𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝙻𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 ✓ (𝟷𝟾+)

Soar or fall?

Roger

"So you are saying that you weren't aware of it," I asked, trying hard to maintain a steady voice while all my senses wanted to blaze Xavier. "That Malcom was part of Brandon's clan and his you, his own son was unaware?"

Xavier held his head between his hands, nodding. I was far from believing that his father's act was unknown to him. I may have been living under a rock, thinking Brandon tried taking me down without any inside help. But Xavier, he should have known better.

"Roger, please," Arin moved around, tapping a pen to her jaw. Her mind was on a different front altogether, thinking of something to counter sue, Brandon. It was I, who was livid upon hearing Xavier's truth.

"What do you want me to tell you?" Xavier asked. "That I knew and didn't tell you? I swear Roger, I didn't know."

"Bull," I scoffed, walking away.

Xavier moved closer, walking me out of the room. Although a part of me wanted to shove his hold away, I knew better than to make a scene in my own house. Arin was preoccupied with her lawsuit plan to bother to join us.

"I don't believe a word you say, Xavier. I don't. And I know..." I moved close to him, whispering. The boil I felt inside of me, the hatred for my father and the turmoil Xavier's words created was enough for my teeth to turn into dust. "You like Arin. I know you want to have her for yourself."

I knew better than to lose control at this crucial moment. Xavier had always been the man who helped me with everything but his one act of betrayal caused me to doubt his all precedential work.

With a heavy voice and a heaving chest, Xavier gritted his words. "First off, I don't like Arin, I love her. And second, I would never think of stealing her away from you. I am not blind to see that she is madly in love with you." Falling back on a chair, Xavier held his earlier positing, holding his head between his palms. "I know I screwed up. More than you, I screwed up with her. Arin trusted me and I broke her trust. And there isn't much..."

His words stopped. When I peeled my gaze off the ajar window that gave me a sense of calm and looked over Xavier, I witnessed his shoulders move up and down. I may have been angry at him but there wasn't much he could have done to mitigate the situation. Also, only after being with Arin did I realize what she meant to me. She clearly meant more to Xavier for him to feel so heavily about his actions.

The truth in his tone and actions spoke in his defense. I couldn't help but pat his back, sliding beside him.

"Listen Xav, I was harsh on you because of what Brandon tried to do at the court after we won the first round." He looked up, frowning with his eyebrows. Mouthing a what, he let me continue. "That vile being told Arin that I raped Stella."

"But you didn't." Xavier defended. "She made it up and the case was withdrawn."

I nodded, sighing. "But till then, I hadn't told Arin about it." Clearing my throat for my thoughts, I straightened. The fresh air from the window made me determined to not go down without a fight. "That's what I am trying to tell you. You might have been played by Malcom just like I was, by Brandon. So all I am asking is that you be careful and ensure that anything suspicious you see between them, do tell us."

Xavier bobbed his head, giving me a side hug. When Arin rushed in with a legal pad in one hand and stacks of papers resting on her laptop on another, we both watched her in amusement.

"There you are," she looked at us before sprawling on the carpet. I stood up to let her sit but the hard worker that she was, her eyes were already ignorant of the basic necessities and concentrating on more important tasks. "So for now, we know that Brandon knows a thing or two about the deepest of the things that you did," she pointed her finger at me.