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Chapter 72 - BEST FRIEND

"What have you gotten yourself into, Ace?"

I lifted my gaze to my best friend, warily battling whether to feel deliberately annoyed or concerned by the hidden warning on his tone. Lucas Nicholas Alexander, my loyal best friend sat on the bar stool beside me, arms folded across his chest, a can of beer remained untouched at the top of the bar counter in front of him. Irritation irked his aristocratic face while impatiently waiting for my response. I didn\'t say an immediate reply. Instead, I lifted the half-consumed bottle of beer, brought it to my mouth, and drank its contents up to the last drop.

The silence inside the bar of my friend\'s large Manor was disconcerting but it was more manageable compared to the series of interrogations I unexpectedly received after I told him my current dilemma. He has the audacity to lecture me like an older brother when he was almost facing the same difficult situation I experienced months before—he too was on the brink of divorce. He discovers his wife\'s illicit affair with her cousin\'s fiance.?He nearly killed his wife on the night he discovered she was about to run away with another man. In the end, he chose the nonviolent way. He decided to opt for divorce.

"I don\'t know Lucas. I may be walking straight into the entrance of hell and not know it." I lifted the can to my mouth and surprised myself to find it empty. I sighed with frustration and let it drop to the counter after clenching it with my fist.

"Why don\'t you just tell Phoenix, I mean Beatrice the truth?" Luca\'s tone softened but his face remained its usual impassive expression.

The sound of my choked laughter almost surprised me. "Are you kidding? She will hate me once I tell her the truth. Have you forgotten that it\'s my fault why she nearly got killed? I consider it a miracle that she even survived. I don\'t want her to remember how monster I am." My fingers brushed my hair, an old habit I couldn\'t avoid when frustrations hit me.

"You must be responsible for your actions. Face her wrath then show her how an asshole you had been. Ask for forgiveness" Lucas said nonchalantly, his gaze shifted to the beer bottle seated on top of the bar counter and wondered why it was even there in the first place. He didn\'t drink beer but it was what he picked up in the refrigerator. It seems I wasn\'t the only one too occupied today.

It took me a vast amount of self-control not to bang my head on the shiny bar counter. Lucas was asking me to do the impossible. Telling Beatrix the truth was like jumping on the rooftop of a skyscraper.?It\'s easier said than done.?If I told Beatrix the truth now, she will hate me forever. The worst is she will take Faith Vienne away from me.

"Before I tell her the truth I want to find who tried to kill her."

"But you have the suspect already. It was Angela and Vince who possessed the greatest motive."

"Yes they are the main suspect and without a doubt, I knew that they are guilty as hell. But I need pressing evidence to make them pay for their crimes."

"And how would you do that, Ace?"

"I have my ways, Lucas," I said the words firmly and full of determination. I will never allow the culprits to evade the punishment they deserve. If I have to sacrifice my life to make them pay… I will.

My gaze shifted straight ahead, seeing nothing in particular, my thoughts swirling around me in chaotic disorder. And in the midst of my reverie, her seraphic face appeared pushing all my worries away. For a moment I found myself staring into an ethereal beauty with enchanting phoenix eyes, a cute upturned nose, and thin shapely lips. I found myself smiling at the memory of her cute, blushing cheeks. My sweet beautiful Phoenix.

The only reason why I allowed to become Alexander Crawford\'s gardener was to have my great masterpiece back. It\'s insanely important to me that I agreed to enter a job I know was below my line of work. It never occurred to me that the fates were playing a game with me not until after I discovered a shocking discovery in the form of Beatrix Crawford.

God knows how dumbfounded I was after seeing her descend the stairs in a jaw-dropping gown that shook the room with her charm. What made the situation more astonishing was seeing her alive after I thought she was indeed dead. The fact that she was the daughter of Alexander Crawford made the situation more awkward especially after realizing I\'m her father\'s lowly gardener.

Things became even more complicated after I discovered she had a daughter—our beautiful daughter—Faith Vienne. Despite her missing memories, I knew deep in her heart she never forgot our first child the way I never forgot Vien.

My plan from the very beginning was plain simple but it was shattered by a few unexpected twists. Instead of wanting to have the painting alone, I ended up wanting her… and so did our daughter. The painting could burn to hell for all I care. All I wanted to do now was keep my family safe.?It\'s okay if Phoenix or Beatrix will never remember me. It\'s okay if Faith?Vienne will never know I am her father. As long as they are happy and in good condition, I will be content with my life. It would be enough for me to watch them over a distance.

"Shall I drive you back to the Crawford Mansion?"?Lucas offered. My burgeoning thoughts were cut short and I nodded thankful for the favor he offered me. I abandoned my seat in a snap, a surging excitement burned inside me, I wanted to return to the mansion as fast as possible.

I snatched the empty bottle from the bar counter and threw it in the trash can. Lucas moved to return the unconsumed beer to the refrigerator. "You can always come here if you want." He said after closing the refrigerator. "You\'re always welcome."

I didn\'t reply. Instead, I waited for him to pick his car keys on the counter so we could leave. I\'m eager to come home. We walk down the long staircase in silence. Lucas must have felt that I was not in the mood for another lengthy conversation.

At the foot of the stairs, a tall woman waits. She was a stunning woman in her mid-twenties with a body to die for. The wild curls of her flaming red hair frame her small face. Her plump lips were stretched into an ethereal smile that brightened her whole face. She has fine and high cheekbones that complemented her perfectly chiseled nose. Her eyes were too large for her face, one would perceive as innocent except that the word \'innocent\' would be the last thing to describe Alexandria Alexander— Lucas\'s wife.

I\'d seen her a couple of times before but there\'s something wrong about her today. She seems to be a different woman—a totally different woman. She\'s a known celebrity and model. She never once allows anyone to see her face bare of makeup but now her face doesn\'t even have a slight trace of foundation nor lipstick. But it didn\'t make her less attractive. Instead, it made her appear youthful and vibrant.

She was wearing a brown loose longsleeve that made me cringe. On her bottom she wore a black long skirts that nearly reached her ankles, my deceased grandma will never wear that ugly skirt even if someone put a shotgun on her head.

This woman…. I couldn\'t believe that she\'s Lucas Nicholas Alexander\'s wife.

"Lucas? Are you coming for lunch?" Her voice was soft and sweet as rose\'s petals and I nearly fell from the last steps of the stairs noticing how she sounded like a nun, not only she sounded like a nun but she definitely looks like one.

"No." It was Lucas\'s response. He didn\'t bother to throw her a glance. What a pity.

"Oh, it\'s okay. I\'m planning to cook for you but I guess I will just cancel my plans. Take care Nic." Alexandria said and drifted to the kitchen, cheerfully humming a song as if she didn\'t just receive a rejection from her husband.

"What happened to your wife?" It was the first thing I blurted out after we\'re settled inside his shiny BMW. I still can\'t recover from the shock. That\'s not Alexandria.

"She\'d been like that after the car accident a month ago." He responds shrugging his shoulders.

"She seems different. I thought she couldn\'t cook?" I respond with eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

"She developed a sudden interest in cooking after the accident. Not only that she\'s planning to apply for a job."

"She\'s going back to her old career?"

"No," Lucas replied plainly, his face contorted with displeasure. "She applied for a housekeeping job in a hotel."

"What!?"

The engine roared to life. Moments later the car was peacefully rolling on the highway.

"Are you sure that she\'s Alexandria? Did she have amnesia or something?"

"Unfortunately yes," Lucas replied, he didn\'t bother to conceal the irritation on his voice anymore. "For god\'s sake were are not talking about my wife Ace, it\'s you\'re your wife we\'re talking about."

"It\'s ex-wife Lucas." I corrected, looking toward the window and avoiding direct contact.

He snorted. "She\'s still your wife Ace. The lawyer you hired was a fraud. You and Phoenix are not legally divorced."