Barrington was already in a foul mood, and seeing the reason Xanthe dumped him only made it worse.
Turning away from Vionnet, he stubbed out his cigarette and walked out of the hospital
room.
In the hallway, his assistant approached cautiously.
“President Connolly, we managed to trace Ms. Wentworth to Chicago, but that’s as far as we got. It seems like someone’s deliberately blocking our investigation,” Shelly reported.
“Chicago?” Barrington’s eyes narrowed slightly.
For a businessman like him, it was well–known that the power dynamics in the largest city in Illinois were notoriously complicated.
Worrying that Xanthe might’ve been lured into a trap, he said, “Don’t we have a business deal with W Industries over there? When’s that contract scheduled to be signed?”
Shelly checked her phone. “Three days from now, sir.”
“Book me a flight,” Barrington ordered without hesitation.
But his assistant hesitated. “Sir, Ma’am Vionnet is pregnant–and to be honest, she’s not happy with any of us here. And every time you’re not around, things get tense. If you leave, I’m afraid things might get out of control.”
Barrington’s face suddenly darkened. “As long as she’s not dying,” he replied dismissively, “she’s fine.”
“And hey-” he added, his low voice commanding, “look into whether she’s really pregnant. Use a different hospital this time.”
Maybe it was something Xanthe had said before, but Barrington was no longer so sure he could trust his first love.
That evening, Barrington returned home and went to the study to look for the flash drive.
Last time, he meant to check the videos, but Vionnet interrupted him. Client and board meetings also filled his whole week, so he never got the chance to sit in his study again.
Finally, with some peace and quiet that night, he was going to see what Xanthe had left behind.
But when he opened the drive, he froze–the folder was empty, the two files it had now completely wiped.
He tried everything he could think of to recover them, but nothing worked.
In his frustration, he called the maids and asked if anyone had touched his computer. But no one admitted to it.
And with no security cameras in the study, there was no way to find out who’d done it.
Later that night, once everyone had gone to bed, a maid quietly stepped outside the villa and made a phone call.
“Ma’am, I’ve deleted the video from the flash drive. Please send the rest of the payment
now.”
In her room in the hospital, Vionnet sat on her bed, watching the video one last time with a satisfied smile tugging at her lips.
“I’ve already wired it to you. Find a chance to tell Barry you’re resigning,” she instructed. “I don’t want to see you there once I come home.”
Staring at the fifteen thousand deposit hit her bank account, the maid grinned with relief.
“Don’t worry, Ma’am. I’ll pack up and be long gone before you’re back.”
Once the call ended, Vionnet stared at the videos for a moment until she hit delete.
Xanthe was gone. And now the videos were, too.
She laughed to herself. ‘From now on, Barrington will be mine alone!‘
Just then, her attending physician walked in.
“Hey, I heard Barrington wants to transfer you to another hospital. I think he’s starting to suspect something.”
Luca Rosenstein, her doctor, had been her upperclassman in college. To that day, Vionnet was still the only woman he wanted.
Hearing the news, Vionnet wasn’t surprised. She just casually replied, “Whatever. They can run tests in every hospital in this state if they want. But none of that won’t change the truth -I am pregnant.”
What she didn’t say was… the baby wasn’t Barrington’s.
She wished it was. But after that one time he slept with her, he hadn’t touched her again.
One night, after drinking too much at a bar, she hooked up with a random model. Just
once.
To her surprise, the guy had been good enough that once was all it took for her to get pregnant.
When the test came back positive, her family had urged her to get an abortion. But she refused.
This child had to stay..
Ε
His father wasn’t some cheap model. It was Barrington Connolly.
That’s the story she told herself.
And that’s what she was going to make everyone else believe.
“Vionnet, Barrington no longer loves you,” Luca boldly said. “Why force something that was never real? If you’d just give me a chance, I-”
Before he could offer himself to her, Vionnet cut him off with a cold laugh.
“Look, I don’t love you either. It’s been so many years. Get a life, weirdo–find someone who actually gives a damn about you and wants the same boring, stable life you do.”
‘She uses people,‘ Luca realized at that moment. ‘And when she’s done with them, she
tosses them aside. That–that’s the kind of woman she is.‘
His face tightened, and for the first time, he couldn’t look at her. “I get it. I just hope you find happiness.”
“But let me say one thing.” He met her bored gaze again. “Lies… They don’t last forever, Vionnet.”
Vionnet’s smile turned sharp. “And that’s my problem, not yours.”
She raised a brow and tilted her head toward the door. “It’s late. I need to rest. You can see yourself out.”
11:26 Sat, 12 Jul AM ·
