Divorced Heiress
Chapter 39

I remained silent for a few seconds and my brow furrowed almost automatically. I looked at Vincent, who was already looking at me curiously.

The conversation with Vincent came to my mind and a chill ran through my body.

"How did he get my number?" I asked after a long silence where only my breathing could be heard.

"It doesn't matter. I'm calling to invite you to lunch, I would like to talk to you." He said. I could tell that he still had difficulty speaking clearly, but I could understand him perfectly.

I pondered for a moment if it was a good idea to accept his invitation, and although I had many doubts that would like to clarify, we had nothing to talk about except my identity, but he gave me his word that he wouldn't say anything to anyone. After suspecting that I made a mistake with Alex thirteen years ago, I preferred to keep even more distance.

"I don't think it's possible, I have many things to do. Maybe I'll accept your invitation another time, Mr Lancaster." I said. When I mentioned his last name, Vincent gestured for me to retract my statement.

"Wait a moment."

I moved the phone away from my ear and covered it with my hand to hear what Vincent wanted to tell me, without Alexis being able to hear.

"Is it Alexis?" He asked in a whisper, and I nodded my head in response.

"Don't you want to find out? You should talk to him." He said, looking at me confused and incredulous

He was one of those who preferred to keep my distance from the Lancasters and he was suggesting that I should talk to one of them.

"I don't want to know anything about it, what should we talk about? If it really was him, there's nothing I can do, it was just a chance encounter." I said. Vincent raised one of his thick eyebrows, as if he knew that I had questions inside that only Alexis or Alexander could answer.

"Aren't you curious about how he remembers you after being on the brink of death for so long?" That question stirred all the questions that were swirling in my head.

I turned my gaze away from Vincent and returned to the call with Alexis.

"Sorry for the wait, what time and where would it be?" I asked.

...

I felt a pressure in my chest and a bad taste in my mouth as I stepped back into the house where I lived for two years with Alexander. The memory of the last time I was in this place overwhelmed me completely and I had to take deep breaths to dissipate the uncomfortable feeling.

Why did I have to listen to Vincent?

Alexis couldn't leave the house due to his recovery, so he invited me to Alexander's house where he was being taken care of and evaluated by a medical team. Although I refused to even set foot in the house, I repeated to myself over and over again that it shouldn't affect me and even less when Alexis emphasized that Alexander wouldn't be home all afternoon, maybe he noticed my discomfort.

And now that I was here, it was inevitable to remember the time when I was the wife of the Lancaster family.

I took a deep breath one last time and entered the living room when Anna, the housekeeper, greeted me. She was surprised to see me, but I didn't pay attention.

"Mr. Alexis will be here in a moment, with permission." Anna said before going into the kitchen.

The house had some changes, the furniture was new, as well as the paintings and decorations, yet it looked the same as before, with no photos of our marriage, which relieved me.

"Hello, Sarah. Thank you for accepting to come here." Alexis appeared in his wheelchair and although he controlled it with a remote, a couple of nurses accompanied him.

Although he didn't have his elegant suit from last night, he still looked refined in his sportswear, his eyes met mine and then, I remembered the gaze of that boy I bumped into, who looked at me with caution and tenderness.

I dismissed any thoughts and stood up from the couch to extend my hand to him.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Lancaster." I said. His eyes landed on my hand and I thought he wouldn't shake it with his, but when I was about to lower it, his hand took mine and gave it a slight squeeze.

"And don't worry, I found some free time, after all, I owe you a favor."

With that, I was referring to the secret I was keeping, although if he didn't charge me the favor, it would be much better for me. I let go of his hand after a few seconds.

"You must be the woman who helped with Alexis' recovery. Nice to meet you, I'm Viviana, and this is Ofelia."

The voice of one of the nurses caught my attention and I couldn't help but look at them, confused and surprised.

Help with the recovery? That's totally false. I only saw him once, there's no way I helped him.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Sarah Petit. I think there's a misunderstanding, I did not help Mr. Lancaster." I clarified the situation before I got involved with Alexis once again.

"Viviana, Ofelia, please leave us alone. I'll call you if I need you, thank you." Alexis intervened before the nurses could say another word, and they immediately obeyed, leaving me alone with Alexis. "You can have a seat, Ms. Petit."

"Thank you." I sat back down and he pulled his chair to the side of the individual couch, facing me with the coffee table in between us.

"Mr. Lancaster, I don't know why you need to talk to me, but if it's about my last name, I want you to know that..."

"Your secret is safe with me, Sarah. It's not about that that I want to talk to you. I've heard some things that happened while I was in a coma and I don't know where to begin. Actually, I do know. I want to apologize for my family's behavior. I'm not apologizing on their behalf, everyone is responsible for their actions and they will do as they please, but I feel, in some way, ashamed of how you've been treated by a family that prides itself on good manners, class, and power. If I hadn't had this accident that left me like this, believe me, Gina's education would have been different and I would have somehow taken care of my mother. I found out that you were married to Alexander for two years and I know what she did to make you get divorced. This is not the way you should have met my family."

He didn't stop speaking, despite how difficult it was for him. He said everything he thought about his own family.

I looked at Alexis as if he were from another world. He didn't seem like just another Lancaster. He had been absent for years, but that didn't stop him from now appearing more serious and mature than all the Lancaster members combined. I had no doubt that if things had happened differently, he would have been the head of the family after Mr. Lancaster's death.

Although he looked fragile, he also looked imposing and respectable. If he set his mind to it, he could make anyone tremble, as evidenced last night when he scolded Gina when she attacked me.

"Mr. Lancaster, I appreciate your intention, but you haven't done anything to me, I have nothing to apologize for. And it's no secret that I was married to Alexander for two years. Maybe it wasn't the best way to meet your family, but things have already happened and I want to turn the page. I don't want anything to do with them. I'm here for work, but I'll soon go back to Paris, and everything will go on as it has been since my divorce." I said, knowing that it wouldn't be as simple as I made it sound. Nothing would be the same once everyone met Sarah Doinel, especially when they found out that I had Alexander's child.

Alexis' gaze dimmed for a moment, and he fell into complete silence as if he were analyzing something. I couldn't guess what.

"I want to ask you a question." He finally said, after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence.

"How did you end up married to Alexander?"

His question caught me off guard, and I shifted uncomfortably on the couch. I didn't want to talk about the past, especially if it had to do with Alexander.

"That's an irrelevant topic." I evaded, tapping my knee with my fingertips.

"I also want to ask you a question. How do you know who I am?" I asked, hoping he would reveal what I had been suspecting so far.

His lips curved into a faint smile that I couldn't decipher, but it made me feel nervous and anxious to know what was going through his mind.

"Don't you remember me?"

That question confirmed my suspicions. He didn't need to say more for me to know what he was talking about. I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to tell me everything.

"Are you still running away from your bodyguard?" He asked, amused, and a shiver ran down my spine. Was it possible that I still had doubts after that?

I let out a graceless laugh under his amused and nostalgic gaze.

"Then, if it was you I bumped into that night." I replied without beating around the bush, feeling like a complete idiot for mistaking him for his twin.

"Whom else could it be?" He asked as he approached in his wheelchair, increasing my nerves.

"You thought it was Alexander, am I right?" He asked with a certain tone of disappointment, and I nodded my head, still feeling like a fool.

"How did you remember me?" I asked curiously, seeing his face up close. An authentic smile appeared on his face.

"From the moment you bumped into me, I couldn't get you out of my mind. Your name echoed in my head; I knew you were Leonardo Doinel's daughter, the one everyone talked about but no one knew where she was. I knew because I searched for you on social media, trying to find you, but I was made to get into that car, and when I woke up, it felt like only one night had passed. The memory of your face, your name, the memory of you came to my mind right away; I didn't remember anything else. That's why I remember you as if thirteen years hadn't passed, Sarah Doinel."

I remained paralyzed after hearing his words, which came out almost as a whisper, and I understood that he didn't want anyone in the house to hear him revealing something only he and I knew for the moment.

My heart sank at knowing that I saw him before it ended that way, and now I was thinking again about what I could have done to prevent him from getting into that car. If I had stayed a little longer to talk with him, everything would have been different. Maybe I wouldn't have fallen in love with his brother, or married him. I could have avoided so much that night.

"I... I don't know what to say." I admitted, feeling confused by the situation and feeling tears pricking at my eyes.

Alexis took one of my hands, and his warmth completely enveloped it. I didn't have the strength to pull away from his touch; I felt lost.

"It's in the past now; I'm still alive, which is the good thing. Why did you let my family treat you so badly? You don't deserve that." He said, clearly frustrated that every member of his family, without exception, had hurt me in some way.

"That doesn't matter, and it shouldn't matter to you either. That's in the past. I'm not the same Sarah who was married to Alexander. Now I don't mind taking revenge on anyone who dares to mess with me." I said, letting go of his grip that was starting to make me uncomfortable.

"And that's how it should have been from the beginning. I don't know how things turned out the way they did, but I imagine that your love for Alexander made you endure anything, and it's okay that it was your way of showing how much you loved him. But self-love must come above all else. You can't love someone without loving yourself first. Think about it, and maybe later on, you can set the course of history right, as it should have been from the start."

I stood up from the couch, feeling suddenly stifled by his sudden insinuation.

What did he mean?

Could he start a romantic relationship with his brother's ex-wife?

Had he gone crazy?

That was completely ridiculous and frowned upon. First of all, I would never be interested in my ex-husband's brother, let alone being identical twins, and second, I wouldn't allow my son to call his uncle "dad". That was absurd.

Never again with a Lancaster, no matter how good they might seem.

Furthermore, I wasn't here for life lessons. I learned that by making more than one mistake from the moment I laid my eyes on Alexander. I didn't need a stranger to tell me what I already knew and what I was doing right now. Loving myself and the most important person in my life, Tristan.

His nephew.

"Mr. Lancaster, I think you're confusing things. I don't intend to be part of your family again; that encounter was just that, an encounter. There's no way to even imagine being with you, maybe that's what destiny wanted. I'm sorry, but I have to go. I won't be able to have lunch with you. Goodbye."

I took my purse and walked towards the exit, but his question stopped me.

"Do you still feel something for him? Is that why?"

I let out a bitter laugh before turning towards him.

"The only thing I can feel for him is pity. His whole life has been nothing but a puppet of his mother and sister, not to mention the woman he threw two years of marriage away for." I paused to take a breath.

"I have solid reasons that everyone will soon know."

"What reasons? What will everyone know?"

I heard his voice behind me and immediately tensed up.

I couldn't believe I had such bad luck in life. Alexander had to come at this moment.

I barely glanced at him before looking back at Alexis, I wasn't going to stay to answer him, I wasn't even talking to him.

"Excuse me, Mr. Alexis, have a nice day."