"A thousand dollars?" Lila gasped as she picked up the tag of the dress that Arietta had pushed into her hand. "That is quite affordable," Areitta said. They had spent about ten minutes going around the store with Arietta taking out clothes from the display rack and pushing them into her hands. Lila had been taking a peek at the clothes, and they were not the types she could afford. Even though Arietta had told her that she was going to have to pay and that she should not worry, Lila could not help but feel weirded out by the experience. Aruetta had said that this was her way of apologizing for the mistake that she had made, and Lila had said that a simple apology would have sufficed for it. Arietta decided to help Oliver out even though she did not fully understand the concept of it all. That was the best she could do for them. Oliver obviously had a plan, and the least she could do was help him. "Affordable?" Lila gasped.Arietta gave her a glance and muttered to her, "Do not wo
"Don't you think this is too flashy?" Lila asked, stepping out of the changing room. She was in a red sequin dress flowing down to the ground; the neck was deeply cut to show a bit of her cleavage and highlighted her silhouette and curves. "You look too good," Arietta squealed as she went to hold Lila's hand."Where am I supposed to wear this to? To have breakfast or watch my favourite series?" Lila asked, turning to the mirror. It was not a lie; the dress looked too good on her, and she wanted to get it. But how could she think of getting something as expensive as this without any reason? "I have no place to wear it, so why should I buy it?" she murmured. "Who knows, you might need to attend an event soon, and wearing this would make everyone look at you." "If everyone is looking at me, then I will feel very uncomfortable," Lila replied, shaking her head.As much as she loved the dress, it was impractical for her to wear. How could she think of buying something that she might nev
Evangeline watched Jane scramble away; she began to think under what name Lila was registered that made her act like that. She had known her before Gvain decided to do away with Lila and marry her; she knew how she clinged to Gavin without money of her own; she knew how she had to meet Gavin to give her everything that she could possibly need in life. She basically relied on him, so how could she have let up so fast that she already had a suagr daddy ready to take care of her expenses?"Oh, I see what is going on here," Evanegline said, sounding like he knew it all. She closed the gap between them and held her shoulder lightly. "You must have latched yourself to a rich man who ought membership for you." Lila had the urge to tell her off, but she held herself to avoid blowing things out of proportion. She had a godstore credit because she was using her mom's membership, and it was valid for them both. "If you get on your high horse, should we wait for the manager to get here first so
Evangeline stood outside, looking at the store. After the security men had pulled her outside, one staff member followed and told her that her membership had been revoked. She screamed, but nothing was changed. After all of the money she spent on the store, how could they revoke her membership just like that? Who on earth was Lila assassinated with that you think to do something like this to her?"Gavin," she said in a sad tone over the phone. "Gavin boo," she said again. She had been mean to him over the past few weeks, but she had to tell him what she had just experienced. "Evangeline? Darling? Why do you sound so sad?" He asked in a panicked tone. "I was just kicked out of my favourite store." Gavin relaxed; he had feared that she was in danger, but he thought that this was just a little trouble over clothes, and he felt better. "Kicked you out? Why would they do that?" "I saw Lila in the store, and I knew that she could not afford the things in it, so I just asked that she be
"I am so sorry, ma'am I was not aware that you came into our store; if I had known, I would have come out to attend to you by myself." "It's okay," Lila said. She did not want them to make a fuss overanythingg; she had made her point to Evangeline, so now she could relax."The present staff do not know any better." Lila could remember coming into the store with her mom when she was younger, and she could remember how members of the staff fussed over her. Her mom did buy a lot, so maybe their actions in themselves were not entirely bad, but it already made her feel self-conscious about it all."It is fine; I am fine." "How is Mrs. Carson? It's been a while since I heard from her," the manager said, trying to make small talk."Having the time of her life," Lila said a bit only because she genuinely did not know how her mother was. She was convincing herself that no news was good news and that if anything had gone wrong, they would have heard about it."How can I serve you today?" The
"You are back early," Lila said when she saw her brother walk in. She was going to talk to him the next morning since she thought he would probably be out late since he had a date with Arietta. It was strange to her that he was already at home. "The date finished early," he said, and she frowned with her lip running downwards. "What is that supposed to mean? What do you mean by the date finished early?" She asked, getting from the couch, to go meet him by the door. "Arietta gave me good news, and I wanted to come hear from you about it.""She told you already?" Lila gasped in disbelief. "So how did this happen?" "I ran into Gavin's new wife, and she pushed me to the wall—the wall I did not know that I had built up. It was not a good feeling, but I know that if I let her continue with me like that, I would like it.""I think you have made the right decision," Oliver said proudly. "And I am glad that you made the decision all by yourself." "What does that mean?""Damien called me
"Look what we got in the mail," Evangeline said, waving the card in hand in the air happily. It was one of those rare mornings when they both sat at the table and ate together. Gavin always rushed out in the morning, while Evangeline stayed in bed longer than she should. "What is it?" Gavin asked, not impressed by the paper in her hand. For all he could know, that could be their bills or a bank statement on one of her numerous credit cards. He wondered if having a crippling debt on her card was a flex for her. "Your credit card bill?" "Of course not," she said, furrowing her eyebrow as she sat down in the chair opposite him. "That is exciting, but not as exciting as this news I am about to share with you." "Gee, what could be more exciting than your wonderful debt?" He said it in a dry tone. "Keep on being stupid; I will still tell you anyway," she murmured angrily, raking out the card from the envelope, dropping the envelope to the table, and turning to him as she began to read.
"You did what?" Arietta screamed a grape hanging out of her mouth as she was about to pop it in. "You heard me," Lila said, popping a grape into her mouth and chewing on it."My ears must be playing a prank on me because there is no way you said that." "I am putting on a show, and it would be a pity if the audience does not come to the show. Then who am I displaying for?" "I did not know that you had this side to you," Arietta said. From the look on her face, it was obvious that she was so excited to see what would happen at the end of it all.Lila had told her that she asked her brother to invite Gavin and his wife; she had to see the expression on their faces firsthand so she could feel some kind of satisfaction. They had no reason to do that, but they picked her up as a victim and continuously trampled upon her."What about your child?" Arietta asked. Lila needed someone to talk to, but her best friend was nowhere to be seen, so she decided to tell Arietta everything and hope th
"Damien?" Rosa said as she saw him walk towards her in the garden. "I did not know you were coming over today," she added, and he smiled sadly, sitting beside her in the chair. "I also did not know that I was going to come over; it was kind of an impromptu thing," he confessed. "What is it with that expression on your face?" she asked. "What expression?""You look sad, but it is a different kind from the one I am used to," she said. He always looked sad, carrying around a gloomy face since Amber died. She always thought that it might be a good idea if he found someone who knew and loved him, but somewhere deep inside her, she wanted her daughter to be remembered a bit more. She was afraid that if she told him to do that, he might take it so seriously that her daughter would be a forgotten memory faster than one could think. That was the reason she never suggested it to him. She feared that the expression on his face was him coming to tell her that he had found someone and was goin
Tessa smiled at her daughter's report, and then she put the phone down on the table. She raised her head to meet Damien's gaze. "What do I owe the pleasure of meeting with Damien Calloway?" Tessa asked, leaning in and using her to trace the edge of the table. "Would you like anything to eat or drink?" Damien said instead of answering her. "It's already past ten; I had breakfast," she replied and then added in a low tone. "I am not an animal after all." "I am yet to have breakfast. I guess I must be an animal, but I need breakfast, so I will get you a cup of water and a few pastries for the table," he said, standing up and going to the counter to order. Tessa wondered why he had so much confidence. She knew him and his father when they suddenly rose to fame and how he changed the history of everything around him. He had been so influential that his past suddenly did not matter to everyone around him. Those who would have nitpicked at everything were comfortable with it all. Damien
Tessa smiled at her daughter's report, and then she put the phone down on the table. She raised her head to meet Damien's gaze. "What do I owe the pleasure of meeting with Damien Calloway?" Tessa asked, leaning in and using her to trace the edge of the table. "Would you like anything to eat or drink?" Damien said instead of answering her. "It's already past ten; I had breakfast," she replied and then added in a low tone. "I am not an animal after all." "I am yet to have breakfast. I guess I must be an animal, but I need breakfast, so I will get you a cup of water and a few pastries for the table," he said, standing up and going to the counter to order. Tessa wondered why he had so much confidence. She knew him and his father when they suddenly rose to fame and how he changed the history of everything around him. He had been so influential that his past suddenly did not matter to everyone around him. Those who would have nitpicked at everything were comfortable with it all. Damien
Lila wanted to check on Damien to see if he was hurt in the fight, even if it was most unlikely that anything like that would happen. She was still worried, but how would he believe anything if she was calling him up to check on him after brutally breaking up with him and even going the extra mile to try and convince him that she was done? "I never even got to tell him that I liked him," she murmured to herself. She did not know why it was so important to her, but she wanted to tell him at least once that during their time together she had begun to fall for him before she had to do what was right for herself and her family. THE NEXT MORNING"Damien is asking to meet with me," Tessa said as if she were giving morning updates to the group on the table"Why?" Lila choked out, trying not to sound too excited or curious to hear it. She had to first convince herself that she was capable of getting the job done before she could convince anyone else. "I don't know; I guess we have to meet
Gavin looked at his face in the mirror of his car before turning it off. He felt pain surge through his body. Damien had only punched him once yet but felt like he had gotten beaten up. He walked into the house hoping that Evangeline was already asleep and he did not need to go back and forth with her today. "Why are you just getting back?" "Since when did you care what time I got back?" Gavin was startled by her voice because he had looked around when he got in and had not seen anything but majorly because the entire place was dark. She watched him look around like a criminal ready to steal something when he came in. She wanted to stand in front of him and rain down cursed but held herself back. Tessa had called her and sent images of Gavin with Lila. She told her that she was against it but her daughter was going back to Gavin. If Tessa had not told her to calm down then maybe she would have gotten all rilled up and thrown him out of the house. Tessa promised to get back at Gav
Gavin is barely able to recover from the punch that Damien landed on his face when another one cuts across his face so brutally. "What do you think you are doing?" Gavin screamed, tasting blood in his mouth. He spat out what he had been able to pull and moved up to Damien. He knew that he would not be able to win against this man, but the pride he felt in his heart was not going to allow him to back down. "What do you also think you are doing?" Damien asked, closing the gap between them so that they were now touching chest to chest and their faces so close to each other that if they tipped a bit, they might be kissing. "I asked you first; why don't you answer?" Gavin asked. He knew he should not be doing anything like this, but maybe the confidence that Lila was beside him now was giving him some kind of push. "What?" Damien let out a surprised laugh. "You must think that you are a big shot now," he added. "You punched first, and for what?" Gavin's eyes darted around, trying to f
"You are here with him?" Damien asked as if she had spoken in an unknown language. "Yes," she said We had so much confidence that it was even scary to her. Where did she see such confidence from, and how did she develop it?"With your ex? With the man who married another woman? Are you with a married man?" Damien's voice came out as a mixture of anger and concern for her. She could see that all was wrong, but she had to defend herself. What if Damien began to see her as a loose person who did not care about herself? "It is just a friendly date, and I do not think any of this is your business," she murmured, trying to look away. "You do not think any of this is my business?" He said, taking a deep breath as if to stop himself from exploding. "And what is a friendly date?" he asked with a puzzled expression on his face. "A friendly date; we just met to have dinner; what is so difficult to understand about that?" she asked. She knew she was not supposed to be there holding a conversa
"Why? I thought you two looked together," Gavin said. He was brimming with so much joy, but he could not show it. He was supposed to be a married man. How did he show so much happiness just because she was going to be with him if all went well? "We were a good match, but he liked me more than I liked him, and in relationships like that, it is hard to keep up, and as I said earlier, I still loved you; I liked you so much that I could not move on," she lied, and her throat felt itchy as she lied so much. "I am a married man," Lila wanted to call his bluff; he was acting hard to get, and to what end? He had been brimming from ear to ear, and now he wanted to act as if he were faithful to his wife. "I know this is wrong, but are you saying that all of the feelings you have for me are all gone?" She asked, and he stood there, watching her. "If you tell me that you do not have a single feeling for me again, I will not disturb you again." Gavin sat there and watched her without a word. "
"You are here," Gavin said as soon as the door opened and Lila stepped in. The door closed behind her, and she moved into the room. "I hope I did not keep you waiting too long," she asked."Of course not. I got here early," he said, moving from where he stood to help her get the chair. She looked at him shocked at his actions; she wanted to ask him why he was acting like such a gentleman and standing up when she got into the room. Pulling out the chair for her? She remembered their dates as a couple and how he was always nonchalant towards her. She licked her lips and shook her head, trying to act as if it were normal for him to act like this. "Thank you," she murmured instead of asking him what had come over him. She slipped into the chair, and he put it on a bit before going back to the seat opposite her. She hated the way they had to sit opposite each other and stare into their souls as if nothing was wrong with it. "You are welcome," he replied, taking up the menu and giving it