Chapter 13

My head was a blur as I drove down to Renée Helvig’s office in a frenzy with my head spinning. I seemed to be losing my sanity with each passing day, in all honesty. But I needed to get there quickly.
The phone rang as I accepted it.
“Lyra, are you sure it’s his car.”
“Yes, a red mustang.” She said, “I thought you’d know what he drove.”
“Guess it was irrelevant to me,” I breathed, “I’m sure that was the same car pulling away from my mom’s place that night.”
“He drives his mom around,” Lyra offered, “so maybe yours wasn’t lying. Maybe Marcus’s mom did visit her.”
“I trust no one.”
“Fair enough. Make sure your recorder is on.”
I screeched to a halt in Helvig’s parking spot, inciting concerned and surprised stares from people nearby. But I didn’t care. Getting out of the car and slamming my door shut, I marched into the building. The receptionist saw me and got up, but I held up a hand.
“Stay there.”
She stared at me, lost, and I walked past her into the elevator. I knew Marcus would be there. He had to be there. It was in the e-mails but I didn’t think they would be meeting each other. Who knows what else they had planned.
I marched out of the elevator down the ridiculously long hallway, fuming as the doors to her office grew closer with each step. I knew I needed to compose myself but I couldn’t take it.
‘Lilith’s revenge on love? Attempts to steal Adam from his Eve.’
Ha. Blair’s hardly an Eve to begin with. The absolute ridiculousness of her insecurity was astounding.
Reading the new article, I knew it had to be no one other than Marcus supplying her with this information. There was no other explanation to it. Who else besides Marcus knew about my relationship with Mark?
When ex-boyfriend and former police officer, Mark Boulevard, died in a shoot-out on the scene of a crime, Lilith was left at the mercy of the world with no one to support her. Having run away from her mother, and no father in the picture, she found herself in a loveless world that showed no remorse for the circumstances of her life. With Lilith’s paradise now turned to hell, she shot up the ranks of the elites within the matchmaking industry with a secret mission to fulfill: to make sure Adam could never wholly belong to his Eve.
Formerly, she was spotted at many events chatting up a plethora of men in the fanciest attire that would steal the spotlight away from the show. From restaurant dates to park picnics, Lilith Mendez leaves no stone unturned in order to nestle herself into the hearts of the men she offers to find love for.
It's a sick game, you see. To leave one wanting her as these men succumb to their responsibility of finding a partner suitable of supporting them in their business endeavors while providing an heir. The rush of being wanted is sweeter than blood to a serial killer.
Who is her latest target? Is it Jean-Pierre Toussaint, the publishing house mogul? A secret sugar-daddy? Or is it the famous sculptor and architect, Cristo Alexakis-Caron, the most sought out Bachelor of the decade?

I was going to kill both Blair and Marcus for this. I knew it had to be Blair because Helvig’s company owned The Wedding Papers magazine. Now this paper is something that even the general public could get their hands on to read. I understood the ridiculously tacky nature of the article would show anyone with half a brain how fake it was, but the world outside needs no confirmation for accuracy. Only drama.
How dare they use my name like this. How dare they put out my story like that. And how did they dare paint Mark as a victim to circumstance when he had abused me all my life?
How absolutely dare they?!
I threw the gates open and rushed behind the frosted glass, keeping my form as the very two people I was suspicious of stood before my eyes in shock.
“Li-Lilith!” Blair tried to cover it up, “What a pleasant surprise, I wasn’t expecting you he–”
“You…” I forced out a breath, pointing at Marcus, “piece of shit!”
“Oh, am I?” he laughed, “And you have no shame of having slept with someone’s boyfriend when out on your trip?”
“They were not dating,” I snapped, “and even if they were, I hadn’t the slightest fucking clue.”
“So, it is true.” He sighed with a tick of his jaw in disappointment, “You slept with him. While seeing me?”
“What?” I scoffed, “I was never seeing you, Marcus. We were friends.”
“You kissed me.”
“You kissed me first!” I snapped, “I told you repeatedly I wasn’t ready for anything? Is this what it all is, huh? Revenge because you feel entitled to me? All you wanted was a nice fuck session out of me and when you couldn’t get it, this is what you turned to. Betrayal.”
“Hardly betrayal when you’re out there seeing so many men at once.”
I couldn’t take it anymore and walked up ahead to slap him across the face. Hard. Hard enough for him to fall backwards, with the unfortunate luck of a seat being behind him to cushion his fall. With him out of reach as he crawled away from me in fear, I turned to Blair.
She gripped the edge of her table as she leaned back against it, knuckles white and face pale. I saw Marcus run around the frosted glass and I was left alone with her.
“Your brother will be so ashamed of you once he finds out what you’ve done.” I seethed through my teeth, “How dare you use someone’s life against them.”
“You have no evidence of it being me.”
“Oh?” I challenged, plucking out the file from my coat and throwing it onto her desk, “Open it.”
She looked down at the brown paper folder, arms shaking as her eyes welled up in tears of shock and fear.
“Open it, Blair.”
“Lilith.”
The stern voice made me freeze in my place. I turned around to see Cristo standing there with his hand locked around Marcus’s arm who was trying to get away.
Cristo looked livid. Absolutely livid.
“What is going on here?” he demanded. “What are the two of you doing in Blair’s office?”
I almost cowered under his hardened gaze, but I stood my ground and backed away from Blair.
“Why don’t you ask the two of them?” I offered.
“I don’t need your sarcasm right now.” He snapped and I flinched, “Just explain what’s going on!”
“Cristo, my love, there’s no need to be so angry.”
“No, Blair, stay where you are.” He said firmly, “I’m not happy with ANYONE in this room right now and I need to know what the fuck is going on here.”
“Did you read the papers?” I asked.
“Everything.” He seethed and shot Blair a look, “I’ll need an explanation from you later.”
Walking carefully to Blair’s desk, I picked up the file and pulled out the screenshots of their e-mails, handing it over to Cristo. He took them from me, scanning the page multiple times as his face fell deeper and deeper into confusion and despair. Then shame.
His eyes fell shut and he looked away from me, pained and humiliated.
“Lilith…” he started gently, “why don’t you go home and let me handle this, okay?”
I was shocked to say the least. I expected him to resist the facts and take Blair’s word for the situation, but he didn’t even ask her to explain herself.
“Sweethea–”
“Oh shut up,” he spat out and didn’t even look at her, “I’ll deal with you later. After I put this fucker–” he roughly pulled Marcus to him, “in jail.”
“Listen, I didn’t thi–”
Cristo simply silenced Marcus with a firm look in his eyes, jaw pulled tight as if he would throw a punch should Marcus say another word.
“Go, Lilith.” He told me again, as nicely as he could manage, “Please.”
I only nodded and backed away from the three of them, rushing towards the door and walking out of the office. I called Lyra to let her know I was coming into work.
My heart felt a sense of elation, accompanied by a weird feeling of dread. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be happy or not. Perhaps I didn’t want to celebrate yet. I wasn’t sure. But I knew that I needed to hold a meeting with Renée Helvig later.
I understood that there was no way this story could go out to the press. Honestly, I didn’t want it to. I mean, I did for my own image’s sake but I was more concerned about how this would affect Barry right now whilst he was away on his honeymoon. The guy really didn’t need it at all. I hated how I was more concerned for him than myself but that’s just how I was.
Within twenty minutes, I found myself at the office with Lyra running towards me along with some of my other employees. They asked me what had happened, if I was okay, and that they were getting numerous calls all of a sudden since Mrs. Beaumont’s message.
“Let’s have a meeting, shall we?” I smiled at them weakly, “I guess I owe it to you guys. You need to know what’s been happening.”

I wanted to go home early that evening because of how emotionally drained I was, but I’d received a message from an unknown number that had made my heart literally jump into my throat.
It’s Cristo. Meet me at NYC park, please. By your pond.
Getting into my car, it wasn’t long before I got there. The sun had long set and the only thing illuminating the place were streetlamps. The park looked so different at night, but it wasn’t uncomfortable seeing as how people were still there, walking around, skating, eating ice cream.
There were too many couples on a date here.
My feet carried me into the park, keeping my eyes peeled for the pond I always found myself at unconsciously. It was like my legs had a memory of their own as they led me down the unfamiliar dark paths. Soon enough, the trees gave way to the clearing, where the pond glinted majestically under a full moon. The autumn breeze brushed my legs, making me shiver.
Spotting a figure on the seat up ahead, I guessed it was Cristo and made my way over slowly. As I got closer, I knew the silhouette was distinguishable. It was definitely him.
I sat down next to him quietly. He looked straight ahead at the pond, knees apart with his elbows perched on them, hands clasped. He seemed upset. I wondered if he and Blair had broken up.
“I’m sorry for the trouble she’s caused you.” He said softly, voice deep from stress and being tired.
“I wish you weren’t the one apologizing for her.”
“She’s…ashamed,” he said emptily, “trust me.”
I sighed, “I don’t. Not her, at least.”
There was a heavy silence between us weighing down from the very air. Something told me that things weren’t going to be better like I hoped.
“So…” I started carefully, “are you guys together anymore?”
“Do you want an honest answer?”
“Maybe.”
“We took a break.”
Silence again. This was maddening.
“You never seem to want me around, Lilith.” He said gruffly.
“I don’t see why I…” I breathed deeply and looked away, “No, you’re right. I was unnecessarily cold to you a lot. I didn’t mean to be.”
“I’m not saying I’m entitled to your time or anything but I just…I don’t know. I really wanted to know you better and you have these walls around you I can’t break.”
“Isn’t it obvious now?” I scoffed, “After dealing with Marcus?”
“I…yeah,” he shook his head, “there’s a restraining order in the works against him, someone will call you to get things done.”
“Thank you.”
He nodded his head as we went back to looking at the pond. It felt so empty without the ducks.
“The article…about my ex,” I started, “It’s only half the truth.”
Cristo looked at me, turning slightly to show me he was listening, so I continued. “His name was Mark, and he was…a horrible guy. I was abused by him a lot for around four years. He made me do things I didn’t want and then…I miscarried one day. He and his mom went a little too far with the roughhousing.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“And then Marcus,” I carried on, “someone who I connected with so well. Someone I thought was genuinely my friend, he…he went ahead and did this. Stalked me, betrayed me, put up this act where he pretended to understand. I just don’t know if I can trust anyone anymore. The only reason I let Marcus in was because our parents became friends. Clearly, I was an idiot. Then he went ahead and…teamed up with Blair for some revenge that I don’t even understand was necessary for.”
“Believe me, I don’t understand it either.”
My cheeks felt wet and I quickly wiped away the tears with my hands.
“I’ll see if I can get her to apologize to you,” he said, “but I can’t promise anything.”
“Why are you even with her after all this?” I confronted, turning to look at him. He turned his head away from me immediately and shrugged.
“I guess some people just have moments where they’re at their worst but I don’t think it defines her, Lilith.”
“You’re blind.”
“Perhaps.”
I bit my lip so hard the skin tore. I could taste metal. It was hard to believe how a carefree and fun-loving guy like him could accept what she’d done to me.
“I’m not sure why I even feel upset at that. It’s not like we’re friends.”
He was silent for a moment, lost in thought.
“Yeah…” he whispered, “I guess we’re not.”
Fuck you, I cursed at him internally, but I knew he wasn’t wrong. I’d kept him at arm’s length, never let him into my space, we never hung out much except for meeting coincidentally. There was no substance to our relationship and yet, here we were.
What was the world trying to tell me?
“I can’t make Blair say anything she doesn’t want to,” he reasoned, “but I did contact all the publications that wrote those articles against you and asked them to put out a formal apology.”
“What about Barry?”
“Do you want to tell him?”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to ruin his honeymoon.”
“Understandable.”
“I don’t think you understand how much it sucks to be the one taking the brunt for something that’s not even true while Blair gets off scot-free with no consequence.” I snapped.
He nodded and bit his lip, not saying a word. As we sat in silence, I wished he’d see reason, that she wasn’t good for him. Or for anyone at all. That it was possible this wasn’t the first time she had done such a thing.
“You still love her?” I asked, my voice soft and meek. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear the answer.
“You know, Lilith,” he sighed, “I’ll be honest. The only thing keeping me from deciding on that is what happened that night.”
My heart literally stopped in my chest. I hadn’t been expecting him to bring that up.
“And then Barry’s wedding, I didn’t expect you to come in looking like that.”
He couldn’t see how red my face was in the dim moonlight but I looked away from him anyway.
“There are these conversations in my head that you’re not willing to have with me and I don’t know what to think anymore. For a while, I really thought you wanted me too. I’m not so sure anymore and it confuses me when I try to decipher how I feel for you.”
“We barely know each other.”
“You don’t want us to know each other.”
Silence. I wish I could just pull my heart out and throw it away because all I wanted to do in that moment is grab him by the collar and kiss him.
“I’m not the kind to stick around for someone who doesn’t want me around them.” He said firmly, “I’ve done that my whole life, walking on eggshells and doing mental gymnastics that I don’t need to, just to figure out what someone else wants. I was just…drawn to you and I couldn’t help it.”
“Do you regret it? That night we had? Do you regret it now?”
“I don’t know.” He sighed, “I don’t want to.”
Holding my tongue in my mouth, I tried to decide on whether I wanted to say it or not. Actually, I did want to. I just wondered if I had the courage for it.
I could tell our time right now was coming to and end. His hands were on his knees, ready to get up.
It’s now or never, Lilith.
My voice was merely a whisper, “I don’t want to, either.”
I got up and walked away, unsure if he really heard it.