Chapter: 12

Only then did he Lift his gaze from his phone.

He looked at her with a detached amusement, as though he was admiring a pretty bird in a cage. “The 14th."

Her heart dropped like a stone, her mind spinning with the weight of those words.

The 14th?

That was the day of her "incident"!

Heart pounding in her chest, she continued her line of questioning.

“And where were you staying that day?"

Caden leaned back, a smug smile dancing on his lips as he watched her squirm. He seemed to relish seeing her panic like this. "Can't remember. I was too busy fucking some girl."

Fucking some girl?

Alicia felt her mouth go dry in an instant.

This still didn't prove anything, but anxiety gnawed at her insides.

Before she could question him further, Caden's phone rang, breaking the tension.

He lazily answered, glancing her way with a raised brow. "What is she looking for?"

The cinema manager's voice crackled through the line. "A ring."

Caden glanced at Alicia's delicate hands.

She hadn't heard anything the caller had said, but his look alone was enough to make her frown. Without thinking, she clasped her hands together.

When the call ended, Caden's voice was tinged with mockery. "Didn't Joshua spend a fortune on a bracelet for you? Why aren't you wearing it?"

At this, Alicia's expression darkened. She spoke with a coldness that concealed the sting beneath.

"He bought it for his mistress," she muttered indifferently.

Caden let out a low, humorless laugh. “Generous, isn't he? Spending a fortune on a dog collar."

Alicia said nothing, but she felt a strange sense of satisfaction in his words.

And just like that, the weight of her earlier doubts and worries faded into the background.

Whoever that man had been that night didn't matter. She had used him, and that was all. She'd moved on.

As they pulled up to Monica's house, Alicia hesitated. She wondered if she should thank Caden, but in the end, she said stiffly, “I'll wash the coat and send it back to the Yates Mansion."

Caden, ever far from gallant, gave her a smirk. "If you dirtied it, just hand me fifty thousand in cash."

Huh?

Alicia blinked in bewilderment.

Fifty thousand? For this coat?

She could probably buy something better than this rag with that kind of money!

But then again, she hadn't complained while using it earlier. Now, with no room for protest, she forced herself to comply.