“Are you not coming with us?” Tristan asked Jacob, who was still busy going thru some paperwork.
His assistant took his eyes off the papers to face him, “I’ll follow you guys as soon as I’m done here.”
Tristan nodded at him before turning to Belle, “Let’s go?”
“Yep!” Belle quickly responded, following Tristan, who immediately walked out after she nodded. “See you later!” she waved at Jacob and closed the office door.
When they reached Eden, Eric was already there, waiting for them. When a waiter saw them, he started serving drinks.
In the dark corner of the bar, Esme watched them carefully. She was a little disappointed and frustrated as she couldn’t push through with her plan with Eric there.
After waiting for almost three hours, her patience started to run out. She was ready to leave when she saw Eric step out of the lounge.
Thinking she had found the right opportunity to put her plan into action, she smiled wickedly. She quickly stood up after seeing Eric get into his car.
“Hey, come here!” she called to the waiter close to her. “Do you want to earn a huge sum of money?” she asked, her voice teasing.
“How much are we talking about?” the waiter asked, seemingly interested.
Esme took out an envelope from her bag, “Five thousand dollars,” she told him. The waiter narrowed his eyes at the middle-aged woman she was dealing with.
After a few seconds, the waiter nodded at Esme. She then gave the waiter instructions along with the thick envelope for payment.
Minutes later, the waiter came out of the lounge and signaled thumbs up toward Esme’s direction. The woman stood up from her table and went up the stairs.
Getting inside the lounge, Esme checked on both Tristan and Belle. Once she confirmed that they were both unconscious, she called Irwin to get his people in and take the couple away.
Esme instructed her accomplice to drive them to the Royal Palace. Properly covering her face, she told the staff that President De Clarion and his secretary were drunk.
When the staff found out it was Tristan, she quickly assisted them. She even opened the door of the VIP suite to let people in.
“We’ll just leave them here since they are both drunk,” Esme told the staff.
But of course, to not get found, she paid the staff as well. Esme asked her not to tell anyone that it was her who brought Tristan and Belle to the hotel.
Jacob, on the other hand, tried to finish his job as soon as possible. Thinking Tristan might need him for something, he quickly rushed downstairs and straight to the parking lot.
When he was inside his car and even before he could start its engine, his phone started ringing. Looking at it, he was getting a call from a staff member of the Royal Palace.
Jacob was informed that Mr. De Clarion checked into the hotel. He was also told that he was in the VIP suite with his secretary.
Instead of going to Eden Bar, he went straight to the Royal Palace to see what was up with his boss. When he stepped into the VIP suite, he was surprised to see Tristan and Belle lying side by side on the bed.
Both of them looked uneasy, tossing and turning with their eyes still closed. Jacob moved closer to check on them.
“It’s hot…” Belle muttered.
When Jacob heard what she said, he palmed her forehead to see if she had a fever. On contact, he noticed that Belle was indeed warmer than normal, but not because of fever.
He checked on his boss too and his temperature was the same. Looking at the two, he even noticed Belle moving uncontrollably, trying to unbutton her blouse.
Jacob quickly turned the lights on. He checked on Tristan and saw that his face and neck were bright red. The same goes for Belle.
Both of them have beads of sweat on their foreheads, mumbling words he can’t make out. He then realized that something was wrong with the two.
Tristan was struggling to undo his tie and he kept flailing his arms. When he turned towards Belle, he started caressing her arm and pulling her closer to him.
Jacob closed his eyes, uttered a prayer, then looked at Tristan and Belle again. Before anything else happened, Jacob scooped Belle out of bed and took her to the smaller room.
He threw her on the bed as he suddenly felt like someone was watching him. He was able to sigh in relief when he turned around and saw that no one was in the room with them.
As he was worried that Belle might do something outrageous, he decided to lock the door from the outside. He then headed towards the room where Tristan was.
Back with his boss, he helped him out of his polo shirt and pants. Tristan was left with his boxers and covered with a blanket.
When Jacob stepped out of the room, he quickly dialed Nathalie’s number to ask her to come over. He needs her help to take care of Belle.
After a few more minutes of waiting, Nathalie arrived in the VIP suite of the Royal Palace. She brought some clothes for Belle, as instructed by Jacob.
She was filled in on what happened between the two. Then she was led to the room where Belle was.
Looking at her friend, Nathalie couldn’t help but smile as naughty thoughts went through her head. ‘Jacob should have just let the two of them stay in one room, tsk!’
She giggled at her thought. She always knew Belle and Tristan liked each other. What she can’t understand is why they are still not in a relationship.
Nathalie is well aware that Tristan is married to Vernice. However, she also knows that it was an arranged marriage, with no feelings involved between the two of them.
That was why she couldn’t help but root for her friend and Tristan instead. She was also aware of Joyce, but as people would always say, she too believes that feelings may and will change.
She has seen Tristan and Belle together several times. And just by simply looking at them, anyone can tell that something special is going on between the two.
Putting aside the thoughts in her mind, she walked toward the bed and combed Belle’s hair. She then put out the clothes she had brought for her and started undressing her friend.
When she was done, she stepped out of the room and found Jacob lounging on the couch, eyes closed. She quietly sat on the couch to not disturb the man.
Jacob probably noticed her presence, as he slowly opened his eyes and turned his attention to the woman next to him. “How is she?” he asked, referring to Belle.
“She’s fine,” Nathalie responded. “She’s sleeping now. The drug they consume might be of a lower dose. Thank God,” she sighed.
Jacob slowly nodded in agreement. He, too, was thankful that the enhancing drug wasn’t of a strong variety. Otherwise, it will be troublesome for all of them.