005

ALEXANDER

~•~

I stared down at her, waiting for an explanation, waiting for her to tell me that she was drunk and didn’t know what she was doing, anything that could at least put me at ease, but she didn’t.

Instead, she looked up at me and said, “This is fake, Alex.”

“Fake?” I laughed. “That’s your explanation, that it’s fake?”

“Look,” she seemed less angry than she was just a few minutes ago. “I know how it looks. I understand you’re angry at me because you believe I’ve cheated on you, but I didn’t. I did meet him that day, but it was only for dinner and the director as well as all our assistants were present. I didn’t kiss him. I was never even alone with him.”

My tongue poked the inside of my cheek. Her words didn’t even make sense. “So everything is true except for the part that makes you look bad?”

“You’re not beating me, Alex!”

“Oh, I am. And all I’m hearing is your lack of accountability, Charlotte. There’s tangible proof in front of you and you’re still denying it?” I shook my head in disappointment. “I didn’t expect this from you.”

A tear rolled down her cheek, landing on her shirt, then another. Before I knew it, she was crying. “Someone is trying to slander me, Alex. This is not true, I promise.”

I turned away from her. She knew her tears were my weakness and she knew how to use them to her advantage. “Why don’t you scroll and see the rest of the pictures then?”

If it were just a kiss, I wouldn’t be this angry. I could have easily dismissed it. I could have pretended it never happened as long as she promised to stay away from him. I would never have brought it up, either, but it was much more than that. There were more pictures of them entering a hotel, both of them in a hotel room. Both of them getting undressed, not knowing they were being watched.

At first, I’d dismissed the pictures as AI-generated pictures but they were way too detailed not to be true. The piercing on her back. The tattoos on the side of her waist and the side of her breasts. AI couldn’t be this thorough.

“Please, Alex. I don’t know how these came about but I am certain it’s not me! I didn’t even drink! If I had slept with him, I would have remembered!”

I turned back around to face her, but before I could say anything, her phone started ringing. She ignored it at first. “Aren’t you going to take that?”

She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and brought out her phone from her pocket. My eyes went straight to the screen. A chuckle slipped past my lips when I saw who was calling. Talk about incredible timing.

“Answer it.”

She stared at me for a few seconds, no doubt contemplating whether to listen or not. When she realized it wasn’t worth fighting me over, she answered the call and put it on speaker.

“H-hello?” She cleared her throat. “What’s up?”

“Are you good? Your voice sounds different.”

I rolled my eyes. He knew her voice enough to know when there was a change.

Charlotte faked a laugh. “That’s what happens when I spend three months constantly singing.”

Dave Brown laughed loudly even though it wasn’t that funny. “You singers are incredible.”

My tongue poked the inside of my cheek, irritated by the unnecessary compliment. She avoided my eyes, uncomfortable as well. “Did you call for a reason?”

“Oh yeah! I wanted to check if the news has been delivered to you? We’re the official cast.”

“Oh,” she glanced at me. “I haven’t heard yet. Thanks for telling me.”

“I guess the director saw our chemistry.” He chuckled.

She cleared her throat again, knowing the call was doing nothing to help her case. “I’m busy right now. How about I call you later?”

“Alright then. See you soon.”

She hung up after that and looked at me. “I know that sounded sketchy…”

I scoffed and walked away from her, walking further into the closet to find the shirt I originally came for. I took the first shirt I saw off its hanger and put it on.

“Come on, Alex. Do you really believe I’ll cheat on you?” She followed me as I walked out of the closet.

“I don’t know what to believe anymore, Charlotte.”

“How about you start by believing your wife?”

I didn’t respond because I didn’t know how to. How could I believe her when every piece of evidence was pointing towards cheating? How could I just take her world for it like a fool?

Before those photos, I never would have believed she would cheat on me, but I didn’t know anymore.

I’d acquired those photos at a very high price just because I didn’t want her reputation to be ruined. I had given her enough grace by not letting the paparazzi post them. I’d paid a lot to suppress the news. I knew she was just getting into acting. I didn’t want to ruin that for her, but she still found it hard to tell me the truth.

I turned around to face her once more. She stopped walking before she could run into me. “Tell me something, Charlotte. Are you going to take that gig?”

“What?”

“Are you going to go through with it? Are you going to act with him?”

She bit down on her bottom lip, staying quiet.

Her silence was all I needed.

“Of course,” I nodded.

“Alex,” she teared up again.

I shook my head, not wanting to hear any more. “Either you let go of the gig or we get divorced.”