"This would be the last ti I’m ever seeing you again. Don’t test . If I see you again, you will be in trouble. Leave."
The maid had been kneeling the entire ti. Tears stread down her face as she scrambled to her feet and hurried out of the house.
Lena, who had co downstairs midway through the confrontation, stood quietly and watched everything unfold before her. She did not feel pity for the maid; she had also been wary of her for so ti. Still, she wondered how Raymond knew the maid had been rude to her, since she had never told him.
"Co here," Raymond said gently, stretching out his hands toward Lena.
She walked over and placed her hand in his. He
pulled her closer and lifted her effortlessly, placing her on his lap as he sat down.
"I know she has been rude to you because I observed her. But I don’t want you keeping things from . Tell if anything makes you uncomfortable so I can fix it. Don’t be too welcoming. This is your ho too. Don’t let anyone make you uncomfortable," Raymond said seriously.
Lena nodded softly.
"I just didn’t want to make a scene since I just ca here," she replied, resting her head against his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.
"Promise you won’t let soone else make you uncomfortable in your own ho."
"I promise," Lena said cheekily.
Just then, her stomach grumbled loudly. Embarrassed, she buried her face deeper into Raymond’s chest. He chuckled warmly.
"Let’s get you sothing to eat."
Lena was still seated at the dining table, eating quietly. The morning light filtered through the glass windows, casting a warm glow over the polished surface. She reached for her phone absentmindedly and logged in to her socials.
The first thing she saw made her spit out her coffee.
A picture of her straddling Raymond at the boutique filled her screen. The angle at which the photo had been taken made it look
intimate, dangerously intimate. She appeared to be gazing at him in a deeply romantic way, her fingers gripping his shirt while his hands rested firmly on her waist. His eyes were locked on hers as though she were the only woman in his world.
Her heart skipped violently.
She tried to rember looking at Raymond that way, but she couldn’t. All she rembered was the embarrassing fall and how they had imdiately stood up because of the sales representatives present at the ti. There had been nothing romantic about it. It had been chaotic and awkward.
Her hand moved shakily as she swiped to the next post.
More outrageous pictures flooded her screen. There were shots of Raymond holding her hand, another from the auction that carried an almost sensual atmosphere because of the dim lighting and their proximity.
One particular image showed him waiting outside while she went to the stylist, his posture patient and composed, like a perfect gentleman waiting for his woman.
"Shoot now," she muttered under her breath.
Apparently, the internet had been on fire since last night. It seed soone had intentionally followed them throughout their outing, taking calculated and conspicuous pictures. Nothing looked accidental.
Every image told a story, one that suggested romance, secrecy, and chemistry.
The hashtags were already trending.
#PowerCouple
#Rayna
Her stomach twisted.
Trying to understand what was actually going on, Lena began reading the comnts, completely forgetting her food, and the person seated beside her. He had long since raised his head from his laptop and was now staring at her with a faint smirk playing on his lips.
As she scrolled, Lena noticed sothing shocking.
Public opinion about her had changed.
Instead of the gold digger and ho breaker people had once painted her to be, the newest gossip circulating online described her as the owner of her own company, a renowned artist, and the mysterious mind behind the famous love triangle scandal. The narrative had shifted entirely.
She continued reading.
Pero223: "Now I see why Mr. Black is in love with Miss Smith."
Janesia: "They say like minds co together. With how smart and intelligent Mr. Black is, he would surely go for a woman who can et him at the sa level."
Dava777: "I see why Miss Moore is so flustered. If I had competition like Miss Smith, I would hold an engagent party too and engage myself just to keep him."
Diva&56: "And to think the engagent was a lie. I’ve lost my respect for Miss Moore. Why try to hold on to soone who doesn’t want you?"
Sia333: "Did you see the video of Mr. Black warning her about the engagent? Tsk tsk. I would be ashad if my lie was called out so blatantly like that. But knowing Mr. Black, that was rcy."
Another comnt read:
"Patiently waiting for the press conference. The small audience he gave to the press already said everything, but the press conference? Whe"
Sarah: "The question is, will the Moore family stay and watch soone from nowhere steal their almost son-in-law? Rember, they’ve been family friends since they were babies. Can a stranger really drive a wedge between them?"
Itsjenie:
GangT: "The real question is, will the Moore family sit back and let the Black family disgrace their daughter like this? Either way, it’s still a win for us online in-laws. We just need drama."
Lena’s breathing beca uneven.
The more she read, the more anxiety clawed at her chest. Sylvia had warned her about Raymond. She had warned her about the chaos that followed powerful n. But how far was SylviaHer head turned ever so slowly as she looked at the culprit seated beside her at the dining table. Her mouth fell open.
Raymond was focused on his laptop, his gold-rimd glasses resting perfectly on his nose as though he did not have a single care in the world. The calmness radiating from him only fueled the storm brewing inside her. Her breath hitched just from staring at him, at the sharp line of his jaw, at the indifference in his posture.
"Did you post all this about us?" she asked, her voice tight. "Please don’t lie to ."
Raymond raised his head slightly and humd in approval.
"Why?" Lena demanded, exasperated, barely holding her anger in check. To her, there had to be a reason. A good one at that.
He simply shrugged. "I thought I would get Cynthia off my back. At least with this clarification, people will know Cynthia and I are not engaged. And what better way to do it than to humiliate her in the best way possible?"
Lena stared at him in disbelief. "So you used ?"
Raymond removed his glasses slowly, one brow arching as though he were seeing his kitten for the first ti, like she had suddenly grown three heads.
"I thought that was the plan. Should I remind you that you consented to it?" He squinted slightly.
"Why the attitude?"
"I thought..." she stamred.
"You thought what?" Raymond pressed.
"Forget about it," she muttered, her voice losing its strength.
"Use your words, kitten. I’m not a magician. I cannot understand you unless you tell ."
She swallowed hard, her chest tightening. "I thought last night ant more to you. I an, there were better ways we could have handled everything instead of making look like a project."
Raymond’s raised brow slowly lowered. The lines on his face hardened, and his eyes darkened, the warmth in them vanishing completely.
"Well, you thought wrong, kitten. Last night was exactly what it was ant to be, sex, revenge, and money. The three driving forces of our relationship." His voice was cold, calculated.
"Did you forget what the contract stipulated? How you are not supposed to fall in love with ? What is wrong with you? Do you want to read the clause to you again?"
Each word felt like a slap.
"I’m sorry, Raymond," Lena whispered, her composure cracking. "I cannot do this anymore. I don’t know when it began. Maybe it’s because of the way you treat ... or the way you make feel."
His anger began to simr visibly. "Don’t say that word, Lena. Don’t you dare say that word," he warned, attempting to cut her off.
"Sylvia warned during the auction last night," she continued, ignoring him as hot tears stread down her face.
"I don’t know when my feelings started to change," she admitted, her voice trembling. "But I do love you. And seeing you focus only on your revenge breaks my heart because sotis I forget this is just a contract... and not real."
Raymond remained seated, but the air around him turned suffocating. His anger was now barely contained, hovering at the edge of explosion.
"I’m sorry, Lena," he said finally, his tone devoid of emotion. "I cannot do love. And if that’s what you want, then I’m afraid I cannot give it to you."
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