Lance would be surprised that I had vanished, but I had decided that we had no future together. Dimitri had agreed to assist me, and I had faith in him. I took a stroll along the boardwalk, knowing that this would be my final visit to the island.
The boat arrived on time, and one of Dimitri’s men assisted me in getting on board. Lance tried to stop me from leaving, but he was a few minutes late, and I was already aboard the boat when he arrived.
When he stared at me, pleading with his eyes, I decided to look away! When the boat began to sail, Lance became smaller in my vision, and a few minutes later, I couldn’t see him any longer. I was about to cry, but Dimitri was there, and it would be not very comfortable.
“Do you mind if I ask if you’re okay?” Dimitri inquired as soon as he caught sight of my single tear.
“I’m fine, Dimitri,” I said after quickly wiping it away with my finger. “Thank you so much for your assistance,” I extended my gratitude towards him.
“What is the point of being friends?” Before he excused himself to get our breakfast, he chuckled and lightly touched the top of my head.
My boss reappeared with a tray of food, and I drooled over the delectable spread. “How did you find the time to prepare everything?”
“Alexa, I have my resources.” I agreed because I knew Dimitri’s wealth could rival Lance’s, but my boss preferred to keep things simple.
“It’s scrumptious, Dimitri.”
“Enjoy,” he told me.
We docked at the port sometime later, and I was grateful for the delicious food and, of course, for his assistance when I needed it. Dimitri walked up to his car ahead of me and offered to drive me home.
“I can just take a cab,” I said, attempting to turn down his offer because it was already excessive.
“That’s ridiculous. Why take a cab when I can drop you off at your place?” I eventually agreed because he insisted.
Dimitri was aware of my tragic love story when I was younger, but he was unaware that I had rekindled my relationship with my ex. As he drove downtown, I felt compelled to take a nap all of a sudden. “Do you mind if I take a few minutes to sleep?” I said, “Just wake me up later,” and closed my eyes as soon as he nodded.
“Sure, sweet dreams, Alexa.”
I had no idea how long I had been sleeping and rubbed my eyes as soon as I wake up. I looked around to see if we were in front of my condominium’s parking lot. My senses were suddenly jolted awake when I realized I wasn’t in the car but rather somewhere else.
I instinctively search for my boss. I called out his name as soon as I saw him, but I was perplexed by their body language as he strutted towards me with none other than Layla. “What’s the matter?” My question was directed at Dimitri, but Layla was the one who responded.
“Welcome back, Alexa,” Layla smiled at me, but there was something in her eyes that I couldn’t fathom.
“What the hell is going on here, Dimitri?” I yelled angrily.
“I’m sorry, Alexa, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to let you get into any more trouble.” Dimitri was the one who responded.
Dimitri’s response perplexed me even more, and I narrowed my gaze in his direction. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about!”
“Layla is my cousin, albeit an illegitimate daughter of my uncle,” Dimitri replied, and it finally dawned on me that blood was thicker than water.
I gave a bitter smile before allowing myself to cry over a series of betrayals from people I held dear. It dawned on me that from the beginning, they used me to hurt Lance Salcedo. It was a trap, and I fell prey to their evil minds!
Before I closed my eyes, I said to him, “You’re mean.”
“I’m still here to assist you, Alexa.” Dimitri announced, “My cousin will let you go as long as you agree to her terms,” but I refused to listen to his mouth blabbering nonsense.
“Go to Hell!” I yelled angrily because I wouldn’t let them use me again.
“Alexa, pay attention to what I’m saying. Please try to see the bright side of things, and let’s forget about the misunderstanding.” Dimitri persisted in persuading me, and I wanted to scream at him every time he opened his mouth.
“You’re still the same naive girl you were five years ago.” After he slapped me, he shook his head and laughed maniacally like Layla. “You know what, I used to like you, but you lied about Lance being your ex-boyfriend.”
“You knew each other, Dimitri, and he considered you as his friend!”
“A friend? Says who?” Dimitri asked, and then he laughed. “I can never be friends with him, Alexa!”
“I also doubt about that, Dimitri. You must have known why Layla hated the Salcedo’s so much.”
“That’s right, but I have a different agenda. Do you want to know why? Hmmm, first of all, he adored you. Second, I hate his brother, Ethan.”
“Do you mean, Ethan Salcedo who’s now connected with Vera Group?” I inquired, and when he nodded, I creased my forehead in confusion.
“I had a huge crush on Juliana Vera, but before I could court her, she disappeared all of a sudden, and when she returned, she was enamoured with Ethan Salcedo!” Dimitri explained.
I listened, although it didn’t make sense at all. “If you are mad with Ethan, then go and avenge for your unrequited love. Go to Vera Group, and your problem will be solved! You know, this whole thing really surprised me! For five years that I’ve been working with you, I had no idea that you are a fool!”
“Shut up, you ungrateful wench! I was the one who builds you up! I was the one who helped you when you had nothing!”
“I worked for it, Dimitri!”
“Oh really? If it isn’t because of me, you will find yourself in the gutter! You and your mother would probably live in the street if I weren’t kind and generous to you!”
“Stop! Please stop being mean, Dimitri! I don’t want to lose every ounce of my respect to you!”
“Who cares about that?”
I was completely taken aback when I discovered Dimitri’s true nature. He promised to assist me, but instead, he did the opposite, and he was working with Layla. I glanced at Layla, but the darn woman refused to meet my eyes. “Layla, I thought we’re friends, but why are you doing this?”
“I’m sorry, Alexa. You just got in the way,” she replied.
“This is crazy! Why are you so intent on ruining a good man with a bright future? I heard from Lance that you’re one of his father’s mistress, and you wanted to get even after the old kicked you out. Do you think this is dragging too long, Layla? You have the power to ruin that man. Why must you go after Lance Salcedo? He had nothing to do with this!”
“Yeah, you are right, Alexa. However, it will be more painful for the older adult if I’m going to ruin all of his son’s life, and of course, his empire! I want him to lose everything!”
“You and Dimitri are both crazy about revenge, when in the first place, you have faults, too!”
“Shut up!” Layla snapped at me.
“I treated you as if you were a member of my family!” He was yelling at me, and I yelled back.
“Not your boyfriend, though!” He exclaimed. “Can you imagine how envious I was every time his name was mentioned, and your eyes lit up? You couldn’t seem to get enough of Lance!” Dimitri expressed his true feelings for the first time, and my heart broke for him.
“You should have told me how you felt about me,” I said, even though it was already pointless.
“It doesn’t make a difference anymore. So, will you agree to Layla’s terms, or will you risk your mother’s life? Accidents can happen at any time, Alexa,” he added.
“We’ll let you live as long as you agree to write another article against Lance and his entire family. This time, I want it to be even more destructive so that they won’t be able to control the damage with another press conference,” she said.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not capable of doing that!” Regardless of how much I feared for my life, I would not destroy a thousand people’s livelihoods over a spurious article. When I refused to agree to Dimitri’s and Layla’s terms, I expected him to be enraged, but he was furious, and he slapped my face several times.
As I dealt with the pain of being slapped, tears welled up in my eyes. I tried to persuade him to remember his good intentions, but all he did was laugh, and Layla joined in.
“Oh wait, I have something to show you,” Dimitri said while he shoved his phone to me, and I put my hand over my eyes because I couldn’t stand watching Lance being tortured.
“What have you done?” I screamed at Dimitri for hurting my man. “Tell them to stop!”
“Sign here,” Layla said and handed me a confidentiality agreement.
I had no time to review what was written in the said agreement. All I cared about was Lance! “Oh my god!” I screamed when Lance fell to the sand after a bulky man walloped him. “Please…please don’t kill him!” I begged him, and I regretted my hasty decision to leave the island and Lance’s protection at that moment.
“Fair enough,” Dimitri said, and then he ordered his men to stop beating Lance.