Chapter 216
Chapter 216:
Her phone rang. It was Harper.
“I found her,” Harper said, her voice grim. “Victoria Hayes. Heiress to Hayes Shipping. Her family and the Thornes go back three generations. They were practically betrothed in the cradle p>
“Is she… is it real?” Skye asked, leaning her forehead against the cool glass.
“It’s complicated,” Harper said. “She’s been in a Swiss clinic for the last two years. ‘Exhaustion,’ they said. But the rumors are… mental instability. Obsessive behavior. She tried to kill herself when Alistair started dating a model three years ago p>
“The White Lotus,” Skye muttered. A woman who used fragility as a weapon. She knew the type. Seraphina used pregnancy; Victoria used suicide.
“She returned yesterday because of the news,” Harper continued. “Because Alistair claimed you publicly. She’s here to mark her territory p>
“He lied to me,” Skye said. “He said it was business p>
“Maybe it is,” Harper said. “Her father is under investigation for smuggling. Maybe Alistair is protecting the merger p>
“I don’t care about mergers,” Skye said. “I care that I’m suddenly in a love triangle I didn’t sign up for p>
She hung up.
She went to the bathroom and turned on the shower. She scrubbed her skin until it was raw, trying to wash off the feeling of Liam’s hands and the ether fumes.
When she stepped out, wrapped in a robe, she heard a noise in the living room.
She froze. She grabbed a heavy vase from the counter—her weapon of choice lately.
“Who’s there p>
“It’s me p>
Alistair was sitting on her sofa. He looked exhausted. He had changed his shirt, but he still looked like he had been through a war.
“How did you get in?” Skye asked, lowering the vase but not putting it down.
U𝗇се𝘯sо𝗋𝗲𝘥 ѕ𝘁оr𝗂e𝘴 оn 𝘣e.cо𝗺
“I own the building,” Alistair said simply. “Skye, why did you leave the hospital p>
“I saw the news,” Skye said. “Victoria Hayes. Your fiancée p>
Alistair sighed. He rubbed his face with his hands. “She’s not my fiancée. She’s… a responsibility p>
“A responsibility who clings to you at airports? A responsibility you rush to in the middle of the night p>
Alistair stood and walked toward her. “Skye, listen to me carefully. What I am about to tell you cannot leave this room. It puts lives at risk p>
He stopped a foot away, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Victoria isn’t sick. The clinic in Switzerland? It’s a front. She’s an Interpol agent. She’s been deep undercover for two years, building a persona as an unstable, drug-addicted heiress to get close to a cartel financier operating out of that clinic p>
Skye stared at him. “Undercover p>
“Yes. And now she’s back because her cover requires her to react to our news. The ‘fragile ex-fiancée’ has to come home to fight for her man, or the cartel gets suspicious. I have to play along, Skye. I have to validate her cover story, or she’s dead p>
Skye looked at him. She saw the truth in his eyes. It wasn’t betrayal; it was duty. But it didn’t make it hurt any less.