Secretly Mine-Chapter 158: Confrontation

I ended up wearing a form-fitting white dress, but I ended up packing a set of more casual clothing for the painting lesson in the evening. The excitement I had for the lesson with Lucas was the only thing motivating me to go to work.

By the time I made it to the front doors, my driver was already waiting for me.

"A late morning today, Second Miss?" he asked, trying his best to mask the dissatisfaction of having to wait on me.

"Yes, I had a hard time sleeping," I said flatly. I could never put my finger on exactly what caused this uncomfortable rift between me and the driver, but it’s been more than once now that he’s displayed dissatisfaction.

I climbed into the car and sat silently as he drove me to the company. Unlike the previous times, I had no sense of excitement during the drive this morning. Instead, dread and other complex feelings surged through me.

What will I say when I see Christian? Will he ask me about Lucas? Will he ask me where I was?

A part of me wanted him to explain himself. To explain exactly what he meant when he said that he wanted to destroy my family. And most of all, to explain what he meant by never falling in love with a Moresi.

I wanted to hear him tell me straight up what I was to him this whole time. I wanted to know the truth.

The driver pulled up in front of Vittora Global and got out to open the door for me.

"Second Miss. I’ve been told that you have another appointment after work now, and that you will no longer be in need of my services in the evenings."

Oh? Did Lucas make arrangements for me?

I nodded, "Very well. Thank you."

-

The driver drove off, leaving me at the front doors of the magnificent office building. Through the windows, I could see the usual hustle and bustle inside. Taking a final deep breath, I walked through the large double doors and over to the leftmost elevator.

My heart pounded in my chest, but not from joy or excitement. It felt more like walking into a battlefield.

Instead of walking into Christian’s office, like I usually did, I turned the corner and walked directly into mine.

The second I stepped inside, I was met with Christian’s piercing gaze. He was sitting behind my desk, in my chair, looking at me with hints of concern and confusion. The dark circles under his eyes told me he got even less sleep than I did last night.

Why does he look relieved to see me?

"You never showed up yesterday..." he said quietly. The exhaustion could be heard in his voice.

Anger flared up inside of me.

"That’s what you think! I did show up, and good thing I did, else I would never have had a chance to know how you really felt!" I said, my voice getting increasingly louder.

He stood up from the chair and looked at me with surprise.

"You showed up? What are you talking about? I waited for you for hours!"

"Yes, I showed up. I was so excited to see you that I showed up early. Just in time to overhear your conversation with Zachary!"

His face paled, and for the first time ever, I saw his hands tremble.

"No, Leslie! It isn’t like that!" he said, walking over to me with hurried steps. "I swear, it’s not what you think."

I flared up again, "Then what is it, Christian? Tell me!"

My lips trembled, and I could feel my eyes starting to water. "What was I to you? Just a detour? A distraction while you plotted your revenge against my family?"

He walked over and tried to put his hands on mine. "Leslie, there’s something I never told you. I just didn’t know how to."

I stepped away, not letting him touch me. "Yeah, I can clearly see that!"

"Listen to me, please! I know this is going to sound crazy, but your family’s business has been involved with human trafficking for years now!" freёweɓnovel_com

"Ha! Really, Christian? That’s your excuse? Human trafficking?! At least come up with something more realistic, like tax fraud!" I couldn’t believe my ears. Human trafficking was the excuse he came up with.

My father certainly wasn’t the best man on this planet, but he sure as hell was not involved in any human trafficking.

"I understand it sounds crazy, that’s why I never told you before! I didn’t want to say anything until I found the evidence that I’ve been looking for," he said with urgency and pleading. "Please believe me."

I was starting to get tired. A part of me really wished to hear the real reason, but something this ridiculous just made me feel like he thought I was stupid.

"Then show me this evidence. If you’re so desperate to convince me of something so asinine, then at least try to prove it," I replied. There was no way I was simply going to believe that after all these years, my father had been involved in human trafficking.

Christian visibly stiffened. Panic and fear were written all over his face. I waited for him to present this evidence, but after a few moments, there still wasn’t any.

"Got it. You don’t need to explain yourself further," I said, turning around.

Christian quickly placed his hand on my shoulder, keeping me from storming out of the room. "Leslie, please. I never wanted to hurt you."

This time, his words were soft.

I turned my head and looked him dead in the eyes. "Well, it’s too late for that." I took a deep breath and held my gaze, looking deep into his eyes. "At least tell me that I mean something to you. Tell me that you weren’t just using my body this whole time?"

Tears finally started flowing down my face. "Christian, I loved you. You were my entire world. Do you know how much it hurts to feel used? To feel like everything we had was just some elaborate scheme?"

"Leslie...I...." he looked back at me, lost at what to say. Every moment of silence pierced through me like a knife.

"You never loved me, did you?"

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