CHAPTER 45

Alexa's POV

My head hurts as I flip my eyes open. The room is so bright that it takes me a moment to adjust my sight to the lighting, closing and opening them again. I groan as I move my hand to hold my head, wondering where the headache came from. It feels like someone is constantly hitting my head or something.

As I adjust to the room, I realize something and stop moving.

The curtains, the bed, the lighting…Nothing looks familiar. There's no Alexa singing in the shower or playing some morning music while she moves about. There is no familiar fragrance in my room. And the pillows, they are different. Everything is different from what I am used to. What I own and have.

I sit up with a start at the realization, holding my throbbing head with my palm. I almost can't believe it. Where the fuck am I?

A startling sound has me looking to my left and that is when I see her.

Danielle is seated by the vanity table in the room, wearing a light purple dress that exposes her legs with them crossed. She stares at me, holding my gaze as she takes a swig from the bottle of alcohol in her hand.

What is she…

I can't wrap my head around it. I can't comprehend any of it. Why is Danielle here? Why am I here? How did I get here? And most importantly, why am I laying in the bed, coated with sweat?

A loud zing goes off in my head and I almost push off the bed in a fleet of panic despite my aching head. Danielle burst out laughing at my movements as she continues to drink from the bottle of liquor in her hand.

What the fuck is going on?

“Relax, Xander.” She tells me as she puts the bottle on the table and wipes at her lips carefully. “With the way you are going, you just might get injured.” She adds.

“Why am I shirtless?” I ask her, ignoring her comments. “Danielle, what am I doing here and why am I shirtless?”

I can't find my shirt anywhere but that is not what I'm thinking. If Danielle took off my shirt because I sure as hell didn't do that, then it can only mean one thing. No, no, no, no.

No, Alexa.

“Danielle,  I swear to—”

She cuts me off with a laugh. “You should stop shouting,” she smirks when she finishes. “And no, we didn't sleep together. I don't go back to my vomit, ew.” She scrunch up her face like she is irritated.

I exhale with relief, feeling a bit bothered. But that doesn't help as I remember Alexa.

Fuck, Alexa!

She wanted me home. She had this huge surprise she planned for us. She was so excited about it and I told her I was on my way. That was before I came to see Lane. Fuck.  Fuck. Fuck.

I was internally screaming as I paced about the room in search of my shirt and my shoes. I find my shoes under the bed and immediately start to put them on. As I rise on my feet again, about to demand for my shirt from Danielle, she pursues her lips as she stares at me with a smirk on her face.

There is more.

There is more she hasn't told me.

Of course, there is more! This is Danielle!

“We didn't sleep together, Xander.” She says again, arranging her hair. I count the seconds in my head as I wait for her to drop the bombshell on me. I wait for her to tell me what exactly she is leaving out. “Although, the video I sent to your wife would suggest so.”

My heart drops.

Like, it literally drops.

It doesn't register immediately, but a few seconds in and the alarm bells start to sound in my head. A few seconds in and I'm finding it hard to breathe. A few seconds in and my limbs and bones are starting to feel like jelly as I stare at the face of the woman who's been nothing but evil in my life. Nothing but heartache and headache. All the time.

Does it ever end? Will it ever end? Will I be able to get rid of her for good?

“Why?” I demand, my voice hoarse with panic. “Why, Danielle? Why did you do this?” I demand.

She shrugs and pats her hair, leaning back in her seat. She grabs the bottle of liquor again, keeping her head straight without looking at me.

That's when it hit me.

…Eva.

It can only be Eva Gold. She did it the first time and she has done it again. She has made Danielle ruin the one good thing in my life. But not on my watch. Not again will I sit and watch this happen. It won't and I will make sure it doesn't. Alexa is mine. She belongs with me and not even the evil stepmother can drive a wedge between us.

“Eva put you up for this, didn't she?” I ask her.

She doesn't look at me as she takes another swig from her liqueur bottle. But when she does nod, I don't miss it.

“Yes,” she adds, swallowing.

I scoff out my disbelief. Fuck, again. “For what? Money?” I scoff. “You are doing this for money. You did this for money. You ruined my relationship because of money.” I say angrily as I begin to walk back and forth.

“How much?” I stop and demand.

“Excuse me?” She asks, looking offended. She actually has the guts to look offended.

“How much did she pay you?” I demand. “Let me guess, fifteen million dollars? Or is it thirty? Did she say she would double the amount or triple it?” I scoff as I continue pacing. Her fiance can afford to give her that and more so it has to be something bigger. A lot more than that. She doesn't go for the small fish, she always aims for the bigger ones. Bigger things. Biggest of everything.

“Or wait, that can't be it. A billion?” I ask her.

This time, she doesn't look me in the face and that almost makes me scream. I can't believe this. I can't believe she did this.

“So, you texted me using Lane’s phone knowing I would come around because I need him. And when I arrived, you made me wait in the guise of searching for him. And when I ordered a drink at the bar, you had the bartender drug me?” I recount her plans to her.

“You did all of that for money?!” I scream, unable to recognize my voice.

That's when she loses it as she rises from her seat, her face red with anger. “Well, what else am I supposed to do? Stand here and watch my life get ruined a second time? Of course, not. So, yes. Yes, I did all of that and more for money!” She screamed back.

“Call me evil, greedy, wicked, cruel but you are the devil here. Your friend has been struggling, swimming in debts and you have no idea. None of you do. None of you!” She screams.

I balk, taking a step back.

Lane has been swimming in debts? Lane? Lane who won't talk to us? Lane who won't see us? Lane who acts and speaks like an idiot? One of my closest friends, Lane?

It all makes sense now. Why won't he return to London after the dinner? He's been hiding away to save face. He's been staying away from the London spotlight. But he never spoke up. How was any of us supposed to know?

“I'm already engaged to him. You think I want to break things off with the man I love because he can't afford my necessities? Fuck, no! I had to find a way.” She continues to scream at me. “So, yes. Call me whatever you want for trying to make ends meet for me and your friend when you couldn't even do the barest minimum.”

“And when you took the money Eva offered you to leave me alone? What excuse do you have for that?” I snap.

She looks away and sniffs. “I did what I had to do,” she says.

“Yeah, right. You took the money my stepmother offered you to get me out of your life. Get you out of my life. I could have given you so much more. You could have been so much more, Danielle but you threw it all away.”

“Well, now, I don't need anything from you. I did what I had to do and I have the money.” She retorts.

I'm so angry that I can't even look at her without wanting to slap her. I want to hit her. I never hit women. I've never raised my hand on a woman but Danielle is known to bring out the worst in me.

She goes to the door and opens it, ready to ask me to leave but she freezes. I hold my head as I finally see my shirt. It's beneath the chair she was sitting on. I pick it up and start toward the door but I stop when I see who is there.

Lane stands there looking lifeless as he stares at his fiance. The look on his face tells me all I need to know. He's heard everything. He knows everything.  And he looks devastated. Shocked. Heartbroken. Ge doesn't seem to notice me since he can’t keep his eyes away from his fiance. On the other hand, Danielle has started to shake like a fish out of water. I don't say a word as I brush past him to leave just as a sob busts out of Danielle's lips.

He brought this on himself so I don't pity him. I don't turn to look at him either. He can deal with her alone. The way he's been dealing with his struggles. I have mine to deal with. Danielle has just wedged a sword into I and Alexa's relationship and now I have to fix it.

I reach for my phone which I grabbed before leaving as I put on my shirt. It's off so when I turn it on, my eyes go wide at the treats and missed calls popping in. I have calls from Sofia, Dave, and most importantly, Alexa.

My heart plunges as I read her frantic tests. She was worried. She was so worried about me.

I find Stanley in the parking lot and he rushes toward me. “Get behind the wheels,” I bark at him, my words filled with panic.

God, I can't lose her. I cannot lose her. I don't want to lose her.

Stanley understands my ordeal as he starts the car and get us out of the environment quicker than he would have on a normal day. I'm sizzling with panic and all the wrong emotions as he drives me to the house.

When we arrive, I rush out of the car. I don't even bother to shut the door as I rush into the house, startling the maids and everybody else.

“Alexa!” I call, frantically.

There is no reply and so I rush up the stairs, taking two at a time till I get to our room. I push the door open and step, my eyes surveying every corner of the room. There's no shower running. No singing or music playing. No tantalizing breakfast ready to be eaten.

I don't feel my heart beating as I move to the walk in closet. In there, her clothes are on the floor which are totally unlike her. And one of her boxes is missing. I stand there, staring for a few seconds. Blood whirls in my head and even though my heart hurts, and beats in my chest, I don't breathe.

That's when I really start to panic. That's when I lose what's left of my rational side and really start to panic.

Because she's gone.