Even though I didn’t want to cover for my sister, I couldn’t sit there and do nothing while a woman’s heart was on the verge of breaking. Did I think she had the right to know the truth? Absolutely. But I didn’t think it needed to be a public matter, played out in front of the cameras. This was something that could be dealt with in private, which was why I steadfastly denied it all.
“Then why did my friend see your car at their house if Jeannine claims you’ve never been there prior to the other night?” Serenity just wouldn’t let it go—not that I’d expected her to. I guess I hoped she’d at least back off a little.
“Like I’ve already told you, I have no idea. I can’t explain that because it wasn’t me.”
“So you’ve said, except everyone knows you’re the only one with—”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m the only one who drives that car.” I couldn’t even say what it was, other than something that cost more than most houses. “I don’t have an explanation, because I don’t know anything about it.”
Serenity crossed her arms with her elbows set on the table and turned to face Michael, who was sat right next to her. “Do you know anyone who drives a Bugatti Chiron?”
All eyes were on Michael. Since I literally knew nothing about him, I had no idea how he was at lying on the spot. I hoped for the best but prepared for the worst. There were two incredible people at this table who would be devastated by the truth, and because of that, I just wanted it to go away.
Unfortunately, Michael didn’t do anything to help. But at least he didn’t do anything to hurt the situation, either. “No one that I can think of off the top of my head. Maybe it was an interior designer, I don’t know. We had several people in and out while we were fixing up the place. Right, honey?” he asked, turning to Jeannine to back him up.
Which, of course, she did. “I don’t know what you’re trying to gain from this, Serenity, but whatever it is, you won’t get it. Tiffany denied being at my house, Mike just explained the car being there, and it seems you’re the only person who’s heard this rumor. I refuse to play along.”
“I’m just the only one who’ll bring it to your attention, Jeannine. That doesn’t mean others haven’t heard about it. Trust me, plenty of people have been talking about it. I’ve seen pictures of them both coming out of a hotel. It’s kind of hard to explain that.”
“Until I see those pictures, I don’t believe you.”
Without responding to Jeannine, Serenity pulled her phone out of her purse, as if waiting for this very moment. She didn’t even have to search long before locating the photos in question. However, she refused to hand over her cell. Instead, she held it out for everyone at the table to see at the same time.
On the screen were two side-by-side images of the entrance to a building. It could’ve been a hotel, but it could’ve also been a grocery store. Since I didn’t know the area too well, I couldn’t be sure what building it was. However, after staring at the picture long enough without anyone else pointing out the nondescript entrance, I assumed that it was at least a recognizable landmark.
“Those are two different pictures.” It seemed Adam finally woke up and joined us in this debate. “You’ve got Michael in one and Tiff in the other. They aren’t together, so I don’t know what you think this proves, but it doesn’t even insinuate an affair.”
She simply shrugged and turned her cell back around to look at it. “Yeah, but if you look at the individual images, you’ll see there’s a car on the left side of the screen. It’s the same car in both pictures. It proves they were both at that same hotel together.”
Again, she turned the screen around and flipped between the two full-size images. Just as she said, there was a yellow sports car on the left. It was enough to convince me that we’d been caught—no, not we, Michael and Tiffany—but it didn’t seem to faze Adam one bit.
He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. It was hard to tell if he was mad, annoyed, or blasé about this whole thing. His expression literally gave nothing away. But then he spoke, and while his voice remained calm, there was an air of warning in the rumbles of his words. “Like I said last time, it doesn’t prove anything. I don’t know you, don’t know nothin’ ’bout you, but after listening to you for the past ten minutes, I wouldn’t put it past you to have forged those pictures. I don’t trust anything that comes out of your mouth.”
Serenity’s eyes cut to the left of me, probably assessing Jeannine and Michael’s stance. After a few moments of tense silence, Jeannine finally spoke up. “They have both denied it, so I don’t know why you keep pushing. What’s in it for you? Why are you so concerned about our lives and marriages? We’re not friends, Serenity. We are on the same show together, but don’t get it twisted…we are not friends.”
That was the last thing I expected to hear come out of Jeannine’s mouth. She always seemed so soft-spoken and easy-going. But this was the tongue lashing of a woman you wouldn’t want to double-cross. She may be sweet and caring, but it was obvious that she didn’t let anyone walk all over her. I had to admit, her backbone was mighty impressive.
“I just thought
