A simple glance at the hand Lara had been trying to conceal had been enough for Brie.

"Oh. My. God," Brie gasped, "What the hell- Have you been cutting yourself?"

"I'm tired," Lara's voice was wobbly as she stressed, "Just tired."

"What?" Brie exclaimed, "What did he do?"

"You don't understand. It's not just Jayden. It's..." she gulped, eyes watering once more, "It's me."

"There's nothing wrong with you," Brie clasped her hands, however, gasped after seeing her other hand, "You cut your other hand? Lara..."

"There is. I'm a problem. This is not just about Jayden. I had a reflection."

She had been the problem all along. The walk in the park had discarded the blindfold from her eyes.

Recounting all of her moments with Jayden, she realised that he had sacrificed almost everything for a relationship with her. He had taken a dangerous walk down the personal maid road again, believing that this time, it would be worth it. That she would be worth it. He had trusted her.

But, she had let him down.

She always let people down.

Her mum, her family, Jayden.

Herself.

Jayden had never been the problem.

She was.

Brie sighed, "Whatever you reflected on was wrong. You're one of the nicest people I know. And that's rare coming from me, mind you."

"I'm not," Lara insisted, holding Brie's gaze, "It's me. It's always me. Today, I finally realised that I am the problem."

Brie then pulled Lara towards the smaller living area and sat her down on a sofa, sitting beside her as she insisted,

"Tell me everything. Don't leave out a single detail."

The next evening, Dana waited at the door of Pierre's apartment with his neatly pressed clothes in a transparent plastic dustproof bag.

She remembered when she had bumped into him with a tray filled with coffee and sandwiches and had ruined his fresh clothes. His shirt and pants had been stained and she had assured him that she would deliver his clothes to him after ridding them of the stains.

Standing at the door, she could hear music coming from inside the apartment. She also heard several voices behind the door of the apartment.

He obviously had people over. Maybe he was throwing a party?

Just then, the door swung open and Dana laid eyes on a tall, slim lady who effortlessly rocked a black pixie cut, her golden brown eyes complimenting her rich caramel skin complexion.

"Are you here for the bash?" she asked with a huge smile that Dana would never be able to wear without being labelled as fake.

Dana shook her head, "No, I uh," she lifted the bag containing the clothes, "I'm here to see Pierre. Is he here?"

"Sure, come in," she opened the door wider and closed it behind Dana as she led Dana past a number of hyper young adults jamming to EDM songs. 'Who Do You Love' by the Chainsmokers ft. 5SOS was on.

The girl led Dana closer to the middle of the room where Pierre had deeply been engrossed in a conversation with two other people.

"Pierre," the girl called out, "Someone's here to see you!"

Pierre and the other two people turned in the girl's direction and when Pierre laid eyes on Dana, his eyes lit up,

"Dana, what a surprise."

"So you remember my name," Dana didn't realise that she had thought that out loud when he replied,

"How could I forget?"

Her eyes widened, "Oh, I-" she embarrassingly pushed a lock of dark curly hair behind her ear, "My mind has a big mouth."

"Our minds enjoy betrayal," Pierre chuckled and went on,

"So, does Brie know that you ruined her brother's expensive clothes?" he repeated the words she had told him when she had led him into the mansion that fateful day.

*flashback*

She quietly opened this tall white door he had never seen before, and slipped into the hallway it presented, hand still in his as he followed her lead.

Dana whispered, "Brie can't know what happened. She'll torment me for ruining her brother's expensive clothes."

"It was a simple mistake."

"Not to Brie. Or Mrs. Benson. Or Katy. Or Ella."

A giggle tore from Dana's lips. Pierre had a good memory.

She went on to reply, "Brie still doesn't know. She'd make a big deal out of it."

"Definitely Brie," he agreed and glanced at the bag she had been holding, "Finally. I've been sitting naked at home since."

An image of a naked Pierre suddenly occupied Dana's mind, and she hoped that he couldn't tell it did by the way she sucked in her lips and dropped her dark chocolate eyes to his shielded chest.

Dana managed to argue, "But you have other clothes."

"I don't," Pierre denied with his eyebrows furrowed. He tried his best not to crack a smile.

Dana chuckled, "You're wearing clothes right now."

"I borrowed them."

"I see," she laughed and handed him the bag and he accepted it with a smile.

"Thanks, and it's good to see you again."

"Same," she nodded, and asked while glancing around the semi-crowded apartment, "What's the occasion?"

"Just a little summer get-together, nothing serious. It's gonna be like this for the next couple of weeks. My friends and I spend time together during the summer."

"Oh okay," she nodded, eyes landing on a girl who hungrily locked lips with a boy in the corner.

The girl tugged at the boy's braids as she performed a sloppy ceremony on his lips.

"She's doing it all wrong..." Dana absentmindedly murmured to herself.

Pierre immediately turned in the direction of her gaze and jokingly raised a brow at her,

"Really now?" he said.

Dana immediately threw her gaze back to his, muttering, "Huh? Don't tell me I said that out loud."

"She's doing it all wrong, I recall," Pierre repeated and Dana laughed with embarrassment.

Her mind had a bigger mouth than she had thought.

"I should go," she chuckled and stretched her hand out for a shake but he refused,

"Stay. We could get to know each other. I'd like to get to know you."

"I-" she hesitated, the idea of getting to know Brie's brother putting her off, "I don't know. Your sister wouldn't like that."

"My sister shouldn't be a reason."

After giving it some thought, and glancing around, Dana decided that she did need to loosen up a bit. Plus, Mrs. Benson was not home. She might as well take advantage of her temporary freedom.

"Alright, I'll stay. But, not for long."

'Not for long' had turned into over an hour and a half as Dana and Pierre had been engrossed in a lengthy, but interesting conversation.

People had interrupted a couple of times to draw his attention but it had always returned to her.

"So... Lara?" It was the first time he had mentioned Lara the entire evening, "Is she back?" he dreaded asking about Lara because he knew Jayden's name would come up.

And it had been difficult trying to deny that he still had some feelings for Lara.

Feelings weren't just toys one could throw away. It took time to get rid of them. And sometimes, they never went away.

"Yes," Dana replied, swirling the contents of her glass as she remembered the unfortunate state Lara had returned from the trip with Jayden, "She's back."

"She and Jayden are good?"

"Um..." she hesitated. Dana wasn't sure if it was a good idea to tell Pierre that Lara and Jayden weren't together anymore.

But she had spilled the painful truth to him the day she had informed him of their relationship. It was only fair that he knew of their current circumstances.

"They actually broke up."

Pierre raised a brown brow, "Really?" he shockingly asked, "What happened? You were preaching to me about how people who love each other should be together and what not."

"Just misunderstandings, to be honest. I-"

Just then, someone gently but firmly tapped her arm to get her attention. The minute she turned around, she laid eyes on the most beautiful soul she had seen all day.

The species spoke, "Hey, sorry for interrupting,"

He directed his gaze to Pierre, a not so apologetic smile glinting in his eyes, before shifting his dazzling brown-eyed gaze to Dana. "So," he started, "Damn, this is hard,"

"Um?" Dana smiled.

His hotness was out of the world. His black tresses had made a mess atop his head, escaping its mass to embrace his long face which had been graced with a neat stubble, and sparkling brown eyes that shone like unending moonlight.

"Thing is," he continued, "My dog thinks you're beautiful. My horse wants me to invite you for an orgy with my peacock. You down?"

"What?" confusion sat on Dana's pretty face as she tried to make sense of his words and his absolutely silky voice, but he nodded,

"Yeah, horses right?" he added.

Suddenly, a group of people a few feet away from Dana burst into utmost laughter. They were a group of five boys and two girls who had been laughing and chattering their arses off the entire party.

Dana turned back to the guy who had been shaking his head at his people with a chuckle when Pierre asked,

"That's the best they got?"

"Honestly shocked," he turned to Pierre.

Dana then let out a small laugh after realising that they had dared him to say that.

"That's crazy," she smiled, and when he smiled back, she felt her stomach twist into tiny knots.

He then said, "Let me pull myself out of this conversation," he started moving away, "Catch you later." he said, eyes on Dana with a panty-dropping wink following right after.

Catch you later? Dana thought, me?

Well, he hadn't been looking at Pierre when he had said that...

"That's Trent," Pierre had saved Dana the trouble of asking.

When Dana detached her gaze from Trent's receding back to focus on Pierre, he explained, "Everyone in our circle gets to dare King Trent once, before his birthday in three days. So the person who dared him to say those silly words to you literally wasted a golden opportunity."

"No kidding," Dana laughed, glad she had at least gotten a name.

Jayden descended the never-ending stairs to have dinner in the dining room.

Every good thing happening in his life had decided to take a trip down to the Bermuda Triangle without warning.

His mother was at the hospital, his father was a cheating bastard and his relationship with Lara had been nothing but a waste of his and her time.

Why had he gotten involved with her in the first place? He knew damn well what he had been setting himself up for yet he had risked it.

Risked it all for her.

From the corner of the kitchen, Lara had seen Jayden descending the stairs in a black shirt and dark brown pants. The shirt had hugged his muscled torso tightly, it almost seemed as if it had stuck its tongue out at her, teasing and reminding her of the fact that she would never be able to touch his body ever again.

She remembered that she had told Brie everything that had happened from the moment she and Jayden had left the lakehouse to yesterday when they had officially broken up which had left Brie livid with Jayden.

Unsurprisingly, Brie had believed that Jayden had rather wasted Lara's time, and had given her false hopes of a future together.

He had started pursuing Lara, not the other way around.

He had shown massive interest in the poor girl who had only wanted to serve the Bensons and get the heck out of there when she had earned enough money to pursue her college dreams.

Brie had also convinced herself that Jayden had handled the text message he had received at the lakehouse wrongly and that Lara had been put in a very tight corner.

Him referencing his relationship with Lara to his father's foolery with a maid had sealed his fate in Brie's head.

Jayden wouldn't go scot-free for messing with Lara. She would make sure of it.

Prior to Jayden's journey to the dining hall, Brie had insisted to Lara that she would serve him his dinner to save Lara the agony of encountering him.

At least for the night.

Brie whispered to Lara, who she had been standing beside in the kitchen, "I'm going. I'll serve him his dinner. You have nothing to worry about."

Lara nodded, giving Brie the permission to stand in for her.

But as Brie began to depart from the kitchen with Jayden's tray of food in a hand, she inaudibly murmured to herself, "I don't like butter, I'm allergic to peanuts," she mimicked, "Good luck with your dinner this evening Mr. I'm allergic to everything. Just don't die too quick."

***

Whoever tells me where this statement can be found gets a shoutout and a virtual hug from myselffff. "I don't like butter, I'm allergic to peanuts." Which chapter can I find this?

Hint: It's in one of the first ten chapters!