198 The story about Rina and Jack 2

Sabrina would be foolish to believe that Liz is asking randomly about her relationship with Jack.

Sabrina frowned. "Did he do something?"

Liz nodded slightly.

"Stupid bastard…", Sabrina said under her breath and looked at Liz. "What did he do?"

Liz fidgeted nervously. "When we were in Hawaii… He didn't know that I'm Max's girlfriend and I didn't know that he is your boyfriend. He kind of made a move on me…"

Sabrina's mouth was half open when she heard Liz's words. She closed her eyes and asked in a half-whisper: "Does Max know?"

"Yes.", Liz responded.

Sabrina exhaled and rested her forehead in her palm. The fact that Max knows and that he didn't rip Jack into pieces means that Jack was not successful in seducing Elizabeth. But that does not make it better because: Max knows that her relationship with Jackson is a charade, or he believes that Sabrina is engaged to a man who is not faithful to her.

"I'm sorry, Rina."

Sabrina looked at Liz. "What are you sorry for?"

Liz observed Sabrina's expression which proved that she knows that Jackson is a cheater.

"You don't look surprised.", Liz voiced her thoughts.

Sabrina shook her head, indicating that she is not.

Liz could not understand. "You know? Why are you with him?"

"It's complicated..."

"I know that it's personal, but… I can't understand, why would a woman like you tolerate such a guy? You are smart and beautiful, and you can have any guy you want. Are you in love with Jack?"

"No.", Sabrina denied immediately.

"Then, why are you with him? Is he blackmailing you? Or did he inject you with some poison and he is giving you small doses of antidote? Or do you have a child out of wedlock?"

Sabrina smiled sadly and shook her head. "No, no, and no… it was my decision."

Liz didn't believe it. It does not make sense. She summarized: "You are engaged to Jackson for more than six years and you know that he is fooling around, and you don't love him… and it's your decision? Please, tell me that there is a good reason for that."

As much as Sabrina wants to keep this a secret, the fact is that Jackson tried seducing Liz and that Liz is curious. Who wouldn't be? Well, Liz knows what is going on, so Sabrina decided to tell her why…

"It was so long ago that it does not matter if it's a good reason or not anymore. You said that Max knows? That… I was hoping that they will not find out."

"Who are 'they'?", Liz continued probing, emboldened by the fact that Sabrina is answering her questions.

"My family. You see… about eight years ago I went skiing in Aspen with my friends, like every year. Jackson was part of our group, someone else brought him in, we were not close before that. We were the first group of skiers after heavy snow. It happened quickly, but I remembered a loose buckle and losing control while going straight for the trees. Jackson showed up out of nowhere and saved me by placing himself between the tree trunk and me. He spent a few days in the hospital, and I was by his side. He invited me for drinks, and I accepted. At that time, my mind was on starting my business because I didn't want to work for others, and there was no time for dating. However, Jackson saved me, so how can I reject his invitation for dinner? We went out a few times, but it didn't work out and during one dinner which I thought it's our last one, he showed me a diagnosis that he has epilepsy."

Liz listened carefully and nodded in understanding. "You are with him because you believe that when he saved you, he hit his head and that caused epilepsy."

Sabrina confirmed. "He never asked for much, just to have the title of my boyfriend, and later my fiancé. And he didn't interfere in my life, so I never thought it's a problem. I have no plans for romance, so the fact that Jackson is my fiancé is keeping my parents off my back and I can focus on my business. Whenever they ask me about marriage, I tell them that I'm already engaged, and that marriage is just about obtaining a piece of paper which we can do anytime, and eventually, they stopped asking."

Liz could not believe what she just heard. She assumed that Max is outrageous to fake a relationship in order to appease his parents, but it seems that Sabrina is doing the same. Liz needed a moment for this information to sink in.

Liz wanted to fill up the gaps in this story, so she asked: "You are doing it for your parents, but why would Jackson want to pretend to be in a loving relationship with you?"

"His father has a company which was on the verge of filing for bankruptcy. When Jackson mentioned that he is in a relationship with me, few people accepted to work with them."

"He is using the fact that you are an Anderson."

Sabrina confirmed that Liz's understanding is correct. "Yes. How much I know, he never asked for any favors from my dad or Max or Hunter. He only says that we are engaged, and people are more cordial. At the same time, for some functions, he shows up and we hold hands and smile, and everyone is happy."

"But now Max knows that those smiles are fake."

Sabrina exhaled. "I told Jack that he can do whatever he wants, but to make sure people don't find out. Lately, he is less careful and now that stupid ass ruined everything by hitting on you. I am sorry, Liz."

Liz didn't care about Sabrina's apology. It's not Sabrina's fault that Jackson is an opportunist (how Liz sees him). Liz has a bad opinion of Jackson and she has a feeling that he is deceiving Sabrina, somehow. "Would you be with him if he is not sick?"

"Uhm… probably not.", Sabrina admitted. "At that time, I was not interested in romance. The benefit of pacifying my parents came later."

"When did you find out that he is using his connection to your family for his business?"

Sabrina shrugged. "I'm not sure. We were fake dating for some time when I asked him why is he so set on claiming me as his girlfriend when there are so many others, and then he told me." Sabrina saw concern obvious on Liz's face and she smiled. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine with it. The only troubling thing is Max. I'm not sure how to explain this to him."

"You don't plan on breaking up with Jack?"

Sabrina paused while thinking about how to answer this question. She decided to ask the same thing to Liz. "Would you be able to push away a man who ended up with a lifelong issue because of you?"

Elizabeth understood that Sabrina has no intention of leaving Jack. "You will stay with him? For how long?"

Sabrina shook her head helplessly indicating that she does not have those answers. "Over the years, I hoped that he will meet someone, fall in love, and let me go because I can't make myself deny him this. Maybe if I fall in love, I will feel stronger about this, but right now, it's irrelevant. He is not disturbing my lifestyle and he never touched me either and I am fine with the current situation."

Liz nodded in understanding. She knows that she thought similarly about Max using her as his girlfriend because she didn't have any love interest. Liz wondered, if the two of them didn't end up dating for real, would she be Max's fake girlfriend ten years from now? That sounds like an awfully long time to be pretending.

"Did you ever saw Jack have a seizure?"

"No. But I did my research and seizures are unpredictable."

Liz has to agree with this. "Does he drink? Or smoke?"

Sabrina was not sure where Liz is going with this. "Yeah, Jack drinks. And sometimes he smokes. Why?"

"People with epilepsy should avoid those…"

"You think that he is faking it?", Sabrina's question interrupted Liz's words.

"I don't know.", Liz admitted. "Does he have any close friends or family that you are close with?"

"Not really. Other than occasionally appearing as a couple, on functions where my family is, we don't interact much in person. Why?"

"Never mind.", Liz smiled and took a sip of her coffee.

Liz was curious about Jack's seizures. If Sabrina never saw him have one, then his close friends or family members should see it. Liz wanted to check Jackson's hospital records, but she will talk to Max about those. If Max finds out details about Jackson's health records, Liz can follow up with Jackson's doctors. No matter how Liz looked at this, something didn't sound right. There are too many coincidences: Jackson saving Rina, Jackson getting epilepsy, Jackson who hits on any woman but he didn't touch Sabrina and him associating himself with Sabrina is giving a boost to his company... But Liz knows that she can't just blurt out her suspicions without any evidence.

Liz smiled at Sabrina. "If you want to keep that a secret, I will talk to Max. OK?"

Sabrina's face lit up. "Oh, I don't know how to thank you!"

"Help me look jazzy for my lunch date, and consider us even.", Liz said smugly.

Sabrina was ecstatic to accept this deal. "Jazzy you shall be."

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