004

CHARLOTTE

~•~

I scoffed at her question. She was going to say anything to get under my skin and I’d be doing myself a disservice by standing there and listening to whatever bullshit she had to spew.

“Then it’s too bad he married me and doesn’t even look at you.” I didn’t wait to hear her response before I walked out of the house.

I took in a deep breath after the door closed behind me. On a regular day, her words wouldn’t get to me. Couldn’t. But with the way things were with Alexander… I wasn’t that confident.

I opened the driver's door of my car and got in. I drove around the city for a while before I finally went back home. When I got home, I saw that Alex’s car was in front of the house.

Would we finally have time to talk things through?

I rushed inside and found him in our bedroom. He was taking off his shirt when I came in. He turned around to face me, the buttons of his shirt already undone. “Where are you coming from?”

I blinked in surprise at his accusatory tone. “I should be asking you that question, Alex. You have been gone for two nights without any form of communication.”

He clenched his jaw.

“Fine. I went to visit my parents. Your turn?”

“Your parents?” He narrowed his eyes. “They aren’t even home.”

“Yes, but Briella was at home.”

“You don’t even get along with Briella.”

“What are you insinuating, Alex?” I questioned, tired of the back and forth that wasn’t leading anywhere. “How do you even know my parents aren’t home?”

Instead of answering, he looked away and resumed taking off his shirt. He walked into the closet to find a t-shirt and I followed after him.

“Are you going to say anything? Where have you been for the past two days?”

“In my office,” he answered rigidly.

“Why?”

“Because I can’t stand the sight of you, Charlotte,” he suddenly whipped around. “Not right now. I cannot bear to be in the same room with you.”

I reeled back in shock, his words sending an unfamiliar ache across my chest. “What is that supposed to mean?” I asked, blinking back the tears that threatened to roll down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe him. How could he say something like that so easily?

“You see, this innocent act is what pisses me off the most.” He gritted out like he was trying so hard to stay calm. “If you would just admit what you’ve done, maybe this conversation could have gone a different way.”

There he went again. He clearly suspected me of doing something but couldn’t open his mouth to say what he thought I did wrong? I stayed quiet for a few seconds, inhaling and exhaling. I tried to make sure my voice sounded steady as I spoke. “Alexander, if you think I’ve wronged you in any way, tell me what it is, so we can talk about it. Thanksgiving dinner is two days away. We can’t be fighting at my parents’ place.”

Alex scoffed. “You still want to go to Thanksgiving? Would your conscience allow you to do that after sleeping with another man?”

My lips parted, but no words came out. Did he know how heavy that accusation was? Sleeping with another man? Why the hell would I ever do that?

“What?” He laughed, but it came out bitter. “Speechless now, aren’t you? You didn’t think you’d ever get caught when you were out there spreading your legs for your potential costar, huh? Is that how you intend to start acting? By sleeping your way into the industry?”

Before I even processed it, my hand was cracking against his skin.

His head whipped to the side from the impact of my slap. His mouth fell open, surprised I’d raised my hand on him. He tried to speak, but I didn’t let him.

“How dare you, Alex?” I questioned, burning with anger. “How dare you accuse me of such?”

There was a beat of silence before shook his head. “You’re such a good actress. All roles should be given to you immediately. Are you trying to pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about? Does the name Dave Brown ring a bell? You had dinner with him and the director, didn’t you?”

“So how the hell does having dinner translate into sex, Alexander. Has working too much made you silly?”

“At least, you’re not denying you know him.” He muttered to himself and brought out his phone. I watched him as he scrolled for a bit before he handed it to me. “Since you have an explanation for everything, you must have one for this, right?”

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, wondering what the hell he was going on about, then I stared at the screen, my eyes widening in shock. It was a picture of two people kissing. Our faces weren’t clear but anyone who knew me or Dave knew that it was us.

The outfit was the same one I’d worn to have dinner with him and the director. My hair was in a bun, the exact way I’d tied it that day. Dave was also wearing the same clothes. The picture looked like it had been taken by paparazzi when we weren’t paying attention.

The only problem was that I never kissed Dave Brown.

I didn’t drink that night so I couldn’t have made a drunken mistake so where the hell did Alex get his picture from?