“I heard from Atty. Chen that you’re filing a copyright lawsuit against Ayla.”Leila only glanced briefly at her mother before turning back to her food. “Yeah, I will. What she did is too much.”Laura nodded, satisfied with Leila’s move. “Yes, always protect your work.”“By the way, did you patent your technology? Why didn’t you file patent infringement?”Leila shook her head, “I have a patent work, but it’s not incorporated into the design she stole. Most of my patents are in my latest project that I’m working on.”“Keep it safe, Leila,” said Theodore, her stepfather. “She must have planted someone in your atelier. Did you check with your employees?” Asked Chase Eno, Rui’s husband, who joined the dinner together with their son, Eon. “I… haven’t yet. But I limited the access in my office. Only me and my secretary can enter my office.”“Why? The security of your studio is important, especially at a time like this.”“Well, she cannot just question her employees right now, mainly since
They both knew why Leila was adamant about rejecting Julius’ help. Leila doesn’t want anything that would connect her again to her ex-boyfriend. Accepting this help would mean that she’d be indebted to him. It would mean that he has some sort of right to talk to her whenever he pleases. Leila only fears that his intrusive attitude towards her will only get worse. Julius is a calculative businessman. His lovesick attitude towards Leila was nothing but a calculative move. He doesn’t do anything that will not benefit him. Leila was fully aware of this. She knew him all too well. She knew him…Leila kept her eyes tightly shut, unwilling to listen to her friends. “Leila, listen to me…”“Here’s what we’ll do…”“I know Julius will use this to get close to you… But this is something that will help you, dear…”“Can’t we find another CCTV footage? As long as it’s not from Julius…”Leila turned to Phyllis with pleading eyes. Phyllis shook her head. “Julius Yu has a strong security system, but
“But this is from Sir Julius Yu! He said he’s on the way as we speak. If you don’t give this to ma’am Leila, she will get mad!”The burly man’s straight face did not flinch from Marissa’s threatening words. For the past month, Julius Yu visited the atelier in the context of helping Leila out with the lawsuit. Most of the time, he’s here whenever Phyllis is around. Taylor’s security men never leave the office whenever Leila’s around. He’s there for the most part, even if Leila insists that he takes a rest. “Protocol is protocol.”“You’re so strict, Sir Roy!”Roy took the bouquet from Marissa’s hands and placed it on the table outside of Leila’s office. “Hey, I’m telling you, Sir Julius is on the way! If he sees the bouquet discarded like this…”“What’s the commotion about?”Julius Yu in a neat navy blue suit and silver-rimmed glasses, stood outside of Leila’s office, carrying a box of cake. His hair was cleanly brushed up, giving him a dapper and stoic look. His brows frowned, seei
An hour later, Julius invited Leila for dinner at a nearby mall. With Julius’ vague words earlier, she has no choice but to join Julius. She alighted Julius’ land cruiser and elegantly held Julius’ hands that were offered to assist her. “Let’s go?”Leila smiled, quickly taking her hands back before Julius could even grasp it. “Sure…”“Where are we going to eat?” She asked. “There’s a new Korean restaurant that opened here so I wanted to try it with you.” He took off his suit before carefully draping it on Leila’s shoulders. “It’s quite chilly for a summer night. Wear this.”His kind gentlemanly gesture made Leila freeze. She was aware that Julius’ feelings for her never changed. After all the years that she’d been out of the country, she knew that Julius never had any other girl in his life. It was only her. A bitter smile curled on her lips. ‘How perfect would it be if he changed.’‘Regardless, he did what he did…’“Thanks, Juls.”Every time she remembers what he did seven years
“I will forever court you, just to prove how loyal I am to you.”Leila avoided his eager eyes. His sweet words pressure her to give the tiniest bit of reaction. He was obviously expecting something from her. Even though she has already made herself clear, he still insists on his feelings. “I guess when everything is over, I can put myself in a position where I can consider…”“But, right now…”“Still—I’m thankful for your help, Julius.” The two continued to chat as they shared a meal. A pleasant mood between the two ex-lovers was finally seen. For the first time in a while, she felt a little grateful for Julius’ help. Perhaps it was because of how important Eleanor is to Leila or it was because his dedication finally reached her. Regardless, Leila decided to just enjoy the moment. She considers being mentioned in one of Eleanor’s articles as a great honor and Julius who helped put in the word is someone she is grateful for. Just then, another couple sat at the table next to them.
R18 content ahead!TW: Sexual assault// Abuse // Violence “F*ck f*ck f*ck!”“How can I not see that this bastard is stalking Leila?!”“What else did he do with her…?”It’s already midnight, a perfect way to discreetly confirm his suspicions. One of his best agents in Taylor’s security agency was assigned to guard Leila. The only reason why he offered one of his agents to help guard Leila was because he suspected that there was a mole in Leila’s atelier. Ayla Parker’s access to Leila’s designs was suspicious enough for him to go to this length. Now even though Roy was working for him doesn’t mean that he knows Leila’s every move. He never wanted to interfere with her life, especially after seeing how she distanced herself from him. He was not that oblivious to not see that Leila’s avoiding him. His father was right. He is only going to cause trouble for Leila. However now…Julius hovering around Leila bothered him. He was like a leech that kept on clinging to Leila. He did not know
“Auntie, how’s Leila? Did they examine her already?” Rui rushed to the Emergency Room of the hospital where Leila was currently admitted. Laura dejectedly glanced at her daughter who was sleeping on the hospital bed. Leila’s lips were chapped, dehydrated from all the crying she had done earlier. Bruises were all over her arms and she also sustained a cut on her right forehead. She was badly beaten up. Leila was so shocked that she was unable to even properly fix her disheveled look. Laura was there to help her throughout. While her husband, Theodore was busy dealing with Julius, she was here fixing the hospital paperwork and requested a thorough examination to be used for medico-legal purposes. She already knew what to do because of the case seven years ago. Experience is valued, yes. However, if it’s an assault that her daughter went through it’s just plain torture for her as a mother. “Yes… We’re still waiting to be moved to a private room.” Laura answered Rui in a weak voice.
All the ladies were stunned. They couldn’t believe that Leila was hiding such a secret. With this, she could have easily cleared her name from being the liberated girl that the Yu family knew. But no, she did not choose to do so. What she chose was to protect the dignity of the man she relied on. “Leila, why did you protect him? You gave this to me before your flight to Paris. That was the time when your case against Julius was dismissed for lack of evidence. This much could have sufficed since it will show a history of him…”“…doing it to you,” Phyllis said with so much difficulty. “At the time, I thought he could help me and my mother to get out of the situation that my father put us in. He was pressuring my mother to give out almost all of my mom’s assets. A lot of the executives in the company also sided with him. They even sold their shares to him. The partnership with the Yu family is something important for my mom’s career… I can’t ruin it…”“Plus… I have come to like him… B