The room felt like a tense boardroom meeting as Xenia walked in, not expecting to find three people waiting for her.
The atmosphere was thick with a strange tension that made her nerves tingle.
"Leanne?" she asked, slightly surprised.
Leanne was perched on the couch, examining Xenia with a calm scrutiny. "Disappointed?" she asked, her voice soft yet piercing.
Xenia was stunned. She had always thought of Leanne as gentle and unthreatening, but the sharpness in her gaze made her feel transparent, and she felt Leanne could see right through her. "Why would you ask that, Leanne?" Xenia feigned ignorance.
"The room is thick with pretense," Joy couldn't hold back her irritation. "Can we talk straight for once? Or do I need to knock some sense into you?"
While Leanne's kindness might have been a facade, Joy's bluntness was undeniably true.
Xenia glanced nervously at Curtis, seeking his reaction. He leaned against the couch with a casual elegance that seemed innate, his aristocratic demeanor as untouchable as a distant snowy peak. His hand rested on Leanne's shoulder, the other draped over the armrest, revealing a sliver of his crisp white shirt cuff under a platinum watch with a sapphire crystal face that shimmered like a starlit sky.
She suddenly felt out of her depth. How could such a lofty figure have an interest in someone like her?
At that moment, the door knocked twice before Caleb entered, handing Curtis a stack of documents.
Curtis flipped through them with a cold and sarcastic smirk.
"So predictable," he murmured.
Leanne picked up the documents with a measured calm, while Joy, who was always curious, leaned in close to get a better look.
"What the hell?" Joy's voice sounded with shock. "You tried to model yourself after Anne?"
The documents displayed Xenia's hospital records for cosmetic surgery and before-and-after photos. Initially, her resemblance to Leanne was slight, but she bore a closer likeness post-surgery. Xenia's face flushed with embarrassment.
The documents also detailed her bank transactions over the years, including deposits and the financial details of various acquaintances, all laid out with unsettling clarity.
"What's all this supposed to mean?" Joy asked, puzzled.
Mindful of the ladies present, Caleb explained delicately, "It appears she had relationships with these gentlemen, some more fleeting than others. We couldn't compile everything given the time constraints." Joy caught on instantly. "Ah, so you're playing the field."
"Why are you investigating me?" Xenia's face turned red, and she moved as if to confront them, but Caleb stepped in her way. Holding the documents between her thumb and forefinger, Joy tossed them at Xenia's feet. "Here, you seem eager to have them." With her cover blown, Xenia just crumpled to the floor, no longer able to keep up the act.
"What was your purpose?" Leanne asked, genuinely confused. "Why go through all this to look like someone you didn't know?"
Xenia looked up at her, tears brimming in her eyes. The first time she saw Leanne's photo, envy had surged through her. Raised on compliments, Xenia had always treasured her beauty. Next to Leanne, however, she felt like a pale imitation.
She had endured the pain of jawline surgery to mimic Leanne's facial structure more closely. But capturing Leanne's unique blend of aloofness and warmth was another challenge.
"I had no purpose," she confessed, her voice breaking. "I loved your face and wanted to be as beautiful. Is that so wrong?"
"How did you meet Grace?" Curtis suddenly asked.
"I met Grace at a theater group. She came to see me perform, and afterward, we became close friends..." Xenia's rehearsed story was abruptly cut off by Curtis' icy tone.
Sᴇarch the FindNovel.net website on G𝘰𝘰gle to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.
Report
