THE BILLIONAIRE EX-CONVICT BRIDE

CHAPTER 09: NEWS

Allison's POV

"I'll check on you later." His words rang in my head as I made it into the hotel. My thoughts grew into several naughty pictures that I tried to clear up, half grinning and embarrassed about.

"What did he mean by that?" I asked, whispering to myself. "Hopefully not what I think he means. Men. I hope he is not just after my body... But would that be too bad? Oh shut up, Allison."

I could not help but notice that I was fighting with myself, and it only came off as crazy to other people who were watching and passing by. I decided to distract myself by admiring the beauty of the hotel space. It was indeed very beautiful. On the walls of the interior were carvings of very intricate art that decorated the space like an art museum.

I stood in the hallway, staring up and down the place, my eyes unable to sit still.

"Hey, can you get off the road?" a lady's voice said, rather annoyed. "Who do you think is going to go past here if everyone obstructed the road as you do? People here are trying to move past."

I looked at who was talking and saw that it was an old lady holding a fore-legged walker tool.

"Oh, I am sorry, ma'am," I said to her. She was short so I had to stare down to her level.

"Are you looking down on me?" The lady asked, pressing one hand to her waist in a sassy gesture.

"No, no, ma'am," I apologized, feeling sweat drain away from my forehead.

On one of her hands, she was holding a little black bag. It was getting in the way of her holding on to the walker.

"Ma'am, I can help you," I said, taking the bag from her while she walked.

"Oh, now you're being nice." I could see her smile, revealing a mouth of toothless pink gum.

"I'm sorry... It is just a way to make up for obstructing your way."

"Ah, you don't need to apologize so often, my child. I came to visit my daughter, who goes to college here, and she left me for a party. Imagine leaving an old lady like I am all to myself. She should be the one apologizing, not you who is just helping me around."

"Thank you, ma'am," I said, not knowing what else to say about it.

We were farther into the hallway when the woman pointed to a door. "My room is just over there," she said.

I followed her to the door and watched her take from her purse a plastic card. On the door was a slot where the card would need to be inserted. Her hands could not reach it and so I helped her with it, inserting the card in myself. The door budged open.

"Thank you, child," the woman said and then took great notice of my face. I wanted to look away at first, but then she added, "You don't seem to belong here. Are you with anyone? A husband? Family? Or even boyfriend? You young women always have boyfriends."

My lips parted and I almost answered, but then I realized I could not even tell her a yes or a no. If I could be honest with anyone then I better be with her. I disliked lying to old people. If I did, I would not stare at their eyes. It seemed to contain a lot of judgment, accumulated from years and years of living life and watching people like me go by.

"No. You are right. I don't belong here. I need to go." My mind was made up. I had to go give the credit card back to its owner and tell him that I did not want to be involved in his plans. If he needed a wife, there were many women out there, and perhaps we could meet later if fate wills it. After all, I had been through, I could not risk my freedom and safety under such a disguise.

"I have to be going now, ma'am," I said to her and was already about to leave when I heard a familiar voice.

"Grandma what are you doing outside?" the voice said.

I turned around to confirm who it was, and my gaze fell upon a familiar face. "Brittany is that you?" I hollered.

"Allison," she said, running up and hugging me. "I did not know I would see you again. What are you doing here?"

"Wait. You both know each other?" the old lady asked.

"Yes, Grandma. This is Allison, she was a friendly senior in high school. She and her best friend Laura saved me a lot from bullying."

At the mention of Laura, I grew sad once more. Brittany turned towards me with a smile and asked, "When did you get out of prison?"

Shocked, I asked, "You knew about that?"

"Yes, yes. I do. And I am so sorry. It is so obvious you were framed. Laura really has no morals in what she did. I mean she is even dating him right now. It is so obvious that she was the main mastermind behind it."

"What? What are you talking about? Framed by Laura?"

"Well, you did not know? The drugs in your bag were all Laura's idea. She put everything there. It was all a plan to get you out of the way so she'd date your boyfriend."

"How do you know about this?"

"She said it, one night while she was drunk in a college party. I was the only one there. I could not believe it too, but after seeing that she had gotten pregnant for Aiden, I had to believe it. I could not press charges because I have no evidence."

The world around me grew dark. I could not tell what was real from what was not anymore.

"I am sorry," I said, my hand over my mouth as though I wanted to stifle a cry.