Days passed and Thursday arrived. Belle’s going to meet Vernice at Eden. She was nervous initially, but after she told Tristan about it the last time they met, he assured her that he’d be there too and that dissipated her worries.
When the clock strikes 6 in the evening, Belle starts preparing. Since it was just a casual meet-up, she decided to dress casually as well.
After taking a shower, she dried her hair and applied a thin layer of face powder on her face. Then she grabbed a red cardigan, black jeans, and a red slip-on. She just tied her hair in a high ponytail and set off.
Belle arrived past 7 and the bar was already packed. As soon as she stepped in, she looked up to check the VIP room that was assigned to Tristan. She secretly smiled and sighed in relief when she saw that the lights were on.
After confirming Tristan’s presence, she proceeds to walk in, looking around. She then saw Vernice waving at her, so she approached her table and sat in front of her.
“I thought you were not coming,” Vernice pouted.
Belle smiled lazily, “There’s no reason for me not to,” she responded and looked around. “How can we talk here? It’s so noisy!”
“We’ll transfer later, just give me some time to calm down.”
She nodded and lightly pinched the woman’s shoulder to let her know it was fine, she’d wait. Belle understood her situation and she was ready to listen and comfort her.
Vernice, on the other hand, smirked secretly after what Belle did. She didn’t believe she came with good intentions. ‘She just wants to gossip,’ she thought to herself.
Minutes later, Belle saw Esme coming. As soon as she reached their table, she bowed to kiss her daughter on the cheek, then she sat next to her.
Belle’s brows creased in confusion. ‘There’s something wrong here,’ she whispered under her breath.
Before she could say anything, Vernice placed a shot glass in front of her. “Drink!” the woman ordered. Belle shot her brows up, “that’s tequila!” Vernice added.
To not cause any suspicion, she downed the contents of the glass and smiled at her stepsister. But she reminded herself not to get too drunk or it would spell trouble.
Vernice and Esme kept whispering to each other and, unbeknownst to them, Belle was watching them. What they were doing was heightening her suspicion.
After several minutes, Esme excused herself to go to the bathroom. Belle and Vernice nodded at her, but Belle didn’t take her eyes off her stepmother.
When she saw her go past the bathroom, Belle excused herself too. Vernice waved a hand at her so she rushed to the bathroom to see what was happening.
Before she reached the door, she heard Esme talking to someone. She went inside and stood close to the high window to hear them properly.
“How much are you gonna pay me?” the man asked.
“That’s five thousand dollars and you just have to slip that into their drinks,” Esme explained, obviously annoyed.
“Okay, where are they?”
“They’re in VIP room 1.”
Belle felt cold from head to toe. ‘That’s Tristan’s room,’ she whispered and, in panic, she started looking for her phone.
She’s tried several times, but unfortunately, Tristan’s not answering his phone. Worse is that the next time she tried, it was already turned off.
She hurriedly exited the bathroom, planning to go up to the VIP room and warn Tristan. To her horror, the lights were already turned off.
When a waiter passed by her, she quickly grabbed him by the elbow to ask, “Where were the customers in VIP 1?”
“Their bodyguards came to take them home. They’re too drunk.”
‘They’re too drunk,’ she repeated to herself. ‘That means he’s not alone.’
She looked back at their table and saw Esme sitting comfortably next to her daughter. The creases on Belle’s forehead deepen. ‘What is going on?’
Belle decides to rejoin the duo. Feigning innocence and making sure it wasn’t obvious that she was suspecting something.
The exchange of stories between mother and daughter continued. Belle, on the other hand, was quietly observing the two.
While talking, Esme waved her hand and a waiter approached. Without asking, he started picking up their glasses and placing them on his tray.
“Excuse me? What are you doing?” Vernice asked irritatedly.
The waiter looked at them, obviously confused. “You waved, I thought you wanted to bill out,” he explained as he returned the glasses to their table.
“You have one job, man! Do it right!” Vernice snapped. The waiter left, scratching his head as Vernice rolled her eyes at him. She then turned to her mom, pouted her lips, and said, “I wanna go home.”
“Finish your drinks,” Esme instructed and, like a signal, Vernice pushed the glass to Belle.
Belle was hesitant, but again, she didn’t want them to suspect. Also, she’s worried about what happened to Tristan.
“Cheers!” Vernice then clicked her glass, leaving her no choice but to pick it up and drink it.
‘God, please protect me,’ she whispered to the glass before downing the alcohol, eyes closed. When she’s done, Esme’s not on their table anymore.
“Where’s your mom?” she asked, but Vernice just shrugged at her. “I’ll just go out for a bit. I need to make a call.” Again, the woman at the table didn’t respond and just nodded.
She took that as a yes before heading to the main entrance. Outside the door, where it was quiet and not crowded, she dialed Jacob’s number. Unfortunately, he too wasn’t answering.
All she wants to do is go home and check if Tristan’s taken to the villa. If not, she’ll ask John’s help to locate them.
She decided to go in and bid her companion goodbye. But when she reached their table, it was empty. No one was there and everything on the table was cleaned up.
“Excuse me,” she called, and the waiter stopped and moved closer to her. “Did you see the two women I was with?”
“They already left, ten minutes ago, I think.”
Belle nodded slowly and the waiter left. ‘The fuck is going on?’ she muttered and, since she had got nothing left to do there, she decided to leave Eden.