Chapter 9 THE ACCUSED

"Spill it out, you scheming bitch!" Marylyn snickered beside me. "You must have said something about us for Dad to react like that."

Dad?

I laughed out loud at that. The confidence of the bitch, huh!

I took advantage of their confusion at my outburst and amassed all the might in me. I yanked my hand away, my own anger flaring. "Well, you two have the guts to gang up on me with stupid accusations while it is actually you two that betrayed me!"

Everyone gathered around us, eager for the juice. I was not planning on bringing this to the public, but I was not going to sit and let them humiliate me like they were saints.

"We are not talking about that..."

"Why?" I snapped, cutting Vincent off. "Why don't you want us to go back to the roots? Where does betrayal begin?"

People traded glances. Murmurs erupted. Questions were whispered in the air, but not low enough to miss my ears.

I was not the kind to seek attention, but they had called for it. I was not just going to back down from them.

"Don't change the topic to play victim over something that only existed in your head, Leylla."

His voice was not low. No. It was loud, so loud that it almost tore the walls of my ears. And it dripped with so much venom. Seeing the wrath on his face made me want to believe him-that the love I thought was between us was only my imagination. You can't love someone for such a long time, or even just for a day, and hate them that much in the span of a second. No.

"You kept on forcing yourself on me even when I told you that I was not interested. That I could never fall in love with some classless woman like you. You are so bitter now that you know I can never love you that you want to ruin my relationship with my father? What kind of person are you?"

My blood boiled. Ooh, so this was his game? Turning the tables on me? Humiliating me, stripping me of my self-worth just to protect himself?

And he was succeeding because I could hear murmurs in the background. I could feel the eyes and fingers on me again.

The only thing he didn't get was seeing me in tears or shocked. I knew what kind of person I was. Begging for attention was not in my blood. And that game he wanted us to play-sorry, I was not bored.

"For a jerk who cheated on me with my best friend, I don't expect much from you. Your shamelessness speaks for itself. And please, come off that high horse already. You mean nothing to me now, so I have no interest in what goes on in your pathetic life. Whether you are the apple of your father's eye or you are just invisible to him, like we have all witnessed, is my concern." I spoke boldly, without even blinking.

"I refuse to believe that you had nothing to do with it. He can't just summon us both to his office if he knows nothing." Marylyn spoke, fuming like a mad lioness.

I cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, so there is something to know. Didn't your fuck buddy here just announce that there was nothing between him and me? So simply, I cannot use that sex scene I witnessed in the room against any of you. There is absolutely nothing to tell on you."

"She caught them? And here, banging each other?"

"That is terrible!"

"Disgusting."

"Shameless!"

"I feel for poor Leylla. Nobody deserves that."

"I can't believe people can be that cruel."

"Yeah. Talk to friends. Pss. Green snake. That Marylyn better not get close to my man, or I will drag her to her parents by the hair."

It turned out that their plan did not work for them. I did not even have to do much. Now they were seething with double rage.

"You are such a drama doll. Is this your revenge? To make everyone hate us?" Marylyn again.

This one is so deaf! "Revenge? People don't take revenge on things that didn't matter to them. I would rather sleep all my life than waste my time and my efforts on you two."

"Then explain what happened with Dad. He went on talking about you, praising you as if he knows you more than he knows me or anyone. Was that a coincidence?" Vincent inquired.

"This guy is unbelievable. He is now accusing her of having a thing with his father or something?"

"Can you imagine that? I think he is losing it!"

Those were not whispers. It was people making their points that got on my nerves. That was the only thing this jerk was right about.

Something had really happened between me and his dad. Something deep. Something sweet. Something intoxicating. Something that I was not able to shake off.

I thought it would end there and then. I thought I would never see him again. That I would never be reminded of that moment of weakness again.

But he appeared sooner than I would have even imagined. And now, I would see him every day for a whole six months. I would be reminded of that heated moment every single day.

How will I cope with that, especially with this moron now acting suspicious?

"Well, you are not saying anything." Vincent's voice snapped me.

I glared at him, without any feeling at all. It was like he had never been a part of me. Like he had never existed. "Would you rather waste time here trying to prove what kind of coward you are or adhere to your father's orders? From what I see, he is a very impatient person, and you have really angered him for him to treat you like trash. Or maybe he just realized your worth?"

He launched a blow, but...

"Dr. Vincent!"

A voice came from the door, and everything stopped. Vincent's well-launched blow hung in the air as he abandoned his mission to obey that commanding voice.

We all looked at the door, where a very disappointed figure stood, angry as a bull; he could make anybody tremble. He had taken off his coat, his sleeves rolled up to three-quarters of his hard, masculine hands. His ripped muscles were a bewitching sight under the thin fabric. And a six-pack, my God!

"Yes, Da... Sorry, Dr. Aldrich! I was just coming..."

"It does not look like it!" Vincent's hand dropped to his side after his father's tone. "Now!" He ordered again and then stood out of the way, denoting that he wanted to see Vincent moving.

He didn't forget to throw me a glance. Even when his son was approaching, his gaze remained fixed on me.

"This is not done, bitch!" Marylyn whispered under her breath to my ear before she flicked her hair over her shoulder and strutted out after Vincent.

"You too, Leylla. See after I am done with them." Dr. Vincent ordered, and without giving me time to respond, he walked away.

Was he disappointed with me, too?

I exhaled, suddenly realizing I had been holding my breath.

But just when I had thought I would breathe before going to see Dr. Aldrich, whispers exploded like wildfire around the room. Some people were still staring at me, some were looking at the door Vincent had stormed through, and others were quietly discussing the bizarre scene that had just unfolded.

"But, guys, haven't you noticed how Dr. Aldrich is staring at Leylla?" My ears snapped at the opinion of one girl behind me.

I hoped that he was not that obvious, that no one noticed. And now it turned out that it was not only Vincent who noticed.

"I am not siding with anyone, but I saw it, guys. He did not mention anybody's name except Leylla's throughout the session. And he was not even formal with her at some point. I think Vincent has a right to be jealous."

I listened with every single nerve as she spoke, hairs rising at her every word. I didn't want to imagine that the news of Dr. Aldrich and me would start spreading like wildfire that soon. And I know they were all speculations. But, given that we were in the same space, there would still be something for someone to pick.

"And don't forget that he only paired her with himself. Or why exactly was it she who was single-paired?"

"Seems strange to me, too. Maybe she is not that innocent after all."

"Maybe he wants her all to himself.'

I could not listen to more nonsense. The little truth that no one but the two of us knew about could not allow me to just sit and listen to that debate.

I grabbed my bag and strode out. I wanted to run out, but I figured that it would only make me seem like I was running away from the truth. So I took my time, trying to keep my head as high as I could.

All that rang through my mind as I walked out was how much Dr. Aldrich had heard of our argument with Vincent.

Did he know that I was his son's ex? That I had slept with his son before him?

If yes, does he hate me now?

What was he thinking of me?