AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Face immediately draining of color, she bowed her head and pressed her hands to her stomach. “I guess I can understand your reasoning.”
“The point is…” I stressed, shamefully glancing down at my hands. “If I’d known you weren’t aware of his intentions—if I’d known you wouldn’t welcome his advances—I would’ve warned you. Fuck, I should have warned you anyway. And I’m sorry. But when you came out of his office after your interview, and he announced you were going to be his secretary, it all just came flooding back to me again. Everything you did with Ethan, how it affected Bella, and I just…”
I bowed my head and closed my eyes in shame. “I really don’t have problems with what people do with their lives. But with you, it was—Christ, I was starting to like you, starting to forget that you—that that’s how you are. And when I remembered, I just felt so betrayed. Because I’d been thinki
ng of you as something you’re not, something I wanted you to be. Which is my bad, not yours. And I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.”
Sighing heavily, I turned away and rested my hands on the windowsill as I stared sightlessly outside. “That’s why I’ve been freezing you out since you started here. I was mad. Mad at you. Mad at myself. Mad about the entire situation. And feeling like an idiot for perceiving you as this certain kind of person I wished you were when I shouldn’t have. So I’m also sorry about that, as sorry as I am that I didn’t warn you about Art. I could’ve helped you avoid this whole shitshow we went through today if I’d just said something.”
“No one else warned me either,” she answered as if excusing me.
I glanced across the room at her. “But I should have. And I want to apologize for that.”
She studied me for a moment. Then said, “Okay.”
As simple as that, she merely forgave me.
I didn’t answer, just shoved a hand into my pocket and bowed my head, knowing I didn’t deserve it. She didn’t leave the office though.
“Gracen,” she whispered.
I looked up.
Wringing her hands at her waist, she took a deep breath, even as she looked as if she might pass out any second. “I just—I wanted you to know that maybe—maybe I’m not so different than you think I am. What your sister assumes I did to her, I—I didn’t. I didn’t do what she thinks I did.”
I blinked. “What?”
Her voice trembled and she looked down. “I-I didn’t—you know—I didn’t—”
“But she caught you,” I blurted, blinking in amazement over the fact that she would even say this to me. “Naked. In his bed.”
She lifted her face, and her eyes went desperate as she shook her head. “Sh-she doesn’t know what she saw.”
“But he was there with you. Also naked. Hell, then I saw you with my own eyes a week later, coming out of his apartment with your fucking bra in your hand. How can you say you didn’t—Yellow?”
I leaped forward in concern when she wavered on her feet as if she might pass out. But then I stopped as she drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes before opening them again. When I stepped toward her more hesitantly, she lifted a hand to stop me and shook her head, gulping for fresh air.
“You’re right; I shouldn’t have said anything to you,” she choked out before spinning away to escape.
But I dodged in front of her so I could slam my hand against the door and gape at her. “Well, you did say something,” I accused incredulously. “So you can’t stop there. What the fuck really happened between you, and Bella, and Ethan?”
Yellow shook her head, her breathing coming in unsteady bursts. I was causing her to hyperventilate, but I couldn’t seem to back off.
“Just tell me,” I demanded impatiently.
“I—” she tried through choppy breaths as she pressed a hand to her chest. “I didn’t—I didn’t cheat. I would never do that to Isabella.”
“What’re you saying, then?” My heart rammed against the interior of my rib cage. Because if she hadn’t stabbed Bella in the back, then I wouldn’t have to hate her. “That he lied to you?” I guessed. “Told you they’d broken up or something? What?”
“Oh God,” she said in a small voice before she clawed frantically at my arm, getting me to step back and unblock the exit.
“Hey,” I said softly to calm her. “It’s okay. I’m moving. See.” Lifting my hands so she wouldn’t feel trapped, I added, “But you can’t say all this and then just leave.”
“Why?” she snapped angrily, glaring up at me. Her eyes flamed with terror and frustration and rage. Balling her hand into a fist, she repeated louder. “Why can’t I go? You’re already denying everything before I can even say a single word, so it’s not like you’re going to believe me anyway.”
“Believe what?” I cried, throwing my hands into the air. “You haven’t told me what happened. Just what didn’t happen? And if it didn’t happen, then why did you never tell Bella? Jesus, you were her friend. And she thinks you betrayed her.”
“Well, she’s wrong, and I—” She shook her head savagely. “I kept her safe because sometimes it’s better to believe a lie.”
