Chapter 172

Lucas and Victoria were glancing at each other with smiles of happiness.

Happy. The two of them were happy.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" James asked me and I could feel the heat radiating off of his body.

They both appeared to be relaxed, holding champagne flutes in hand. My heart did somersaults in my chest, and I could feel James's anger simmering beside me.

We were getting more and more upset the longer we stared at them.

"Maybe we should go," I said to James, suddenly regretting the decision to come here.

I didn't know what to make any of this and I didn't know how to handle this situation. We were just going to go up to Lucas and Victoria, and what? Yell at them? Stomp our feet like little kids?

What else could we really do?

They obviously didn't care about our feelings. Why should we show them our vulnerability and allow them to see how much they've hurt us?

"Hell no, Shana, I'm not going anywhere! Not until I get some kind of logical explanation for all this!" James shouted, his loud tone gathering a lot of the guests attention.

My eyes went back over to Lucas and Victoria and I was frozen to the spot when I realized we'd been spotted.

Victoria's eyes widened in shock when she saw us, and the crystal flute in her hand slipped from her fingers, shattering on the marble floor.

Gasps from party guests in all directions rang out.

Lucas, still unaware of our presence seemed to ask Victoria what was wrong.

Victoria's face was motionless and horrified as she stared at James. Lucas followed her line of sight, and that's when his eyes locked on mine.

Victoria's mother appeared from somewhere within the crowd of people, making a beeline for her daughter.

A concerned expression was etched on her face as she asked, "Victoria? What's the matter?"

People around them bustled about, attempting to clear the broken glass, but my attention was solely focused on Lucas.

His blue eyes widened in disbelief as they blinked at mine, his mouth slightly open. We both looked at each other, locked in a tense stare-down.

I wanted to look away, but a part of me didn't want to appear weak in front of him. I wanted to stand my ground and show him that while he had hurt me, I was no coward. I wasn't going to shy away from him.

I felt James place a protective arm around my shoulders, his support and presence only made me feel that much stronger. I wasn't alone in this. Not only had Lucas hurt me, his girlfriend, but he'd also hurt his best friend.

Lucas's gaze shifted for a second, acknowledging that James was beside me. He examined James's protective stance and the way he held onto me.

Lucas's jaw clenched with tension, no doubt upset that James had decided to put his hands on me.

I had never seen Lucas look so caught off guard and torn before. It was both satisfying and infuriating at the same time.

It was his fault that we were in this scenario right now. Whatever lies he's been creating with Victoria have led us to this moment.

Did they really think we would never find out about this?

"What now?" I asked James in a low voice, still unable to take my eyes off Lucas.

"Follow my lead," James said, taking a decisive and determined step forward. Before I could retreat or collect my thoughts, James was leading me toward Lucas and Victoria with his hand wrapped around my wrist.

My heart thumped with rapid succession the closer we got to Lucas and Victoria's table. A part of me was screaming that this wasn't the wisest course of action. It was telling me to get out of here while I still could.

But it was too late to change our minds, or at least, James's mind.

He wasn't kidding when he said that he wasn't leaving without any answers.

James stopped us until we were directly in front of Lucas and Victoria's table. By this point, the glass had already been cleared up and Victoria's glass had been replaced and refilled.

James moved his hand from my wrist to my shoulders again as if making a point. It was a not-so-subtle declaration of unity, and from the look on Lucas's face, it irritated him to no end.

I had a feeling that James was doing this more to get a reaction out of Lucas than to actually comfort me, but I didn't really care.

It seemed to be getting some thing out of Victoria as well as she looked at me with sharp, calculated eyes. It reminded me of the first time I had met her.

The tension in the air was unbearable.

James wasted no time, his voice stern as he addressed Lucas, "You've got a lot of explaining to do, man."

"Is there a reason why your hands are on my girlfriend?" Lucas retaliated, shooting daggers at his best friend.

"I don't know if she's your girlfriend anymore after the shit you—" he stopped, his eyes falling onto Victoria. "The shit both of you have been pulling behind our backs!"

"James, it's not what you think I—" Victoria started to say but was cut off by James again.

"It's not what I think?" James let out a dry laugh. "It's exactly what I think! The both of you have been lying about being engaged for who knows how long—making Shana and I look and feel completely stupid."

"It's... complicated," Victoria said in a defeated tone, hanging her head low.

Lucas hesitated, looking as though he wanted to release me from James's protective grip. He spoke tentatively, "James, I—"

But James stopped him, his voice sharp with anger, "But what? You can explain? What more is there to say? How can either of you justify this situation?"

I stayed silent, allowing James to be my voice. I wasn't sure I could get any words out even if I tried. The only reason I was able to stand in front of Lucas was because James's arm was keeping me steady.

"We'll if you'd guys us the chance to speak, maybe you would see—"

"I've seen all I needed to!" James snapped again.

"James, please," Victoria inserted herself into the conversation, her voice calm as she tried to ease some of James's anger. "Can we please not make a scene here?"

"Seriously?" James retorted. His anger was evident as his nostrils flared. "A scene? That's what you're seriously worried about?"

James had started to draw unwanted attention to us. Among the crowd was Victoria's parents, who noticed the commotion. They both turned their attention toward James and me.

Victoria's mother, in particular, looked disgusted by our mere presence. She looked at us as if we were pesky flies buzzing around her face.

Her heels clicked as she marched over to us.

"What are you two doing here?" she spat. "You don't belong here."

"Mother." Victoria's temper flared at her mother's harsh words, and she interjected with a glare, "Don't speak to them that way."

But her mother could care less about how we felt.

"If both of you don't leave now," she warned, "I'm going to call security to escort you out of here."