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“I could have killed her. Why don’t you hate me?” She asked, looking genuinely surprised that I was not mad at her.
I could not be angry at her for something that happened long before I knew who she was, or for something that she’d done while she was grieving because of her mother.
From our talks, I knew just how much she’d loved her mother. Their bond must have been so strong, so seeing the after-effects of losing someone she was so close to was not surprising, no matter how horrible her actions were.
What mattered the most was that she’d stepped up. She has been punished for it and she was growing from her mistakes.
It occurred to me also that someone ought to have leaked this to the press. Someone who knew not only about her past but also about our relationship. It could not be someone from her former workplace because they did not know that she even worked for me not to talk of us being in a relationship.
My thoughts go to Elaine but I did not think she was so vindictive that she would do something like this. And since she wanted me to be with her, she would never do something that would hurt me.
“Do you have any idea who would leak this to the press?”
“Who would leak this to the press?” She repeated, her eyes going blank for a second, and then she looked up at me like an idea had suddenly occurred to her.
“You do?”
“Your mother.” Her words surprised me. I did not know my mother even knew about us being together.
“I’m not saying she did it, but it’s possible. I didn’t want to tell you this, but she kind of threatened me before she left.”
Her words are a little hard to believe, so I stepped back, my hands falling away from her. She noticed the movement and I saw the pain flash in her eyes.
“It was why I broke up with you that day. She said they were trying to match you up with Thea Wright and I stood no chance. I listened to her because I thought we were not serious, and I didn’t want to have my heart broken.”
Her words made sense now. I knew well that my mother could do something like that. Both my parents, if they thought it would turn my feelings for her off.
“If you are right and my parents did this? Then I apologize on their behalf. But we won’t know for sure unless we look into it personally.” She nodded at my words but I couldn’t tell exactly how she really felt about all this.
“We will sort this out. Together.” I finally said to her and she nodded again.
The next morning, she was gone.
Chapter 28
Vanessa
Itwassadtoknow that I only just realized how much I had fallen in love with Christian Fitzgerald as I sat in the backseat being driven to the airport.
My heart broke with each passing mile that took me farther and farther away from the mansion that had been my home for the past seven months. I had not even bothered to say goodbye to Alba because I knew she would only try to convince me to stay. And given how fragile I was, I knew it would not take much convincing on my part.
I was fragile enough that only a few words from her would be enough to convince me to stay. But that would have been my heart’s decision. My head was currently telling me that this was the best decision. Following my heart, like I’d done in the past with Christian, would only lead to further heartbreak.
Better to leave while I was ahead.
I felt Roger’s gaze on me through the mirror, and I avoided what I felt was his judgy look. It surprised me when he agreed to take me to the airport this morning, and even more surprised when he agreed to not tell Christian about my plans to leave.
He probably went along with it because he agreed with the tabloids that I was way beneath his precious boss’ league. And it would be good riddance for me to pack up and leave.
I stared out of the window as we zipped past snow-covered tall trees. I tried not to dwell on how much I used to love driving past this very route with Christian on the way to The Ramshackle on music nights.
I felt the cold stream of tears running down my cheeks even in the heated car and the crushing pain in my heart. This was only the beginning of the pain I feared. Not feeling it so much now was because the only audience I had was currently casting furtive glances at me like I was about to break down.
We drove silently for the one hour it took for me to get to the airport. As we drove in through the gates, Roger broke the silence.
“You made him happy, Ms. Hughes. I’ve never seen him as happy as you made him, not even when he was with the other missus.”
Roger’s words shocked the living daylights out of me. I could do nothing but stare at him for a full minute, even as the tears continue to flow.
