The whole hall became silent at once when the tea cup fell from her hands and crushed against the marbled floor.
"My apologies, ladies and gentlemen. My hand slipped."Mrs. Jones gave a sinister smile which didn't go unnoticed from the woman standing at the corner of the hall.
"It's alright, sister."
An elderly man responded to her with a slight pat on her shoulder while the woman stayed sitting in the chair. The new year gathering had brought all the Lancaster family members together. No doubt the aristocratic family had a big bunch of members of all ages. All were respected and well known in their particular streams of business, banking and shipping. While the noble ladies were occupied in conquering the fashion and entertainment industries. In the midst of all rich sharks stood Nathalie Lancaster the youngest sole heiress who was supposed to inherit all the wealth. An illegitimate child born out of a maid who died during childbirth, she was not favoured by anyone nor her useless father."Hoho, call that useless thing to clean this mess."
Saikus Lancaster, her uncle, spoke in a ridiculing tone while he objectified the person he intended to call. Nathalie didn't say a word to avoid the unnecessary mess which wouldn't add anything good to her part. But she cast a look at her father Boris Lancaster who also didn't bother to stop or rebuke his elder brother from spouting those words.'Tsk these old farts!'
Nathalie pursed her lips and gulped down the wine while she stood in the right corner of the huge hall. All of the anxious eyes skimmed through the hall and landed on her with disgust and an insulting expression. She knew what was coming and Nathalie didn't like it even a slightest bit. The wooden door parted its mouth and a handsome young man with a toned torso and muscular build entered the hall.'Tsk there he comes without dignity and shame as usual.'
She eyed the man who had the tendency to make every woman fall on her knees. But Nathalie didn't have any slightest attraction towards his pretty face. "You...come here immediately!" Saikus yelled at him and gestured to the man to approach him. Lucas walked towards him with his head glued to the ground and in a calm posture. "Here, clean this mess!" Saikus gestured towards the spilled tea with his foot expecting Lucas to bend down to clean it. And up to his expectations the man unhesitantly knelt and took out a small towel from his pocket and began to wipe off the floor. No one in the hall pitied him or bothered to stop the man from doing such a humiliating task. After all he was the son in law of the Lancaster family, the husband of Nathalie. She was supposed to choose someone to marry immediately if she wanted to inherit the wealth of her father. Thus, the cunning woman picked up some random beggar from the street and married him. Well, what one would expect from a beggar!? The elder man stared at him with a smirk but his ego wasn't satiated with that, he never liked the patience and 'do not say anything' attitude of Lucas. Saikus wanted to crush his hopes and to break the patience of that guy so he could finally get a reason to kick him out. Well, of course not only Lucas but Nathalie too because after they both were gone all the wealth will be his. He was aware that Nathalie wasn't a weak target but her useless good for nothing husband was a puppet.Saikus intentionally titled his hand and spilled the hot tea which fell on his hand and burned the skin. Lucas flinched and immediately pulled his hand without causing a sound.
'Hah! Even pain can't make him behave like a human.' Nathalie didn't care about him from the beginning but she looked forward to him to stand up for his rights. Nathalie kept rooted in her place watching that Lucas was finally done with the cleaning.The man didn't seem professional in the task that the cloth unintentionally touched the expensive shoes of Mrs. Jones. The woman burst out infuriated as she threw the red wine over his face.
"Are you insane!?"
The old woman shot up from the seat although her rash act satisfied Saikus (her younger brother's) ego. "Do you even know how expensive these shoes were? Even your six months of salary cannot afford to buy it." She turned towards the elderly man who was sitting in the middle of the hall on a rocking chair. Mr Lancaster, the old man of the family and father of Mrs Jones, Saikus and Boris….although the man was old but held the reins in his hands."Look father, he ruined my shoes...what kind of servants are you keeping?"
She complained with a puppy expression which didn't suit her obese figure and extremely makeup caked face."Enough!"
Mr Lancaster lifted his cane and banged it against the floor to stop all the chattering and muffled laughter in the hall. "Lucas, go away if you are done." He ordered the man who was apparently drenched in the wine, Lucas stood up and bowed to the old master.The useless son in law turned around and cast a brief look at Nathalie without even bothering to skim across the hall. Lucas seemed to be sure as to where she would be standing and gave off a keen look at her disappointed face.
He let off a sinister smile and raked through his sleek black hair while the wine drops dripped down under his shirt. Nathalie could see the white shirt getting pink throughout his exposed torso. The sight made her nearly choke over the freshly poured wine as her sinful eyes trailed from his penetrating silver eyes towards the sharp jaw.'Bruh, he's doing that good looks charm again.'
Nathalie scoffed inwardly upon his annoying act although she didn't like him but something always stirred her heart whenever he saw her like that. Lucas walked out of the hall heading straight towards the back of the villa. The slanting sunlight greeted him to dry the shirt while Lucas fished out his cellphone from the pocket. "Hey, Mark, make some arrangements to abduct somebody." A dark expression graced his handsome face as Lucas put the phone back and stared heaven wards with determination. "I will win over you Nathalie, just wait and watch how you will fall for my game." He sounded different from the aura he had just presented in the hall. Meanwhile Nathalie was standing behind him with a stunned expression and disbelief was in her eyes. She stepped backwards to leave but the feeble sound of her heel against the stone snagged his attention. Lucas immediately turned around and saw her standing with a guilty expression which was mixed with disbelief.'Gosh why did I even come out to steal a look from him!?'
Nathalie scolded herself inwardly for showing her emotions in front of him but she immediately composed herself.'I presume she didn't hear anything or she would have been holding my collar by now.'
Lucas had known her well by that time and was aware of her personality shifts.They both stood there in an awkward atmosphere while the sexual tension rose between them. Lucas lunged towards her and within a jiffy her waist was embraced in his hands. He pushed her and Nathalie was tucked to the wall at the back of the villa.
'She smells wonderful.'
His lips were just a few inches away from kissing her neck while found herself surrendering the temptation.
"You!? What are you doing?" She felt her heart racing faster and beating in the ears but she didn't want to share a bed or to love a poor guy without any status, money and name.Lucas stepped back instantly releasing her waist and without waiting there for any moment he dashed inside.
'What was I even thinking? Ugh!' Lucas scolded himself with clenched fists as he walked straight towards the kitchen to handle his usual daily chores. He banged the door open when all the other servants nearly jumped in their places acknowledging the arrival of the devil.All of them immediately turned back to their duties pretending not to bother to look at Lucas. The staff was clad in white uniforms with gazes glued to pots, no one dared to lift his head up. Lucas headed straight to the back of the kitchen where the staff was supposed to take rest.The man slammed the door with a loud bang indicating his agitation."Is the boss angry?"One of the men spoke in a whisper carefully asking the opinion of the other comrades. No wonder he addressed Lucas as boss because all of them were his men.The useless son in law had a powerful background to back him which was apparently unknown even to his wife, Nathali
Lucas had no idea what to do, a part of him wanted to take her down at that moment when his eyes landed on her bare body. Nathalie immediately covered herself with her palms and shouted in rage, although her half red face said more than it was supposed to."Stop staring at me, you jerk!" She yelled which made Lucas come back to his senses, he imminently turned around and covered his mouth. The man could sense heat rising in his jeans and his ears getting red with shyness.After all it was the first time something like that had occurred which made them both embarrassed."I'm sorry I did not mean to...I was just,"Lucas could not even answer properly that his voice stammered at the yelling.Undoubtedly her voice caused a visible affect on him, which did not go unnoticed from her."You what? Know your place Lucas, or else I will make sure you won't be able to say your own name!"&nb
'Hey damn you little brother, play cool okay!'Lucas groaned at the poking in his jeans which was not unexpected but at the wrong time.'Shit! Now I have to take off this first before going back inside.'He raked through his hair with a chuckle and shook his head, the moonlight coming inside from the side window resented him as an eye feast.His shirt was wet and the upper three buttons were open to let women drool and worship his torso. No wonder Lucas never liked to attend the business parties and gatherings, the multilayered makeup girls with horrendously caked faces.That's why probably he liked Nathalie and her righteously tough attitude fueled his emotions. She was the one who successfully stirred a storm of sensations within him at first sight.Lucas had decided to make her his woman at that very moment. The man looked down on the visible bulge and smirked meaningfully.'S
Lucas had to spend his night outside the room, he found a guest room for his stay. And woke up ahead of everybody so he could avoid their questions and ridicule.'Phew! I was almost caught by that stupid nagging bitch Mrs Jones.'He thought to himself while shaking head after he recalled how he closely survived the encounter with Mrs Jones, Nathalie's aunt, early in the morning.'That nagging bitch is such a headache. She never leaves a chance to humiliate me.'Lucas poured the milk into the pan to make milk tea, no one had ever liked it on the dining table. But Lucas made sure to make it just because his wife loved it.He had already listed out the stuff she liked and was certain to use all the information, no wonder he knew much about her already. And her grandpa had helped him a lot. Lucas had a jury to himself to make sure they did all the work.YES! Why would he do all the work himself
'What is he even doing?' She thought to herself knowing that something sure was wrong with him. Since Lucas had never been like that and did not ever try to have any kind of intimacy with her. But suddenly out of nowhere he had gotten possessive about her, and did not allow that bastard man to touch her at all. 'Why is he suddenly behaving like this? And how the hell did he turn from a mere simp to a thoughtful strong man?' She had no clue how to figure out what had happened to him, but one thing was clear Lucas had taken step forward to protect her. However he had aways been trying to protect her either way, it did not matter whether he was standing on the front being her shield or hiding in teh shadows to protect her. One thing was certain, Lucas Petrakis was swooned over that woman and could not afford anything to happen to her. 'Well not that I mind him teaching a lesson to that greedy old m
Lucas took the breakfast for his wife to her room, he could not bear to ruin her mood after seeing Saikus still there in the dining hall. The man sure was having fun with the newly found change, their relationship had finally undergone a healthy change. He had worked hard enough to earn such small change in Nathalie's behaviour which could lead to possible changes in the future. No doubt that was the aim of his to set his foot into the Lacaster family because Lucas wanted to marry her, but upon hearing her views of love, marriage and relationships from the old man Lucas became deterined that he had to show her how he was different. 'I'm sure she has a change of opinion about me. This is great considering that now I can bluntly go around kissing her.' He giggled while picking up the tray and meaningfully glanced at the washroom. Lucas could not help but smile like a fool now that she has
The sight casted a huge effect on Nathalie, she did not ever imagine Lucas to turn out to be a jerk. She had always expected that he would be different from her father. A lingering hope was always there in her mind that he would hold onto her and would never do anything wrong to her. Her major fear and insecurity regarding relationships and marriage was because of her father. Boris was the utter trash of the family j
"Sir, I can't let you inside."The guard outside the Lancaster Corp stopped Lucas by force, he had been holding the man by the shoulders to prevent the young man from intruding.The building was Lancaster Corp where Nathalie worked and was in charge of, the woman held the reins of the whole monetary system and the deals. No wonder the old man wanted to pass on his empire to some responsible person, and none other than N
Lucas took Kaya to Diego, he didn't want to keep her with himself since it would put her life in danger. He flew straight to Diego with the intention of keeping Kaya safe, she told everything to him about how she met Sandro and whatever be did.Lucas got into trouble and confused about what to do since apparently Kaya was now Richardson' fiance. But he didn't want to showcase the deeds of his brother in front of the cousin, thus he assured Kaya that she would be safe with Diego's family.Diego's wife had patched up with him after she saw the clip that they both were drugged that night, as someone clad in black suit from head to toe 'planted' Nathalie there with him. And the whole scenario resulted into intimacy, Viviane believed in whatever her eyes saw and forgave Diego but she still was hesitant in adopting Khal."But why do you want me to keep her? She will be safe with Richardson."Diego complained w
"What happened to mom?"Khal inquired from grandpa Lancaster who gave him a hug and a teary eyed response, while his lips couldn't say anything since the things were out of his control now.Nathalie was given the poison in the coffee back there in the cafe when Lucas took her to the cafe. Somebody there had given her the poison but it was Sandro who served her personally. Could it be him?The old man and the little boy sat in the corridor of the hospital silently with their thoughts running towards every negative outcome they could imagine. The guards had been keeping an eye on every person present in the arcade or hovering around the ward where she was kept.'I have to contact Lucas and inform him. The situation might turn bad and I don't want to keep him in the dark.'The old man had no clue what to do, but he was aware that Lucas needed to be informed about the whole matter.&n
'Why is this number calling me consistently?'Lucas had no clue why the particular number had been nagging him a lot, the user had been calling him since an hour. Finally Lucas attended the call and was about to yell at the user, without bothering that Diego was still sitting beside him in the car.'Who is she?'Lucas heard a feminine voice which made him end the call, but before he could do Lucas heard a familiar voice. The caller was Kaya Williams who had been calling him for help when Sandro was keeping her confined. [Petrakis book 2]'What the fuck is Alessandro doing there?'He couldn't contain himself and nearly jumped out of the seat, when Diego became curious about the call. He had never seen Lucas with mixed emotions of anger and surprise, which he couldn't understand himself.'Who is this woman with him? Don't tell me this brat is doing something dirty!'Lucas heard thee woman deliberately telling him the address which he repeated under h
Nathalie took her leave and walked straight to the room, she closed the door behind her and tried to calm her pounding heart. Nathalie knew her heart was beating for only one man, who was returning her love the same way.'Whoa! So, this feeling is absolutely true. Is this how people feel in love?'She raked through her hair and walked towards the washroom, the woman opened the tap and splashed water on her face. Nathalie started to wear makeup to impress him, but later on she completely stopped after Lucas praised her bare face.The lady stared in the mirror in front of her and felt heat around her cheeks. Nathalie could see visible blush on her cheeks, which reminded her of Lucas and his words back in the lounge. Nathalie never imagine to have kids with him, after all their relationship had just begun and kids were the last thing she would think of.'I hope he would not treat Khal any different if we happened to have kids together.'Nathalie had no idea or
Nathalie stared at Viviane's back as she left the villa after settling things with Nathalie. The woman was satisfied with all the talk and was relieved by now that Nathalie was definitely not after her husband and did not want to give up her child either."When did you arrive, honey?"She turned towards Lucas who was relieved by now that Viviane didn't blow up his identity. Nathalie's happy expressions relieved him even more and shed all the byrden from his shoulders about the issue."When you were having a cat fighting with her, haha."Lucas leaned in and pecked her lips while he lifted her chin up to make sure the women would look him in the eyes. He wanted to see if she was alright and was just pretending to be fine while having her mind trapped in the mess."I must say you always surprise, little devil!"She lowered her head and made sure that Lucas would not see her blush expression since Na
In the present time Nathalie was sitting in the opposite sifa to Viviane, who analyzed everything in her surroundings in Nathalie's home.After getting the idea that Nathalie could not harm her, she resumed her speech while the jury of ten brawley bodyguards stood in the lounge with their guns in hands. Upon any suspicious movement they were ready to pull the trigger without thinking twice."So are you implying that you don't have anything to do with Diego?"Viviane knew bv now that something was amiss in the whole situation,but she wasn't able to figure out what!She could feel that something was hidden and the feeling made her uncomfortable as if somebody had been keeping an eye on her. Well which definitely was true since Lucas had placed a guard on surveillance in case something happens in the villa.Viviane's cold gaze was fixated on Nathalie who appeared to be calm de
On the other hand when Viviane was having trouble keeping her emotions in check, so she could divorce him easily if he failed to bring her the proofs of his innocence.Sandro was still chasing after his girlfriend and upon finding her whereabouts he flew straight to her. During his fight he was happy about finally being able to find her. But his joy didn't last longer when he reached and found out his beloved woman's marriage to his cousin Richardson. [Petrakis book 2]Lucas had been trying to get along with Khal and filling up the gap between him and Nathalie. The lady had been searching for a balance in her life, since she had recently started to love Lucas and now the problem arrived.Nathalie had recently accepted him as her husband and they both went on the honeymoon, but then the truth was disclosed to him. And the situation got worse, though Lucas was happy that she had been opening up to him and they both created a bondi
Meanwhile on the other hand Nathalie went back to the room, leaving Khal with his grandpa. Old Lancaster felt like someone had poured life within him once again..And surprisingly Khal was getting along with him so easily, they both played cards afterwards and then grandpa offered him a duel of chess. Nathalie was surprised that her son even knew how to play these games, but she recalled that Diego was a master level player in both the games.Sure enough there was no doubt that Khal was their son, Nathalie spent an hour seeing both of the men playing and chatting with each other. Grandpa Lancaster made Khal successfully chat and mingle in without feeling alienated because he was adopted by the family.Although Khal had already said that he was aware of his parents but he did not voice out a question which would be the nightmare to Nathalie. Why did she give him up t
"Give me one reason not to do it.'Vivian shouted to Diego by challenging him to give her at least one reason not to divorce him. The man stared deeply in her eyes making the woman feel his heated stare of sadness and danger.Diego released her arms and stepped back, the man crouched on the floor on his knees and looked up at her face. Viviane's eyes widened upon his act which seemed something more than just guilt."What...what are you doing?"The lady had never seen him defeated let alone begging someone for something. Deep down she knew that Diego was head over heels for her, which made Viviane guilty and feel sympathetic for him.The lady had no clue what he had been doing with Nathlie yet she wanted to believe in him. She leaped towards him but the very thought of him being with Nathalie stopped her footsteps.&nb