Lerisa walked into the living room of her family mansion and met her mother standing beside the dining room, arranging the dining 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 towards the corridor that led to all the rooms in the big house.
Mrs. Antonia wondered what happened to her first daughter as she saw how Lerisa's face looked pretty red.
She immediately called Lerisa back.
"Come here, Lerisa! What happened in 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; do quickly 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 her bath.
Lerisa stepped into her room and shut the door. She cried and leaned onto the door for support as she strode towards her pink bed to drop her black handbag.
Lerisa saw it was past 7 p.m. in her room, as the company was a 30-minute drive from her home.
She went to strip off her clothes to take her bath, and she couldn't keep her parents waiting to join them for dinner.
After she was through with her bath, Lerisa walked out of her room and paused at her room mirror to stare at her face. She braced herself and knew that Anthony wouldn't ever get to love her.
She muttered to her reflection, who was a curvy, seductive woman, staring back at her.
"What am I going to do? Anthony will never notice me, and he will soon become married.”
Lerisa knew that there was nothing that she could do, so she went to search her wardrobe for the evening sleeping gown that she would wear.
She took out a long blue gown, wore it, and finally walked back to apply dusting powder to her face and neck to hide her sad face from her parents' knowledge and to avoid any further questions.
Meanwhile, Anthony was still in the third-floor hallway when Ben got out of the elevator and walked up to meet him.
Ben smiled and greeted Anthony. “What's up with you, bro?"
Anthony didn't like the company of Ben around him, despite Ben being a high school friend, as Ben owned a hotel and loved hanging out with different ladies. However, Ben wouldn't back off, as he usually visited Anthony, despite Anthony not returning the favor of visiting Ben too.
“Nothing much. How about you? I'm leaving for home now, as you can see that we have closed,” Anthony replied normally, and he walked into the elevator with Ben. They both went down to the first floor and outside to the company parking space, where Anthony's and Ben's cars were parked.
“That reminds me. I saw your secretary earlier when I arrived here, and she looked red. What's wrong with her? Did you fire her?” Ben inquired, and Anthony sighed and shook his head, hoping he did understand Lerisa, but he didn't.
Anthony replied, “I don't know what happened to Lerisa, but she said she's fine. I didn't terminate her employment here.”
Anthony thought that Lerisa probably wasn't happy about him engaging Clara. He thinks that maybe her mood changed when she saw him staring at the red ring box in his hands. Anthony couldn't understand why Lerisa would be sad when she was supposed to be happy for him and that he was finally getting married.
“Hmm… That's alright. I do like Lerisa, and I have been asking her out, but she wouldn't consider me. Can you please help me talk to her on my behalf?” Ben asked.
Anthony stared at Ben coldly as they stood beside their cars, while the rest of the cars had all left the parking lot with the darkness covering the previously bright sky.
Anthony replied, “How many times do you want me to help you talk to Lerisa? She doesn't want you or would accept your proposal to her, and I don't understand why either. She's not in any relationship that I know of.”
Anthony stared at his golden wristwatch and saw that it was already past 8 p.m. However, Ben replied, “But she listens to you, Anthony, and if you help me apply pressure in speaking with her, I think that she will accept to date me as I'm serious about her and I want to marry her."
"You're serious about settling down with Lerisa? Do you think Lerisa will agree to marry you if I order her to? She's only working for me because my father and her father were friends and worked together to build this factory. That also made our family close, as she is only like a sister to me, and I want her happiness. I don't think you're very deserving of her. But not to worry, I will try to help you talk to Lerisa again to see if she will accept you," Anthony said.
“Thanks, Anthony, I will be looking forward to that," Ben replied, and Anthony shook hands with him and hugged warmly before they parted from each other and strode up to their cars.
Anthony remembered and asked Ben, "Tomorrow is my birthday; Ben, Lerisa will be attending it; won't you attend it too, as I will be expecting to see you around too?"
Ben frowned and replied, “I know, but where do you plan on celebrating it? Why not come to my club and celebrate it there? You will have more fun there than being at home with your parents as a mummy's boy."
Anthony glared at Ben before he answered, “No. My parents want me to celebrate it at home, and it has been our custom to always celebrate whatever event we want at home and in our family grand hall. I will be expecting to see you tomorrow, Ben. Good night."
Anthony quickly got into his car by pulling the black car door open. He hopped in, started his car engine, and drove out of his company shortly after Ben left with his car too.
Anthony continued to think about why Lerisa wasn't happy, as he didn't have any siblings and had grown up seeing Lerisa as a sibling to him.He sighed and focused his gaze on the road, driving home. Soon, he arrived home and drove into the garage before getting out of his car and walking up to their duplex mansion.“Good evening, Mom and Dad,” Anthony greeted his parents as he stepped into the living room and saw his parents sitting in the dining room.His mother smiled and replied first, “Welcome home, Anthony. How was work today?”“Fine, mother,” Anthony walked up toward the living room stairs to retire to his bedroom. However, his mother spoke to him, “Wait, Anthony, won't you join us for dinner before retiring to your bedroom?”Anthony paused, stared back at his mother, and replied, “Okay, mom. How's the birthday preparation going? We will celebrate it here tomorrow in the event hall.”Anthony walked to the dining room to join his parents. He pulled a seat out before sitting down a
Lerisa was done having dinner with her parents in the dining room. None of her siblings were at home, so she stood up, locked the house entrance door, and finally returned to her bedroom to sleep.She went into her bedroom, picked up her phone, and saw that the time was after 10 p.m. Furthermore, she was surprised to see many missed calls from Anthony. She wasted no time and immediately called Anthony back to know why he had called her.The phone call connected, and she spoke first: “Hello, Anthony.”Anthony was still standing in his bedroom, preparing to step out to have dinner with his parents before retiring back to his bedroom to sleep.He saw his phone ringing, took it, and saw that Lerisa was the one calling him.Anthony picked up his phone, and asked Lerisa, “Hey, Lerisa. I was calling you before to know if you have gotten home safely and if you're alright now.”"Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks for calling me to check," replied Lerisa. She knew that Anthony cared for her like an olde
Anthony finally stared back at Lerisa's face, and he said to her, "I have to go home now, Lerisa. I hope that you're truly feeling fine now."Anthony drank from the bottled water in his hands again, looking directly at Lerisa's face. She replied, "Yes, I'm fine. See you later in the evening."Lerisa's pretty, fair-complexioned face turned sad again as she remembered that Anthony would definitely propose to Clara in the evening. Since Anthony and Clara have been dating for three years or more.Anthony noticed the change in Lerisa's mood as her face automatically turned red. He immediately asked her, "What's wrong with you again?"Lerisa snapped out of her trance and replied, "Nothing, I'm fine.""Hmm, you keep lying to me that you're fine when you are not fine... Tell me the truth, Lerisa. What's bothering you? You can share whatever the problem is with me. You know that I care about you, and I know that you don't have any other friends aside from me," said Anthony."You don't have a bo
Ben chuckled first over the phone call, as he knew he had been asking Lerisa out, yet she didn't want to accept him.Lerisa was the first lady 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 since and finally got it from somewhere else.""Where?" Lerisa asked, frowning and 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 ca
Lerisa sighed as she knew she couldn't miss Anthony's birthday party. She had been there with him since his seventh birthday and now, as an adult.She knew that avoiding the party might make her seem jealous or resentful, which would displease her parents.Lerisa fixed her gaze on the road as she drove her car out of the street, intending to turn onto another street before reaching the main road.However, 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, choosing to kiss in public instead of finding a private place.She knew that wealthy families lived in the area, with most houses being owned by the residents, not tenants.As she drove past the black car, she saw the woman's face. To her shock, it was Anthony's girlfriend, Clara Harry, kissing the man.Lerisa's jaw dropped as she slowed down her car to get a better look at them.She had initially wanted to look away, but she couldn't believe that Clara, whom A
Clara knew that she had lied to Remy about her name being April. This was one of her habits of lying 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 there alone, and entered her room in the rented apartment.Meanwhile, Lerisa drove to the shopping complex where she wanted to purchase clothes. She parked her car and sighed as she remembered how Clara had denied knowing her.Lerisa thought about calling Anthony again. However, she didn't know how to explain to him that she saw his girlfriend cheating on him.She switched off her car engine, stepped out of her car, locked the door, and walked up to the shopping boutique where she wanted to select a gown.Entering one of the feminine boutiques, the sales representative greeted her, "Good afternoon ma'am. What kind of clothes are you looking for? We have gowns, skirts, blouses, trousers, and any other feminine wear you may need." Leris
Lerisa met with her parents in their living room and greeted them, "Good afternoon Mom, Dad.""Welcome home, Lerisa. Your father and I forgot to purchase birthday gifts for Anthony today. How about you? Did you purchase anything on your way home?" Mrs. Antonia asked. Lerisa replied, "No, mom. I forgot too."Lerisa glanced at the living room wall clock and saw that it was already 2 pm.Her father said, "There's still time, Lerisa. Why don't you go outside with your sister to the nearby shops and buy a gift for the Gregson family? We can't show up at Anthony's birthday party empty-handed, especially since he is their only son."Lerisa frowned, "What should I buy for him? They're wealthy, and we already gave Anthony a standing fan last year. I don't know what to get him this year.""Anything you choose will be fine, Lerisa. We just need to show our appreciation. It wouldn't be polite to go to their house without a gift, receive one from them, and enjoy their hospitality," Lerisa's father
Later in the evening, Lerisa was in her room when she received a phone call from Anthony. It was already 5 pm, and she had finished dressing up and applying a little makeup on her face.She was nervous to see the caller ID showing Anthony's name and didn't know whether to pick up his call or not. She was worried sick because she hadn't informed him yet about Clara cheating on him.Taking a deep breath, Lerisa finally answered the call just before it could end, and Anthony's deep, masculine voice greeted her, "Hello, Lerisa...""Hi, Anthony. I'm on my way now," Lerisa quickly replied. Anthony asked her, "Are you sure? Or do you not want to attend my birthday party tonight?"Anthony wanted to see Lerisa's face around as he saw her like his younger sister. Lerisa immediately said, "Why wouldn't I attend your birthday? I'm coming, please... Just a minute," she begged."Alright, I'm expecting you. Please don't disappoint me. Later, you can share your problem with me, and if you need money,