No one was able to sleep after what happened. Everyone stayed in Frederick’s room, including all the housekeepers.
“I don’t think it’s best to confront her…” Frederick stated out of nowhere. He was just staring blankly outside the window.
“What should we do?” his grandson asked.
The old man sighed before tapping Tristan’s hand. “Just do what you always do. Pretend you don’t know it was her. We don’t know it’s her.”
Tristan looked at Belle as if waiting for her to give an opinion, but the woman just nodded and smiled lazily. The man turned to his grandfather and nodded as well.
Despite the temporary solution they had already come up with, nobody left the room. Everyone remained quiet, sighing from time to time.
The next day, Jacob and Tristan head to the office earlier than usual as they have to drop Belle off at her office. Without them knowing, someone’s watching them.
Joyce followed Tristan’s car until he reached De Clarion Empire. She was about to step out of her vehicle when her phone rang.
“Where are you?” That annoyingly familiar voice pierced Joyce’s ear, so she quickly ended the call and went out of the car.
She realized that Tristan was nowhere in sight so she stormed in, ignoring the guard who tried to stop her.
“Miss, where are you going?” the guard asked, but he was answered with a gun pointed at his head.
“Dare to stop me?” Joyce sneered.
When the guard put his hands up, Joyce turned around and headed straight to the elevator. Jacob, on the other hand, saw everything and stopped the guard from calling the security team.
“Let her,” he told him.
When the elevator reached the top floor of the Empire, Joyce wasted no time. She ran towards the CEO’s office and kicked the door open.
Tristan pretended to be startled although he was already expecting this. They saw Joyce while she was tailing them and saw what she did from the security monitor when the guard tried to stop her.
“What happened?” Tristan asked calmly, still seated on his swivel chair with one hand holding a pen and another hand holding a document. Again, he was pretending to be working and unaware of anything.
Joyce pointed the gun at the man as she walked closer to his table but Tristan didn’t budge. “You…” then she started crying.
“What’s wrong? What’s going on with you? And why do you have a gun?”
“How dare you play with me?” Joyce screamed and that startled the young De Clarion.
To keep his calm, Tristan stood up and slowly approached her. “What do you mean I played with you? Don’t you think this is a little unfair, Joyce? You came here, pointing a gun and screaming at me, without even telling me what happened first?”
Tristan exudes charisma and confidence. No one can even tell whether he’s scared or nervous, or he’s just calm.
Joyce’s arms felt weak when Tristan touched her shoulder. She put down the gun, let go of it and let it fall on the floor.
“I’m sorry…” she murmured, then she looked at the man. “Sorry, I doubted you,” then her crying grew louder.
“Can you please tell me what happened?” Tristan asked sweetly while wiping away her tears.
Joyce sobbed, sniffed, and smiled timidly. “Vernice called me last night. She said she saw you going to the villa and it was Belle who opened the door for you,” the woman narrated in between sobs.
Tristan creased his forehead. He didn’t have any idea that she had spies. Setting the thought aside, he tucked a few strands of her loose hair behind her ears and pulled her closer.
“But I told you last night that I’m visiting grandpa, didn’t I?”
“You did, but I didn’t know Belle was there too…”
“And you raged because of that?” Joyce nodded without meeting his eyes, but Tristan wanted her to see his pretend sincerity. “I didn’t know that she was there too. When she opened the door, it wasn’t for me. It was because she was about to leave. I didn’t even ask why she was there. We didn’t talk, so there’s no reason for you to get mad. I didn’t lie to you.”
Joyce started crying again and started apologizing profusely. “I’m really sorry. I got jealous after what Vernice told me, so I did things without thinking.”
“Sshhh, stop now. I’m not mad. I was just surprised that you’re acting like that and I don’t know why.” He touched her chin to make her face him. “Please stop trusting Vernice. Who knows what she’s up to?”
Joyce nodded as if she was thinking the same. Vernice was his ex-fiancé, so she may be plotting against her so she could remarry Tristan.
After a few more minutes of coaxing, Joyce finally calmed down. As it was almost brunch, Tristan asked Jacob to have food served so they could eat together. Fortunately, Joyce left as soon as she was done eating.
When the woman rode the elevator, Jacob rushed to his boss’ office. “What happened?” he pried, wiping his sweat as he ran.
“Vernice reported to her that’s why she went ballistic.”
“What do you mean?” Jacob asked, his forehead creased.
“Well, Vernice saw us yesterday when we went to the villa. She also saw Belle and she told Joyce about it,” Tristan sighed.
Jacob sighed and shook his head, “This really needs to be dealt with. Otherwise, Belle will be in danger.”
“I know,” the young De Clarion replied, pressing his temples in frustration. “I wish I could just take her somewhere far where they can’t do anything to her.”
“You wish…” Jacob echoed, as they were both aware that it was not possible with the Empire and Frederick both in Bree.
Tristan leaned back, letting out a deep, long sigh. “Is this the price for loving someone?” He asked, but he only got a giggle in return.
He straightened up and saw Jacob covering his mouth, stopping himself from laughing out loud. His face was all red.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, obviously annoyed.
Jacob inhaled and exhaled several times to calm himself down. “Sorry, I just recalled the time you were denying you liked her. Then we went on and ruined her date with Eric. Then you bankrupt two companies just because the kids seem interested in her. All that you did out of love. I just couldn’t believe it until now,” then he proceeded and let out stifled laughter.
“You’re the one who’s supposed to be sent far away. Tasmania maybe? Be a park ranger!” then he stood up and returned to his desk.