"I know, especially since Rodriguez and Vale hate each other, it shouldn't take him twice to think about the offer." Assured that everything would work right tomorrow, Melissa melted into his embrace, capturing his lips in a passionate kiss, momentarily forgetting her anger and frustration.
But as the kiss ended, Melissa's thoughts turned to Rachel. She grabbed her phone and dialed Rachel's number, but it went unanswered.
"Something's not right," Melissa muttered to herself, a sense of foreboding settling over her. "Rachel never ignores my calls."
Alex tightened his grip, his expression grim. "You worry too much. Rachel can hardly see through our plan. We'll convert her heritage to cash and leave her stranded in a few months."
"Alex, Rachel never calls from an unknown number. I have no idea where she is or who she's been talking to, but we can't risk her finding out. Tomorrow, keep her occupied. Take her out on a date or something—just make sure she stays away from the office. Understand?"
"I do. Everything I do is to reassure you of my love for you. I and Rachel are only bound by a red certificate and nothing else. My heart belongs to you." Alex leaned over, trailing kisses from her neck to her collarbone.
Melissa erupted in a moan, inhaling her desires back in.
"You were beautiful in that gym outfit today. I wanted to eat you that minute."
"Oh really?" Melissa murmured, wrapping her arms around his neck. "That reminds me of something." And that moment, the passion died down. Alex grunted, holding his anger back while watching Melissa stand from the bed and cover herself up.
She left the room and came back with her laptop. Alex murmured again seeing how she once again chose work over their intimacy. How long did he have to hold his release tonight? First, his mistress bailed on him now Melissa was bailing on him.
Couldn't his sex life not get any worse?
"Melissa, can't you take a break?" Alex sighed, trying to hide his irritation. He reached for her, but she gently pushed his hand away, eyes glued to her laptop screen. "It's been a month," he muttered, more to himself than to her.
"I am just anxious that Vale might reject my proposal. I have to make it perfect."
"And I told you it is already perfect! Come on!" He saw she wasn't buying it, but what could he do? Melissa simply had trust issues.
Alex gave up on persuading her. It was her loss, next time it was better to find a slut than this woman! He sat up straight, clothing himself up in a black robe.
"Once Vale Group merges with us, how long before we can transfer their funds to Burte Group? My parents are getting impatient—they're even thinking of giving control to my brother."
He heard her grunt from the other side of the room. Melissa was not pleased that he always brought up this any time she was working.
"Babe, convincing Mr. Vale to hand over funds isn't easy. I'm working on it, and if it works, I'll send twenty-two percent."
Alex groaned internally, eyes clouding in annoyance. That wasn't their original deal! It was fifty percent if Lucian helped.
He shouldn't have trusted Melissa so easily! Did she know how expensive it was to get Lucian to even look at the proposal, let alone sign it and show up tomorrow?
It cost MONEY!
Alex smiled bitterly, clutching the ropes of his robe. He'd be in debt if he let Melissa maneuver through their agreement.
"Baby, what are you thinking? A deal is a deal! I'll offset any debt you incurred getting Lucian Vale on board. The most important thing is to keep Rachel busy. Ask her out tomorrow and distract her until the contract is done."
"What do I get in return? You have cheated me not once but twice. I can't allow this to go on unless I'd only be your pawn." His eyes fixed on Melissa.
"Why do you act like I'm the only one benefiting? I'm not! Do you know what it took to get the shareholders on my side? If you did, you'd put more effort into making sure it went well rather than complaining."
"You! So I'm not putting in enough effort? Do you know what Lucian would do to me? Do you think I'm not scared for my life?" Alex hissed. "Have a good night. I'm going for a walk." He grabbed his phone and left.
"You think you're so important? Watch me sign the deal without your help!" Melissa growled. She shut down her computer and fell on the bed, turning over and drifting off to sleep.
—----------------
In Valencia Estate,
"Master Vale, Miss Cassy dropped by. She is currently having her bath. Should I still set up the birthday surprise for her?" The house butler, Carl, ran up to Lucian immediately as Lucian stepped foot into the house. The middle aged man said as he took hold of his jacket from him and helped loosened the lace on his snickers.
"That reminds me. Get the surprise ready. I want to work for a little while. Don't let her know I am in my study room."
"Okay!" He rolled the zip on his mouth shut and waved at Lucian as he walked up the stairs stealthily. Instead of strolling to the second floor where his bedroom was, he went an extra step upward to the last floor where his study room was.
He opened the door, and turned on the light, meeting the dark, solace full of books. He settled in the black, cushioned office chair and switched on his laptop. His eyes met with the ringing phone and he answered the call.
"Boss, I have emailed everything to you, including the profile of the woman who we encountered today." In a respectful tone, Collins replied, sending some clips from the footage to his email.
"I want you to help me research something. The girl I had one night stand with a year and six months ago when I was drunk, I remember I gave her a hickey on her left lower arm because I was afraid she would run away the next day and then she had a unique mole on her belly button. I am suspecting Cassy doesn't match the criteria."
He recalled, Cassy's image resurfacing in his head- the woman who had identical face with the girl but so many things were wrong with her looks. There were a lot of things wrong with Cassy from the start. Her black hair, her different color of eyes, her voice- everything! And funny enough, today marked their one year anniversary together and she still shy when dressing up in front of him.
He couldn't understand why. If she was truly the girl he had a one night stand with, why would she find it hard dressing up in front of him?
That night they had seen every bits of each other's bodies, there wasn't any reason for hiding her flaws.
He rolled his hair backwards, swiping through the files emailed to him. He spotted what he was looking for and double clicked to open it.
The document filled with the woman's description popped on his screen. He scrolled down to her name and read it out, his demeanor darkening.
"Rachel Rodriguez…" Lucian clenched his fist, scrolling down through her profile. He learnt that she just turned twenty-three this July that passed, and within five months of entering a new age, she got engaged and married his half brother, Alex. "You never stop amazing me, Rachel. Truly a gold digger, funnily enough, instead of getting the gold, you got stones."
He chuckled, his hands loosening up the clenches. He stared at the wall clock, his eyes formed on the ticking hands.
"I can't believe it's been ten years since we met. Time really flies. Rachel, I never imagined I'd find you like this."
"I wish you would just die! Why are you still alive? Does life have to cheat me everytime?" Unconsciously, Lucian's hands swept over his right leg, hissing in pain as his limbs ached.
He rose from the chair and went to the small couch by the corner. He leaned into it, massaging his limbs to stop the pain.
"Stupid prosthetic product! I hate you!" He cursed as the pain intensified from his right leg. Instantly, he pulled off the prosthetic limb from his thigh revealing his amputated legs. "Wish I didn't have to depend on you for the rest of my life!"
Lucian said and straightened up his legs, applying pressure to stop the pain. As he was about to fix the leg back into its place, his phone rang.
"Who calls at this hour?" Lucian groaned, reattaching his prosthetic with practiced hands. Each click felt like a reminder of what he'd lost. He limped to his desk, answering the phone with a grimace. "Collins, this better be important."
"I saw something. Check your email now! It is very urgent."
"What is so urgent to make you talk like this?" Lucian rolled his eyes assuming that it was some kind of hot business deal. He logged into his mail and found a picture of Cassy.
He clicked on it, and found her in beach wear, two weeks ago when he had gone for a business trip. He magnified the picture, taking a deep look at her.
No hickey on her lower arm?
No mole on her belly button?
He swiped through the dozens of emailed pictures of her and arched his brows, double tapping the image to resize it to how it was originally.
"Boss, are you still there?" The initial darkness worsened, and coldly Lucian spoke.
"When was this picture taken?"
"Two weeks ago when you were out of the town."
"I will call you back." He cut off the phone call, and attached his printer to the laptop, printing hard copies of the pictures Collins sent to him.
In rage, he departed from his study room and went straight to the bedroom where Cassy was. In anger, he burst into the room, startling Cassy.
"Baby,"
"I want a truthful answer, yes or no, are you the woman whom I had a one night stand with?!"