CHAPTER 11: THE OTHER WOMAN’S LIES

ATHENA'S POV

I don’t sleep that night.

How could I?

Every time I close my eyes, I see Veronica’s smug, teary- eyed face that was splashed across the news screen.

“I’m also pregnant with Xander Knight’s child.”

Those words repeat themselves in my head like a curse.

The memory of I and Xander kissing with his hands all over me and his mouth claiming mine now makes me feel so... violated.

How could I open up for a man who’s been keeping secrets, acting out on his own without telling me about things first?

How could I kiss him when he's been feeding me half truths while his ex-fiancée plays the victim on national television?

What hurts me more is the fact that I actually enjoyed his kiss.

What would have happened if the TV hadn't played the news the time it did.

By morning, I’ve barely touched the tea the housekeeper brought and I instead find myself heading over to Xander's office.

The door to his office is a bit open and I hear Xander’s voice rumble low and harshly while he speaks into the phone.

“She’s lying. I never— No, I want confirmation from her doctor. I don’t care who you have to threaten.”

I lean against the wall by the door and keep listening.

The man I kissed last night is nowhere to be found in this tone I'm hearing right now; This is CEO Xander, the cold billionaire everyone talks about.

When he's finished and cuts the phone call, I push the door open and walk in.

“So you still think she’s lying?"

“She IS lying."

“Are you sure?”

His eyes move to me then, “We hadn’t slept together in weeks before the insemination incident with you.”

“And yet she says she’s carrying your child.”

At my words, he steps away from his desk and places his hands in his pockets. “She’s playing the media like a damn violin. She knows exactly what this scandal will do to me.”

“And to me,” I add quickly. “Let’s not forget I’m the one the world’s labeling a homewrecker.”

He walks toward me, slower this time. “You shouldn’t have to deal with that. I’ll clear your name.”

However I scoff and cross my arms. “With another press release? Or do you plan on throwing me to the wolves again and calling it protection?”

He stops right in front of me and cocks his head to the side. “You don't think that I care about you?”

“I think you care about control,” I say and hold his gaze.

“But I need answers more than I need your pity.”

Xander doesn't say anything and keeps looking at me with an expression that I can't read.

And that when I make a very risky decision.

------------------

By afternoon, I’m standing in the parking lot of Sterling Fertility Institute with a hoodie over my head, sunglasses on and a face mask over my face.

The clinic looks the same when I get in, but everything feels off.

I flash my ID at the receptionist, who recognizes me instantly.

“Ms. Foster,” she stammers. “Dr. Lennox isn’t taking any meetings right now—”

“I’m not here for a meeting. I need access to the insemination logs from the day I was implanted. And I need them now.”

On hearing my request, her fingers start to tremble over the keyboard.

"I--- I’m not allowed to—”

“You will,” I say, leaning closer, “or I swear I’ll take this to the Department of Health.”

She swallows hard and nods, lifting her fingers and pointing to the hallway.

“Dr. Lennox is in his office. Maybe... maybe talk to him directly.”

Immediately I begin to walk towards the director's office, hoping he will give me the answers that I need.

Actually, I think he should----- he is the Chief doctor in this hospital anyway.

The moment I reach the door to his office, I notice that it is open by just an inch and there is no light inside.

“Dr. Lennox?” I call and knock twice but he doesn't answer, so I push the door open, not wasting time to walk inside.

“I need to talk to you--------”

My sentence trails off, and the remainder of it hangs somewhere in my mouth when I flip the side switch on, bringing back the light into the office.

Dr. Lennox is slumped over his desk with his face half buried in a pool of blood.

There’s a jagged shard of glass sticking out from the side of his neck, and his blood stains the papers that are underneath him.

I think what shocks me more is when I see his eyes which are open and lifeless.

I stumble backward, my hand flying to my mouth to stop the scream that's seriously rising in my throat.

This isn’t an accident or suicide.

This is murder.

“Oh my God…”

My knees wobble and I have to hurriedly clutch the doorframe for balance, feeling the bile fast rising in my throat.

Suddenly, every warning I ignored floods back to me.

This was never just a clerical error, someone must be behind this and now people are dying to keep it quiet.

I grab my phone out from my jean pockets with shaking fingers and dial the one person I swore I’d avoid today.

Xander answers on the second ring. “Athena, where are you?”

“I’m at the clinic,” I whisper.

“What?!” His yells.

“Why the hell would you-------”

“Dr. Lennox is dead. The Chief doctor” I tell him and my voice cracks.

“Someone killed him.”

For only a brief second, there’s silence on the other end then Xander demands, “Say that again."

“There’s blood... a lot of it. And there's a glass shard in his neck.”

“Leave that place now,” he growls.

“Don’t touch anything. I’m sending security-------”

“No,” I say quickly. “No security. I don’t know who to trust anymore.”

“You trust me.”

Do I?

Before I can answer or say anything at all, I hear a noise from the hallway which sounds like footsteps.

“I have to go,” I whisper. “Someone’s coming------”

“Athena-------”

I end the call immediately, turn it on silent mode and quickly duck out the back door of the office, slipping down a narrow staff corridor.

My heart pounds violently in my chest as I run, and I don’t look back.

I don’t stop running until I’m inside a cab and hunched low in the back seat with my hoodie pulled so tight over my face that I can barely see a thing.