Keaton put his phone away, pushed open the sliding ss door, and walked back into the living room from the balcony.
Alicia was still crying, tears streaming down her face, looking absolutely
miserable.
Keaton nced at her swollen, red eyes and handed her a tissue.
"Come on, enough with the tears. Wipe your face. I''ll take you to the hospital and have your injuries checked out first."
Alicia took the tissue, sobbing even harder.
"Babe, you have to stand up for me! I only hit her by ident, but she hit me on purpose!"
Keaton was blunt.
"I''ll take responsibility for what you did to Winona, but as for standing up for you? That''s not happening."
Alicia looked at him through blurry eyes, "Why not?"
Keaton replied,
"Because I''m your boyfriend, I''ll take care of the consequences-Winona''s medical bills, any time off work, and whatever emotional distress she ims. I''ll cover it all, you don''t have to worry."
"But fighting your battles for you? Not a chance."
Alicia felt even more wronged. "But she hit your girlfriend! Aren''t you going to do something?"
Keaton said, "If she''d just hit you out of nowhere, I''d have her head on a tter. But she had a reason-because you threw the first punch."
"Girlfriend or not, you can''t just go around hitting people."
Alicia protested, "I didn''t just hit her for nothing!"
Keaton sighed. "Alright, here''s your one shot at telling the truth. Spill it-what really happened between you and Winona?"
Alicia tried to wriggle out of it.
"I don''t have anything against her! I acted out because of you! Why do you believe her and not me? I''m your girlfriend!"
Keaton''s voice was calm, but cold. "I''m only going to ask one more time. What''s really going on between you and Winona?"
Alicia''s eyes darted, but she held her ground.
"There''s nothing! I hit her because of a misunderstanding. I acted on impulse, that''s all."
Keaton exhaled, his eyes narrowing.
"Alicia, do you think you''re smarter than Winona? Or smarter than me?"
Alicia hesitated, "Babe..."
Keaton''s tone grew even colder.
"I''m ten years older than you, you know. That''s not for nothing. Winona''s been in show business seven, eight years longer than<fn1758> Official source is F?ndNovel</fn1758>
you-se aren''t
survive that by being
clueless. Your little tricks aren''t
footing either of us."
"And you tried to use my grudge against Winona as your excuse? That''s bold, give you that Mustíve
had your Wheatres in
huh?" .
Alicia could tell from Keaton''s face that things were going south, and she panicked.
"Please, listen to me! You''re getting it all wrong! I admit, I don''t like her—I''m jealous, okay? But today, I swear, I didn''t-"
Keaton cut her off. "Let''s break up."
Alicia''s eyes widened in shock.
They''d just made it official at four or five in the morning, and now, before noon, they were breaking up?
They hadn''t even slept together yet!
If people found out, she''d be the butt of every joke in town.
.nét
"Babe, don''t scare me like this! I''m sorry, I''ll go apologize to Ms. Newsom right now! Please, don''t break up with me, love you can''t live without you-"
She reached out to grab Keaton''s sleeve, but he stepped out of reach. Keaton picked up his phone and, without hesitation, sent her $30,000.
Half as a breakup fee, half for medical expenses.
He showed her thepleted transfer on his phone.
"We''re done, Alicia. From now on, you can''t call me ''babe'' anymore."
Alicia was in full-blown panic, her lips trembling.
She couldn''t believe Keaton was actually serious-breaking up just like that!
And that thirty grand... Sure, it was a lotpared to what most people made in two years.
But for Keaton''s girlfriend? It was peanuts.
Keaton was always generous-every ex of his had at least six figures spent on
her.
And she only got thirty grand?
Alicia was furious.
"I don''t want it! I don''t want your money. I really love you, I just want to be with you, please—”
Keaton''s eyes narrowed.
"If you really don''t want it, I''ll just take it back. And then you''ll get nothing."