CHAPTER 5 Who Did You Sleep With?

LILA’S POV

The seconds that passed felt like hours. 

“How… how is that possible?” Aunt Maggie whispered, finally.

Uncle Andrew’s gaze swung to me like a searchlight.

Ice slid down my spine.

“What the hell did you do?” he asked accusingly. 

“I—I don’t know. Can we please talk somewhere private?” I pleaded, dropping my voice. “Please, Uncle. People are staring.”

Because they were. 

Guests nearby were already turning, eyes flicking between us, sensing drama like blood in the water. Music still played, but softer now, like even the speakers were listening in.

“Wow,” Chloe drawled, appearing at Uncle Andrew’s side like she’d been summoned. “As usual, you’ve managed to make yourself the center of attention again.”

Her eyes glittered with cruel satisfaction.

“I’m not trying to—” I started.

Aunt Maggie cut me off, her smile stretched tight. “No. We’re sorting this out right now.” Her voice was low but sharp. “Did you see Edward that night or not?”

“I…” My throat closed up.

Images flashed behind my eyelids. A hotel room. Heat. The press of someone’s body against mine, hot breath on my neck, rough hands running all over my body. 

I swallowed hard. “It was my first time meeting him today,” I said. “At this party.”

For a heartbeat, there was silence. No puzzle pieces slid into place. 

Then Chloe laughed, high and shrill.

“Then who the hell did you sleep with that night?” she snapped.

Everything stopped.

Whatever little conversation was happening around us died immediately. A wave of quiet rolled outward as heads turned and eyes locked on me. Heat rushed up my neck so fast I felt dizzy.

I could feel them staring. All of them.

My heart hammered against my ribs.

I glanced to the side—just for a second.

Adrian stood near the bar, one elbow resting lightly on the counter, a glass in his hand. His posture was relaxed, but his eyes… his eyes were fixed on us. 

Waiting. 

Like he was making sense of this, just like the rest of them. 

He wasn’t going to help. Of course, he wasn’t. Why would he?

I dragged my gaze back to my aunt and uncle. “I—I didn’t—”

My voice shook.

They didn’t care.

“I’m talking to you,” Aunt Maggie hissed. “The driver took you to the hotel himself. If you didn’t see Edward, then who were you with?”

“I can’t say,” I whispered.

Because if I said Adrian’s name, I knew exactly what would happen.

They would drag me forward, shove me at him, demand he “take responsibility”. They would use me, use him, twist that night into another transaction.

I’d just be leverage again.

“Can’t say?” Chloe repeated loudly. “Or don’t remember?”

Soft gasps rippled through the crowd.

“You don’t even remember who you slept with?” Aunt Maggie said, her voice rising now, righteous and vicious at the same time. “You’re even more shameless than I thought!”

“You’ve completely disgraced us,” Uncle Andrew added, his tone final, like he was pronouncing a sentence.

Whispers spread like wildfire.

“I heard she’s marrying Edward to pay off her parents’ debt—”

“Look at her, she can’t even deny it properly—”

“She is such a mess, look at her in a waitress uniform—”

Every word felt like a slap. I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek, tasting blood, fighting the tears burning the back of my eyes.

I wished my parents were here. I wished I were anywhere else. If I’d just run from that hotel and kept running, maybe I wouldn’t be standing here being dissected like this.

“I didn’t do anything,” I said, my voice trembling.

The words sounded small, weak.

Something inside me snapped.

“No,” I said again, louder this time. “No. I’m done.”

My hands were shaking, but I lifted my chin anyway.

“I didn’t disgrace anyone,” I said, the words tumbling out before I could stop them. “You guys are the disgrace.”

A collective inhale sucked the air from the room.

Chloe’s eyes went wide. Aunt Maggie’s lips parted in shock.

“You stole from me!” I burst out, years of swallowed anger clawing to the surface. “Chloe stole my boyfriend and you said nothing! You knew Jason was cheating and you still let them parade around like some perfect couple. And now you’re marrying me off to a stranger so you can get some stupid construction job!”

The murmurs grew louder.

Faces around us shifted—some shocked, some suddenly suspicious as they looked at my aunt and uncle. A few people actually stepped back from them, like the ugliness might be contagious.

“Shut up!” Chloe snapped, color high in her cheeks.

Jason stepped forward, expression carefully arranged into offended innocence. “I have always loved Chloe,” he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “Lila is hallucinating. She’s been obsessed with me for years, and now she can’t handle that I chose her cousin instead.”

A few people nodded along, like that made perfect sense.

Of course, they believed him. He looked polished and put together. I looked like the sad girl in the waitress uniform.

Aunt Maggie recovered quickly. “You see?” she said, her voice shaking with forced outrage. “She can’t stand the attention being on Chloe for five minutes. So she creates a scene. As usual.”

“It’s pathetic,” Chloe added. “You make yourself a victim and then act surprised when people talk.”

Their words rolled over me, trying to bury what I’d just said. I could feel the tide turning back against me.

As the noise grew louder, Uncle Andrew’s face darkened. The polite mask he wore for guests slipped, and I saw the man I knew from behind closed doors.

“Enough,” he snapped.

He strode toward me, hand already lifting.

Every muscle in my body tensed. I flinched instinctively, shrinking back, my arms coming up on their own to cover my face.

I’d been here before. In kitchens, in hallways, in rooms where nobody else was watching.

Except now, everyone was watching.

His shadow fell over me, and I braced myself for the blow. The sound. The pain. 

It never came.

Instead, there was a sharp sound—a solid smack.

I lowered my arms and looked up. 

A strong hand was wrapped around Uncle Andrew’s wrist, stopping it inches from my cheek. The muscles in his forearm strained, but the grip holding him was unyielding.

Adrian.

He stood between us, having moved so fast I hadn’t even seen him cross the space. Up close, he seemed larger, taller, his presence sucking the air out of the room. 

The calm boredom he’d worn earlier was gone.

His jaw was clenched, eyes like ice.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked, voice low and dangerous.

Uncle Andrew’s face flushed an ugly red. “This does not concern you,” he snapped, yanking at his arm, but Adrian didn’t let go. “It’s a family matter.”

“It concerns me,” Adrian said calmly, “because she was with me that night.”