Joyce was fuming mad after what Vernice told her. She walked over to her mini bar, grabbed a bottle of vodka, and drank straight from it.
Her hands were shaking terribly as if she wanted to strangle someone, to murder someone. Then she recalled what Tristan had done to her earlier and that added fuel to the fire.
She looked around for something until she found her robe and grabbed it. She wore it over her pajamas, grabbed the car key, and took the bottle of vodka with her.
Joyce stormed out of her apartment, straight to the elevator, and down to the parking lot. Inside her car, she bowed down the steering wheel, pondering whether she should go or not.
But then everything that happened came back to her again and because of that, her anger heightened. She turned the engine on and drove to Tristan’s penthouse.
“Miss Blake,” the guard on duty was a little surprised to see her.
He was used to seeing Joyce dressed sophisticatedly, hair and makeup all in place. But right now, she is a mess.
Her hair was all over and the dark circles under her eyes were exposed. She only has one slipper and she’s wearing her pajamas with a robe and a glass of vodka in hand.
“Is Tristan here?” she asked, slurred. She never made it to the penthouse. That’s why she asked the guard. Because she knew she couldn’t get past him.
“I haven’t seen him yet, Miss Blake, nor his assistant,” the guard informed her, but Joyce just glared at him.
“Did he order you to say that when I went looking for him?” she sneered.
The guard’s brows furrowed, not sure as to what the woman in front of him was insinuating. “I don’t know what you’re saying, Miss Blake, but I’m telling you that I haven’t seen either of them today and that’s the truth,” the guard stated firmly.
Joyce took a step back, still glaring at the guard. Assuming a defensive pose, he distanced himself from Joyce as she looked like she was not in her right mind.
The guard was right though, Joyce succumbed to her jealousy and fury and when she noticed the guard was wary of her, she threw the bottle of vodka to him. Fortunately, the guard was quick enough to dodge it.
“Miss Blake! Calm down! What’s wrong with you?” the guard yelled, but she just smiled in return.
She slowly squatted, cupped her face with both hands, and started crying. “Tell him… tell him I miss him so much…” she said as she cried.
The guard felt goosebumps creep all over him. ‘Damn, she’s gone crazy!’ He thought to himself. He slowly approached her but she suddenly looked up, rooting the guard into his place.
Joyce stood up and pointed a finger at the guard, “Tell Tristan De Clarion I will kill Belle if he doesn’t stop coming to her!” Then she turned on her heel.
The guard let out a relieved sigh when the woman disappeared from his sight. She did scare him and, though she was gone, he could still feel that creepy sensation.
He looked outside of the building to make sure Joyce was already gone. When he confirmed she was nowhere within the vicinity, he went straight to the security office.
The guard requested a copy of the CCTV. He was planning to show it to Tristan to let him know what happened.
He doesn’t want to take her threat seriously, but there’s no harm in warning the person concerned. He should at least tell Tristan to be extra careful, as well as the woman Joyce mentioned, Belle.
The next morning, Belle woke up and reached out to the space next to her but it was cold and empty. She lifted half of her body to look around, but it seemed she was alone in her room.
She jumped off of her bed and rushed toward the bathroom, but Tristan wasn’t there. Dejected, she sat on the bed, reached out for the blanket, and folded it.
She then noticed a note on her side table. ‘We left early, Love, sorry. Something came up in the penthouse.’
Furrowing her brows, she ran outside to see if Natalie was already up and she was right. Nathalie was already having breakfast with her aunt and uncle in the dining room.
“Good morning Belle, pardon me for going through your fridge,” Fely greeted, as she apologized and pointed at the dishes served on the table.
“It’s fine auntie, don’t worry,” Belle smiled. She grabbed her cup and poured coffee for herself, then she sat on the chair next to Natalie.
“They left early,” she told her as if her friend read her mind.
“Did something happen?”
Natalie nodded at her as she took a bite from her bread. “Jacob received an early call from one of the guards of the building where Tristan’s penthouse is located. He was told a woman went there last night and caused trouble,” she narrated.
Belle stopped midway from sipping her cup, brows knitted, and she looked at Nathalie. “Who?”
“Joyce, of course!”
“What is it this time?”
Instead of answering her, Nathalie handed over her phone and played a video there. From the phone screen, Belle saw and heard everything, including the threat of killing her.
The beating of her heart quickened and fear crept all over her. She’s worried not just about herself but about Tristan and Frederick too. Heck, she’s worried about Jacob, John, and Nathalie as well.
With Joyce’s current mental state, she could hurt anyone who could get in her way. Regardless if it was Tristan and that’s what scared Belle the most.
Nelson was looking at both women as they talked. His eyes kept moving between the two of them back and forth, looking rather uneasy.
“Uncle, is there something wrong?” Nathalie asked as he noticed her uncle’s behavior.
Nelson put down his fork and sipped his coffee first before he faced his niece. “When I calmed down last night, I tried recalling everything that happened,” he started and that piqued Belle’s attention as well. “While I was inside the restroom last night, I heard someone talking. At first, I thought he was conversing with someone outside, but after a while, I realized that he was talking to someone over the phone. He was asking her which house it was. Then he mentioned that lots of other houses would get burned as well. Then the man said if she’s sure, then they’ll get started,” Nelson narrated.
He let out a breath slowly to calm himself, “After doing my business, I looked outside the window to see if he was still there, but I didn’t see anyone. I went out of the house to look around but I didn’t see anyone familiar. Then your aunt called me to show me the broken fence, so I forgot about the man. Then the fire happened. I just recalled what happened when I was about to sleep last night.”
Belle and Natalie looked at each other, both looked confused. “You said ‘her’, you mean she’s talking to a woman? A woman ordered him to set the house on fire?” Natalie asked and Nelson nodded.
Belle reached out for the middle-aged man’s hand to calm him down, as she noticed they’d been shaking since he started telling them what he had heard. “Did he happen to mention a name?”
Nelson nodded as he looked at Natalie and back to Belle. “He called her ‘Joyce’.”