Chapter 95
Zabelle shifted her attention from the TV when she heard a knock on the room door.
After she and Antonio had spoken, she settled for resting as she was still feeling the effects of getting drunk.
Π
That was why she didn’t drink, the thrill the alcohol offered was anything compared to the terrible hangover that would
follow.
Meanwhile, Antonio has settled for working on the sofa. The tension between them hadn’t totally left, as she still felt embarrassed at the fact that they had slept together.
Contrary to what Antonio thought, she remembered some things from the previous night. Although it was in bits, and it was blurry, she could still make out her asking Antonio to ‘fuck‘ her
Her cheeks burned as she remembered once again. The alcohol must have been very strong, as she would have never used such language while she was sober.
She watched Antonio get up to open the door, and when he did, she saw Martha standing outside.
Seeing as Antonio was already with the helper, she turned her attention back to the TV screen.
After a few seconds, Antonio closed the door, and he turned to face her.
“Alejandro and Nivera are here,” he informed her.
“Really?” Zabelle asked as she immediately got off the bed. Before Antonio could, however, answer, she stormed past him. and out of the room.
Antonio couldn’t help but smile at her excitement, which was definitely at the fact that Nivera was there.
It made him happy to see that she finally had a friend, and it was one that didn’t come with ill intentions.
Without wasting time, he headed downstairs and when he got there, he saw Alejandro.
The latter greeted him with a glare and without saying anything to each other, they both headed to the study, leaving the two women with each other.
Antonio was the first to enter, and Alejandro soon followed, closing the door behind him to prevent disturbance.
Alejandro then made his way to the desk and leaned against it, arms crossed, his expression a mixture of frustration and concern, while Antonio made himself comfortable on the sofa.
“Antonio, what the hell happened?” Alejandro started, breaking the tense silence.
“You didn’t answer my calls, why did I have to find out from the tabloids that you’re at the center of some cheating scandal?” Antonio calmly looked Alejandro in the eyes as he responded. “didn’t think it was worth explaining over the phone”
Alejandro raised an eyebrow. “Not worth it? They’re dragging your name through the mud, and Zabelle’s too, due to her relationship with you. You need to fix this.”
“I am fixing it,” Antonio shot back, his voice firm. “I’ve already contacted my PR team. They’re working on clearing Zabelle’s
haven’t seen it, they already released a statement.” name and shutting down the rumors, and in case you
Alejandro sighed, his tone softening. “You should’ve told me. Were brothers, Antonio. You don’t have to handle everything on your own.”
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Chapter 95
He realized Antonio was already on edge due to what happened and he wasn’t helping by being harsh.
Antonio’s expression also softened slightly, but he didn’t respond.
Alejandro stepped away from the desk, seeing that Antonio did respond, and he moved to sit on the sofa.
55%%%1
“Look,” Alejandro said, leaning against the window frame. “I get that you want to shield Zabelle from all this, but you shut people out when it gets hard. We’re family, Antonio.”
can’t
Antonio sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he understood what Alejandro was saying.
“I know. I just didn’t want to drag you into my mess, especially as you had dinner with Nivera’s family. How was it, by the way?.”
“Terrible!” Alejandro responded and Antonio chuckled as that was expected.
“But I’m not the subject of discussion,” he turned the attention back on Antonio.
“It’s not your mess. Someone’s clearly out to ruin you. The question is–who?”
“Vanessa,” Antonio responded, his brow furrowing at the thought of Zabelle’s sister.
“Vanessa?” Alejandro frowned as he didn’t quite understand Antonio.
“I was drugged by Vanessa at the party and..”
Alejandro’s eyes widened. “Drugged? How did this not come up before?”
“You didn’t give me the chance to.” Antonio shrugged nonchalantly, and Alejandro reached out and hit him.
“You’re insufferable,” he remarked. “But go on!”
“Vanessa drugged me at the party and when I went to the bathroom to splash water on my face, she cornered me and tried to seduce me. When I put her in her place, she kissed me as she saw Zabelle approaching
Alejandro clenched his fists as he listened to Antonio.
“First she took Jeremy, and now she’s trying to get you. It’s not a matter of her catching feelings, it’s a matter of her not being able to stand Zabelle being happy.”
Antonio nodded in agreement. “You’re right.”
“I get that Zabelle is a nice and forgiving person, but this one shouldn’t slide.” Alejandro gritted his teeth.
Luckily for me, she has already given permission to take care of Vanessa
“Good, so what’s the plan?”
“I’ll take care of Vanessa later, right now, I need to focus on protecting Zabelle and making sure she’s okay after everything that happened.”
“How did she take the news?” Alejandro asked.
“She’s fine, thankfully,” Antonio said. “Now tell me about how it went with Nivera’s family!”
the couch her hands clasped tightly together. Across from her, was Nivera who was
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Chapter 95
“You seem… tense, Nivern remarked.
Zabelle smiled nervously. “You’d be tense too if you woke up to your name trending for all the wrong reasons.”
Nivera leaned forward slightly, resting her elbows on her knees.
“For what it’s worth, I knew Antonio didn’t cheat on you. Whatever they’re saying, it’s not true, and that’s what the media. thrives on. Besides, He’s too obsessed with you to even look at anyone else.”
“I know he didn’t cheat. But it doesn’t matter what’s true. People believe what they want to believe,” Zabelle asserted.
“That’s true,” Nivera agreed, her voice quieter now.
“But you’re stronger than this nonsense.”
“I try to be,” Zabelle sighed. “And did you say Antonio’s obsessed with me?”
“Duh, have you seen the way he looks at you?”
“Like how every normal person would look at me,” Zabelle responded and Nivera rolled her eyes.
“Please, everyone with eyes could see the way he looked at you on the red carpet yesterday. Beautiful dress by the way,” she complimented Zabelle.
“Thank you, and you’re exaggerating.
Then explain this,” Nivera said as she showed Zabelle multiple photos of Antonio looking at her while she was on the red
carpet.
There was something in Antonio’s eyes she hadn’t seen before. They looked softer and he was smiling at her. Nivera was right, if she didn’t know any better, she’d actually think Antonio was obsessed with her.
“He’s my husband, I guess I’m so used to him looking at me like that, I don’t realize how it looks to others,” she stated as Nivera didn’t know about her and Antonio’s relationship truly was
“Wow, that is so cute. By the way, your sister didn’t have her boyfriend with her, are they going through a breakup?”
Zabelle’s expression darkened at the mention of her sister’s name. “I have no idea and frankly, I try to stay out of Vanessa’s
business.”
“Fair enough,” Nivera said with a small shrug.
“But seriously, I hope you don’t let the media get into your head. They are good at twisting things.”
“I know and it’s so annoying. Don’t they have anything better to do.”
“No, they don’t, but Antonio should be handling them like I heard he always does, and I know you’re not a gold–diggers so fuck their opinions.”
“Now I see why you’re always getting cancelled,” Zabelle laughed
“I find it very tiring to pretend about something,” Nivera shrugged.
“But seriously, thank you. You’re the first friend I’ve had in forever.”
Niyera smiled, leaning back in her chair. “The feeling’s mutual. Besides don’t mention it. Having been in the spotlight all my life. I know how those assholes work.”
Zabelle chuckled, the tension in her shoulders easing slightly. “You’re not wrong about them being assholes.”
Chapter 95
The conversation then shifted to lighter topics, until it gradually shifted back to Nivera and Alejandro,
“By the way, how did the family dinner go last night?” She inquired and Nivera groaned.
“Terrible. Alejandro went with me, and it ended with him puncing one of my family members.”
“He did that?” Zabelle gasped and Nivera nodded. “But he’s not the type to go around punching someone if they don’t deserve it.”
“Well,” Nivera began, as a grin appeared on her face. “You’re right about that. It was my sister’s husband who misbehaved with me. He insinuated that I was a slut and Alejandro punched him.”
“Oh. I’m so sorry to hear that,” Zabelle apologized.
“Why are you apologizing, you’re not the one who called me a slut,” Nivera shook her head in amusement.
“Still. Didn’t your sister say anything in your defence?”
“We have a lot in common and one of those things include having shitty sisters,” Nivera shrugged casually.
“She’s a fool,” Zabelle hissed and Nivera chuckled.
“It’s cute when you try,” she told Zabelle.
“But speaking of shitty sisters, yours is probably loving the whole scandal. She looks like someone who’s always waiting for you to fall apart.
“She is. She thrives on it.”
“Well, screw her.”
“And screw your sister!” Zabelle repeated which made the two women burst into laughter.
They stopped laughing when they heard the sound of footsteps approaching them.
And in seconds, Antonio and Alejandro appeared in the living room, their expressions more composed than before.
“Everything all good?” Nivera asked and Alejandro nodded.
Meanwhile, Zabelle’s eyes fell on Antonio, and her thoughts took her back to those photos of him she had seen.
Why did he look at her like that, and why was her heart fluttering over the fact that he did?
