The Blackmail Bride

Chapter 21

I gotta stop watching sad TV series. This would rough up my fragile sanity.

Doubts

It was funny how all of a sudden, everyone seemed to have a right to be disappointed in me.

Zeke Garcia.

I was unsure how I got out of that room. But that livid expression of his was already burned at the back of my mind. And his words...

If you were going to let a man clip your wings, you should have chosen someone who would at the very least be loyal to you.

Loyalty. Now there was another word to add to my piling vocabulary.

Clip my wings...

Yes, grandmother. What were you thinking putting me in this spot? If this was how people was seeing the arrangement we had... doesn't that mean there must be some merit to the idea that our family was on the losing end of this deal? How did this benefit the family? I was starting to lose the big picture.

I felt a headache coming on as I racked my brain.

And then the elevator door dinged on the thirty-second floor. It was almost automatic response that I straightened myself and put grace into my stride. I was dressed up and the least I was supposed to be doing was looking dejected in such an expensive dress.

It was just that as soon as I stepped out. Sierra popped out of nowhere and grabbed my arm. Before I could open my mouth, she was already holding a finger to her lips.

I glanced at the empty hallway and back at her. "What's going on?"

Sierra was someone I still couldn't decipher. Even after her salary decrease, she played the smiling unaffected secretary and Jace scowled at her. She grinned at me after the day of our conversation and laughingly said, "I have just unlocked a new method of annoying him. Isn't that awesome?"

It was a pricey game if you asked me. Almost a hundred grand in salary deduction and annual bonus. But I could see the way Jace was legitimately comfortable around her—they seemed close, like siblings. There was something genuinely childlike about the way that she pushed her thick-rimmed glasses to cover those glittering emerald eyes and yet she was obviously knowing too.

And I had shaken my head at her and said, "You're crazy."

I slowly asked, "Are you trying to annoy Jace again?"

Sierra rolled her eyes and pouted, "No, but I've decided that I like you so I'm helping you out today."

I glanced down at the food brought, "Helping me out why?"

Sierra opened her mouth then shut it again. She frowned as she glanced down at my clothes before brightening up, "You're dolled up! Good timing!"

My cheeks heated up but— "Good timing?"

Sierra nodded, taking my free hand and tugging me across the aisle, "Yes, Sir Jace is entertaining a surprise visitor today. You're just in time."

"In his office?" My feet stopped in their steps, and I tugged back at her hand. "Sierra, if Jace is busy with work, we shouldn't—"

Sierra gave me a conspiratorial smile, "But that's the thing. We don't know if this is just some work-related visit. So we're going to find out."

She started pulling on my hand again, "Sierra, I don't think—"

"Her name is Claire Isabella Smith," Sierra cut in, "And I don't trust that opportunistic woman considering she's been sticking to Zeke Garcia this whole time. So, we're checking if she's fishing for information."