Chapter 19 - France

"Jessica!!" Jessica pulled out the rollers in her hair and dashed onto her bed immediately.

 Her door was flung open in seconds, and her father's strong cologne hit her nose. She shut her eyes tightly and grabbed the sheets more tightly. She was waiting for him to leave because she had sworn she wouldn't follow him to the office that morning.

She could still feel his presence in her room. She knew he was coming to her bed. Jessica shut her eyes more tightly and pretended to be asleep.

"Ah, you're asleep, Jessica," she heard him tsk, and began to go out of her room. "It's a pity you won't follow me to see Mr. Park's son today. He just came back from Israel. He'll be around for a while before he goes back to Korea," her father said with a carefree manner.

"What?!" Jessica sibilated with a huge frown. Why was he just telling her that now? He should have told her since last night so she could have prepared.

"Why are you so worked up? Have a nice day. I'll tell you what—" Jessica interrupted her father's words and got off the bed immediately. "I'm ready, Dad. I'll just attend to my hair real quick and wear my clothes. I've had my bath and everything. My makeup won't take long too," Jessica dashed to her wardrobe to look for the best gown to wear to her father's company to impress her crush.

Mr. Park was her father's friend from Korea. His son was a famous actor in Korea who had gone to Israel for a vacation. He was coming to the country for a while before returning to his home country, Korea. Jessica would be very busy until he left the country. She would make sure she seduced him so he would fall for her. She knew he didn't like her at all. She hadn't shown her feelings for him... maybe that's why. She had to let him know she was good for him because she had a thing for him.

"Go for your breakfast, Dad. I'll be down in twenty," Jessica assured her father and pushed him out of the room.

"I've had my break—" "Go make Mom blush a little. I'm coming," Jessica said and slammed her door. She began to run helter-skelter. She picked up her phone to call Riley.

"I'm on a blind date. Don't call me," Riley had sent her the message. Jessica began to panic. What the hell would she wear?

"Abi," she sang. "Abi-Abi-Abi." She began to call Abi. Abi picked up on the second ring.

"Ah! Jessica, you won't believe what happened last night. I'm dead," Abi cried on the phone.

"I'm also dead, baby girl," Jessica cried out too.

"I'll never get drunk in my life again," Abi continued and began to weep. Jessica paused when she heard that. She became scared because many thoughts began running in her head.

"Did he rape you again?" Jessica asked.

"Not that," Abi frowned. "Gosh, what do you take me for?"

"Then tell me what he did! Hurry up because I need your help. That stupid girl screwed me over for an ugly man on her date," Jessica growled.

"Really?" Abi was surprised to hear that.

"Tell me what happened last night quickly. I'll be fixing my makeup as you speak. When you're done telling me that, you'll help me choose a gown," Jessica retorted.

"Where are you off to?" Abi asked.

"Guess who's in the country?!" Jessica sang.

"Your ex?" Abi guessed.

"Guess better, Abi," Jessica frowned.

"I don't know, okay," Abi pouted.

"My crush!!" Jessica blushed.

"What?! Park Junho is in the country?" Abi was thrilled.

"Why? You want to see him?" Jessica teased.

Abi loves Korean films, and she had always seen him in most of her movies - why? She only watches his movies to see him. They are good friends because she met him through Jessica. Jessica and Park Junho went to the same kindergarten and high school in the country. He went back to Korea to pursue his dreams and complete his further studies.

"Tell him I want to see him, Jes," Abi smiled.

"Tell your husband that first," Jessica teased.

"For your information," Abi began, "he doesn't care if I go to a stripper's club."

"Oh," Jessica had forgotten that the bastard doesn't love her at all.

"Don't be angry," Jessica begged.

"This baby here will listen to what you have to say now," Abi said.

"Jessica," Abi began in a low voice, "I told Leo to massage my boobs last night. He touched me!!"

Jessica dropped her eye pencil and took her phone from the table. She switched to video call immediately to look at her friend closely.

"Are you blushing right now?" Jessica teased.

"Why would I blush?!" Abi denied quickly and continued, "I was so drunk. I don't think I was in my freaking senses. But he fondled my boobs. He touched them last night, Jes."

"You told him to, Abi. What do you expect?" Jessica commented.

"But this feels strange for some reasons," Abi shot back. "His submission. He doesn't do anything I tell him to do. Why did he touch me last night? He doesn't like me, so I think something is wrong somewhere."

"Don't worry, baby. I would have also massaged those enticing breasts if I were him," Jessica laughed.

"Are you a lesbian?" Abi asked her with seriousness.

"This is not a matter of being a lesbian, Abi. I know what's happening here. That cold bastard is already into you. I must give him ten for trying so hard," Jessica laughed.

Abi didn't say anything because she knew Jessica was crazy. She tends to say foolish things when she hears Park Junho's name.

"Why did you stop talking?" Jessica noticed and asked.

"Nothing," Abi replied.

"Let me ask you this. I knew you were drunk, but tell me. How did you feel when he touched your boobs? Any nice feelings or anything?" Jessica asked.

"I felt good. How am I supposed to feel? I liked it," Abi confessed with a blush.

"Do you like him, Abi?" Jessica asked.

"What? No!" Abi said quickly.

"Why would I like him? I like Julian!"

"Oh! I forgot about that fool for a second," Jessica rolled her eyes. It was obvious she doesn't like Julian at all.

"You have to seduce your husband from now on," Jessica smirked.

"No," Abi refused immediately.

"Why would I do such?"

"Don't you want him to be with you?" Jessica asked.

"I want natural love. I don't want him to be with me for my body," Abi replied.

"Does Julian know you're pregnant? That body he loves so much would change in some weeks," Jessica chimed.

"Julian doesn't love me for my body," Abi corrected.

"Then you must be blind," Jessica replied.

"Has your husband spoken to you about what happened last night?" Jessica queried.

"No," Abi replied, adding, "I haven't seen him this morning."

"Oh," Jessica replied.

"I'm just going down for breakfast. I went to Roman's party yesterday," Abi let her know.

"I would have come too, but I don't know the birthday boy so much," Jessica pouted.

"Abi," Jessica called.

"Mm," Abi replied.

"Don't bring up that topic unless he's the first to talk about it. Don't feel uncomfortable around him too. Behave normally. Don't let him feel like you remember what you told him to do last night. Make him come to you to say it," Jessica smirked.

"Why?" Abi asked curiously.

"That's the normal thing to do," Jessica applied her gloss.

"Choose a gown for me," Jessica switched the camera to the back.

"Ah, I'm so sorry, Jes. I'm being called for breakfast. But don't worry, wear a sexy black gown and heels. Anything you wear would be perfect," Abi smiled.

Jessica followed Abi's advice and took out a short black gown to wear with gold heels. She wore her earrings and picked out a simple gold necklace to wear around her neck. She got her rings and wore them on her fingers. She got her perfumes and body spray to use. She returned them and kept two in her purse.

She took a last look in the mirror and catwalked out of her room.

"Jessica!!" Jessica heard her father's loud voice.

**

Pen sat opposite Adrian and dropped the remote in her hand with a smile. She looked at her husband closely.

"Don't you have anything to say? Our son increased the rates of Drop by thirteen percent in three weeks," Pen was very proud.

"That's because he received a deal that should have gone to Santiago," Adrian was proud but refused to admit.

"So?" Pen was annoyed.

"Tell me that you've never regretted giving Ronny that company he's running now. He's doing nothing but making you go bankrupt," Adrian slammed his hand.

"I'm tired," Adrian yawned.

"I heard Ophelia went to see Leonardo in France. What's he doing over there?" Adrian asked.

"Why don't you call him to ask that?" Pen asked.

"What are you doing, Penelope?" Adrian roared.

"What is wrong with what I'm doing, Adrian? May I ask for the last time you picked up the phone to call him?" Pen asked in anger.

"So, it's my fault?" Adrian asked, his gaze darkening.

"Is it not?" Pen shot back. "You're the reason my son has refused to associate with me. You kept telling me to let him go and things like that. I should have never listened to you because you're a bad husband!"

"What?!" Adrian furrowed his brows.

"I've never been cut off from Leonardo this much before. If I do something wrong, a visit or a long phone call would solve it, but my son has changed towards me completely ever since that girl came into his life," Pen cried.

"What do you mean?" Adrian's gaze darkened further.

"Ever since I laid hands on that girl, Leo has cut ties with me. He warned me once, but I didn't listen. He doesn't reply to my messages. I think he has blocked me at this point," Pen began to sob.

Adrian clenched his jaw and stared at the woman crying. He didn't know what to say.

"It's not my fault, Pen," he managed to say, but received a silken glare from her.

"I'll be back," he said and walked into his study.

Pen quickly got up and cleaned her tears. She was happy he was finally working on it. She looked at her phone and checked the time. Things would soon start going her way.

**

"What took you so long?" Dominic frowned as Abi approached the table.

"I'm sorry. I was on a call with my friend," Abi apologized and sat down.

"I didn't want the food to be cold before you eat it. I cooked this for you personally," Dominic passed a bowl of sauce to her.

"Don't finish that. I need to make sure he didn't poison it," Darcy spoke, and everyone laughed.

"Good morning, sunshine!" Ophelia sang as she walked to their table.

Abi furrowed her brows when she saw her. 'What the hell is she looking for here?'

Here is the text with corrected punctuation:

She sat down beside Benjamin and picked up her spoon to eat. "Who invited you here?" Benjamin asked her.

"What matters is that I'm here, isn't it?" Ophelia asked back and scooped some rice into her mouth.

"No one cooked for you," Logan said, taking away her bowl.

"Does Leo know you all are bullying me?" Ophelia pouted, trying to look cute.

"Ah! So much noise in the morning," Roman rubbed his eyes and sat down at the table.

"Good morning, Roman. I didn't know I was coming to your party. I would have bought you a gift," Abi said, unhappy that she went to the party empty-handed. She blamed her husband for that. Roman had been taking care of her, and she couldn't buy him a single gift to show her appreciation.

"It's fine, dear," Roman drank his milk.

"Where's Alice?" Dominic asked, looking around.

"She went back this morning. She has an urgent meeting at her place of work," Roman replied.

"Oh," Dominic smiled and looked at Abi. "Alice is his girlfriend."

"Oh," Abi returned the smile.

"Didn't you meet her at the party?" Logan asked. Everyone was ignoring Ophelia.

"I didn't, but I should have seen her," Abi laughed.

"Oh! I'll make sure you both meet next time," Roman said.

"Really?" Abi looked forward to meeting Alice. She wanted to make friends who could add benefits to her life.

"Don't do that, Roman. I still love Abi a lot," Logan twirled his curly hair.

"You see, Abi, Alice is a beautiful witch," Benjamin began with a long frown on his face.

"That's true," Cedric approached them with Matilda behind him. Abi's eyes lit up when she saw Matilda. She patted the empty seat beside her. Matilda saw her signal and sat beside her immediately.

"You shouldn't have sat there. That's Leo's seat," Darcy hissed.

"Don't bother. That cold guy won't be having breakfast with us," Cedric began and looked at Abi. "He wants you to bring his food to him when you're done."

"Sure," Abi laughed nervously and scratched her head. 'No!!!', she wanted to say, because why the hell should she see him so early in the morning? She wanted to avoid him for good. She began to sweat while thinking of the possibility of talking about what happened last night.

"So, why did you call his girlfriend a witch?" Abi asked Benjamin. She wanted to know.

"I'm famished. Hey you," Ophelia yelled at Matilda. "Pass me that rice beside you."

"Are your hands useless?" Cedric asked Ophelia with a stern tone.

"Who invited you here?"

"I came to see my fiancé. Why do you care?" Ophelia stuck out her tongue.

"You should have left with Ronny, Ophelia. I don't know what you want," Dominic heaved a sigh.

"Ronny is still sleeping, so you can't trick me. Besides, I have to eat to gain energy," Ophelia retorted.

"Then eat and shut up!" Logan returned her bowl of rice to her and watched her eat.

"Wow! This is delicious," Ophelia's eyes lit up, and she began to eat.

"Last year, I played a game with Alice called 'Now or Later.' She cheated, so I decided to stop the game. I didn't know that devil would be so serious till the end. I have forgotten that the two parties have to agree before leaving the game, else they could do anything to the partner that played poorly," Cedric began to walk down memory lane.

"Then?" Abi asked the question on Matilda's mind too.

"That witch punctured my car tires and stole my phone. I couldn't call anyone that day for help. I had to trek to my company because she stole my wallet too. I almost missed an important case that day. I would have lost millions," Cedric hissed.

"Wow," Abi was surprised.

"Don't mind him. I returned his car to him brand new," Roman chirped in.

"That's nice," Abi smiled. Dominic and Logan began to laugh when Abi said that. Benjamin chuckled while Roman joined in the laughter.

"What?" Abi asked them, because she didn't know why they were laughing.

"Cedric sent me a toy car that could fit a child, but it's the same model as the one Alice ruined. He even sent a manual with the car with a stupid message," Cedric hissed.

"What did he say?" Matilda asked, because she was also curious.

"'I want your child to drive the most expensive car, so when the time comes, call Alice to teach him how to drive."

"How did you react to that?" Abi asked.

"How do you want me to react to such deadly words?" Cedric sneered. "I replied with the words - God forbid!!"