Page 81 of Viral Affair

I didn’t know what to say or how to react, but I got up quickly. I didn’t remember how I left the restaurant, but people wished me good luck as I was leaving. I started walking back towards the resort, still watching Veronica live on TikTok. This felt surreal, but I could see her walking towards me while I was having a mini breakdown. I didn’t know what to do. She’d betrayed me and yet she was here, telling the world that it was all lies.

“I don’t understand you guys. I’m not even near the restaurant,” she said as she stopped, probably to read comments on her live.

Blood pounded in my ears as I jogged towards her, wanting to suddenly have her in my arms again.

“He cannot be in front of me, I can’t see—”

Veronica stopped midway through her sentence when she saw me standing close now. Some other people on the beach stared at us.

“How many people are watching us right now?” I asked her as I came closer, my whole body vibrating with energy.

Veronica looked so stunning in a long white dress with spaghetti straps as she stared at me with her eyes wide and mouth open.

It took her a few seconds to snap out of the shock because then she glanced at the phone, and her eyes went wider.

“Millions,” she whispered as I was finally close to her, so close that I could lean in and kiss her.

“I’m sorry, but I think it will be easier if I take the phone,” a random woman said, appearing right in front of us. She smiled as Veronica handed her the device.

I glanced at her.“Keep filming, I want everyone to see this,” I said.

She almost squealed with excitement as she backed away, pointing Veronica’s phone at us.

“Rupert … I don’t know … I can’t believe that you’re here,” Veronica said, sounding like she was lost for words.

She was so fucking beautiful, and I’d missed her so damn much.

“Someone must have spotted me on the island, and it shows how powerful social media can really be,” I said, inches away from touching her, taking her into my arms, and telling her that she belonged to me—always and forever. “I still can’t quite comprehend that you flew all the way here.”

She gave me a small smile.

“People have really come through. A few hours after that video went viral, I had a few messages from people who saw you landing in Thailand,” she explained, taking a shaky breath. “I have to tell you now… I lied to you and I’m sorry. What we had … how we met and everything that happened, it was all real."

She sounded like she was speaking from her heart, but how could I be sure? Could I forgive her, just like that? I glanced at the woman who was filming us and Veronica followed my gaze.

She smiled.

"I'm sorry, but I think the rest of this conversation needs to go private. I will update you guys later with the outcome," she said. The woman handed her the phone. Veronica switched off the live stream and put her device back in her bag. "Come on, there is a lot that I need to tell you. Walk with me, please?"

I nodded, still in shock, seeing her here. I then started walking along the shore with the woman I was so crazy about.

"I missed you, sunshine, but you lied to me," I said after a while. We were still bringing a lot of attention of ourselves—many people were staring and pointing at us.

Veronica bit on her bottom lip.

"Yes I did, but only to protect you. Vincent was my ex-boyfriend and then one day, when I thought I was going to see a client, he showed up instead. He tricked me. He started blackmailing me to get the CCTV recordings. I refused to help him, so he threatened to hurt you. I was so desperate then, I acted like I was going along with his plan." She started explaining and I clenched my fists, getting more furious by the minute. I should have killed that bastard when I had a chance.

"Baby, I wish you would have told me about this when it happened," I growled, dragging my hands through my hair. I couldn't believe she was willing to keep this whole thing quiet… well, I did get why, but I still hated that she’d kept things from me.

"I was so scared that he might try to hurt you, so I didn't. Then, when we were in Greece, your mother called me. She said she needed to see me," Veronica carried on talking.

I shouldn’t have been shocked at this point, but I was.

"My mother? Why?" I asked.

"Rupert, please, don't be angry, but your mum sent you an email explaining everything because she was worried about you. Wwe met right before I was kidnapped," Veronica confessed. "Considering Vincent’s blackmail as we discussed, we both agreed that it would be best if I ended things with you. Right after that, Vincent sent me a text pretending to be you from a new number, acting like you’d lost your phone. I fell for it, got into Vincent's car, and then I ended up in the warehouse."

"Fuck … why does my mother needs to interfere so much? I really need to have a long conversation with her," I said, taking Veronica's hand. "So you made that shit up about staging this whole thing when you were trying to distract that fucker?"

---