Belle asked Nathalie to take her aunt and uncle to the mall to buy sets of clothes for the couple. They lost everything because of the fire.
She then headed to the office to finish the presentation she needed for a client in the afternoon. When Belle got there, an unexpected visitor greeted her.
“Dad? What are you doing here?” she asked as she kissed his hand and hugged him. Lawrence had just come back from Dale where he dealt with one of his business branches.
“I just thought of paying you a visit,” he said, smiling as we walked towards the office. He then sat on the chair right in front of the table.
Belle placed her bag on the swivel chair and sat on the other chair right in front of her father. “Coffee?” she asked and when he nodded, Belle called for her secretary to bring it to them.
“How are things here? Did you manage to get the necklace?”
Belle nodded at the man, smiling, “Yes dad, I won it from the auction,” then she stood up, unlocked her drawer, and handed him the box with the necklace inside.
A tear escaped his eye when he opened it. Touching the pendant, he sniffed as he let out a smile. “Your mother would kill for this necklace,” he chuckled. “She was three months pregnant with you when they put it on sale. I told her we could just call the collector and have it shipped here, but she refused. She said it might get lost so she wants to travel to Darko to get it.” Lawrence looked at her daughter, then he reached out for her hand. “Take care of this, Yssabelle, this is precious to her.”
Belle nodded to her father as she wiped the tear from his cheek. “I will dad, don’t worry. Everything important to you, mom and grandfather, I’ll take care of it all.”
After the dramatic scene, he started talking about Belle’s company. He’s a typical businessman who can’t pass on the chance of discussing business with someone.
In the middle of their exchange, the door to Belle’s office swung open. The father and daughter duo were surprised to see Tristan and Jacob standing next to each other looking worried.
“What happened?” Belle asked, pushing herself up from her swivel chair. However, Tristan went straight to her father to shake the man’s hand.
“It’s a pleasure to see you here, Mr. De Clarion,” Lawrence greeted, as he returned the handshake.
“Please sir, you can just call me Tristan,” he informed him.
Belle creased her forehead at Jacob but the man just shrugged at her. Even Lawrence was a bit taken aback after hearing what the young De Clarion said.
“There’s something you, young ones, might need to talk about. I’ll go ahead,” Lawrence told Belle, glancing at Tristan with a teasing smile on his face.
“Dad!” Belle called him off and he let out a hearty laugh.
He walked over to Belle to hug her, “I didn’t say anything but you’re being defensive,” he whispered before letting her daughter go.
“Dad!” Belle called again, shaking her head at her teasing father.
“I’ll go ahead,” he told her before turning to Tristan. “I’ll leave you guys alone, talk about whatever it is you need to talk about,” then he tapped him on the shoulder and nodded at Jacob before leaving the office.
Tristan smiled widely but he was quick to straighten his face when he noticed Belle’s creased forehead at him. “Why are you here?” she asked again.
“Love,” he called as he walked over to her, reaching out for her hands. Tristan looked at Belle with worry in his eyes, “Nathalie told Jacob she showed you Joyce’s video.”
Belle nodded at him and glanced at Jacob, who quickly averted his gaze. “How is she? She looked like she was at her wit’s end.”
“She is,” Tristan replied through gritted teeth. “I somehow blame myself for this. I might have led her on. I might have made her feel extra special that she’s now losing it because my attention is all on you.”
“Tristan, I already told you, never blame yourself for anything unless you ordered them to do it. It was her choice! Everything was her choice,” Belle ended with a conviction.
She hates it when Tristan blames himself when it is clear that he has no control over Joyce’s emotions or thoughts, or of anyone else. It’s just not right.
“Don’t worry, Belle. I won’t let her hurt you. I’ll put an end to all this. I’ll talk to Joyce. I just came here to tell you that you don’t have to worry about anything.”
Belle nodded again, letting him know that she understood. She reached out for his cheek, lightly caressing it with his thumb.
“Be careful, love. If she’s really out of her mind, she could hurt you too,” Belle reminded the man, and he assured her that nothing would happen to him.
“We’ll go ahead, we’re going to Joyce’s apartment,” Tristan told her before planting a kiss on her lips. He then turned on his heel and headed out of the office, followed by Jacob.
His assistant went ahead of him to get the car and they parked it in front of a convenience store. When Jacob came back, he drove the car to the other side of the street.
He was planning to make a U-turn but Tristan signaled him not to. He just waited for him to cross the street, watching the man as he headed for the pedestrian lane.
Tristan crossed the street, stopping in the middle to let another car pass before he continued. When he was about to reach his BMW, a car parked near them suddenly accelerated.
Shocked, Tristan was unable to move out of the way immediately. When Jacob saw it from the side mirror, he quickly pressed the car horn to get his boss’ attention but it was too late.
Although Tristan tried to dodge the car that was about to hit him, he didn’t make it in time. He rolled over to its hood and then the roof before sliding on the backside and falling to the ground.
Startled, Jacob quickly opened the car door to check on his boss and friend. He saw him lying close to the gutter, blood seeping from his head.
“Tristan!” Jacob screamed. He wanted to touch him but he couldn’t, afraid to cause him more damage or injury. “Call 119!” he yelled at the onlookers who were quick to dial the emergency number.
Jacob looked at the car that fled the site, surprised that it still managed to stop at the corner before driving off. As if it double-checked whether Tristan was hit or not.
He was furious because of what happened to his friend. It happened right before his eyes. He wanted to go after the car, but no one would look after Tristan.
For now, all he could do was wait for the ambulance to arrive so that they could rush him to the hospital. “Tristan, hold on, we’ll get you there on time,” he whispered as he looked at his friend’s pale face.