Inari watched Lenora flawlessly and expertly jump through the fence, while she stayed hidden at the place where Lenora asked her to. What a badass her sister-in-law is!
And she totally loves it!
After learning that a beggar was wed to a former socialite, she and her older sister came sniffing at Harithon.
To say they were startled when they saw the ‘beggar’ in question would be an understatement. His eyes alone had caused them to be absolutely speechless!
Stupefied even!
No beggar would have eyes that colour, especially now that their sibling has been away for a while. So, he came here?
The hotel they were staying at was unfortunately discovered by Preston’s men. Hydeiya was captured by his troops, but she managed to escape and decided to carry on with their main mission. Lenora!
Inari pulled out the sunnies to shield her eyes while a little smile played across her lips. Lenora might not be aware of who she is, but others probably could recognise her.
She believes that one of the reasons why people haven’t identified Preston is the fact that he was in disguise and probably because he gave them the impression of being a lowly beggar.
One hour later, Inari got to her feet with a frown etched on her face and looked over at the fence. Lenora promised to leave in twenty minutes, but twenty minutes have gone and she has still not come out.
Has anything happened?
When Lenora was nowhere to be found after waiting an additional thirty minutes, she made the decision to head for the fence while cursing under her breath.
Her gut feeling tells her Lenora is in trouble!
For someone with her identity, you’ll think she couldn’t hurt an ant and talk more about jumping a fence but a few years of practice has made her perfect. Particularly when running from relentless bodyguards that tend to follow them everywhere. Hydeiya taught her the majority of the skills, though.
A few seconds later, she landed smoothly on the ground on all fours. After looking at all corners, wondering if she should go right or left, she shrugged and took the right. After all, what could go wrong?
On the other hand, Lenora stood face to face with Priscilla – Lucinda’s mom as she snuck into the house. One that she had practically spent her whole life in.
It hardly brought any pleasant memories. Each is worse than the previous.
Lenora entered the house unsure of what to expect; she was anticipating the worse, but the situation turned out to be quite different.
“Sweetheart, you’re back? Come here.” Priscilla pulled her into a tight hug whipping. “We are so sorry.”
Lenora was stupefied!
What is happening?
What game is Priscilla playing at now? She had only ever shown affection to Lenora while Old Grandpa Gonzalez was there; but, this time is different. Grandpa isn’t here and even if he is, he detested her.
So, Priscilla had no reason to fake anything -except that she isn’t.
“Oh my, look at you. You’ve grown so lean.” she continued checking Lenora out while gushing.
Lenora could only stay still clutching the file in her.
“Cough* Priscilla, let the girl go.” Dane, Pricilla’s husband, stated as he assisted Grandpa in getting onto the wheelchair.
“Grandpa…” Lenora murmured, her eyes tearing up. She couldn’t help it, after all, she has always been his favourite.
She had believed she was resilient and had not been impacted by anything they had done, but now she was sobbing uncontrollably.
She despised them, yet they were family, and she had always yearned for their affection.
He reached out to her, calling her by her pet name, “Lenlen,” and motioned for her to come closer.
Rushing to hug him, Lenora pouted feeling aggrieved.
“It’s okay Lenlen, it’s grandpa’s fault. I pushed you too far causing you to behave stupidly.”
After a short while, Old Grandpa Gonzalez cleared his throat, “Serve the dishes, my Granddaughter is back! Also, tell the maids to prepare her room.”
That was when Lenora got her bearing. As she got to her feet to dry her tears, everyone could see her usual haughty, icy face emerging.
“Actually grandpa, I came here for something else,” she muttered handing over the file to him. “Explain what this is, would you?”
Uncle took the file, set it on the table and then pushed grandpa’s wheelchair to the dining room. “You heard what Grandpa said? Lunch first and then we’d discuss everything.”
While the food was being delivered by Priscilla and the servants, everyone gathered around the table.
Everyone ate quietly for five solid minutes during that time.
Lenora couldn’t eat much, so she nibbled at her food and sipped the wine next to her.
As soon as she was finished, she pinned all three of them and yelled, “20 billion? Really?” she hissed.
No one dared to look her in the eye.
Particularly Dane, who snatched up a glass of water to drink right away. In the past, he would steal money from the business and transfer it to an overseas account.
He did all of these things, of course, because Lenora was the CEO at the time and not him.
He wanted Old Grandpa Gonzalez to regret his decision but somehow, Lenora had kept the company going until recently. Ever since Lucinda became CEO, the company has been experiencing internal problems.
The stockholders despised Lucinda and wanted her out, especially since she had been blowing corporate funds on pointless items that had resulted in an early bankruptcy.
A few days ago, someone approached Dane with a proposal. The person has somehow found out about his foreign account and has threatened to expose him if he doesn’t sell his shares and Lucinda’s.
The fact that the buyer was prepared to pay any price for the shares is a positive thing.
Due to greed, Dane readily conceded, after which he fabricated a bank statement in Lenora’s name listing the missing funds.
Under Old Grandfather Gonzalez’s instructions, someone brought the statement and gave it to Lenora.
Lenora looked over the documents and then froze in disbelief. “What is this? None of it is true!”
She wiped the sweat off her forehead while turning to them, waiting for an explanation.
Strange enough, she’s been feeling unusually hot ever since she drank that wine but didn’t think much about it as she was focused on something else.
“Lenlen, there’s nothing you can say to convince me otherwise.” Elderly grandfather Gonzalez sighed in frustration. “I suppose I shouldn’t have given you so many responsibilities at such a young age, like the company. I placed too much hope in myself and you.”
“Grandpa…”
“No, I don’t blame you. I blame your mother for not being here to take care of you. Which is why I have come to this decision.”
At that point, Lenora was beginning to feel uncomfortable. She reached for a glass of water and downed it while suspiciously glancing at her grandfather. “What?”
“You will wed Frederick Albert, who has pledged to reimburse you for the money you spent, in order to preserve the reputation of the family and Gonzalez Corporation. He is currently on his way as we speak.”
Lenora abruptly jumped up, slamming her fists on the table, and was just about to start speaking when a wave of lightheadedness overcame her.
It’s as if the water she drank tripled the heat she was feeling cause she began tugging at her cloth.
“You… you! What did you do to me?” she stuttered, eyes flying to the glasses in front of her.
“aphrodisiac. ” Priscilla whispered from the side. When she saw the aghast look on Lenora’s face, she smirked. “What? You can’t believe we drugged you?”
Actually, she could!
She just let her guard down for a moment.
Shit! I need to get out of here. Lenora thought, stumbling to the door but before she could get close, the door opened revealing an old man with a pot belly.
Frederick Albert.
He should be in his sixties by now.
Rumours have it that he loves playing with young girls and since he was rich, he always goes after what he wants.
The problem is, she was the one he wanted and she can’t let it happen!
“Grandpa… you… you wouldn’t.” she gasp.
Frederick took in Lenora’s red face, dishevelled hair down to her white neck which was slightly exposed and grinned slowly.
“Sweetheart, come to daddy.”