Elysia waspletely lost. "What do you mean, ''something fishy''?"


    Tarquin exined, "Keaton''s been a wrecktely. He''s drunk all the time, just totally out of it."


    "What does him being a wreck have to do with Winona?" Elysia countered. "Maybe he''s just stressed about how to handle this whole ''pregnancy'' rumor."


    Tarquin shook his head. "I don''t think so. From what I hear, the night before Winona flew out of the country, she spent the night at Keaton''s. And when she left the next morning, she was wearing his clothes."


    "Winona''s sudden trip abroad might be to get away from Keaton."


    "And Keaton''s been on edgetely, probably because of Winona."


    Elysia processed this, her eyes widening. "Are you suggesting Winona and Keaton slept together?"


    Tarquin nodded honestly. "Yeah."


    Elysia gasped in sheer disbelief. "But Winona doesn''t even like Keaton, and he doesn''t like her! How could they possibly hook up?"


    "...A drunken mistake," Tarquin offered.


    "Did Keaton tell you that?!" Elysia gasped.


    "No, I''m just guessing," Tarquin admitted. And it was a guess. Keaton had never mentioned a thing about him and Winona. But it wasn''t a wild guess; he had his


    reasons.


    The day Winona left, Keaton had dragged him out for drinks. Even then, Tarquin sensed something was off. He''d initially thought it was the pregnancy scandal. The rumor had spread like wildfire, and now the entire high society circle thought the Huber family was expecting. If they came clean now, Richard Huber and Janelle would be theughingstock of their world, and their health probably couldn''t take the shock. But during thest drinking session, a drunk Keaton had mumbled Winona''s name, muttering something about her needing toe back and exin herself. Exin what? Whatever it was, it was enough to prove something was going on between them.


    v


    Winona''s sudden departure had to be linked to Keaton, and Keaton''s bizarre behavior had to be linked to Winona To make matters worse, Janelle and Richard actually believed Winona was pregnant and were blowing up Keaton''s phone, telling him to fly out and take care of her. Normally Keaton would''ve jumped at the chance. Even if he didn''t go see Winona, he''d use it as an excuse for a vacation with some other girl. But this time, he refused to go, which waspletely out of character. Where there''s smoke, there''s fire.


    So, he suspected something was up. But it was just a suspicion. Since neither Keaton nor Winona had said anything, it was clearly a private matter they didn''t want to publicize, which is why he hadn''t told Elysia. He only brought it up now to distract her.


    And it worked Just moments ago, her mind had been racing, worrying that something terrible had happened to Elliot and Evan. Now, all she could think about was Winona and Keaton. Good grief, if they really did sleep together, how would they ever face each other agam? Elysia''s heart went out to her friend; she knew all too well how much Winona must be struggling. Elysia couldn''t spare a thought for Keaton; her mind was entirely on Winona. If Winona left to get away from Keaton, she must be miserable and


    overwhelmed. The thought of


    Winona being unhappy made Elysia unhappy too. She frowned, ring at Tarquin.


    Tarquin got the message and, with his self-preservation instincts kicking in, immediately dered, "Don''t worry. Winona is your best friend. If something unpleasant really did happen between her and Keaton, I''m on Team Winona all the way."


    Seeing his cooperative attitude, Elysia''s expression softened. She was about to say something when her phone rang. It was Winona, her voice frantic. "Elysia..."