Five Years a Secret, Now I Deny We Ever Met Chapter 17

Five Years a Secret, Now I Deny We Ever Met Chapter 17

Early the next morning, I was “invited” by Sebastian’s family butler to their townhouse on the Upper East Side. I wasn’t seated in the living room filled with classical oil paintings, but in a small sitting room outside the study. The coffee in front of me had gone cold.

The study door was ajar, and I could clearly hear Sebastian’s mother, Susan, suppressing her fury on the phone.

She was calling Isabella’s mother.

“…Sebastian had some kind of breakdown last night. Now he’s threatening to cancel the engagement. He’s ruined everything.”

There was a moment of silence, then a cold, unfamiliar female voice came through, devoid of emotion.

“Susan, this is a matter of your family’s credibility. When this arrangement was made, both our families understood our responsibilities. Now, control your son.”

*Click.*

The call ended.

Susan let out a short, choked sound of rage. But before she could digest the humiliation, an even more terrible roar erupted from the study.

It was Sebastian’s father.

“Are you insane? What do you think our family’s reputation is? What do you think the agreement with the board is—some childish game?”

A crisp slap rang out, followed by Sebastian’s suppressed cry of pain.

Haggard and exhausted, like a trapped animal, he laid out the entire absurd plan he had devised to help Isabella’s family.

Then he shouted hysterically, “The only person I’ve ever loved is Chloe. She’s the one I want to spend my life with. I—”

“Sebastian.”

I pushed open the study door and stood in the entrance, cutting off his declaration of love.

“I already have new research funding. From the Julian Foundation.”

He jerked his head around to look at me. A trace of astonishment flashed in his bloodshot eyes, then he laughed neurotically.

“So what if you have new funding? Chloe, I don’t believe you can just erase five years of memories in that little apartment in Florence.”

After hearing her son’s words, Susan covered her mouth in shock. She turned to me, her eyes full of suspicion.

“Chloe… were you really secretly dating Sebastian?”

A faint gleam of triumph flashed in Sebastian’s eyes.

He knew me too well. He was certain that, with my pride, I would never lie in this situation, in front of his parents. Acknowledging our past was his final bargaining chip.

I looked at his expression of smug certainty and slowly opened my mouth.

“No.”

“We were never together.”

The smile on his face froze. True panic finally appeared in his eyes.