"Mom!" Celia didn't respond directly. Instead, she yawned. "It's late, I'm so sleepy. Let's talk tomorrow, okay?"
With that, she crawled back under the covers and shut her eyes, ignoring her mother.
Staring at her daughter's beautiful profile, Mrs. Ryder grew even more suspicious.
After some hesitation, she finally decided not to disturb her rest and quietly left the room.
...
The next morning, just past seven.
Xavier's phone started ringing.
After the call with Serena last night, he'd stayed awake for quite a while longer.
All told, he'd gotten less than five hours of sleep.
Buried under the blanket, he hadn't planned on answering-but the caller was relentless.
No sooner had one ring finished than the next began.
Unable to bear it, he grumpily fumbled for his phone.
His voice was filled with irritation. "Who the hell is it?! It's early morning-are you trying to kill me?!"
"Xavier, you son of a bitch!" Christan yelled on the other end of the line.
His assistant jumped aside in fright, pretending to be invisible.
Xavier winced from the volume, pulling the phone away from his ear and rubbing at the pain. Then he brought it back. "Have you lost your mind?! Barking like a mad dog at this hour? If you wanna bite someone, pick someone else. Don't mess with my sleep!"
"And you still have the nerve to sleep?! Did you not see that explosive news article about you and my sister last night?!"
Xavier jolted awake, suddenly alert.
He grabbed his tablet from the nightstand and opened a news site, scrolling quickly.
"What article? Where is it?!"
"Don't play dumb with me!" Christan snapped, seething. "Don't think I don't know you had your people scrub every report off the internet overnight!"
"But that article made a huge splash the moment it was posted. Everyone in Vernon who needed to see it has seen it. Deleting it now is too late!"
"If I hadn't spent last night filming a night scene, I would've shown up at your place and beaten the crap out of you!"
Xavier stretched lazily. "Why are you so worked up? The news just said I hugged your sister-not like I killed her!"
His nonchalant tone only enraged Christan further.
"I'm telling you-hugging her is worse than killing her! She's only twenty, still a pure, innocent girl! If you're interested, respond to her confession properly. If you're not, then make it clear-don't give her false hope!"
"But what do you do instead?! No stance, no clarity-just sneaky hugs and cuddles. That's low! Are you trying to ruin her?!"
"Now you're just being ridiculous!" Xavier laughed carelessly. "You know how the media is. Of all people, you, the great actor, should know! Out of ten things they write, maybe two are true!"
"And yet the moment you see some bogus report, you storm over to interrogate me? Little harsh, don't you think? What even proves that man in the photo is me?!"
That gave Christan pause.
He had lost his head-he'd acted impulsively.
After filming all night, his head was pounding when his assistant handed him the screenshot. He'd exploded on the spot.
In truth, if it had only been about his sister, he might not have flown off the handle at his longtime friend.
What truly got under his skin was that when he saw that news, he immediately thought of Serena.
The other day, in the parking lot, he'd run into Xavier-who had sworn up and down that Serena was the only one in his heart, that he'd never accept another woman.
And now, just days later, he's hugging Celia?!
That kind of scummy behavior didn't just hurt his sister-it also hurt Serena!
Christan shook his head. Why was he thinking about her again?!
Still fuming, he said, "Why would the media randomly name you if it wasn't you?! No smoke without fire!"
"Ugh! I'm done with this," Xavier muttered, flipping over. "Believe it or not, the guy in the photo isn't me! I haven't even seen your sister-how could I have hugged her?!"
"But... the guy's back does look a lot like yours..."
"Plenty of people look like me from behind. Especially when all you can see is a silhouette."
Christan furrowed his brow, mulling it over. Something did feel off.
In the photo, only the man's back was visible.
The woman's face, while blurry, was clearly Celia
"That girl is definitely Celia!"
"Whether it's your sister or not, I have no idea. Ask her yourself." Xavier rubbed his sore eyes and shut them. "I'll look into this myself. If you've got nothing else, I'm going back to sleep."
After hanging up, Christan sat in silence for a moment. Then, he made another call.
It rang for a while before someone groggily answered.
"Mmm... what is it, bro...? It's so early... I'm still sleeping..."
Christan's voice turned cold and serious. "Celia, tell me the truth-was that photo from last night your doing?!"
That woke her up immediately. She shot up, alarmed. "Bro! What are you saying?! How could it be me?!"
"Then tell me-was the guy in the photo really Xavier?!"
"Uhh... the media already wrote everything... you saw it, didn't you..."
"Don't play dumb with me!"
Christan's face darkened. "I'll tell you now-Xavier is already investigating. If you come clean to me, I might still be able to help you. But if he finds out first, with his temper... you may not be able to handle the consequences!"
"Christan!" Celia drew out the word, clearly unhappy. "You sound just like Mom! Don't you trust your own sister anymore?! I'm your real sister!"
"Exactly because you're my sister, I'm warning you now. If this were someone else, do you think I'd waste my time like this?!"
There was silence on the line. Celia was clearly debating with herself.
Christan waited patiently, not pushing.
Finally, she said in a small, wronged voice, "Christan, I only did it because I had no other choice..."
***