“Yes, it was great. Thanks, daddy. Plead? Well, just let him deal with it. He can’t? Why? You own such a big organization, your business won’t crumble just because you lose this contract. Ugh, so annoying, how about this, if you can give me another chance and get pregnant with his baby, then all problems are solved.”
“Yes, yes, yes. Whatever, most importantly, you’ll have to guarantee another chance for me, so that I can get pregnant with his child as soon as possible.”
“Wait,” she put down her phone and stared suspiciously at Abigail who was still standing in the living room. “Are you blind? Can’t you see that I’m on the phone, go away and get to work!”
Abigail was dizzy and hence she was standing there. But she had to leave now since Annie ordered her to. She forcefully dragged her body and went to the courtyard. The courtyard was drenched from the rain last night, everywhere was damped and water was still dripping off the trees.
Since there wasn’t anywhere to rest her legs, she took the broom and started to sweep the courtyard.
Joshua seemed to be suspicious about last night. He woke her up in the morning and asked her, “Were you here the whole time last night?” His dark eyes flickered, he peered at her until she finally nodded.
“You use perfume?” He sniffed and analyzed the scent in the air.
“Not… not really,” Abigail got nervous, she glanced at him secretly, trying to decipher his expression, “Well, Annie would spray some on me sometimes.”
She wasn’t used to lying, she immediately covered her face with her hair, trying to hide her uneasiness. Luckily, Joshua believed what she said.
Abigail only felt calm again when Joshua left to take a shower. She decided to get up since she couldn’t sleep at all.
Abigail couldn’t fall asleep throughout the night, her body ached everywhere and she realized that her body could handle less torment after she got pregnant. She wasn’t feeling very well.
Joshua had a deep frowned between his brows, he went to get a drink early in the morning. He rubbed his nose bridge and glanced at Quinn who was walking towards him. He gulped down the alcohol in his hand.
“Drinking the first thing in the morning, you got dumped?” Quinn said jokingly, but he shut his trap the moment he received a deathly stare from Joshua. He sat down opposite of Joshua and said, “Are you trying to work my dear Ashley to death? You’re here drinking but she woke up at 6 in the morning and went to work. Can you do some work too and relieve her workload?”
“Say more and I’ll make her work for 24 hours straight, “warned Joshua. Quinn rubbed her chin and changed his mind, “Well, it’s not your fault at all, my Ashley is the workaholic.”
Joshua stopped glaring, he took another bottle of alcohol and proceeded to gulp it down.
“Though, you didn’t ask me to come here for a drink, right?” Quinn held his bottle and pushed down his hand.
“Where is Bill? Can you get him here?” Joshua put down the bottle and the glass of alcohol, his face filled with displeasure.
“Why?” Quinn asked seriously.
“I want to see him.”
“Just call him then,” suggested Quinn.
“He is not picking up my calls, I can’t find him anywhere either. He might’ve left the country.”
“To where though?” Quinn scratched his head, he realized that something serious had happened,” Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him in a while. Maybe…”
Joshua nodded, Quinn’s expression was now stern, his light-heartedness vanished swiftly.
“How did you know?”
Joshua pondered briefly, “Kenneth had a drink with me last night.”
“What did he say? How did he look?” Quinn pestered.
“He wants me to get married to Annie.”
Quinn couldn’t comprehend the situation, he looked at Joshua confusedly.
“The guy never had the guts to mention anything to me, he would always go through my father if he wanted to pressure me to do something. But all of a sudden, he made the request in-person himself, don’t you think something smells fishy?”
Quinn let out a sigh of relief, he laughed cheerfully, “Maybe he just didn’t want his daughter to be left hanging after you screwed her, and hoped that you’ll give her the position of being your wife.”
“Shut up!” Joshua gave him another death glare, he was now very irritated and he was scowling. Something was off about Abigail last night, what Quinn said reminded him of something. But the thought of it disturbed him, he frowned even more deeply.
“Kenneth knows his place, he needs my power. He always has to curry favours with me, there’s no way he’ll suddenly act all high and mighty like that without the help of another person. My guess is that Bill is supporting him from behind.”
He violently shook his head, trying to shake off the uneasiness he was feeling.
“Maybe he is under the influence of some other group that wanted to rise in power?” Quinn said his opinion.
“No way!” Joshua was certain, “Only Kenneth, me and Bill are in the competition right now, there are no other competitors.”
He grabbed his hair, was instantly confident about himself, “Well, Kenneth is nothing to me, but Bill is different. However, I investigated him and found evidence of him bribing higher up officials of the Arabian government. He was also involved in the cut-throat competitions, these will be enough to bring him down. What you have to do now is to find him immediately, give him a warning, and we’ll be able to avoid the dangerous situation before it is too late.”
Quinn nodded sensibly, he looked into Joshua’s eyes and tried to change the topic, “I can see that both of you appreciate each other, why be so hateful towards each other? Why don’t you guys make peace? You guys have been friends for 10 years, destroying your friendship just because of Michelle, is it worth it?”
“It is worth it!” Joshua’s eyes flickered, he answered firmly.
“As stubborn as mules, I really don’t understand you guys!” Quinn shook his head helplessly.
Joshua stood up and was about to leave, suddenly he halted and said to Quinn, “Also, look into Abigail’s background, I’ll transfer you the money later in the afternoon.”
Joshua went home all hot-tempered, last night was not satisfactory at all and he was in a rush to go back to prove his assumption.
But, the first thing he heard when he got home was the news about Abigail fainting. Rowena was supporting Abigail, who was pale and weak. She couldn’t even walk properly, and only managed to get back to her own room with the help of several servants.
“What happened?” Joshua glowered, he fixed his gaze on the woman who was sweating profusely, her face as white as sheet.
“She fainted,” Rowena reported.
“Get a damn doctor!” Joshua ordered.
“No!” Abigail suddenly yelled weakly, her head still hanging off her shoulders, but she shook her head violently.
Damn woman, not wanting a doctor at a time like this? Joshua wanted to bite her head off since she wasn’t using her head anyways.
But what he didn’t know was, Abigail was not only afraid of the doctor, but she was even more afraid about revealing the truth that she was pregnant. She repeatedly shook her head, and she looked at Rowena hoping that she would help her.
“Sir, she just got a heat stroke. It’s no big deal, rest a bit, drink some water and she’ll be as fit as a fiddle again,” Rowena’s calm eyes looked a bit troubled, but she helped Abigail in the end.
Joshua looked down, he nodded, “Fine,” though all of a sudden he got very frustrated, he glared at Abigail and the servants, and yelled, “Get back to work!”
Abigail felt much better after drinking some water, she blinked her eyes and saw Rowena walking towards her with a packet of red sugar in her hand, “Drink some sugary water, it will help you regain some energy,” said Rowena expressionlessly, she didn’t bother to stay a second longer.
“Thank you,” Abigail thanked Rowena again, not only for the sugar but also because she helped her to hide her secret.
As usual, there was no response from Rowena, she just left and closed the door coldly.
Abigail thought Joshua wouldn’t come by in the night, but he appeared just after sunset. He didn’t care if she wasn’t feeling well and forcefully crushed her underneath him.
Though he wasn’t as persistent as usual, he pulled out after 10 minutes. He grimaced, his expression so solemn that one felt like a storm was going to come.
He didn’t bat an eye at her, it was as if nothing took place just now. He took out his phone, ” Lambert, get me Kenneth. Yes, immediately.”
Kenneth? Wasn’t that Annie’s father? Abigail stared at the man leaving in a rush, she didn’t understand what was going on, and why did he suddenly want to meet Annie’s father?
Kenneth was a man with a beer belly, his face flushed and he looked joyful. He peered at every nook and cranny at the Caunter’s mansion, his eyes green with envy staring at the luxurious decorations.
Kenneth was also an important person, he played a decisive role in the market and had several companies under his name, he also founded a group. But it was still lacking when in comparison to Joshua.
Rows of antiques decorated the living room, the value of even the smallest one was enough to buy a city. Even with his wealth he only owned two, and he normally hid it in his safe.
The Caunter’s mansion was like an exhibition hall, full of different antiques with different sizes and colours. They were all extremely precious but were displayed all over the house like it was nothing.
Only Joshua had the guts to casually lay these exquisite items around.
He gulped hard, elated at the fact that he caught a big fish.
“Dad? Why are you here?” Annie saw her father as she walked downstairs, she was puzzled.
“Mr. Caunter, oh no, my future son-in-law summoned me, did he not say anything?” Kenneth’s face was oily, his mouth opened so wide that it probably can fit a rubber ball. “You didn’t know about it? He wants to discuss the marriage,” said Kenneth while laughing cheerfully.
Annie raised her brow confusedly, she didn’t understand what was going on.
Kenneth was so jubilant that he didn’t notice the puzzled look on his daughter’s face, he was laughing blissfully and he placed his big fat hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “My dear, aren’t I great? You’re going to officially be his wife! Though, you are also great this time! You won him over with just one go, you are not to be belittled.”
“Daddy, what are you saying?” Annie was as confused as a chameleon in a bag of skittles.
Their scheme was just set in motion yesterday. Joshua had not found out that it was her and not Abigail last night, also, she wasn’t pregnant yet.
“Let me clear your confusion,” Joshua came in, behind him was his loyal servant Lambert.
He glared at Annie ruthlessly, his mouth arched and a bleak smile was formed on his face. “You dear father said he wanted to discuss something with me last night, but in fact he drugged me and you got into my bed, isn’t it so?”
His blue eyes flared, Annie had a bad look on her face.
“That wench, Abigail!” Annie immediately assumed that Abigail spilt the beans because she was the only one that knew the truth. She pushed all the blame on Abigail like it was the only thing to do.
“Shut up!” Joshua was irked at Annie bad-mouthing Abigail, he yelled at her crudely.
“Joshie, I…” Annie took a few steps backwards, trembling in fear. She hid behind Kenneth and tugged the corner of his sleeves, blaming him for the situation.