Chapter 149/Digging up the past

Chapter 149: 149/Digging up the past

Chapter 149

Stephanie’s point of view

I looked at him in genuine bewilderment, shocked by the sheer power of the perfume’s effect: "Are you serious about what you’re saying?"

He said with definitive certainty: "Yes... dead serious. So don’t wear it tonight, and wear another, calmer perfume."

In that fleeting moment, I realized the true reasons behind Cedric’s trembling features when he smelled it, and why that bastard Vincenti had commented on it in a suspicious manner during our last encounter. I quickly placed the bottle in the deepest drawer of the vanity, swearing never to touch it again. I took another bottle of perfume with a subtler fragrance, sprayed it lightly, and then turned to him: "I’m finished... I’m ready to go."

We left the room and descended the wide marble staircases of the mansion; the grand hall was empty and quiet. As we approached the main door, that wretched maid crossed in front of us with her cold features. Alex stopped her authoritatively, saying: "Tell my grandfather that we are going out for dinner tonight."

She nodded her head in a submissive nod devoid of genuine respect, saying: "Very well... I will inform Master Victor of that, Master Alexander."

And at that exact moment, before we could take a single step outside, a filthy, familiar, and provocative voice echoed from behind us in the hallway: "Alexander... how are you?"

We spun around together quickly to find Valentina standing there in all her audacity. She was wearing a scandalously and insultingly short skirt, a black leather bustier that exposed far too much, and was wearing a pungent fragrance that bore a suspicious resemblance to my seductive morning perfume, but in a cheap, sickening formulation that induced nausea. Alex was completely shocked and blindsided by her unwarranted presence in the mansion.

She approached with bold steps and extreme insolence, embracing him tightly right before my eyes. He shoved her away from his chest in a swift motion, his face dripping with disgust and annoyance.

She spoke with a derisive smirk as she adjusted the strands of her hair: "A pleasant and fun surprise for everyone, isn’t it?"

He asked her in a sharp tone, dry as ice: "What exactly are you doing here at this hour?"

She answered with a sickening confidence: "Your grandfather, Master Victor, asked me to stay and reside here in the mansion for some time to be near you all."

He said with clear rejection: "And why would he invite you? Is there a family occasion that warrants your presence?"

She said, waving her hand with cheap flirtatiousness: "It seems from your harsh tone that my presence and stay in the mansion do not please you at all?"

He replied with an absolute detachment that warmed my heart: "I don’t care about your presence or absence in the first place; you mean nothing to me." The expressions of her face shifted quickly to drip with rage and malice. Alex turned to me, gripping my palm tightly and saying decisively: "Let’s go, Steph... let’s leave and not waste time."

She spoke in a resentful tone, her voice raised as she watched our movement toward the exit: "Where are you going?"

He answered her harshly without even bothering to turn around: "That is none of your business."

We stepped out of the gates of the Volkov mansion, got into his car, and the vehicle took off rapidly through the illuminated streets of the city. As he drove calmly, he turned to me and said regretfully: "Steph... I am truly sorry for treating your sister in that blunt manner inside, but I simply cannot stand her behavior, and her presence tenses me up."

I said with genuine understanding: "Never apologize for her, Alex. I know very well that her nature and style are provocative and bring trouble." And I said in the bitterness of my heart, filled with sadness: *Oh, Alex... if only you knew that this sister you are apologizing for is nothing but a venomous snake biting into my flesh in secret, wanting to destroy me.*

Trying to change the course of the conversation, I said with a smile: "Where exactly are we going now?"

He said, his eyes fixed on the road: "To a wonderful and highly luxurious restaurant I used to visit constantly."

I said with light teasing to soften the atmosphere: "And whom did you used to go there with so constantly?"

He laughed and said with a warm smile: "Don’t start imagining scenarios and composing stories in your jealousy-fueled mind... I used to go there only accompanied by my closest friend."

I asked with an underlying inquiry: "Mmm... do you truly want to convince me that you didn’t enter into any romantic relationship with any other woman after our separation?"

He turned to me for a second and said: "My dear Steph... why do you constantly want to dig up the past and reopen old files?"

I said insistently: "I am not digging up the past, I just find it hard to believe that a man of your attractiveness wasn’t in any relationship during all those years."

He said honestly: "I truly wasn’t in any romantic relationship with any other girl after you, you can trust that."

I probed further: "And you didn’t touch any other girl at all?"

He sighed lightly and said with a dry frankness: "I didn’t tell you that I lived like a monk and didn’t touch another girl throughout those years... I said I wasn’t in a romantic relationship or commitment, and that matter is completely different for men."

I asked curiously: "And what is the point of difference in that, in your opinion?"

He said clearly: "The difference is that I wasn’t with the same girl for more than a single night... they were just fleeting girls to empty physical desire, without emotions and without promises. Whereas you were, and still remain, in a completely different place in my heart."

I said with a quiet understanding laced with some annoyance: "Mmm... I see what you mean."

Suddenly, his eyes caught my fingers gripping my purse. He asked in a surprised tone: "Stephanie... where is your wedding ring?"