Men Are Prada Shoes

CHAPTER 14

ALINA

For some reason, I didn’t see Alex again for the rest of the night. One moment he was there, and the next, he disappeared.

“Alina?” Vera called out as she walked down from the stage where she had been with her grandfather and Vincent, cutting the cake and playing the perfect granddaughter.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, eyes scanning me from head to toe before glancing around the space again. Her brows pulled together. “How did you even get in?”

“Through the door,” I replied, my tone dry enough to make it obvious I wasn’t taking the question seriously.

Vera let out a small laugh. “I only asked because my brother and I approved the guest list, and your name wasn’t on it_”

“She’s with me.” Vincent rasped behind her.

He stepped forward slowly, hands tucked into his pockets.

I fought a smile at his coverup.

Vera turned toward him, disbelief written all over her face. “What?” she blinked. “You’re with her now? After everything you said about her?”

“Everything you said about me?” I repeated, my smile disappearing. “What exactly did you say?”

Vera gave a short laugh. “Relax. He was just angry about that drugging incident. And also because he still hasn’t found the man responsible.”

Oh…he won’t be find him because he already left the country.

“Don’t you think it’s time you let that incident go?” I asked. “I hate living in the past… and that’s exactly what you’re doing right now.”

Vincent stopped right beside me.

He didn’t say anything at first. He just stood there, close enough that I could feel his presence, and then he turned his head slowly toward me, his blue eyes locked on mine with an intensity that felt almost unsettling, like he wasn’t just looking at my face, but trying to read everything I was hiding underneath it.

It should have made me uncomfortable.

It did.

But I didn’t look away. I refuse to be the first to break eye contact.

“Sure,” he said at last, voice low and slightly drawn out. “I’ll let it go.”

I blinked.

Once.

Then twice.

Is he being serious?

I honestly expected resistance… arguments… questions… something. But he agreed so easily it threw me off balance.

Beside him, Vera slowly folded her hands, studying both of us.

“So what now?” she asked, tilting her head. “Are you both together or what?”

I opened my mouth immediately, ready to deny it, but Vincent spoke first.

“Would it be so bad if we were?”

I breath caught slightly in my throat, that I had to physically stop myself from reacting. My lips trembled, threatening to form a smile I didn’t want to show too openly.

I glanced at Vincent from the corner of my eye.

Whatever risk I took with Alex… it suddenly felt worth it.

Vera, on the other hand, shrugged. “I don’t really care who you date, Vincent,” she said. “As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”

That was… suspiciously easy .

My instincts immediately told me something was coming.

Sure enough, Vera didn’t stop there.

“However,” she added, “I don’t think I even need to remind you what Grandpa’s reaction would be if he finds out you_”

She didn’t get to finish.

“Who is your friend?”

The voice came from behind me.

Vera and Vincent both looked past me immediately.

Slowly, I turned, and the moment my eyes met the man standing there, I felt a cold shiver through my body.

Williams Sterling.

I have seen powerful men before, but this was different. This was the kind of presence that made your instincts scream at you to step back, to leave, to disappear quietly before you were noticed too much.

For a split second, all I could think was one thing.

Maybe I should just abort this mission and go home.

There was something about his stare, cold and deeply unsettling that made my entire body want to shrink back without permission.

It wasn’t just intensity, it felt like pressure, like standing too close to something powerful enough to break you if it decided you were in its way.

If Vincent was intimidating, then this man… he was on another level entirely.

“Happy birthday, Mr. Sterling,” I said anyway, forcing a polite smile onto my face as if my nerves weren’t slowly tightening around my throat.

But he didn’t respond, not even a glance in my direction.

His attention stayed fixed on Vincent, like I hadn’t spoken at all.

“Are you going to make an introduction?” he asked.

It wasn’t really a question. It was a demand disguised as one.

Vera shifted immediately, sensing the tension. Her eyes flicked between me, Vincent, and her grandfather.

“This is Alina Voss and_”

“I wasn’t speaking to you.” The old man barely even raised his voice, but somehow it still landed like a slap. His gaze shifted briefly to Vera.

“Go help your grandfather welcome the guests,” he added.

Vera hesitated, biting her lower lip like she wanted to say something but knew better than to push it. After a moment, she nodded and walked away, disappearing into the crowd.

And just like that, I was left standing there, completely still, uncomfortably aware of every second passing.

Before I could even gather my thoughts, Vincent moved.

His hand suddenly wrapped around my waist and pulled me closer so unexpectedly that I almost made a sound of shock before I could stop myself.

“This is Alina Voss,” he said at last, “my guest for the evening.”

Then the old man finally looked at me. “Alina,” he mused.

I forced myself to hold his gaze, even though every instinct in me was telling me to look away.

“Yes,” I replied softly, keeping my smile in place even as my pulse climbed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

“I can’t say the same for you,” he said flatly.

The small smile I had forced onto my face disappeared almost immediately.

His eyes didn’t even blink as he studied me.

“Who are your parents? The surname sounds familiar.”

My stomach tightened.

Of course it does.

Because it wasn’t mine. I stole it.

My real name is Alina Winter.

But I would rather have a gun pointed at my head than answer to that name.

“My mother is Margret Voss,” I said instead, carefully shaping the lie as it left my mouth.

Vincent turned his head slightly toward me, clearly surprised.

“I lost my father when I was young,” I continued quickly, before anyone could question the hesitation in my voice. “So I don’t know much about him.”

“Margret Voss,” Williams repeated. “The vice-chancellor of Oxford University?”

“Yes.”

I stole that identity a long time ago, after discovering the real Alina Voss existed somewhere in the world and no one on the internet knows her.

Margret did a very good job of keeping her daughter’s identity a secret.

Too good, in fact.

Even David couldn’t find her.

And if David couldn’t find her, then no one will.

That was exactly why I chose her name.

Safe. Invisible. Convenient.

“I would appreciate it if this stays between us,” I added gently, letting a small, controlled smile return to my lips. “I want to build a legacy of my own… not live in my mother’s shadow.”

For a moment, silence settled again, then Mr. Williams let out a low chuckle.

He turned his head slightly toward Vincent, as if sharing a private thought, then shook his head once.

That simple gesture made dread fill me. My fingers trembled because something about that reaction didn’t feel right.

Not at all.

Do they know who the real Alina Voss is?