Chapter 197

197 Drifting Apart

What a stupid and twisted world!

I felt like screaming and ripping my hair out. Not wanting to waste any more time with this man, I decided to get right to the point.

“So, what makes you think that your wife is cheating on you?” I asked without mincing my words.

“I don’t know if she’s cheating on not, but Elizabeth has been acting...strangely...for the past weeks,” Kyle confessed with a sigh.

“What do you mean by strangely?” I asked as I arched a brow at him.

“She’s been coming home late...like...very late. Then when she goes out, she doesn’t tell me where she’s going. No matter how many times I ask her, she just tells me that she’s going out for work. It’s like the easiest excuse, you know...” Kyle said as his brows drew together.

Work.

I had to say that I’ve definitely heard that before. It might really be the easiest excuse...

“Maybe she really did go out for work...” I murmured.

.....

“Then why can’t she tell me where she’s going and whom she’s meeting with? I even offered to drive her there and pick her up because it was so late at night,” Kyle said.

Ok, fine. Her behavior might be suspicious but what does that have to do with Kyle turning up at Jessen’s and Kay’s?

“What does that have to do with Ace?” I asked to get right to the point.

Call me whatever you will but I wasn’t one bit interested in whether Elizabeth was cheating on Kyle. All I wanted to know is if she’s been involved with Ace. If Elizabeth cheated on Kyle that might just serve him right. There is a saying that what goes around comes around, right?

“I followed her, and I think they were together...” Kyle confessed as he stared at me from across the table.

My throat went dry at his words. This can’t be happening.

“You think? So, you’re not sure?” I asked to make sure that I got this right.

“Fine. I didn’t see the two of them together because the place had restricted access. If I went in there, Elizabeth would have found out. Anyways, I definitely saw Ace leaving from the same restaurant a little while before she left the same place,” Kyle replied.

Well, what I haven’t told Kyle was that I just saw the two of them together...

“It could have been for work,” I said while I wasn’t sure if I was trying to reassure him or myself.

I was probably trying to reassure myself because I couldn’t care less how Kyle felt.

“Maybe. What about you?” Kyle asked.

“What exactly about me?” I asked cluelessly.

“Has Ace been acting strangely lately?” Kyle asked sternly.

I wanted to tell him that there was nothing off with Ace and that his life was normal. However, I would be lying if I said that. The truth was that for the past weeks I’ve been so busy with work that I’ve rarely been with Ace. I worked way into the nights at the office with Jeremy and sometimes other team members as well and then I went back to my apartment alone.

Ace and I kept in touch for sure. I saw him regularly at Project Alpha’s meetings and in his office during the day and he would call me occasionally and text me. However, now that I thought about it, I didn’t quite know where Ace spent his evenings or whom he spent them with.

“Umm...” I murmured hesitantly.

Kyle picked up on my hesitation immediately and he shook his head before he sighed loudly.

“What’s going on, Rina?” Kyle asked suspiciously.

“Nothing is going on. It’s just that work has been very busy for me, and I’ve spent less time with Ace for the past weeks. That’s all,” I said curtly.

Why did the timing have to be so bad like this?

If things were the way they were between us before, I could have told Kyle with certainty that whomever Elizabeth was having an affair with wasn’t Ace. If we headed home together and I stayed over at his place just as I used to, then we wouldn’t have had issues like this.

“So, you’re not sure about what he’s been up to?” Kyle asked with clear disappointment.

Well...

“Yeah. For the past weeks, I’ve been staying late in the office for work, so we’ve been going back separately, and I’ve been staying at my place instead of his...” I admitted softly.

Why am I even telling Kyle all this?

I felt so irritated about myself, and this entire shady situation wasn’t helping my overall mood.

“In other words, you also don’t know if or where he disappeared to during the night, right?” Kyle asked, immediately picking up on what I was trying to say.

“Listen, Ace has been busy with work too...” I said defensively.

Of course, I wouldn’t go and tell Kyle about the deal that Ace had made with his father because he didn’t have the right to know anything. Just because we haven’t spent much time together for the past weeks, that doesn’t mean that he’s suddenly cheating on me.

“Well, there’s not much that we can do. I’ve asked Elizabeth so many times about it now and she’s firm on not giving me an answer...” Kyle said with a sigh.

“Must be hard dealing with her. Are you sure that this isn’t just a result of your own insecurities?” I asked.

Kyle looked at me before he started to laugh a little while I wondered what about my question just now, he found so funny.

“Maybe you’re right and I’m more than a little insecure when it comes to Elizabeth. Pleasing her is one thing; pleasing her father as well is quite another. I’ve honestly got a big job cut out for myself...” Kyle said with a chuckle.

'

I guess this is what happens when you’re so desperate to marry up. At that moment, I was very tempted to bring up the whole scandal he caused by stealing my work just to please Elizabeth and her father. I hoped that he crashed and burned when words of what he’d done reached Elizabeth’s father. However, I didn’t want to spend even more time with him on an issue from the past, so I decided to hold my tongue.

–To be continued...