On the third floor of L.H. Group, Lerisa Jonah stood up from her executive secretary seat as she had finished her office work for the day.
She worked as Anthony Gregson's secretary, so she stepped out of her office seat and picked up her black handbag from her desk, ready to go home.
Lerisa was a fair-complexioned young lady, 24 years old, wearing a yellow shirt, black pencil skirt, and black shoes. She wondered why she hadn't seen Anthony leave his office.
She knew that Anthony usually closed by 5 pm and left the company before 6 pm, which was the company's normal closing hour.
Similarly, she made her way toward Anthony's office door to find out what was still delaying her boss, as it was already after 6 pm, and most of the staff had gone home.
Approaching Anthony's office door, Lerisa knocked and heard him respond, “Come in.”
She pushed Anthony's office door slightly open, stepped into his office, and saw him seated on his executive office chair, staring at a red ring box in his hands.
Lerisa's heart dropped the moment she saw the beautiful, sparkling diamond ring in Anthony's hand.
She knew at that moment that Anthony was in a very serious relationship with Clara Harry and that he would soon propose to her.
Lerisa felt like crying out as she was also secretly in love with Anthony, but she couldn't tell him the truth as she wasn't brave enough to do so.
Her face immediately turned red with sadness, and she looked downward to hide the saddened expression.
Anthony was busy admiring the diamond ring in the box, not shifting his gaze to look at Lerisa.
They were childhood best friends due to their fathers' past closeness. Lerisa's father was Anthony's father's former assistant and had helped in building the shoe company, which now belonged to Anthony.
Lerisa knew that Clara Harry was a cheat and not deserving of a man like Anthony. She had seen Clara several times behind Anthony's back, flirting with different men, but she couldn’t bring herself to advise Anthony to stop dating Clara.
Lerisa had witnessed Clara visiting Anthony in his office and caught them kissing too, which made her heart sink, knowing that Anthony was seriously in love with Clara.
Anthony was a 30-year-old black man. He wore a black suit with a red shirt and black shoes, which made him look handsome.
He had a short mustache and beard that enhanced his looks and made him appear charming.
Anthony finally looked at Lerisa's face and saw her looking downward in his office. He wondered what she wanted since he had already seen her for the day.
He had forgotten that his company had closed as he was busy admiring the ring he had bought. He intended to propose to Clara the next day.
“What do you want, Lerisa?" Anthony inquired.
"I… I…" Lerisa stuttered, unable to say why she was in his office, sounding heartbroken at the sight of the lovely ring.
She had come to tell Anthony she was going home, but Anthony didn’t look up at her face again. He was busy admiring the diamond ring and wondering if Clara would like it.
Anthony asked her, “How do you see this ring, Lerisa? Remember I invited you and the rest of our staff to attend my birthday party tomorrow, at my family's house? Well, I want to propose to Clara tomorrow. But I don't know if she will accept this beautiful diamond ring that I ordered from abroad. I do love Clara. What do you think, Lerisa? Do you think that Clara will love this ring and accept it? I bought it to prove my love to her."
Lerisa's heart broke even more at Anthony's insensitive question.
She saw him smiling sweetly at the ring. As Anthony continued looking at it, she replied, “I thought you had closed, Sir. That's why I'm here to collect the office key from you. But it seems like you're not yet ready to go home.”
Anthony immediately noticed the sadness in Lerisa's voice.
He shut the red ring box in his hands and stood up from his office chair. He walked over to her and asked, "What's wrong, Lerisa?"
Lerisa turned her back on Anthony as hot tears streamed down her face.
She couldn't tell him the truth, that she was in love with him. Anthony only saw her as a sister, though they were unrelated.
"What's wrong, Lerisa?” Anthony finally approached Lerisa, turning her around to face him.
Lerisa felt the sparks, but Anthony ignored them, looking intently at her face.
“Tell me, what's wrong with you?” he asked again sternly, and Lerisa shuddered in his hold but shook her head to indicate nothing.
She lied to him, “Nothing, Sir. I only came here to tell you that I'm going home. The company has closed for the day, and to collect the office key from you."
“Sir?" Anthony asked, as he continued to stare at Lerisa's face coldly. His eyes squinted in pain at her.
"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me sir, Lerisa? You're like a sister to me, not just a staff member here," Anthony said, and Lerisa shuddered, hating when he reminded her that she was like a sister to him.
Anthony's office door opened, and his assistant Mark Terry stepped in.
Mark looked surprised to see Anthony holding Lerisa's arms firmly, close to his chest. Anthony did not look at him and was busy staring at Lerisa's face.
'Do they want to kiss?' Mark wondered, but he quickly composed his expression and apologized, “I'm sorry, boss.”
Anthony ignored responding to Mark. He didn't even avert his gaze or bat an eye at Mark Terry for a second when Mark stepped into his office. Anthony's gaze was fixed on Lerisa, whom he was staring at with concern.Lerisa felt embarrassed after seeing Mark apologize to Anthony. Mark exited Anthony's office immediately, shutting the door behind him.Mark already knew that Lerisa had a crush on Anthony, which was why she rejected his love proposal.He shook his head in denial after seeing Anthony holding Lerisa closely by her arms, confirming to him that they were secret lovers pretending to be siblings in front of the other staff.“Lerisa..." Anthony called her name again, making her shudder in his hold and snap out of her trance, as he was still holding her arms closely.Anthony knew Lerisa was not in a relationship, so he wondered what had made her look sad and if someone had broken her heart or was troubling her."What's wrong with you? Don't tell me it's nothing when you look this s
Lerisa walked into the living room of her family mansion and found her mother standing beside the dining room, arranging the chairs.Her elder brother and younger sister weren't around as they were still in school."Good evening, Mom," Lerisa greeted her mother but didn't stop in the living room as she walked toward the corridor that led to all the rooms in the big house.Mrs. Antonia wondered what had happened to her first daughter when she saw how red Lerisa's face looked.She immediately called Lerisa back."Come here, Lerisa! What happened at the office today? Why does your face look so red?"Lerisa stopped and replied, "Nothing, Mom, I'm fine."Mrs. Antonia sighed and dismissed Lerisa."That's alright; hurry up and come join your father and me for dinner.”“Okay, Mom,” Lerisa replied, darting into the corridor as she went to her room to take a bath.She stepped into her room and shut the door. She cried and leaned against the door for support as she moved toward her pink bed to dr
Anthony continued to think about why Lerisa wasn't happy, as he didn't have any siblings and had always seen her as a sister.He sighed and focused on the road, driving home. Soon, he arrived and drove into the garage before getting out of his car and walking up to their mansion.“Good evening, Mom and Dad,” Anthony greeted his parents as he entered the living room and saw them sitting in the dining room.His mother smiled and replied first, “Welcome home, Anthony. How was work today?”“Fine, Mother,” Anthony said, walking toward the stairs to go to his bedroom. However, his mother spoke up, “Wait, Anthony, won't you join us for dinner before heading to your room?”Anthony paused, looked back at his mother, and replied, “Okay, Mom. How's the birthday preparation going? We'll celebrate it here in the event hall tomorrow.”Anthony went to the dining room to join his parents. He pulled out a seat and sat down across from his father. His mother replied, “Fine.”Anthony's phone rang, and he
Lerisa finished dinner with her parents in the dining room. With none of her siblings at home, she stood up, locked the house entrance door, and returned to her bedroom to sleep.She went into her bedroom, picked up her phone, and saw that it was after 10 p.m. She was surprised to see many missed calls from Anthony, so she immediately called him back to find out why he had called.When the call connected, she spoke first: “Hello, Anthony.”Anthony was still in his bedroom, preparing to have dinner with his parents before returning to sleep.He saw his phone ringing, noticed it was Lerisa, and answered.“Hey, Lerisa. I called earlier to check if you got home safely and if you're alright now.”"Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks for checking," Lerisa replied. She knew Anthony cared for her like an older brother, but she wished he could see her beyond just a sibling bond, as she loved him too.Anthony said, “Okay then. Goodnight. I'll visit you tomorrow morning to check on you again.”"Okay," Ler
Anthony finally looked back at Lerisa's face and said, "I have to go home now, Lerisa. I hope you're truly feeling fine."Anthony drank from the bottled water in his hands again, looking directly at Lerisa. She replied, "Yes, I'm fine. See you later this evening."Lerisa's pretty, fair face turned sad again as she remembered that Anthony would propose to Clara that evening. Anthony and Clara had been dating for three years or more.Anthony noticed the change in Lerisa's mood as her face turned red. He immediately asked, "What's wrong with you again?"Lerisa snapped out of her trance and replied, "Nothing, I'm fine.""Hmm, you keep telling me you're fine when you're not. Tell me the truth, Lerisa. What's bothering you? You can share anything with me. You know I care about you, and I know you don't have many friends aside from me.You don't have a boyfriend, or maybe you do, and I just haven't met him. But that's no reason to look sad," Anthony advised."I don't have a boyfriend, Anthony
Ben chuckled, knowing he had been asking Lerisa out, yet she didn't want to accept him.Lerisa was the first woman who had ever rejected his advances to date her, and he was determined to have her by force, whether she liked him or not. Ben believed that, with time, Lerisa would fall in love with him too.He replied, "Does it matter how I got your number, Lerisa? The truth is that I want to hear your voice. I have been searching for your mobile number and finally got it from somewhere else.""Where?" Lerisa asked, frowning, not wanting to have anything to do with Ben.She knew that Ben was also from a rich family, not the first son, but he owned a hotel and was doing well at his age, despite being the same age as Anthony.Lerisa asked him, "Why are you calling me?""Chill, babe. Why are you sounding so pissed off? Yesterday, I saw that you looked so sad, and that made me truly worried about you. I couldn't sleep well last night, which is why I am calling you now to know how you're fari
Lerisa sighed, knowing she couldn't miss Anthony's birthday party. She had attended every year since his 8th birthday, and now he was an adult.She knew that if she avoided attending Anthony's party, it might seem as though she was jealous or holding a grudge, and her parents would frown upon her.Lerisa focused on the road as she drove out of the street, planning to take another turn before reaching the main road.Just then, she saw a man and a woman kissing in front of a black car parked on the street.Lerisa wondered who the shameless couple was, kissing in public instead of somewhere private.She knew that mostly rich families lived in the estate, as most houses were individually owned and occupied by the owners and their families, rather than tenants.As she drove past the black car, she recognized the woman as Anthony's girlfriend, Clara Harry, kissing a man by the roadside.Lerisa's jaw dropped, and she slowed down for a better view.Initially, she intended to look away from the
Clara knew that she had lied to Remy about her name being April. It was a habit of hers to lie to men about her real name since she wasn't interested in them and only wanted to have sex with them.She walked back through her house gate, as she lived alone, and returned to her room in the rented apartment.Meanwhile, Lerisa drove to the shopping complex to buy clothes. She parked her car and sighed as she remembered how Clara had denied knowing her.Lerisa thought about calling Anthony again, but she didn't know how to tell him that she saw his girlfriend cheating on him.She switched off her car engine, stepped out, locked the door, and walked to the boutique to pick out a gown.In one of the boutiques, a sales representative greeted her, "Good afternoon, ma'am. What kind of clothes do you want to buy? We have gowns, skirts and blouses, trousers, and any kind of feminine wear you want." Lerisa smiled and looked around the boutique before replying, "Gowns, as I don't usually wear trous