Lucy went inside their house and she flopped on the bed. She was thinking of her encounter with Adamson earlier. Despite being there for only a few minutes, it felt like years. Time ticked slowly and she felt suffocated. She didn't know she was capable of hating someone to this extent. That man was disgusting. She would kill him if there was no law in the world.
She suddenly became very tired as though her energy was drained to zero. Lucy closed her eyes and she started to doze off.
".. Aubrey.", she called his name. And her eyes shut.
After some time, Lucy was awaken by the stroke of her hair. It felt nice.. and she opened her eyes to see her love by her side. She sat up immediately and she hugged him out of nowhere.
"Aubrey!", she didn't budge.
Aubrey sensed something wrong, but he didn't want to ask. She could tell him if she wanted to.
"Aubrey.. I met your brother.", she said. Her face was still buried on his chest.
Aubrey was startled when he heard it. He faced Lucy with worry evident in his eyes. He clutched her shoulder tightly.
"Are you alright?", he asked her.
"I'm scared..! I'm afraid I won't see you again..", she said honestly. She wasn't lying when she thought she really wouldn't survive the damned experience.
Aubrey embraced Lucy in his arms. He didn't want to be apart even for one centimeter.
"He's horrible.. I hate him. I hate how he's living a carefree life despite everything he had done to you and your parents.", she said.
When Lucy heard him said something about the death of the people who had helped Aubrey, she really thought of him as a ruthless killer. He viewed life as nothing but ashes. Easy to be blown away.
"I'm here, alright. Don't be scared.", Aubrey comforted her with a pat on her back. She felt reassured when he was here. His warmth spread through her with a fluffy feeling.
"Don't you feel scared too?", Lucy finally looked up to him.
"I don't know. Maybe he doesn't mean a thing for me and that's why I don't feel anything.", Aubrey said. Half of it was a lie. It was not like he didn't feel anything. Some feelings were indeed there, but he couldn't count them in. Whether they were fear or hatred or disgust, he didn't know.
"Aubrey.. quickly come up with something and let us be happy. I want to have a wedding with you.", Lucy wrapped her arms around his waist. Now her love for him grew more and more.
Aubrey smiled and he nodded. He rested his head on her shoulder, he could feel her closer to his heart.
•••
The next day, a news article about Lucy being in the same car with Adamson was spread among the upper social circle.
HAVING A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SECOND YOUNG MASTER AND AN AFFAIR WITH THE FIRST.
It was a photo of her and Adamson kissing in the car. She looked like a bitch seducing two men at the same time. Her face became famous again but now it was tainted with malicious rumor and comments.
"He's gone too far! How dare he?!", Lucy almost broke the plate in the kitchen if not because of Aubrey.
"Calm down, Lucy!", he tried to comfort her. He was also mad, his heart felt like bursting when he first read the news. Of course he trusted Lucy, but seeing her in a position so intimate with a man made him feel miserable. It was even more terrible when that man was Adamson.
"So he wants to play games?! Well, go on! Who's afraid of him!", she wanted to recite every curse word she knew but she held herself back.
'Good girls don't swear.. calm down.', she took a deep breath.
"I thought he'd either kill me or make me a disabled person, but he actually wanted to ruin my reputation. Fine, I'll make him regret not killing me. I'll haunt him!", Lucy put her arms on her waist as she walked left and right. Thinking of something.
Aubrey sighed. This was the first time Adamson had used this method to get rid of someone. What was he planning? He even used himself in the news.
Not long after that, Lucy's phone rang. It was from her aunt. She rolled her eyes until they couldn't be rolled again.
"Hello aunt-", her words were cut off.
"What the hell is going on? Explain it to me!! Your father's mad!!", Annie shouted from the other end.
'Ugh..', Lucy shook her head. How could she explain?
~Um hello! My husband and I are in a war with chairman Lee and as a counterattack, he spread rumor about me and him having an affair!
Was that acceptable?
"Listen aunt, I beg you to please think rationally. I'm not such woman!", she said.
"I trust you, Lucy. Since I knew you. But what about Aubrey?! You're his wife!", Annie said, her voice still high.
"Relax aunt, Aubrey and I are fine!", Lucy told her aunt. She covered her ears since her aunt's scream was too loud for her eardrum. She would be deaf if this goes on.
"How can you two be fine?! Everyone knows you have a relationship with Aubrey, now you even have an affair with his brother?! Thank god nobody knows you're actually married! The consequences would be worse!"
Aubrey heard them loud and clear. He then asked for the phone. Lucy faced him as she nodded.
"Hello aunt Annie, it's Aubrey. We're fine here. It's just a misunderstanding.", Aubrey said as to calm Annie down.
He talked to Annie Kim for quite some time and only after she was reassured did she hang up the call. Lucy dropped her body onto the couch. It took her a great supply of courage to stay calm at this moment.
And then another call went in. Aubrey looked at the screen, it was Olivia. Then his phone rang too, it was from Liam. These two siblings.. they called at the exact same time.
Lucy didn't want to answer the call since her mind was in a mess. But she was worried that Olivia might get a wrong idea. So she took the call, and she was bombarded with a million questions.
"What happened Lucy?! Who is your boyfriend?! He's a millionaire?! The second young master?! What about the chairman of Lee Group?! What is your relationship with him?! I've been busy these days but right after I went online, you're all around the headlines! Explain everything to me!", Olivia shouted. She wasn't thinking of Lucy's poor eardrum.
"Shut up will you?! I'll tell you but now is not the right time! Come to the hospital.", Lucy hung up. She was going to get migraine because of all this ruckus.