Lured into Lies by Melanie Martins
Chapter 14
Manatthan, November 25, 2020
Petra Van Gatt
The good thing about the campus being in the middle of the city is that I can always ask Zach to drop me there, before booking a Uber and heading to the real place I intend to go. I’m perfectly aware Zach reports every place he drops me off to my fiancé. Despite Alex constantly denying it, I’m pretty convinced he keeps records of where I am for the sake of my “security” just like Dad used to do with his driver, Anthony. Too bad I can beat him at his own game. After Zach drops me off, I pretend I’m going to the library before booking an Uber to pay a visit to someone I never thought I would see again…Matt.
When I thought I wouldn’t meet him again, before leaving for the Netherlands tomorrow, he managed to defy all odds by telling me he's got something to show me about Alex—something I should see before marrying him. Well, as curious as I am, it wasn’t hard for him to convince me. I wonder what he could possibly know that I don’t, but I will soon find out.
As I get into his apartment, Matt greets me with a friendly hug, his expression slightly more serious than usual before inviting me to the living room where we sit on the sofa. A small smile escapes me watching him struggling to get stared.
“Um, do you know about that audio Alex played in court yesterday?” I nod, waiting for him to proceed. “My dad and I listened to the whole thing, and um, we thought you should probably listen to it too.” He avoids meeting my gaze, and rather, looks down at the floor.
I chuckle, the stress I had in mind vanishing; that’s what he wanted to show me? “Alex gave me a copy. I already listened to it long time ago,” I tell him straight away. And I wonder which part made him so uncomfortable for him to call me here.
His face turns blank, and he nearly gapes at my answer. “You listened to the whole thing?” he asks, surprised.
“Yes, I did.”
He blinks twice in total disbelief, looking at me pretty baffled. “And you don’t mind that they were flirting the whole time? And that Venice is a special place for them and that your fiancé literally said he will never take you there?”
I crease my brows because I don’t remember anything about Venice being mentioned in the audio, and the flirting was pretty much nonexistent. Sure, he was friendly and polite with her, but there was nothing that could be seen as a red flag. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, it’s literally on the audio…”
My eyes keep squinting at him, confused. “He never mentioned Venice in the audio.”
“He did, yeah…” Matt reaches for his iPhone and taps away for a moment before his attention drifts back to me. “Look, maybe he gave you another version, I don’t know.I just thought you should know the truth.”
Steadying myself, I say, “Alright, play the version your dad got from the court then.”
“Are you sure?” he asks, mostly just to taunt me.
A rush of air leaves my lungs. “Yes, Matt, go ahead.”
He presses play, and we keep as quiet as possible to listen attentively to his version.
“My lawyer told me I was a fool to meet you alone,” we hear Amanda saying with amusement in her voice as she opens the door of her apartment.
“Mine too.” Alex’s tone matches with her playfulness. And I can’t help but roll my eyes at them. “I know it’s your favorite.”
“You still remember my favorite wine?” Wine? I don’t remember this part at all. I didn’t know Alex had brought a bottle of wine. What the hell?
“Of course. After ten years, it’s kinda hard to forget.” This whole thing wasn’t in the audio I heard. And the more I keep listening, the more convinced I am that my fiancé asked his lawyer to edit the whole thing.
After one hour of nonstop flirting and laughing, my heart is aching in pain and my stomach is in knots. I don’t even dare to look at Matt because I’m pretty sure he’d be giving me the “I told you” look.
“Those accusations of sexual assault were such a low blow, though,” Alex begins. And I remember perfectly well listening to her confession and knowing that would be the winning evidence that her accusation was false. “Why on earth did you accuse me of that?”
As I listen to the liquid entering her lips, it’s clear now that Amanda is drinking the wine Alex brought. Yet, during the edited audio I thought it was just a random wine she’d grabbed from her winery since the first part was entirely cut. But how come the sound of it is louder and sharper here?
“Because you broke my heart… And now I have to break yours…” The sound of her voice is even crisper than in my version though, which can only mean she is inches from the microphone.
An uncomfortable silence ensues in the audio, and my heart thunders loudly in my chest as I hear Alex clearing his throat and saying, “Alright, I should probably go.”
Oh my gosh! I put my palm over my mouth to prevent a gasp, but it’s too late. She must be sitting on his lap, and they were about to kiss! That’s why there was silence, and that’s why he became so uncomfortable. “I don’t want to be accused of sexual assault again.” Fuck! It’s obvious! Then I can hear Alex trying to move from his seat.
“Stay a bit more…” Her voice is meek and cute, like she has been doing all along.
“Amanda,” Alex insists, sounding rather irritated, most likely because she isn’t leaving his lap. She lets out a gush of air in annoyance, and it seems like she’s finally standing up.
I can hear footsteps walking on the floor and a door that cracks open. Finally, he’s about to leave. There’s the sound of a peck, but it seems to be one given on the cheek, and I have the feeling that’s why they didn't cut that part on my version.
“If you have a change of heart before the big day, let me know,” Amanda says, lower than usual, like a whisper, but it’s clear as daylight.
“Fuck…” I pull the word off of my chest when the audio is finally over. “You must be happy to know he lied to me.”
“I’m not happy, no.” Matt seems rather concerned as he looks at me with some pity in his gaze. “I just want you to make an informed decision before getting married to this guy.” His words carry a heaviness I wasn’t ready for. “That shows how far he’s willing to go in order to hide the truth from you.”
I feel so humiliated to be here and listening to concrete evidence that my fiancé is a damn liar. Jeez… And I’m supposed to fly tomorrow to the Netherlands with Emma. It’s not like they kissed or something worse, but fuck, why did he lie to me? Why did he edit that audio if he had nothing to hide? I feel numb, emotionally drained, and lost, because ultimately, this is betrayal. He betrayed my trust by giving me an edited version thinking I’d swallow his lie like candy. I bury my head between my palms, the audio still playing in my mind as the anger boils down in my stomach.
“Hey…” Matt rubs his hand on my back, trying to soothe me. “I’m sorry for his behavior, I know it hurts.” I don’t find the will to reply, so I just stay there with my head between my hands. “I hope you’re not mad at me for showing you that."
“No, of course not,” I tell him as I remove my hands from supporting my head so that I can look at him. “I’d rather face harsh truths than living with his sweet lies.”
Despite his seriousness, his lips curve up at my words, and he says, “That’s what I thought too.”
* * *
Alexander Van Dieren
As I step into the dining room for our daily dinner, my eyes alight on my fiancée already at the table, waiting for me. Wow. My brows raise up, astonished by her unusual punctuality. Yet, she’s leaning against the back of her chair, her arms crossed over her chest, with thick annoyance in her gaze.
“Is everything alright?” I ask, pulling my chair so that I can sit in front of her.
Petra doesn’t say a word. Yet she narrows her eyes on me, staring at me like an assassin before killing his victim. “You really thought you could lie and get away with it, huh?”
Frowning at her question, I ask, “What are you talking about?”
She cuts eye contact with me, her fingers playing with the base of her fork as she seems to be thinking something through. “What’s the Venetian ceremony?” Her eyes meet mine, and I try my best not to appear shocked at her question. What the fuck?
“Who gave you the unedited audio?” I can’t prevent the anger in my tone.
“Answer my question,” she demands.
“Answer mine first.”
Nothing but a tense silence fills the space between us as we glare at each other.
Her eyes travel down to her plate as she mutters, “Matt gave it to me.” Fucking asshole. It must have been Eric who gave him a copy, which might explain why he was so confident yesterday after losing the case. “Now, what’s the Venetian ceremony you took Amanda to for the past ten years?”
“It’s just a private party,” I tell her, not wanting to touch this subject.
But Petra won’t let this go, so she keeps asking me. “If it’s just a private party, then why did you say you’ll never take me there?”
What a fucking inquisitor, jeez! How did she end up being so fucking curious and annoying at the same time?
“Because I needed her to talk,” I answer right away. “And for that, I needed her to feel special. That’s Psychology 101 for you. If you want to go, I will take you, but it’s just your regular carnival party in Venice, that’s it.”
“That’s not the point.”
“So what’s the point, huh? Tell me.”
She chuckles at my answer, shaking her head. “You edited the whole thing…” Her head tilts up for a moment, and she takes a deep breath, like she is trying to calm herself down. “Don’t you get it? You fucking lied to me!”
“I did it because I knew you wouldn’t like the way I was talking to her.”
“Oh, because you were flirting with her?” Is it a question or an assertion? It’s hard to tell.
“No,” I snap back. “I was just making her feel at ease so she would talk. I had no intention to do absolutely anything with her. I just needed her confession,” I insist. Blowing out a breath, I try to keep my composure, but I’m already tired of this whole discussion. “Look, I understand you are young and your dad sheltered you way too much, but in the real world, people will do anything to destroy someone they hate—absolutely anything. Whatever it takes. Do you get that? The only way I could win is by proving that her accusation was nothing but a lie.” Despite my explanation, Petra keeps her hands crossed over her chest in annoyance, like she doesn’t want to get my point or hear my side of the story. “I edited it because I knew you would throw a tantrum. And I was right—I love you, but sometimes you are really childish and short-sighted.”
Her expression instantly switches as she looks at me with astonishment. “I’m childish because I’m calling you out for editing an audio where you were flirting with your ex? Oh, wow…” she shakes her head once more, her gaze filled with disappointment and a splash of hatred.
“You know I was just pretending, for God’s sake!” I tell her, my tone frustrated at her stubbornness. “I don’t give a fuck about Amanda.” I pause for a beat as a rush of air leaves my lungs. “You know it. Or at least, you should.” Since we are both exhausted and stressed out by this whole discussion, silence settles between us, and we remain sitting in front of each other like enemies finding no middle ground. Petra stares away, no longer wanting to look me in the eye. From my end, I don’t know what else to say, so I remain quiet for a bit longer, waiting for her to tell me what is going on in her mind, but she doesn’t. “Don’t you see what they are trying to do to us?” I ask, breaking our unbearable silence. “They are trying to create division. War. We need to be united against them.”
She finally faces me but seems to be just as angry. “You should have told me the truth about the audio instead of cutting it to avoid this talk in the first place.” Then, she stands up from her seat, leaves the table, and stops right beside me, sitting slightly on the edge of the table, her arms still crossed over her chest. “The childish one was you for trying to fool me.” There’s so much disappointment in her tone that it smashes my heart into a thousand pieces. And if when I was with Amanda, I couldn’t care less about her opinion or disappointing her, with Petra I find myself wanting to do something I’ve never done before.
“Fine,” I blurt out, throwing the defensive approach out of the window. “I apologize for giving you an edited audio. I shouldn’t have done that. I was just…” It’s hard to get the last word out, but if what she wants is honesty, then it’s honesty that she’ll get. “I was just scared.”
She raises her brows in shock before blinking twice at me. “Scared?”
“Yeah, of course. I was scared of disappointing you or, gosh, um, even losing you.”
Petra remains standing beside me, totally speechless by my admission, but at least now there’s some hint of a smile playing on her lips. “Was it that hard to be honest with me?”
The corner of my lips also curve up at her question. “A bit…”
To my surprise, she sits on my lap, runs a hand under my open collar, and her beautiful blue eyes meet mine, only for her to freeze me on the spot with her warning. “I love you, Alexander, but never lie to me again like this.”
“Or else?” I dare to ask.
“Or else, I’m not sure if I’d be so forgiving.”
* * *
Teterboro, November 26, 2020
“If you need anything, just call me,” I tell Petra once more as I drop her off in front of the plane that will take her and Emma to the Netherlands. What an idea my sisters had to take her away from me. My condo will really feel different tonight. We remain standing outside the car while the driver and the flight attendant take care of her luggage. I cup her jawline, looking once more into her beautiful blue eyes that I won't see again for a week. As I come to think of it, I've never minded when my previous girlfriends would leave; actually, it was more like a relief, but when Petra goes away, it feels like she’s taking my heart with her––leaving me empty and nostalgic. Absolutely ridiculous how I became so attached and used to her presence to a point it feels hard to let her go.
“Yes, I will, don’t worry.” She, on the other hand, seem to be reveling in my uneasiness and discomfort in seeing her leave. Standing on her tiptoes, she leans in and presses her lips on mine for a quick peck.
“Be careful with my mom,” I warn her. “If she tries to be controlling or overbearing, let me know.”
“Oh, she seems so different from you,” she says, her tone sarcastic.
“Petra!” I hear Emma shouting as she waits for her by the airplane stairs. “Can we go now or what?”
“Call me when you land, okay?” I give her another quick kiss on the forehead, and my heart squeezes tight at the idea that she won't sleep in our bed tonight.
“Gosh! Alex, your princess is gonna be gone only for a few days! It’s not the end of the world!” Emma strides in our direction and then reaches for Petra’s hand to drag her onto the plane.
But before Emma can pull her away, Petra looks behind her, waving at me. “See you soon.”
And my chest rises and falls with a wistful smile as I watch them get on the plane.