Chapter 431 Pleading Innocent
We were not meeting in the best of circumstances, but I guessed I had my bad luck and all the false rumors to thank for. After all, without them, I wouldn’t have had a chance to meet up with Ace like this.
“Why are you here?” I asked before I could stop myself.
It was true that I knew why he wanted or needed to talk to me, but it was another matter entirely for him to turn up right in front of my door. I began looking around and up and down the hallway anxiously in case anyone spotted us together. It seemed like luck was on our side because the hallway was empty save for our presence.
“Should we be talking here?” he asked before his lips turned up into a slight grin.
“Oh…please come in…” I quickly invited him in when I realized that it was risky to stay talking outside even if Ace was dressed up in a pretty decent disguise.
I turned and started unlocking the door. Ace stood quite close behind me and that alone made my heart skip a beat. I felt a lot more relieved when we were alone in the privacy of my room. However, that feeling of relief did not last long when I was reminded that now I had to have another difficult conversation with Ace. More than anything, I was scared that he would be disappointed in me. Even if he might believe that there was nothing going on between Jeremy and myself, it was still a very troublesome inconvenience for something like this to blow up amidst everything else that he already had to deal with. That reminded me that I hadn’t even heard from him about how the meeting regarding the merger went.
Now that we were alone, I didn’t quite know how to start a conversation with him. The truth was that I didn’t know what we should talk about first or where I should even start.
“Those glasses suit you…” I complimented him a little teasingly although what I said was true.
I personally thought that the hat was a bit much especially since it was nighttime, but it did serve its purpose of hiding away some part of Ace’s face and it surely did make him less recognizable. Our situation may get even more troublesome if someone were to find out that Ace was in front of my room door at this time in the evening. Hopefully, no one would recognize him in his disguise. I guessed if he managed to fool even me,
My words seemed to have caught Ace’s attention as he turned to face me. Standing facing each other at such a close distance made my heart race in my chest and I couldn’t stop staring into his beautiful hazel eyes.
“I’m glad that you like it,” Ace replied before showing me a small smile.
“You should take a seat. Shall I help you with your coat?” I offered while returning his smile.
“Thank you, Rina,” Ace replied.
Despite my initial regret of my slip of words, I was glad that I started off our conversation on a light note because it made me realize that Ace didn’t seem mad at me. Instead, he seemed calm, and he might be in a slightly good mood. Ace shrugged off his coat and passed it to me before sitting down on the side of my bed. After quickly hanging up his coat, I approached him before sitting down next to him on the bed. I had already lost count by that time how many times we talked things out while sitting side by side on the bed like that. ????????????????????????????????.????????????
Now…where shall we start with this?
“Umm…I guess you heard…” I murmured without daring to meet his intense gaze.
“I did…” he confirmed without saying anything more.
“I’m very sorry about what happened and how you had to hear it from someone else. I honestly wanted to be the one to tell you about it but…things got busy…” I apologized before making up a lame excuse for why I didn’t give him a call.
I knew that I should have told him the truth that I had just met up with Jeremy, but it just didn’t feel like the right time to do so. My feelings were still a mess as well and I didn’t want to go through all the details with Ace just yet.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry too much about it. I’m sure that things have not been easy on your end either,” Ace replied before nodding his head understandingly.
Frankly, I was surprised at how calmly Ace seemed to be handling the news. Although I had expected him to be mature about it, I didn’t quite expect him to act so unaffected and understanding. Despite how much he seemed to understand and sympathize with my situation, I still wanted to make one thing very clear.
“It’s not true. The rumors and accusations that I’m dating Jeremy and that there might be something going on between us, all of it isn’t true,” I said firmly as I pleaded with my eyes for him to believe told me that he was pleased with my direct confession. It took a lot of effort to blurt those words out, but it seemed like my hard work me.
Ace seemed surprised at my direct words as he stared back at me. The way that corners of his lips slowly curved up into a little smile told me that he was pleased with my direct confession. It took a lot of effort to blurt those words out, but it seemed like my hard work was paying off.
“I have to say that I was very surprised when I got a call from the representative of the disciplinary committee that my secretary might be involved romantically with another employee…” Ace said, and his voice suddenly turned stern.
Ace stared at me, but it felt like he wasn’t seeing me. His eyes had a faraway look in them, and his expression had turned serious. I figured that he must be recalling that moment when he received the call bearing that unexpected bad news.
“I’m sorry, Ace. It really isn’t true…” I said in a small voice.
--To be continued…
