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"I’m probably going to get fired, but that's okay; I needed a change anyway."
This was a blow to my gut that left me unable to speak. Instead, I watched as she got ready until eventually, she was at the door.
"Should I take a taxi?" I asked, however, she shook her head.
"No, Felix came with a driver. They’ll take me to him."
I wanted to apologize; however, the words didn’t come out of my mouth.
"Tell him it was all my fault," I said, “that it had nothing to do with you."
"That's the lie that will probably ensure that he doesn’t even want to speak to me. He probably already knows the truth if Felix is involved, so it’s best I just come clean."
I nodded and she went on her way.
Chapter 52
Lucien
Ihad thought I would be able to wait. Truly, I wanted to see how all of this would play out to figure out what their original plan was, but I found myself unable to concentrate and unable to think of anything else besides… Scarlett. A lot of things had changed. First of all, it was so easy for me now to see her as a different person, to sort of separate her from Sophie, which was a relief, but then again, this came with an unsettling sense of dread because I now realized that more than ever she was a stranger to me.
There were a lot of things I had done with my guards completely down around her simply because I had thought her to be Sophie, but now that the truth had been revealed, I couldn’t help but imagine that it was going to be much more difficult for me to be more relaxed around her. Or maybe it wouldn’t?
All of these were the reasons why I wanted to see Sophie and her, but I didn't want to jump the gun. And so I found myself somewhat nervous when the knock I was waiting for finally came to the door. I didn't look up even as I was granted access, but when I eventually heard Felix’s voice, I did and realized that he was alone.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Sophie's waiting outside, sir,” he said. “But I just wanted to come in first to inform you that her sister was at the house when we asked Sophie to come with us.”
I heard his words and understood their implications; however, I didn’t bother asking him any further questions. Instead, I decided that I was going to direct it to her.
“Tell her to come in,” I said, and he nodded.
A few minutes later the door was once again pushed open and my actual personal assistant came into the office. I thought I was ready, but when I finally saw her, all I could feel was amazed that I had been so dense. They looked alike, yes, but not enough to have fooled me. I just couldn't have imagined that there was anyone else with such an uncanny resemblance that could pass for her. But now, as I stared at the much smaller, petite brunette, conservative woman before me, I was almost embarrassed that I could have ever mistaken them. They didn't even sound the same, but I had brushed all of that off.
So many questions then flooded my mind, but eventually, as I stared at her, the most pressing at the moment floated to the top.
“Did she come with you?” I asked, and she finally found the courage to stare straight at me. Unlike her sister, however, I realized that she couldn't quite look me in the eyes, as had always been the case. She was a bit more reserved, quieter, shyer, and not aggressive at all. Yet, I had agreed, like Scarlett had urged, to chalk this all up to her developing a new personality overnight because her fiancé had broken up with her.
Once again, I felt like palming my face.
“No, sir, she didn't,” Sophie replied, and I stared a bit more at her.
“Is she aware?” I asked and I hoped to God that she wouldn't lie to me. I felt relatively calm but I was still furious and offended, but I was still in a certain state of not knowing what to do. Whether to be lenient or whether to punish them harshly, however, how she responded to me from now on I realized would determine this and so I waited for Sophie to respond for her and her sister's sake. “Since things have come to this now, you should know better than to lie to me. I'm willing to listen to you now, but the moment you lie, things will become much, much worse for you and Scarlett.”
I loved her name, I realized, as it sounded from my lips. And it was so befitting to her appearance and personality that I wondered if she had given herself the name because I couldn't have imagined that their parents would have been this clear about their differences from the very beginning.
“I understand, sir,” she said, her voice low and contrite. “She is suspicious, especially since Felix came over to my apartment, but I haven’t told her anything definite since I wasn’t certain myself until I got here.”
This sounds like the truth to me, so I accepted it. I watched her once again, and the same question came easily to me.
“Why?” I asked.
It took her a while, but eventually, and for what had to be the first time in probably forever, she stared boldly at me. Her tone was strong, and even though I knew she was sorry I had found out, I was almost certain that she didn’t regret that she had done this, and it somewhat annoyed me.
“I'm sorry, sir,” she apologized first. “I'm really sorry. I never meant to orchestrate this, and I can assure you it wasn’t for fun. It's just that… I didn't want to disappoint you. We had the meeting with Charles Nioly come up, and I knew just how hard you have worked toward it over the last two years. I didn't want to take the time off and force you to have to find someone whocould assist you in the meantime. You’d have to catch them up to speed and explain things, and it was not an easy decision to make.”
I understood what she was saying, and I appreciated it; however, I wasn’t ready to just drop all of this and forgive her just yet, so I remained silent and continued listening.
