"Good morning," Aubrey turned to Ruth and Martha.
"Morning. Who are you?" Ruth asked.
"Introducing, I'm William's lover. My name is Aubrey Green." The young lecturer held out her hand for a handshake but Ruth and Martha's reaction was silence.
"What? William's lover? This idiot and a weightless man already has a girlfriend? God damn it! I can't even get a guy who isn't my type." Ruth muttered under her breath.
"Sorry, is there a problem?" Aubrey smiled pretending not to know what was happening. She kept waiting for Ruth to shake her hand again.
Ruth snapped out of her thoughts and returned Aubrey's handshake. The woman forced a smile so as not to be thought of as arrogant or negative.
"Hi, I'm Ruth Wilson. And this is my mother, Martha Wilson." Martha also welcomed Aubrey's hand after the two young women shook hands.
"Mrs Anna, I'm sorry I couldn't linger. I have to go to college soon. If I have more time, I will stop by here." Aubrey said. Liam who was standing beside her smiled softly shyly as usual.
"Oh dear, it's all right. Liam, drive Aubrey to her college." Anna said to her son.
"Oh no, I brought my own car. Liam had helped me earlier at the cafe. Then I'll go first." Answered Aubrey.
"Wait a minute, are you still a student and working part-time at the cafe? Huh, sorry but it's not that I'm arrogant. I am a famous artist and I have many acquaintances who can help you work as an artist assistant, for example." Ruth said confidently. Martha smiled mockingly at her daughter's words.
Anna smiled softly at that. Aubrey and Liam smiled inwardly.
"Sorry, dear Ruth, Aubrey didn't go to college for studying. But, she is one of the lecturers there. And the cafe she meant was not working as an employee there. In fact, she is the owner of the cafe." Anna replied with a satisfied smile in reply to the words of a woman who always looked down on other people. And, that trait was inherited from her mother who liked to spit on other people's ugliness and always tried to bring down the self-esteem of others.
Ruth stared in shock. She looked at Aubrey from head to toe. How could a young woman who might be her age have a profession as a lecturer? And, also at the same time as a cafe owner. Ruth thought to herself.
"Then I'll leave first. Thank you for the hospitality, Mrs Anna."
"I'll take Aubrey to the front first." Liam followed Aubrey from behind with long strides.
"Aubrey, sorry for what Ruth just said. She doesn't know who you are so she carelessly accuses you of nothing." Liam said to Aubrey who was about to open her car door.
"Liam, do you like Ruth?" Aubrey turned to face Liam. The one who was asked was silent and his face was pitiful with his sad eyes. "Say it! Did you like her that you represented her to apologize? If you really like her, why are we pretending to be dating? You're her true lover." Aubrey said in a muffled voice and gritted teeth.
Liam became flustered and his eyes darted to and fro. His hands trembled at the piercing stares and piercing words from Aubrey, the woman he had only been dating for a day.
"T-that's not what I meant. I… I just want you… not to be angry. I never liked her. How could she possibly like me too?" Liam's wrong words panicked and forgot that what he was dealing with was a tough woman who wasn't easily bullied.
"Oh, so if she likes you then you will like her too?" Aubrey asked again.
Liam was confused. He didn't understand. Why did everything he said go awry and make Aubrey angrier? Liam didn't say anything else for fear of saying the wrong thing.
"Oh, your silence means it's true that you like her. Huh. I misjudged you who was innocent all this time." Aubrey leaves leaving Liam wide-eyed in shock, not understanding. Why is Aubrey so angry like this? Liam sighed. I'm done playing dumb in front of this girl. But, why does his chest feel tight? The man approached his car and went to his gallery which he had built with his hard-earned money.
"Huh, men everywhere are the same. Whether it's a normal man or an innocent man, if you see a sexy woman, you immediately have a crush on it." Aubrey grumbled in annoyance in the car heading to campus. But suddenly she came to his senses. "Why am I angry? If he likes that girl, so be it. William wasn't my real lover either. Tch! I'm just like a woman who doesn't work." Aubrey said and the yellow car was speeding towards a famous campus in the city.
-----
"Mr William," A man who was the same age as his first brother, Martin, approached William who had just come to the gallery.
"Niel, I want to go to the room and don't disturb me for the next hour," Liam said with his trademark shy childlike smile.
"Yes sir," Niel is his assistant in the gallery. The man is very loyal and has been an employee of Liam since the gallery was first founded.
"Master Liam is sometimes as innocent as a child but I once looked at him with a murderous aura. Huft, who knows what his real personality is." Niel muttered alone.
"Gotcha! If you gossip about your own boss behind your back, the punishment is a salary cut for the next three months." Stella, William's secretary in the gallery suddenly came from behind and patted Niel on the shoulder. It took the man by surprise.
"Stella, you just startled me. Luckily I don't have heart disease." Niel said sarcastically and casually left the girl who liked to tease him with strange surprises.
"Niel, wait!" Stella was half running trying to catch up to the man who was her co-worker at the gallery.
Liam entered his room and immediately sat down in his throne chair. After people are not around, Liam will return to his true personality. A cold man who is very clever at making strategies but has a hidden desire that he has been wanting to carry out for a long time, namely to find out who his real father is. Yes, William had long known that Phil was not his real father. Martin and Jason are brothers from one mother but a different father.
Her mother could not be asked because her psyche was fragile and easily hurt when asked about things that really shook her emotions. Asking his father, Phil, will not come to light because the man is too good for William. He never discriminates in affection for his three children, even though William is not his biological son.
Liam intertwined his ten fingers with his elbows resting on the table.
"Who can I ask for information?" He muttered while clenching his jaw.