I stared at him, blank.
"What video?"
His brow furrowed. He let out a thin, mocking scoff.
"Still playing dumb? Who else would be low enough to plant a camera in the bedroom? I should've known. That's why you were so generous, inviting her over yourself. You were planning to ruin her reputation all along!"
"Pathetic. Disgusting. Studying how to seduce me, is that it? Let me tell you something. You could strip naked and lie right in front of me, and I wouldn't spare you a single glance. You're nothing but—"
Before he could finish, his phone rang.
His assistant's voice came through the speaker.
"Mr. Swanson, the video has been taken down. But we just traced the IP. It was sent from the family estate. It wasn't Miss Farley."
The line went dead.
A flicker of surprise crossed his face, then guilt, barely there before he buried it.
He opened his mouth to speak, but Alice came rushing in with a shriek and slapped me across the face.
"Is that what you want? To destroy me? I already gave you the man I love most in this world! I'm just an ordinary girl with nothing. What more do you want from me?"
She was hysterical. Her palms came down like a storm, slap after slap landing on my body, and there was nowhere to hide.
Victor frowned and reached for her arm.
"It wasn't—"
The next second, Alice slapped him too.
"Oh, so now you feel sorry for her? What about me? What about the three years you played me for a fool?"
Those three years. His rawest nerve. The one thing no one was allowed to mention.
His eyes softened with pain. He took her hand in his.
"It's all my fault. Leave it to me. I'll handle it."
He pulled her into his arms. On his way out, he cast one last glance in my direction.
"Good. Let this be a warning. If you ever pull something like this again, it'll be a hundred times worse."
No apology for the misunderstanding.
No remorse for the damage done.
He didn't even acknowledge what she'd said about me, the cruelty she'd hurled in my direction.
Just a cold, flat warning.
I watched his back as he rushed out the door.
The burning sting on my cheek had gone numb.
Sleep was no longer an option.
I changed into clean clothes and was about to start packing when Victor knocked on my door.
His face was blank. Expressionless.
"Go make her some calming herbal tea. She's shaken up."
I paused. So this was it. His version of an olive branch. The most generous gesture he believed himself capable of.