Chapter 46

[Evelyn’s POV]

There was no way that I was seeing what my eyes were showing me. It wasn’t possible.

I felt awkward enough going to Alexander’s office, knowing that I wasn’t normally permitted to be there. And it wasn’t as though I had ever asked about it in the past, but I knew by then Alexander's office was his sacred space. Usually, only Oliver was ever allowed to freely enter.

But I figured, since Alexander was already there, it wouldn’t technically be considered sneaking around if he allowed me inside himself.

All I wanted to do was help Alexander deal with his increasing caffeine intake. One of the first things I noticed when I slipped into his office were the various contents of his desk. Papers were strewn everywhere and there were at least two empty mugs of coffee sitting near him.

I wanted to grimace but my attention was instantly captured by something far more pressing. Alexander’s mask wasn’t on his face. In the midst of him falling asleep, it must have either sipped off or perhaps he meant to take it off. Either way, it wasn’t there and I could see his face. His entire face.

There’s nothing wrong with it.

There wasn’t a scratch or a mark in sight. The side of his face which he kept hidden under his mask perfectly matched the other side. Handsome, stunningly sculpted and flawless.

My brows pulled together in pure confusion. It didn’t make sense.

“What the hell?” I whispered under my breath.

There wasn’t a single possible reason that came to mind as to why Alexander would be purposely wearing a mask when he didn’t need to.

Suddenly, Alexander started to stretch in his sleep. Thankfully, he kept his eyes closed and slipped deeper into his exhaustion.

Shit, I need to get out of here.

I couldn’t run the risk of accidentally waking him up and having him find me in his office, since he hadn’t technically invited me in here. Not to mention I felt as though I had just unintentionally uncovered one of his biggest kept secrets!

I glanced down at the warm mug in my hands and frowned. Sadly, I couldn’t even leave the tea behind for him either without giving away the fact that I had been there.

Quietly and with great care, I slowly exited the room. I glanced to both my right and my left to see that no one else was around. I finally let out a sigh of relief and made it back toward my own room.

My mind felt like it was racing a mile a minute. There were just too many thoughts and questions flooding through my head, I had no idea where to begin thinking everything out.

I placed the mug down on the nightstand and kicked off my flats before climbing into bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I closed my eyes and let my mind gradually unfold.

“Why the mask?” I asked myself.

This wasn’t the first time I was faced with this kind of situation. The one and only night Alexander and I had slept in the same bed had resulted in a similar situation. I’d woken up to find that his mask was slightly askew on his face.

I’ll admit, my eyes were blurry and the room was still somewhat dark. I could have sworn that there was nothing wrong with Alexander’s face even then. But because there was still doubt in my mind, I had made myself forget it back then.

However, there was no chance I was going to be able to do this for a second time. What worried me was how I was going to react around Alexander now, knowing that there was nothing truly wrong with the second half of his face.

The man could read me like a book at times. He knew when things were bothering me and knew when to ask the right questions. One look at me and he would immediately know that something was wrong.

What if I just asked him about it?

It was a legit option, although I was going to have a hell of a time explaining myself as to how I knew about the hidden side of his face. That would mean admitting that I had basically snuck into his office.

I don’t want him to think that I purposely invaded his private space; nor do I want him to think that I was trying to spy on him.

“Maybe I’ll talk to Wendy about it tomorrow,” I thought out loud.

My eyes were growing heavier and my head began to hurt from all the worrying and stress-thinking. There just had to be a good reason for all of it.

...

Knock. Knock. Knock.

My eyes shot open and I scrambled to answer the door. I had no idea what time it was or how long I’d been asleep. My head was still pounding from the previous night’s events and all I could do was hope that I didn’t give too much of my distress away.

“I’m sorry, I must have over sl—”

Upon opening the door, I was quick to realize that it wasn’t Alexander waiting for me but Oliver. I lifted my brows in confusion.

“What is it? Is everything alright?”

Oliver raised his hand to ease my growing worries. “I’m just here to let you know that Alexander will not be available to work with you on your lessons today,” he told me.

“Oh, that’s okay. Please, let him know that I’ll see him later then.”

“He’s already informed Wendy. She’ll be waiting for you down in the dining room when you’re ready,” he explained.

“Thank you.”

Oliver gave a curt nod and headed off to report back to Alexander. I took it as a stroke of luck that he and I weren’t going to be seeing much of each other today.

I headed over to the wardrobe and picked out some clothes. When I felt that I was presentable enough to leave, I made my way down to the dining room where I saw Wendy pouring over the current newspaper.

“Hello, dear.”

“Hello,” I greeted. “I’m sorry, I'm late.”

“Nonsense. I knew you were up rather late last night working, so I figured you were trying to catch up on your rest.”

I took a seat across from her and contemplated my words carefully.

“I...I didn't get a chance to give Alexander the tea I made him,” I said quietly.

“Oh, was he not in his office?” she asked.

I bit the corner of my lip. “No, he was there. Actually, he was asleep. In a way, I was glad he was able to rest a bit since I know he’s been having a hard time sleeping lately.”

Wendy folded the top part of the paper down to get a better look at me. My stomach was beginning to tighten into knots.

I was really debating about telling her what I discovered last night in his office. Did she know that Alexander was purposely hiding behind a mask? If so, did she happen to know the reason as to why?

Wendy’s expression gave off the feeling as though she already knew what I had gone through.

“I...”

“Go on, dear. You can tell me. Did something happen?”

“Well, as I was bringing Alexander the tea, like I said he was asleep, I ended up seeing his face...Without the mask.”

My heart was beating so fiercely, I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. I was entirely expecting Wendy to look at least a little shocked. But no.

In fact, she gave me a gentle smile and nodded her head.

“Ah, I see.”

“So, you knew that his face wasn’t injured?”

She nodded and gave me a reassuring grin. “I think you should talk to Alexandr about this directly.”

“I’m not sure he’ll want to talk about it with me.”

“You’d be surprised,” she said.

Part of me felt that if Alexander didn’t think I needed to know the truth, then maybe I should pretend I didn’t know.