Chapter 14: Faithful, or Is He?

"What are you doing?" Anna demanded.

In all the years they were together, Nora had never invaded her privacy like this.

Nora glared daggers at her.

"You're the one who has to explain things here!" Nora shot back.

Anna walked towards her. "I have nothing to explain to you!" Anna ripped the paper off her hand.

"You blackmailed Lara?" She asked incredulously.

Anna was starting to get annoyed with Dalton's little sister. At first, it was kind of cute, being quite overprotective towards her brother. Especially considering how they've always bickered growing up.

But now, the pain and insult stemming from Nora's growing accusations towards her is getting too much to bear.

"Okay," Anna took a breath. "Nora, I understand your concern. But my and Dalton's marriage problems are between the two of us, and have NOTHING to do with you."

Nora crunched her face incredulously at that.

"I hope you'll understand and respect that." Anna continued.

"You've got to be kidding me." Nora whispered.

"Marriage problems? You've ruined their lives!" She shouted at Anna.

"I did no such thing. If they were that in love with EACH other, then they would've eloped way before the wedding happened."

Nora stared at her. "Dalton had no choice, he couldn't have disobeyed the Chairman."

Anna scoffed at that. "Do you not know who Dalton is? Have you not met him yet? There is no such thing as no choice with him."

"It would have been an insult to Lara."

"Not if they WERE in love." Anna insisted.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Nora shouted.

"What it's supposed to mean."

Nora marched towards the door.

"Wait," Anna called out to her. "Have you checked your phone yet?"

"What do you care?" With that, Nora was out of the room.

How did she even know what the password was? Anna wondered, as she stared at the last sentences of Dalton's letter: 'I can't bring myself to be near the person who had successfully orchestrated the ruin of three lives, yours included. Lara is my heart and will remain as such. And as long as she is, I can't continue living a lie with you.'

Anna breathed heavily, and went to lay on the bed, trying to calm herself. She looked at the mess Nora had made. She would have to call someone up to clean them for her. But not before collecting the private ones herself, though.

Nora had not seen the photo yet. She had not commented on anything about it. If she had seen it, she would probably have taken it upon herself to arrange divorce papers on behalf of her brother.

There had not been calls or messages from her father and Dalton's family as well. Anna breathed a sigh of relief at that. It seems that the issue has been quickly resolved. She was glad.

But she was not going to let it slide completely. Dalton still had to answer to her. As his wife on paper, she has some rights.

She walked over to the balcony and whipped her phone. A few seconds later, Dalton's phone was ringing nonstop. She stared unbelievably when the ringing died down, and Dalton still hadn't picked up.

Does that mean that the woman in the photo was indeed Lara? Is he in the process of arranging their divorce paper? Or is he quite busy doing other things over there?

Anna felt her stomach curl. She leaned on the balcony railing for her support.

No, this isn't the time for her to be weak. She has to check in with her father to see if they had managed to do what they needed to. She has to let them know that she can no longer buy them the time.

And then she needs to do a lot of planning on how to bounce back into society. She already put in a lot of effort towards her education. She can't afford to lose anything right now. Anything except her marriage, anyway.

She straightened herself and picked up her phone once more. Before she could dial a number, her phone brightened up, indicating an incoming call.

Right there on her screen, Dalton's name was sprawled over. He was calling her!