Rush

Chapter 15

*Mentions of rape aftermath/abuse toward the end* (TW= trigger warning)

Ana's POV

Alex locked himself in his office three days ago and I hadn't seen him since.

I wasn't sure if it was somehow my fault, maybe he was upset with me for causing a rift between him and his sister, or because his mother had been upset with him initially. If I went on previous experiences with him not liking something that I had done though, I know that he would have told me exactly what he felt I did wrong with no issue. My attempts at communicating with him went ignored and I would be lying if I said that his behavior didn't hurt me. I thought we'd formed a tentative friendship or an acquaintanceship at the very least, but it seemed as if we were back at square one with our "relationship", if it could even be called that. I'd even asked Jacob and Nate if they knew why he was ignoring me, they claimed that they didn't know, but that he was incredibly busy right now, so I shouldn't worry. So, I went along with what they said and kept myself busy around the house, and for the next week, that worked for me.

Until it didn't.

It was a Tuesday. I was flipping through channels on the TV, attempting, and failing, to find something to watch. I ended up settling on a talk show before I got to my feet and made my way to the kitchen for a glass of water, thinking about what I wanted to make for dinner. I'd filled the glass with water and decided on ordering in tonight as I walked back to the living room when I heard an awfully familiar voice come from the TV, it turned out to be Clara, Alex's sister that clearly didn't like me. I admit that I was curious to know why she was on a show whose topic, according to the banner at the bottom of the screen, was toxic relationships. The interview had just begun, and I found myself actually being interested in what she had to say so I made myself comfortable on the couch and gave the show my undivided attention.

"So, Clara, I'm glad you were able to talk with us today, it's a real pleasure to have you here!'

She laughed lightly.

"Oh, I wouldn't miss this interview for anything, I've so much to talk about, especially on a subject like this."

The interviewer gave a camera-ready smile and raised her question cards up to and began to read.

"So, Clara, I guess we should start off with you talking about your experience with toxic relationships. You're usually very private about your personal life, so I'm sure everyone watching is curious."

She cleared her throat.

"Well, it isn't my relationship that's toxic, it's my brother, Alexander's relationship."

The host leaned forward, intrigued.

"He's met this woman, she's quite the slippery little snake, I'll tell you that much. She's manipulated my brother into thinking she's such an innocent soul, if I hadn't her manipulate him with my own eyes just last week, I probably would have fallen for it too. You see she's admitted to being married to another man already, with no potential divorce in sight, I think that it's some plan to use my brother for his money to raise her child with."

The hosts' eyes almost popped out of her sockets at that.

Oh God. Oh my God. She wouldn't do this. Would she? To her own brother?

"Yes, I was just as shocked too when I saw. She's heavily pregnant too, maybe eight months or so."

"Is this your brother's child?"

Clara sighed deeply, in false sympathy for her brother.

"I'm afraid not, she's concocted some story to get sympathy, pity from him and anyone who will listen. She's managed to fool my mother, siblings, and two close family friends with some story she made up. She's claiming that her husband was an abusive man, claimed that he'd done monstrous things to her over the years that they had been married. I asked her then, why she would sleep with an abusive man and get pregnant by said abusive man, and she wasn't able to answer me. She resorted to tears when she'd realized that I poked a hole in her story, and they were effective on everyone but me."