CHAPTER 66: SECOND HALF

"This woman cheated on you, she has such a big scandal and you’re asking me to sign her with my company?" She asked. She took a deep breath and shook her head. "No."

Katherine couldn’t believe her ears. "And why not?" She asked. "I’m one of the top models in Lexora and I was signed with Veila, a modeling company ten times bigger than yours. You should be glad I considered your company instead of aiming for Eleoquise."

Celeste stared at Katherine for two seconds before looking at Nathan with a cocked up eyebrow, silently asking if he was hearing what she was hearing also.

Nathan glared at Katherine, signaling her to stay quiet before he faced Celeste.

"Do you hear what this woman is saying?" Celeste asked with a scoff, still unable to believe her ears. "Her scandal is big. She cheated on you and is still denying it. And now, she’s denying it. How are you so sure that the baby is yours?"

Nathan knew his sister was going to ask this question.

"I’ll get a DNA test once the baby is born," he responded, but that wasn’t enough for Celeste.

Katherine and Celeste may be sisters-in-law, but they didn’t have a healthy relationship.

After Eva went missing and Nathan proposed to Katherine, she’d always despised her. Celeste was much closer to Eva and she treated her like a sister. So once Eva disappeared and Katherine replaced her like nothing happened, she’d been silently raging, and stayed far away so she wouldn’t encounter Katherine no matter what.

But her brother wanted her to sign Katherine into her agency.

"Celeste..." Nathan called when she didn’t say anything. "This is important." He was aware of how rotten the relationship between Celeste and Katherine was, and since he despised what he was doing—helping Katherine—he had no other choice.

She cheated on him, but that child in her belly could still be his.

**

In Veila, Megan gathered all the girls for an announcement.

"I’m sure all of you have seen the post from Veila’s official social media handle. It is true. Veila has terminated their contract with Katherine Cross," said Megan, a small smile on her lips.

The girls gasped. They’d thought that perhaps the account was hacked because they’d never thought that Katherine’s contract with Veila would be terminated so soon.

"But you don’t need to worry. The campaign is still ongoing, and instead of having a face next to Katherine which was our main goal, we’d have a new face entirely. So, good luck girls." Then she left.

The girls started jubilating because this was a much bigger opportunity for them compared to just being on the sidelines.

Alisha had things to do, so she didn’t stay for long.

Two hours later, she arrived at her hideout where Ryan was typing on his computer so aggressively.

He had his glasses falling onto his nose bridge with so much focus that he didn’t even notice when she came in.

She helped the glasses sit properly on his face, which made him gasp while a smile bloomed on her face.

"You should rest, Ryan. You look like you haven’t slept in days," she said, looking over the monitor to see what he was doing. It was all sorts of codes that made her head dizzy so she immediately looked away.

She dropped the food container she’d picked up on the way on the table. "You should eat."

"My goodness, it’s like we have telepathy or something. How did you know I was hungry?" He asked, pushing his seat back as he started opening the food containers, and immediately, the aroma filled his nostrils.

"We’re spiritually connected," she joked.

She had her reason for coming. She hadn’t told Ryan or her brothers what she’d found in Mr. De Rossi’s study, including his threat. But looking at Ryan now, she decided to let him eat and rest for a while.

For over a year now, he’d been the one doing most of the work and only let her tag along when she insisted because according to him, she still needed a long rest and hadn’t completely recovered yet.

Five hours later,

Alisha returned to the room to find Ryan just waking up after forcing him to take a nap. She’d been training, sharpening her kicks and punches.

Although she was able to defeat Mason, it was by tough luck.

"Feeling better?" She asked and he nodded.

Ryan was like her second half, the only one who understood her even when she didn’t say a word. He was like her pillar, making sure she didn’t crumble to the ground.

They both met at the orphanage after Alisha’s parents died. Thankfully, the family that adopted them were close friends so they did everything together and became even closer than they thought they would.

Just like Alisha, Ryan’s real parents were murdered. He’d found the murderer long ago, but unfortunately, he was dead so he couldn’t give his parents the justice that they rightfully deserved.

"Great! I have something to show you," she said, giving him her phone to take a look at the photos she’d taken.

Then she reiterated what happened at the wedding anniversary, Mylo’s suspicious actions, and Mr. De Rossi’s threat.

"That old man is threatening you?" She suddenly heard Jace’s voice from the door. He was with Adrian who had an ugly look on his face. She didn’t want them to know about this so they wouldn’t get worried.

"Yes, he saw me when I was stalking him," Alisha replied.

"Did you tell Dante? What did he say?" Adrian was the one who asked this time around.

"He said I should stay away from his father."

"He’s right," Jace seconded immediately. "Your relationship with Dante might not be the best but you should listen to him this time around."

Alisha understood where their concerns were coming from, but she couldn’t just quit right now.

"If you’re worried about stalking him, then I’ll hire a private investigator who’ll do it. Or get one of my men who’ll get it done. You shouldn’t put your life in danger, Eva."