Ruined By My Brother's Best Friend (by Silverwriter) novel Chapter 33

Ruined By My Brother’s Best Friend

Switched Up

ARABELLA’S POV

“I’ve actually noticed that Christian has been going out of his way to avoid you.”

Frowning, I looked up, accessing my best friend who has been pacing around our joint office for almost five minutes now. “1 don’t know what you’re talking about, Sierra,” I said, genuinely confused.

She stopped pacing and turned to face me, her hands folded and brows drawn up, “You can’t be serious.”

“I am serious,” I said, leaning back in my chair. “I really don’t know what you’re driving at…”

“Christian…,” She walked closer and placed her hands on my desk, her eyes glued to my face, “I know Christian likes you. That’s not even up for debate,” she said calmly, like she was trying to explain algebra to a child. “But, ever since the work party, I’ve noticed that he’s been acting different.”

I raised a brow, “towards me?”

She nodded, “yes, towards you! He’s been too professional…”

“Sierra, here you go again with your conspiracy theories. Christian has always kept things professional.”

She rubbed her temples and raised her hands, “I don’t know why I even bother with you, Arabella. The signs are literally right in front of you, but you’d rather choose to act like you cannot see them!”

“Because I really can’t!,” I said exasperatedly. I was used to Sierra implying that Christian liked me and at some point, I actually started believing that it was true. But, after the work party, I noticed that it was just a misunderstanding. He probably felt bad for almost being inappropriate and blurring the lines.

The last time he concerned himself with speaking to me was when Sierra and I ran into him on the day of the merger with Kade’s company. Ever since that day, he would walk right past me whenever we stumbled upon each other. It had only been about a week already, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t able to catch the switch.

Sierra suddenly waved her hands in my face, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Earth to Arabella!”

I rolled my eyes and swerved her hands out of my face. “You’re so dramatic.”

I bit my lip to hold back the retort on the tip of my tongue. Even though she was a pain in the neck and the biggest bitch alive, she was right. Leah is our boss whether we liked it or not. Sierra opened her mouth to speak, but I shook my head lightly, signalling her to keep calm.

Satisfied with our forced compliance, Leah tipped her chin up, a smug smile on her face, “Now that teaching you maners are out of the way, I came here to speak both of you about the new merger. As you know, we signed the contract about a week ago, and while official paperwork has been going on behind the scenes, it’s time for proper discussion and actual work projects to begin between both companies.” She looked from Sierra to me hesitantly, like she wasn’t happy about what she was about to say. “One of you will be part of the team working on the first joint project.”

My heart rate picked up and my hands got sweaty as I carefully digested her words. This meant anyone of us that would be part of the team would have to work closely with Alvise’s team… And that technically meant being in his vicinity. I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t do it. I spoke before I could stop myself, “Fine. Sierra will be part of the team.”

My best friend’s eyes widened, her brows perked up as she gave me a questioning look. I avoided eye contact with her and forced my attention to Leah, who was now carefully watching Sierra and I. She raised her brows, “And why’s that?”

I frowned, “I don’t understand… Why’s what? You said only one of us could join the team. So what’s the issue?”

She folded her hands impatiently and eyed me wearily. “And what made you think you would be the one to choose?”

I felt like pulling my hair out in frustration, but instead, I offered a fake smile, “You didn’t specify.”

Leah rolled her eyes, “Don’t try to act smart with me,” she snapped. “You know what…” “She placed her hands on my desk and leaned in till her face was inches from mine. “You’ll be the one to join the team.”