Tristan entered the venue right after he stepped out of the car. He went in alone as Jacob still needed to pick up Belle and Agnes.
He headed to the lounge and found his grandfather, sitting there with a wineglass in his hand. “You’re late,” the old man told him, Tristan chuckled.
“No one’s even here yet,” he retorted.
“The Williams called me yesterday, they told me they’re visiting next week,” he informed his grandson of the upcoming problem.
Tristan’s forehead creased. He called a waiter to ask for a drink, “What do they want?”
Frederick shrugged, “No idea, they just said they were visiting,” he chuckled. Implying he knows there is something else behind the visit.
Tristan was about to say something when another waiter called for them. They were informed that the visitors were already arriving.
The grandfather and grandson duo had no choice but to walk out of the lounge and welcome their guests. They were standing side by side facing the entrance, both looking like royalty.
The first visitor came in and Frederick asked a waiter to show them their table. Before they were able to greet the next visitor, someone joined them. It was Agnes.
She was wearing a rather revealing gown and Frederick was disgusted by the sight of her. He stood in a way that he wouldn’t see an eyesore.
Tristan, on the other hand, felt excited. He knew Belle was already at the venue too, since Agnes had already arrived.
He turned around to look for her but couldn’t spot the woman in the crowd. He can only stop looking, as he needs to start welcoming the visitors again.
When most of the guests arrived, Frederick, Tristan, and Agnes walked toward the platform. The program is about to start and their presence is of the utmost importance.
One of the shareholders approached them and started talking to Frederick. Tristan, who was standing beside them, started looking around again, and finally, he found her.
He saw Belle standing near the buffet table, happily conversing with Jacob. He was mesmerized. Looking marvelous was an understatement.
However, his jaw clenched automatically as he saw her grab Jacob by the wrist and pull him to the side. He suddenly felt the urge to strangle his assistant.
Since they were far from his position, he decided to push the strangling for later. Busy watching the pair, Tristan did not notice that the shareholder was talking to him. Frederick had to nudge him to get his attention.
When Agnes noticed that Tristan had been spacing out, she distanced herself from him by a few inches to see what he was looking at. Following Tristan’s line of sight, Agnes finally saw the reason why he was stoned.
Tristan was busy eyeing his secretary. Agnes frowned upon realizing this. She met Belle earlier when they picked her up and she had to admit the woman was gorgeous.
Agnes felt jealous, as Tristan never looked at her like that. Yes, they have met each other several times, but he treated her as nothing more than a bed warmer.
And now, she’s looking dearly at this woman. She even noticed him clenching his fist when Belle got touchy with Jacob.
Feeling irritated, Agnes excused herself. As soon as Tristan responded, she walked toward the buffet table.
She is not hungry at all, but she finds the need to grab something to eat. When she reached the table, she picked up a plate and placed random food on it, before walking toward Belle and Jacob.
A few steps away from the two, Agnes stopped to wait for the right time. A few seconds later, she pretended to trip and directed the plate to Belle, spilling the contents of her plate on her dress.
“Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed. Agnes tried her best to make her voice sound as apologetic as possible. ‘Serves you right!’
Jacob grabbed a tissue and passed it on to Belle. “It’s okay, it’s an accident,” she told Agnes while wiping her dress.
“Go to the restroom,” Jacob whispered, and the executive secretary made a run for it. He then turned around to ask for a waiter to clean up the mess.
Agnes left as if nothing happened. She followed Belle to the restroom and locked the door behind her.
“What are you doing?” Belle asked, confused at what Agnes did.
Instead of responding, Agnes slapped her. “You bitch! How dare you flirt with my fiancé?” grabbing Belle by the arm.
Belle creased her forehead. “Jacob is your fiancé?” she asked, confused. She had not talked to anyone since she got to the venue, except for Jacob.
Without both women knowing, Tristan and Jacob are both standing right outside the door. They were quietly listening to them.
‘Wow, she really wants me killed,’ Jacob thought to himself as he steals glances at Tristan.
They can clearly hear the conversation between the two women inside. Tristan threw him a threatening glare before fixing his position to lean closer and listen again.
“Don’t play dumb with me! You know who I’m referring to,” Agnes sneered, tightening her grip on Belle’s arm.
“If you’re referring to Tristan, then excuse you, I never flirted with him!” Belle protested while trying to pull her arm from Agnes.
Absorbed in her villain role, she pushed Belle hard. With the force Agnes exerted, the back of Belle’s head hit the wall. “Ah!” she screamed in pain.
Before Agnes could say more, the door was kicked open. Her face immediately paled when she saw who barged in.
“Since when did I become your fiancé?” Tristan asked coldly. Belle wanted to run to him and give him a hug for saving her, but she was too dizzy to do so.
“T-Tristan?” Agnes stuttered, not expecting the man to show up out of nowhere. “I-I didn’t mean to-” she was about to say something when Tristan shoved her to the side. She flinched as her waist hit the side of the sink, but no one paid attention to her.
Tristan and Jacob were quietly listening outside. Tristan suppressed the urge to barge in until he heard Belle scream.
He kicked the door open and his eyes fell on Belle right away. He questioned Agnes’ statement without looking at her.
His eyes were fixed on Belle’s face and arm with obvious hand marks. When Belle moved, Tristan saw a tinge of blood on the tiled wall.
He suddenly felt outraged, he almost punched Agnes. Instead of doing so, she shoved her to the side and walked past her.
“Are you okay?” he asked Belle. Tristan let out a sigh of relief when the woman nodded. He held her by the arm and waist and helped her out of the restroom. “Drag her out of here,” he instructed Jacob as he passed by him.
Jacob looked at where Belle had been leaning earlier and he too saw the bloodstains on the wall. He wanted to wrestle Agnes right there and then, but just like Tristan, he restrained himself.
Instead, she grabbed Agnes by the arm and dragged her out of the venue through the backdoor. Agnes tried to refuse but Jacob’s strength was too much for her.
Tristan and Belle went straight to the elevator. Belle did not refuse Tristan’s help. In fact, she was surprised when she felt comfortable having him around.
As soon as the elevator door opened, Tristan scooped her up. Belle was shocked but instead of resisting, she leaned her head on the man’s chest and wrapped her arms around his neck.
They went straight to the VIP suite. Belle stopped for a moment when she saw where they were going, but she still followed her boss inside.
Tristan made her sit on the couch. He then turned around and pulled his phone from his pocket. “Call a doctor, we’re in the VIP suite,” he told the person on the other line.
“No need for that-” Belle wanted to interrupt, but he glared at her. She leaned back on the couch and kept her mouth shut.
“How are you feeling?” Tristan asked again as soon as he ended the call. He sat down close to Belle, staring at her pale face.
His gaze fell on her left wrist, noticing a red mark there, as big as a quarter. “What happened to this?” he asked, still worried.
Belle looked at him and smiled faintly. “It’s a little painful and I’m feeling a bit dizzy,” she answered in a low voice. She then placed a finger on the red mark, “This is a birthmark, it’s faded but it was bright red when I was young,” she explained.
Tristan sighed. He stood up again when he remembered something. He almost forgot about the banquet.
He reached out for Belle’s cheek and caressed it lightly. “You can rest inside,” pointing towards the bedroom, “Or you can just lay down here, but don’t move much and wait for Jacob and the doctor,” he instructed her.
Without waiting for her to respond, he immediately left to go back to the banquet. ‘I’ll deal with you later!’ he muttered under his breath, referring to the vicious woman who hurt Belle.