Chapter 32

• SCARLET Luke dropped a pile of folders in front of me and placed a fountain pen on top. It was the same folders he was holding the night his lawyer visited us in New York. We sat across each other at a desk. “These are the original documents.” He pointed out the folders he was holding. “You’re holding a photocopy. Shall we begin?” I cleared my throat. “Are you sure we’re going to do this? I mean, are you willing to give your assets to me?” “If you are asking me if I was sure about transferring my assets, I’m going to give you an honest answer,” he paused, and then he looked down at the papers. “No. I don’t want to. I worked for it. I spent long hours of my life just to earn it.” I blew out a deep breath. Alright. That answer was straightforward, no? “I understand. I’m a stranger to the family.” “Exactly. But since you’re still my dad’s stepdaughter, he wanted to give you something just because he’s generous, even if you really don’t deserve to get any. Based on my opinion.” He looked into my eyes. His words were sharp. What exactly did he mean by that? I felt a slight pinch in my heart. “Your… opinion?” He opened the first folder in front of him. I frowned at the paper. It was a police record. I gasped his name when I saw what it was, and then bit my lower lip hard. “I think you already understand why. Let’s proceed. You have a case—” “Wait, wait. Are you really going to read it to me out loud? I can read it silently,” I hissed cautiously. “Are you embarrassed?” I suddenly felt my cheeks burned. I looked down at my lap. “Oh, you are?” He raised an eyebrow. “Pretend that I’m Rebecca. You’re lucky you don’t need to hear this from her. I asked her to hand me the files so I could discuss it with you.” “Okay,” I whispered. “You have a case of trespassing; stalking, disturbing the peace, and assaulting an officer. In short, Miss Carter, you are a violent person.” My jaw dropped. How did his lawyer find out about this? Their civil investigation was frightening. I didn’t know what else they’d found out. “You’re not going to answer that?” he asked. I knew it. He just wanted to know everything. It was his way of digging deeper into my life. “Do I really need to explain? Wasn’t it in the records?” He smirked. “Of course, it’s in the records. Every single bit of it. I just want to hear it from your mouth so I’ll know how I could get rid of it before these documents land in Dad’s hands. I do need to read it to you. It says you trespassed an ex-boyfriend’s house?” “Stop. Stop!” I blew out a breath. “Alright. I did that.” “Not like that.” He shook his head. “Elaborate.” “It’s not like you’re an inspector, you know?” He chuckled. “Go on, just treat me like one. None of this would ever affect me. This information won’t change the taste of your pussy,” he said with a wink. Damn, his words. I felt my sex clench. “It all happened in the past, and I’m sure you’re not going to do this again,” he added. I wouldn’t, but it didn’t mean I couldn’t. I even thought of stalking him when I found out about Stacy. “You’re going to sign those anyway. Why bother to ask me those things?” “Yes, I can sign these but Dad’s just right outside the door, and he’ll find out everything about you.” “Are you blackmailing me?” “It’s not blackmail, I’m helping you,” he corrected. “Dad won’t hesitate to spend his millions just to take away every right you have.” “He can’t be that cruel, right?” “Trust me. He could be. The Alejandro name shouldn’t have flaws.” I clenched my fist under the table. He was asking me to tell him a part of my life that no one knew about, except my best friends. And what could he do to get rid of that information about me? There was no way he could do that. Nate tried, and he failed. Should I tell him I had issues? I guess I had to. “Alright! I did those things like a habit, but I had reasons. I’m not that crazy.” Damn it, this was too unfair, but since he already knew, there’s no point in lying. He hated liars. I didn’t know how I did it. I stalked people before. I had a lot of issues in my life. I don’t know where to begin. This was like torture. I didn’t want to talk anymore. He was silent for a moment. He was reviewing the papers in front of him. His expression turned serious. “Have you tried to see a doctor?” “I’m not sick, Luke!” My voice raised an octave. “How could you say that?” “Hey, I don’t mean anything,” he said softly. “I’m not saying that you are sick. But you know… this isn’t something normal people would do.” “Are you saying that I’m not normal?” “No, listen to me. You said it was like a habit, it means you didn’t do it for the first time.” “I don’t want to hear your judgment here, Luke.” He sighed sharply. “As I said, I’m trying to help you. This behavior is going to get you hurt.” “I’m not doing it anymore.” Well, I wasn’t sure of that. I’d stalked Luke in social media all of my adult life. “Did you go to your ex’s house around June last year?” he asked again. He was getting into my head. Was that information also written in his documents? “I don’t know the dates.” “Is this ex named Lawrence?” My mouth dropped and scowled. “How could you possibly get all this information?” It was starting to creep me out. At this moment, I felt so vulnerable. “I hire people to work for me, Scarlet. Just answer my questions.” I sighed. “Yes, yes. You’re correct.” He closed the folders and then he looked at me. “Then answer this one personal question. What did you feel when you did these things?” What did I really feel? I shut my eyes and remembered everything, in my mind, in my heart. After my abusive relationship with Raoul, I lost self-confidence. I lost myself. I became someone who wasn’t me. I became insecure and overly jealous about simple things. I just couldn’t help it. I couldn’t prevent it from happening. If it weren’t for Katherine and Nate, I might be spending my whole life in jail. So I’d stopped seeing anyone for a while now because being in a relationship with someone wasn’t healthy. I focused on my studies until I met Jax. I could say that he was the safest man on earth I could rely on. I didn’t have to meet him. I didn’t need to know about him. But then, Jax turned out to be Luke, which made a huge turn of events. I was afraid of becoming who I was in the past. “It fulfills me. It gives me satisfaction…” I answered his question. “You always have something to shock me, don’t you know that?” he remarked. I sighed. Bravo, Scarlet. You officially turned him off. “I didn’t want you to know.” He stared at me for several seconds, and I itched to know what he was thinking. He stood in front of his chair and leaned on his desk. “I’m going to help you, Scarlet,” his tone was low and even. “I don’t think you can. I can’t even help myself.” “Shh…” He pressed a thumb against my lips. “I’ll make sure these things won’t happen again. I promise.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead.