“Are the foods ready?” Tristan asks his assistant on their way to the conference room.
Jacob glances towards their office to see if Belle is already there. “Not yet, maybe there’s a long line at the café,” trying to make an excuse for the secretary.
“She’s so slow!” the CEO clicks his tongue, irritated.
Jacob let out a sigh before scratching the back of his head. “You know how most people eat their breakfast here. Maybe that’s why she’s taking a while.”
Tristan didn’t respond to him. He just quickens his pace to reach the conference room immediately. As soon as they got there, Jacob opens the door for him and he immediately sits down after greeting the visitors. He opens the folder in front of him to get them started.
They are already in the middle of a discussion when someone knocks. Jacob stands up to open the door, only to see Belle struggling with the food packs.
He quickly put down the folder in his hand to help the secretary. Jacob takes some of the food packs from her.
Both of them start distributing breakfast for the visitors and Mr. De Clarion as well. While doing so, Lawrence glances at the secretary and he is shocked by what he sees. Tristan’s secretary looks exactly like her daughter Vernice.
Lawrence can’t take his eyes off the woman. Even on Belle’s way out, he is still looking at her in disbelief.
“Sir, Mr. De Clarion is asking you something,” Francis tells him, nudging him lightly to get his attention.
He cleared his throat before facing Tristan, “What was it again Mr. De Clarion?”
Tristan shakes his head before putting his fork down. “It seems that you’re busy thinking about something else Mr. Williams. Are you sure you’re interested in this deal?” he asks, obviously annoyed.
Tristan saw how Lawrence was staring at Belle the whole time. He saw him follow Belle’s every move inside the conference room and even up until she closed the door to leave.
Tristan’s brows were furrowed at the old man the whole time, but Lawrence was too engrossed in watching Belle. He didn’t notice that he, too, was being watched. That is why the CEO of the Empire got irritated.
Lawrence Williams apologizes to Tristan several times for not paying attention. He wanted to ask the young De Clarion about Belle, but he doesn’t want him to misunderstand things.
‘Maybe I should look into this myself’, setting aside his thoughts of the woman. For now, he needs to focus on their meeting before Tristan gets pissed.
“I’m really sorry about what happened earlier,” apologizing to Tristan for the nth time while shaking the young CEO’s hand.
Their meeting just ended and everything was finalized. The deal between De Clarion and Williams is now sealed.
As soon as Lawrence steps out of the conference room, he heads for the elevator. He keeps glancing towards the executive office in hopes of seeing Belle again.
Unfortunately, Belle is in the Planning Department so there is no chance for him to see her. Out of luck, he left the Empire feeling dejected.
Meanwhile, inside the conference room, Jacob saw Tristan still seated. He starts gathering the documents scattered on the table, but can’t stop throwing glances at the man as he keeps letting out shallow sighs.
“Is there a problem?” he asks of his boss and friend.
Tristan shakes his head gently, “I’m just thinking of Williams’ plans,” he mutters. But in all honesty, he is thinking about why Lawrence was staring at Belle for a long time earlier.
“I see,” Jacob responds before sighing. “Did you notice Mr. Williams earlier?” he asks.
Tristan turns his chair to face his assistant. Unsure whether they are thinking the same thing, but he is suddenly interested to know.
“What do you mean?”
“At the meeting earlier, as soon as Belle steps into the conference room, Mr. Williams’ eyes were glued to her,” Jacob pauses, weighing his boss’ mood. Then he continues, “When you asked him something, he wasn’t able to respond because he was busy watching Belle.”
Tristan sighs heavily, “I noticed that too. Maybe he saw the resemblance between Belle and Vernice, that’s why he can’t help but stare.”
“I think so too. Even at the elevator earlier, he keeps glancing towards our office, maybe trying to have a look at Belle again,” Jacob adds.
Both men were quiet for a while. Tristan continues to let out sighs while Jacob is just staring at the documents in front of him.
“But you know what?” Jacob suddenly speaks, breaking the silence between them. Tristan turns to him, waiting for his secretary to continue, “Even if Belle and Vernice have similarities, if you were to look closely at Belle, you will know that they’re not really the same.”
Tristan’s forehead creased, confused as to what his assistant meant. “How is that?” he asks, propping a hand under his chin.
“If you look at Belle up close, you will notice that although they both have almond eyes, Vernice’s eyes look fiercer than Belle’s, and Belle has longer lashes too. Vernice’s nose is lower and narrower and her lips have this downward turn on the edges. When Belle smiles, you can see a small dimple on the right side of her lips, Belle has two moles on her forehead, as well. I think that’s the most obvious difference between the two,” Jacob explains.
Tristan remained quiet for a while, staring at his assistant. “When?” he asks, his face expressionless. Jacob looks up, brows furrowed. “When did you look at Belle so close that you were able to see these differences?”
Jacob stiffen. He suddenly felt a lump in his throat after hearing Tristan’s question. “Er–, W-What do you mean by that? I never looked at Belle closely. I swear I never did!” he tried to refute.
Tristan nodded slowly, moving his eyes between the documents on the table and the man who is sitting with him. “By the way, did you get the foot massager?”
Jacob let out a long, relieved sigh. He was thankful that Tristan didn’t push the subject further as he really doesn’t know how he can explain things to his boss.
He nodded at Tristan to answer his question. “I’ve already placed an order. It will arrive in two days.”
“Good, I’m sure you’ll need it too later on,” Tristan tells him before standing up and leaving the conference room.
Jacob watched the man’s retreating figure, confused. As soon as the door closed, he starts tidying up the documents again. When he was done, he went back to the executive office.
“Belle…” he calls for the secretary. Belle moves his eyes from the monitor to Jacob, creasing her forehead at the CEO’s assistant. “What happened at the restaurant yesterday?” Jacob asks, out of curiosity.
Belle sighed. She easily gets irritated when she recalls what Tristan did to her. “Huh! Your boss threw a tantrum,” she whispers and Jacob chuckles. He feels like he already knows what he did.
“First, he asked me out of the elevator so I used the stairs. Then he asked me to ride a taxi to the restaurant,” Belle starts narrating while flipping at the documents on her table. “I really thought he was done, but he got more up his sleeves,” she sighs then closes the folder.
“At the restaurant, he didn’t let me sit. He asked me to get the menu for them, place the order for them, and worst, he asked me to clean up their table as soon as they’re done eating,” she then lets out a defeated sigh.
Jacob giggles, ‘Tristan’s tricks are really out of this world’, he thinks sarcastically. Even he, can’t believe that he would resort to something as childish as that.
“Wait, what did you say? He didn’t let you sit?”
Belle nods, pouting her lips. “From when we arrived at the restaurant until they finished eating, I was just there, standing next to him.”
Jacob suddenly pales after hearing what the secretary said. ‘Is that why he said Belle’s legs would be hurting? That’s why he wants a foot massager for our office?’
Thinking about it, he suddenly recalls what Tristan said earlier. ‘Oh my God, I’m doomed!’
At the Williams Villa, Esme welcomes his husband sweetly. “How was your meeting?” she asks, referring to his husband’s meeting at the De Clarion Empire.
Lawrence takes off his coat and passes it on to his wife, handing her an envelope as well. “It went well, we’ve closed the deal,” he tells her.
“What is this for?” Esme asks, referring to the envelope, after nodding at her husband to acknowledge his response.
“That’s an invitation to the banquet,” he answers simply. “Oh by the way,” clearing his throat, he suddenly remembers what he wanted to tell her. Esme creases her forehead at Lawrence, “At the Empire earlier, I saw a woman who looks exactly like Vernice.”
“What do you mean?” Esme sat straight and moves closer to her husband.
“If I didn’t know that Vernice is in Dale, I would really have thought that she’s now working as Tristan’s secretary,” he narrates, chuckling, still in disbelief. “They looked like twins!”
Esme’s hands turned cold. Staring at the envelope in her hand, she can’t help but think of what his husband just told her. ‘A girl that looks exactly like Vernice? Could it be?’
Esme’s thoughts were interrupted after a maid informed them that dinner is ready. She placed the envelope on the side table and hung Lawrence’s coat on the rack. Inhaling and exhaling a few times, she followed her husband to the dining room.
While eating, the couple talks about the deal Williams Corporation signed with De Clarion Empire. “I could’ve gotten more if he is my in-law,” Lawrence states.
‘Here we go again’, Esme thinks to herself. Whenever they talk about De Clarion Empire, Lawrence would always brings up the failed marriage between Tristan and Vernice.
“It’s all in the past, why are you still bringing that up?” Esme asks, irritated.
Lawrence took his glass and drink from it. He clears his throat before glaring at his wife. “If you taught your daughter well, then she wouldn’t have made a stupid decision!” he sneers.
Esme can only roll her eyes. Although she knew what Vernice wasted after she run away, she also can’t force her daughter into a setup marriage.
She knew what it feels like to be in a one-sided relationship, it was painful and depressing. She can’t let her only daughter go through that and vowed to do anything to protect her.
Esme suddenly remembered the girl his husband mentioned. No matter how hard Esme tried, she can’t get rid of the thoughts in her head.
‘Could it be her? What is she doing here? Why would she suddenly leave Dale?’
After dinner, she goes straight to their room while Lawrence goes to his study. Esme put out her phone and dial someone’s number.
She is trying to call the person she assigned to look after someone. Unfortunately, he isn’t answering. Frustrated, Esme throws her phone on the bed.
‘Why can’t I contact him at this important time!’ she’s irritated.
Sitting on their bed, Esme thought of something. She goes out of their bedroom in a hurry and straight to the living room. Picking up the invitation from the side table, she heads in the direction of her husband’s study room.
“Lawrence…” she calls after knocking. His husband gestures for her to come in while he’s on the phone.
“What do you need?” Lawrence asks after putting down his phone. Esme shows him the invitation card in her hand, the man creases his forehead.
“Can I go with you to the banquet?” she asks anxiously.
The creases on Lawrence’s forehead deepen, “You never attended events like this with me before,” he tells her, trying to dismiss the idea.
“For a change,” she simply answers. Although confused, Lawrence nods his head in agreement. There’s nothing wrong with taking his wife to the banquet anyway.