Page 74 of Viral Affair

Veronica knelt beside me. I glanced at her, disoriented and suddenly exhausted. The smell of blood infused all my senses, and I told myself to breathe. My heart beat a hundred miles an hour. A few others—men who were part of James’s team—floated inside, several of them checking the whole site, two talking to my brother. We’d both agreed that it was for the best if the police weren’t involved before Veronica was brought to safety.

I glanced at her, wanting to bring her to my chest to make sure she was all right and not hurt. I’d just left my mother’s house when I’d received the text message from an unknown number. It was the video of an unconscious Veronica in some dark room. My conversation with Mum had made me furious, and then when I’d seen the video, I’d nearly had a fucking heart attack.

The guy who’d claimed to be her ex-boyfriend was asking for five million to be wired to a specific account, otherwise he’d kill her. Unable to think straight, I was ready to wire him the money then and there to make sure she was safe, so I’d gone straight to the office. My whole world had crashed down on me. My head had pounded when I got on the phone with my bank manager, but just then, James walked in. He’d immediately known something was wrong, so I told him everything.

“I’m fine, are you all right?” I asked her, finally catching up on all the things she’d told that fucking idiot. I didn’t want to believe it, I was still pretty much in shock, but she stared at me with so much pain and … was it guilt? … I wondered if she’d been telling him the truth. I didn’t want to believe in such a betrayal. I was so in love with her though that I was ready to forget about her confession. As long as she was safe, nothing else mattered.

But then my mother’s voice echoed through my mind, making me question myself again. My mother was right—Veronica had never been honest with me. It seemed she’d been playing with me all this time. She never loved me.

“Yes, fine. Don’t worry about me, Rupert. What are you going to do with Vincent?” she asked.

I rubbed her reddened wrists because I couldn’t stand that she was hurt, despite everything.

“He’s going to be handed to the authorities in due course,” I replied, standing.

“May I have a word with my brother?” James asked, kneeling next to us.

His usual expression didn’t reveal much at all. I had no idea what he was thinking, but what had happened in the past with Veronica didn’t make sense. I wanted to believe she was innocent.

“Sure,” Veronica said.

We both walked away from her.

“What do you want, James? I’m fine and lucid. I hope I didn’t kill that fucker,” I said, pointing at where the guy had lain just a second ago, but he wasn’t there anymore.

James patted me on the back.

“No, he’s going to survive, but you battered him up pretty badly,” he stated. “What about the girl? She’s a liability, like Spencer’s nanny. You’d better end this now before it escalates further.”

I didn’t remember how I responded before he walked away, but I was pissed off that he was right. Veronica had used me. I’d heard her loud and clear, admitting that this whole thing was about money. She’d actually planned all this, including the night in Greece, and I’d fallen right into her trap. I clenched my fists as I approached her. She had her arms around her waist, staring down at the floor. I had never felt more disappointed and defeated than I was at that moment.

“Tell me, so this whole thing with TikTok, was it still all staged? You knew who I was all along?” I questioned her. She had to tell me the truth, the whole truth.

She opened her mouth to explain, then closed it, as though mulling her answer. Our eyes met, and there was so much regret, sorrow, and pain in them. Fuck, I had been such a fucking idiot.

“Yes, it was all staged, Rupert,” she admitted, pausing for a moment.

I clenched my fists.

“I knew the video would go viral, but Laura had no idea. She’s the innocent one in all of this and she is truly a good person. I didn’t want her to get involved, but then she became useful to me, so I kept lying. I’m sorry, Rupert, but as much as I loved our travels together, none of what’s happened between us was ever for real. I’ve been lying to you all this time. This whole thing was about money for me.”

I took a sharp inhale of breath, processing what she was saying to me. She might as well have stabbed my chest with a knife as she confessed the truth. My heart felt rotten, dead, and I wanted her to just put me out of my misery and walk away from me, so I’d never have to see her again.

“I love you,” I admitted, knowing that it was the truth, even if she’d just broken my heart. I never should have believed in our connection. I was right to be hesitant when we met the second time.

“I’m sorry. I never truly loved you. I was pretending.”

She gave me a small smile then walked away from me, and I didn’t stop her. I continued to stand there, wondering if this was truly happening or maybe it was only a bad dream. I knew how I felt, I knew this whole thing was too good to be true, but the truth was that I’d never experienced anything like it with anyone else before. Veronica was the first and the last.

“My team will deliver our guy here straight to the police, and he’s going to be arrested. I’ve already looked into his finances, and on top of kidnapping he would be charged with tax avoidance, extortion, possession of illegal drugs and weapons, and I could probably find a few more things to make sure he stays behind bars for a long while,” James explained when we were finally leaving the site.

I’d had so many plans for this place. But now I wouldn’t even bother.

“You know what the worst part of all of this is?” I asked my brother as we were getting into his car.

I was hoping to see a tic in his jaw or some kind of understanding in his eyes, anything that indicated James was actually a human being and not a robot, but his passive expression was carved into his features.

“No, but I’m sure you’ll enlighten me soon.”

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