Bad news

When Mark came upstairs Duke was sipping his black coffee. His expression was cold.

"What did Lelia say to you?" Duke asked him without looking at him.

"Boss, I have taken care of that matter. They have left for work" Mark said.

Duke put the coffee cup on the plate and sat on the chair with his legs crossed. His face looked cold and stern. He was angry.

Mark looked up at his Boss. He had taken care of that matter as his order, so why was he still upset?

Mark felt strange and couldn’t understand why his Boss was asking him for the details.

He didn't want to tell him the details. He had a bad feeling about it.

"Mrs. Winters said that lady colleague blackmailed her," Mark said

"On what? Go on" Duke glanced at him sharply.

"She said if Mrs. Winters was unable to pay the bill, she had to sleep with a waiter. That lady colleague was Mrs. Winters's school friend, I guess," Mark said and looked at Duke.

His face turned murderous. Mark gulped down being nervous.

"It is bad" Mark whispered.

"How did you deal with the matter?" Duke asked.

"I made that lady colleague pay the bill on Ma'am place" Mark said.

"Hmm. So that mere employee dared to insult my wife and what did you do? You let her go? Do you think Mrs. Winters just only deserves this?" Duke chuckled.

Duke fisted his hand in anger. He knew Mark tried his best to deal with the matter but he was not satisfied. How dare that lady insult her? Sleeping with someone?

Duke closed his eyes to control his anger.

"Boss, Ma'am would have suspected if I had taken the matter seriously. The employees were also there. They might think you have something to do with ma'am that's why you sent me there" Mark immediately explained that even though he knew Duke was aware of it.

"Cancel my today's schedule. I need to go home. Buy some CCTV camera and come to my apartment" Duke said and left from there.

"Is everything done?" Duke asked looking at Mark.

Duke was feeling uncomfortable after today's events. He was worried for Lelia's safety. Today, he was there to help her but what if Lelia was in danger again.

I need to look after her. Even at home, I have to ensure her safety so that I can see her from outside.

"Yes, boss. I have installed hidden CCTV in every corner of this apartment. Do you want me to install one in Mrs. Winters's room, too?" Mark asked and Duke glared at him.

Mark shut his mouth immediately. He was really surprised when Duke sent him to help Lelia.

"Boss, will you take Ma'am to Sullivan Mansion for dinner?" Mark asked him

"Yes. We are going tonight" Duke answered while connecting the camare to his phone.

"Jonathan was trying to reach me. What should I tell him, Boss?" Mark asked Duke.

"Call him tonight and tell....Do you understand?" Duke asked

"Yes, Boss" Mark said when someone knocked on the door.

Hearing the knock on the door Duke looked at Mark and told him to hide in his room thinking it was Lelia, Duke opened the door and saw a delivery boy.

"What?" Duke asked.

"Parcel for you, sir," The delivery boy said

"Parcel! But I didn't order anything?" Duke said.

"I did Boss. Here" Mark paid the bill and closed the door.

"What is it?" Duke asked him

"Boss, I have ordered lunch for you from the Star restaurant. You didn't eat anything back then, so I thought to order,” Mark spoke up.

Mark knew his Boss was a picky eater.  Duke was a picky eater. Even after ordering food from a particular restaurant as per his orders, he ate only two to three spoons.

He saw Duke hospitalized many times for this habit. The doctor advised him not to skip food strictly but he never listened. For him, work was more important than his body.

For this, his maternal grandfather gave Mark the responsibility of Duke's food. From then Mark was responsible for Duke's food.

“I don't need it. I have homemade food. I will warm it up later” Duke wasn't interested in that food.

“You can eat it if you want. Then, wash the dishes in the sink after you finish eating. She doesn't like dirty dishes” Duke says without looking at Mark.

Mark's mouth popped open. He didn’t know what to say.

"He will eat what? Homemade food! Seriously!? I wasn't hearing things, was I?" Mark was shocked.

"Boss, are you sure you want to eat the homemade food? I ordered from your favorite restaurant. The meal was made by the head chef according to your taste?" Mark asked him.

"When did his diet change? It changed for the better but when did it happen?" Mark couldn't believe that the man in front of him was really his boss. Can marriage change someone so quickly he couldn't believe it?'' Mark wondered.

"What are you looking at? Eat soon then leave. She will be here soon" Duke said and entered the kitchen to warm up the food his wife made for him.

At Office

Everyone was looking at Lelia in shock.

"Lelia, Do you know Mr. Winters from before?” A colleague asked her. They really couldn't believe that Mark had come to help her.

"No, I didn't" Lelia immediately denied it. She was surprised as well.

"I think it was a coincidence. We should go back to work" Rose spoke up. Everyone nodded and left from there.

When Lelia returned to her office she wanted to take a sip of water as she was feeling thirsty. She picked up a glass of water and gulped it down.

"Thank God for saving me. I would have been embarrassed in front of everyone if Mark had not come. I would like to thank him for his help. I will treat him a meal" Lelia thought when her office door was opened harshly before an angered figure entered the cabin.

Dear God, when is this going to stop? Will it ever stop? Lelia narrowed her eyes and looked at the woman with a dark face in front of her before she placed her glass on the table, “What do you want now, Bella? I have no desire to argue with you now. Leave now, I have work to do"

"You bitch. Did you know Mark before? What dirty tricks have you played to get on his good side? You slept with him, didn't you? I knew it. A dirty girl like you can do anything. Tell me, you had sex with him, didn't you? Bella screamed madly.

Lelia's body trembled with rage. She walked toward Bella and slapped her.

"You bitch" Bella screamed and raised her hand to slap Lelia but Lelia held her hand.

"Don't even think about it. I am not the old Lelia whom you can bully whenever you wish. Leave before I ruin your face" Lelia left her land.

Bella gritted her teeth in anger. "You will regret this"

Bella sat in her chair. She was angry and upset. She wanted to destroy Lelia. Suddenly, she smiled, thinking of Lilly, her best friend, who was the only person who could help her teach Lelia a lesson. So, she called Lilly.

Bella told her everything.

Lilly was shocked to hear this. "Don't worry,  I have a perfect plan. Lelia will regret it until her death"

Lelia was working on a file when she got a call from Hospital. Lelia's felt uneasy all of a sudden.

"Is Mom okay?"

When she picked up the phone her face turned pale. The phone fell from her hand. Lelia stood up and hurried out.

Rose called after her but Lelia didn't stop. A smile appeared on Bella's lips at Lelia's devastated state.

"You brought this on yourself, bitch. Get over it now" Bella messaged Lilly.

It was raining heavily when the taxi stopped outside the hospital. Lelia hurried out and entered the gate. She collided with a man and fell to the ground. Her slippers were torn. Lelia stood up and threw off her slippers and started running bare feet.

Everyone looked at her sympathetically. She looked broken with her swollen, tear-filled eyes and wet, messy hair. Her bare feet were red from frostbite.

"Maybe someone she loved is dead. Poor child"

When Lelia opened the door to the cabin, her world turned upside down. She felt that someone had removed the ground from under her feet. A hot tear rolled down her face.