“I did, didn’t I?” I forced the laughter. Self-pity and anguish. When Chris learned, I fucked up my chance with Arianna, he’d looked at me with so much disappointment that I felt myself dying from the inside. But it was too late by then. I should’ve listened to him. He’d always known what was better for me, or did he knew about Alana?
“This is all too much to take in for everyone in this room. Please, man. We’ll talk in the morning.”
“Have you known it was her all along?” I asked Chris, my suspicion growing thicker.
“What? No, man.” He shook his head.
“You encouraged my decision to break it off with her and date her sister, why?” Once the suspicion kicks in, there was no turning it off then.
Chris sighed. “It’s because Arianna made you happy. With her…” He pointed at my soon to be ex-wife. “You were pretending.”
Tears threatened to spill as I remembered the tears in Arianna’s eyes when she dashed out of the dining hall during our engagement party. Pain twisted her face, those expressive eyes. I didn’t give a damn that night. It even felt right because I thought it was her, who cheated on me while kissing the very bitch who was deceiving me since the start.
“Why?” I turned toward Alana. “Why did you cheat on me? Why did you frame this on Arianna?”
She didn’t speak. Her head didn’t lift an inch and she stayed on the floor where I left her. Walking toward her, I caught her arms and pulled her up.
“Cat got your tongue now, whore? Where are your crocodile tears? Where is your excuse?” I shook her. “Tell me everything I want to know. Bring me your lies.”
When she didn’t respond, I lost my cool. I gripped her throat, slowly squeezing it.
“Brian!” My mom yelled. “What are you doing?” She caught my arm, urging me to leave Alana.
“Stay the fuck out of this, mom. This is between us.” My gaze bored into Alana’s eyes. Hazel just like her, but I didn’t see the truth behind them. “Why? Were you even pregnant? Or did you kill the child with your whoring ways?”
Her lips trembled then, opening and closing. Tears pricked her eyes. And now it only infuriated me. They were infuriating me for months, but I was falling for her again. I trusted her and accepted the life we had. I moved on and learned to love the life I had with her. I loved her.
“Brian, let her go,” Chris spoke in a calming voice. He put a hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently.
“Not until I get my answers, Chris.” I shook her again. “You either tell me the truth or I’ll just tighten my grip further and kill you right here.”
Silence washed over the room. I had never been so furious all my life. Not even when I first saw the scandal photos. I never gave her a chance to explain. And Arianna, she had held her head high and moved on with her life.
“Did your friends know? Where are the bitches who always stuck to you?” She’d cut them off after our wedding. I never understood why because they always clung to her side. She always surrounded herself with them.
When she didn’t talk, my grip tightened on her throat and her lips parted. Same lips I once loved to kiss until they were red and swollen. Now I wanted to burn those lips.
“Brian, you’re hurting her,” Chris warned. His hand wrapped around my biceps, a forceful squeeze on my flesh, demanding to free her.
“It was always you. Right from the start.” I realized and my grip loosened. “The photos Henry received along with those party photos that was you.”
“Oh, God!” Claire gasped behind me, her cheeks stained with tears.
Now it all clicked in place. I shoved Alana aside and moved back. It was the party photos that leaked first. The nudes came a week or two after that. “Where were you on your seventeenth birthday?” Everyone knew about the party Arianna hosted. What about Alana? With Arianna already on the picture with slut tag, it must have been easier for Alana to pin this on her. And the Swanson’s who had never appreciated Arianna for anything she did, believed the good daughter. How convenient.
“Ask your daughter, Henry. Ask what else she's hiding.” My patience was waning thin. My hands fisted by my side.
“Speak, Alana.” His voice rang hard. “If you don’t talk now, Alana, I swear I’ll take my gun and shoot you myself.”
“What’s all this?” Claire stood. “Tell us this isn’t true.”
My gaze snapped to her. “Did you even hear yourself, Claire?” I sauntered toward her. “You had no trouble in believing that was Arianna. But now you cry like a doting mom and act all hurt. How sweet.” She flinched. “Your family repels me.”
“Brian…” Mom’s voice shook and dad stood dumbfounded.
“What mom? Ask your friend if she really birthed these girls. Because with everything that’s happening, I don’t think she’s their mother.”
“Brian!” Claire hissed.
Ah, now she was angry. She didn’t have the right to feel that emotion. “Don’t, Mrs. Swanson. I respected you. I even took pride in admiring what a good job you did with her upbringing. I thought Arianna was hopeless. Now, I know what a shitty mother you’ve been. You couldn’t tell apart from your children. You didn’t know them at all.” Claire flinched and looked away. “The one you believed good was a fucking whore and the one you shunned away was a treasure.”
“Brian…” Chris sounded distant.
The adrenaline rush slowly left my body and I swayed. The effects of alcohol had fully settled in and dark spots clouded my vision. With the amount of liquor I consumed, I should’ve gone down sooner. I didn’t know how I kept standing there.
“She’s a fucking bitch.” My words slurred and the floor grew close. A pair of strong arms reached out as everything went dark.
Chapter – 28
The world zoomed in and out of focus when I woke. Several hammers pelted on my head, making me groan. Guessing by the blinding sunlight, it must be close to noon and I looked around the room, realizing I was still in Alana’s room. I clutched my head between my hands. Last night’s events came flashing in my mind and pounding in my head increased.
“I’ve been waiting for you to wake up forever,” Chris’ urgent voice announced.
Did he stay? No. He changed his clothes. I squinted my eyes against the sunlight. He’d ditched last night’s suit and now wore a T-shirt and jeans.
“What is it, Chris?” I groaned, raising myself on my elbows.
“Come on, man.”
“Give me a sec.” I staggered out of the bed and headed to the bathroom, I relieved myself quickly and washed my face.
Loud voices reached us when I stepped into the threshold.
“What the hell, Alana? I believed you. Is this how you repay?”
“Fuck off, mom!”
Did I hear it right? It was Alana’s voice. I closed the distance to the room in a few long strides. She was in Arianna’s old room, cross-legged and stripped down to her undies. My throat clogged noticing how minimal her clothing was.
“Claire walked in to see her masturbating this morning,” Chris whispered. “She went ballistic when she found out.”
Oh. While it was shocking, she was all along fooling everyone. I crossed my arms and leaned on the doorframe. Her face no longer held the calm facade she always wore. With the mask off, now it was time for everyone to see her ugly face, including me.
“I’m your mother.”
“Are you?” One of her brows lifted. “Now you know that it’s me, you hate me and love her?” Alana asked.
“Enough!”
She had cracked. I could tell by the madness in her eyes. Alana produced a pack of cigarettes from underneath her pillow. She lit it up and lifted it to her lips like it was a habit. My eyes widened. Alana smoked? Her lids closed and she threw her head back, savoring it. When her eyes opened, her gaze fixated on me.
“What are you staring at, Brian?” she asked in a mocking tone.
“Why?” I asked.
“Why?” She laughed out loud. A mad cackle that so
not Alana like. “This is who I am.”
“I know that now,” I said, maintaining my calm. “Why did you make everyone believe it was your sister?”
Alana scoffed. “I never said or claimed it was her.” She jumped off the bed and stalked toward us. “When the photos first leaked, mom assumed it was Ari and I didn’t correct it.” Her free hand waved at her mother and she took another smoke.
“You fooled us all.” Claire sobbed. “You dirty whore.”
“Shush!” Claire stepped back at her hiss. “Your sobs are sickening, mommy. Get out of my room.”
“Alana, that’s your mother,” Henry growled.
“Oh, I didn’t know that before,” she snickered. “What are you gonna do, pops? Gonna shoot me?”
Taking a deep breath, I looked at her, really looked, checking things I never noticed before today. She had the same rebellious side of her sister. But there was a vulnerable edge to her tone. I could tell by the way her nostrils flared, she was suppressing a sob. “Wasn’t I enough?” The question came before I stopped it.
Alana sighed, securing the cigarette to her lips and ambled toward the closet, giving us a full view of her luscious ass cheeks. I thought Arianna packed and left. It appeared Alana utilized her absence to her gain. She pulled out a silk robe and shrugged it over her shoulders, securing the knot in her waist. My shoulders sagged, making me realize I was rigid. At least she was now decent.
When she went to sit on the bed, I moved to sit by the couch while the others stood silent. Too shocked to speak. I noticed my parents looking grim.
“I’m a sex addict,” she said, causing my eyes to pop out of their sockets. My mouth opened, leaving a silent gasp, staring at her.
Claire choked out a strangled cry. One hand clutched her chest while the other clamped over her mouth.
Alana glared at her mother with no remorse. “Shut it, mom. And stop overreacting.” She tossed the finished cigarette carelessly on the floor bare of carpet and pulled another one. “Where was I?”
“You’re addicted to sex.”
“Ah, yes.” She lit the second cigarette. I wanted to tell her to stop, but I didn’t. Alana blew the smoke, relaxing more. A sense of euphoria spread across her face. “I’m so tired of being told what I could do and what I shouldn’t. She got to live free. They put me in the limelight and forced me to live like I had no feelings at all.”
My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. Alana—a sex addict, disbelief still clouded my brain. Claire slipped to the floor, wailing. My mom rushed to comfort her best friend, trying to offer comfort. Who’d have thought their golden child was addicted to sex.
“Don’t you dare look at me like that, Brian,” she snarled. “You had no complaints when you fucked me in Paris.”
“I’m ashamed of that mistake.” I sighed, averting my gaze. I couldn’t look at her then. I had no right to blame her because it was equally my fault. While I knew no one addicted to sex, I’ve heard it was like drug addiction. “Why didn’t you take help?”
“Help?” One brow lifted. “Why would I need help?” She laughed.
“Because it’s an addiction. Listen, Alana, I fucked up by cheating on her with you. But I didn’t so much as look at another woman when we were together.”
“What? You cheated on who?” My mom asked.
“Mom, not now.”
“Oh, they don’t know, do they?” Alana chuckled bitterly. “Last night when you asked Chris, they were too busy sobbing to pick up that little secret.” She cocked her head to the side, fixing her stare on my mom. “Your son broke up with me and dated my dear sister for five months. Then he cheated on her by sleeping with me during our Paris trip.”
“Brian, is that true?” Mom’s mouth opened and closed. Nothing new. Now everyone knew everything. It didn’t matter. Ignoring her, I faced Alana again.
“Were you really pregnant?” I asked the question bugging me since I found her last night.
“No.” She shook her head.
“Why did you do that?” Fresh pain exploded in my chest. Because even for a short time, I fell in love with a child I thought she carried. It hurt when she said she lost it and it hurt more to learn the truth.
“Because I couldn’t let you go,” she admitted, all the fight leaving her face. She didn’t mock anymore. “I tried, Brian. I tried to change my ways.” Her hands trembled slightly. “You changed me. I really felt something for you and believed you are the one for me. Then you broke up with me to be with her,” she snarled. “I stopped sleeping around when we began dating. You were everything I imagined my future husband would be.” With a shake of her head, she smoked, releasing a puff of smoke. Guilt ate at me. I didn’t know.
“It fucking hurt and I drank more. When that wasn’t enough, I resorted to my old ways. I went clubbing and fucked my brains out. Then I had you back in Paris. I had you once and wanted more. I tried to redeem myself, but you wanted to walk away, once again, to her. You told me to forget and move on with my life. But how can you stop loving someone? That time it felt like I couldn’t keep living without you. So, I lied.” She took a deep breath and pulled the third cigarette, pressing it to her lips. “And, like a fool I was, I hoped you’ll love me the way I loved you. But you failed. You kept running back to her every single time.”
“I came back.” I cleared my throat. “We married.”
A humorless chuckle slipped out of her lips. “Yeah. But you were barely home. You worked your ass off. You weren’t happy with our marriage.”
“I was happy.”
“Right.” She sighed. “Was. Past tense. You aren’t anymore.” She stood and walked around the bed.
“Alana…”
She raised her hand, stopping me. She opened the drawer and pulled out a stack of papers. “I signed them last night,” she said. “When the photos began surfacing again, I knew it wouldn’t be long before you found out. I expected dad wouldn’t pay off the paparazzi anymore.”
I took the divorce papers with a shaking hand.
“Save yourself the shame and walk away. I’m ready to face what’s coming my way.”
“Alana.” I wanted to ask so many questions then, but she retreated to bed. I thought I knew her, but I didn’t.
“You may all leave. I need some privacy.”
Henry walked out of the room first, his head hung. Mom dragged Claire out. She was a sobbing mess. She would’ve known this if she had paid attention to her daughters. When I looked at Alana again, she appeared broken.
Something shifted in my heart and strangely I wasn’t furious anymore. How could I be angry when I went behind her back? My mouth opened and closed. After debating for a minute and finding no words, I walked out of the room and then their home.
***
Three months later
Three months had passed since Alana cracked and the past few weeks had been hell like she predicted. The lawyers tore her apart in the courtroom and she took it all. I stayed by her side. Though she didn’t want me there, I went to the hearing. Despite my parents’ warning, I supported her. Because I felt equally guilty for everything that had happened.
I didn’t care to find out how the attorneys got hold of the proof about her false pregnancy, nor how they had evidence on how she impersonated Arianna. I already had my answer. Orlando kept his promise.
Alana faced the trial with her mask on. She kept silent when the media bombarded her with the questions. Never flinched nor reacted. She barely talked anymore. I could tell she drank herself to the oblivion at nights. The bags underneath her eyes were proof enough.
The divorce papers she signed stared at me from the table. I picked it up, browsing through. I didn’t know what I wanted to do anymore. My heart constricted, remembering the day I met her for the first time. I couldn’t shake off the guilt I felt inside. I’d often caught her staring at me when she thought I wasn’t looking. I betrayed her genuine emotions.
If I hadn’t walked away, would she have been good? With the Sw
anson’s reputation stripped away and their investors pulling back, their share values deteriorated. They were going down fast and hard. The banks now wanted to collect the debts and Henry liquidated most of his assets to pay them.
I pushed the papers away, unable to decide. People pitied me. The scandal did not affect Schultz. I was equally guilty. Intentionally or unintentionally, I became a reason for everything that happened. I failed to stick with one woman. I hopped from one to the other, never satisfied.
Frustrated, I stood. Alana needed help. Whether she agreed or not, she needed me. Because it wouldn’t take long before Swanson's kicked her out of their home.
An hour later, I slowed my car in the driveway of the Swanson residence when she appeared in the doorway, bags held in both her hands.
“You have no place in this home. Get the fuck out of my home.” Henry’s voice boomed and a second later, he came out followed by Claire. The look of disgust and hatred on their faces was all too familiar. Wasn’t this the way they looked at Arianna? They judged people way too early.
Alana choked on a sob when her gaze fell on me. She tried to hold it all in and failed. Without words, I climbed out of the car and walked toward her. She didn’t fight when I took the bags from her.
“Come, let’s go.”
“You’re taking her with you?” Henry yelled. Spittle flew from his mouth. “You’re making a mistake.”
I turned, pinning him with my gaze. “No, Henry. I’m doing what you should’ve done in the first place.” Turning to her again, I gestured my head toward the car.
Alana broke down crying when we drove off from her home. No, it was no longer her home.
“Why are you doing this? Why are you being nice to me?”
My chest felt heavy. I had no answer. “For the sake of old times.”
“Old times’ sake?” She cried again.
I patted her arm. An awkward action, but I won’t turn my back on her. Not when she needed someone. I made that mistake once and lost what could have been the most wonderful life I could have ever had. My grip on her hand tightened, I didn’t know if I could forgive Alana for what she did because I couldn’t bring myself to forgive myself first.
Resisting Her (Moving On Duology Book 2) Page 23
