CHAPTER 51 THE RETURN OF LILA What Derrick never knew was that the woman he's planning to woo knows him more than he even knows himself. He insisted until Lila smiled with her eyes as she continued to pick the berries on the table, chewing them slowly. “You know for sure that no woman would say no to a handsome man like you, right? And you shouldn't expect that from me either! But—the problem is, what if I'm only moved by your physical demeanor without having true feelings for you?” She asked with a polite smile. “I only need you to love me, Lila. The reason behind the love doesn't matter,” Derrick said reluctantly but with a serious face. “Except if you're with your escort already,” he added, his voice leaking with a hint of flirtatiousness and jealousy. “You know already that I can't be here with you if I were already married or engaged; moreover, I don't flirt,” Lila responded with a plain look. Soon, the commissioning ceremony started, and Lila saw a young lady whos
CHAPTER 52Lila looked scornfully at the aggravated woman who had just been helped by her husband from falling off the stairs.“You shouldn't have done that, Derrick!” She scolded sneeringly as if she cared, with a surge of pity on her face, while her heart flushed with a smile, seeing Cynthia's face gripped with fear.“How could you do that to my wife, Derrick!” Grey yelled, but his tone instantly turned low, forcing a faint smile on his face when the woman he can't fail to admire moved closer.“Hey, Cynthia, are you hurt?” She demanded softly, her tone laced with concern, while she swirled her hands and rolled her hands around Cynthia's body back from head to toe.“We're really sorry for what happened, Mr. Grey. It's all my fault! All this wouldn't have happened if I hadn't stepped in with the intention of salvaging the situation.” Lila added calmly, leering at Grey with a corner eye.She turned to Derrick and lifted his hands off her shoulders, shifting a seductive gaze at him. “De
CHAPTER 53UNFORESEEN THREATSDerrick watched as Lila's smile gradually faded at the mention of her resemblance to Mishell.Seeing that he was beginning to get suspicious of her, Lila fixed her innocent eyes on him with furrowed brows as though in deep confusion."M...I...shell? Who is she? Plus, the name sounds familiar!” She claimed.“You know her, right?” Derrick replied immediately with a light grin on his face.“Is she your sister? Or your aunt? Or, is she your mother? Is she,”“Hey—hey—hey! Calm down.” Lila interrupted his speech, pressing her hands in the air to calm him down.“Who is the lady to you, and why are you so obsessed with knowing my connection to her? Besides, I don't even know her! I mean—this is the first time I'm hearing such a name!” Lila claimed with a plain face.“Is this woman cracking a joke or something?” he said inwardly, looking more confused at her funny act.“Lila, are you serious? You live in New York City, yet you don't know who Miss Mishell is? The m
CHAPTER 54EXCHANGE OF PARTNERS Cynthia slowly dropped her hands, which were clenched to Grey's shoulders, with an absent-minded look on her face. “Are you okay? You look tired,” Grey observed with a bit of concern when he saw the mood swing in his wife immediately after his mother left.“What did she tell her?” He wondered.“Isn't this what you wanted? That I go dance with your good-for-nothing brother while you dance with your mistress?” You and your mother are so despicable, Grey!” She said hoarsely with teary red eyes and made an attempt to move.“Where do you think you're going?” Grey demanded while he held her wrist tightly, drawing her back with force.“Let go of my hands! You're hurting me!” Cynthia screamed, hitting his hand hard with a violent pull of her wrist out of his grip.“What are those two doing? Fighting in an event they planned?” Derrick, whose eyes had been glued to them since he noticed their silly dance steps, muttered loudly with a frown.“Well, that's what w
CHAPTER 55 “Don't you have some little shame in you, Miss Ricks? Look how you're flaunting yourself on a married man in public." Cynthia rambled as soon as she got close to them and pushed Lila away from her husband's grip, which made her almost slip on the floor.Lila remained mute. She calmed herself down because she knew it would be pointless arguing with a demented woman.“Well, congratulations on your new achievement, Mr. & Mrs. Grey Shun. And to you, Mrs. Shun, I wish you a glamorous birthday. It's really nice meeting you, and I hope we meet again,” Lila said politely and sashayed back to her partner with her smiles, ignoring the bitter looks Cynthia was throwing at her.“I said it! I know Derrick can never be associated with any good person in this life!” She continued.“Enough! Cynthia, this is the last time I'll ever tolerate you talking ill of my brother again!” Grey yelled with a thunderous voice, which began to draw unwanted attention to their side. He had gotten enough
CHAPTER 56THE SHOPPING MALLAs usual, they both drove home in different cars. From the moment Derrick claimed Lila to be his invited guest and decided to be overprotective of her, Grey didn't have a good expression. Every second of the smile Derrick shared with the woman was provocative, steering out every ounce of jealousy in him.Cynthia also was heartbroken. The one and only birthday she had ever taken out her time to organize turned out to be the worst party ever. She couldn't appear in the clothes a celebrant ought to have appeared in because of some malicious woman, who turned out to be the center of attraction instead of her.“I believe that you're not blind, Cynthia,” a husky voice retorted the moment she attempted moving up the stairs to her room.Cynthia retraced her steps. She actually saw the old woman seated on the couch, but because her day had been messed up, she decided to pass without any greetings.“Hmmmm,” Cynthia took a deep breath and growled, looking angrily a
Chapter 57SHE'S A THIEFLila sneered and continued her shopping as if she cared less about the woman.To show the woman that she's not afraid of her, Lila kept an eye on her direction of movement.“Over there; I think I've seen the type of jewelry I've been looking for all this while,” Lila said to her partner who was romantically helping her out in holding the shopping basket.“Yes, here is it,” she said and tapped him to halt his steps as soon as they approached the woman who was trying to shy away from her earlier.Cynthia looked at her in disdain with bloodshot eyes.Lila acted as if she never knew her from anywhere but made sure she raised her voice and acted more intimately to provoke more anger in Cynthia.Seeing how the man was assisting Lila like they're a newly wed couple only reminds her of everything that happened yesterday.“Never! You can never go free today, Lila! I must teach you a lesson you'll ever regret!” She thought to herself as her heart pumped faster than usua
CHAPTER 58. THE REAL CULPRIT “Why not display the footage if she insists!” Some people in the background suggested in murmurs.Cynthia began to feel nervous; she tried everything possible to refute the idea of wasting their time to go through the CCTV, but it was futile. One after the other, the sharp ones who had been making videos with their phones slowly dropped them down, folding their arms as they anticipated the video.Cynthia felt dejected as she watched the security scroll through the footage. She knows that she'll be exposed once the video is made available.“Ahhhhhhh.” The crowd exclaimed with their mouths agape. Everyone's face changed as they watched how Cynthia slipped the watch into Lila's handbag when they walked past her.The crowd that was once throwing accusatory looks at Lila got stiffened, and they began throwing apologetic looks at her. Cynthia was so embarrassed that she couldn't stand the ramblings of the angry mob.She lowered her head and tried to secretl
CHAPTER 63RISING COMPLICATIONS Lila sat on the couch, blowing the hot coffee she had made. Picking up the remote, she turned on the television to watch the morning program of her favorite channel.Scrolling through her phone while waiting for the television to finish processing, her fingers automatically clicked on the HOT NEWS that popped up on her phone.“Popular billionaire Grey Shun faints over his daughter's kidnapping at school!”She froze.Her eyes flinched and ears perked up when the television finally came on, and she heard the newscaster giving a report on the current happenings in the city.She stared triumphantly at the bold black caption at the bottom of the screen. “THE YOUNG MAGNATE, GREY SHUN, IS SAID TO HAVE FAINTED OVER THE REALIZATION OF HIS DAUGHTER'S KIDNAP,”What!Without hesitation, she scrolled through her phone contacts.“Hello, Derrick,” she said as soon as the person on the other end of the phone picked up.“Hello, Derrick, Are you there? Derrick, Derrick, I
CHAPTER 62SET IN OF KARMA “Call the IT department immediately. This has never happened, and it cannot happen now!” Grey instructed.Since the breaking of that news to him, his eyes darkened, and his brain got disoriented. Feigning concern, Cynthia's face assumed a perplexed look as she watched her husband drop his food and begin to pace back and forth in the room. “Honey, please talk to me. Maybe it's something I can help with,” she said with an intricate smile. “Grey! What is it? You can't keep us in suspense like this forever!” His mother asked impatiently. It has been long since she raised a voice at Grey like that, and she jerked him out of a pool of thoughts in silence. Nodding his head, he began, “The website, yeah, the website.”“What happened to the website? You still haven't said anything!” Margret insisted, her heart began to sink in fear, seeing how profusely Grey was sweating even under the fan.“I think the company website has been hacked,” he finally pulled himsel
CHAPTER 61THE ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HACKED. Cynthia couldn't believe what she just heard. How could Grey just blacklist her from all of Shun's establishments? What would now become of her? A poor housewife? Never! She can't sit and watch herself turn into a subject of ridicule by the people around her.“I have to do something and maintain my steez,” she said to herself.“Ho—honey, "I said, Shut up!” Grey cut her words mercilessly and pinned her in place with a dark and menacing gaze. Cynthia was inflamed, but she couldn't snuff out the anger she was feeling, because the anger in Grey's eyes looked like he'd dismember her if she dared to create a fuss. “Can we please meet up tonight? It's urgent.” She grabbed her phone as soon as they reached home and sent a text to Brian. Without hesitation, she sent him the address of the venue.“Why the urgent call? Aren't you supposed to be with your husband by now?” Brian demanded to see Cynthia. She couldn't voice a word but only threw an expre
CHAPTER 60BLACKLIST CYNTHIA Cynthia's feet got stuck on the spot for a few seconds. Everyone was beginning to wonder what could be wrong.She turned, hoping that it was Grey's voice and she'd see him waving at her to stop right there, but she realized it was only a whisper from her weird imaginations as she was only able to be met by his angry eyes glaring at her. His expression was deeply bathed in a dangerous frown that she can't predict the outcome if she fails to comply with the apology conditions.Right behind her, on her left-hand side, she sighted Brian, who winked at her and shook his head as their eyes met.She could read from his expression that he was not in support of her apologizing, but what would be her fate with Grey if she decided to go by what a total stranger wants? Besides, she has not accomplished her mission in the Shun’s family yet.“Miss Ricks, I'm sincerely sorry for what happened yesterday. Please find a place in your heart to forgive me,” Cynthia said a
CHAPTER 59APOLOGY WITH PRIDEHearing those words, old Mrs. Shun clenched her fist as soon as she ended the call. Breathing heavily like someone who had just escaped being killed, her countenance changed with her face growing darker with anger at every passing second, raising tension in the minds of all who were at the table, but no one dared to ask.“Mo–ther, is—” Grey tried to demand from her what could be the problem, but he instantly went mute the moment the resounding slap launched on Cynthia by his mother echoed in his ear, followed by the rattling sound of a falling chair.“Ahhh!” Cynthia let out a loud scream of pain, her palms married to her cheeks. Grey can't remember when he last saw his mother with such anger and frustration in her eyes.Old Mrs. Shun had tried all she could to restrain herself from slapping that bitch of a daughter-in-law, but she couldn't until she finally hit herEveryone's eyes widened and their brows raised in shock.“Better pray we fix this mess you
CHAPTER 58. THE REAL CULPRIT “Why not display the footage if she insists!” Some people in the background suggested in murmurs.Cynthia began to feel nervous; she tried everything possible to refute the idea of wasting their time to go through the CCTV, but it was futile. One after the other, the sharp ones who had been making videos with their phones slowly dropped them down, folding their arms as they anticipated the video.Cynthia felt dejected as she watched the security scroll through the footage. She knows that she'll be exposed once the video is made available.“Ahhhhhhh.” The crowd exclaimed with their mouths agape. Everyone's face changed as they watched how Cynthia slipped the watch into Lila's handbag when they walked past her.The crowd that was once throwing accusatory looks at Lila got stiffened, and they began throwing apologetic looks at her. Cynthia was so embarrassed that she couldn't stand the ramblings of the angry mob.She lowered her head and tried to secretl
Chapter 57SHE'S A THIEFLila sneered and continued her shopping as if she cared less about the woman.To show the woman that she's not afraid of her, Lila kept an eye on her direction of movement.“Over there; I think I've seen the type of jewelry I've been looking for all this while,” Lila said to her partner who was romantically helping her out in holding the shopping basket.“Yes, here is it,” she said and tapped him to halt his steps as soon as they approached the woman who was trying to shy away from her earlier.Cynthia looked at her in disdain with bloodshot eyes.Lila acted as if she never knew her from anywhere but made sure she raised her voice and acted more intimately to provoke more anger in Cynthia.Seeing how the man was assisting Lila like they're a newly wed couple only reminds her of everything that happened yesterday.“Never! You can never go free today, Lila! I must teach you a lesson you'll ever regret!” She thought to herself as her heart pumped faster than usua
CHAPTER 56THE SHOPPING MALLAs usual, they both drove home in different cars. From the moment Derrick claimed Lila to be his invited guest and decided to be overprotective of her, Grey didn't have a good expression. Every second of the smile Derrick shared with the woman was provocative, steering out every ounce of jealousy in him.Cynthia also was heartbroken. The one and only birthday she had ever taken out her time to organize turned out to be the worst party ever. She couldn't appear in the clothes a celebrant ought to have appeared in because of some malicious woman, who turned out to be the center of attraction instead of her.“I believe that you're not blind, Cynthia,” a husky voice retorted the moment she attempted moving up the stairs to her room.Cynthia retraced her steps. She actually saw the old woman seated on the couch, but because her day had been messed up, she decided to pass without any greetings.“Hmmmm,” Cynthia took a deep breath and growled, looking angrily a
CHAPTER 55 “Don't you have some little shame in you, Miss Ricks? Look how you're flaunting yourself on a married man in public." Cynthia rambled as soon as she got close to them and pushed Lila away from her husband's grip, which made her almost slip on the floor.Lila remained mute. She calmed herself down because she knew it would be pointless arguing with a demented woman.“Well, congratulations on your new achievement, Mr. & Mrs. Grey Shun. And to you, Mrs. Shun, I wish you a glamorous birthday. It's really nice meeting you, and I hope we meet again,” Lila said politely and sashayed back to her partner with her smiles, ignoring the bitter looks Cynthia was throwing at her.“I said it! I know Derrick can never be associated with any good person in this life!” She continued.“Enough! Cynthia, this is the last time I'll ever tolerate you talking ill of my brother again!” Grey yelled with a thunderous voice, which began to draw unwanted attention to their side. He had gotten enough