Chapter 177

Lucas and Victoria exchanged a glance as if sharing an understanding. The two of them knew that there was no point in avoiding it any longer– the truth had to come out eventually.

"Alright." Lucas took a deep breath and began, "Shana, James, we owe you an explanation."

"You think?" James asked with an eye roll.

"Would you just let him talk?" Victoria asked, giving James her own glare.

His eyes cut to hers with venom. "I don't think you want to try arguing with me right now."

"Or what?" Victoria threw her hand on her hips and gave him a pointed stare, as if challenging him. "What are you going to?"

"Guys, now is not the time to be starting an argument," I interrupted them before they got too into it.

It was hard to stop the two of them from wanting to fight with each other.

Lucas took a deep breath and gestured to the couch. "You guys may want to sit down, this could take a while."

"I'm okay standing," James said with an air of defiance. He crossed his arms over his chest to prove a point.

I ignored James's stubbornness and took a seat on the couch, eager to hear what Lucas had to say. Everyone sat except for James.

"I know– well, I can only imagine how frustrated and upset the two of you are after what you saw tonight," Lucas started.

"That's an understatement," James cut in. "We feel like we've been betrayed by the people we thought we could trust the most."

Lucas and Victoria looked to each other in silence.

"I know that, and I'm sorry for making you feel that way." Lucas ran a hand through his hair. "Believe it or not, it was never my intention to hurt either of you."

"Then why did you do it?" I asked, needing to know his reasoning. "You knew how we would feel if we were to find out."

"I didn't think you would find out," Lucas said.

"Well, that doesn't make it sound any better," James spoke up. "You were just going to go behind our backs?"

"No..." Lucas sighed. "I did it all for a reason. It wasn't to make you upset or go behind your backs. Do you really think I'm that awful?"

"No offense bro, but it's a little hard to think otherwise right now," James continued. "We have no idea what's going on in your head."

"I did it for you, Shana," Lucas said, locking eyes with me. "I wanted to help you get rid of that debt. I knew there was no other way."

"I don't understand," I said, looking from Lucas to Victoria. "How would the two of you getting engaged help pay off my debt? The two of those things aren't even connected."

Lucas began to tell me the entire plan, from the staged engagement to the reasons behind it.

"I knew my father would need me to give up something in order for him to really believe me. I told him Victoria and I would get engaged again in exchange for your debts being paid off."

"But, that's not all you promised him, is it?" I asked, remembering how odd Lucas had been acting.

He had been avoiding me and told me his father didn't want us together. He also had to move back home and give up hockey.

Was I supposed to believe that Lucas did all of that for me?

It didn't seem like a fair trade.

"No," Lucas said. "My father asked for more, as he always does. But I wanted to help you and this was the fastest way I could do that."

As he explained himself, I felt a mixture of emotions– anger, hurt, and confusion. The person I thought I knew seemed like a stranger.

Victoria interjected, "And I went along with it because it made my parents happy. They always wanted this to happen because of what it meant for our family. Lucas also promised me a few assets from his father's company for the future. I thought it was a win-win situation."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The depth of the deception left me speechless.

Lucas continued, "But now, with everything out in the open, my father won't forgive me. I've betrayed his trust one too many times."

"I understand why you did it..." James finally managed to say. He still stood with his arms crossed over his chest. "But I don't agree with how you handled it."

"You could've been honest with us from the start instead of keeping this from us," I added. "You only made the situation worse by concealing it."

"Shana, you would've never let me do any of that to help you. You wouldn't have wanted me to pay off your father's debt that easily," Lucas argued. "I didn't want you to have to deal with this on your own. I wanted to handle it for you."

Lucas had a point there. I wouldn't have wanted him to pay off my debt because it wasn't his burden to bear. It wasn't his father's fault that I was in this situation. It was my own father's fault.

I didn't want to place any of that responsibility on Lucas. He already had enough on his plate. But he went ahead and took that initiative anyway. He wanted to make sure that everything was taken care of.

"I'm just tired of your lies," I said in a quiet voice. "I wish you would've just been honest."

"I know," Lucas looked at me with gentle eyes. "I'm sorry for being deceitful. but at the time, I thought that was the best option."

He sighed, "But none of that matters anymore. My father told me that he's paid off all of your debt."

"What?" I asked, my eyes growing wide. "My debt's gone?"

Lucas nodded. "It's all gone, but so is any trust my father had in me. He's already announced that he doesn't want me to be his heir."

"Because you lied to him?" James asked.

"It seems like my status as heir is the only way he knows how to manipulate me. He likes to dangle it in my face and take it away when he pleases."

"Well, if you're not the heir, then who is?" I raised an eyebrow skeptically.

It didn't seem like Edwin wanted any part of the Busch family drama. However, he did say Lucas took away what was his... Would he still want to be the heir if Kendrick asked?

"Do you think he'd ask your cousin?" I asked Lucas, wondering what he thought about it.

"My father may not like me right now, but I know he also doesn't like my cousin," Lucas said. "Honestly, I don't know what he's going to do."

"I think he'd rather have his own blood inherit," Victoria said. "It's in our alpha nature to want our legacy to carry on by our own children."

Lucas looked uncertain, torn between his knowledge of his father's distrust for him and Victoria's comment.

There was a silence as we all contemplated the past few minutes.

"Well, there's another twist to this story." James and Victoria exchanged glances before James spoke up, "Victoria and I are together."