As Ben walked outside to the stage with Lerisa, Anthony, and the rest of the event, the shows hadn't started.Stepping outside on stage with Ben as the music played a love song, Lerisa could feel all eyes on her. It seemed like everyone in the event hall paused to stare at her as she walked nervously on stage with Ben holding her closely, and she held his hands too.She didn't want to look at the table where her parents sat watching her in surprise. She knew her mother had told her she liked Anthony and wanted him to marry her.With the way Ben was holding her waist so closely, Lerisa felt her face burning hot. Even though Ben was taller than her, he was the same height and had a masculine shape like Anthony.Lerisa wondered why she couldn't stop comparing Ben to Anthony. Probably because she grew up hoping a handsome man like Anthony would notice her, as they still lived in the same vicinity, and she hadn't traveled to another country or worked elsewhere. She saw him every day too...
Lerisa immediately rushed down from the stage, not even waiting for Ben to leave with her. Since the hall was dark, mixed with the dim light from the bulb, she collided with a man whose face she hadn't seen. She apologized without looking up, saying, "I'm sorry."As she wanted to leave the event hall quickly to avoid witnessing Anthony proposing to Clara on stage, the man grabbed her left wrist and turned her to face him. Lerisa gasped, "Ah!"She collided with his chest and looked up at his face, while Anthony and Clara continued dancing alone on the stage."Hi, pretty," Remy said. Lerisa was shocked to see that he was the man she had seen earlier in the day kissing Clara by the roadside."Hi," she said, unable to believe her eyes, her mouth agape. Ben immediately approached them and pulled Lerisa away from Remy's touch, glaring at him.Remy smiled at Ben and Lerisa as she pulled herself away from Ben's possessive hold.Remy was wearing a simple yellow shirt, with some buttons open, re
Remy was shocked to see the lady's face, as he had seen her dancing earlier with Anthony but hadn't properly seen her face then.After he exclaimed, "What the heck!" he attracted a lot of attention, as Anthony had yet to propose to Clara.Clara didn't know when Remy arrived, and seeing Anthony go down on one knee in front of her, she got nervous, realizing that Anthony wanted to propose to her in front of everyone.Mr. and Mrs. Gregson frowned, while Lerisa's parents, also seated in the VIP section, frowned upon seeing Anthony wanting to propose to another lady.They had all hoped that Anthony would marry Lerisa and fall in love to seal their family closeness. But they were wrong, as Anthony took out a red ring box from his suit trouser pocket and opened it to reveal a sparkling diamond ring. He proposed to Clara right in front of everyone, who was amazed.Clara was emotional, as were most of the young women in the hall who had been crushing on Anthony. Some were jealous seeing that th
Ben frowned as he saw that Remy had disrupted Anthony from getting engaged to Clara, and his fist clenched, as that was what he waited for and wanted to confirm.He stared away and met eyes with Emma who stood aside and also stared at him, as she was hurt after seeing him dancing with another lady. But he looked away from Emma, as he had told Emma countless times that he wasn't in love with her, and they should only agree to have sex with each other. So why couldn't she just understand that his heart belongs somewhere else? He frowned as he immediately left the event hall too.Most of the staff who were invited by Anthony all saw the dramas that had happened earlier, and they wondered if the birthday celebration was still ongoing or if it had ended. And they should start going back home to their various houses too?Anthony left the event hall and went back into the living room of his family mansion. He was hurt, and he couldn't believe that Clara would actually cheat on him and still p
Martha walked up with the wrapped gift that Lerisa had bought for Anthony, and she was the last person to finally approach Anthony, who stood on the front stage. All the other guests had given their gifts to him and left the event hall after receiving their 'Thanks for coming' gift from Sandra, who was Anthony's mother's maid.Martha approached Anthony nervously, and Anthony stared at her, immediately asking, "Where is Lerisa? I haven't seen her since?""Umm, Lerisa has gone home," Martha nervously replied. Anthony frowned, remembering that he last saw Lerisa dancing happily with Ben on stage when he returned to the hall with Clara.He wondered if they had left the hall together since he didn't see Ben around either. Lerisa had been behaving strangely towards him lately, and he wondered why."I don't know if she has gone home, as she's not here now, but I will call her later to find out before leaving with our parents. But here's the gift that she bought for you," Martha said to Anthon
Lerisa arrived at her father's house earlier, parked her small red car, and went inside the house to her bedroom.She remembered the moment she had seen Anthony walking into the event hall with Clara, holding hands together as they walked up to the stage.Lerisa wiped her tears away, knowing that Anthony couldn't love her again. She felt embarrassed when Ben asked her why her countenance changed upon seeing Clara and Anthony arriving together as a couple of the night.Lerisa said to herself, "I wasn't expecting my emotions to reveal the truth of my feelings on my face. What if Ben goes ahead and tells Anthony that I'm in love with him and is jealous of seeing him and Clara together? Hmm," Lerisa sighed.She knew there was a tendency for Ben to reveal the truth about her emotions to Anthony before she did. But she said, "Anthony wouldn't believe Ben. I cannot tell Anthony yet that I love him. I am not confident to do such."Taking a deep breath, Lerisa decided to take her bath. She stri
Mrs. Antonia laughed first and replied, "No, Anthony. I wasn't like that. Although, you know, in my time, your father and I didn't have time to date as we just met through our parents who arranged it. It wasn't like we were dating. We got married, and although I didn't move in quickly to live with your father, his love and care were enough for me to be comfortable.""Hmm," Anthony was speechless. He took the bottled water from the dining table and drank it to calm his nerves. He said, "Dad is just lucky to have you. I am also lucky to have you as my mother.""That's alright, son. I wish I was able to get pregnant and birth to more siblings for you. At least, you wouldn't feel too alone.""I am not alone, Mom, as long as I have you here with me," Anthony replied, which made Mrs. Beatrice relieved.She asked Anthony, "How about Lerisa? Have you called her yet to know where she went to? I heard her sister say that she wasn't feeling fine, which is why she left here early.""I also noticed
Lerisa looked at Martha in surprise, and she shook her head and replied, "How do I admit to Anthony that I love him? Isn't a man supposed to take the lead first? Anthony may look nice and calm to us, but he's very mean and difficult at times in the office, and I am very afraid to tell him that I love him. That would seem like I am desperate. Or don't you think so?" Lerisa looked at Martha's face in hope, as Martha gave her response a thought."I don't know, but I think that Anthony likes you, and maybe if you open up your feelings to him, he will reciprocate it and love you too.""No. I am not going to beg a man to love me first. It's not appropriate. Let me just wait for Anthony to fall in love with me first, and if he doesn't, then I will move on with my life. We mustn't date, and maybe, we aren't destined to be together, just how our parents want it, and I also admire him too."Martha sighed, "It's well, sister, I'm already tired now. Let us go back to our rooms to rest, and maybe l