Divorced Heiress
Chapter 38

The seat that had been empty since my father and Jack left the cafeteria was occupied by Vincent, who arrived minutes after I asked him to come via text message.

I needed to let go of what was swirling in my head since Jack gave me the information about Alexis. I felt restless ever since, so much so that I barely paid attention to the small meeting where we analyzed LC's excellent proposal, which far exceeded the other proposals, not to mention my father's instructions for the day of the presentation of his heiress.

I immersed myself so much in my thoughts that I had even forgotten that the "undercover" journalist was still outside, photographing my every move. I discreetly looked towards the car that hadn't moved on the other side of the street. It was obvious they were looking for images that would become trending.

"I'm sorry I took so long." Vincent said, taking off his sunglasses.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, well, not entirely. Have you had breakfast? Would you like something to drink?" I asked, trying to forget about the journalist.

"I've already had breakfast, but a coffee wouldn't hurt." He replied. I called the waitress over and Vincent placed his order while I just asked for a glass of water.

"Tell me, princess, what is it that has you so anxious?"

I took a deep breath, searching for the right words to tell my cousin about the suspicions I had. There was no one I could trust with this other than him, even though Abby was my best friend and confidante, it wasn't a good idea to tell her. She was so indiscreet, she might not be able to keep the secret or would be very unreasonable.

"It's about the Lancasters." I said, and Vincent looked at me incredulously, I noticed how much mentioning that last name irritated him.

"Listen to me before you rant. I imagine you've heard that Alexander has a twin." I said, and he nodded his head confusedly. Before I could continue speaking, the waitress arrived with our drinks.

After thanking the woman for her service, I took a sip of my glass of water to clear my mind, no matter how absurd my thoughts were.

"What does that man have to do with this? I've seen the article associating you with him, I'm sure they have distorted everything just like the news three years ago." Vincent said before taking a sip of his coffee.

Of course, even Vincent, who didn't care about celebrity news, knew it. By now, my family must be aware of that article.

"Yes, they have. But that's not what has me worried. I'll make them choke on all their defamatory news soon. What I wanted to share with you is something that happened years ago and now it makes sense to me, even though it might sound crazy to anyone else." I paused under his curious gaze and continued.

"Thirteen years ago, I came to New York on vacation with Abby."

"If it has anything to do with Abby, I consider it complete madness. That woman is not just missing a screw, she's missing all of them." Vincent interrupted, and I remembered Abby's confession, but this was not the time to talk about it. I gave him an expressionless look. "Okay, continue."

"The thing is, yes, because of one of her crazy ideas, we managed to escape from my security detail and ended up at an underground race." I said, and his eyes widened significantly, almost spitting out his coffee. "See! It's very unreasonable, it's reckless, it's troublesome, it's..." Vincent started.

"Vincent, I know Abby, I know perfectly well who she is." I interrupted him before he continued describing her. He fell silent and motioned for me to continue.

"Anyway, at that place, by pure chance, I bumped into Alexander, well, I bumped into his body without realizing it, he introduced himself as Alex, and out of nervousness because my security detail was close by, I blurted out my name and my real last name. I'm not saying it was love at first sight with this. In fact, it wasn't until I entered college that I saw him and immediately recognized him, but he didn't recognize me."

Now that I said it out loud, it didn't seem so absurd after all. For some strange reason, Alexis knew my last name, and according to him, I had told him. That was why he had been looking at me during the show, all signs pointed to...

"Let me see if I understand. You're telling me that you met Alexis, the Lancaster who was in a coma for thirteen years, and you mistook him for Alexander." He said. It didn't sound as crazy coming from his mouth, on the contrary, if he deduced it just from hearing a small part of the story, it meant we came to the same conclusion.

"How are you so sure?"

"I wouldn't have thought about this before, if it weren't for the fact that Alexis knows my real last name and when I asked him, he told me that I had told him."

Vincent remained motionless in his seat, looking at me with surprise in his eyes.

I let out a sigh, feeling discomfort in my chest, I didn't know what to think, this was drilling into my head.

"It can't be, he was thirteen years in a coma, it's impossible, there must be another reason. Alexander could have talked to him about you."

I shook my head while letting out a bitter laugh.

"Of course not, I'm telling you that Alexander didn't recognize me at the university, he never knew my last name, why do I know it? He has always admired Leonardo Doinel, if he knew I was his daughter, he would have asked me to take him with him or introduce him to him. But no, they always thought I had no family, the only one who knows is Alexis."

What puzzled me the most was that everything was fitting together like a puzzle.

"So, if you hadn't run into Alexis, you wouldn't have married into the Lancaster family?" That was a question I didn't have an answer to.

When I saw him at the university, I was excited to see him again, but it didn't mean I fell in love at first sight, although it influenced me to approach Alexander at the university. If I had ignored him like a complete stranger, maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't have fallen in love with him, we wouldn't have started a relationship, and we wouldn't have planned to get married after graduation.

"I don't know. Anyway, that doesn't matter, I've already divorced him. But I needed to tell someone this, I wanted to make sure that what I thought wasn't complete madness, and I see that it isn't. Do you know how he ended up in a coma? An accident in the illegal car race, he was on the passenger side, and, God, it gives me chills just thinking that maybe I met him the night of the accident, before it ended that way, and I wonder, could I have done something to prevent it? Stayed longer talking to him, if it weren't for my escort. There are so many things, Vincent, for example, who was driving the car? No one knows."

I finished my glass of water after pouring my heart out, Vincent listened attentively to every word coming out of my mouth, and after a few seconds of silence, he gave me a smile while holding my hand on the table.

"Princess, none of this is your fault, you had no idea what was going to happen, you didn't know he had a twin, or that you would meet at the university, you shouldn't burden yourself, it's all in the past now, and what should concern you is preventing Alexis from revealing your identity before the planned time." He said quietly, trying to make me feel better.

Although he might be right, I couldn't help but think that I could have done something to prevent him from getting in that car, but the truth was that what was done was done, and now many things were becoming clear.

"That won't be a problem, he won't tell anyone, I took care of it last night, why do you think they're talking about me again? Besides, my father will introduce me in five days, after signing the collaboration deal." I said, remembering the drastic change of plans. "That's great, I want to see the faces of those vipers when they find out." He said with a smirk, and I laughed, imagining the Lancasters boiling with anger.

"Speaking of vipers, can you believe she sent a paparazzi to follow me? I have no doubt it was Amelia." Vincent discreetly looked around.

"The car parked on the other side of the street." I helped him with the search, and his gaze paused for a few seconds before turning back to me.

"Indeed, it's the same paparazzi who follows me in search of a photo he can distort as he pleases, and believe me, if he set his eyes on you, he will do the same with you."

I raised an eyebrow at the information he just gave me and smiled.

"Then, I'll give them something to talk about, will you help me?" Vincent looked at me with a furrowed brow, as if trying to guess what was going through my mind.

"Impossible to say no to you, what do you have in mind?"

A few minutes later, I couldn't stop laughing in the van, and Vincent, although he thought it was a risky idea, agreed without hesitation.

The van stopped at the entrance of a luxury hotel where Vincent usually stayed when visiting New York. I had to stop laughing and focus on my role when my cousin got out of the van and helped me out. Arm in arm, we entered the hotel, not before noticing that the paparazzi parked a few meters behind. "The driver is waiting for us by the other exit." Vincent said close to my ear, pretending to be a seducer.

I laughed complicitly and we continued our way as if we were a couple in love, and a feminine figure appeared in my field of vision, almost completely erasing my smile.

Her hazel eyes looked at me with surprise and a triumphantly half-smile formed on her face, that face that I despised, that I abhorred from the moment I found her in Alexander's office.

I looked at her disdainfully and apathetically from head to toe, before returning my gaze to my path as if she didn't exist.

"Sarah, what have you come back for? Don't think that just because you have an important position, you are worthy of a man like Alexander, he forgot about you." Rachel said as I went past her. Vincent's hand that was resting on my shoulder turned into a fist upon hearing that, and I intertwined my fingers with his to calm him down.

I barely gave her a amused look and continued on without responding to the stupidity she was saying, she made a fool of herself in front of the people present by leaving her talking alone.

She wanted attention and I wouldn't waste my time with a shameless person.

We exited through the back door, where the van was waiting as Vincent had indicated to the driver, it wasn't until we got into the car that my cousin broke the silence.

"Little princess, I hope you don't feel uncomfortable with what I'm about to say, but if Alexander was unfaithful to you with that woman, let me tell you he is truly blind, she can't even compare to you. Your beauty is incomparable. It's not that I let myself be carried away by appearances, but with her mere expression of arrogance and the way she spoke to you, she is a horrible person." Vincent showed his contempt for Rachel and far from bothering me, it made me laugh.

After all, Rachel and Alexander were made for each other.

My phone rang in my purse before I could say anything. It was an unknown number, but I still answered.

"Hello?"