Clara knew that she had lied to Remy about her name being April. That was one of her habits—lying to men about her real name since she wasn't interested in them and only wanted to have sex with them.She walked back through her house gate, as she lived there alone, and went back into her room in the rented apartment.--------However, Lerisa drove to the shopping complex where she wanted to purchase clothes. She parked her car and sighed as she remembered how Clara had denied knowing her.Lerisa thought about calling Anthony again. But she didn't know how she would explain to him that she had seen his girlfriend cheating on him.She switched off her car engine and finally stepped out of her car before locking the car door and walking up to the shopping boutique where she wanted to select a gown.Lerisa stepped into one of the feminine boutiques, and the sales representative there attended to her. "Good afternoon, ma'am. What kind of clothes do you want to buy? We have gowns, skirts, bl
Lerisa and Martha entered the living room and met their parents seated on a couch. They greeted their parents, "Good afternoon, Mom, Dad.""Welcome home, Lerisa. Your father and I forgot to purchase birthday gifts for Anthony today. How about you? Did you purchase anything when you were coming home?" Mrs. Antonia asked. Lerisa replied, "No, Mom. I forgot too."Lerisa stared at the living room wall clock and saw that it was already 2 PM.Her father said, "There's still time, Lerisa. Why not go outside now with your sister to the shops nearby and purchase something for the Gregson family? As you know, we can't go there empty-handed to attend Anthony's birthday since he is their only son.""Hmm, you're right, Father. But what do I shop for him? They’re rich, and last year we already gave Anthony a standing fan... I don't know what to buy for him this year," Lerisa said with a frown, as they had bought a lot of gifts for Anthony before, and she was unsure what to give him recently."Anythi
Later in the evening, Lerisa was in her room when she received a phone call from Anthony. It was already 5 p.m., and she had finished dressing up and applying a little makeup to her face.She felt nervous when she saw Anthony's name on the caller ID and didn’t know whether to answer the call or not. She was worried sick because she hadn't yet informed him about Clara cheating on him.Taking a deep breath, Lerisa finally answered the call just before it could end. Anthony's deep, masculine voice greeted her, "Hello, Lerisa...""Hi, Anthony. I'm on my way now," Lerisa quickly replied. Anthony asked her, "Are you sure? Or do you not want to attend my birthday party tonight?"Anthony wanted to see Lerisa's face, as he considered her like a younger sister. Lerisa immediately said, "Why wouldn't I attend your birthday? I'm coming, please... Just a minute," she begged."Alright, I'm expecting you. Please don't disappoint me. Later, you can share your problem with me, and if you need money, I
Staring at his handsome reflection for the last time in the wide wall mirror, Anthony finally walked out of his bedroom upstairs. He followed the passage on the top floor and went downstairs to the event hall in the second wing of their mansion."Welcome the celebrant! As we have been waiting for this joyful moment to begin the celebration of his new age with him—Anthony Gregson!" The female host shouted as she watched Anthony walk out onto the front stage in the event hall."Thank you all, thank you," Anthony said as the round of applause increased for him. After he appeared on stage, he accepted the microphone from the hand of the female host, who was in a white gown.She was a young lady, though married, and served as the host of the show. She smiled sweetly at Anthony as he smiled back at her and all the guests who had arrived at the event hall with him and his family. They all clapped happily for him as well.Lerisa stood in a corner of the event hall and smiled at Anthony too. Sh
As Ben walked outside to the stage with Lerisa, the event's festivities hadn’t yet begun.Stepping onto the stage with Ben as a love song played, Lerisa felt all eyes on her; it seemed like everyone in the event hall paused to stare. She walked out nervously with Ben holding her closely, their hands intertwined.Lerisa didn’t want to glance at the table where her parents sat, watching her in surprise. She knew that her mother had personally expressed her desire for she to marry Anthony.With the way Ben held her waist so closely, Lerisa felt her face burning hot. Even though Ben was taller than her, he had a masculine shape resembling Anthony.Lerisa wondered why she couldn't stop comparing Ben to Anthony. Perhaps it was because she had grown up hoping a handsome man like Anthony would notice her, as they lived in the same area and she had not traveled to another country or worked for a different firm. She was still close to Anthony and saw him every day."Shall we dance now?" Ben aske
Lerisa immediately rushed down from the stage, not even waiting for Ben to leave with her. As the hall had turned dark, mixed with the dim lightbulbs, she collided with a man whose face she hadn’t seen. She apologized to him without looking up, saying, "I’m sorry."But as she wanted to get away from the event hall quickly and avoid witnessing Anthony proposing to Clara on stage, the man grabbed her left wrist and swirled her around to face him. Lerisa gasped, "Ah!"She collided with his hard chest and looked up at his face while Anthony and Clara continued dancing together on the stage."Hi, pretty," Remy said. Lerisa was shocked to see that he was the man she had witnessed earlier in the day kissing Clara by the roadside."Hi," she replied, unable to believe her eyes; her mouth fell open. Ben immediately approached them and pulled Lerisa away from Remy's grip, glaring at him.Remy smiled at Ben and Lerisa, while Lerisa pulled herself away from Ben's possessive hold.Remy was wearing a
Remy was shocked to see the lady's face; he had seen her dancing earlier with Anthony but hadn't properly seen her face then.After he exclaimed, "What the fuck!" he attracted a lot of attention to himself just as Anthony was about to propose to Clara.Clara was unaware of Remy's arrival, and seeing Anthony go down on one knee in front of her made her nervous as she realized he wanted to propose to her in front of everyone.Mr. and Mrs. Gregson frowned again, while Lerisa's parents, also seated in the VIP section, frowned as well upon seeing Anthony preparing to propose to another lady.They had all hoped that Anthony would marry Lerisa and fall in love, thereby sealing their family's closeness. But they were mistaken, as Anthony took out a red ring box from his trouser pocket, opened it to reveal the sparkling diamond ring inside, and proposed to Clara in front of everyone who was amazed in the hall.Clara was overwhelmed with emotion, as were many of the pretty young women in the hal
Ben frowned as he saw that Remy had disrupted Anthony from getting engaged to Clara. His fists clenched, as this was what he had been waiting for and wanted to confirm.He looked away and met eyes with Emma, who stood aside and stared at him, hurt after seeing him dance with another lady. But he looked away from Emma; he had told her countless times that he wasn't in love with her and that they should only agree to have sex with each other. So why couldn't she understand that his heart belonged somewhere else? He frowned as he left the event hall.Most of the staff invited by Anthony had witnessed the drama that had unfolded and wondered if the birthday celebration was still ongoing or if it had ended. They were unsure whether they should start going back to their various homes.Anthony left the event hall and returned to the living room of his family mansion. He was hurt and couldn't believe that Clara would actually cheat on him and still pretend to love him.Anthony had given Clara
Anthony already knew Remy would be heartbroken, so he left and went back home to apologize to his parents, not wanting to add to Remy's agony.Remy already grasped the situation, and if Anthony hadn't been his cousin, he could have dealt with him for daring to come to his house and tell him directly that he had slept with his woman.After Anthony left, Remy went back into his house to nurse his broken heart.A month passed and after the trending news stopped, Remy went back to his business. The female staff didn't dare to gossip about the matter. except they risked losing their jobs.Lerisa knew she owed Remy an apology, and her mother had said that she wouldn't marry Anthony unless she tender an apology at Remy.Lerisa arrived at Remy's hotel with the car gift that he bought for her. She did not know his house, so she donned a red dress and made her way to Remy's office.When the female staff saw Lerisa, their murmuring and gossip resurfaced. Lerisa didn't care and made her way to Re
Lerisa hadn't stepped out of her father's house since she started trending. She was ashamed and couldn't face Remy. She couldn't tell Remy why she had broken up with him.Hearing her mother's voice, Lerisa rushed out of the house as she heard her mother shouting at someone. However, as Lerisa walked out, she saw Anthony drenched, with water dripping down his body.Anthony wasn't annoyed. He didn't want to leave until he saw Lerisa."Mom! What have you done?" Lerisa shouted, shocked to see that her mother had actually baptized Anthony with a bucket of cold water. Mrs. Antonia hissed and went back into the house, not wanting to answer Lerisa's questions.Looking back at Anthony, Lerisa offered her apologies to him. She did not know that Remy had arrived earlier, but seeing Anthony wet, Lerisa offered to bring James's clothes for him to change into."See them, shameless people," Mrs. Antonia muttered from her kitchen window. She should have known that she could not change her daughter's d
Lerisa looked at her father sadly and said, "Dad, you cannot tell the Creed family that it's because of Anthony that you want to call off the wedding.""Then what should I tell them?" Mr. Fred asked. "You went to Anthony's house and ended up sleeping on his bed.""Dad, I don't want Anthony and Remy to quarrel because of me. They're brothers and...""You should have been aware that they were brothers and not comfortably slept with Anthony unclothed on his bed. I don't want to discuss this matter again. Mr. Joshua and his wife are equally disappointed, as they know this would cause a rift in their family, especially since Mrs. Samara is Mrs. Beatrice's only sister. Your actions have caused a lot of problems, but it will be settled. You can go." Mr. Fred dismissed Lerisa. He did not believe his wife at first, but after visiting the Gregson home, Mr. Joshua told him personally that his wife had been in tears, blaming Anthony as the cause."Why did Anthony not admit his feelings sooner? He
Remy already noticed that Lerisa wasn't sounding like her usual self. However, he couldn't pinpoint what was wrong with her. He donned a casual outfit, but he was still handsome and tall."Fine. If you say so, I will contact you tomorrow morning before going to work. Try to charge your phone, okay?" Remy said. As he looked at Lerisa's finger, where he had placed the engagement ring the previous day, he noticed that Lerisa had taken off the ring.He furrowed his brows and asked her, "Where's your engagement ring, Lerisa? Did you purposefully take it off? Where is it?"Remy suspected something fishy."I left it indoors," Lerisa tried to lie, but she wasn't good at lying as she spluttered."You left it indoors? Where? You know that you were not supposed to take this ring off. Fine, go inside and bring it, and you can wear it back. Right here in my presence," Remy insisted. He didn't know what was wrong with Lerisa. Just the previous night, he had called her, and she promised to call him b
Mrs. Antonia frowned and accompanied James to Lerisa's room. Lerisa had cried herself to sleep on her bed. She was hungry and weak, but she didn't want to meet with anyone. She had also switched off her phone."Lerisa!" With a gentle knock on her daughter's room door, Mrs. Antonia called Lerisa. "Lerisa, are you in there?" Mrs. Antonia asked again, and Lerisa, feeling hungry, woke up.Lerisa pulled the door of her room open. Her mother and James gasped as they spotted her."Since when did you return?" Mrs. Antonia was the first to ask Lerisa, who looked sad, as did James."Not too long ago. Maybe after you and Dad left for church," Lerisa replied in a sad tone."What happened? Why do you sound sad?" Mrs. Antonia inquired. Lerisa shook her head and said, "Nothing, Mom. I am hungry."As Lerisa walked out of the corridor, Mrs. Antonia saw the red marks all over Lerisa's neck. She inquired, "Wait, Lerisa. What happened to you? Who beat you?"Mrs. Antonia rushed to examine her daughter's ne
"Please, Lerisa, I am sorry," Anthony tried to apologize to Lerisa after his mother left his bedroom with a grimace.Lerisa started crying on the bed as she realized what she had just done with Anthony."What am I going to explain to Remy now? Remy loves me too," Lerisa cried, still sitting on Anthony's bed."You will tell Remy the truth, that you cannot go ahead and marry him," Anthony replied, as he wanted to touch Lerisa's arms again, not equally satisfied with the previous night's events with her. However, Lerisa pushed his hands away."No! It's easy for you to say, but I cannot do it. I cannot face Remy. I have to go home now." Lerisa stepped down from the bed, and Anthony admired her physique.Anthony got down from the bed, fully unclothed. Seeing him in that state, Lerisa remembered all that had happened between them the previous night; she wanted more but knew she had Remy to deal with and, more likely, her family too.Lerisa shook her head and wanted to search the room for her
Anthony stood up from the tiled floor. He knew that it wasn't just him and Lerisa alone. Due to his silence and denial of his feelings for Lerisa, Remy had already engaged Lerisa, and now he was coming to break that bond. The media would become aware, and it would also cause a rift in their family.Lerisa sobbed, and Anthony hugged her closely, comforting her."I am sorry," he continued to apologize, and Lerisa knew that if she had to choose between Anthony and Remy, she would pick Anthony."I don't know what to tell Remy. I don't want to see you both fight because of me," Lerisa said as she turned her back to Anthony's chest.Anthony kissed Lerisa on the neck; he could no longer hold himself back. He had always restrained himself, but now that he had confessed his feelings to Lerisa, Anthony reached to undress her, and she didn't try to stop him. She wanted him badly and hadn't thought the day would come so soon.Lerisa held Anthony close, and they kissed as Anthony took her into his
"How could you lie to me, Anthony? I have been in love with you all these years, and you lie to me that I am just like a sister to you." Lerisa was in tears, and Anthony's heart broke. He turned Lerisa to face him, but she pushed his hands off just as his hands touched her arms."Stay away from me! You cheated on me; you pretended not to be in love with me, breaking my heart further with all your lies. Yet you know the truth that we are destined to be together. Why are you denying that, Anthony? Do you feel scared that you would hurt me in the long run and feel another man deserves me?"Lerisa was in tears as she moved away from Anthony. Anthony stood speechless; he loved Lerisa, but he couldn't admit it to her. He had also felt she saw him as an older brother, and it was only recently when she confessed her feelings to him—that she had been in love with him and couldn't bear to see him with other women—that he knew he had wronged her dearly."I am sorry," Anthony said, but Lerisa move
Lerisa sat down next to Anthony at the dining table, and the maid served them dinner.Anthony's eyes were still glued to Lerisa's face as he saw her frowning. She was going to marry his cousin, so he shouldn't be entertaining the thought of snatching Lerisa from Remy.Anthony finally asked Lerisa, "Do you like the meal, or do you want me to order something for you?"Lerisa didn't look up at Anthony's face. She stared at her plate, which contained jollof rice and fried turkey legs for dinner. She eventually replied to him, "It's okay. I can manage it."Mrs. Beatrice smiled understandingly at Lerisa, not interfering; she soon blessed their meal, and they started eating.After dinner, Anthony's mother called his father, and Anthony spoke to his father for a while.Lerisa knew that she had switched off her phone to avoid her parents. She couldn't face them, so she waited for Anthony to show her to the guest room to rest.Anthony's mother was exhausted, admiring her son's house. She wanted