Lawrence flew to Dale to deal with some business-related mishaps. As soon as he left, Esme and Vernice started to regroup. Of course, their agenda was none other than Belle.
“I heard Eric invited Belle out tonight,” Vernice informed her mother, who was busy checking her Facebook account.
Esme immediately took her eyes off her phone and focused on Vernice. “How did you know?” She was surprised that her daughter could get such information on her own.
“I heard it from a friend. She told me it was the latest hot news in the business circle and among the bachelors and bachelorettes of Bree. It’s Eric Thompson, anyway.”
“That’s good! We can trick Tristan into going to the same place to make him see how much of a bitch that woman is!”
Vernice put her hand up, signaling her mom to shut up. “Why are you so obsessed with Tristan catching Belle? What’s in it for us?”
“Your brain really malfunctions at times, no?” she was starting to get irritated as her daughter was showing signs of stupidity again. “If Tristan hates her, there’s no one else who can protect her here in Bree! That way, we can easily have her thrown into the ocean again where she sprung back from eighteen years ago, or better yet, have her defiled and killed so that she’d be remembered as the girl who got raped and died.”
“Wow, that’s tragic!” Vernice exclaimed. Sometimes she really doubts her mother as a human being, as she’s more of a devil in disguise.
Esme lifted her chin, acting smugly at her daughter’s reaction to her magnificent foresight. Vernice was so amazed that it made Esme wonder where her daughter took after, as she was definitely far from her in terms of intelligence.
For Esme, Vernice is more like a person with a human body and an authentic Barbie head. There’s nothing in it, just plain, solid plastic. Nevertheless, she loves her most.
After some more random conversations, Esme sets off to prepare for tonight’s supposed big event. She needs to make intricate preparations for it.
They want this to be their last attempt to take Belle down, so they have to succeed no matter what. They have to take her down now.
When she was in the car, Esme suddenly recalled something. She then dialed Vernice’s number to ask, “Where are they meeting, by the way?”
Unfortunately, Vernice wasn’t aware of the details. All she knew was that they were eating somewhere, then they would head to Eden for some drinks.
Furious at her daughter’s legit stupidity, Esme chose to stay outside Eden to wait. She has no choice but to go the harder way, thanks to her awesome daughter.
The middle-aged woman waited for almost five hours before she finally spotted Eric and Belle stepping out of their respective vehicles. As soon as they were inside Eden, Esme got out of her car as well.
She went inside and walked straight to the bar. As she sat on one of the stools, she gestured toward the bartender for a drink. “Scotch please,” ordering a random drink, just so she would look more like a customer than a stalker.
Looking around, there were not many people at Eden though it was already past nine in the evening, likely because it was a weekday. She crossed her fingers, hoping she would succeed in her plan.
“Take this to room two!”
The man behind the bar then caught her attention. She immediately turned around to look upstairs.
Both the lights in rooms one and three are off. Since there are no other rooms in this bar, that means those drinks are for Belle and Eric.
Esme immediately took out the pills from her purse and slipped them into her fingers for no one to notice. Turning her head left, right, back and front, she quickly dropped the pills into the drinks while no one was looking.
Minutes later, a waiter took the tray and carried it upstairs. Esme checked her watch, taking note of the time. According to her supplier, the pills will take effect in as short as two minutes.
She rushed outside Eden, pulled her phone out, and dialed Irwin’s number. “Make sure you’re inside Eden within two minutes.” She ended the call without waiting for the person on the other line to respond and walked back to her car.
“To the Royal Palace,” and her driver immediately drove off. Esme asked her driver to stop right outside the hotel, on the other side of the street.
She waited patiently for her guests to show up. When she saw Eric’s car pull up in front of the hotel’s entrance, she got excited. However, her excitement was immediately replaced by disappointment. When she looked closely, she saw Eric carrying Belle inside the hotel.
“Why is he not drugged?!” she exclaimed, startling her driver. After remembering someone else was with her in the car, she quickly covered her mouth to shut herself up.
It wouldn’t be safe for her if her driver found out what she plotted. This driver and everyone else in the Williams Villa is all very loyal to Lawrence. There’s no way they would hide anything from him for her.
Stomping her foot in frustration, she smacked the backrest of the driver’s seat. “Go home!” She ordered, almost shouting at the poor driver who immediately followed her.
Inside the hotel, Eric took Belle straight to the VIP suite. As soon as they went in, the door of the VIP suite next to theirs opened and Tristan and Jacob came out.
“Was that Eric?”
“And Belle!” Jacob exclaimed.
Both boss and assistant exchanged confused glances. Before Tristan could ask again, his phone rang.
“Let’s go,” though hesitant, he couldn’t do anything at the moment as he needed to attend an important meeting with an international client.
However, he can’t get himself to focus on the meeting. He had been trying to listen to what the client was saying for the last hour, but none of it got into his head.
As he can’t take it anymore, he suddenly grabs his stomach, pretending as if it is aching terribly. “Excuse me, can we reschedule this meeting?”
The client saw his discomfort and Tristan was grateful when they let go of him immediately. He then ran out of the conference room and straight to the elevator.
“Why is she with Eric?” Tristan asked Jacob while loosening his tie.
“If I’m right, they had dinner here earlier and went to Eden,” passing to his boss the information he got from Nathalie.
Tristan lightly punched the wall of the elevator, “So they had some drinks or probably got drunk. Why would he take her to his suite then?”
Jacob’s brows furrowed as he slowly turned his head towards his boss. He wanted to ask him, ‘How will I know? I’m no stalker like you!’ but he chose to keep everything to himself. “I’ve no idea,” he answered simply.
When they reached the top floor, Tristan rushed towards the door of Eric’s suite. He tried ringing the doorbell but it’s been five minutes and no one opened up.
“Open it,” he ordered Jacob, who was hesitant to do so. “Open it!” he ordered him again. This time, his voice was way louder.
Jacob scrambled for the keycard and quickly inserted it into the door’s lock. When it opened, Tristan kicked it with a bang.
He went straight to the room and turned the knob. Fortunately, it wasn’t locked. On the bed, he saw Belle and Eric lying side by side, with Belle’s arm over Eric’s waist.
Tristan felt like all the blood in his body went to his head. He charged toward Eric but Jacob was quick enough to stop him. Realizing it wasn’t right for him to cause trouble inside someone else’s suite, without any permission to get in at that, Tristan tried to calm himself.
He turned on his heel and walked out of the bedroom. Jacob thought they would leave the suite, but Tristan sat down on the couch.
Glancing at the bedroom door that was now closed, Jacob slowly walked towards the single-seater and sat there. Clasping his hands between his legs, he tried to figure out what his boss was up to.
Seconds, minutes, and hours passed, but they were still in the same position. Jacob woke up from a nap and looked at his watch. It was already thirty minutes past eight in the morning.
He glanced at Tristan who was now slouched on the couch, sleeping peacefully. ‘How can he sleep like a baby in this situation?’
Another hour passed before the door of the bedroom opened. Jacob immediately nudged Tristan’s knee to wake him up. On Jacob’s second try, Tristan woke up. He stood up before someone stepped out. It was Eric.
The owner of the suite was shocked to see uninvited guests in his living room. He creased his forehead while moving his eyes back and forth between both men.
“Why are you guys here?”
Jacob glanced at Tristan, waiting for him to speak up. However, his boss kept quiet. Minutes later, a sluggish Belle came out of the room as well.
Her hair was all messed up, her clothes disheveled and traces of lipstick spread across her face. Rubbing her eyes, she was shocked at the sight in front of her.
Her eyes landed on Tristan, who was sitting like a king on the couch. It then moved to Jacob who was sitting on the single-seater, bowed down with his hands clasped between his legs.
Lastly, it landed on Eric, who was standing not far from the bedroom door. His hair was a mess. He’s still dressed up except for his coat, while his tie is now on his back.
“What’s going on here?” Belle asked, obviously confused. There seems to be a standstill between all three men and she has no idea what is going on.
Tristan slowly stood up, slapping both hands on both legs. He fixed his pants and then he walked closer to Belle.
“Good morning, Ms. Roberts!” Tristan was trying to mock her, but his voice sounded a bit flirty, even Jacob and Eric noticed it. He cleared his throat as he felt embarrassed. “You’re really good at sticking yourself to rich men…” he trailed. Not sure whether he should continue with what he’s about to say or not. But since he was mad after recalling what he saw on the bed last night, he decided to go on. “Is climbing rich men’s beds your area of expertise?” He asked, emphasizing each word.
Belle felt a lump in her throat. She narrowed her eyes, again, trying to send Tristan a signal that he could still take everything he said back.
She wanted him to apologize for everything he said. But again, Tristan was firm in his accusation. He meant it and had no plan of taking even a single word back.
Belle wiped her hand on her skirt, worried there might be eye boogers stuck in it. She cleared her throat before looking straight into Tristan’s eyes.
She plans to explain before slapping him. But as she saw the mocking look in his eyes, her hand immediately flew to his face.
She slapped him with all the force she could put into her hands. Tristan, who got hit, stepped back three times due to the impact.
“You’re trash! Don’t ever talk to me! Don’t ever come near me! It would be great if I didn’t ever see you again!”