Alex looked at the screen of his laptop then laughed, causing Sharon's face to turn red from many emotions mixed together, starting with panic and embarrassment, and rising up to encompass shock, fear, mortification among others. And her reaction was not surprising given that the picture on display was one of her posing, without clothes.
That picture would shock more than just her fans, were it to ever be published.
Still, the laughter shattered the tension. Looking into Alex's clear brown eyes, Sharon went red to the tip of her ears, now more mortified than anything, but she didn't lower her head. With a face that looked ready to drip blood, she asked in a whisper full of suppressed embarrassment:
"How did you get that?"
Earlier, in her panic, many thoughts had flown through her mind. For a second, she had even entertained the idea that everything that had happened to her was the handiwork of the playboy, the scheme of a sick mind for one reason or another, or just for the fun of toying with someone's life, her life.
But she had trouble believing that. It was not for any reason other than the clear feeling she had gotten from him during the short time she interacted with him.
Appearance and impressions could be deceiving, but Alex Lenner just felt too straightforwardly prideful. And he had never appeared sick or twisted in the mind. So that brought up the question of where he had gotten the pictures in front of him from.
Alex looked at Sharon, but seeing her not looking ready to rise from his lap, he raised his eyebrows, then simply let himself enjoy the softness as he laughed:
"I don't understand how you people have the guts to leave your networking devices open and latch onto any and all networks you people can find. Really, you have my admiration."
Saying that, Alex shook his head, his amusement deepening on his face along with his sincere admiration.
Belly down on his lap, Sharon froze. Her shock this time was different from the panicked and ashamed one earlier, but as she processed Alex's words, her lips parted in obvious disbelief.
"You– You really got that from my phone?"
"I told you, you are not professional enough. I got all the data on your phone the night of your first visit here. I just couldn't be bothered to go through it before. Who would have thought…"
Shaking his head with another laugh, Alex put his glass aside to free his hand and continue having his breakfast, not waiting for the blonde anymore.
Sharon bit her lower lip so hard that she seemed ready to make it bleed as she lowered her head. Even though she should not be shy as an actress, her shame had reached new heights at that moment.
Suddenly, she jumped up, reached for the laptop, then slammed its screen down.
His brown eyes twinkling in amusement, Alex laughed as he took a bite of his eggs:
"You already have enough trouble. Do you want to add another debt on top of that just for a few fake pictures?"
Sharon stood straight, her posture a little rigid, and asked with a deep breath:
"How do you know it is fake… that they are fake?"
Alex smirked:
"I know because I am experienced enough to notice the difference between truth and falsehood."
Saying that, he looked straight at her chest, making his meaning as clear as his pride as a playboy. And his argument was something Sharon could find no way to refute. She knew of his reputation, hell, the whole city did. And no one could ever doubt him in terms of experience.
Sharon paused, then shook her head to dispel the thought that the smile of the playboy was actually handsome, before focusing on what was more important. Looking into Alex's eyes, she asked, a serious look on her face:
"So you know everything?"
Alex raised an eyebrow:
"That you are being threatened? I could guess that the very first moment I saw you a month ago. That things got worse yesterday after one month of silence following your first failure and you got pressured into having to try to stall for time with the scandal you engineered yesterday? I guessed that too last night, and I saw the anonymous call you got yesterday in your call log. Or maybe you are talking about the fact that you might be surrounded by one or two traitors in your life? Let me guess again. That reality, you are trying not to focus on it, aren't you? You are only trying to be more careful and wary of everyone, aren't you? After all, your signature could not have appeared on the contract capable of dragging your reputation into the gutter at any moment by magic, could it? Someone got you to sign it without letting you know there was a pit dug for you inside, am I right?"
With each sentence, each question Alex answered himself, his smile deepened, his amusement shone unmasked, and his sarcasm, it came through unconcealed. Raising his hand, he added before bringing another forkful of fried egg to his mouth:
"I might not know everything, but I think I know enough."
Sharon calmed down. Her embarrassment receded, and she got her heartbeat under control because though Alex had been smiling and laughing, they were not friends. The indifference beneath all that lightheartedness made that clear.
Closing her eyes for a moment, Sharon opened them again to look at Alex, their blue having returned to that appearance of calm and strength that had characterized her ever since she had lost all reliance and shed her remaining bit of youthful innocence. Opening her mouth, she started talking with a focused look:
"No matter how fake those pictures are, they can create a stain big enough to bury my career, especially…"
A faint gleam flashed through the blonde's eyes as her lips curled into a bitter smile. Leaving her sentence unfinished, she asked instead:
"Do you know who–"
Alex interrupted with a faint look:
"No, I don't know who has you under his thumb. It could be a cousin of mine, my uncles, my aunts, or even anyone else. And I suppose the answer to that question is more important than the mystery of that piece of paper you are walking around with. So, when are you leaving? You got what you wanted last night, so you can go now. I won't see you off."
Sharon went quiet. She looked at Alex, and she could see that he did not care, whether about her, the situation from last night or even last month, the matter of the red string, or even the inheritance others coveted so much that her life had been brought to the brink of collapse.
Sharon could see that it was not Alex's fault, not directly, and maybe not even indirectly. But that made his calm indifference sting no less, and Sharon suddenly let it prick at the resentment from all the troubles she had never asked for.
Looking at Alex, she pursed her lips, and suddenly her gaze hardened:
"Sorry, I'm not leaving."