"Yvette!" His gaze locked onto mine, fingers digging into the tabletop and his lips a thin, tight line. His Adam's apple bobbed, a tremor in his voice betraying his distress. "Even if you have fallen for Charlie, why the rush to leave? You're ready to ditch your mom, the whole Scott Corporation, and your life in Lake City for him? Does he even care about you enough to justify throwing everything away?"
"Mr. Young, you might as well have asked me that question." A voice cut through the tension from behind me, and a dark figure materialized at my side: Lucas.
Idris's face darkened at the sight of him. Lucas met his glare, unfazed by the hostility, and challenged him, "Idris, I love Yvette just as much as you do, if not more. I'm ready to love her and only her for the rest of my days, to give her my heart, my soul, even my life. Can you say the same?"
Idris bristled, his dark eyes narrowing. "I…”
Lucas cut him off with a cold laugh, "Don't say you can, Idris. You betrayed Yvette on New Year's Eve. Did you really think she was clueless? That sordid story with the reporter that you paid a fortune to hush up—she's seen it all."
Idris froze, his eyes flicking to me in a mix of panic and shock I had never witnessed on his perfect face.
His reaction sent a sharp pain through my heart. Ever since that scandal broke, despite the damning footage, I had never once doubted Idris. I had convinced myself it was all Lucas's doing. With today's tech, anyone's face can be swapped into any video. No matter how convincing it looked, I refused to believe it was true.
However, the look on Idris's face said it all. Things were not playing out as I had imagined in my head.
I eyed Idris, needing to know for sure. "So, you and Alice are actually...?"
His brows knitted together, his voice a rough whisper, "That night, I..."
"No need to spell it out," I cut him off, a weird fear bubbling up inside me. I told him straight, "Whatever’s going on with you two, it's none of my business anymore. You don't owe me any explanations about who you’re into or who you love, right?"
I was being a chicken, for sure. I would rather cling to my doubts than hear him confirm he was tangled up with someone else. I preferred to stick to my original theory—that all of this was just one of Lucas's sick games, and Idris was trapped, having no choice in the matter.
The way he reacted was unsettling...
I could not even look at him anymore. I turned to Lucas and said, "We should get going."
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