Chapter 81
Monday was Logan’s concert.
Lexi, with no shoots scheduled, changed into a soft sky-blue dress, elegant but understated, and entered the backstage area where Luca was finishing makeup.
Handing him a basket of flowers, she smiled faintly.
“Good luck tonight. I hope the concert goes perfectly p>
Logan glanced at the simple blooms.
“I thought you’d send roses,” he muttered.
Lexi smiled quietly.
After the mix-up at the hospital, she had studied the meanings of flowers to avoid misunderstanding or offense.
“Lexi, I’ve saved you a seat,” Logan said with mock severity.
“Don’t even think about sneaking away. If you do, you’re dead meat p>
Lexi merely nodded, treating Logan like the playful, stubborn boy he was, and followed the assistant to her reserved seat—front row, completely alone.
A shiver of unease passed over her.
Something about this felt… off.
The lights danced across the stage.
Logan was dazzling, commanding the crowd effortlessly.
Fans waved glowing sticks and banners, chanting his name.
Lexi, empty-handed, sat quietly in the front row, oddly conspicuous amid the cheering crowd.
Then, abruptly, all music cut.
The spotlight fell on her.
Her face appeared on the giant screen.
Silence swept over the audience.
Logan’s voice, full of affection, filled the arena: “Tonight’s concert is for my girlfriend… Lexi p>
The words hung in the air.
This was no joke anymore—her identity as Logan’s girlfriend was now public, undeniable.
Explanation would be impossible.
Her feet felt heavy, as though cemented to the ground.
Cheers thundered behind her.
Lexi closed her eyes, steadying her breath, ready to refuse.
Her phone buzzed violently in her belt—Connor, calling.
Her stomach tightened.
Under Logan’s gaze, tender and unwavering, she raised her head and said clearly, “I’m sorry p>
And then, ignoring the confused, even resentful looks around her, she ran out of the arena.
Outside, she breathed in deep lungfuls of air, feeling alive again.
Tomorrow, the headlines would be waiting—her name dragged across the tabloids once more.
Lexi found a secluded spot and called Connor.
Sebastian had been en route to a business negotiation, but massive trucks had swerved dangerously, striking the car he was in.
Connor had been pinned in his seat; Sebastian had passed out immediately.
If not for Lauren’s timely intervention, no one could predict the outcome.
Hanging up, Lexi felt the weight of reality settle on her shoulders.
Sebastian was now both her boss and her creditor.
If anything happened, she would suffer too.
Hailing a cab, she raced to the hospital.
Rushing to Sebastian’s room, she froze at the doorway.
Lauren was inside.
Now was not her time to confront him.
Connor had minor injuries but remained close by, guarding Sebastian.
“How did an accident like this even happen?” Lexi asked, frowning.
Connor leaned against the corridor wall, voice low and grave.
“Miss Lexi… we suspect Dominic orchestrated it.
He is your… brother p>
“I understand,” Lexi interrupted, her amber eyes flashing ice.
“Don’t worry, Connor. I’ll settle this. Both for you and for Sebastian p>
Sebastian’s injury hurt her deeply, but that pain was buried like a seed beneath soil—strangled and powerless.
She wanted to act, but her strength was thin.
Stepping out of the hospital, she dialed Dominic relentlessly—dozens of calls went unanswered before his phone finally went dead.
Lexi’s eyelids twitched.
Her heart raced.
Danger was close, and she knew it.
Lexi had doubted Sebastian when he warned her about Dominic, but now, every uneasy instinct she’d tried to ignore had a thread of truth.
Whether he was behind recent chaos or not, she needed answers—clear and undeniable.
She scoured every likely hideout Dominic might use, questioned his men, but came up empty-handed at every turn.
Exhaustion weighed on her like a lead blanket.
She sank onto a bench outside a shopping plaza, neon lights from the streets reflecting like shards of glass in her mind, leaving her feeling unreal, untethered.
Her phone buzzed sharply.
The name on the screen made her heart skip: Dominic.
Lexi’s fingers trembled as she swiped to answer.
“Be at the St. James Orphanage tomorrow at eight,” His voice cut coldly through the line before he hung up.
Lexi stared at the dark screen, brow furrowed.
It was as if a boulder pressed on her chest.
The weight made it hard to breathe.
By eight sharp, she arrived at St.
James—the orphanage where she, Lauren, and Dominic had spent their childhood together.
She hadn’t returned since college, avoiding the ghosts of her past.
Memories here were too sharp, too raw.
People moved forward in life; dwelling on old wounds only invited bitterness.
Dominic stood at the entrance, tall and rigid under the early sunlight, half of his face illuminated and the other in shadow, giving him an almost unreal, ethereal presence.
To Lexi, the figure before her was a stranger.
The boy she had grown up with—brave, righteous, larger than life—was gone, replaced by a man with the cold precision of a killer and the single-minded drive of someone who would stop at nothing.
“Lexi… do you remember the bottle we buried under that oak tree?” Dominic’s voice was steady, solemn.
“Inside, we put our dreams… who we wanted to become p>
Lexi’s chest tightened.
She remembered.
She could never forget.
“But Lexi,” Dominic’s tone sharpened, almost bitter, “you’ve forgotten everything else too. Forgotten the loyalty we shared growing up, the trust you owe me as your older brother. Now all you think about is Sebastian Blackwood. Don’t fool yourself—he’s Lauren’s man. Nothing will come of this p>
His eyes blazed, his aura sharp enough to make the air itself seem heavy with tension.
Smoke and gunpowder didn’t seem out of place here.
It was the first argument she and Hugo had shared in years—and over a man.
“Wake up, Lexi,” Dominic pressed.
“Sebastian may treat you well, but it’s a ploy to manipulate you. He’s a calculated, ruthless man. Don’t be blinded p>
Lexi’s throat tightened.
Could the car crash have been Sebastian’s setup—a cruel chess move to frame Dominic and pull her into his game?
She swallowed hard.
If that were true… she was nothing but a pawn in Sebastian’s hands.
“Give me some time to think,” Lexi whispered, lost and reeling.
She needed space to untangle her thoughts and make sense of the truth.