see you here with me. He should be here any second now, so leave.”

She crosses her arms and smirks at me, firmly shaking her head. “You’ve been avoiding me this whole time and now that I finally have your attention, you think you can just get rid of me?”

“Don’t you fucking understand what’s going on here?” I whisper, my tone harsh.

“I definitely understand and right now, I don’t care. I’m not going anywhere. Let him come here and find me. I can’t wait for him to ask me what I’m doing here.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“I just want us to work things out. There’s no way you and I broke up just like that.”

“This isn’t the time for that. Besides, I told you that we’re never getting back together again.”

She bursts into laughter, then sits by the sidewalk. “Fine, I guess I’m sitting right here. I can’t wait to say hi to Mr Richards.”

I clench my jaw, wondering what else I can do about this. Of course, I could tell her that I’ll speak to her some other time, but that’s a lie. I don’t want to see her again, but what else can I do?

With a sigh of defeat, I try to convince her to leave again.

“Carmella-”

“No, I’m not going anywhere and if you think that…”

Suddenly, she trails off and scrambles to her feet. She looks extremely uncomfortable and instantly faces the other direction without saying another word. Before I can even ask or figure out what’s going on with her, she runs off as fast as she can, leaving me speechless as I lose sight of her at the corner.

Just as I wonder what the hell happened, I hear a car engine from behind me. I look back and my father is already here. Whatever just happened to Carmella, it wasn’t because of my father, but I’m glad it did because I managed to keep the situation under control, at least for the most part. I know I still have a lot of explaining to do, but it’s much easier now that she’s not here.

My father quickly steps out of the car after his driver opens the door for him, his shoulders rising and falling rapidly.

“What are you doing outside?” he asks, breathing hard. “What happened to Vanessa?”

Casually approaching him, I say, “Nothing happened. It must have been a prank call or something.”

“What are you talking about?” He furrows his eyebrows in confusion.

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20:25 Fri, 5 Jul R.

Chapter 86

“Right when I got here, Sophie called. She’s actually with Vanessa right now and they’re having fun together.”

“Are you serious?” He leans back against the car, a deep e

their phone number and I’ll make sure they pay for this. I co

Vanessa’s father just so they could be aware of the situation be

“You really did that?”

oing his lips as he turns furious. “It was a prank? Who was it? Give me a heart attack! On top of that, I’ve already called your mother and

everyone else!”

“How could I not? And then I find out that this was for nothing?” He holds out his hand, which trembles with rage. “Quick, give me the phone

number, right now.”

Fuck. He’s not letting this go.

“There’s no need for that,” I say to him.

“Don’t give me that nonsense.” He glares at me. “I know you can be very forgiving, but for me, no. I need to deal with whoever sent me in such a state of panic like that.” His gaze softens a little. “I was so worried about my precious daughter–in–law. I’m so glad she’s alright. What are you waiting for?”

I know that if I give him the phone number, it’ll lead to something else and that’s the last thing I want, so I get closer, placing my hand on his

shoulder.

“It’s alright. I’ll do it myself,” I assure him.

“I don’t believe you, son.”

“I promise that I will. Think about it, this involves my wife. I abandoned everything to come here. That’s why I didn’t have it in me to tell you or anyone else. That’s how much I was worried about her. Do you think I’ll just let whoever did this get away?”

He sighs with a nod.

“You do make a good point. In that case, I’m heading home. I need to calm down and rest. You better deal with whoever did this.”

“I won’t let them get away with this.” I once again assure him.

“I didn’t even know that Sophie and Vanessa were spending the day together,” he says.

“I thought Sophie mentioned it to you.”

“No, if I knew, I would’ve called her right away and I wouldn’t have been so worried. Now have to call Vanessa’s father again. He must be panicking right now and is ready to abandon everything so he can come home to his daughter.”

The thought of how much chaos Carmella’s caused, makes me clench my fists behind my back.

After he gets back in the car to head home, I head back to the office building and Frank’s already outside, rushing to the car with a look of confusion.

“What happened? Why are you back so soon?” he asks, walking beside me as I lead him to a more private spot.

“It was Carmella.”

“What?”

“Yeah, she set everything up.”

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Chapter 86

He looks at me with raised eyebrows for a moment, then chuckles.

“You think this is funny?” I shoot him a glare.

“Sorry, just give me a moment.” He faces the other side and I see his shoulders moving as he holds in his laughter.

“Are you done yet?” 1 poke my cheek.

He snickers, then looks back at me with a hand on n

think I’m done. Dude, I’m sorry it’s just very funny to me. If only you could

see how you ran off to go to the hospital. Nothing else mattered at that moment. You were that worried about Vanessa.”

“You’re wrong. It was only because of how that would’ve gotten in my way.”

“Whatever you say. I have to admit that Carmella’s crazier than I thought. I can’t believe she went to such lengths. But wait, how did you get rid of her when your dad was already on his way to the hospital?”

“I tried to get rid of her but it didn’t work.”

“Whoa! You mean to tell me that he saw her there?”

“No. She just ran off.”

“Huh? That’s unexpected and strange, considering how much she’s been wanting to talk to you.”

“We talked for a while. It was the same shit.”

“After what happened today, any plans of seeing her again?” He raises his eyebrows in curiosity.

“No. She just made things worse between us by going that far.”

“How did you feel when you saw her again?”

“It made my blood boil. She’s nothing but a liar with no compassion for anyone. I can’t deal with that.”

He sighs. “Just as I’ve said several times before, it’s too soon. Give it some time.”

As he leads me inside the building, I keep thinking about how didn’t even get to ask Carmella if she had anything to do with the person who’s been sending me those texts.

Just before she ran off, I remember how she scrambled to her feet and seemed extremely uncomfortable. What happened to her?

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