A/N: Thank you all for your reviews and support! I hope you all enjoy this next chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 12: This, madam, is a faithful narrative

"Are you sure you're feeling okay Ana? You look kind of off."

It was now evening, and Charlie, Kate, and Ana were having dinner and drinks at a local bar right outside of campus. The place was packed with college students tonight since a ComedySportz troupe was performing onstage, and the whole establishment was roaring with laughter. Ana, however, wasn't laughing as much as everyone else, which Charlie couldn't help but notice.

"I'm fine Charlie," Ana smiled at her friend. "I'm just a bit tired, that's all."

She hadn't told her or Kate what had happened earlier that day, when Christian had approached her outside Charlie's apartment building to confess his feelings for her. A part of her was still in shock that that happened at all, and she was still trying to wrap her head around it.

Ana had always assumed Christian disliked her as much as she disliked him, but as it turned out, he had actually developed feelings for her. Not only that, but he liked her enough to go against his better judgement and ask her out on a date! Ana remembered one of the first times she had ever spoken to Christian, he had stated he would never ask out a girl unless he really liked her, and Ana realized his feelings for her must have been genuine.

Not that it matters anymore, though.

Ana had absolutely no intention of going out with that asshole, especially after what he did to Kate. Anger consumed her at the very thought… if Christian wasn't such an arrogant jackass, this whole situation would have played out a lot differently. She almost felt bad for how mean she was to him, but ultimately she didn't regret telling him what she really thought. There was nothing else for him to do but think about what she had said.

However, for the rest of the day, Ana's confrontation with Christian was what consumed her own thoughts, making her quiet and distracted. Kate and Charlie hardly failed to notice something was wrong with Ana, and they couldn't help but look at her with concern.

"If you want to head back to the apartment soon, just let us know okay?" Kate said to Ana, gazing at her worriedly. "You still look pretty pale. If you want to call it an early night tonight, that's totally fine."

"Guys, I promise I'm fine," Ana smiled at them reassuringly, getting up from her chair. "I'm just going to run to the bathroom for a minute, I'll be right back."

She began to make her way through the crowd of people toward the restrooms. Everyone was still laughing uproariously at the improv show happening onstage, and she had to squeeze past a couple rowdy groups of people before making it to the hallway leading to the restrooms.

The ladies' room was just a single bathroom that was thankfully unoccupied. Ana locked the door before walking over to the sink and gazing at herself in the mirror… she did look rather pale tonight, and she felt hot and sweaty from being in that crowded bar. She took a paper towel and wet it with cold water before dabbing her neck and chin, relishing in the coolness.

I really need to pull myself together, she thought to herself, crumpling up the paper towel and throwing it away. There was no use worrying about what happened with Christian earlier today - she should focus on having a fun night out with her best friend and sister, and not think about things that would only make her upset.

Ana suddenly felt her phone buzz with an incoming text, and she pulled it out of her pocket to check the screen. It was from an unknown number - the same one that had called her earlier that day.

Dreading what she was about to read, Ana reluctantly opened the text:

I'm sorry for bothering you, but I just sent you an email which I hope you'll take the time to read. Have a good trip back to Portland.

Ana stared down at the text, her heart pounding. He sent her an email? How on earth did he know her email address? She was both angry and surprised he was contacting her after what happened today, and a small part of her wanted to go into her email inbox and delete the one sent from him without looking at it. However, another more curious part of her wanted to see what he had to say.

Why did he have to contact me the moment I decided not to think about him anymore?

Someone knocked on the bathroom door, and Ana quickly put her phone back into her pocket. She remembered she was supposed to be enjoying an evening out with her friend and sister, and she didn't want to be distracted by Christian anymore. She vowed to herself she wouldn't look at or think about the email he sent until after Kate and Charlie went to bed tonight.

Taking a deep breath and trying to look more composed than she felt, Ana unlocked the bathroom door and stepped back into the bar, walking over to her table.

A few hours later, Ana, Kate, and Charlie headed back to the apartment. It was now one o'clock in the morning, and Ana and Kate had a bus to catch in a few hours to take them back home to Portland. The girls all got ready for bed, and Ana and Kate both climbed under the covers of the full-size air mattress they'd been sharing for the past two nights.

"I like this," Kate smiled as she and Ana laid down on the mattress, facing each other so they could talk. "It reminds me of when you, me, and Leila were all little. We would have sleepovers and make forts in each other's beds."

Ana giggled. "We used to be a lot smaller back then so we'd all fit on one bed. By the end of the night tonight, I think one of us is going to end up kicking the other off onto the floor."

"You're on, sis," Kate joked, pushing her leg with her foot. The two of them continued to playfully kick each other under the covers for a few seconds while giggling before finally settling down onto their pillows.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Kate asked after a moment, tucking her hands underneath her pillow as she gazed at Ana in scrutiny. "I know that earlier you said you were fine, but I just want to be sure. You've been pretty quiet all night… is there anything you want to talk about?"

Ana stared at Kate, wondering for a split second if she knew what had happened earlier that day. She shook her head. "No, there's not. I guess I just have a lot on my mind, that's all… mostly school-related stuff."

Kate smiled understandingly. "Oh I see. Try not to think about that stuff until we get back to Portland tomorrow, okay? There's no use worrying about it now when there's nothing that can be done."

Ana smiled slightly. "I suppose you're right."

"I know I am," Kate said assuredly. "Try to get some sleep. We have to be up bright and early tomorrow to catch our bus."

"I know," Ana said, and she fought back a yawn. "G'night Kate."

"Goodnight Ana."

Kate rolled over so she was facing away from Ana, and Ana rolled over so she was facing the wall. There was an outlet only a few inches from where she lay, and her phone charger was plugged into her phone; Ana picked up her phone and tucked it against her chest, waiting and listening for when her sister finally fell asleep.

About ten minutes later, Ana heard Kate's breathing slow down and her quiet snores fill the silent room. Ana finally turned on her phone and clicked onto her email.

Sure enough, there was one unread email in her inbox sent from Christian Grey a couple hours ago with the subject line RE: Ana. With her heart pounding in her throat, Ana opened the email and began to read:

Dear Ana,

I'm sorry to be contacting you after what happened earlier this morning, since I'm sure I'm the last person you want to be speaking to right now. But I assure you I'm not sending you this email to ask you out again. What I'm writing now is what I wanted to relate to you earlier today, but I was too angry and upset to speak to you in a calm and rational manner. For what I have to say, though, I hope you'll read on and make a fair and honest judgement about me after you've finished.

First of all, you accused me of being a prick who deliberately and willfully broke up Elliot and Kate. There is truth in the fact that I separated them, but only because I felt that Elliot was falling in love faster than Kate was, and I was worried he would get his heart broken if he wasn't careful. Obviously you know your own sister better than I do, so if I misjudged things between them I apologize, but know that I only did what I did because I care about my friend. I'm sure if you felt Kate was falling for someone too quickly, you'd want to do what you felt was right too.

There's also something I need to confess to you. Yesterday at around noon, you sent Elliot a message over Facebook to tell him you and Kate were in town, but the truth is he never saw that message. He and I were out for lunch with a few of our work colleagues at the time, and he had left his phone at the table to go to the bathroom. His screen lit up, and I saw your name, and I was curious enough to pick up his phone and read what you'd sent him (he and I often use each other's phones, so I didn't think it was a big deal). You told him where you and Kate were going that night, and because I was worried Elliot would go running back to your sister if he knew you were here, I immediately deleted your message. Elliot still has no idea you and Kate were in town all weekend. I'm not proud of hiding it from him, nor of my decision to 'accidentally' run into you guys at The Hunsford later that night, but what's done is done and there's nothing more to be said about it.

Finally, I want to tell you about Jack Hyde. I'm not aware of everything he's said about me to you, but I can share with you all of my past experiences with him, and you can decide for yourself what to believe.

Mr. Hyde and my father were business partners ever since Jack and I were young children. Our two families basically grew up together, up until Jack's father died of a heart attack when Jack was fifteen. Mrs. Hyde had decided to go live overseas with her sister after her husband died, leaving Jack in my parents' care, and my father did his best to raise Jack like he was his own son. However, I went to the same high school as Jack (though I was a few years' older than him), and he was well-known amongst the students as a con-artist who could trick and charm people into giving him things. Whether it be lunch money, test answers, or even girlfriends, he could get pretty much anything he wanted from people. My parents and sister were completely unaware of this side of him, and I didn't want to be the one to rat him out, so I said nothing.

Soon after I graduated college, my father passed away, and I admit I struggled coping with his death for a long time. But with the strong support of my mother and sister I was able to pull through to take up the role of CEO of Grey Enterprise Holdings. With everything that was going on, I had almost forgotten about Jack, so I was a bit surprised when he reached out to me. He had graduated high school the previous year and had taken some time off to travel the world a bit before coming back home to Seattle. He said he wanted to get some real-world work experience before he went off to college, and he asked me if he could work at GEH in some low-level internship position for a while before he applied to a university. Although I already didn't really trust him, I felt that my father would have wanted what was best for Jack, so I reluctantly agreed to give him a job.

For legal reasons, I can't give you all the details of what happened afterwards, but a few months after Jack had started working at GEH, one of my CPAs noticed some money was being moved around without authorization. It was soon discovered that Jack had romanced a young woman in Accounting, and together the two of them had developed a Ponzi scheme through my company to defraud investors and make a quick buck. Thankfully, their plan was discovered before any investments were made, and my company was in the clear. There wasn't enough evidence to convict them, but they were both fired immediately, and in my anger I refused to give Jack a penny of the money my dad had left for his college education. He got angry and we argued about it, but I was firm, and he eventually left while promising to never darken my doorstep again. I hadn't heard a peep from him since that time… that is, until about six months ago.

This next part is difficult for me to talk about, but I want you to know the whole truth, and my cousin William can attest to what I'm saying since he was with me when this all went down. My sister Mia, after she finished high school a year ago, had gone off to San Francisco for culinary school to pursue her dream of becoming a world-class chef. What I didn't realize, though, was that Jack had followed her to California to confess his love for her. Mia was only eighteen at the time, and since Jack had always been so sweet to her as a child, she easily fell for his charms. At the time I hadn't told her what Jack had done to me or to GEH, so she was unaware of his true character. She and him stayed together in her apartment for months before I was made aware of it.

Mia and I often talked on the phone, and for the entire duration of her time in San Francisco she was careful to never mention Jack to me or have him around when I came to visit her. It was only after I suggested she get a personal security officer to keep an eye on her (I often times have one with me here in Seattle), she immediately became panic-stricken. I asked her what the matter was, and she finally admitted the truth… that she and Jack had been dating in secret for months, and Jack insisted Mia not inform me. She claimed that they were very serious about each other, so serious in fact that Jack had even brought up marriage to her on several occasions. That's when I became livid: I knew Jack's true character, and that he was primarily driven by money, so there was no doubt in my mind he had found out that our father had left Mia an inheritance of 3.2 million dollars which was hers once she turned twenty-one.

I immediately called Jack to tell him that if he married my sister, neither of them would see a penny of that inheritance. Since I had withheld money from him before, he knew that I was being serious, and the very next day he broke up with my sister and left San Francisco. Mia was heartbroken and angry at me for a long time afterwards, even after I explained to her what Jack had almost done to GEH. It's been months since all this happened, and my sister has finally started to come to terms with how Jack had been a manipulative bastard who toyed with her heart. It's been a long and difficult process for her to get over him, and I have to say it's been painful to see my sister going through such an experience - one that could easily have been avoided if I had kept a closer eye on Jack.

Since that incident, I've used my resources through GEH to track Jack's movements. After San Francisco, he came straight to Portland to crash with some of his old high school buddies who currently attend WSU. As far as I can tell, he's not attending any classes, and his financial records don't indicate he's taken out student loans, so I doubt he's enrolled as a student. If he's told you otherwise, then it's likely he's pretending to be a student to hide the fact he's illegally squatting in the Delta Chi frat house.

That's pretty much all of my experiences with Jack Hyde. If you've read my email up until this point, just know that I'm sorry if our conversation today ruined your trip to Seattle. I truly hope you and your sister have a safe trip back home, and the best of luck with you and your upcoming graduation.

Sincerely,

Christian Grey

A/N: And the plot thickens…

Hope you all enjoyed that chapter! Next, Ana and Kate head back to Portland together, and Ana thinks about Christian's email.