Page 88 of The Enemy of My Enemy Is… My Fake Boyfriend?

I was beyond ready to do something, to finally put an end to Chase and all of his lies. The only reason I'd waited was because someone like Mr. Stratton would be great to have on my side. Together, we could bury Chase.

Mr. Stratton folded his hands in front of him on my desk, looking at me with his steely eyes. "I was wrong about you, Ethan. And I'm sorry."

Well, damn. I hadn't expected an apology... that someone with his power would actually own up to a mistake.

Before I could respond, he continued on. "I've done some of my own digging and found that you were telling the truth. And Chase... not so much."

He went over everything that he had found out, confirming my discoveries and going even deeper. What Chase had gotten away with was unreal, and I was practically salivating that the golden boy was about to have his whole world crumble down around him. Especially because he'd been the one to cast a shadow on my own name, something Mr. Stratton and I discussed in depth.

After hounding The Manhattan Royale repeatedly for months, I'd finally received the security footage from the hallway where this had all started, and I turned my laptop around to show Aria's dad.

I hated watching it, seeing Chase and Hannah emerge from a closet then walking down the hall like they had nothing to hide, adjusting their clothing and hair without a care in the world before Chase went back into the party and Hannah turned a different way for the bathroom.

Moments later, Aria had left her hiding place behind a chair, literally weaving and stumbling her way down the same long hallway, sometimes running into the wall, sometimes stomping, appearing wild and drunk, even though I knew she hadn't been... not at that point in the evening anyway.

It was goddamn painful.

Mr. Stratton was watching intently when there was a sudden knock on my door and Aria entered the room, a wrapped package in her hand.

"Happy birthday!" she said, her face all lit up.

"It's your birthday?" Mr. Stratton asked.

I nodded briefly, unable to take my eyes off Aria. Her expression morphing to surprise and confusion, Aria's gaze immediately went to her father and then the computer screen, her eyes opening wide with horror once she realized what it was as it replayed itself on a loop.

"That—that's from that night. How did you get this?" she gasped.

"Security at the hotel finally passed it along to me," I said, watching her warily, wondering at her reaction.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just got it yesterday and haven't had a chance yet."

Her astonished gaze went back and forth between her father and me. "What are you two doing anyway? Are you talking about Chase and me?"

Chase and me. I absolutely hated hearing that.

"Yes, we are," Mr. Stratton said. "Ethan just showed me that footage, and we're trying to figure out what to do with it."

"You're not thinking of sharing that with the media, are you?"

"I don't know," I admitted, sensing we were on fragile ground. "We hadn't gotten that far."

"But it makes me look so dumb and weak and terrible." The pink color on her cheeks heightened. "And why wasn't I invited to this little meeting anyway?"

There was a long pause while I debated throwing Aria's dad under the bus, the man who had finally come around to the idea that I wasn't so bad after all.

"It was me," Mr. Stratton eventually said. "I dropped in unannounced."

"And neither of you thought to call me?"

Fuck. She was absolutely right. That should have been my first thought.

Standing up, I came around from my side of the desk to stand before her, the ire rolling off her obvious, the tension in the room rising like a storm brewing on the horizon.

"This should bemydecision. Not yours. I'm sick and tired of men trying to run my life, the whole fucking patriarchy. I should have been the first person consulted about this." She jabbed a finger into her chest to emphasize her point. "I should have been here for this meeting between the two of you. And the fact that neither of you even paused to think about that... well, I don't even know."

I swallowed, my mouth suddenly as dry as the Sahara.

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