Michael was oblivious of the fact that he had become the talk of the town, and he remained so until William called and jeered at him, “You had a fun night, didn’t you, Michael?”
Michael was confused, “What are you talking about? I had a rough night.”
“Rough? What is rough about sleeping with a woman and having lunch with her the next day? You’re so dead, Michael. Even I can’t help you this time!” At this point, William was almost shouting at Michael.
Then, it dawned on Michael that something was wrong, “What is going on?”
William sneered, “See for yourself. There’s already news about you and Azalea. You don’t need me to tell you how bad things are going to end, do you?”
After the call ended, Michael checked his phone immediately. Needless to say, he was riled to find out all those articles and pictures of Azalea and him. He turned to Azalea and said tersely, “You did this.”
“What did I do?” Azalea asked innocently.
Michael hissed, “Don’t deny it! You f*cking got someone to follow us!”
“Wait, Michael… I didn’t! You know I’m not that type of person. I wouldn’t do that to you!” Azalea protested. “It must be Richard! That’s why he asked me to come to see you.”
She didn’t hesitate to push the blame on Richard. After all, Michael wouldn’t have the balls to question Richard.
To further convince Michael that she didn’t plan it, Azalea stressed, “Don’t worry, Michael. I won’t let Richard get what he wants. I can explain everything to Abbie if you need.”
Michael scoffed. Azalea must be dreaming if she thought Abbie would ever listen to any explanation in the heat of the moment.
He sighed, “Forget about it. I’ll talk to Abbie when she cools down.”
Meanwhile, although Abbie grudgingly agreed to have dinner with Raymond that night, she changed her mind after seeing the headlines about Michael and Azalea.
She finally made the call to Valeria, “Meet me at the mall. I’m going shopping for new clothes, and I need your opinion.”
Knowing that Abbie must be unhappy about Michael’s affair, Valeria instantly accepted Abbie’s invitation.
And even though she had braced herself for Abbie’s low spirit, Valeria still felt for her when they met up at the mall. Trying to make Abbie feel better, she said, “Michael had gone too far this time. I’ll make sure he knows that. So, please, cheer up!”
“Forget about him,” Abbie rolled her eyes. “I’m going to buy a lot of new clothes and dress myself up for dinner tonight!”
“Dinner? With who?” Valeria asked in surprise.
Abbie’s smile dropped, “Raymond Saunders. Richard asked him out for me.”
“Oh, him. Well, Raymond seems like a good guy. But I can’t say if he’s boyfriend material.”
“Boyfriend material or not, I won’t date him.”
“Why not?” Valeria asked, once again, in surprise.
Abbie sighed, “I’m not going to be your niece-in-law, alright?”
Upon hearing that, Valeria couldn’t help laughing, “That’s not a problem if you had liked him. Just like how you still like Michael even though he’s involved with Azalea.”
“Who said I like Michael!? He’s the one who shamelessly seduced me!” Abbie’s mood got worse as she thought of Michael. “Enough talking about him. Let’s go shopping!”
Thus, they spent the whole afternoon shopping for clothes. Then, they went to a salon where Abbie had her hair set up.
It was at this time that Richard called, “Are you ready?”
“Jeez… Yes, I am,” Abbie replied impatiently. “Where am I supposed to meet him anyway? I’ll head over there myself.”
Richard gave her an address, and it was a Thai restaurant. Apparently, Raymond had made a reservation there because Abbie liked Thai cuisine.
Raymond was already waiting when Abbie and Valeria entered the private room. His eyes lit up when he saw Abbie walk through the door. But his glee dissipated when he saw Valeria closely behind Abbie.
Abbie started to explain, “I already made plans with Valeria long before today. So I figure I might as well bring her along to dinner.”
“I hope you don’t mind it, Mr. Saunders?” Valeria chimed in.
“No, of course, not,” Raymond replied to her with a forced smile. He had no idea how he was going to woo Abbie if there was a third wheel.
With Valeria in the same room, he couldn’t possibly say or do anything. She had to leave.
While Raymond was coming up with a plan, he asked Abbie to add to the order as she wished. Compliantly, she took the menu from him and began browsing it.
Meanwhile, Raymond took the time to text William, “Uncle William, I’m on a date with Abbie, but Aunt Valeria is here, ruining my date. Please take her away.”
William forwarded the text to Michael immediately and sent another text right after it. “Abbie is seeing someone else. Step up your game.”
“Please give me some hints,” was Michael’s reply in desperation.
However, William had no compassion for Michael, “Aren’t you supposed to be very creative? Come up with something yourself.”
“Richard dragged me into this mess! And I’ll make things worse if I show up there. As far as I know, Abbie will do anything in the heat of the moment, especially if she’s trying to get back at me. So please, for God’s sake, help me!”
“Fine. I’ll help, but that’s because Abbie likes you. If she had a crush on Raymond, I want no part in your affairs.”
William put down his phone after he sent out the last message. If Richard was the one who arranged the meeting between Raymond and Abbie, he must have known that William was going to do something. And he would have countermeasures about it.
William couldn’t afford to embarrass himself if he got caught red-handed by Richard. So, he just ignored Raymond and let Valeria continue third-wheeling.
As William made his decision, Marcus called and reported, “Mr. Howard, Charles had eyes on Raymond. But we don’t know why.”
William was bewildered when he heard that from Marcus. After all, Charles was close with Savannah, Raymond’s mother, and Savannah expected Raymond to help them gain a firm foothold in the Saunders family. So, Charles had no reason to spy on Raymond.
Since William couldn’t figure it out on his own, he decided to have Marcus look into this and said, “This whole thing is weird. Maybe you could have someone to keep an eye on Raymond for the time being.”
At the same time, Charles and Savannah were thrilled when they heard that Valeria was present at Raymond and Abbie’s dinner. They were already planning to deal with Valeria and Raymond anyway. So, naturally, they wouldn’t have missed the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
Besides, Charles and Savannah were both convinced that William and Valeria had broken up. And judging from how heartbroken William seemed, they didn’t reckon he had the time to pay attention to Valeria. Hence, that dinner was the best chance they had.
After discussion, they got someone to drug the beverages sent to the private room. Once the three people in the private room blacked out, Charles and Savannah could move onto their next step with no hassle.