《My Heart Beats Only For You》 Chapter 1 - 1. Lopez Family... The sunlight shone through the glass window and fell on the bed where a girl is sleeping peacefully.. Her hair is disheveled beautifully on her petite face hiding half of it. Whereas the warm sunlight made her exposed skin, uncovered from her sleeping pajamas, shine so brightly and this made her flawless face even more beautiful and stunning. Suddenly a knock was heard from her door. It started becoming louder and louder by each passing seconds.. Being frustrated by the growing banging sound of the door, the petite woman groggily woke up from her beauty sleep and got up to open the door.. Seeing the person in front of her, she pouted but before she could ask any question the woman standing in front of her asked angrily, "Are u a pig, Veronica? How can you sleep like a dead-body even when I''m banging the door from almost ten minutes? I just can''t believe that you are my daughter¡­.How can you be so lazy when you are just 26?" Analyzing the mood of the flared up woman in front of her, Veronica pouted again and replied in a cute voice, "Oh my goddess mommy, my beautiful and most gorgeous mother in the world, you don''t at all look good when you are angry.. So, why to make this beautiful face ugly with anger for this little peasant..And for your kind information it''s not even 9 am when u woke me up from my precious sleep and now you are calling me a pig!!" Seeing her pouting lips, Mrs. Lopez smiled slightly and said, "Okay, okay, enough with this ''acting cute'' drama my drama queen. Your dad is waiting in the dining hall for you. So, go get freshen up quickly and come down soon.. Breakfast is ready.." "Yo Mom, just give me 10 minutes and I''ll be back", saying this Veronica rushed towards her bathroom. Mother Lopez also shook her head in amusement and went downstairs. After ten minutes¡­.. A girl in her mid twenties descended down the stairs. She is wearing a white t-shirt with bunny printing, which was paired up with a medium-blue colored high waist ripped jeans while her hair was tied in a high ponytail, making her look like a 18 year old girl. Her eyes are of dark brown shade contrasting her light brown silky hair..Her cheeks have a pinkish blush due to the shower and her natural pink lips are a little red because of lip balm and her long straight ponytail is falling on her left shoulder giving her a charming look..She was wearing a Omega watch on her left hand paired up with snickers adorning her foot.. All in one, she is giving an innocent and positive vibe but still vibrating with an intimidating aura.. She entered the dining hall with a bright smile and back-hugged the man sitting on the head chair. "Good morning Dad" she greeted and gave him a peck on his cheeks. Veronica''s dad Mr. James Lopez turned his head and gave his daughter a sweet kiss on her forehead.. "Good morning my princess.. Have you slept well?" "Yup Dad, I slept quite well but your precious wife woke me up with her loud voice early in the morning and not to add that, today is my holiday", she complained while sitting on the left side of her father.. Mr. Lopez patted her hair and said in a loving manner, "Aww! My poor baby. Okay I''ll scold your mommy on your behalf." "Yup Yup Dad.. You should. How can she disturb your darling daughter''s beauty sleep??" Right then a sound of clearing throat was heard. The father-daughter duo turned to look at the source of noise and cheekily smiled. Veronica''s mother, Mrs. Jessica Lopez gave them a deadly glare and scoffed, "I''m sitting right in front of you and still both of you have guts to badmouth me?" Mr. Lopez immediately gave an apologetic look to his princess and then coaxed his wife, "Honey, how much guts do I have to badmouth you? It''s just that....." "Ok ok, now stop both of you. I have something to tell you guys. You both didn''t forget about my best friend Victoria''s party tomorrow, right??" Mrs. Lopez interrupted her husband before he could talk on behalf of their daughter. "Yes darling. How can we forget about that? After all, this is none other than the success party for that young fella." "Hmm good. Vero , you are going with me for shopping after breakfast." Mother Lopez ordered. "But Mom, I already have many dresses." Veronica tried to decline. "No buts, you''re coming with me and that''s final." As Veronica understood that there are no chances for her escape, she sighed and nodded her head. Then the three of them continued their breakfast laughing and chatting.. Chapter 2 - 2. Shopping Time With Mother Lopez... At 11 o''clock both mother and daughter entered the shopping mall named ''Sky-Heart'' which is also owned by the Lopez Industries. The manager was waiting at the gate to welcome their Lady Boss and Young Miss. "Welcome Mrs. Lopez and Young Miss" ,greeted the manager. They nodded their head as a greeting and went inside. Mrs. Lopez smiled politely as she spoke with the manager, "We''re here to buy some dresses, suits and accessories. So you don''t have to come with us, just send someone reliable to follow us." Mrs. Lopez was wearing a blue knee length dress whereas Veronica wore the same jeans and t-shirt of morning with the addition of black jacket, sunglasses and a Capresse black bag. Both of them were attracting other customers because of their looks. The manager sent a female assistant to guide them with shopping. They first visited the suits department to buy a suit for Mr. Lopez and after buying it they directly visited a showroom which is famous for ladies'' garments and gowns. After searching for the perfect dress for whole 20 minutes, their eyes finally got fixated on a pink mermaid dress which has blue and purple hand stitches all over the rayon gown. It is a V-neck long dress with an embroidery of fine blue colored pearls at the bottom part. The dress itself looked very pretty; so without wasting any more time Mrs. Lopez ordered the assistant to pack it and handed her a black card. Mother Lopez then looked at her daughter. "Vero, I''m very sure that this dress suits you very perfectly. And when you will go to the party wearing this dress every eyes will only be on you." She couldn''t help but tease her daughter who don''t like to be the center of attention. Veronica just rolled her eyes listening to her mother''s over exaggerating words. "Whatever! Now quickly choose a beautiful dress for you too." She scoffed. Her mother always tease her deliberately just to piss her off. "I don''t need to buy any dress because I already bought one with Victoria. So I just came here to buy you a gown." Jessica shrugged her shoulders. Veronica gaped at her mother unbelievably and said, "What??? You just brought me here to buy a dress for me? Are you serious Mom? Who did you waste so much of time on shopping, that too for buying just a single dress!!!!" Jessica again got angry as she said, " You little brat, why are you not like any other normal young girls who love to shop? Why do you feel shopping is boring?" Again rolling her eyes Veronica cheekily smiled and pouted, "Come on Mom, don''t overreact please. It''s not like I hate shopping but it''s just that I love my holiday and like to sleep very much. But I promise that I will stop complaining if you buy me my favorite ice-cream." Jessica shook her head seeing her big daughter behaving like a child and pinched her cheeks lovingly, "Okay, how can I say no to my adorable girl..?" Meanwhile, the assistant brought the already packed dress to them. Seeing her, Veronica asked her mother. "So Mom, now that we have already brought the dress; so where are we going next?" Mother Lopez thought for a while and replied, " Hmm¡­Now that we have the dress then let''s go to buy some accessories, jewels and shoes to match it." Sighing again Veronica followed her mother silently to the jewelry showroom. There they bought a simple three line diamond necklace and a one line necklace set with earrings which has been decorated with diamonds like a flower tiara. They also bought some matching bracelet and ear rings for themselves. They didn''t forget to buy some hand bags and purses followed by a blue high-heel 7 inch pencil shoes for Veronica. They also packed a suit for Mr. Lopez. After shopping for whole 4 hours Veronica got extremely tired as she asked her mother, "Mrs. Lopez, have some mercy on this little peasant. I''m very much tired after running through every store. So, can we now go back home please?" Jessica shook her head, "No, we haven''t yet done with shopping. So no going home for now." Veronica widened her eyes and pleaded, "But we have bought everything, so there is nothing left to buy." Mrs. Lopez caught Veronica''s hand and dragged her to the elevator. After pressing the top most button she asked, "Did you forget what is the party for?" Veronica pressed her eyebrows together and replied, "Mom I don''t have amnesia to forget such a little thing. I know that Aunty and Uncle Smith are throwing this party for that idiot Reuben Smith." "Yes, you''re right and that is why we are going to buy a present for him. I''ve already ordered a brooch for Reuben." Right then the elevator door opened with a ''ding'' sound and they exited from the elevator. They then entered the famous brooch shop for the upper class people. Mr. Wayne was already waiting for them at the entrance and greed them smilingly, "Hello beautiful ladies, it''s been long time I saw you both." They both smiled at him and greeted him back. Mr. Wayne is not only the owner of this shop but also the famous designer. Not to mention that he is a very close friend of Mr. Lopez. After chatting for few seconds Mr. Wayne showed them the brooch and both the mother-daughter pair''s jaw dropped after seeing it. It was a golden brooch which has two blue colored rare emerald gems at the end part of both side and in the middle was a ruby in red. They gems were attached with each other by gold and platinum chains. It was breathtakingly beautiful. "Wow, it''s amazing." Both of the ladies exclaimed together. Mr. Wayne said happily, " I''m glad that both of you liked it." After paying both of the ladies bought some ice-cream from an ice-cream parlor and drove back home. Chapter 3 - 3. The Young Master of the Brown Family… K City, S Country, At 7 pm¡­ A handsome man in his late twenties was sitting at the balcony chair looking at his mobile with a soft smile on his face and there was a longing look in his eyes. After looking at the photo for nearly 15 minutes, he rubbed his right thumb on the zoomed photo face and said adoringly, "Time to meet you again love. It''s been already 5 years since we had seen each other last time." But after remembering the past, his eyes darkened, "What happened in the past, I''ll make sure to pay you back ten folds of that pain and then I''ll make you mine by any means. If I have to use force then I''ll; even if I have to kidnap you I''ll also do that without thinking twice. I wanted to hate you after what you had done to me back then and how you broke my heart by leaving me without any word; but still I can''t feel the hatred in my heart for you as my love for you is more powerful than my hate." Suddenly the man''s phone started ringing which brought him back from his thoughts. Picking up the phone immediately he said without any expression, "Speak." "Boss, your tuxedo is ready. I''ll bring it to you tomorrow morning and I also have prepared the gift for Mr. Smith for tomorrow''s party." The Man on the other side of the phone replied politely. "Hmm.. What about the other thing?" "Yes Boss. It''s confirmed that Miss Lopez will also be present there with her family. Anything else Boss?" the assistant asked. "No, nothing more." Saying this, the man cut the call without waiting for his assistant''s response. The moonlight fell on his face which can describe his handsomeness easily. His eyes and hairs are black with a sharp nose and small thin lips. He has an extremely fit body with perfect abs at the right places. When he stood up from his chair to go back in his room, his height could identify him as a 6 ft. tall man and he also has long legs with good muscles. One could easily describe him as a gorgeous man¡­ ------------- The man is not any simple man as he is one of the youngest wealthy businessman of K country. He is also listed in the ''Top 5 most eligible Bachelors'' of the country. He is the young master of the Brown family, known as Alonzo Brown. He is the present CEO of Brown Corporations. He is the most formidable person of B city in country K, no one dares to offend him out of fear of losing their career there. He had planned on shifting his main office from B city to S city for some of his business reasons. Well, everyone thinks it is the main reason for his shifting but only he and his assistant know the true motive of him for coming to S city, which is none other than to meet someone special or more like getting back her. Alonzo Brown is 28 years old but his cold face can''t justify it. Many girls tried to pursue him or to climb up on his bed but each and everyone had failed miserably. All those ladies just run behind his money, status and power as the Brown family is the most powerful among others in B city. But each time any girl tried to go near him they were being shooed away and who became brave enough to throw themselves on him deliberately; their family had to pay high price by being bankrupt and suddenly they became invisible to the whole socialite society. Though there was a rumor roaming around the whole city that he got engaged with the young miss of the Parker family. His so called fianc¨¦''s name is Regina Parker who is a high socialite of B city and many girls envied her for her beauty whereas many boys wanted to make her their girlfriend. ----------- Regina is also a famous model of city B and highly demanded in the model industry. She is a spoiled princess of Parker family as she is the only daughter of her parents alongside her elder brother. She likes to use her powers on other person wrongly and became more arrogant after the news of her being engaged to Alonzo got revealed to the whole country. Parker family is another powerful family of city B which is well famous for their textile business. Their head of the family is Robert Parker and his wife is Mrs. Jennie Parker. They have two children. Their elder son Cole Parker is the current CEO of the Parker Textiles and their younger daughter is Regina Parker who is being pampered rottenly from the day of her birth. ----------- Entering his room Alonzo sat on the bed with his laptop and checked some emails and contracts to pass the time. After two hours of his work, he kept his laptop on the bedside table and switched off the lamp. Seeing the picture of the girl for another time he muttered, "Good night baby, we''ll see each other tomorrow." And then he closed his eyes to sleep.. Chapter 4 - 4. Family Time… Back at Lopez Mansion¡­.. After coming back from shopping, the mother-daughter duo told the servants to keep the shopping bags in the living room and then went upstairs to freshen up. About half an hour later, Veronica came in the living room. Not getting any trace of her father, she asked the servants, "Did you see my dad? I can''t find him anywhere." The servant replied politely, " Young Miss, Sir is in the kitchen. He is cooking food for lunch." "What?? Doesn''t he have any other office works? He was hardly having any free time in this whole week." Mrs. Lopez asked amusingly while descending from the stairs. "Okay Mom, you don''t have to worry about this. You go and sit in the dining room; I''ll go and check on Dad." Assuring her Mom, Veronica entered the kitchen only to see her father cooking while humming some song. "Hey Dad, what are you cooking?" Veronica asked peeking at the frying pan. "Hi princess. You are already back from shopping? Well, I''m making your favorite lemon steak and chicken noodles." Mr. Lopez replied chuckling at his petite daughter. " Wow dad! You''re making lemon steak!! Dad, you are the best of bestest father of the world." Veronica jumped happily. Her father laughed out loud as he affectionately looked at his, already grown up daughter acting childish. Suddenly remembering something, Veronica spoke in concern, "But dad... You know how much work you had to do for the new project. You came late every night and went back office early in the morning for these past two weeks. I can clearly see the tiredness and fatigue etching on your face. You also have dark circles under your eyes. So you don''t have to cook for us." Seeing the concerned face of his beloved daughter, James''s heart got melted and he turned off the stove to hug his daughter tightly. "Oh my baby!! Look at your face. You are looking very bad with this scrunched up face. So don''t be sad anymore and show me the sweetest smile of the world. Then let me tell you one thing¡­.. I''ve already completed the project successfully and now I''m totally free. As my queen and my princess went for a big fighting task like shopping, why not their king make some good dishes to build they energy up." James said patting her head. Hearing her father''s melodramatic yet loving speech Veronica smiled cutely and buried her face in her father''s chest, " Dad, you are really something. I was just worried about you. And if you are done with your project then why didn''t you take some rest with a short nap. Why to bother yourself with cooking?" Mr. Lopez feigned to be hurt and said, "Is it called ''bothering'' to cook for your own daughter and wife? Huhuhu !! My daughter doesn''t love me anymore¡­" "Dad you also know that I didn''t mean to say that." Veronica sighed. "Yes, I know my princess. You should not stress out about this. My tiredness always fade away seeing your beautiful smile." James kissed her forehead gently. " Hmm Dad.. I love you very much." Vero also kissed her father''s cheek. "I love you too my princess." ......¡­. Back in the dining room¡­ After sitting for quite a while, Mrs. Lopez couldn''t see none of the father-daughter still. So being bored alone, she also went to the kitchen to find them but she paused when she reached in front of the door. Silently watching the father and daughter''s heart-warming interaction and they are hugging each other tightly right now; Mrs. Lopez''s heart filled with sweetness and her eyes turned red with tears. She thanked the God in her mind quietly for giving her such a loving family. Later, Mother Lopez removed the tears from her eyes and faked a jealousy tone, "Woah ! I''m waiting for you two in the dining room for so long and here you are both¡­.. hugging and sweet talking with each other. Humph !! You two really forgot that there is another person who lives in this house and loves her family very much. But look, what I get in return. Just IGNORANCE.." Veronica rolled her eyes seeing her mother''s over-acting whereas James just gazed at his wife softly with a smile plastering on his face. "Oh darling ! We didn''t ignore you at all. We were just having some father-daughter moment. And you know that you will always be the queen of my heart." He tried to smoothen up his wife''s mood. "Humph!!" Jessica scoffed again. Seeing her mother being still dramatic Veronica looked at her father and he also looked back at her. Nodding to each other at the same time they both went near Jessica and hugged her tightly. " I love you Mommy. You are the best mother of the world." " I love you honey. You are the best wife of the world." As they conveyed their feelings, Mrs. Lopez hugged them back with same affection and a smile crept on her face. She replied, " I love you too dear''s and you both are my life. Not to mention, you two are also the best husband and daughter of the world." After some more sweet talks they had their lunch and then Veronica showed her father everything that she and her mother shopped today. James was also amazed to see the gift for the party and praised his wife. Later all of them went to their respective bedrooms. Chapter 5 - 5. The Mysterious Man… After lunch, Veronica ran towards her bed and jumped onto it giving a slight bounce to her body as the mattress was very thick and soft..When her head hit the soft pillow, she immediately fell asleep due to her exhaustion.. When the sun set down, a loud ringing sound came from her phone that woke the sleeping beauty up. She grunted sleepily because of the disturbance in her sleep and then picked up her phone from the bedside table. "Yaaa....Niccy¡­." came a loud voice from the other side of the phone.. Veronica kept her phone far away from her ear as she couldn''t bear the loud sound and said angrily, " Lucinda Wilson.!! You better lower your voice otherwise it''ll be no more time to turn me into a deaf person." Realising her friend''s bad mood through her husky voice, Veronica''s best friend Lucinda exclaimed, "Oh! Baby, were you sleeping? Did I disturb your beauty sleep? Sorry if I really did it." "It''s okay girl. Cool down. Now tell me why did you call me. Hearing your excited voice I can easily tell that there is something cooking in your little head. So speak up." Veronica said rubbing her eyes.. "He he he" giving an awkward smile to Veronica, Lucinda continued " Yes,yes, Niccy. You are right that I''ve something very important to tell you. So I''m starting now." "Hmm.. tell me now Lucy" Veronica said. "You remember nah that tomorrow is the party of the Smith family?" Lucinda asked. "Why everybody is asking me the same question??" Veronica shouted feeling annoyed. " Eh Niccy, don''t be angry now. I was just asking you. By the way, have you prepared any dress for yourself? "Yeah.. I just went for shopping with Mom today morning. So I bought one from there. And what about you? Did you pick anything for yourself?" Veronica questioned her back. "Yup.. I also bought a dress. Actually not one but three dresses. And now I''m very confused about what to wear in the party and that is the main reason I called you " Lucinda said somehow being frightened of her friend as she knew when her bestie would listen to her reason of calling; she would burst on her. And as she expected.... "What???? Three dresses just for one party!! Are you crazy Lucy?" Veronica cursed her angrily. Lucinda tensed up because of the outburst of her friend, then she tried to cool down Veronica, "Niccy please don''t be angry. You know why I''m doing all these. After all tomorrow will be the time when I''ll meet my prince charming after one month. You already know that he went out of the country for a business trip and came back just one week ago. But I couldn''t meet him because of his so called busy schedule. So I want to impress him tomorrow by looking gorgeous. Now I want to see, how long he will try to avoid me. Hmph!!!" Listening to Lucinda''s cute nagging Veronica gave a chuckle and said, " Yup, now I understand for whom the great Miss Wilson is trying so hard to dress up. So now tell me how do you want me to help you." "Nothing much baby, just help me to select a beautiful dress for tomorrow. I''m sending you the pictures of those three dresses." After receiving the pictures Veronica scrutinized each and every dress carefully. First one was a knee length black gown which has a turtle neck with long sleeves. Second one was a yellow V-neck long dress with a belt on the waist part and a beautiful lace flower was embroidered on the left chest. And the last one was a sea green A-line off shoulder dress which has a perfect slit on the left leg and a ribbon was present there to tie it around the neck. Without wasting any more time Veronica told Lucinda to wear the last one which she easily accepted as it was her favorite too. "Thank you sweetie. You are the best. I was also thinking to wear this one. So let''s see each other tomorrow. Bye now." Finishing the call, Veronica went downstairs for dinner. After a heartful dinner she went back to her room and locked the door. Taking some night clothes with her, she entered the bathroom. After a relaxing bath she came out and started to do her daily skincare routine. When she was rubbing some moisturizer on her legs; her phone buzzed again indicating the arrival of a new message. She sat on her bed resting her head on the headboard and covered herself with a blanket. But when she opened the message she flushed with anger. The massage was, " Have you already forgotten about me?" "Who forgot about whom? Isn''t it the question I should ask you instead Mr. ??" Veronica questioned back. "How can I forget about the person who keeps my mind flooded with her memories." The Man replied. "Yeah, whatever!! If you didn''t forget about me, then you would at least call me after coming back from your so called business trip." Veronica gritted her teeth out of anger. "Your face is flushing red with anger now. It''s looking really red as a tomato. Cool down baby otherwise it''ll be not good for your health." The man messaged. Reading the message, Veronica''s lips curled up in a beautiful smile thinking how could he understand her so much even when he was not with her; he could easily describe her facial expressions. " if you don''t want my health to get worsen up then let me sleep. Good night." Then she switched off her phone and slept off. On the other side, the man gave out a gentle chuckle and murmured lowly, " Good night love. We''ll meet tomorrow. I can''t wait to see you after so many days." Then he also kept his phone aside and drifted off to sleep. Chapter 6 - 6. Breathtakingly Beautiful… The next morning, when Veronica woke up from her slumber, she turned her phone on and immediately received a message from the mysterious man. She opened it and her mouth curved up a little. The man texted, "Good morning beautiful.How was your sleep?" "Bad morning handsome. My sleep was good because certain someone occurred in my dreams and made it blissful." Veronica typed back with a smile on her face. Then again her phone beeped and she became surprised as she hadn''t expected to receive a reply so soon. "Oh really? Is the certain someone in your dreams none other than me?" Reading the message, Veronica rolled her eyes, " In your dreams!!!" she replied. The man didn''t stop there as he messaged again, " Oh baby.. I always dream about you. So you don''t have to be tensed about that." Veronica blushed a little but immediately picked up her fighting spirit, "Who is tensed about what? I don''t care about anything related to you." The man on the other side raised one eyebrow and texted her, " Really?? You don''t care about me? Okay then, let''s see tonight." "Yup, let''s see tonight." Vero also challenge him back and went to washroom. ---------- It was already afternoon. The Lopez family just finished their lunch and chatting randomly. Suddenly Mother Lopez asked Veronica, "Have you hired any make-up artist for today, Vero?" " No mom, I haven''t. I''ll do it myself as you know I don''t like heavy make-up. Your girl is a natural beauty after all." Veronica winked at her mother. "Yes. Wherever my princess goes¡­.. limelight follows¡­." James said proudly about his dear daughter. Jessica rolled her eyes at the pair''s naricissism. ----------- In the evening¡­ Mr. and Mrs. Lopez were waiting for their daughter downstairs to go to the Smith''s party. Mr. Lopez was wearing the brown suit that his wife and daughter had bought for him and Mrs. Lopez was wearing a black gown with some stones embroidered on it with black heels. Both of them were looking very dashing and perfect for each other. Ten minutes later, the sound of clicking heels made both of them to stare at upstairs. When they looked at their daughter, they both were mesmerized by her beauty. Veronica was wearing the pinkish-violet color V-neck gown, which she shopped with her mother. She was wearing a pair of blue high heels and the diamond necklace set that were also bought the same day. She tied her hair in a low-loose bun and some of her hair strands were falling on her forehead and cheek area, making her face small yet pretty. She had done a minimal makeup, but gave her eyes a smoky look with black and blue eyeshadow, paired with her nude lipstick. If anyone have to define her beauty then they will say, "She is nothing but breathtakingly beautiful...." After she came downstairs, she looked at her parents from head to toe and praised, "Now I understand from where I got the beauty, when my parents are this much good looking." Mr. and Mrs. Lopez came back to earth hearing their daughter''s voice and they also praised her beauty for whole 5 minutes. Then the family of three went out for the party. Chapter 7 - 7. Can’t Escape From Me… Paradise Hotel, 7 pm¡­. Many luxury cars parked at the entrance of the hotel. There were many reporters at the gate trying to get every single information about the party. The sound of camera clicks and flashes erupted the whole entrance as lots of famous businessmen and celebrities were attending the party. Meanwhile, a Mercedes Benz stopped in front of the 7 star hotel. A middle aged man in grey tux got down from the car and extended his hand to the car door and a woman in a purple gown came outside of the car holding the man''s arm. They were both looking stunning as they headed to the red carpet. All the focus were on this couple as they were none other than the owner of the hotel who were throwing the party for their son, Mr. Logan Smith and his wife Mrs. Victoria Smith. They posed to the cameras and answered all the reporters'' questions and entered the hall.. After another 10 minutes¡­ Again there was a buzz outside the hall. Another middle aged couple came out of the car hand in hand and right then a beautiful pair of legs touched the ground from other side of the car. Everyone was stunned to see the gorgeous woman who was no less than a fairy. Everyone was stunned by her beauty, she is like a living Goddess who just landed on Earth. Mr. and Mrs. Lopez along with Veronica also posed for cameras and entered the party hall. In the ballroom... As Veronica was sipping some wine, a figure came behind her and said in her ear, "Did you miss me?" Veronica jolted up out of fear and looked behind her. She relaxed after seeing who the person was. "God, Lucy¡­ You almost gave me a heart attack right now." "Hehehe. Sorry Niccy. I was too much excited to see you." Lucinda smiled cutely. "By the way girl, you are looking fabulous. Totally ravishing." Lucy said as she inspected Veronica from head to toe. and then winked at her. "Yeah. You too girl. So, where is your prince charming?" Veronica asked. "Don''t ask me about him. He haven''t come yet.. Maybe he will arrive here with Reuben." Lucy pouted. Veronica nodded her head in response and took another glass of red wine from the bar and handed it to Lucinda. As both of them were chatting, Mr. Lopez called them to meet Mr. and Mrs. Smith. "Hello Uncle and Auntie. How are you?" Vero asked them. "Oh my God. You are looking so beautiful my girl." Mrs. Smith exclaimed. "Gosh!! You are lucky James that you got such a amazing daughter." Mr. Smith said enviously. "Ha ha ha. That''s true Logan. I''m indeed lucky." James said proudly. As they were chatting, Logan''s assistant came to him and murmured something in his ear. He also nodded back to him and excused himself from them. ¡­.....¡­. When everyone was busy trying to make bond with other businessmen, a pair of eyes was looking intently at someone. Wherever the figure is going or whatever the person was doing, everything was being noticed by him. The man was entranced by the girl''s beauty as he remembered that she hardly changed in all these five years except she became more graceful and mature. As he was drinking his champagne, some businessmen tried to curry some favor from him through sweet talks but he was never giving them any attention instead his focus was lingering on one girl. As he finally decided to go to the girl for their first face to face meeting after five years, his assistant called him. "Boss, there is a bad news. Your grandmother has been hospitalized due to high blood pressure." The assistant informed. Alonzo sighed, "Okay, I understand. Arrange my private plane to take off as soon as possible. I''m coming in half an hour." Cutting the call he once again looked at the figure and his jaw tightened in fury. "Though we couldn''t meet today, but that day is not too far, my darling. And then, you can''t escape from me." Saying this Alonzo left the hotel. ...¡­. Chapter 8 - 8. The Two Handsome Men… Top floor of Paradise Hotel, VVIP Room¡­ Two handsome men were sitting on the sofa with two glasses of wine in their hand. They were both in their late twenties but no one could guess seeing their face as they were looking much younger by their appearance. When they were chatting about some business staffs with each other, the door of their room opened and a man in Black suit entered with a file in his hands. "Boss, Mr. Smith is expecting you both to be present at the hall in 10 minutes." The man told them, who was also one of the two men''s assistant. "Got it. You go there first, we''ll be there in 5 minutes." One of the men said. "So are you ready to meet her?" The man with copper hair color asked after the assistant left. " I''m always ready to meet my girl. What about your girl? Are you excited to see her?" The man who has light brown hair asked back. "Truthfully¡­. I''m little bit nervous." The copper haired man said. "Hmm.. You are always a nervous freak when it is about her. You are even hiding your feeling from her for almost three and half years, just because you are scared of her rejection. I don''t know how you became my best friend Henry!!" The other man teased. "You¡­. Stop it.. Did you forget that Uncle called for us?" Henry tried to escape the conversation. "Yeah. Let''s go. I can''t wait more to see my girl." Henry''s best friend said as he got up from sofa. Henry followed him as they entered the private elevator. ---------------- Mr. Logan Smith stood in the middle of the stage with a microphone in his hand, " Thanks to all the guests who are present in the party to celebrate our company''s success with us. As you guys know that the project of U.S. resort and hotel become a huge success and all credit goes to my one and only son Reuben Smith. So now let''s welcome him with a round of applause." As Mr. Smith was giving a speech, Lucinda held Veronica''s hand so tightly in anticipation that Veronica felt extreme pain in her wrist. She flinched slightly and glared at her best friend. "Ah, sorry sweetie. I was so excited that I didn''t notice how tightly I held your hands. Actually those two handsome men will be coming here at any moment. So I couldn''t suppress my excitement." Lucinda apologetically said. Veronica just shook her head, " Yeah, whatever." Their conversation broke when the hall filled with the loud clapping sounds. Everyone''s eyes were focused on the stage to see the man for whom the party was held for. As the lights turned off, the silhouette of a sturdy figure could be seen slightly on the stage. The man finally opened his mouth to talk, after receiving the mic from his father, "Hello everyone. I''m Reuben Smith, the current CEO of the Smith Enterprise. Thanks to all for coming here. We have many other projects in our hand now. Right now, we''re focusing to build a new shopping mall in City A. So we''ll be arranging a bidding for architecture soon. The best idea will be selected as the winner and will be collaborated directly with Smith Enterprise. I''ll not waste anymore time of you guys, so enjoy the party. Last but not the least, thanks Mom and Dad for always having faith in me and loving me. I love you both." As Reuben finished his speech, the lights turned on again and his handsome face came in sight of everyone. He is 6 feet 2 inches tall with broad shoulder. He was wearing a dark blue tuxedo with a silver colour tie. The tuxedo fitted him perfectly showing his strong figure with perfect abs and long sturdy legs. He had his light brown hair waxed backward. He has dark grey eyes, a tight L-shaped jaw, sharp nose and lips which were not too thin or thick just perfect for kissing. His enigmatic eyes can make hole to any girl''s heart. He is the most handsome man of country K and the youngest but the wealthiest businessman. He also ranked no. 1 in ''The Top most Eligible Bachelors'' of Asia''. Every girls were looking at him with lust and desire as they wanted to be the girlfriend of this godlike man. But sadly no one could snatch his attention till now.....maybe except one person. Reuben is the epitome of handsomeness and he has the aura of a king, so not every person could handle his wrath. Henry walked towards his best friend and hit him playfully on his shoulder. "Bro, this is called a proper speech. Look, how all the girls literally drooling at you like they''ll eat you up if they get a chance now." Reuben just shrugged his shoulder at his best friend''s mockery. He didn''t replied him back but glared at him killingly. Henry gulped seeing Reuben''s expression and didn''t continue on the topic. ---------- Henry Johnson is also one of the biggest businessman of Country K. He ranked 2nd in the most eligible Bachelors'' of Asia. He is the CEO of Johnson Estates. He also has a handsome face with 6 feet 1 inch height and maintained a good body. His eyes are of black colour with copper hair. He was wearing a sap green tuxedo right then with a black bow tie and he was also looking very dashing, without failing to snatch the attention of the girls. He is single right now but has been in one-sided love with a girl since three and half years. Chapter 9 - 9. Ugly Duckling… "Oh my God! They''re finally here." Lucy exclaimed excitedly after seeing both of the handsome men. Veronica also looked at them uninterestedly for some time and took her eyes off from them. A man in a black suit approached the girls and introduced himself to them, "Hey, beautiful ladies. I''m Mathew Anderson. I must say you both are looking so beautiful that I can''t take my eyes off from you." "Thanks for your compliment." Lucinda replied whereas Veronica didn''t even bat an eye on him. "Are you both alone? Actually me and my friend want to dance with you." Mathew said pointing his finger towards another man. "No, we are not alone. Our parents are here with us." Veronica said sarcastically. "Oh. I see. So can I get your number miss?" he tried to flirt with Vero. Right then, a waiter got bumped into him, making the drinks on his platter fall on his expensive suit. "Ahhhhhh!! You bastard¡­" Mathew shouted out of anger. Soon everyone looked at him in astonishment as none had imagined that a person could use slang words in this high end party. "Sorry sir. I didn''t notice you. Let me take you to the washroom." The waiter said. Mathew hissed angrily and followed the waiter. Lucinda looked at him in dissatisfaction showing on her face. "Hmph! What a jerk! Tried to flirt with us without any manners?" Lucinda silently cursed. Without giving Mathew or the waiter any stance, Veronica looked directly at certain someone and thought in her mind, ''Cunning''. --------------- 10 minutes ago¡­ Reuben was talking to other business partners but his eyes kept on roaming around a figure. But his lips twitched slightly when he saw a man was approaching towards the figure. He now kept his full attention to those two people and when he saw that the man tried to become cozy with the girl, his eyes darkened. He signed to a waiter to come near him and said something in his ear. The waiter nodded his head and went to follow Reuben''s order. The waiter walked towards the group of three people and intentionally knocked onto Mathew. After apologizing to him, the waiter took him to the restroom before glancing at Reuben. Reuben was impressed by the waiter''s efficiency in acting and smiled at him. He then looked at the beautiful figure wearing a pink gown gracefully and standing near the bar, throwing him lots of daggers through her eyes as if she is going to kill him right now. He gave her a charming and innocent smile as if he had not done anything and again focused on other businessmen. ----------------- Veronica averted her eyes from Reuben, when her father called her to meet with someone. Every eyes were on her as she walked to a table with her parents and Lucinda. The men were all lusting over her beauty and hourglass figure whereas every women were giving her a envious look. Mr. Lopez took her to Reuben and said her to congratulate him. "Look, you guys know each other from childhood; still you hadn''t congratulated him yet. This is not fair Vero." Veronica''s mother also urged to her. "Congratulations." Victoria curtly wished Reuben with a forced smile. "Thanks." Reuben also didn''t show any expression. "Aiya, how can you talk this rudely to a beautiful lady?" Mr. Smith scolded his son. "Dad, you should check your eyes to a doctor. From which angle she looks beautiful? She is nothing but an ugly duckling." Reuben said to his father, pointing his head towards Victoria. Veronica''s whole face turned red in anger. She confronted him furiously, " Who are you calling an ugly duckling?" "You. I''m calling you an ugly duckling." Reuben pointed at Veronica with his index finger and a smug smile was plastered in his face. "You¡­..You are ugly. A total piece of shit." Veronica shouted at him. "Oh God! This two started again. For God''s sake you both are adults now. Stop fighting like children." Mrs. Smith scolded both of them. "Yeah¡­ Grow up you two now." Mrs. Lopez also agreed with her friend. "Then you should ask this to him first, Mom." Veronica wasn''t ready to lose to him. "Hmph! Why should she ask me. It''s you who behaves like a child." Reuben counter-attacked. "Alright.. Both of you can continue your bickering later. Now let''s sit there quietly without disturbing other guests." Mr. Lopez interrupted both of them as the two families sat at a table. Lucy couldn''t help but chuckle at their childish banter and followed everyone to the table. Chapter 10 - 10. I Missed You… "Hey Vero. How are you?" Henry asked as soon as they say on the table. "I''m good. What about you?" "I''m also fine." Giving a pause, Henry looked up at Lucinda. "How are you Lucy?" Lucinda was startled at first with the sudden enquiry, "Hehe. I''m okay." She blushed a little. Henry just nodded at her and sat beside his parents who were talking with Smith and Lopez elders. Reuben was looking at Veronica the whole time and suddenly from nowhere, got up from his chair and asked Lucinda to sit at his place whereas he took her chair which was right beside Veronica. Veronica glared at her friend but she didn''t even glance at Vero as she stood up to exchange the seats and sat right beside Henry. Lucinda gave Reuben a sharp glare and he also looked back at her and after some seconds, both of them turned their gaze from each other with red cheeks. Later in the evening, Veronica suddenly quivered a little when she felt a warm hand rubbing her naked back. She inspected where the hands come from and gaped at the person astonishingly. Reuben gave her a smirk and continued his hand movement, "So we finally met, dear." He whispered in Veronica''s ear. "Yeah. Finally." She tried to remove his hand from her back but failed. "But why I''m feeling like you are not happy to see me." Reuben queried. Veronica grinned evilly, "Of course. I''m not happy. After all, someone promised me that he would come back as soon as possible but instead he took one week extra time to return. And now he is blaming me for not welcoming him heartily. Hmph! Such a selfish man." Reuben raised one of his eyebrow amusingly and asked her, "So are you angry on me because of me taking more time to come back?" Veronica just ignored him and took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. Reuben move his chair closer to her so he could practically stick their body together and his another hand went to hold Veronica''s hand under the table. "Stop it Reuben." Veronica squirmed. "Not until you calm down and talk to me properly." Reuben said giving her a pitiful look. "You¡­." As Veronica was going to say something Mrs. Lopez looked at both of them and warned, "You guys started your fight again. Stop it otherwise I''m going to beat you up both here." "Look Jessica, both of us and our husbands are best friends from ages but our children are like mortal enemies." Victoria hissed. After getting scolded from both mothers'', the two of them stopped fighting but Reuben didn''t let go of her hand and started chatting with Henry and Lucinda who were peeking at each other for the entire time. --------------- As the party was coming to an end, Reuben and his father was bidding goodbye to their guests. Veronica excused herself to go to the washroom as she drank quite a lot in the party. After having her work done she got out of the bathroom. As she was heading back to the hall, a pair of hands caught her waist and slumped her to the wall and forcefully kissed her. At first, Veronica was startled and was going to kick the man in his balls but when she felt the familiar warmth eliminating through the man''s body, she hugged him by his waist and kissed him back passionately. After kissing each other around two minutes, Reuben take his mouth back from Veronica''s and touched their forehead together as they both were panting heavily. Regaining their calmness, Reuben caressed Veronica''s cheek with the back of his hand and said huskily, "I missed you so much babe." Veronica lifted her eyes towards his face and couldn''t hold her emotions anymore. She hugged Reuben tightly again and let her tears fall down on her cheek. "I missed you too honey. I can''t even express how I spent all these days without you." Veronica cried in his arms. "Hush baby!!. Don''t cry. It hurts me to see you like this. And you will also ruin your make up." Reuben tried to ease her mood with a joke. Veronica playfully smacked his back and said, " Stupid." And again kissed him on his lips. Reuben also ravished her mouth with same passion entwining their tongues rhythmically as like they were conveying how much they missed each other with their kiss. *Crack* The sudden cracking sound made Reuben and Veronica break their kiss as they looked at the source of the disturbance and their eyes widened in surprise seeing who / what was the reason of that sound.... Chapter 11 - 11. Four and Half Years... *crack* The sudden cracking sound made Reuben and Veronica break their kiss as they looked at the source of the disturbance and their eyes widened in surprise, seeing who / what was the reason of that sound. A flower vase was broken into pieces on the floor of the hallway and two persons were standing beside it, looking totally shocked after what they saw. One was covering her mouth with her right hand and the other''s mouth was gaped open with widened eyes. These two persons are none other than Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Lopez. ------------ 15 minutes earlier¡­ "Honey, where is Reuben? Some business partners want to talk to him." Mr. Smith asked his wife. "I don''t know where is he." Mrs. Smith replied. "Hmm¡­.. Even Veronica isn''t here. It''s been a while since she went for washroom." Mrs. Lopez said looking around her trying to find her daughter. "Urgh!! I think both of our children are again busy with their bickering. Let me go and find them." Mrs. Smith said to her husband and got up from her chair. "Yeah.. Let me go with you." Mrs. Lopez followed her friend. As they were walking through the hallway, both were complaining about their own children''s childishness and thinking about how their children always behaved like some born enemies and badmouthed about each other. But suddenly their footsteps halted when they saw the sight in front of them....both of their children, who were the so called enemies of each other....kissing each other passionately without a care about this world. They were so shocked by the view, that the flower vase on the rack beside them, had been shuttered down by their abrupt movements. ------------- Back to the present¡­ "What was that? Am I seeing things? Or I''ve gone mad??" Mrs. Lopez was the first one to break the silence. Veronica immediately pushed Reuben from her side and straightened her hair and dress which had been disheveled by their kiss and then she also hinted Reuben to do the same. "Mom¡­. Aunty¡­." Veronica awkwardly greeted them with her cheeks deep red like beet whereas Reuben stood beside her without any expression as if nothing had happened. "Care to explain?" Mrs. Smith eyed her son. "Actually, this is not what you guys are thinking. It was just¡­.." "We have been dating each other since four and half years." Reuben confessed as a matter of fact before Veronica could complete her sentence. Three of the ladies looked at him at the same time with a horrified expression and the mothers'' face were truly hilarious to look for. Reuben looked at their mothers and then his eyes fell on Veronica, "What?" Veronica kept silent and glared at him angrily like she would chop off him right then. "Did I said anything wrong baby?" Reuben hugged her waist raising his eyebrows and pouted. "Is this true, Vero?" Mrs. Lopez asked. Veronica didn''t have the guts to look up at her mother. She just nodded her head in affirmation. "Both of you¡­.. Come with us." Mrs. Smith ordered as the couple followed their mothers obediently hand in hands. ----------- In a private room¡­ Both of the Smith and Lopez family were sitting on the sofa across each other and the couple took a seat in the middle of the two families. Veronica had her head bowed down and Reuben had enterwined both of their fingers with his one hand while his other hand was holding a glass of cocktail without any stress. When he felt that Veronica''s hand was sweating profusely, he slightly pinched her palm and looked directly at her eyes gently as if assuring her that everything would be okay and to trust on him. Veronica gave him a slight smile and held his hand more tightly. "Ahem¡­"Mr. Smith coughed to break the silence. "What we are hearing from your mothers.... is that true?" Mr. Lopez asked. "Yes, Uncle. It''s absolutely true. We''re both in love with each other since very long." Reuben confirmed, without beating around the bush. "Yes dad. It''ll be soon our 5th year anniversary after five more months." Veronica also agreed and looked at their parents in their eyes. Thereafter, none of them talked and the room fell into silence once again that only the sound of their breathing could be heard. After another 5 minutes.... Both Mr. Smith and Mr. Lopez abruptly moved up from their seat and rushed towards each other with their enraged face like they were going to peel off each other''s skin. Reuben kept his glass down on the table and opened his mouth to say something but was stopped by what he had seen the next... Chapter 12 - 12. Planned It On Purpose… Both Mr. Smith and Mr. Lopez abruptly moved up from their seat and rushed towards each other with their enraged face like they were going to peel off each other''s skin. Reuben kept his glass down on the table and opened his mouth to say something but was dumbfounded by what he had seen the next... The next thing what everyone witnessed is¡­.. Both of the fathers were hugging each other tightly with gleeful expressions. "Goodness! I always wanted your daughter to become my son''s wife. But I thought that it would be next to impossible in this life as they always quarreled about everything. Yet, who would have known that these brats are dating each other for so long." Mr. Smith exclaimed in joy breaking the hug. "Yeah.. Same here. I was also tensed about that, there is no other perfect man for my daughter except your son. But now we''re relieved." Mr. Lopez also beamed happily. Everyone was stupefied by the sudden revelation. After the men settled down to their own seat it was the time for the ladies. "Jessi, I never thought that we will be in-laws in this life." Mrs. Smith hugged her best friend with tears filled in her eyes. "Yes, Vic.. Who would have thought that these two will be so good at hiding their relationship from everyone!!" Mrs. Lopez also cried in Jessica''s embrace. Now, the couple was astonished to see their families'' over exaggerating drama. They both gazed at each other with their mouth opened and shook their head. After some more chatting and giggling, Lopez family handed their gift to Reuben and decided to leave for their house. They also asked Lucinda to stay at their place that night as her parents were out of town. While they all were exiting the room, Reuben caught Veronica''s waist and pulled her towards his chest and ravished her lips hungrily, and their tongues covered every corner of each other''s mouth. Finally, when they both were out of breath, then they let go of each other. "Why are you going back to your home? Will you not spend the night with me? I really can''t stay without you today. You don''t know how many cold showers I had to take when I was out in US..." Reuben whispered in her ear huskily. When his soft breath fell on her ear and neck, Veronica shuddered involuntarily. Then she lightly pushed him away from her but he didn''t bulge even a single inch, moreover he tightened his grip on her waist. "Well, Mister. I didn''t ask you to leave me for so many days. And for your kind information, not only you but I also suffered a lot without you here. So now this is the punishment for you." Veronica smirked. "But honey¡­" "No buts.. This is final otherwise you know I can do more to punish you." Veronica threatened him. Reuben gulped in fear as he understood about what she is talking about. She would not allow him to touch her for a whole week let alone kiss her or do something naughty.... He reluctantly let her go but demanded with a pout, " Okay, at least give me one more kiss before you go." Veronica smiled at his cute face and quickly giving him a peck on his lips and then she ran away from him as fast as she could. Reuben sighed helplessly as he knew that this would be a tough night for him as well like the past few weeks and he even have to take many cold showers to relieve himself. He then walked the Lopez family out to their car. James patted at his shoulder and sat down on the front passenger seat. Veronica also looked at his pitiful face for the last time and jumped in the car before giving him a wink and they drove off. ------------- The next morning¡­. Veronica woke up late as it was Sunday. She went to the washroom and came back after her morning course. She then hurriedly shook her best friend off from her sleep. Lucinda groaned and get up from her bed. "Hurry up if you want to have breakfast." Vero chided at her best friend. "Hmm. Good morning sweetheart." Lucinda replied and get up to take a bath. Veronica was blow drying her hair when her phone rung. She picked up the call. "Good morning honey." Came Reuben''s mellow voice from other side. "Morning baby. Have you slept well?" she asked. "Don''t even ask about that....By that way, may I have a chance to go on a date with my girlfriend?" "No baby. Today I''m going shopping with Lucy." "Huh!! You planned it on purpose, right?" Reuben said in displeasure. written on his face. "Well, you guessed it correctly. Now I''ve to go to eat breakfast. Talk to you later. Bye." Without waiting for his answer Veronica cut the call and went down with Lucy. "So who called? Is it my would be brother in law?" Lucy teased while they were heading to the car after breakfast. "Hmm. He was asking me for a date." "So are you going?" "Nah! Let me punish him a little more." Veronica grinned evilly. "You are really a devil." Lucinda also grinned. "That I am." Veronica proudly said as they got in the car. After a whole day shopping, movie watching, eating and other stuffs; they were tired and as soon as they came back at evening, they slept off... Chapter 13 - 13. Notorious Playboy… The next day was Monday¡­ Both Veronica and Lucinda woke up early as they both have to go to their respective offices. They both sat on their chairs in the dining hall. "Good morning girls." Mr. Lopez put down his newspaper on the table. He was already wearing his business suit, ready to go to office. "Good morning Dad." "Morning Uncle." Mr. Lopez smiled at both of them and ate the sandwich which his wife had just placed on his plate. "So what is your plan today? Are you going out anywhere with my son-in-law?" Jessica asked her daughter. Veronica almost choked on her food listening to her mother acknowledging Reuben as her son-in-law. "Come on Mom¡­!! He''s not your son-in-law yet." Veronica scoffed. "Yeah. But he''ll be soon. So what''s wrong calling him in this name from now on?" Mrs. Lopez wasn''t ready to lose the battle with her daughter. Veronica rolled her eyes, "Mom. You are not understanding. Me and Reuben have decided to not announce our relationship to the public so soon." "But why? You both are grown up now then what''s wrong with it?" Jessica furrowed her brows. "We have some personal reasons Mom." "If they don''t want to reveal it then don''t pressurize them. And who said that I''m going to marry off my daughter so soon?" Mr. Lopez made an angry face. "But weren''t you agreed on their relationship?" Mother Lopez asked being puzzled. "Yes, I agreed on that. But I''m not ready to marry my princess off so soon." Father Lopez humphed. Veronica was amazed about where the topic was going whereas Lucinda just giggled. "Okay. Now we have to leave Mom and Dad. Otherwise we''ll be late for our office." Veronica and Lucinda both got up from their chairs. After saying their good-byes, both of the girls drove to their office. Veronica first dropped Lucy at her workplace before going to her own office. ---------------------- Lucinda has her own cafe which have five branches through out the city S and seven more branches in the other cities of country K. Her cafes are famous among all ages- from children to youngsters to old people. Their coffee and other dishes are top notch and the cafes have a good environment. So people like to come and spend their time here. Lucinda Wilson is the only heiress of the Wilson family and she has a elder brother who now handles their family business. He is also very famous among girls for his good looks and charming personality. He is a notorious playboy of city S and changes girlfriends like changing clothes. There is no girls who doesn''t know the flirtatious and playful handsome man, Neil Wilson. Though he is infamous for his flirty personality but he is dead serious about his work. He took their family business to another level after being the CEO. Neil and Lucinda are both very close each other and Neil spoiled his sister to no level. Though Lucinda knows about her brother''s playboy image but she doesn''t give a damn about that, as she knows that his brother is very good from his heart and loves her dearly. Neil is also a friend of Reuben and Henry and often hangs around with them. They are childhood friends and went to same school and same college for their business management studies. He is also in the list of ''the top 10 most handsome bachelors of Country K'' so he is very good looking with a perfect height and body and has a lot of money to spend harshly. But he also has a deepest dark secret which no one knows even not his sister. ---------------- Veronica arrived at the parking lot of her office not long after dropping her best friend. It is a very big building with 20 floors and very beautiful to look at. The word "CREATION" was written in big block letters at the top of the building showing the creativity through its typography style. "CREATION" is the best Multimedia Company among country K and it always ranked at the top 1 since the past 4 years. Though this company is the largest multimedia center and known for their best Animation films, vfx, graphic designing and more¡­ but no one knows anything about the CEO and even not the gender of the almighty king / queen of the Multimedia industry. Veronica''s father always wanted his princess to fulfil her dreams and let her do what she wants. When she asked her father to study Animation instead of Business Management, he easily agreed. So after that she studied hard and then later joined CREATION as an intern but now she is one of the head of the planning department. She earned it through her hard work and didn''t accept any help from her father to reach to this position. Chapter 14 - 14. CREATION… Veronica got down from her car and entered the biggest multimedia company of country K, "Creation". The receptionist bowed to her and she also nodded back to her with a smile on her face as she entered the elevator. She went to 19th floor as it is the floor of the planning department of Graphics, Animation and VFX. The floor is only contained with 3 big offices for the heads of every department, also with two meeting halls, two big laboratories to work on. The employees under them work on the 16th, 17th and 18th floor- each floor for each department. --------- Veronica is the head of VFX Department, one of the most creative and toughest department of this industry. It takes a huge time to create a VFX project. As there are different types of software and techniques are developing day by day, so being the head of any of these departments is quite tough as you have to cope up with developing technology and process. Though the Multimedia industry is really interesting to see but it''s very hard to work here. There are hundreds of people who works in just a single project, so Veronica''s job is not as simple to be done. Not only VFX, but she is mastered in 2d and 3d Animation and Graphics Designing. That''s why sometimes, the head of the other departments also come looking for her, if they needed any help. --------- After entering her office, Veronica kept her bag on the sofa and sat on her office chair. Her assistant Willa, knocked on the door and entered the office with a cup of coffee. It''s Veronica''s daily habit of having coffee before she started her work. Handing the coffee to Veronica, Willa greeted her, "Good Morning Ma''am. Today you have a meeting with Team B about the project with Glory Films at 11:30 am. And then you have to visit the Film set of ''The King''s Concubine'' at 3 pm.. "First of all a very good morning. And please give me the reports of the project which is being handled by Team B." Veronica replied. "Okay Ma''am. I''ll email those files to you in 10 minutes." Willa said. "Alright. Anything else for today?" Veronica asked. "No ma''am. There is nothing more to do." "Okay, you may leave now." Veronica sipped her coffee. "Wait for a minute¡­." Before Willa could move the doorknob, Veronica interrupted her. "How was your date yesterday?" Veronica walked up from her chair with a teasing smile on her face and stood in front of her secretary. Willa blushed hard and replied shyly, "It was good." "So, had he proposed you?" Veronica excitingly asked her. Willa shook her head as a NO. "Oh! That idiot is really a big idiot." Veronica cursed. Willa looked up at her boss and denied it, "No¡­ he''s not." "Woah!! Look now our girl is siding with him." Veronica teased.. "Vero¡­Stop it.." Willa shouted with her face as red as a tomato. "Okay.. okay.. I understand. You may leave now." Veronica stopped teasing and sat back on her chair. She looked at the disappearing figure of her college friend and sighed. Then she opened her computer and checked out her emails while finishing her coffee. ------------ Veronica and Willa are both friends from their college days. They studied multimedia in the same University. Willa belongs from a middle class family and was a very good student. Her parents couldn''t afford the whole fees for her study, so her course was depended on 20% of her scholarship. She had given tuition classes to other children as a part time job to carry her living expenses. Veronica always liked her honesty and hard work. So she became good friends with her though there is a class difference between both of their families. As Willa was a brilliant student and very professional with work, so when Veronica entered the company she kept her as a assistant, who could also support her with her work and the projects. Though both of they had a relationship of ''Boss and Assistant'', still they stayed as very close friends till now. They never merged their professional and personal lives together. When they were inside the office or in front of other employees, they would never cross the boundary as friends; but when they were out of everyone''s eyes or outside of the company, they would not give a damn about the world. They would be totally carefree, forgetting all the worries. Even Lucinda would also join them in their hang out as Veronica and Lucinda are both best friends from their childhood, so she and Will met many times and got aquatinted with each other well. They are now like three besties, who always stay together like sisters. ------------ Chapter 15 - 15. Naughty Stuffs… Having her work done for the day, Veronica was preparing to leave the office when her phone rang. Seeing the person''s name on the phone, a smile bloomed on her face. Veronica quickly picked up the phone and answered with a sweet voice, "Yes, honey." Reuben smiled on the other side of the phone hearing her voice, "Are you done with work baby?" "Hmm.. I''m packing my bag now." "Good. Then come down. I''m waiting for you in the parking lot." Reuben said. Veronica wasn''t surprised to listen that because he would always come to fetch her whenever he hadn''t any meetings in the evening. She then put her USB drive and other important documents in her bag as fast as she could and went down to the parking lot. As it was already 6:15 in the evening, many employees were not present there. So she rushed to Reuben''s car, opened the door and hopped in the front passenger seat. As soon as she got into the car, she was pulled in for a kiss by the man on the driving seat. Veronica couldn''t control the sudden force as she directly stumbled into the man''s embrace. Reuben hold Veronica''s waist tightly with his left hand whereas his right hand was on her neck deepening the kiss. He nibbled on her lips first, then sucked it and then bit on the lips forcefully trying to enter his tongue into hers. Veronica groaned in pain and caught hold of his right arm with her left hand and her other hand went into his hair holding it tightly. She opened her teeth in response and when Reuben''s tongue entered her mouth she gave a light moan. This moan made Reuben go more crazy as he pulled her into his lap and his hand started to roam all over her body. Veronica could suddenly feel something poking her from below and she instantly understood that the thing that was poking her, was none other than the man''s little brother which became quiet big at that time. Reuben broke the kiss unwantedly when both of them were out of breath as he slowly whispered in her ear, "Let''s stop here. Otherwise I can not control myself and take you right here in the car, which will not be so pleasant for both of us, I guess." Veronica just nodded her head in response and hugged him tightly. She missed his embrace so much. She missed his scent, how he always teased her and talked sweet nothings; she missed his kisses, his touch; she missed all of him, when he was away from her from so many weeks, it was very hard for her to not cry. Same with Reuben¡­ He missed her so much all those days without her that he wanted to hug her all the day and night and kiss her senseless all over her without stopping and any restrictions. But sadly this was not the right place for all these things. So he reluctantly released her from their hug and kissing her on her forehead, he let her sit on the passenger seat and tied her seatbelt. While driving, he took hold of her hand and never left it as they talked about their works of the whole day. Reuben already had ordered his secretary to drive back her car to Lopez mansion and Veronica also informed her parents that she would not go back home today. In fact, Veronica had her own bungalow in the City Center where she prefers to live most of the time as it is close to her office and it is also safe to do some naughty stuffs with her dear boyfriend without any disturbance. Actually not everybody knows that this is not only the bungalow of Veronica but also of Reuben. They bought it together to spend some quality time with each other, without any pries to interfere their sweet moments. They started living in there from their 1 year anniversary and made it their own home of love. Both of them reached their bungalow, Reuben came out from the car and then went to open the other side of the door. As Veronica put her first leg on the ground, she suddenly got picked up in the air with the sturdy arms at her back and waist. "Aaahhh! Bennie, what are you doing?" She yelped in fear. "Nothing much. Just carrying my girlfriend into our home. Is there anything wrong to carry my own girlfriend, Ica?" Reuben grinned as he asked back. ''Bennie'' and ''Ica'' are the nick names they had given to each other since they professed their love. After entering the home with the pizza boxes, which they have bought on their way home, he made Vero sat on the sofa and went to bring some coke from the fridge. After having their dinner with chatting and laughing, Reuben first went to take a shower in their bedroom whereas Veronica cleaned the table. When Veronica entered their bedroom, Reuben had already done with his shower and was sitting on the bed with his mobile phone, playing games. Veronica shook her head seeing him and went in the bathroom to take a shower. After some minutes¡­ When she came outside of the bathroom, she was only wearing a bathrobe, clearly showing her long beautiful toned legs and white sexy collarbones, water was dripping from her wet hair. Reuben gulped in desire when he saw this sexy and seductive sight of her. "Stop drooling, Mr. Smith." Veronica smirked seeing the lust in his eyes. She started to dry her hair with the dryer, when two big hands wrapped her waist from behind and wet kisses started to fall on her long bare neck. Reuben bit her nape and shoulders and then licked the portion with his tongue. Veronica moaned in sensation as she clutched the back of his head. Her moan gave him more encourage as he then picked her up in bridal style and gently laid her on the bed. Without wasting a single second, he moved on top of her and pinned her down on the bed¡­ Chapter 16 - 16. Cold Showers… Her moan gave him more encourage as he then picked her up in bridal style and gently laid her on the bed. Without wasting a single second, he moved on top of her and pinned her down on the bed¡­ Reuben started from, kissing her forehead, nose , then both of her eyes, chin and finally on her luscious lips. After biting and suckling her lips for more than five minutes, he moved to her neck area. At first, he gently kissed her neck and collarbone, then started biting it roughly. "Uhmmm.." Veronica moaned in pleasure and wrapped her hand around his back. Reuben moved his head up to look at her beautiful face and couldn''t hold his urge to ravish her mouth again as his hand went between her thighs caressing it. Again kissing her senseless, he moved back to her neck where he had bitten before and licked the portion, which had already became red, with his tongue. "Reu¡­.Ben¡­Ahhh.." Veronica couldn''t stop herself calling his name as she pressed him more to herself. Reuben was now out of control, and he couldn''t wait more to devour her fully. He gave a peck on her lips and focused on her face as they both locked their eyes with each other. He then moved her hair strands that were covering her forehead, with his left hand and hold her face, brushing it with his thumb. His other hand which was caressing her thighs, moved up to undone her robe. He then loosened the knot of her robe leaving it half-opened so that he could remove it from her body, when he saw the white smooth bare flesh of his beloved, his eyes darkened and he fell some wet kisses on her cleavage, and he went to move down more..... "Hold on..." Veronica pushed him with her hands firmly widening her eyes. "What happened, honey?" Reuben got up from her and looked at her confusingly. Veronica looked at him pitifully as she stammered, "I think¡­I think¡­my period came." As she said this, she rushed down from the bed and ran to the bathroom hurriedly. Reuben groaned in frustration and looked down at his little brother which was already wide awake. He shook his head with a self-pitied expression, because he knew that his days of calming himself with cold showers had not ended yet. He looked at the locked door of the bathroom and headed to another room to take a cold shower and calm his little brother. When Reuben came back into the room, Veronica was already sitting on their bed wrapped in a blanket, resting her head on the headboard. She stared at him guiltily as she apologized, "Sorry baby¡­I forgot that today is the date of my period." Reuben walked towards her and without any words laid on the bed covering himself with the blanket and pulled Veronica into his embrace. When he saw her sorry face, he kissed on the top of her head as he consoled her, "It''s okay honey. It was not your fault. Come let''s sleep. Don''t think too much about it." Veronica sighed seeing how much he had controlled himself just for her sake, he didn''t even blame her for it. She kissed his lips one more time and hugged him back as he also buried his head on her neck and both of them dozed off. ----------- Life Hospital, City B¡­. In the VIP hospital room, an old lady was laying on the bed, having an IV drop attached to her left hand. Her right hand was being hold by a good looking young man, who was sitting on a stool beside her bed. "Had you met with my future granddaughter in law?" The old lady asked the young man. Alonzo glanced at his grandmother and said in a soft tone, "No grandma. I haven''t yet. Though I saw her in the party but before I could go to her, I was informed of you being hospitalized." "Aiya!! So you couldn''t meet her because of me." The old woman felt sad for her grandson. But suddenly remembering something, she asked him, "So you saw her right? Is she still beautiful like before?" Alonzo smiled at his grandmother''s exasperation as he replied, "She became more beautiful than before." Chapter 17 - 17. Madam Brown… Alonzo smiled at his grandmother''s exasperation as he replied, "She became more beautiful than before." "Hmm¡­ Then that''s good. Not any ordinary woman can be my grandson''s wife after all." The old lady proudly said. "Okay. It''s already been very late. Now close your eyes and sleep. I''ll be coming tomorrow to bring you back home." Alonzo said and covered her with the blanket properly. Seeing that the woman had already closed her eyes and was breathing heavily, he got out of the room. -------------- The old lady was none other than Alonzo''s paternal grandmother, Madam Brown. She is over 60 years old but as she maintained herself properly, not everyone could guess it by looking at her. She was very close to both of her grandchildren, Alonzo and his little sis Cassie Brown. She always loved both of them equally and never differentiate between boys and girls. So she was both of their best friend. Alonzo also loved her a lot and he prioritized her the most in his family. As they were very close to each other, he revealed all his secrets to her. When Alonzo met the love of his life for the first time, his grandmother was the first one who came to know about it. From then, he told each and every single thing, both he and his beloved had done and how they fell into love and their relationship stories etc.. He also shared how they spent their pass times loving each other and also how the girl cheated on him and left him in the crucial point of his life. Grandmother Brown also loved to listen to the stories of the couple and already started to build a liking towards her. But everything has changed when the girl left Alonzo¡­.. Alonzo got broken so much that he locked himself in his room for two days, without eating anything, nor did he spoke to anyone. He only opened the door when grandma Brown came to his door and consoled him from outside and also gave him the excuse of her illness. After opening the door, Alonzo cried in her embrace for one hour and barely ate some foods. But after that, the soft hearted person was no more alive, instead a cold and stone hearted person had born into that 23 year old boy''s body. And now he is the most feared man of city B.... The Alonzo Brown. ------------- Alonzo got into his car and called his assistant, "What is the progress in S city? When will the shifting of our main headquarters be completed?" "Boss, everything is almost ready. We just need to finalize the guest list for our inauguration party. If you are free now, then I''ll send the list of the invited guests." His assistant replied. "Hmm. Send it to me. I want to shift our company''s main headquarters to city S as soon as possible. So let''s not waste any time and tell everyone to work hard more, if they want to double their bonus this month." Alonzo ordered. "Okay, boss. I''ll do as you said." His assistant, Bill assured him. "And also book a ticket to city S for the day after tomorrow." "Noted Boss." Bill confirmed his boss as he cut the call. After cutting the call Alonzo leaned back on his seat and closed his eyes. He said to himself, "I really don''t know what to do with myself. It''s killing me to see you all happy by yourself, whereas I''m dying here with your memories. Why did you do this to me then?" His anger rose up as he punched the back of the driver seat. His driver, who was seating in front, flinched by his boss''s sudden action but did not say anything. Alonzo opened his eyes and took some deep breaths to calm himself down. Then he ordered his driver to drive back to his mansion. Chapter 18 - 18. The Epitome of Handsomeness… The next morning in City S¡­. Veronica stretched out her hand towards the right side of herself, to hug Reuben, but she couldn''t feel the sturdy yet soft body. When she felt the coldness, she opened her eyes and found out that the other side of the bed was already empty. She walked towards the bathroom and seeing that he was also not there, instead of finding him, she took a bath and got freshen up. After donning herself in a robe, she came out and dried her hair. She then found some casual work clothes in the wardrobe and got ready for her office. ------ Veronica was still on stairs when she smelled something really good. She hurriedly went inside the kitchen and noticed her man there. Reuben was wearing a white round neck t-shirt with black pants. His hair was disheveled and wet, as he neither dried nor combed his hair after shower. This muscular man was stir frying some vegetables and meat right then with full focus. He was just like ''the epitome of handsomeness''. Veronica was in daze viewing the man''s profile and couldn''t utter a single word. Her mind went berserk thinking how these muscled arms hold her tightly in his arms and the feeling of being in his arms is so blissful that she never wanted to get out of it. "Are you done staring at me, baby?" Reuben asked when he felt someone''s sharp gaze on him. Without looking he could tell that the person was none other than his beloved girlfriend. The sudden voice made Veronica to return back from her dazed state. She walked towards him and tiptoed to give him a kiss on the cheek as she avoided his question and said, "Good morning baby." Reuben turned his head towards her and gave a quick peck on her lips and replied, "Morning love. Our breakfast is almost ready, so that my beautiful girlfriend can eat soon." He then turned off the oven. "Woah!! So many dishes¡­. I missed your cooking so much darling." She said, salivating over the dishes. Reuben laughed at his girl''s comment as he hooked his arm around her waist and kissed her lips. He can''t get enough of her luscious lips, even if he continued kissing her the whole day. Veronica broke out from the kiss and she said, "Go and get ready quickly. I''ll arrange the table." Nodding his head, Reuben went upstairs to get charged in his office attire. ----- After their hearty breakfast, Reuben and Veronica drove towards Creative (where Veronica works). While they were in the car, Reuben was holding her hand and brushing the back of it with his thumb. Veronica didn''t said anything as she was already habituated to it. Reuben would always hold her hand when they were driving together as if he got encouragement by it and in the middle of driving, he would bring her hand to his lips and would kiss it. "Bennie¡­.. Did you get any clue about the man?" Veronica abruptly asked. Hearing this question, Reuben turned his head to look at her, while his hand tightened around the steer-wheel. He clenched his teeth and responded in anger, "Yes, that bastard had been caught three days ago and now is in my men''s hand. They are taking care of him gleefully." Veronica patted his hand that was holding her hand, with her other hand to reduce his temper. She coaxed him, "Don''t get angry baby. He is not even at a level of getting your anger. You have already said that he is being punished by your men now. So cool down. Okay?" Reuben looked at her face again and sighed. He couldn''t stay angry for long time, when his love was coaxing him in this cute way. After reaching her office, Veronica kissed him one more time and went into her office. After making sure that Veronica entered the office premises, he also drove to somewhere. ------ Since some days, a man was continuously following Veronica and watching her every steps. When Veronica felt something awkward, he told this to Reuben and he immediately assigned his men to search for that suspicious man and finally, he got caught before three days. Reuben also increased the amount of guards around Veronica as she is his first priority always and if something would happen to her, he would kill each and everybody without any hesitation. Chapter 19 - 19. No One Dare To Hurt My Woman… In the outskirt side of city S¡­ A five-storeyed building stood tall amongst the other houses of that locality. Though there were also other people staying in that locality, but those were far away from that building, as it was in a relatively secluded area. No outsiders were allowed there and no sounds could be heard from the building. Only sometimes, big cars could be seen to go into that private place. None knew about the owner of that place or what was this place being used for¡­. It was still a big question for those few people who lived there. The place was protected from outsiders with high walls and long coconut trees. The house had been prepared with thick black stone and black glasses. Hardly any sunlight could enter in that house. There were many armed man securing the place and observing everything seriously; not even a mosquito could pass through them without their permission. ------- A car had approached the gate of that private place. Recognizing the number plate of the car, the guards opened the gate from their control office and let the car enter in the premises. The car stopped in front of the main door of the building as a man dressed in Black suit opened the car door. A pair of hefty legs descended from the car as he closed his suit button. All the armed men that were guarding the place, bowed their head down in respect, with their right hand on their chest. The man who just stepped out of the car, was wearing a charcoal grey suit with a light grey shirt inside. He was wearing a dark black tie with black Oxford shoes. He was looking very handsome in his attire as he carried his cold face. At that moment, another man in black suit came out from the building and bowed towards the previous man. "Boss, we had tried many things to make that bastard spill out the reason of his doing, but he is continuously saying the same thing that he doesn''t know anything about it." The assistant who came out from the building informed. The Boss didn''t say anything, instead he directly walked inside the building, followed by his assistant. They both went through a hidden door and pressed a button. A big portrait of a beautiful landscape moved aside from the wall and another hidden path came into their view, which was leading them to an underground area. ------ "Aaaaaaaahhhhhh..." As both of the men entered the black glassed room in the underground area, this was the first sight they saw¡­.where a man was lying on the ground being tied, only wearing an underwear and his whole body was covered with blood and different types of cuts. He was shouting loudly as another man was peeling his nails out from his fingers one by one. The Boss indifferently took a seat on the comfortable sponged chair, without batting a eye on the blooded man and gave a sign to his other subordinates to leave the room. Now, only there were three people in the room¡­.the Boss, his assistant and the abducted man. The boss lazily looked at the man, who was crying out of pain and asked him in a cold voice, "Who sent you to keep an eye on my woman?" The half-naked man looked at him in horror as if he had seen a ghost and had just discovered the most frightening truth of his life and stuttered, "You¡­. Your woman?" He shuttered in fear when he recognized, that the person who was in front of him then, was none other than the great and most powerful man in the country S, the CEO of Smith Enterprise, Mr. Reuben Smith. Reuben didn''t even think to answer him for a single time but his voice rose from cold to enraged state, as he again asked, "For the last time I''m asking you this, who sent you here and what is the reason of all this?" The man sat up from the cold floor with difficulties and shook his head vigorously, "I''m sorry for what I had done but even if you ask me hundred more times and torture me to death, my answer will still be a no." "Death..!! Haa??" Reuben raised his eyebrows and laughed out sarcastically. Then he rose to his feet, took a gun from a table and shot the man straight away on his forehead. The man fell down on the floor once again and closed his eyes, hinting his death to the other two men. "You wanted death, nah? Then how can''t I fulfil your last wish!! So die now.. No one can dare to hurt my woman.. No One..." Reuben shouted in a cold voice, flushed in anger. Then he threw the gun on the table and wiped his hand clean with some tissues and ordered his assistant, "Throw his body in the river." "Okay, boss. Think the work is already done." His assistant, Tom replied. "Good." Reuben said and left the building. Chapter 20 - 20. SECRET 7... Reuben is not any simple man, he has his another identity which is not known by many people. He is the boss of a famous underworld group, named ''SECRET 7''. Everyone started shivering just by hearing this name. Though ''Secret 7'' is a underworld gang, but it never supports any illegal transaction of drugs and weapons or human trafficking. Instead of this, they protect the country K from those gangs, who did this transactions and prohibits them by an ultimatum. But..even after their warning, if those gangs still tried to sneak out those drugs and weapons illegally, then ''Secret 7'' will not even blink an eye to demolish them. Not only the normal peoples or other businessmen were frightened over ''Secret 7'' but also the other underworld groups never tried to offend them, because it would surely led them to death. ''Secret 7'' has total 7 members in group, including Reuben and they also held same positions like him, but the king has to be only one person...and that is none other than The Reuben Smith¡­He is best known as the king of the underworld, more like THE DEMON KING¡­. Each and everyone of this gang has their own code names as like the seven leaders. This seven leaders also had their own elite team and their subsidiary groups, which has been handled by them personally, but these seven subsidiary groups always worked as one..under the main branch... Secret 7... Reuben''s code name is Hurl, whereas the code names of the other four leaders are Ice, Hunter, Flash, Neo, Zico and Mark. Each of their real identities were securely covered by their teams and they also gained support from the government for their good works.. ------ Reuben went back to his office from his underworld base and attended the meetings, he needed to. It was already evening when he finished his work and messaged Veronica to wait for him in the parking lot of her office because he would pick her up from there. ----- When Veronica got his message, she was also done with her work and after packing up her things, she waited for Reuben to pick her up. After 5 minutes of waiting, she noticed Reuben''s car and quickly got into it. As usual the first thing she got after riding into the car, was definitely not a casual greeting like ''Hi honey, how was your work?''¡­but a passionate kiss from her wolf boyfriend. She couldn''t even fix herself on the seat properly but Reuben pulled her towards him and devoured her. As it was their daily routine, so she didn''t stop him to do so.. because these kisses also lifted her mood up and made her relax after the whole day''s boring work. After the kiss, they both drove to their bungalow and Veronica immediately ran to the washroom after getting inside their lovely home. (A/N: as girls can really relate that, Period sucks¡­) Reuben didn''t go their room, instead he walked into the kitchen. He kept his suit on the sofa and shifted his sleeves up to his elbow. He then took out a container of Brown sugar and put some water on the stove to warm. After the water got heated up, he added two tablespoon of brow sugar in it and when the sugar melted, he pour the brown sugar mixture into a glass and headed up to their bedroom. When he entered their bedroom, Veronica was already done with her bathing and was combing her hair then. Reuben slowly walked towards her and kept the glass on the dressing table, as he took the comb from Veronica''s hand and signaled her to drink. Veronica smiled at him and didn''t argue with him, as she quickly gulped down the drink while Reuben was combing her hair gently as like she was some porcelain doll. Having completed the drink, she turned her body towards Reuben and hugged him by his waist whereas her face rested on his lower abdomen. "Thanks honey, you always take care of me." Veronica was very happy as she knew that even after his heavy workload in the office, when he came back to their home, the first thing he decided to do was to make her a drink of Brown sugar. He knew that she really had to suffer a very bad period crumps for these five days, so he personally made it for her. He really cares for her the most. Reuben smiled and kissed the top of her head affectionately and pleaded to her, "Baby, now don''t give me a boner. You know that I can''t take you right now.. that''s why you are teasing me." Veronica chuckled at his comment and got up from the stool. She quickly gave him a peck on his lips and told him to freshen up. She then headed downstairs to the kitchen with the empty glass. When she was done washing the glass, she quickly made some quick yet warm dinner. When Reuben couldn''t find her in their room after his bath, he came downstairs and the first thing he saw was, Veronica arranging the dinner table with various dishes. After placing all the dishes on the table, she finally saw Reuben and noticed anger on his face. She exactly knew what was his anger about. "Honey, I just cooked some dishes.. I didn''t do any other chores. So don''t be angry and come let''s eat." Reuben didn''t move from that place and said coldly, "Aren''t you having crumps? I know it''s quite painful, so why were you in the kitchen, cooking all these?" Veronica went towards him and said pitifully by holding his hands, "It''s alright baby. It doesn''t hurt much after I drink that mixture. Or don''t you want to eat my cooking?" Tears filled in her eyes as she said that. Sighing deeply, he kissed her forehead and wiped away the tears that were threating to fall from her eyes. He very well knew that it was her acting to pursue him but he couldn''t do anything, as he couldn''t bear to see her tears, even though it was fake. Veronica happily pulled him to the dining table and after the dinner, they both slept peacefully in each other''s arms. Chapter 21 - 21. Money is all that talks… In the morning, city B¡­ Alonzo brought back his grandmother to their old family mansion. Both of his parents were present there. Mrs. Brown was preparing some fruit juice for Madam Brown while Alonzo was with his father in the study room. In the study room¡­ Alonzo was sitting leisurely on the sofa with his legs crossed over each other, holding a puzzle piece in his hand and playing with it. "What''s the meaning of all these?" Alonzo''s father, Mr. Porter Brown asked furiously, sitting on the swivel chair behind the study table. Alonzo kept the puzzle piece down on the center table and laid back on the soft cushion lazily, but didn''t answer him back. Porter became more angry by his son''s behavior as he threw the file in his hand on the table forcefully and asked gritting his teeth, "I''m asking you something, Alonzo. Will you answer me for God''s sake? Why are you changing the head quarters back to city S?" Alonzo just took his phone out from his pocket and messaged something to his assistant, totally ignoring his father. Mr. Brown was utterly enraged this time, as he dashed towards his son and threw Alonzo''s phone aside on the sofa. He shouted on him, "Don''t stay still like a dumb person and answer me." Alonzo then shot a side glance at his father and solemnly replied, "I''m just changing it for some business purposes, Dad. We''re already the most powerful businessman of city B. So there is nothing harmful to increase our power around the country. And you also know that city S is the best bait for this. So let''s try our luck there too." Pausing for a while, Alonzo directly looked into his father''s eyes as he asked, "Don''t you have faith in your own son?" His father balled his fingers into a tight fist and tried his best to control his fury. He then glared at his son as he said, "Who are you making a fool, Alonzo!!?? You¡­and me¡­we both know that this is not the main reason of the shifting. There is more about it." "Well, you know your son very well Dad. It''s just that I''m missing some spices here so I am shifting our main headquarters to city S, so I can get back all the spices in my life again." Alonzo replied very calmly. Porter Brown gave a hefty sigh and sat down on the opposite single sofa from his son. He rested both of his hands on the armrests and moved his body forward. "You know, you can always get back whatever you lost here, in this city. Why bother to set everything again from the start in another city? Moreover, you know it very well that City S¡­. actually not only city S but the whole country is in the power of the Smith''s and city S is their root. We can''t gain many facility there and even if you try very hard, we still can''t suppress them." Mr. Brown tried to make his son understand his point of view. "I know that well Dad and I''m not going there to suppress anyone. Also, I had already sent a business proposal to the secretary department of Mr. Reuben Smith about there new project in City A. They are bidding for the architectural plans and we are the best at it. So I''m sure, after our plan got selected, we can directly collaborate with them which will also help us to steady our business in City S. So don''t worry about anything and let me handle it." As Alonzo replied all his father''s questions, he immediately stood up to leave. When he was near the door, Mr. Brown warned his son, " Do whatever you want. But remember, you will only marry the daughter of the Parker family, Regina Parker." Alonzo paused in his step and his right hand tightened in a fist, but without saying anything, he stormed out of room, making the door of the study room shuttered in a loud ''bang''. After Alonzo left the room, Mr. Porter Brown brushed his chin with his fingers and grinned devilishly. "Whatever your plan is about the shifting of the main headquarters, I can''t guess it properly right now. But I''m very sure that it must be connected with that beggar girl, whom you are loving from 5 years. But don''t worry son, even also this time¡­.. I''m not going to allow that beggar to stay by your side. After all, money is all that talks. Hahahaha¡­" Mr. Brown evilly laughed as he said to himself. Chapter 22 - 22. Apple of the Eye… Alonzo was on the last step of stairs, when a big force knocked onto him and hugged him tightly. Alonzo became dumbfounded for some seconds, but when he saw the girl, who was hugging him like a koala, he also wrapped his arms around her. He then leaned down his head and kissed the upper portion of the girl''s head and smiled adoringly at her. "Bro, you are finally back. I missed you so much." The girl in Alonzo''s arms broke the hug to look up at his big brother with a cute smile. Alonzo couldn''t hold his chuckle seeing his only sister acting all cute in front of him. He patted her head lovingly and said, " So my baby sis missed me. I thought she would be too much busy in shopping for her upcoming birthday that she would forget about her big brother." Myra stuck out her tongue playfully at her brother and said with puppy eyes, "You seriously doesn''t trust your only little sister at all. Otherwise you would never mocked me like this." She faked of being hurt. "Oh, yeah¡­I really don''t trust you at all because you always bring troubles for me." Alonzo teased her. "Brother....!!!" Myra got angry over her brother and shouted on him. "Okay, okay.. Stop shouting now." Alonzo covered his sister''s mouth with his hand to stop her shouting. ------ Myra Brown, the only daughter of Brown family and Alonzo''s only sister, who is 2 years younger than him. She is the apple of the eye of every family members. Everyone doted on her and pampered her very much since childhood, but she is not a rotten princess like Regina. Though each and every person of Brown family loved her a lot and gave her all the pricy things that she wished, but still she never showcased her power wrongfully on anyone. She never mistreated anyone or differentiated between poor and rich. Myra was very good at study since her childhood and loves to know about different types of food through out the world. So after school, she joined in a course of Hotel management to become a professional chef. She just completed her graduation and planning to open her own restaurant. Alonzo always doted on her and fulfilled all of her wishes. She is the only person in his life (except his grandmother), for whom he visits their family mansion often. As he already have his own penthouse in the middle of the city B, which is also the most costly area of city B, so he doesn''t stay in this mansion. He only comes back here, when his old grandma or his little sis persisted him to come. ------ After the teasing part, Myra held Alonzo''s hand and pulled him in the living room and made him sit on the sofa. She then too sat beside him and spoke nervously, "Bro, actually I want to tell you something.... Actually, I want to open a restaurant but I can''t find a suitable place here." Alonzo sensed that his sister has something more to tell him and that would definitely make trouble for him. So he pursed his lips and asked, "And.??" Myra gulped in tension before replying, "I heard that you are shifting the company to city S. So¡­can you please also take me there with you? As I couldn''t find a suitable place here, maybe I can find one there. Please bro¡­please let me go with you." Alonzo was shocked with his sister''s request as he knew that she never wanted to leave city B, even when their parents forced her to study abroad, she was reluctant to go and cried for one whole week. So finally, their parents and Alonzo agreed to her demand and let her study in City B. So now¡­what triggered him the most was why his little sister was pleading him to leave the place as soon as possible. Though he was having an intuition that she was hiding something from him but he didn''t show this on his face. He casually replied, "Okay I''ll be leaving for city S to check out the preparation of our company''s inauguration party today evening. So you won''t have much time to prepare. Why don''t we do one thing.. After I arrive there, I''ll ask Bill to find a good place for your restaurant and then you can come with Mom, dad and grandma before the party and settled down there with me. What''s say?" "Cool bro. You are the bestest brother of the world." Myra cheered excitedly and hugged his brother. After lunch with his family, Alonzo left for city S, as he already told his assistant Bill to prepone his visit to city S from tomorrow morning to today evening. He ordered Bill his change of planning through text when he was sitting in the study room, talking to his father this morning. Chapter 23 - 23. Thinking The Same… It was already 9 pm when Alonzo came back in S city. He reached at his apartment and after taking a bath, he quickly ate his dinner which had been delivered by his assistant, as his maid and cook would be joining for the house course from the next day. Alonzo just got into his room when his grandmother called him. He picked up the call, "Hello grandma. Why didn''t you sleep yet?" "How could I sleep when you hadn''t even called me after arriving there?" Grandma Brown was very angry. "Sorry. I was about to call you but you called me first." "Humph! As you are safe, I''m cutting the call then. I have to sleep now. Bye.." Grandma Brown didn''t even gave him a chance to reply as she cut the call. Alonzo smiled, looking at the phone because he knew how much his grandmother loved him. She adores him a lot, specially because he looks more like his grandfather than his own father. Keeping the phone aside, he then slept off, as from the next day, it would be a war for him, to took revenge on one person by getting back her to himself and also to start a new journey as the new business man of city S. ----- Next morning, as usual, Reuben dropped Veronica at her office before going to Smith Enterprise. Every employee stood up from their seat to greet him ''Good Morning''. He just nodded his head slightly as a response and went directly in his office. His assistant Tom, greeted him in his office and gave him the files that he needed to sign. Even after a while, when Tom didn''t leave the place, Reuben then lifted his head up from those files to look at him confusingly. He then kept his pen on the table and intertwined the fingers of his both hands and pressed his elbows on the table, resting his chin on his hand. "Do you have something to say?" Reuben asked. "Boss you remember Mr. Alonzo Brown, right?" Tom asked after taking a deep breath. Reuben frowned listening the name as he couldn''t identify the person. But his brain suddenly worked as he said, "Yeah. The CEO of Brown Corporation. His father is some old distant friend of my father, I guess. But why are you asking me about him now?" "Yes sir, that''s him. Actually Mr. Brown is shifting the headquarters of Brown Corporation from city B to city S. And he also sent us a business proposal for our upcoming project in City S." Tom politely replied. "Hmmm.. That''s really a big news to hear. But why he is shifting the headquarters here now.. I mean why so suddenly? How much I know that his company is the best one in City B. Then why?" Reuben enquired while brushing his index finger on his chin. "Yes sir, I''m also thinking the same." Reuben just shrugged his shoulder and said, "Let it go. That''s not our problem to think. And analyze his project and compare it with the other bidders. If his project idea is the best then we will chose him, otherwise ignore it." "Yes boss." Tom left the office with the files that had been already signed. Reuben leaned back on his chair and thought for some time about this new businessman of city S. But then shook his head and focused on his work. ----- In Creative¡­ Veronica was doing some task, when Willa entered her office and notified her about something. Veronica then interjected the pen-drive which Willa handed her and inspected the whole video, then her face turned sour and anger rose up in her head. Calming herself down, Veronica wickedly smiled and ordered Willa do a very interesting yet mysterious job. After listening the plan, Willa also smirked and took her leave. Chapter 24 - 24. The New Entry… Top floor of Creation, The CEO''s office¡­ The office was decorated in European style. A large table was placed at the middle of the room. A computer, some tablets, files, pens with penstands and some other important things were neatly organized on the table. The backside of the table had some bookshelves with various kinds of books, many trophies and medals were placed accordingly in the glass shelves. The right side of the table has a big glass window, from where the beautiful city S could be seen in the sunset. The mesmerizing view could really take one''s breath out. The front side of the office table had big European styled sofas and a center table was placed right in front of it. There was another door attached to the left wall and it was locked. Without this door, there was nothing more on the this side, except some beautifully organized painting on the wall. There was no name written on the painting, but a little sign could be seen there but one couldn''t recognize the painter by those signs. The painters of all those amazing paintings were same, as those signatures were also same but he / she never sold their paintings to anyone except the CEO of Creation. ----- Suddenly the door of the CEO''s office opened and the sound of clicking high heels could be heard. As the person was approaching towards the middle of the room, one could easily guess that there were not the sound of one pair of high heels but two. Those two ladies came near the table and one of them passed by it and sat on the estimated seat of the CEO, whereas the other one sat right in front of the CEO. "I''ve already done whatever you asked me to do." The person who was sitting in front of the CEO said. She was the very-trusted assistant of the CEO, who also hold some shares in this company. "Good. So now the game begins." The CEO smirked. "How dare they even think of backstabbing us? Do they think that the CEO of this company is fool? Do they take me as granted? Now is the right time to show them what I can exactly do.!!" The CEO slapped her hand on the table hard. Right at that time, the door opened again, but the two of the ladies who were in the room didn''t got nervous of being their identity got leaked to the person who just entered the room, as not only the CEO''s office but the whole floor was secured by any anonymous guest. Only the persons who had a special card, could enter the floor. The new entry was a man, who was as handsome as a sculpture. He has black hairs, sharp nose, cute lips and his body was also well maintained. He came into the room and sat right beside the assistant and smiled at both of the girls, "Hey beautiful ladies. Seems like you are discussing something serious." Both of the girls glared at him and didn''t respond to the man and again started to discuss about their plans. "Woah!! Am I getting ignored by both of you?" the man asked bewilderedly. "So what can you expect for us to do? To worship you? Don''t even think of it because you already lost the chance. And as usual you are two hours late, the so called Vice CEO of our company, Mr. Louis Morgan." The mocking voice was none other than of the CEO. "Hey, don''t say like this. After all I slept very late at night." Louis pouted. "Don''t fight both of you please. After all, we are discussing something important here." Now it was the assistant who eyed the other two person. After that the trio indulged in their discussion without taunting each other. ----- Louis Morgan was also a big shot of country S. He is the second heir of the Morgan families, who won a exportation business. But Martin was not interested in their family business, so he studied Multimedia and built this company along with the anonymous CEO. He is now the Vice CEO of Creation and everyone from the country knew him by his name. Though his family protested him at the first to not go in this line, but his elder brother and his cousin made his parents agreed to his choice. He had a very charming personality and many girls were his fan. He also flirted with them but never crossed his limit. His family is one of the wealthiest family of this country and after his father retired, his elder brother was handling the company with a great efficiency. So he didn''t get pressurized over more by his father, to join the family business and he could happily do his work as the Vice CEO of the biggest multimedia company of country K. Chapter 25 - 25. Stop Pretending… One hour had already passed, when the trio finally finished their meeting. They already had decided how to play with the little fella, who tried to backstab them. Louis gave a big yawn as he exclaimed, "Huh!! Finally we are going to do something exciting after so many days." "Yeah.. We are gonna have some amazing fun." The assistant cheekily smiled. ---- Veronica was the one who gave the pen drive to the CEO''s secretary department, that had the evidence about the people who were trying to backstab their company. As none were allowed to enter the top floor, that''s why Veronica just left the proof in the secretary department. Even the secretaries were also not permitted to go to the top floor. The head secretary could only hand the important documents or other necessary things to Louis''s assistant and then Louis would deliver it to the CEO. So only the two people knew about the real identity of the CEO.... First one was the CEO''s assistant and the second one was Louis himself. ---- At 1 pm, Veronica''s office... Willa came back to Veronica''s office, buying the lunch boxes for both Veronica and herself. Veronica thanked her and processed to eat their lunch. But suddenly an irritating person interrupted them in their peaceful lunch¡­. And when the two ladies saw who the person was, there face sank down.. "Hey, girls¡­already eating lunch? But how can you guys eat without me?" The person said as he entered the office. "What do you want here Mr. Vice President?" Willa was the first one who asked the question. "Well, I was just missing both of you girls. So I came here." Louis said as a matter of fact. Veronica just shrugged her shoulders and said nonchalantly, "But we didn''t miss you. So you can leave now." "Yaaaaaaa¡­ Don''t you know that I''m your boss? Then how can you talk to me so arrogantly?" Louis said, pretending to be angry. "Then behave like one." Veronica rolled her eyes on him. "Don''t say that. After all we are college buddies." Louis pouted. "But not now. We''re in the office, if you didn''t forget it." Willa interrupted him. Louis looked at both of the beautiful ladies and didn''t give think too much on this matter, but instead started teasing them, "So both of you, how are your boyfriends doing?" Willa blushed slightly and replied, "He is not my boyfriend yet." Louis was dumbfounded by her statement as he flicked her forehead, "Dude!! Are you sure that he loves you? Because if he truly did then he would not have hung you on for so many days.. No sorry.. it will be for so many months. And more than it, I don''t think that the guy is even good for you. He seems like hiding something and also weird¡­. In fact, I have a better solution. Leave that bastard and date me. Well, I''m more handsome and have more money than him, you know..." Willa didn''t say anything but her face was enough to say that she was extremely angry and was ready to murder Louis any time. Louis saw her expression, so he did not continue on the topic and focused utterly on Veronica, "So¡­ What about you and Reuben?" "Well, you know more than anyone, how things are going between us. So stop pretending." Veronica scoffed. "Yaah¡­ What do you mean by that? Your boyfriend doesn''t even tell me a single thing about you guys." Louis felt that he had been misjudged. Veronica just rolled her eyes and asked mockingly, "Don''t overreact. Okay? I know that very well, how he always shows off our relationship to you single people so that he could make you guys jealous over his mingle life." Before Louis could say something, Veronica swiftly got up from her chair and said, "Let''s go Willa. We have other things to do. We are not lazy as like someone." She eyed at Louis. Willa just grinned, seeing both of her friends bickering and left the office with Veronica, whereas Louis kept sitting on the chair stupidly. ----- As Veronica, Willa and Louis were from same University, so they were good friends. That''s why the relationship between Reuben and Veronica was also known to him. Even he is a big supporter of this couple. But, there is one more relation between Reuben, Louis and Veronica that tied them together much more... Chapter 26 - 26. Girlfriend Comes First… Reuben was waiting for Veronica in the parking lot, when his eyesight fell on certain someone, who was coming towards his car with Veronica. Veronica''s face was showing some irritating expression as if the person beside her was talking rubbish and following her without her consent. Reuben gripped the steer-wheel tightly as he gritted his teeth. When Veronica already came close to his car, he opened the door of the front passenger seat and remained on his seat quietly. The man beside Veronica didn''t notice the Reuben in the car and continued his blabbering. He couldn''t even imagine... what storm was coming towards him... "Come on Veronica.. Now please don''t be a busybody and let''s visit the pub that had opened recently. Let''s enjoy tonight the fullest." The man pleaded her. Reuben couldn''t hold down anymore and opening the door. He came out of the car angrily and stood behind the other man. The man still had not any idea of the furious Reuben, as the man''s back was facing Reuben. "No. I can''t go today. I''m too much tired." Veronica straightly denied the man''s request to go to the new pub. "But¡­.." The man could not even complete his sentence, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He knitted his eyebrows together and turned to see, who was the person that dared to hold him by his shoulder.... But, when he finally turned around, his face became pale as a white sheet. "Reu¡­Reuben¡­" Louis was dumbfounded to see Reuben standing there, in the parking lot and he could not help but curse his own luck. Louis tried to keep himself safe, as he awkwardly laughed and diverted his question to another topic. "Why are you here today? Did you come here to fetch little sister back ?" This 180¡ã change in Louis''s behaviour shocked Veronica and she gaped at him with widened eyes... "And why do you think, I will answer your questions? Don''t pretend.. I saw everything, how you were pestering my girl to go to the pub with you. And now you are behaving like you did not do anything. What a coward!!" Reuben mockingly said to him. Louis was angered when he listened that he was being called a coward by Reuben, so he tried to protest. "I''m not a coward. And so what if I asked her to go with me. Hmm?" Reuben then grabbed Louis''s collar and said coldly, "You really have guts now to fight with me, huh?" Louis gulped in fear and looked at Veronica pleadingly, asking for her help. Veronica was standing beside the car, enjoying the live drama that was playing in front of her. When she saw that Louis''s punishment was enough for that day for continuously pestering her, she came beside Reuben and removed his hand from Louis''s collar. She then caught his arm in hers and rested her head on his chest, saying mildly, "Honey, don''t waste your time on this stupid brother of yours. He is not worth it." Louis looked at Veronica bewilderedly and was going to say something but stopped when he saw the piercing gaze coming from his brother. He then tried to pursue Reuben, "Bro. How can you do this to your own little brother? It''s clearly your girlfriend who is bullying me now." Reuben gazed at him coldly, as he replied, "My girlfriend can bully anyone but no one can bully her. And the person who will try to bully her, will have to face my wrath." Veronica removed her head from Reuben''s chest and pecked on his lips, "Aww! My boyfy is the best. He loves me so much. I''m so much impressed by your dialogue darling." Saying this, she again pecked his lips. But, Reuben didn''t go off the chance as he tightened his arm on her waist and another on her head, pulling her closer to him, and deepened the kiss. "Anything for my baby." He said between their kisses. Louis just couldn''t take anymore of their shamelessness and shouted on them, "Both of you.. Stop your public display of affection. And bro, you are being rude to me. How can you show partiality among your brother and girlfriend?" The couple finally broke their kiss and tried to catch their breaths. Not moving his eyes from Veronica''s beautiful face, Reuben answered simply, "Girlfriend comes first in everything..." He then looked at his astonished brother''s face and again asked, "Understood?" Not waiting for Louis''s answer, he pulled Veronica towards the passenger seat, made her seated and then buckled the seatbelt for her. Closing the car-door, he went to the driver''s seat and drove off, leaving Louis alone in the parking lot. Chapter 27 - 27. No Turning Back… While driving, Reuben played some romantic songs in the car. Veronica also hummed with the song as it is one of her favorite song, "CLOSER" by Chainsmokers. Near the end of the song, Veronica noticed that the route they were taking, were not the way to their house. So she asked Reuben confusedly, "Bennie.. This is not the way to our home. Where are we going then?" Reuben just smiled at her and said, "You are right Ica. We are not going to our home. We are going somewhere else." Veronica frowned and became more puzzled, "Hmm.. That I understand. But exactly where is the place, you are taking me now?" Chuckling slightly, Reuben held her hand and replied, "Did you forget that both me and Henry were out of the country for so many days?" Making an irritated face, Veronica tried to take her hand back but to no avail. So she stopped struggling and glared at him, "Do you think that I''m dumb to forget such a little matter?" Reuben turned his face towards Veronica, as he feigned an act of seriousness, "Ica?? Baby.. now you come to know that you are dumb? *sigh*.. I have to change my word then, you are not dumb, but dumber." Saying this, he burst into laughter. "What? You bastard!! I will kill you." Veronica roared in anger, as she snatched her hand forcefully from Reuben''s grip and started hitting him on his shoulder. "Ah¡­Baby stop and let me focus on my driving.. I don''t want to kill myself in this young age." He caught hold of Veronica''s hand again to stop her from hitting him more and suppressed his laughter to the maximum level. Veronica didn''t argue with him more and turned her head to look outside of the window, totally ignoring her boyfriend... Reuben chuckled seeing her reaction, but didn''t possess the power to make fun of her again. So he focused his eyesight totally on the road, still holding one of her hand. Hearing his chuckle, Veronica moved her face back to him and glared at him furiously. She then smiled naughtily and leaned towards him. She kept her other free hand on his thigh and rubbed it with her small hands, then she whispered seductively in his ears, "Well, do you know honey that today is the last day of my period? I thought that tomorrow.. I should really give a gift to someone who was away from me for nearly a month." After rubbing his thighs, her hand went upwards, towards his chest while her lips touched his ears, kissing him lightly and whispering more softly, "But Alas!! That someone really messed up with me today by calling me a dumb¡­so I have changed my mind now and decided to give a full stop on that gift for him..." Saying this, she gave a last peck on his cheek and moved back on her seat, sitting properly, as if she had not said anything right then. Reuben widened his eyes in shock, listening to what his girlfriend said and abruptly stopped his car to the roadside. He then unlocked his seatbelt and faced her. Veronica was jerked up by the sudden stop and when she turned her head to scold the person in the driver''s seat, her nose touched the other person''s nose. Reuben hurriedly held her shoulders with both of his hands and pleaded, "Baby.. I''m so sorry to tease you. Now don''t do this to me. You know that the past month was already a torture for me, so I really can''t hold it anymore..." Curving her lips to one side, Veronica mockingly said, "You brought it up to yourself Bennie.. Now there is no turning back." She then pushed him to his seat and said, "Drive.. otherwise we''ll be late. By the way, you didn''t answer me where we are going." Reuben took a deep breath and started driving again after buckling their seatbelt. He could not do anything but cursed himself in his mind to bring this bad luck unwillingly to himself. He then replied, "As me and Henry were not in the country, so we decided to meet up at some restaurant and have dinner together." Nodding her head, Veronica told him, "Hmm.. That''s really great. But you should at least tell me first so I could ask Lucy to come also." "Don''t worry hon... I already called her and she agreed." After some 10 more minutes, their car reached at the front of the restaurant ''FUSION'' and they both got out from the car to head inside. Chapter 28 - 28. More than Friends but Less than Lovers… After some 10 minutes, their car reached at the front of the restaurant ''FUSION'' and they both got out from the car to head inside. ''Fusion'' is famous for its different types of cuisines, like ¨C Italian, Chinese, Indian, Korean and also seafood. It is the restaurant under the Smith''s. Actually, Reuben and Veronica, both are the main owners of this restaurant, but none knew about it. He built it 2 and half years ago, as a gift for Veronica on their 2nd Anniversary. As Veronica loves to eat these cuisines and there were no particular restaurant that covered all these different types of foods in one, so he thought that it would be the best gift for her. And it really was¡­. Veronica almost jumped in joy when she found out that the restaurant had all her favourite dishes, she loved the most. She gave on all the demands of Reuben that night, as a return gift..*wink* ---- When both of Reuben and Veronica headed to the restaurant, they took the special gate for their entrance. As they still wanted to keep their relationship a secret to others, that''s why it was best for them to use the hidden VIP gate. This entrance was specially made for them and some of their trusted friends and families. No one could enter there without a special permission from Reuben or Veronica. The top floor of the restaurant was only for them and not for customers. Even if anyone tried to pay more to book the top floor for any occasion or something, they would be directly refused. The top floor has two big rooms and one big hall with a big table and chairs placed on the balcony. One could enjoy the night view of the city while dining with their beloved. This design was specifically instructed by Reuben so that, he could spend some sweet and lovely moments alone with his lover... ----- After 10 minutes of the couple''s arrival, Henry and Lucinda also arrived there together. Both Reuben and Veronica stared at each other and smiled mischievously. They exactly knew that both of their friends love each other from many years but couldn''t get the encourage to profess their love to each other. Henry pulled the chair for Lucinda to sit down first, then he sat down, right across Reuben. After they ordered their own dishes and some beverages, they started chatting¡­not really chatting..but more likely teasing¡­ "So..why you both came together here? Both of your houses are exactly in the opposite directions. So there was no excuse like ''we are passing from the same road, so thought to save some petrol of our cars..'' " Reuben started first to tease the ''more than friends but less than lovers'' couple... Both Henry and Lucinda flushed in embarrassment and said at the same time, "Actually..we...." "Leave it. I don''t want to listen the excuses of yours. Just tell me, have you guys confessed your feelings yet?" Veronica interrupted them. Again, Henry and Lucinda were shocked to her straight forwardness and bowed down their head. *sigh* *sigh* "I guess still not.." Veronica sighed before leaning her head on Reuben''s shoulder. Reuben gently brushed his fingers through her hair, and scoffed, "You guys are useless. It''ll be good when both of your parents will find someone other to marry you guys off separately. Then show me your shy faces..." Veronica looked at her friends and then at Reuben, then exclaimed, "I don''t know honey, how they both became our friends. They are both so shy whereas we are¡­" "Shameless¡­" Before Veronica could say the last word, Reuben said it on her behalf and kissed her passionately. Though, Henry and Lucinda were already habituated with their friends'' bold actions, but now they felt awkward as few minutes ago, they were being teased by this shameless couple. After they completed their dinner, with one couple showing their affection and other couple just eating food with silence and a flushed face, both the couple drove off to their own places. Chapter 29 - 29. Love-Paradise… A luxurious car stopped in front of a big mansion. Two people were seated inside the car - one was a man and the another was woman. Inside the car¡­ "I have to go now. Thanks for dropping me." Lucinda thanked Henry shyly. "Hmm.. take care." Henry said. Lucinda smiled at him and raised her hand to open the door but suddenly stopped when Henry called her name, "Lucy¡­" She turned to him and said, "Yes?" "Actually, about the things that Reuben and Veronica said today, don''t mind them. You know they were teasing, right?" "Hmm.. I know.. Anything else?" Lucinda looked at his eyes expectantly that she might hear something more from the man beside her, which she was eager to hear for many years. "Ummm.. Nothing more. Good night." Henry wished her. Lucinda''s face fell as she thought that she had really expected too much from this man. Without answering him, she opened the car door and stormed outside fumingly and then shut the door forcefully, creating a ''bang'' sound. She then got inside the Wilson Mansion and went up to her room, without looking at the back for even a single time. Then she peeked through the window and saw that Henry''s car was still there. Being annoyed with him, she cursed, "Humph!! Idiot.. Stupid.. Can''t even have the strength to propose me and now waiting in front of the house for me.. Humph!!" ------ On the other side, Henry was puzzled that why the girl suddenly became so angry. "Is it for the reason that she expected something else from me to say??" Then he knocked his head on the steer wheel three times and cursed himself, "Ah.. you bastard!! How can you be a coward..? What if the things that Reuben said comes true... If.. If someone else really marry my girl off, what will I do then..! No no no.. I really have to do something now. I have to confess my love to her as soon as possible. I can''t see my girl in any other man''s arms. Gosh!! I need Reuben''s help in this." He harrumphed and after making sure that the light of Lucy''s room turned his car''s engine on and left. ---- Next day morning, at Reuben and Veronica''s place¡­ Both were having their breakfast, when Veronica recalled something and uttered, "Bennie.." "Hmm?" Reuben who was eating some bread responded. "I just remembered something." "What Hon?" "Did you remember that we didn''t give this bungalow a lovely name yet, for the fear that we would get caught by our parents red-handed about our relationship, as the name we decided is a cozy one." Veronica stated the matter. Reuben stopped eating and kept the bread on the plate, as he said, "And now that our parents are already aware of our love, so you want to give our home the name that we decided previously." "Yes.. baby.. you really understand me so much." Veronica happily exclaimed and gave him a kiss on his lips. Reuben brushed her cheeks with his thumb and said, "Of course. I have to know everything about my girl. So.. I''ll tell Tom to make a silver plate with the name of our house blazed on it with black and red stones. Happy?" "Yes. Our home will finally get a name baby. Our ''Love-Paradise''.... I''m so much happy baby that I can''t express myself." Veronica eyes filled with tears out of joy. Reuben quickly pulled her on his lap and hugged her tightly, "I know baby. I really can understand. Our house will finally be completed with it''s name." He comforted her, kissing on her forehead. "I love you honey.." Veronica pecked his lips as she confessed. "I love you too darling.." Reuben turned the little peck into a kiss as he deepened it with involving their tongues together. After some more of their sweet time, they both left for their office. Chapter 30 - 30. Future In-Laws and Husband… Smith Enterprise¡­ Reuben was busy on his computer, checking some emails, when Tom knocked the door and entered the office. He then placed a card on Reuben''s desk. "Sir, it''s an invitation card from Brown Corporation. Their inauguration party for their new company in City S is on the next week." Reuben raised his eyebrows and took the card in his hand from the table. He then opened the envelope and scrutinized the whole thing that was written on the card. Keeping the card back on the table, Reuben folded his hand on his chest as he leaned back on his chair, "Hmm.. Seems like Brown Corporation have really some urgency to shift their office. Or is it just Mr. Alonzo Brown.. who is excited for the shifting..." "I also can''t understand this boss, why they are quickening this so much." His assistant, Tom was also confused about the fact. "You said that they sent us a proposal right? How was that?" Reuben suddenly asked. Tom coughed a little and replied, "Truthfully¡­ Boss, the proposal was really good and the best among all. They really made the project with efficiency." "Understood. Do one thing. Bring that proposal to me. I will check it myself." Reuben ordered. "Okay boss." Discussing some other matters, Tom left the office. ---- At Creation¡­. Veronica was busy in a meeting with her subordinates about the new VFX project, when her phone vibrated. As she was in a meeting, her phone was in vibrate motion, when she looked at the caller ID, she furrowed her eyebrows and cut the call. Then she again busied herself in the meeting.... Half an hour later, when she finally was done with the meeting, she got back in her office and rubbed her forehead after sitting on her chair. Suddenly, she realized that someone called her sometimes ago in the meeting hall but she declined it. She prayed to God that the person that called her, would not get angry on her and not started scolding her again. She then quickly call back to that person, hoping for her safety¡­. "Veronica¡­ How dare you to cut my call?" came a furious voice of a middle-aged woman. "My dear mommy. Please don''t shout on your little daughter. She was in an important meeting so couldn''t accept your call." Veronica tried to pacify her mother. "Don''t give me excuses now." Veronica''s mother, Jessica argued. Veronica was now thinking, how to distract her mother from this topic and suddenly an idea came to her, "Mom, you must not be calling me in the day, just to scold me. There must be some important reason..." "Oh God!! In middle of fighting with you, I forgot to tell you the main reason that I have called you for." Mrs. Lopez face-palmed herself. Veronica felt a relief that her ''Mother India'' would not blabber more about her, "Hmm..hmm.. Tell me.. why did you call me?" Jessica then happily conveyed, "This weekend, me and your dad decided to organize a family dinner. So you have to come back home with Reuben for the dinner party. I also called Victoria and her husband for the dinner, so they will also be coming." Scrunching her eyebrows together, Veronica questioned, "Mom¡­ You said this is a family dinner, right? Then why should I bring Reuben there and also why Uncle and Aunt will join us?" "You brat! This is how I taught you to speak? Of course they will come. After all, they are your future in-laws and husband." Jessica howled on her. "But Mom¡­" "I''m not listening anymore of your rubbish. You are bringing Reuben to our home this weekend and that''s final." Spouting this Mother Lopez straightly cut the phone call. Veronica sighed at her mother but then a sweet smile crept on her face, thinking about how both of her and Reuben''s family accepted them so easily and now their doesn''t consisted with just three peoples but six peoples ¨C Herself, Reuben and both of their parents. Smiling at the thought for some more time, she decided to burry herself in work once again... Chapter 31 - 31. Three Days or Three Weeks?... Around 7 pm, a Lamborghini Veneno, worth of $4.5M came to a half inside a three storeyed bungalow. The bungalow was very beautiful, the path to the main door was decorated with different types of flowers, the street was made with beautiful brown stones, and in the middle ¨C stood an artistic fountain. The bungalow was so heavenly that it would be anyone''s dream house... Footsteps could be heard when the two pair of legs walked towards the main door. When they approached the door and tried to open the door, the hand suddenly stopped. The hand was of a young girl with beautifully manicured nails. The hand then moved from the lock towards a nameplate on the wall. She slowly brushed her fingers over it and read the letters carefully, which assembled the word, ''Love-Paradise''¡­ Reuben just watched his girlfriend who was at her own world and didn''t say anything. He just hugged her from behind and kissed her nape, "Like it?" Veronica flipped her body towards him and hugged him tightly, "No. I just love it honey..." Then she tiptoed and kissed him on her lips. Breaking the kiss, Reuben suddenly lifted her up in his arms and said, "So now that our home officially got a new name, so let''s start everything new." And walked inside. Placing her on the sofa, Reuben got on top of her and proceeded to kiss her from lips, chin and neck. Veronica moaned in this sweet sensation and wrapped her arms around him. He marked her collarbone area with different sizes of hickeys. Then, his mouth went to her cleavage; sucking, licking and biting it. His one hand rested on her face, whereas his other hand found his way under her shirt. He got electrified when he touched her bare tummy after so many days. Veronica shuddered in his touch and pulled his head towards her to kiss his lips. Reuben didn''t deny it but his hand moved up from her tummy towards her breast. He cupped the soft rounded flesh in his hand and squeezed it lightly. The feeling of touching the soft flesh, made him groaned. Not liking the thin layer of bra that was prohibiting him to touch her bare breast, he moved his hand on her backside, still kissing her mouth hungrily. But, when he opened the first hook of her bra, Veronica slapped his arm off from it and pushing him away, she stood up from the sofa and smoothened her shirt. Reuben was perplexed at the situation and asked, "Baby, what was that for? Why did you push me?" Veronica sniggered at him and leaned forward to touch his face. She stroked his right cheek softly with her delicate fingers and swept her lips in his ear, "Seems like my dear boyfriend forgot about his punishment for calling me a dumb yesterday?" Reuben broadened his eyes, as if reality hit him very hard and tried to explain himself, "Babe, I was just teasing you¡­" "Ssshhhhhhh¡­ You are talking too much. One more extra word and your punishment will be extended from three days to three weeks. Now tell me which one is better¡­. Three days or three weeks???" Veronica threatened him with her most expensive weapon, slightly brushing their lips together... Reuben felt like a huge bucket of cold water had been spilled on him. He pressed his lips together firmly and gave Veronica a pitiful look. Veronica almost laughed out loud, seeing her cute boyfriend but suppressed it. Walking to the stairs, she commanded, "Now quickly make dinner for me. I''m hungry." And ran to their bedroom grinning from ear to ear. ------ After dinner, Veronica was lying on the bed, her left hand supporting her elbow on the cushion and scrolling down her phone with other hand. Just then, Reuben came out from bathroom, half-naked, only with a towel wrapping his lower portion. Veronica''s eyes shifted from the phone to the sexy man and she couldn''t help but gaped at him... Reuben was satisfied looking at her expression as he thought to himself, ''Cool.. My girl¡­. If you didn''t let you touch me then I also know how to seduce my girl.'' And cheekily smiled. Detecting his mocking gaze, Veronica took back her eyes from him and to destruct herself from this hot man, she meekly said, "Mmmm¡­ Baby.. Mom called me today at office hours." Understanding that she is changing the topic, Reuben put on his boxer quickly and hopped on the bed, covering himself with the blanket and hugged her side-wise. "Hmm.. So what did she say?" He asked turning her body towards him. "Nothing much. She just told me to bring you to my family mansion, for a family dinner. And one more thing¡­ Mom also called your parents for the dinner party." She added. Reuben was throwing butterfly kisses on her neck area when he heard that and moved his head to face her, "Why my Mom and Dad?" "Don''t know." Veronica shrugged her shoulders. "Okay. Now let''s sleep. Tomorrow we have work." Reuben kissed her lips and covered her with the blanket properly. "Hmm.. Good night." Veronica also gave him a light kiss on his lips and hugging his waist tightly, she closed her eyes. Kissing her forehead, Reuben also closed his eyes as both drifted off to their own Dreamland... Chapter 32 - 32. You ruined my lipstick… Two days later¡­ Veronica was sitting on the stool, wearing a magenta color floral frock that went up to her knee. She was wearing a pair of top earrings, designed like a flower and her long hair was loose open on her back. She was applying a light pink lipstick on her lips after wearing eye-liner on her beautiful long bright eyelids... Reuben was setting his hair with some hair gel, standing behind Veronica. He was now perfectly ready to go to his future In-Laws'' house for the first time as Veronica''s boyfriend... He checked on the mirror of the dressing table for one last time, then his eyes shifted to the reflection of the woman, who was now applying some face powder on her face. Sensing the gaze on her, Veronica lifted up her eyes and showed a very sweet smile to her dear boyfriend and stood up. Veronica then moved some hear strands behind her ear and asked without turning over, "How am I looking?" Reuben''s gaze now shifted on the exposed skin of her neck and his lips automatically moved to that place. His hand wrapped around her waist whereas his lips now moved up to her ear. Kissing her small ear gently, he murmured, "My girl looks always the most beautiful...¡­ specially when she is naked under me..." then bit her ear lightly and sucked it. Flushing red in embarrassment, she turned around and hit him on his chest, "How can you be so shameless?" Tilting her head up with his index finger and thumb, he whispered on her lips, "If I don''t be shameless, then how can I make my girl moan for me?" Reuben moved his eyebrows up and down teasingly at her. Veronica glared at him and bellowed, "You....." The unspoken words of Veronica, were being swallowed when Reuben crashed his lips with hers. This time, their kiss was slow, steady and sensual; expressing their love to each other. Veronica was the first one to pull herself from the kiss after some minutes, she then looked at the mirror and pouted, "Look¡­ You ruined my lipstick." Chuckling at her pouting face, Reuben took out a wet tissue and helped her to remove the smudged lipstick on her chin and side of the lips. "Now it''s okay." Reuben was satisfied with his handiwork. "No.. It''s not okay still." Veronica replied and snatched the tissue from Reuben''s hand. "Huh..??" Reuben was puzzled because of Veronica''s sudden action. Veronica also wiped the lipstick stains from Reuben''s lips with the same tissue and exclaimed, "Now it''s okay." After reapplying her lipstick, she hooked her arms with Reuben and said, "Lets go now." ----- Alonzo''s apartment¡­ Alonzo was checking some files about the upcoming inauguration program, whereas his assistant Bill was standing in front of him, giving him a brief explanation of all the planning. "Hmm.. Everything is fine. So, did you send an invitation to Mr. Reuben Smith?" Alonzo looked up and asked. Bill answered immediately, "Yes boss, I personally send it to Mr. Smith''s secretary department." "Good. And what about the other invitation?" Alonzo enquired. Bill said in hesitation, "Ah.. Boss that.. I was about to send it today." Alonzo thumped his hand onto the table and asked furiously, "What to you mean by ''I was about to send it today''? Didn''t I tell you that this is the first thing you should do?" Alonzo''s eyes were red in rage as he gritted his teeth to sooth his anger down, "Now don''t waste your time here. Go and send the invitation to Mr. Lopez¡­ as fast you can¡­" "Yes Boss.." replying, Bill hurriedly left the office with the invitation card in his hand. Chapter 33 - 33. I love you more than I love my own girlfriend… Lopez Mansion¡­ Both Mr. Smith and Mr. Lopez were talking about some business stuffs, sitting in the living room and their respective wives were chatting about some random stuffs. A car honk could be heard from outside, making both of the elder couple more excited. The mothers were the first to run towards the door to see the new couple. As expected, the dashing couple came out of the car, holding their hands together, which made both of the mothers'' mood more brightening. The couple arrived at the entrance and Veronica immediately ran to hug her mother, leaving Reuben''s hand. "Oh my baby¡­ Look, you become more beautiful after your relationship has been disclosed to us. Right Victoria?" Mrs. Lopez asked her best friend. Mrs. Smith smiled at Veronica and kissed her forehead. Cupping Veronica''s face in her hand, she said, "My daughter in law looks always beautiful. But you are right Jessi. She becomes more beautiful nowadays that I can''t take my eyes off her." Veronica blushed at the word ''daughter-in-law'' and said shyly, "Auntie, you are more beautiful than me." Suddenly a hand wrapped around Veronica''s waist, snatching her from Mrs. Smith''s embrace, as the latter glared at the person who tried to snatch her daughter in law from herself. Reuben shrugged his shoulders and said, "Come on Mom. Stop trying to butter up my girl. My girl will still love me the most even after you spend 10 kilos of it in buttering her up..." Mrs. Smith pulled Reuben''s ears and shouted, "You boy.. How do you talk to your mother? You didn''t even hug me after seeing me." Reuben removed her hands from Veronica''s waist and hugged his mother, "I love you Mom." Breaking off the hug, Victoria said, "I love you too my son..But not more than my daughter in law." Reuben pouted but before he could retaliate, Veronica''s mother came to his rescue and patted his shoulder, "Don''t worry about your mother. Because I also love my son in law more than my daughter." Reuben cheekily smiled and kissed his would be mother in law''s cheek and said, "I also love you more than I love my own girlfriend." Veronica rolled her eyes at him and gave him a look like, ''You are doomed when we are alone''. Reuben just ignored her glare and processed in the living room with Mrs. Lopez. Veronica also followed them with Mrs. Smith. ----- Inside the living room¡­ Mr. Smith was the first one to notice their presence as he dashed towards his son to hug him. But when he came near Reuben, he changed his path and passed by his side towards Veronica and hugged her tightly. "Aww¡­ My princess. You are really the prettiest girl in the world. I don''t know how a girl like you who is both pretty and intelligent, end up with my son? I mean.. there are thousands of more good looking man in the world..... Why this brat? There is nothing good in him to be your boyfriend..." Mr. Smith said seriously looking at Veronica. Reuben was dumbfounded by the sudden comment of his father but when he heard the next thing his father said, he flared up instantly¡­.. "Look daughter, though I''m very happy and honored to get you as my daughter in law. But if he dares to bully you anytime, then you must tell me this. I''ll find a more suitable husband for you... Got it?" Mr. Smith continued his suggestion. Reuben became so angry after hearing the last sentence that he ran towards his father and lightly pushing him away, he hugged Veronica tightly in his embrace and glared at his father. "Dad¡­. What kind of father are you? You are trying to let your son''s girlfriend marry another man? Humph! Not possible.. Not at all. I''m not letting my girl to be with anyone other than me. Marry? Huh?? Marriage is far away.. even if someone try to look at my girl with bad eyes, I''ll kill him right away..." Reuben yelled at his father. Suddenly, the hall was filled into laughter¡­.. Chapter 34 - 34. My Soul Will Also Be Dead… Suddenly, the hall was burst into laughter¡­.. Mr. Lopez got up from his sofa, trying to control his breathing after the huge laughter and stood beside his friend, "You really know your son the best, Logan.." Mr. Lopez said holding his laughter. "Told you already that he will exactly behave like this. Hahahaha¡­." Mr. Smith burst out in laughter again. "Stop bullying him now both of you." Veronica''s mother, Jessica said giving a chuckle. "Like father, like son..." Reuben''s mother, Victoria shook her head at her husband''s teasing. Reuben looked at each and everyone and glared at them, "You guys planned all of it to tease me, right?" "Yes.. we really planned it to show your future in laws that how overprotective can a man of Smith''s family be about their woman. And I must tell you that you really had impressed me, my son. You should always be like this protective over your own girl..." "I know dad. I''ll always protect her from everything." Reuben claimed confidently. Mr. Lopez patted his shoulder and said, "Then I really don''t have any tension about my daughter. After all, she is now in your hand." Reuben nodded at his future in-laws and said honestly, "Don''t worry uncle. She is my life and if something happens to her, my soul will also be dead." He looked down at the woman in his embrace, whose eyes were turning watery and then he kissed her eyes. All the elders saw these couple''s affection towards each other and felt a relief and calmness inside their heart as they smiled... To change the serious atmosphere into a funny one, Mr. Smith blabbered out, "But princess, always remember my last statement... that there are more suitable man for you than this brat.. I mean if you want to find anyone else as your future husband.." He winked at Veronica. "Dad¡­." Reuben gritted his teeth. "Okay. Now stop everyone. Dinner is ready. Let''s eat first." Veronica''s father, James prohibited the father-son from starting third world war.. ----- After their dinner, the couple distribute the gifts that they had prepared for their parents and all the parents were very happy with the thoughtfulness of their children and blessed them. The Lopez couple then brought out a box which had a ''Pamerai Radiomir'' watch and gifted it to Reuben. It is a famous and one of the most expensive brand for watches. The watch was very beautiful. It is a brown leather watch which was gold plated and the dial has a rare diamond in it. Reuben accepted the gift to respect them and thanked earnestly... The Smith couple hadn''t also come empty handed. They also took out a wooden box and gave it to Veronica so that she could open it herself... When Veronica opened the box, she was mesmerized by the beauty of the gift and she covered her mouth with her hand in shock... There was a diamond necklace in the box which had some red precious gems in the middle. It was shining so brightly that Veronica felt that her eyes would hurt if she continued to see it for one more second. Reuben''s eyes twitched when he saw the necklace, his parents had gifted to Veronica... He then looked at his parents astonishingly and when they gave him a nod, he couldn''t stop smiling at his parents and put his left hand on Veronica''s shoulder as if comforting her and giving her some support.. "Uncle, Aunt, this¡­.." Veronica was about to say something when her mother in law stopped her. "Veronica, I always thought you as my own daughter from the day you born and sometimes I even dreamt of you as my daughter in law. But I never thought that my wish be fulfilled so easily. Me and your uncle are very happy about both of you. So we both decided to give you our family heirloom at our first meeting as your in-laws. So you can''t say no to us and only keep it to yourself..." Victoria explained as she caressed her cheek. Mr. Smith also joined his wife, "Yes princess. You are going to be our daughter in law on day. And everyone know that there is no one more suited than you as Reuben''s future wife... So accept it darling.. Okay?" Tears started to fall from Veronica''s eyes as she looked at Reuben and when he saw her tears, he wiped it off and brushed her hair with his fingers as he said, "Take it baby." Veronica nodded at him and accepted the necklace. She then gave them a bright smile with her still teary eyes and said, "Thanks Uncle and Auntie..." "No. This is not happening. From now on, you have to call us Mom and Dad." Mr. Smith replied and his wife nodded. "Okay¡­." Hesitating for sometime, she said again looking at the Smith couple, "Thanks... Mom and Dad." Everyone smiled at this and then Mr. Lopez also made Reuben remember, "You too fella. You also should start calling us Mom and Dad from now on." Reuben grinned and shamelessly pronounced, "Okay Mom and Dad." After some more chatting, everyone left the Lopez mansion. Though Mr. Lopez wanted to stop his daughter from leaving but his wife threatened him to do so. That''s why he reluctantly agreed to let his girl leave with his future son in law. Chapter 35 - 35. Will You Be My Girlfriend?... Sip and Drip, Lucinda''s caf¨¦¡­. Lucinda was about to leave her caf¨¦ when she noticed a car parking outside of the gate. A man was standing there with his back pressing on the car. The man was very handsome and every passer by were at least giving him a second look over him... Lucinda was surprised to see the man there. She murmured to herself, "Is he here for me?" Shaking her head, when she walked towards the man, the man lifted up his head and saw Lucinda approaching him. He stood up properly and gave her a charming smile. When Lucinda stood in front of him, she asked, "What are you doing here Henry?" Henry stuttered, "Ah.. That.. I was waiting for you." "Me?" Lucinda acted surprised, but deep down in her heart, she felt happiness bloomed. Joy fillef in her entire stomach... Henry then caught her hand and made her sit in the passenger seat. Buckling her seatbelt, he said, "Uhm.. I''m going to take you to somewhere. Don''t question me more. It will not take much time. You trust me right?" He asked the last question looking at her eyes. Lucinda nodded and Henry felt a sight of relief. Entering the driver seat, he drove through the street. ----- After 45 minutes¡­ Henry stopped the car near a park and helped Lucinda to get off. He then hold her hand and made her sit on a bench near the pond, inside the park. "You sit here. I''ll be back in 5 minutes." Saying this, Henry ran to somewhere. Lucinda was confused by the whole thing, like why Henry suddenly brought her here and then disappear from her sight. She was in her own thought, when suddenly¡­. *boom* *boom* The whole sky was brightened with lights that was emitting from the fire crackers and the refection of the sky was falling on the clean water of the pond. The sight was splendid to view. Lucinda was so mesmerized by the view in front of her that she didn''t notice the man who was standing right behind her, with a bouquet of red roses... "Lucy¡­" Henry called her nervously. Hearing the voice, Lucinda turned towards him and the next thing that happened made her shook... Henry knelt down in front of her and hold up the flowers in front of her, saying hoarsely, "Lucinda.. Though we are friends for very long time. But I don''t feel you like my any other friend. From the last four years, I have been feeling something more about you. I couldn''t at first understand those feelings. But four years ago, when I saw you with another man holding your arm in the party, I became very¡­." Henry paused for sometime, then continued, "I became very jealous. That''s when I understood about the true meaning of my unknown feelings. But later I came to know that the man was none other than your cousin..." he chuckled. Lucinda laughed at his comment and looked forward for more to listen from him, "And?" she asked. "And.. the feeling is none other than love..." Henry took a deep breath. He then looked at her eyes directly and encouraged himself, "Lucinda Wilson¡­ I love you. I''m loving you from the past four and half years but couldn''t get the guts to confess to you. So now I''m asking you.. Will you be my girlfriend?" Lucinda''s heart thumped loudly at his sudden but very sweet confession and tears started to fall from her eyes... She then jumped into his embrace. Henry wasn''t ready for the sudden hug as both of them fall on the grass, Lucinda lying over Henry. Sobbing hard, Lucinda too confessed, "I love you too Henry. I am also loving you for more than four years and expecting you to confess me but you took so long..." She was crying like hell in his embrace. So Henry asked her soothing her back, "So you will be my girlfriend, right?" "Of course stupid.." She said hitting him on the chest. Henry lifter up her chin and moved their face closer. Their noses and foreheads were pressed together. Lucinda closed her eyes in anticipation. Now both of their lips were a centimeter away from you touching¡­. Chapter 36 - 36. Planted A Seed Of Fear… Henry lifted up her chin and moved their face closer... Their noses and foreheads were pressed together. Lucinda closed her eyes in anticipation.. Now both of their lips were a centimeter away from touching¡­. Henry''s lips brushed with Lucinda''s and when he felt the softness of her lips, he too closed his eyes... Letting the flower bouquet fall on the ground, his hand hold the back of her neck to press their lips together more. Lucinda felt a chill ran down her spine when Henry''s cold lips touched hers. But the coldness soon replaced by hotness, that was illuminating from their body when Henry bit her lips, forcing her to open her teeth and pushing his tongue in. When Henry''s hot tongue slid inside her mouth and played with her tongue, Lucinda widened her eyes and clutched onto Henry''s shirt tightly... Understanding her hesitation, Henry embarrassedly pulled himself away from her and helped her to sit up properly on the ground. He then also sat up straight and again hold the flowers. "I.. I brought this for you. But forgot to give you." He stammered. Feeling guilty that he almost lost his self control while kissing her, he dithered, "And sorry for that..." Lucinda looked at him confusedly and asked, "Sorry for what?" "That... I lost control over myself while kissing you. Actually you were so tempting¡­.And¡­" Before Henry could complete, Lucinda crashed her lips with his and kissed him clumsily... Henry was very shocked at first but then regained his consciousness as he pulled her on his lap and kissed her passionately. This time, both of their lips and tongue were in perfect sync.. Kissing for some time, they both breathed heavily and after staying in each other''s arms for like half an hour, enjoying the enchanting view, they left the park, holding their hands as a commitment of their new relationship... ---- Reuben and Veronica were driving back to their bungalow, but Veronica didn''t speak at all with Reuben for some reasons that Reuben also couldn''t guess out. Reuben tried to console her for many times but she didn''t listen. Instead, she was busy with her phone, calling someone. After calling for more than five times when the person didn''t pick up her phone, Veronica become more frustrated and cut the call gritting her teeth. Reuben frowned at her action and asked, "What happened? Whom are you calling?" "That''s none of your business." Veronica retorted. Reuben''s frown got deeper and he took the phone out of her hand and unlocked it. Then he checked the caller''s name and couldn''t help but chuckle. "Now.. why are you laughing like a fool?" Veronica glared at her boyfriend. Reuben gave back her phone and still chuckling, he replied, "My sweetheart. Even if you call her hundred more times, she will not pick up the phone." Veronica pressed her eyebrows together, not understanding his meaning and asked, "Why so?" "Because your bestie is now busy with our ''newly become boyfriend'' Henry." Reuben chuckled again. Veronica straightened her back and hold his left hand that was on the gear, and questioned him excitedly, "What do you mean? Has Henry finally decided to propose her?" "Well, my girlfriend is really clever. Even I think that the proposal has been already done and they both will be kissing each other now.." He winked. Veronica clapped her hands together and exclaimed in joy, "Yeyyyy.. Finally we will not be the only couple in our group. But I hope that stupid Henry would not mess up this time." Reuben caught her hand and kissed it, as he said, "Don''t worry. This time he will not dare to back off, because I planted a seed of fear in him about Lucinda to marry another guy." "You are really a big tease." Saying this, the couple bursted in laughter... Chapter 37 - 37. The Intruder… Somewhere in City B¡­ Around 10 pm¡­ A middle aged man was sitting in his study room, smoking a cigarette. The room was filled with suffocating scent of the cigarette''s smoke. His assistant was standing in front of him with his head bowed down. "Did you find out what I told you to?" Mr. Porter Brown asked his assistant. "Yes sir. I already did the research about the girl you are asking for to do. But there is no information of her in City S. Seems like she is not a resident of that city." His assistant replied. "Okay. You can leave now." Mr. Brown said. After the assistant left, Mr. Brown let out another puff of smoke and closed his eyes, while relaxing his head on his chair. "That''s mean, Alonzo didn''t plan to shift the office to city S for that beggar girl. *sigh*. Seems like I have thought too much about this matter. Now that I know, it is not related to that girl, I can finally relax." Porter Brown smashed the cigarette and left the study room. ----- Alonzo''s apartment¡­ Alonzo just got out of the shower when his phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, he picked up the call, "What''s the matter?" "Uhmm. Boss.. Your father, Mr. Brown had sent some men to investigate about Miss." Bill reported. "So I guessed right about my father that he would order something like this. But didn''t expect that it''ll be so soon. Never mind. Did he come to know anything about her?" Alonzo enquired. Bill replied straightly, "No sir. He couldn''t. Our men hid her informations very well." "Okay. Let me know if something more happens." Alonzo ordered. "Yes boss." And the call got cut off. ---- Love-Paradise¡­ After getting back home, Veronica took a warm bath and wore her pajamas. As Reuben was busy in a phone call with Tom about some business matters, she decided to read some novels. Veronica laid on the bed, on her stomach and her legs were hanging high in the air as she was swinging it to and fro, while checking on some novels. Her hair covered her shoulders but her pajamas slipped up from her thigh, almost showing everything. Finishing the call, Reuben entered their room and this sexy scene of Veronica, lying on the bed with her exposed legs, allured him. He slowly approached her and kept his phone on the side table. He sat on the edge of the bed without making any noise and holding her bare legs, he kissed her left ankle. As Veronica was busy, searching for some good novels, she didn''t notice the intruder. So she jolted up with the sudden touch of Reuben''s lips but later relaxed seeing the face of the intruder. Reuben showered a lot of kisses from her ankle up to her thighs. He then shifted himself beside her and slowly slide his cold hands under her pajama shirt, caressing her waist gently. Veronica shuddered with his touch and keeping her phone down, turned over to face him. Reuben''s arm encircled her waist and he pulled her up for a kiss. Wrapping her hands around Reuben''s neck, Veronica closed her eyes when both of their lips met each other... This time it was Veronica who dominated the kiss by sliding her tongue into his mouth. Both of their tongues wrapped around themselves and overpowered their sentiments. This kiss was not gentle but a demanding one... "Mhmmm¡­" Veronica moaned, when Reuben''s other hand caressed her bare back under her pajama top. Veronica''s hands were now on his chest, slowly unbuttoning his shirt one by one. When she opened the last button, she helped him to remove his shirt and tossed it on the floor. Now her hands were roaming all over his toned chests, then his navel and torso. Reuben groaned when he felt her soft hands on his chest. Quickly, unbuckling his belt, he removed his pants and kissed her neck. Veronica didn''t wear any bra so his hand could feel the side of her curves very clearly. Sliding his hand to the hem of her top, he tore it into pieces¡­.. Chapter 38 - 38. You Are My Tastiest Food… [ WARNING..!!! MATURE CONTENTS AHEAD... READ AT YOUR OWN RISK... IF YOU GOT ROASTED AFTER READING IT, THEN DON''T BLAME ME...???????? ] Quickly, unbuckling his belt, he removed his pants and kissed her neck. Veronica didn''t wear any bra so his hand could feel the side of her curves very clearly. Sliding his hand to the hem of her top, he torn it into pieces¡­.. Two big meat balls popped out in front of Reuben''s eyes and his eyes darkened. Veronica was shocked by Reuben''s unexpected move and her face become pink in wariness with her enlarged eyes... Reuben then looked at the rosy cheeks of Veronica and kissed those cheeks smoothly. His left hand grasped her face and he proceeded to kiss her nose and then her soft pouty lips. While he was kissing, sucking and biting her lips, his right hand slid from her bare back to the lower portion of her bare breast. Feeling the weight of her breast, Reuben''s blood circulation got limp and his hand automatically found its path towards her perfect breast... He cupped her left breast with his big hand and squeezed it. Veronica let out a soft moan in the sensation of Reuben''s hand on her breast. Reuben got more aroused by her moan as he muttered hoarsely and started squeezing her breast more hardly... Veronica tightened her grip in Reuben''s hair and bit his lips. The softness of her breast made Reuben feel like he is in heaven, as he muttered hoarsely in her lips, "God.. Ica.. How much I itched to touch and hold this for all these days. You really gave me a big punishment honey." Looking at her eyes, he kissed her lips one more time and moved down towards her neck. Kissing and biting her neck and collarbone area, he didn''t forget to leave his marks on her. At last his lips come in touch with her cleavage, spreading some soft but wet kisses here and there, his face moved towards her soft and high peak... Inspecting it for quite a while, his lips finally landed on her left peak. He took her already aroused pink nipple in his mouth and his other hand started squeezing her right breast, totally in sync with his mouth''s movement... His tongue licked her buds and nipple, making Veronica moan for another time, "Uhmmmm¡­.." Losing his self control fully, Reuben bit her nipple, sucked it, then licked it hungrily, again and again¡­.. Wetting her left breast with his saliva and kisses, he jumped onto her another beast. Breathing softly against her breast, he looked at Veronica''s eyes, which were closed because of his touch, he said lowly, "As usual honey¡­ Your breasts are so much soft and yummy. I can''t ever get enough of eating it." Veronica slowly opened her eyes and smiled at him. She broadened her hands out to held his cheeks and caressed it with her soft palms. She softly murmured to him, "You are behaving really like a baby right now, who got his food after waiting for too long..." Reuben chuckled at her statement and kissed her palm, as he said, "And you are my tastiest food..." Saying this, he again attacked her breasts, fondling, squeezing, kissing, licking, biting and sucking it like a newborn hungry baby. After covering each and every inch of her breasts, he moved down towards her tummy. Leaving butterfly kisses, all around her belly, he bit her navel with his teeth. Veronica moaned, "Ahhh¡­Bennieeee¡­" Reuben hold her waist with both of his hand and then entered her tongue in her navel, licking it in a circular motion. When he left enough hickeys on her belly, he kissed on her lower abdomen, still brushing her waist with his right hand. His left hand found his way inside her thigh, slowly rubbing her private area.. His mouth also went towards more south portion of her body and stopped right in front of her panties... Chapter 39 - 39. Your Wish…My Command… [ WARNING..!!! MATURE CONTENTS AHEAD... READ AT YOUR OWN RISK... IF YOU GOT ROASTED AFTER READING IT, THEN DON''T BLAME ME...???????? ] His mouth also went towards more south portion and stopped right in front of her panties... Planting a kiss on her panties, he rubbed it with his nose and sniffed her smell. His one hand went inside her black underwear and started to rub her hidden flower. His other hand caressed her thighs, whereas his lips were busy in giving kisses all around her thighs and legs. Veronica couldn''t do anything except moaning Reuben''s name, "Ben¡­.Ahhhh¡­." Reuben felt his adrenaline went high as he caught the side of her panties and tore it again like her top. The pink flesh came into her sight and he dived into tasting it. His tongue twirled around her flower and bit on her gentle petals... Veronica held Reuben''s hair tightly, as she involuntarily pushed him more into her private part. Reuben continuously licked, bit, sucked and twirled his tongue around her pink fleshy flower. Veronica couldn''t suppress her orgasm any longer as she came into Reuben''s mouth. Reuben smiled for his victory and drank all her juice in one go. He didn''t forget to lick the extras with his tongue. It is like¡­ this is the best juice he had ever tasted... "Ica.. My baby¡­. You taste so sweet¡­." He mumbled against her clit. Veronica pulled Reuben over towards her by his hair and kissed him passionately. Reuben also kissed her with same passion, his hand continued to rub her clit. He slid his index finger inside her core in one go, making Veronica moan in pleasure, "Ahhh¡­." He then entered another finger and moved in and out¡­. both the fingers were rhythmic with their kissing. After some more making out, Reuben lifted up his head and gave a quick peck on her lips. "You are already very much wet for me Babe.. Seems like you too want me inside you¡­..just like how much I want me to be.." Reuben hoarsely said. Veronica deepened the kiss. As for her, she is in no position to speak but her lusty eyes and flushed face was enough to tell how much she want to be one with him. In the ecstasy she is currently in, all she could do is nod her head... Getting an approval from his woman, he quickly pulled off his boxer and his little brother stood high and large proudly in front of Veronica''s eyes. She really could feel how much her boyfriend wanted her right now just by eyeing at his little brother¡­ "Please¡­" she hoarsely said. She can''t wait any longer too.. "Your wish¡­ My command babe.. Moreover I also can''t wait to be one with you. So¡­are you ready?" Putting a condom on his shaft for protection, Reuben whispered naughtily and hovered over her in a swift motion. Pressing his lips on her forehead, Reuben gently pushed his long proud member inside her. Veronica opened her closed eyes and wrapped her arms around Reuben''s neck, pulling him for a kiss. Understanding what his girlfriend wants from him, Reuben too devoured her mouth while his hand fondled her left breast. Both of them groaned together when Reuben thrust hard in her. Veronica also moved her bottom to catch up Reuben''s pace and wrapped her legs around Reuben''s waist. "Uhhhh¡­ Babe¡­" Reuben groaned loudly as he hit Veronica''s G-spot and quickened his pace, thrusting hard inside her. "Honey¡­ Uhmm¡­" Veronica moaned and bit Reuben''s shoulder¡­ while Reuben''s member grew bigger inside of her. Reuben intertwined his fingers with Veronica''s hand, on the sheet, pressing his body more onto her. Groaning¡­moaning¡­touching and feeling each and other''s every part through making love with each other, nearly for one hour¡­ both of them nearly came to their orgasm. "Honey. I''m coming¡­." Veronica arched her back and she reached her orgasm. "I''m also coming baby¡­." Reuben groaned and filled the rubber pot with his juice.. Cumming into Veronica, Reuben collapsed on her body and breathed heavily. Though he was wearing a condom but he still could feel Veronica''s juice against his shaft. Veronica brushed her fingers through his hair and closed her eyes in satisfaction. "I''m feeling so happy honey.." Veronica said softly and kissed his hair. Reuben buried his head in her neck and muttered, "Still I''m the happiest.." He then smelled her fragrant and kissed her neck and shoulder. He then lifted his head and grinned at her. Raising his brows cockily, he asked, "Another round?" Veronica pinched his cheeks and cheekily smiled. Winking at him, she brushed her lips onto his and replied, "Why not?!!" And again¡­ this couple indulged themselves in their second round of love making¡­ Chapter 40 - 40. Telepathy Between Lovers... [ PARTLY MATURED CONTENTS...] The next morning¡­. Sunlight shone through the windows, falling on the two naked figures who were sleeping peacefully, hugging each other like a pine tree... There were no space left between them.. not even air could pass through their intertwined body that were wrapped with a white blanket tightly.. Reuben slowly opened his eyes and Veronica''s head was the first thing he noticed as her face was buried deep into Reuben''s neck. Reuben''s lips curled up and he kissed her hair. Tucking some hair strands behind her ear, he kissed her face all over and caressed her bare back in a up and down motion. Getting the warmth from his hands and lips, Veronica quivered and frowned her eyes before opening it slowly. Encircling her arms around his shoulder, she smiled at him and said groggily, "Good morning¡­" Kissing her on her soft lips, Reuben wished, "Morning darling¡­." Veronica was very sore in the lower part of her body as Reuben didn''t stop with only a second round¡­ He continued eating her till dawn¡­ So when she moved a little, she whimpered in pain and glared at Reuben and cursed, "Beast¡­!!" Reuben laughed and cupped her butt in his hand and pouted as if feeling wronged, "Baby¡­ Isn''t it right to become a beast after staying hungry for nearly one month?" Veronica rolled her eyes at his comment and then Reuben''s phone started ringing.. Taking the phone from the bedside table, Reuben saw the name of the caller and his smile broadened. He sat up on the bed, pulling Veronica alongside him. Resting his head on the headboard and capturing Veronica in his arms, he slyly said to her, "The new boyfriend of your bestie called me.. Maybe to tell us some good news¡­" "Morning Bro.." Reuben answered Henry''s call and Veronica leaned towards the phone to listen their conversation eagerly. "Bro.... She accepted.. She finally accepted my proposal.. Now we are finally a couple.." Henry shouted from the other side. "Congratulations for finally become a committed man." Reuben congratulated him when Veronica''s phone also started ringing. Veronica grabbed her phone and show the name to Reuben. He smiled and teased Henry, "Wow bro¡­ That''s called the telepathy between lovers. Your girl also called my girl now when you are busy with talking to me." Henry chuckled and said, "Thanks bro for last night''s proposal idea. You really know how to win a girl''s heart." Reuben laughed and continued talking with him. On the other side, Veronica laid down on the bed while talking with Lucinda on the phone. Like Henry, Lucinda was also very excited to let Veronica know about their relationship. Veronica exclaimed in excitement, "Vero.. Finally he proposed to me¡­ I''m so happy¡­" "Woah¡­ Cool down girl.. I''m listening.. Now explain me how did he propose you?" Meanwhile, Reuben was already done with his phone call with Henry and he moved his body on top of Veronica and shoved his head between Veronica''s breasts. Veronica slowly combed his hair with her hand and played with it, still talking with Lucinda. Reuben kissed the edges of her breast and played with her nipple. He twitched it with thumb and index finger, then pinched it hardly. Veronica bit her lips to suppress her moan and glared at him. Reuben even didn''t look at her and continued playing with her nipples by tapping it and kissing, licking biting, pinching, twisting it time to time. His hot breath made her nipple hardened and he became more satisfied by the hardness and teased it more with his mouth and fingers. After the phone call, Veronica asked him, caressing his cheeks, "The whole plan about the proposal idea was yours, right?" Reuben didn''t look at her and replied while squeezing her one breast and sucking another. "Hmm.. The idea was mine. But how do you know that?" his eyes were totally focused on her two perfect melons. "Of course, I will know about it. After all.. Who can be more romantic than my boyfriend?" She giggled. This time, Reuben lifted his full body and positioned himself in between her legs, as he said with a evil smirk, " Then let me show you how much more romantic I can be?" and kissed her lips passionately. Veronica laughed in between the kiss, "You always have energy, huh?" Reuben didn''t replied but entered inside her... And again there passionate love making continued¡­.. Chapter 41 - 41. Can’t Remember Properly… When Veronica woke up from her slumber, after their intense morning exercise, it was already 11 am. She disembarked from the bed and the moment her feet touched the ground, she almost fell down but balanced herself by holding the bedside on time. She was extremely sore and her legs felt like a jelly out of pain. She cursed Reuben in her heart and wobbly went inside the bathroom... ----- After soaking herself in hot water for half an hour, her pain subsided and she came downstairs in search of her assaulter. Reuben was setting the table with his handmade foods while humming some songs. His face seemed delightful with happiness and satisfaction because of the last night and also today morning''s activity. Veronica gnashed her teeth when she noticed the silly smile on his face and sat down on her chair. Reuben noticed her and asked, "You woke up baby? Let''s eat then. I have made all your favorite dishes today." He then placed some foods on her plate and sat beside her. Veronica took a bite of meat and muttered angrily, "Monster.." Laughing hard on his new nick name, Reuben teased, "So now I''m promoted from a beast to monster?" Veronica gave him a death stare and continued eating with Reuben. ----- As it was Sunday, both Reuben and Veronica hadn''t any work. So after their brunch, they both strolled around the garden holding each other''s hands. Both of them sat on a bench viewing the beautiful flowers of the garden, with Veronica''s head on Reuben''s shoulder. They were not speaking anything, just enjoying the calmness of the nature in each other''s embrace.. Suddenly, Veronica''s phone started ringing and it was her father who was calling. "Yes Dad.." Veronica answered the call, still sitting in Reuben''s arms. "Princess¡­ What are you doing now?" Mr. Lopez asked. "Nothing much Dad. Just strolling around the garden." Veronica replied. Veronica and Reuben forgot to tell their family about them, living in the same house since past three and half years. So they decided to tell them another time, till then they would enjoy more of their personal space and time. Mr. Lopez said, "Good. Actually I called you to notify about a party on next weekend, so that you can prepare beforehand." Meanwhile, Reuben''s naughty hand started exploring her waist and tummy under her thin top and his kisses were falling simultaneously on her neck and face. Veronica pressed her lips together to stop a moan and caught Reuben''s wavering hand but to no avail, as he continued his handiwork on her tummy, pinching her navel with his fingers. Glaring at him, Veronica replied, "Okay Dad¡­ I will visit you before lunch at the party day then. But whose party is this?" Father Lopez responded, "The Brown Corporation of City B changed their main office in City S. So they are holding an inauguration party to customize with the businessmen of our city and we are being invited in it." Veronica knitted her brows listening the name of Brown Corporation and answered, "Hmm.. Dad.. I''ll then prepare your and Mom''s dress for the party with mine." Talking for some more time with her father, Veronica cut the call. She sighed and stroked Reuben''s biceps. Reuben looked at his girlfriend and understood that something was bothering her. So he asked, "What happened baby? Why are you frowning?" Veronica took a deep breath and hugged him tighter, "Nothing baby. Dad just told me to be ready for the party of a new business company on the next weekend." "You mean, Brown Corporation?" Reuben ran his hand through her hair as he asked. Veronica nodded her head in response and questioned in a low voice, "Hmm.. Are you also invited?" "Well, Yeah.. I''m also going to that party. So you will see me there. But you look confused about something?" Reuben couldn''t identify what is making her confused. "Ah.. About that.. I think, I heard the name Brown Corporation somewhere but I can''t remember properly." Veronica replied, trying to remember anything about the new company. Reuben patted her back and said, "This new businessman is from B city. Maybe you have heard about him or his company when you visited City B five and half years ago." "Hmm.. That could be possible." Veronica didn''t think too much about it and enjoyed her time with her handsome boyfriend. Later that night, they both made their dinner together and after eating, again indulged into their passionate love making... Chapter 42 - 42. MIND IT… Next day, Veronica directly went to the film set of their upcoming VFX Project for some discussion with the director, before going to her office. Willa was busy with some important matters, so she stayed in company and emailed the layout to Veronica. ---- Top floor of Creation¡­ Louis was sitting in his chair in a room that was just beside the CEO''s office. A man was sitting in front of him on his knees, kneeling down and crying miserably. "Sorry Boss.. I will not do this kind of mistakes again. Please spare me for the last time." He was begging with his hand clasped together. Louis laughed mockingly and said, "What? Spare you? Do I look like a stupid to you or do you think the CEO of our company is a fool? After backstabbing us by trying to sell our project to another company, you think I''ll forgive you?" ----- Previous week¡­ The man was an employee under the Graphics Designing Department. The head of the department found something unobvious in their project like it was being copied to somewhere. Every department head''s computer has a special software that could easily analyze if someone tried to copy, replace, delete or do something else to the saved files. So when the department head noticed this, he urged Veronica to help her. Veronica then asked Willa to bring the CCTV Footage to her and typed something on her computer and after that a passcode generated on her PC screen, which scanned through the graphic department head''s computer and found out that the person was an employee who was also handling the project. After Willa brought the CCTV footage, there she saw the man talking with someone in phone but couldn''t hear anything. But again tapping some codes on her computer she clearly heard each and every words of the man. He was stealing the project to sell it to their rival company and quickly informed the whole thing with evidence to the CEO''s head secretary and then the head secretary handed the proofs to Louis''s assistant. ---- Back to present¡­ The man cried out, "I''m really sorry sir. Please forgive me. I have a wife and two children to feed in home. If something happens to me then my family can''t suffer in this world." Louis punched his face and shouted, "Then you had to think about your family before betraying us..." He then called someone and ordered, "Come in now.." The man''s face was now all bloody after getting the punch from Louis and when he tried to cry for mercy again, two bulky men in black outfits came inside the room and hold the employee by his two hands. Louis commanded, "Both of you take him to our base and beat him until he beg for his death. Then hand him to the police." Then he pointed towards the beaten employee and snarled, "And you.. If you dare to open your mouth to police about what happened here or going to happen later with you, then your family will be in a big danger and no on will be able to save them. And one more thing.. Tell the person who gave you the order of this stupid yet dangerous work.. not to play this kind of stupid tricks with Creation.. Our boss will definitely not leave him for the second time if they try to meddle with us for a second time.. MIND IT¡­" The man shivered in fear and shook his head as he requested, "I''ll not say anything. Just don''t do anything bad to my family. And I''ll also warn that person." Louis didn''t replied and signed the two bulky men to took him away from the room. The men nodded and dragged him out of the room. Afterthat.. The CEO''s assistant then entered the room and cheered, "Wooooohhooo.. It was fun to watch him like this. Now only we have to handle our so called rival company who tried to fight with us¡­ Huh! Just thinking about the consequences of them, I''m getting excited." Louis chuckled and said, "Well we have to wait for the right time about that. After all our dear CEO is the one who will handle them.." Chapter 43 - 43. Just Don’t Fall Too Hard… Veronica came back to office from the film set around 2 pm. She had already done with her lunch before coming back to the office. As Veronica sat on her chair and rubbed her temples, Willa also came in with a mischievous smile on her face, holding two cups of coffee. Staring at her assistant''s expression, Veronica understood the meaning and asked, "So the work is done?" Willa sat opposite of her and replied, "Yes.. All done.. Just the biggest work is left for you to handle.." Then she gave a cup of coffee to Veronica and took a sip from her cup. Veronica smirked holding the coffee mug in her hand and tapping on it with her index finger, "Okay.. Leave it for me.. This is not the right time for the big project to be done as I don''t want to ruin my enjoyment with Reuben, just because of this ''not so pig project.'' " Chuckling at her friend''s comment, Willa asked, "So how is everything going between both of you guys?" Sighing deeply, Veronica replied, "There is no time that we will not be good. As usual my dear boyfriend tortured me to death in bed for the past two days.." Pausing for a while, Veronica looked straightly in Willa''s eyes after taking a sip of her coffee, "I think what Louis said to you, was not absolutely wrong.." Willa furrowed her brows and confusedly asked, "What are you talking about?" Then played with the handle of the cup. Sighing again, Veronica placed her coffee mug on the table and intertwined her fingers. "Look.. I''m not sure though but I also feel that Sam is not a good guy for you.. Don''t take it as an offense but it''s just that I can feel it from his vibes. And you even didn''t let me do a background check on him.. so I can''t really persistently force you to not listen to your feelings but still.. just don''t fall too hard for him so that you can prevent yourself from a future heartbreak.¡­" Understanding her friend''s concern about her, Willa smiled at her and hold her hand. She affirmed her, "Don''t worry.. I know he is a good guy and will make me happy in the future.." Standing up from the chair, Willa said, "I''ll be get going now. Lots of work are pending.. Bye.." Veronica nodded at Willa and replied, "Hmm.. Bye.." ---- Inside Willa''s cabin... Willa settled down herself on the chair and covered her face with her hands.. She then thought back about the memories of Sam and her¡­.. In the past... Sam and Willa met each other two years ago when they both attended a family wedding.. It was Willa''s cousin brother''s marriage and Sam was one of her brother''s best friends.. They got introduced to each other there and both of them became very good friends of each other in a very small time. As both Willa and Sam had the responsibilities of the decorations for the wedding, they often had to hang out together for the various kinds of arrangements like venue, flowers etc¡­ So after spending more and more time with each other they became closer¡­ Even after the wedding, they still stayed in contact and continued meeting each other in their free time. And this blooming friendship turned into a blooming love¡­ Willa was sure that she fell for Sam a long time ago and she also knew that this feeling was mutual, both sided.. But the thing she couldn''t understand that why Sam still hadn''t proposed her yet.. Even when she tried to give him hints and advance forward into the relationship herself, Sam always changed the topic.. Now Willa started to think about the possibilities that her friends were saying to her¡­ Does Sam really loves her? If yes, then why didn''t he commit with her? But the biggest question is¡­. Is he even a good guy¡­???? Chapter 44 - 44. Couple Dress… Smith Enterprise¡­ Reuben was checking the files which contained the proposal of the new shopping mall project, that the Brown Corporation had submitted.. After he completed studying the whole file and observing the demonstration neatly, his lips curled up in a smile and he dabbed his fountain pen on the table. Flipping through the pages one more time, he gave back the file to Tom who was sitting on the other side of table, waiting for his Boss''s response.. Tom asked, "Boss.. so what do you think about the proposal?" Reuben kept the pen in the pen stand and said, "Indeed you chose them as the best among all of the other proposals¡­" Pausing for a while, he continued, "Announce Brown Corporation as the winner of our new project next week, after their inauguration party and fix a meeting with Mr. Brown after it..." After Tom left, Reuben muttered to himself, "Seems like the architectural companies of city S will have a good rival and tough competitor to fight with from now on.." "It''s going to be fun to watch¡­" he smirked. And then a sudden phone call brought Reuben back from his thoughts. He smiled as he picked up the call. "Yes babe.." Reuben answered.. "Honey, I''m going to buy the attires for my Mom and Dad for the upcoming party on Saturday.. Should I also buy your suit?" Came Veronica''s sweet and melodious voice from the other side of the phone. Reuben''s smile broadened and he replied, "Is that even a question honey? Do whatever you want.. You know I prefer to wear the suits more that you bought for me than those that I chose for myself.. And please try to buy one that match with your gown.." Veronica giggled, "That I obviously know.. And yes I will buy your suit matching with my gown, yet will make sure that no one can understand that it''s a couple dress.." "Hmm.. I know my girl is the best when it comes to choose a couple dress without making anyone doubt about it.." Reuben chuckled. Reuben then asked, "By the way, you don''t like to shop alone. Then are you going with Lucy?" Veronica affirmed him by saying, "Yup¡­ Lucy is going with me." "Okay.. stay safe and I''ll send a car to your office. Then you can pick Lucy up from her caf¨¦.." Reuben said. "Hmm.. That will be good." Veronica replied. Talking for some more time, they ended the call. ----- After office hours, Veronica boarded the car which was sent by Reuben and went to ''Sip and Drip'' (Lucinda''s cafe).. Lucinda was waiting outside of her caf¨¦ and when she saw Veronica''s car, she hopped in it. As Lucinda closed the door, Veronica told the driver to go to ''Sky-Heart''. She then faced Lucinda and gave her a teasing smile and asked, "So.. how are you?" Lucinda ignored the teasing smile and replied, "I''m fine as always.." "Just fine? I thought you would say that you are in cloud nine.. After all that stupid Henry and you got together after waiting for nearly four and half years?" Veronica continued with her teasing. Blushing hard, Lucinda hid her face with both of her hands and softly murmured, "Don''t tease me Vero¡­" Laughing loudly, Veronica poked her arms and said, "Are you now blushing?" Removing her hands from her face, Lucinda tried to retaliate, "No.. I''m not.." "Okay.. okay.. you are not.. You told me how Henry proposed you earlier but hadn''t explained me in details. So start now." Lucinda then started describing the whole process of Henry''s proposal including their kiss.. "God!! Lucinda¡­. So you guys already kissed each other on the proposal day.. I''m so happy for you." And then Veronica hugged Lucinda in super excitement and happiness. "I''m also very happy for myself Vero.. I''m finally dating my prince charming.." Lucinda excitedly said as she hold Veronica''s hands. Ten minutes later, the driver told them that they had already reached Sky-Heart. So both of them left the car and entered the mall.. Chapter 45 - 45. Everything is possible in this small world... Veronica and Lucinda entered the Ladies'' department first and bought the dresses for their mothers.. When they were choosing some gowns for their own, Veronica remembered that her mother always went for shopping with Reuben''s mother for any kind of occasion. If this time her mother told her to buy one for her, then that''s mean that Reuben''s mother also hadn''t bought something for her to wear in the party... Her eyes then landed on a beautiful burgundy color half sleeved dress that has some white embroidery on the chest portion¡­ Just looking at the dress, her mind made an imagination of her beautiful mother in law wearing this dress and she grinned.. Walking towards the dress, she surveyed the it and a smile crept on her lips as she told one of the sales lady, "Please pack this dress for me." Lucinda narrowed her eyes at Veronica and asked, "Are you taking this dress for you? Girl this will not look good at you." "I know that.." Veronica casually replied. Looking at her best friend with a muddled expression, Lucinda questioned, "If you know that this dress will not suit you then why are you buying it???" "It''s for Mom.." Veronica replied. "Mom? But you already bought one for Auntie¡­" Lucinda confusedly spoke. Flicking Lucinda''s forehead, Veronica said, "It''s not for my Mom stupid.. It''s for Reuben''s Mom." Widening her mouth in a huge ''O'' shape, Lucinda said, "Girl.. you are already calling Aunt Smith as Mom." "Yup.. Both of Reuben''s parents asked me to call them as Mom and Dad.. Also same with my parents.. They also told Reuben to regard them like I do." Veronica blushingly said. Coming out of the shock, Lucinda hooked her arms around Veronica''s and cheekily smiled, "So both you and Reuben are calling each other''s parents Mom and Dad..?? No more uncle and aunty?" Veronica nodded her head in response and uttered a single word, "Yes.." "Gosh..!! Seems like there is not much time left for me to attend your wedding.." She teasingly said. Raising her eyebrows, Veronica moved towards Lucinda''s ear and whispered, "But what I feel like that your and Henry''s wedding will be before mine. You know everything thing is possible in this small world.." Lucinda''s cheeks became red at Veronica''s statement and she said, "Focus on shopping.." Veronica laughed and focused on finding a dress for herself. Her eyes caught a glimpse of a peach colored dress which had a black ribbon in the waist in a butterfly shape. Without thinking too much, she knew this is the one for her and she bought it. Lucinda also chose an orange gown for herself and the girls came out from the shop with lots of shopping bags. ---- Men''s Shop¡­ After buying their fathers'' suit, Lucinda dragged Veronica to the leftmost side of the shop where a varieties of tuxedos were displayed in a big glass showcase. Veronica inspected Lucinda like a hawk and asked, "Why did you bring me here and why are you so excited?" "Hehehe.. Actually Vero¡­ The thing is that I want to buy a tux.." Lucinda sheepishly smiled.. "But you don''t wear tux.. Or have you changed your dressing style from women''s to men''s..?" Veronica teased. "Stop it Vero.. You clearly know for whom I am buying this.." Lucinda pouted. "Okay okay.. I also have to buy one for my dear boyfy.. So let''s buy together." Veronica said grinning widely... ---- 30 minutes later¡­ Both Veronica and Lucinda were out of the mall holding many shopping bags.. Their driver helped them to carry the bags and then they left the place together.. Chapter 46 - 46. I didn’t notice you… Reuben called Veronica when they were buying the tuxedos for their boyfriends, to inform them to come at ''FUSION'' for dinner. He also said to inform Lucinda that Henry would also be joining them so they could send the driver back home after dropping them at Fusion... That''s why they were heading now to Fusion¡­ They didn''t enter by the special gate as Reuben and Henry wasn''t with them. So they just took the main gate to enter. While entering, Veronica collided with a man at the gate. She immediately apologized to the man, "Sorry sir.. I didn''t notice you.." The man quickly peeked at her after listening to the familiar voice and was stunned to see the girl there. He couldn''t response in time and because of that, Veronica got dragged inside by Lucinda. Veronica was confused because she thought that she saw the man before somewhere but couldn''t recall it¡­ Lucinda nudged her when she saw her friend was in her own world as she asked, "What happened Vero? Why are you not answering me if we''re going to the top floor or not?" Veronica came out of her own world and shook her head, "No nothing.. It''s just that I thought that the man I collided with now, was quite familiar.." "Is that so?" Lucinda asked looking back at the gate to find the man. "Leave it.. And yes, we''re going to our usual place.. The top floor.." Veronica said and entered the elevator. --- Inside a Range Rover¡­ Alonzo was sitting in the back seat, looking outside of the window, towards the entrance of the restaurant¡­ He started to think what happened just few minutes ago... He came to ''Fusion'' for a meeting with one of his colleague to discuss about a project. When he was coming out after finishing the meeting, he collided with a woman by accident. He didn''t care about it before but when he listened to the girl''s voice, he stopped and looked at her in amusement¡­ "Sorry sir.. I didn''t notice you.." The girl apologized. Alonzo was stunned seeing her so close but before he could say something, another girl dragged Veronica from there¡­ It was the first time after five years that Alonzo could see her from this close. Though it was nearly for some more seconds but he couldn''t forget the confused yet cute look on her face¡­ The night he attended the Smith''s party, he saw her from far but today it was very close. Moreover, seeing her furrowed expression, he was thinking to himself, ''Did she acknowledge me? Does she still remember me?'' His assistant Bill who was seating beside him, noticed his boss''s grief expression. He then coughed awkwardly to regain his Boss''s attention towards him¡­ "Ahem Ahem.. Boss are you listening to me?" "Huh? What are you saying before?" Alonzo came out of his trance as he asked. Sighing deeply, Bill said, "Boss leave it now. I''ll talk about it tomorrow. I saw you was dazed in your own thoughts from the time you got inside the car¡­." Stopping for some minutes, Bill again spoke up, "Are you still thinking about the moment Miss Veronica crashed with you? Sir¡­ if you want then please go inside and talk to her.." Previously, Bill was near the gate when both Veronica and Alonzo collided with each other, so he saw everything. And he was the first one who broke Alonzo from his trance after his unexpected meeting with Veronica and then he brought Alonzo to his car... Alonzo shook his head and replied, "No need.. let''s go back to my apartment. I''m tired.. I want to rest for a while.." saying this, he closed his eyes to relax his mind¡­ ---- Veronica and Lucinda got out from the elevator and walked through the hallway.. But when both of them arrived at the hall on the top floor, they became shocked, specially Lucinda.. Lucinda''s mouth was gaped open by the view in front of her¡­. Chapter 47 - 47. I have to blindfold myself… Lucinda''s mouth was gaped open by the view there¡­. The whole room was decorated with colorful lights and balloons and some beautiful flowers.. There was a soothing sound of romantic music, that was playing in the room.. The whole room was very romantic and pleasant to eyes.. Lucinda was standing at the door in a shock and stiff position that she even forgot to blink.. Henry smiled seeing her expression and went to her. He then waved his hands in front of her to break her dazed state.. When Lucinda came back to her sense, Henry was already in front of her, holding both of her hands.. "Come inside baby.." Henry said. Lucinda nodded her head and walked inside the hall room with Henry.. Veronica also followed them from behind and when she saw Reuben sitting on the sofa cross legged, with a smile on his face, she went near him.. Reuben raised his head to look at his cute and beautiful girlfriend and then stretching his hand towards her, he pulled her into his embrace, resulting Veronica to fall on his lap directly¡­ As Veronica''s soft butts touched Reuben''s thigh, Reuben cupped her face and kissed her fiercely.. Veronica also didn''t pull off and instead hold his shoulder firmly with her small hands, making the kiss deeper and stealthier.. As the couple were busy with their own sweet time, Henry cleared his throat awkwardly to break this couple''s affectionate moment. "Come on guys.. you can do this in your home. Don''t forget that you guys have come here to celebrate our new relationship.. not to show your PDA..." Henry said while pointing at both of him and Lucinda. Reuben behaved like he hadn''t heard anything as he continued to kiss his dear girlfriend, whom he missed so much.. Though only nine or ten hours had passed after he drove her to her office and hadn''t saw her for just a few hours¡­ but it was still huge amount of time for Reuben. Same with Veronica.. She also left for her office for just mere hours but each and every single passing second, she never forget to miss Reuben and always thought of him while working or eating or doing other things.. She really missed him very much with all of her heart and mind... So she didn''t oblige to Reuben''s kisses, moreover she helped him to get access of her mouth by opening her teeth so that he could enter his tongue and explore her inner mouth.. Henry shook his head in annoyance but he smiled broadly when a kiss fell on his cheeks. Seeing Veronica and Reuben being intimate with each other without any care of this world, she also somehow got courage and brushed her pink lips on Henry''s cheek.. Seeing that his girl took the initiative at first, Henry''s lips curved up and he turned to face his new girlfriend.. He softly said, "Only a peck on my cheek can''t make me satisfied Lucy.. I need more¡­" Lucinda noticed his teasing expression and was about to say something¡­ when her lips were devoured by Henry.. At first, she didn''t respond to the kiss, but when Henry softly nibbled on her lips, she wrapped her hands around Henry''s neck and returned his kiss.. Veronica and Reuben looked at the new couple side-eyedly without breaking their kisses and smiled to themselves and then again started kissing each other more passionately.. "I think.. from now on, I have to blindfold myself before meeting you guys.. You both couples are behaving like some hungry animals that I felt like my eyes her hurting to death.." Suddenly a voice rang into the huge room.. Lucinda''s eyes widened hearing the voice and she paused for a whole few seconds.. Quickly pulling away from Henry''s kiss, she turned her head towards the source of that voice.. And just by looking at the person who just spoke up, Lucinda''s forehead drenched in sweat and her face paled in white like a white paper sheet as she trembled nervously.. Chapter 48 - 48. Dare to play with me?... Just by looking at the person, Lucinda''s forehead drenched in sweat and her face paled like a white paper sheet as she trembled nervously.. After some seconds... "Bro.. Brother¡­" Lucinda literally forced herself to utter this single word, after seeing the person in front of her.. Yes, the person who was standing in front of them is none other than Lucinda''s elder brother, Neil Wilson, who is also Henry and Reuben''s childhood friend and school / college buddies. Hearing Neil''s voice, Reuben left Veronica''s lips but still hold her in his lap.. Veronica was equally shocked like Lucinda after seeing Neil. So she turned her head towards Reuben and raised both of her eyebrows, as if asking, ''What is he doing here?'' Reuben caressed her waist with his right hand and showed her his perfect white teeth in an assured smile.. Veronica understood that there was nothing more to worry about how Neil would behave after seeing her bestie with Henry and moreover that they were kissing each other passionately.. But Reuben''s single gaze and smile is enough for her to understand the whole circumstances.. She then also smiled at him and leaned her head on Reuben''s shoulder. Whereas Reuben was busy running his hands through her hair. ---- Neil looked straightly to his little sister with fire in his eyes. He then strode towards Lucinda angrily and pulled her away from Henry''s arms. Henry let her go from his embrace and pursed his lips stolidly. He didn''t say anything but just stared at the brother and sister pair calmly.. "How dare you Lucinda? Is this what me and our parents taught you? You are hugging a man so intimately and kissing him in front of others without any shame? Have you also become shameless like these two?" Neil eyed at the couple who were sitting in each other''s arms as if nothing had happened.. Veronica shot him a glare and puffed her cheeks in anger, whereas Reuben sat there with a stoic expression on his face. "Bro.. brother.. I''m sorry.. But I really love Henry.. I can''t live without him.. Please don''t be angry. I''ll explain everything to you later. Just please calm down now." Lucinda begged while her tears started to fall from her eyes. Henry quickly rushed towards her and hugged her side-wise to comfort her. "Enough Neil.. You can''t scold my girlfriend like that. You don''t have any right to do so." Henry shouted. "What? Your girlfriend? I haven''t approved of it yet. And the most important thing is ¨C she is my little sister before your girlfriend." Neil gritted his teeth and caught Henry''s collar before raising his hand to give Henry a punch.. "Brother please leave him. It was not his fault." Lucinda cried miserably. Neil again tried to punch Henry on his face, but before he could do that, Veronica''s cold yet loud voice surrounded the whole room¡­ "Stop it both of you. Are you both a kid?" Veronica yelled as she stood up from Reuben''s lap and went near Lucinda. Lazily lying on the sofa, Reuben watched the whole show that was enfolding in front of him and enjoyed the fun.. "But he just kissed my sister¡­" Neil tried to put out his point of view. Veronica glared icily at both Henry and Neil as she spoke, "Do you think I''m a fool? I know what are you guys doing here.. So stop your stupid acting.." Lucinda looked at her brother and boyfriend and lastly at her best friend as she asked confusedly, "Acting¡­???" "Yes¡­ Acting¡­ Your stupid brother and boyfriend were acting in front of you to bully you. They were not at all fighting seriously. It was just a simple drama that they falsely made." Veronica replied. ---- An hour ago.. Neil came at Fusion and was amazed by seeing the decorations.. He made him seated on the sofa and asked Reuben, "Have you planned all this for Vero again?" Reuben shook his head and replied, "No.. I haven''t." "Then? Who did this?" Neil asked. Without answering, Reuben just pointed his chin towards Henry who was covered in a cold sweat. Neil narrowed his eyes at him and said, "You.. Did you find yourself a girlfriend? If you have then who is she?" Henry gulped and stuttered, "I.. I''ll tell you.. But.. But you have to promise me that you won''t kill me after that." "Okay. I promise. But who is that stupid girl who fell in love with you.." He mocked. Henry shivered, but before he could open his mouth, Reuben smirked, "Well, that stupid girl is none other than your own sister, Lucinda.." Hearing this, Neil''s eyes widened and he shot death arrows by his glare on Henry.. Getting scared of Neil, Henry said, "Bro.. Please trust me. I love Lucy a lot. She is my life. I had been loving her for four years. Trust me Neil.. I''ll never hurt her and will give her all the happiness of the world." Neil kept his silence for whole five minutes, without responding and showing Henry a gloomy face, which made Henry more nervous and tensed. As Henry was arranging something in his brain which would help him to console Neil... both Reuben and Neil burst in laughter.. Henry stared at them in puzzlement with a question, showing on his face.. He then looked at Reuben, asking for an answer for their sudden laughter. Reuben just shrugged his shoulders in response, while Neil said, "Bro.. I already know it from first that you love my sister but never got the courage to ask her out. And I also know this that no one can be better than you for my little sister. I''m very happy for both of you." Sighing in a relief, Henry hugged Neil and said, "Thanks bro. you almost forced me to death by your stoic expression." "I know right. But I have a condition." Neil said. "What''s that?" Henry enquired. Reuben then grinned as he spoke up, "You have to play an act with Neil.." ---- Back to present... Lucinda''s eyes were now hot as a burning coal as she looked at the two boys.. "Sis sorry.." "Baby sorry.." Both Neil and Henry apologized at the same time. "Both of you.. I''ll kill you today.. How you guys dare to trick me and scare me to death?" saying this, she chased towards both of them. Henry and Neil ran around the hall in fright of losing their dear life and after chasing for nearly fifteen minutes Lucinda caught hold of Henry and started to hit him.. Veronica shook her head and sat beside her boyfriend. Reuben encircled his hand on her shoulder and watched the whole drama. Beating Henry hard, Lucinda chased behind her elder brother.. While running to save himself from his sister, Neil suddenly bumped into a person and to prevent the person to fall on the floor he quickly hold her waist tightly¡­ When Neil''s eyes fell onto the girl in his arms, he became surprised¡­ Chapter 49 - 49. Behaving like a Love Sick Fool… While running Neil suddenly bumped into a person and to prevent the person to fall on the floor, he quickly hold her waist tightly¡­ When Neil''s eyes fell onto the girl in his arms, he became surprised¡­ He helped the girl to stand properly and then made some distance from her.. "Sorry that I didn''t notice you and bumped into you." Neil immediately apologized. "It''s okay. It was also my fault." Willa replied. "Oh.. Stop your ''sorry'' things. Let''s go inside. Tasty foods are calling me." Came Louis''s voice from behind Willa. Louis came inside passing both Neil and Lucinda and exclaimed loudly, "So guys did you miss me?" Veronica rolled her eyes when she saw Louis whereas Reuben didn''t even give a damn to him. He just continued to play with Veronica''s hair. On the other side, Lucinda harrumphed at Louis and ran towards Willa, hugging her tightly, she said, "Oh God Willa ! We''re meeting after so many days. Come let''s go inside." Willa nodded and headed inside before sitting on the sofa. Louis already took his seat and started eating some strawberries that was placed on the table. Neil sat beside Willa and hold a glass of wine to drink. Lucinda took a seat beside Henry and spoke, looking at everyone, "So you guys all planned it to surprise me, right?" Reuben who was sitting quiet all the time, looked at Henry, "Well my best friend really was good at planning all these. I think he got the good habits from me." Henry chuckled at Reuben''s words, as he said, "That''s right bro. You indeed taught me all these things like how to appease and surprise your girl..." The dinner was served and everyone started to eat but Louis was the one who literally tried to rob the foods. When his hand reached towards the plate of Lemon steak, a hand grabbed his hand and snatched the steak from him¡­ Henry looked at the food snatcher and tried to complain, "Bro, why did you snatch my food?" Reuben glared at Henry and said in a cold tone, "This is one of Veronica''s favorite food. So don''t even think about it." Then he started slicing the steak for his beloved and fed her lovingly.. Being defeated by Reuben, he tried to take the fried chicken when another hand stopped him. Henry said, "It''s the last one left and Lucinda wants to eat it. So try another dish." Louis was dumbfounded by these two boys'' reactions and grumbled in irritation, "One wasn''t enough but another one started feeding us dog foods¡­ I just can''t take it more.. Humphhhh!!" "Yes.. That even more when we are lonely dogs.." Neil also joined with Henry. "Pffft¡­ Hahaha¡­" Everyone burst in laughter listening both of the single boys'' complain and Lucinda said while laughing, "Bro, are you calling yourself a dog now?" "You.. you stop laughing. We''re expressing our sorrow to you guys and you are now mocking us." Louis harrumphed. "So what can we do to please you? Should we stop pampering our girls just because you guys are single... In your dreams!!" Reuben mocked. "Why don''t you guys find yourself a girlfriend? You know it feels good to have one by your side." Henry said and intertwined his fingers with Lucinda. Louis yelled, "You just got into a relationship recently and already behaving like a love sick fool?" Veronica ignored Louis'' stupid blabbering and asked Willa, "So what about you? Have anything progressed between you and Sam?" Neil''s grip tightened around the glass that he was holding and he stared at Willa. Willa blushed and replied shyly, "Actually Vero.. I haven''t told you this. Sam.. Sam.. He proposed me yesterday and I accepted it." "Woah girl!! How could you not tell me this big news?" Veronica and Lucinda said at the same time and hugged Willa from both side. "We''re so happy for you." Lucinda said. "Yup.. Me too. And I''m more happy because that Sam finally proposed you after two years." Veronica said. Louis stayed busy eating his food as Willa already told him about this while coming for the dinner party. Whereas, Neil''s hand pressed the glass so tightly that it could almost break if Henry didn''t nudged his shoulder. Reuben looked at Neil''s stoic and gloomy expression and smirked inwardly... After dinner, everyone left FUSION. Veronica asked Neil to drop Willa to her home as both of their apartment are in same way, before she left with Reuben. Lucinda went with Henry as Louis''s place was in totally different way. So Willa agreed to go with Neil as she hadn''t also brought her car with her and let Neil drop her off¡­ Chapter 50 - 50. Thinking too much… Outside the building of Willa''s Apartment¡­ Willa came out of the car and Neil followed her outside. "Thanks for dropping me today." Willa said. "Your welcome." Neil casually replied. Thinking for some while, Will asked, "If you don''t mind, would you like to come inside and have a cup of coffee?" Pretending to be in a great thought, Neil agreed and followed her to her apartment. Willa pressed the passcode and entered her flat and welcomed Neil inside. "You sit here on the sofa. I''ll quickly make a coffee for you." Willa rushed towards the kitchen after taking off her coat and keeping it on the center table along with her purse. Neil sat on the sofa and observed the whole flat with interest. He then saw a picture of a small girl around age five, standing between her parents. She had a big smile on her face and her hair was long. He guessed it was Willa by the features of her face and continued to distinguish other things. As it was his first time coming here, he felt quite amusing by the whole decoration of the apartment. It was neatly organized and clean. No one would guess that a single woman was living there, because though the flat is quite big with three bedroom, one big hall, dining room and a kitchen, it still felt quite homely. There was some kind of warmth spread around the whole apartment that he couldn''t clarify about the sense of this special warmness. While he was busy, staring at one of the memento beside the flower vase, Willa came outside of the kitchen, holding two coffee mugs in her both hands. "Your coffee.." Willa muttered. Neil turned towards her and took the coffee mug from her hand and seated himself on the sofa. "Your place is quite beautiful." Neil said before sipping the coffee. "And the coffee is also very good." He added. Smiling at him, Willa replied, "Thanks.." Staying silence for about two minutes, Neil again spoke out, "If you don''t mind.. can I ask you a question?" Willa who was drinking her coffee moved her eyes on Neil in confusion and said, "Yeah.. Sure.." Contemplating for some time, he blurted out, "While we were having dinner tonight, you told us that you got into a relationship with some Sam guy." Pausing for a while he continued, "So are you happy with him?" At first, Willa was a little shocked about the sudden question but she recovered from it soon and replied, "Yeah.. I''m very happy with him. Actually we have known each other for many years as friends but suddenly we both felt something more than it. So when he finally confessed to me yesterday, I was so excited and accepted his proposal immediately." Willa blushed hard after saying this. "Oh.. That''s the thing." Neil awkwardly said. Neil was silent for sometimes, thinking about if he should ask her the next question or not. Pondering for some more time, he couldn''t hold his mouth shut and asked, "What does Sam do? I mean his job and other things like.. how you guys met.." "Well he works as an employee of the management department of some company. And we met at my cousin''s wedding and after that we fell in love with each other." Willa said. Neil felt a needle pricked in his heart and the pain was intolerable for him. Without wanting to listen more about Sam and her, he quickly finished the coffee and got up from his seat. "Hmm.. Well, it''s already so late. I have to go now. We will talk later. Bye.." Neil hurriedly said. Being surprised again with his sudden behavior, Willa awkwardly nodded her head and said, "Yeah.. Bye.. See you soon. I''ll send you to the elevator." After bidding goodbye when Neil left, Willa walked in her bathroom and quickly taking a warm bath, she laid on her bed... Thinking about Neil''s behavior that day, she suddenly felt that something was wrong with him which she couldn''t identify. He never behaved this awkwardly before today. Then why suddenly now? He seemed to be sad by looking at his expression, when she was telling about her and Sam''s story, but she then shook her head in refutation. Maybe, she was thinking too much¡­ Repeating this sentence in her mind, she dozed off to sleep.. Chapter 51 - 51. Regard Veronica as Young Madam… Friday evening¡­ The past four days went smoothly for everyone. Veronica already informed her parents and future in-laws not to buy any dress for themselves as she already had bought for them. They all were very happy specially the Smith Couple. As the party is on the next day, Veronica decided to go to the Smith''s house to personally deliver their dresses. She was so much busy with her work that she couldn''t visit them any day of this whole week. She only could gave the dress and suits to her parents because she had to visit a studio near the Lopez Mansion. That''s why, she could go there to give them their gifts and only spent 30 minutes of her busy time there. Reuben would come to pick her up from her office and both of them would go together in the Smith''s Mansion as per Reuben''s mother''s wish. As Veronica had been dropped by Reuben at Creation this morning, so she kept both of her in-laws'' presents in Reuben''s car. As promised, Reuben came to pick her up today in the early evening. Veronica took an early leave of one hour as well as Reuben. They both drove off to their destination after Veronica hopped in the car. Inside the car, Veronica was fidgeting with her seatbelt continuously. Reuben noticed that and understood that his dear girlfriend is none other than very much nervous. Chuckling lightly, he hold her hand that was roaming over the seatbelt and kissed her knuckles, "Why are you so nervous? It''s not like you are going to the Smith''s Mansion for the first time.." Leaving a deep sigh, Veronica replied, "I know that this is not my first time as Veronica¡­ But this is my first time as your girlfriend¡­ So I''m really very nervous. Moreover, how could you say this to me Bennie when you were also nervous before going to the last family dinner in my parent''s home?" She raised her eyebrows vertically. Grinning widely, Reuben tightened his hold on Veronica''s hand and soothed her, "Don''t worry about anything Ica.. Your Bennie is always beside you.." Veronica smiled at him and leaned her head on his shoulder as she replied, "I know that honey¡­" ---- Smith''s Mansion¡­ The whole dining hall, living room and mostly the kitchen were bustling in tension and anxiousness. Everyone was busy with their work and maids were all running from here to there.. "Quick.. Quick.. Quick.. Everyone do your work more quickly. My daughter in law will come in no time.." Mrs. Smith was giving everyone order about what to do or not to do. "Is the dinner ready? You have made all of Veronica''s favourite dishes, right?" Victoria asked one of the cook. The cook politely said, "Yes ma''am. Everything is ready.. I already put the batter of the chocolate mousse in the oven. It will be done soon and I''ll freeze it then. So you don''t have to worry ma''am, everything will be prepared before young master and young miss come here." Victoria nodded after looking at all the preparations and said, "Hmm¡­ Good. And one more thing.. Regard Veronica as Young Madam from now on.. She is going to be my daughter in law soon." She clapped her hands in excitement and happiness. Coming back in the living room, Mrs. Smith saw a maid to put some Jasmine flowers in the flower vase. She then promptly scolded the maid, "Why are you putting Jasmine there? You should decorate the vase with Lilies and Dahlias. Veronica like these flowers more than jasmines." Mr. Smith who was sitting in the living room while watching some business news sighed and said, "Relax honey.. Don''t scold them. They are doing their best to decorate the whole mansion as per your request." Sitting beside her husband, Mrs. Smith said, "I know that I''m being unreasonable but what can I do..!! After all my daughter in law is coming for the first time after they committed their relationship." Smiling at his wife, Mr. Smith replied, "Yes.. It really feels awesome. I can''t imagine that Vero will be our house''s future madam. So let''s wait for our princess''s arrival." Mrs. Smith smiled at her husband and said, "Yes.. My Vero will be the future madam of this house. So I had made all the arrangements regarding her choice." "Woah!! I can''t believe this. Every decorations here is only for your princess.. Seems like no one cares about their prince anymore¡­" a jealous voice came from the door. Chapter 52 - Not As Valuable As Before… "Woah!! I can''t believe this. Every decorations here is only for your princess.. Seems like no one cares about their prince anymore¡­" a jealous voice came from the door. Mr. and Mrs. Smith gazed at the person who was standing at the door and their faces bloomed into big smiles.. Well, they smiled not because seeing the jealous person.. but seeing the girl beside him.. Veronica was all in smile in her face, whereas Reuben had a sorrowful face, holding some of the paper bags. "You guys have already come¡­" Mother Smith rushed to hug them. Holding Veronica''s hand, she said, "Come inside.. Don''t stay there standing for the whole time." And took her in the living room, completely ignoring her own son.. Pouting, Reuben followed his mother and girlfriend inside where he saw his father was hugging Veronica and patting her head adorably.. "Ah.. My princess has finally come. I''m so happy. Come princess. Sit beside me." Mr. Smith said kissing Veronica''s forehead. Veronica sat beside father Smith and Reuben took a seat beside her. He then kept the bags on the floor and voiced out, "It feels like I''m invisible in front of you guys. There is only Veronica and Veronica everywhere. Humph!!" Father Smith teased him, "Obviously, it''ll be only my princess everywhere. By the way, who are you? I can''t recognize you properly." Reuben pouted, "Mom.. Look how your husband is bullying me." Mother Smith laughed and ordered the maid to bring some juice for them. After finishing the glass of juice, Veronica handed the presents to Reuben''s parents and said, "I hope both of you will like it. I personally bought the dresses for you when I went to buy for my parents." Both Mr. and Mrs. Smith were very happy about the thoughtfulness of Veronica and they smiled at her lovingly. They opened the package box and both of them were astonished to see the dress and suit that Veronica had brought for them. Mr. Smith exclaimed, "Oh my God princess. The suit is just amazing. This bastard hadn''t ever bought me one in this lifetime." "Yeah.. My gown is also very beautiful darling. Your choice is really the best. I always envied your mother when I saw her to wear the dresses you have bought for her.. But now I''m finally very happy that I got you as my daughter in law. Thanks sweetie for your so much consideration for us.." Mrs. Smith kissed Veronica''s cheek. Veronica smiled and replied, "Then you don''t have to worry, whenever I''ll be free, I''ll try to shop for you guys for any kind of occasion¡­" After chatting for some more time, they all headed to the dining hall for dinner. When the maids started to serve foods on everyone''s plates, Reuben sighed and complained, "Now even all the dishes made by the chefs are Ica''s favourite. I can''t see even a single dish which I love to eat. Previously, whenever I returned home, the table would be full with all my favorite dishes, but now there is none." Everyone rolled their eyes at Reuben''s over exaggerating words and the maids all chuckled seeing their young master complaining like a child. Veronica mocked him, "Isn''t it quite predictable Bennie? After all Mom and Dad love me more than you. So they prioritize my choice of foods over you. So stop your over acting drama and eat your dinner silently." Mother Smith joined her beloved daughter in law in mocking her own son, "Yes, Vero is right. From today, everything in this house will be happened as per her choice. You are not as valuable as before to us now. So get used to all this things as soon as possible¡­" Though Reuben was very happy inwardly by his parents'' unconditional love for Veronica, but he still acted of being hurt and continued bickering. After the harmonious dinner, Veronica and Reuben got ready to leave. Mr. and Mrs. Smith asked them to come more often there, for which they easily agreed and promised to visit them often.. Chapter 53 - RED, BLUE AND PURPLE… Next Morning¡­ It was already 10 am but Veronica was still sleeping. Reuben came in the bedroom with a tray in his hand with full of foods. He kept the tray on the center table and sat at the edge of the bed. He then removed the hair strands that were covering Veronica''s small face and caressed her cheeks. Pecking her lips, he whispered in her ear, "Good morning Babe.. Wake up now. I already made the breakfast. So get up quickly and clean your face." Veronica moved her head from the pillow and placed it on Reuben''s lap, rubbing it on his thigh gently like a little kitten.. Chuckling at her cute behavior, Reuben brushed her hair with his fingers and said, "Aww.. My little kitten is being too much clingy today. And I like it very much." As he leaned down to kiss her head. Rubbing her face in Reuben''s belly, Veronica replied in a hoarse voice, "Good morning baby.." "Hmm.. A very good morning. Now don''t be a lazy body and quickly freshen up." Reuben said. Veronica''s eyes that were shut tightly, instantly flew opened at Reuben''s words and she sat up from the bed straightly, holding the blanket around her body. She glared at him and spoke in a angry voice, "What? Lazy body? Me? Have you gone crazy Mr. Reuben Smith or do you want me to beat the shit out of you?" Breathing heavily, she continued, "Last night, who was the person who tossed and turned me on the bed through the whole night? And only let me sleep before the sunrise?" Controlling his laughter very hardly, Reuben feigned a face of innocence as he replied, "Babe.. What are you saying? Don''t lie about this kind of indecent things at the start of a fresh morning?" Veronica''s eyes widened and her mouth opened widely in total shock. She left a huge and deep breath and again looked at the ''so called innocent face'' in front of her fiercely. Right then, she didn''t want anything without strangling this innocent face in front of hers.. Then she turned her head down to observe her own body. She was only covered with a single blanket and hadn''t wore anything under the blanket. So she was practically naked and her full body was covered with different types and sizes of hickeys... She then smiled devilishly and moved close to Reuben. She then pressed her body on his left shoulder and stroked his right cheek with her one hand as her other hand was holding the blanket tightly. "Really Bennieee? Are you sure about what you said?" She seductively whispered in his ear. Reuben knew that his girlfriend had already planned something to torture him. So to avoid any of her ruthless torture, he quickly took the food tray in his hand and placed it on the bed, saying, "Babe. It''s already past 10 am. So have your breakfast first." Ignoring his words completely Veronica kissed his earlobe and whispered again more softly and seductively, "Seems like you really forgot what you did last night. You also forgot how you made all these red, blue and purple hickeys on my body. So I''ve to make you remember that." After completing what she wanted to say, she make a space between both of them and removed the blanket from her body and continued staring at Reuben with a mocking smile on her face, "Now tell me, if you can remember anything about last night." Reuben gulped seeing her naked upper body which was completely covered with a lot of hickeys that he had made with very passion last night, specially her chest and breast area.. "Remembered now baby?" Veronica whispered in front of his lips and then kissed him¡­ Without expecting the sudden kiss, Reuben paused and then regaining his senses, he kissed her hungrily, while his hands found its way towards Veronica''s bare breast and fondled them¡­ When Reuben almost lost his control, Veronica easily pushed him away and took the plate of food from the bed. Covering herself with the blanket properly again, Veronica cheekily smiled at him and said, "Hehehe.. I''m hungry honey. So I''ve to fill my tummy now.." saying this, she took a bite of the sandwich. Stunned by the sudden turn of events, Reuben sat there blankly and later he understood that he was being fooled and played by his girlfriend. He shook his head and also started to eat his food with his girlfriend. Chapter 54 - Inauguration Party… As it was Saturday, so Veronica had to go back to the Lopez Mansion before lunch time. As she would be attending the Brown Corporation''s inauguration party with her family, so she decided to visit her parents early. Reuben had dropped her in her parents'' home before driving to the Smith''s Mansion as he would also go there with his parents. After eating lunch with her parents, she talked about how Reuben and her relationship is progressing day by day, but didn''t reveal about the thing of their live-in relationship for the past three and a half years.. And the reason was... both Veronica and Reuben decided to share the news when both of their parents would be present together with them, more like on an special occasion.. ---- In the evening¡­ Veronica got dressed up and came down to her parents who were already awaiting there for their daughter. Complementing each other for quite some time, they drove to the party location which was none other than a beautiful five star hotel. While they were in the car, Veronica texted Reuben that she was on the way to the party and also asked if he was ready or if the tux that she bought for him was fitted perfectly on him. Though Reuben already saw his tuxedo but he couldn''t try it on because of his busy schedule and whenever he came back home after his office, he would forget to do so as he was too much busy with being lovey-dovey with Veronica all the time.. Reuben texted her back, "The tux fits me perfectly and I''m looking very handsome honey. It''s just I''m being impatient to see my girl in her gown." Veronica smiled after reading the message and replied him back, "Me too.. I also want to see you badly. So let''s meet in the party." ---- In the five star hotel¡­ Alonzo was attending the guests with his other family members. His parents, grandmother and little sister had already arrived in City S in the morning and stayed at the same hotel, in which the party was being held on. When he was busy talking with everybody, his father brought someone to meet with him. When Alonzo saw the person, his face remained expressionless but still he greeted him respectfully, "Hello Mr. Parker. Thanks for coming here in our inauguration party." "Your welcome Alonzo. How can''t I attend the party of my future son-in-law''s company? Obviously we have to come." Mr. Parker said and patted Alonzo''s shoulder. The person before Alonzo was none other than Mr. Robert Parker, the chairman of Parker Textiles.. He came there with his wife Mrs. Jennie Parker in the same morning and stayed in the same hotel as Brown family. Alonzo didn''t response to him and stayed as stoic as ever. He was clearly not at all happy by being called ''son-in-law'' by Mr. Parker. As he never wanted to marry their daughter, he never show any type of special hostility towards them. He always treated them like how he treated his other colleagues. Mr. Porter Brown was not happy with his son''s behavior and as a result, he shot Alonzo a sharp glare. To cover the awkwardness, he said, "Our whole family is very happy that you took out some of your precious time from your busy schedule to attend the party.. But it is bad that my future daughter in law couldn''t come here." "Regina was very eager to attend the party but at the last moment, an urgent call came about her work. That''s why she couldn''t come today. But she asked me to greet everyone on the behalf of her." Mrs. Parker said as she hold the hands of her husband, Mr. Parker. "Such a good child.. Though she couldn''t come but still sent us her good wishes." Mrs. Brown praised about Regina. Alonzo ignored their stupid conversation and instead asked, "Why haven''t Cole come today? How much I know about him, he doesn''t have any important work today." Mrs. Parker replied, "Oh.. He is not well son. He''s a little sick, so he couldn''t come." Alonzo nodded but someone else''s facial expression had changed completely after listening it¡­ Chapter 55 - Winner of Good Looks… Alonzo nodded but someone else''s facial expression changed after listening it¡­ Myra wasn''t taking any care of the whole conversation between her family and the Parker''s family. As she didn''t like Regina at all, she was also not interested in any talk about her. Even if anything would depend on her choices, she would make sure to break the engagement between her brother and Regina. She very well knew, what type of girl Regina was and the kind and gentle attitude she portraited in front of the Brown elders are nothing but an act of her. It was one of Regina''s a huge lie¡­ a big facade¡­ But her attention got snatched by them when their family started to talk about Regina''s elder brother Cole.. And when she heard that Cole was sick, her face also became pale with tension.. She thought in her mind to know about Cole''s health later.. Everyone in the party were busy with their own talks like..men talking about their businesses, women showing off their dresses and jewelleries, when the entrance door suddenly buzzed in crowd¡­ The noises become louder and louder and the crowds, specially the reporters went crazy over some people. Everyone inside the party hall looked towards the door to see the reason of this sudden hussles. And very soon the reason got revealed in front of everyone''s eyes¡­ Mr. and Mrs. Smith entered the hall room, with a perfect smile on their face. They were holding each other''s arms and looking extremely beautiful in their burgundy color gown and suit.. As they were the richest businessman of the country K, everyone invited in the party were amazed to see them in the new businessman of country K, Mr. Alonzo Brown''s party.. But all the gaze shifted to another direction after five minutes, when three handsome hunks with aloof and cold aura stepped their foot on the carpet of the hall.. The three overbearing, handsome men are none other than the famous Neil Wilson, Henry Johnson and last but not the least, the no. 1 bachelor of whole Asia, The Reuben Smith¡­ Earlier, when Reuben was having lunch with his parents, his best friends joined him in a conference call to talk about the party and they had finally decided to attend the Brown''s party together. And here they are¡­. Standing all proud and aloof at the hotel gate, attracting everyone''s attention at free of cost¡­ Neil was wearing a blue colored tailored suit, his black hair was combed back on his head with gel. He was wearing a dark brown color shoes, looking very handsome. Henry looked the happiest person right now as he wore the tuxedo that his girlfriend had bought for him. He wore a sand colored tux with black tie and white shirt underneath. His hair was combed side-wise and his shoe was of black color.. In the between of the two handsome men, stood the tall and forbidding man in a dark violate color tuxedo with a light purple color shirt underneath it. The collar and the hem of the sleeves of the tuxedo had a piping of peach color. Even the tie that he wore was striped in dark violate and peach color. This is how, Veronica chose Reuben''s tux matching with her peach gown. Though they would be wearing matching clothes but no one will be able to recognize it, without their close ones who knew about their relationship¡­ Reuben''s dark brown hair was combed in a horizontal way. Some of his bangs kept fallen on the left side of his forehead giving him a charming look. He wore the ''Pamerai Radiomor'' watch that was given by Veronica''s parents as a gift with a pair of black boots. All in one, he was looking extraordinarily stunning and strikingly handsome... They walked inside the hall, snatching the attention of every guests specially the unmarried girls. When Alonzo saw them entering, he went towards them and greeted them whereas his parents were busy greeting the Smiths, Johnson and Wilson elders who already had come before their children. "Welcome Mr. Smith, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Johnson. Thanks for coming in my party." Alonzo greeted the three men. The trio looked at Alonzo who was wearing a brown suit with his hair combed neatly on the right side. He was also looking very handsome as the other three. But if you compare him with Reuben, then the winner of good looks would definitely be the one and only Reuben Smith. Though they both were equally handsome and it would be difficult to choose between them but the charisma that Reuben had always carried, was clearly missing in Alonzo. That is why every girl''s first choice would be always Reuben.. Neil was the first one to greet Alonzo back, "Hello Mr. Brown. It''s nice to meet you." Then Henry added, "Yep, Congratulations on your new office in our city S." Reuben was the last one to greet him, "Seems like you really had worked hard to organize the whole party. Wish you all the best for the future." Alonzo replied to the three of them, "It''s my honor that you excluded your precious time to attend my party. Hope you guys will enjoy it. And thanks for your good wishes. Hope we will collaborate soon." The trio nodded at Alonzo as the four continued to talk about some business staffs after Alonzo offered them some alcohols.. Chapter 56 - Goddesses from Heaven… The trio nodded at Alonzo as the four continued to talk about some business staffs after Alonzo offered them some alcohols.. Around fifteen minutes later, the main door of the hall again erupted in loud murmuring and flashes of cameras. Again every eyes shifted towards the door to look at the next guests who caused such a big uproar.. As the three most handsome bachelors of country K had already arrived in the party, so everyone was quite curious to find about the new guests. And finally, the internal questions in everyone''s heart and mind got demolished when a middle aged couple entered the hall room followed by two beauties.. The Lopez couple came hooking their arms with each other in a black suit and crimson gown. They were complementing each other very well with their good looks. But what caused the other guests mind to become raw¡­. was the two beautiful girls who were right behind the Lopez couple and they are none other than the Goddesses of the Country K, The Veronica Lopez and Lucinda Wilson... Lucinda was wearing a white mermaid gown with turtle neck. Her hair was tightly made in a ponytail and she matched her dress with a beautiful bracelet and pearl earrings and white heels. Whereas, Veronica was wearing her peach color gown designed with a black ribbon, she paired it up with her black Krystal earrings and black heels¡­ She wore a black watch on her left wrist and her light brown hair was curled softly, falling on her back loosely. The two women were looking extremely gorgeous and graceful as like they directly descended from the Heaven.. The people''s eyes were fixed on these two ladies and the boys were gawking on them like eagles.. But what made Veronica and Lucinda feel cold was none other than the deep gazes from four persons¡­. Neil, Henry, Reuben and Alonzo.. As Lucinda and Veronica grew up together, so Neil treated Veronica as his little sister too. That''s why when his two beautiful sisters came in, he felt protectiveness towards them.. On the other side, Reuben and Henry''s gazes were totally different from Neil. They were not just staring at them.. but literally were inspecting them from their head to toe with hungry eyes.. However, the one gaze that was quite unreadable was of Alonzo''s.. He was intently looking at the direction of the two girls or more like his eyes were fixed on the peach dressed woman, Veronica.. As for why Lucinda hadn''t come with her parents and brother, was because it would be the first time she would attend a party after her and Henry''s confession. So to not to loose her cool self, she asked Veronica to accompany her and she did so.. Alonzo excused himself from the three men and walked towards the Lopez couple to welcome them. He approached them and said, "Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Lopez.. Thanks for coming here." "Hello young man. Nice to meet you. Hope you will do your best in City S business world." Mr. Lopez shook his hand with Alonzo as he greeted him back. Thanking Mr. Lopez, his eyes shifted to the two ladies behind and said to them, "Hi Miss Lopez and Miss Wilson. Please enjoy the party." Both of the girls nodded at him and gave him a polite smile as a response. But somehow Veronica felt that she saw him somewhere before but couldn''t remember it. So she didn''t bug about it and walked inside with her best friend. Her eyes fell on Reuben and looked at his handsome figure. As Reuben was also staring at her, their eyes locked and both of their lips curved up in a smile. Seeing her bestie was in a daze, Lucinda also followed her eyesight and saw Henry gaping at her flirtingly. She also looked at him with a shy face and blush in her cheeks. Lucinda and Veronica''s staring blocked when a waiter offered them some drinks. Taking some whiskey in their hands they talked with some of their school friends who also attended the party. ---- After talking with every guests, Alonzo sat beside his grandmother who was talking with Myra that time. His grandmother then focused her mind on her one and only grandson whose lips were faintly curled up. Old Madam Brown asked him, "What happened my dear? Why your face is so gentle now? Actually.. don''t tell me. Let me guess about the sudden change of your mood." Thinking for a while, Madam Brown''s eyes widened in surprise and she said excitedly, "Is.. Is the girl already here?" Alonzo nodded his head and replied, "Yes grandma. She is here." Myra who became confused about the sudden conversation, asked in curiosity, "Who are you talking about?" Grandmother Brown replied, "You will know about the person soon." She then turned towards Alonzo and said, "Quickly take me to that girl. I can''t wait to meet her after so many years." Chapter 57 - Planning To Die Single… Madam Brown then turned towards Alonzo and said, "Quickly take me to that girl. I can''t wait to meet her after so many years." Alonzo smiled at his grandmother''s eagerness, he said, "Wait grandma. She just came here. Give her some minutes to smile and laugh and then we will shock her." He evilly smiled. Grandmother Brown frowned deeply and asked, "What do you mean?" "Nothing grandma. I''ll take you to her after five minutes. But you have to promise me that you will not create a scene there. She might not recognize us, so you have to keep your patience." "Ah.. Don''t worry about that. I''m not a kid whom you should give advice. Humph!!" Grandmother humphed. Alonzo smiled and started finding the girl who was making his grandmother so much eager to see her. And then he finally found her¡­ Veronica was now busy talking with the Smith''s couple. The other prestigious families like Wilson and Johnson Family was also present there with Lopez family. Mr. Wilson spoke, "I can''t believe that our two daughters would grow up so beautifully." Mr. Johnson then sighed, "Hmph.. How much I envy both of you for having such beautiful daughters. They are so good and well behaved." He said pointing towards father Wilson and father Lopez. "I know that right. I can feel you totally. But now I also have a daughter." Mr. Smith chuckled slightly and side hugged Veronica. Being confused both Mr. Johnson and Mr. Wilson asked at the same time, "What do you mean?" This time, Father Lopez replied, "Well, that''s a big secret." As they were talking among themselves, their three sons also joined them. "What are you guys talking about? Are you guys praising us?" Henry asked. "Huh? Praise my foot. We were just now badmouthing about you. How many times I have told you to find a girlfriend but you didn''t." Henry''s father, Mr. Wilson scolded. "Uncle , I don''t think that you have to worry about that anymore." Reuben smirked. Neil also teased, "Yes Uncle and Dad, you might not have to be tensed anymore about your precious son and daughter." Again, both Henry and Lucinda''s father questioned at the same time, "What do you guys mean by that?" Reuben grinned and said, "You should ask this to Henry and Lucinda Uncles." Henry who was getting teased by his friends, said, "Don''t you think Reuben, you should explain about Veronica and yourself first?" "Gosh! What you young men are speaking, I can''t understand anything." Mr. Johnson said. "Yeah. Same here." Mr. Wilson also said. Whereas Mr. Lopez and Smith just chuckled. Then suddenly Mrs. Smith said, "I have a good idea about it. Why don''t we all have lunch together one day?" Mrs. Wilson spoke, " That seems a good idea." Everyone agreed to held a friendly lunch together, depending on everyone''s free time. When the boys were teasing Henry, Lucinda''s face became red as if someone painted her cheeks with red color. But Veronica was standing there as if the teasing didn''t matter to her at all. After all, she had already become accustomed with their teasing since four years, so it was Lucinda''s time to face it. She just rolled her eyes time to time when Reuben or Neil said something lewd to Lucinda and glared at them. After teasing Henry and Lucinda to their heart''s content, Reuben shifted his attack from Henry to Neil. "So Neil.. Now even Henry also has a girlfriend. When are you going to become committed or have you decided to stay as the no. 1 playboy of our town forever?" Reuben asked. Henry now got the chance to get the payback of the previous teasing, he also taunted, "Yes man.. What about you? Are you planning to die single in this life?" Neil''s face become gloomy and he remained silent and thought about a certain girl in his mind.. As the elders were busy talking about their children, the youngsters were also busy making fun of each others¡­ And then a voice rang into their ears.. "Excuse me.. Can I talk to you all?" Chapter 58 - Sly and Bold Grandmother… And then a voice rang into their ears.. "Excuse me.. Can I talk to you all?" Everyone of the four big families looked at the person who suddenly interrupted their chatting and teasing. "I said.. can I talk to you all for some minutes?" An old lady said with a wide smile on her face. The old lady was in her early seventies. Though she was old but she maintained herself very well and was standing there very confidently with grace. Her hair was white and her face showed some wrinkles but that didn''t change the fact that she was very beautiful even in her old time. Alonzo was standing there with his grandmother on one side and his sister Myra on the other side, looking at his grandmother dumbly. While his grandmother was grinning from ear to ear and his sister was equally shocked by Madam Brown''s sudden bold movement. Breaking out of the puzzlement, Alonzo said, "Sorry to interrupt you. This is my grandma, our family''s main head." Mr. Smith replied first, "Oh. Nice to meet you Madam Brown. I''m Logan Smith and this is my wife Victoria Smith. And last but not the least, he is my only son Reuben Smith." Then it was Mr. Lopez''s turn to introduce their family, "Hello Madam. It''s nice to meet you. I''m James Lopez, she is my wife Jessica Lopez and this is my beautiful and precious daughter Veronica Lopez." Like these, the other two families also introduced themselves to Madam Brown in respect of an older woman and the younger ones greeted her bowing their heads. Madam Brown was very happy looking at the four biggest families. She thought that as these families were very famous and rich, they would not teach their children to have any respect for elders and would behave all high and mighty. But she was wrong, they were all well behaved and also taught their children very well with good manners. Being happy, Madam Brown introduced her granddaughter to them, "I''m also very happy to meet all of you. She is Alonzo''s only sister Myra Brown. She will also be living here from now on. As I''ll not be present there, so I hope all of you will treat both of my grandchildren well." Then Madam Brown''s eyes shifted to the beautiful lady who was looking at her with furrowed eyebrows. She stared at Veronica for some times and said slyly to Mrs. Lopez, "You really have a beautiful daughter so you can understand the pressure of making a child live without any elders by their side. Whereas I have two grandchildren who will live here without their parents. So you can understand my worry, right?" she feigned an act of pity and sorrow. Mrs. Lopez nodded her head and said, "Yes, I understand it very well. My daughter is living in her own bungalow for work purpose. Though we live in same city, but it still worry me. Whereas these two young children will be here all alone. So don''t worry, we''ll take care of them." The other mothers also nodded in affirmation with Mrs. Lopez. While both Alonzo and Myra were shocked to their core by their grandmother''s wild tactics. Right at that moment, Alonzo''s parents also came there to meet them. "Mom, what are you doing here? We were finding you for so long." Mrs. Brown asked her mother in law. Old lady Brown smiled and waved her hands, " Nothing. I was just talking with these people and requesting them to take care of your son and daughter." Mr. Brown then noticed the guests, with whom his mother was talking to and was perplexed after seeing them. "Hello everybody. I''m Porter Brown, Alonzo''s father. Sorry for greeting you so late. Hope you guys are enjoying the party." Mr. Wilson then replied, "Yes, we''re enjoying the party. And don''t think too much about greetings. Your son is very capable of handling everything." Mr. Brown nodded at them but his eyes twitched when he saw a face quite familiar to him, but couldn''t remember exactly who the girl is. And when the elder men started to talk with him with business matters, he left the thought out of his mind. When Grandmother Brown saw that her son and daughter in law were busy interacting with the high standard families, she asked the youngers, "Young fellows, do you mind to accompany this old grandma? Let me familiarize with you all. Will you?" Veronica, Reuben, Lucinda, Henry and Neil looked at each other in suspense but throw out the confusion after seeing the old lady''s cheerful smile and eager eyes. Lucinda said, "Why not grandma? Let''s talk. We don''t even have anything to do." "Really? That''s good. Then let''s go there. That place doesn''t have many crowd and it''s comparatively quite from other places. So let''s sit there and chat." Saying that, she turned around and winked at his grandson while tugging Myra with her. Whereas, the five youngsters were all astonished by the old woman''s friendliness and frank mentality as they all followed the old woman. Chapter 59 - The sooner you become friends... the more gossips you can have... Veronica also followed everybody but when she passed by Alonzo, she felt someone was staring at her intensely so she looked back but only Alonzo''s handsome figure came into her eyes. Alonzo stretched his right hand to sign her to go forward and giving him a smile, she did so but Alonzo''s dark gaze remained at her slim and sexy back.. Madam Brown invited the five youngsters to a pair of five seated and one three seated sofa and told them to sit there. She sat on one of the five seated sofa along with both of her grandchildren in each side. Whereas Reuben, Henry and Neil took the other five-seat sofa, leaving Lucinda and Veronica to sit on the left one. After being seated comfortably, Madam Brown called a waiter to serve some drinks, "Have some drinks kids." She said. Taking their favorite drinks from the waiter, they continued to look at each other in silence as they couldn''t know what to say. And then Henry started the conversation, "Madam Brown, though it may sound rude but there must be a reason for you to call us." Madam Brown smiled at Henry and hold Myra''s hand tightly, "You can call me Grandma. It''s more preferable to me. And for your enquiry.. I must tell you that yes, you are right. I called you all for a reason." Everyone became serious to hear from the old lady and the reason of her sudden frankness. Laughing at the five young people''s curious look, Old lady Brown said, "Actually I called you to be friends with my grandchildren. I hope you guys will not mind about this idea to make them your friends." "Well, becoming friends is not a bad thing. But everyone needs some time to know about the other person to make him or her their friends. But.. the thing is.. we don''t know anything about any of them." This time, Reuben was the one to speak. Veronica who was sitting silently, curled her lips listening to Reuben''s smart talk, but didn''t say anything. "You are really a good talker young boy. I like you. And you are true about your logic so I won''t pressure you guys. Now that all of you will live in same city then you can know each other more and later become friends." Madam Brown said before looking at Veronica who was drinking some white wine. "I don''t know about you guys. But we girls are gonna make good friends. I can really feel by seeing Myra that she can easily mix up with us. Right Vero?" Lucinda excitedly asked. Veronica smiled at Myra and said, "Yeah sure. We really can be good friends if Myra wants us to be. So will you be our friends?" Myra smiled and said, "Yes why not? I''m so happy that I already found my two friends on my first day in City S?" "Then that''s final. We''re friends from now on." Lucinda clapped her hands. The boys just rolled their eyes at these girls'' over friendly behavior and continued drinking. Lucinda narrowed her eyes at the boys and asked, "Why you guys are rolling your eyes now?" "Why shouldn''t we? Do you think we are fools? Obviously you girls became friends with each other at the first meeting because, the sooner you become friends... the more gossips you can have... Isn''t it right? Huh!!" Henry mocked. "Oh really Henry? At least we girls are smart, not some dumbs like you boys who only know about their so called ego. Humph!" Veronica berated them. Reuben raised his eyebrows and counter attacked, "Dumb? Are you saying this to yourself? Of course, the handsome men like us can''t be dumb. So it must be you girls." He pointed at Veronica and Lucinda. Veronica shot him an angry glare and replied, "Huh? Who are you guys calling handsome? Just see your face in the mirror. You are even uglier than a pig." "What pig? Dude. You must be joking. Have you guys lost your eyesight at this young age? All the girls of this country lure around these handsome faces." Henry scoffed. Veronica rolled her eyes and fought back, "Oh really? Then those girls must be blind to run after you." Reuben firely questioned the girls, "If we are not handsome then which man is handsome in your eyes? I bet there would be anyone else without us." "Stop being this big narcissists." Looking at here and there Lucinda grinned and replied, "Look the biggest example of a handsome man is right in front of us... Mr. Alonzo Brown. Isn''t it Vero?" Veronica took a peek at Reuben and seeing his frowned expression, she smirked, "Yes. I totally agree with you Lucy. Mr. Brown is really a handsome man." Both Reuben and Henry''s face turned black seeing their girls praising another man in front of theirs eyes and even calling him handsome. They both glared at their girlfriends in jealousy to warn them but the girls pretended that they hadn''t seen anything. Alonzo''s heart fluttered after hearing the word ''handsome'' from Veronica''s lips and his eyes showed a happy glee which couldn''t be noticed by anyone except his grandmother. Actually grandmother Brown did some research before coming to city S about the famous families here. She came to know that the Lopez family were friends with the other three big families (Smith, Wilson, Johnson). And the most important thing is Veronica is also very good friends with the other kids of these three families. She also found out that Veronica and Reuben are like moral enemies who always fought with each other. She actually tried to know that if Veronica had any boyfriend or not and she saw some of the pictures of her and Reuben together at some parties and restaurants with their friends. This made her suspicious about both of them, if they were couple or not but finally sighed in relief when the detective that she hired informed her that love is many many far away in their relationship; if there is anything between them, then it is all hatred and fights.. Chapter 60 - Who Was That Girl?... As the bickering went on, Madam Brown chuckled and said, "Okay.. okay kids.. now all of you stop quarreling with each other. And say something about yourself¡­ Like what you guys do or your hobbies.. Well, I know that the boys are the CEO''s of the biggest companies. So I''m more excited about the girls.." Grandmother Brown was really interested to know about Veronica so she made up some random questions which would also help her grandson Alonzo in the future to impress her.. But the biggest question was.. Could Alonzo really impress her? Or more accurately, why would he want to impress her? Didn''t he say that there was a girl whom he had loved five years ago and the girl had left her? Had he already overcome over the girl that now his grandmother wanted him to pursue Veronica? But he already said that he want to get back with his ex-lover by hook or crook.. Then why Veronica now?? The answers would all reveal when the girl''s identity who broke Alonzo''s heart mercilessly would be disclosed.. So now the question which is making everyone confused is... WHO WAS THAT GIRL..??? Lucinda chuckled and said, "Grandma, I own some cafes in this country. As I love to bake different types of things from my childhood, so I opened my caf¨¦ ''Sip and Drip'' few years ago but now I have many branches of it all over the country.." "Wow.. That''s so impressive. You are really an independent girl and I love it. And even you have some similarities with Myra. She also love to cook and studied hotel management." Grandmother Brown was very impressed by Lucinda as she excitedly said. "Really Myra?" Lucinda asked amazedly. Myra nodded her head in response and said, "Yeah.. And one of my main reason to shift here in City S to open one restaurant of my own." Lucinda exclaimed in elation, " Then cool. I can help you in that." Being happy that her granddaughter got someone to help her with opening her restaurant, she asked, "Veronica.. What do you do child?" Now two men who wasn''t giving much attention to the conversation before, focused on the girl, whom the question was being asked on.. Veronica who was watching her best friend getting well with Myra, looked up at the old lady and smiled, "Grandma.. I am an employee of a famous Multimedia company named ''Creation''. I work their as the head of the VFX Department.." Reuben had a mysterious and proud smile on his face seeing his baby mentioning her job so gleefully.. Whereas, the other man who was Alonzo, was staring at her acutely with a unidentified expression on his face.. "Oh My God.. VFX? Which makes the cartoons? You know I''m fond of watching cartoons." Grandmother Brown was very elated with Veronica''s job. Veronica grinned seeing this old woman all elevated by her job description and corrected her, "Grandma, VFX is not making cartoons.. It''s the job of the Animation Department. VFX is a different work. It more focusses on making the unrealistic computer made objects to make more realistic and natural by giving effects, it''s a kind of film-making.. But yeah, I''m also on animator. I also worked in many of the animation films.." Grandma Brown was now more thrilled after hearing the huge description from Veronica and she clapped her hands in joy, "You are so much talented child. I think we would have a very good bonding¡­" "I think, you are right Grandma. We will really make a great match." Veronica chuckled. Reuben''s eyes were always on Veronica the whole time and he noticed that she got close to the old woman so easily and was talking to her so enthusiastically that he felt very jealous.. Yes.. JEALOUS.. Though Veronica was speaking with an old lady but he still felt a huge bomb of jealousy giving birth into his heart. Actually he was eating more vinegar because his dear girlfriend was not giving him any attention.. Not only attention but she was not even looking at him for a single time, after she started talking with grandmother Brown. Reuben tried many tricks like sometimes coughing or clearing his throat, but still Veronica hadn''t even bat an eye on him. So he just sat there pouting all the time gazing at her.. Chapter 61 - The Special Reason is a WHO… Reuben tried many tricks like sometimes coughing or clearing his throat, but still Veronica hadn''t even bat an eye on him. So he just sat there pouting all the time, only gazing at her.. After some times, Alonzo excused himself from the group and went near the stage. He then whispered something in the emcee''s ear and the emcee nodded in response. "Ladies and gentlemen.. As you know that today''s party has been organized by Mr. Alonzo Brown, the CEO of Brown Corporation, to celebrate the opening of their new head quarters in City S. So now let''s call the host of the party on the stage to say something. Let''s get a round of applause for the handsome new businessman of city S¡­.. Mr. Alonzo Brown¡­" Stepping up on the stage, Alonzo took the mic from the emcee as he started his speech, "Hello everyone.. Welcome to the party. I''m feeling honoured to have all of you in the inauguration party of Brown Corporation in city S. Our company will officially start it''s processing and works from the upcoming Monday. You all must have been thinking why did I shift my company all of a sudden? And obviously it''s a basic question for everyone to submerge through their mind." Pausing for a while, he continued, "Well, I have already made our company the biggest one in City B. So now I''ve decided to fly our wings in the city of business world of our country, city S. I''m hoping that all the respected businessmen here would stand beside me in this process and judge me with my capabilities. I already worked with many of the businessmen here, and I think I''ll work with more people now." The emcee who was standing on the stage then asked Alonzo, "Mr. Brown, we wish you the best of your luck. But I have a question.. I''m thinking if there is a special reason to your sudden shifting here?" Alonzo curved his lip in one side and replied, "Well, you are truly clever Mr. Emcee. Yes, it''s a truth that I came here also with some special reason." Gazing at the a particular girl who was sitting with his grandmother, he continued, "The special reason is a WHO, a person whom I want to get back in my life. But I can''t give you any more clue right now. So don''t ask me anymore questions. When the correct time comes I''ll tell about the person to everyone. Please enjoy the party and have your dinner. Thank you." And then Alonzo left the place. Reuben who was listening Alonzo''s speech very attentively, squinted his eyes when he heard Alonzo, mentioning about some certain person while staring at their direction. He then looked behind to all of his friends and then to his girlfriend, whose eyes also just fell on him. Veronica blinked her eyes innocently and smiled cutely at Reuben. She was not at all focusing on the speech as she didn''t love to get herself into the business matters so she just carelessly gazing around her when finally her eyes stopped at Reuben who was staring at her with a frown in his face. Seeing the cute face of Veronica, Reuben also smiled and his mood got better as he threw out the idea that Alonzo must be talking about one of his close ones. ''Maybe the reason is something about his sister.'' He thought in his mind. Grandmother Brown then asked the five young people to have their dinner. Agreeing to it, they joined their own parents for the dinner, leaving the old woman with Myra. ---- An hour later¡­ As everyone already had their dinner and the party almost came to an end, everybody started to leave the venue. Mr. Porter Brown came towards the four families who were talking among themselves. He said, "I hope there was nothing wrong in the party which made you upset." Mr. Johnson replied, "No¡­ Not at all. We enjoyed the party." As the parents started chatting, Lucinda whispered in Veronica''s ears, "Vero.. I think I have to go to the washroom. Will you accompany me, please?" "Yeah.. sure.. Let''s go.." Both of them then headed to the washroom.. ---- Lucinda was still inside the washroom when Veronica''s phone rang and she picked up the call. "Hey Willa.." Veronica said. "Hi.. I want to...¡­." "Hello? Hello? Willa.. I can''t hear anything.." Veronica couldn''t hear what Willa was saying as the call was getting beeped and finally got cut. Meanwhile, Lucinda came out of the washroom and she noticed Veronica frowning, she asked, "What happened?" "Willa called me. But the phone call got cut." Veronica said. "Hmm.. maybe network problem." Lucinda said. Nodding her head, Veronica said, "Maybe.. Do one thing Lucy. You go back to the hall and I''m coming there after making a call with Willa." After Lucinda left, Veronica headed to the lounge area and made a call with Willa. As she spoke with Willa, Veronica''s beautiful brows furrowed and later her lips curved into a devilish smile. Talking for quite a while, when she turned around to leave the place, she suddenly knocked into someone.. Chapter 62 - Like a Tigress… As she spoke with Willa, Veronica''s beautiful brows furrowed and later her lips curved into a devilish smile. Talking for quite a while, when she turned around to leave the place, she suddenly knocked into someone.. Veronica''s head got bumped onto a hard chest of a sturdy figure. The man was wearing a brown suit, while a masculine scent of him approached Veronica''s nose.. The man hold the upper arm of Veronica to stop her from falling on the carpeted floor. Then his heavy voice came into her ears, "You should look behind before you turn around to walk.." Frowning at the sudden lecture from an unknown person, Veronica steadied herself to look at the stranger. She was about to scold the unknown man but when her eyes finally landed on the person, she took some steps behind to make a distance between both of them. "I am sorry to not notice you." Veronica apologized. Alonzo''s lips made a curve as he continued to stare at her. He then casually said, "You really didn''t change your habit of bumping into anyone without noticing." Veronica raised her eyebrows at him, "Excuse me? Are you saying this to me? Do I know you from before?" Alonzo smirked, "You tell.." Getting irritated by the man''s idiotic behavior, Veronica rolled her eyes and replied, "Well, according to my memory, we haven''t.. That''s why you don''t know anything about me. So don''t ever try to made blatant assumption about me. I don''t like this kind of people." Simpering coldly, Alonzo said, "But you did like me once.." Veronica who already passed by him to return back in the hall, paused in her step. Turning towards Alonzo, she asked angrily, "What do you mean?" Alonzo slowly walked towards her and stopped right in front of her. Tucking his hand into his pants'' pockets, he studied her small face and grumbled, "I must say your acting skills got better. Now you are pretending to not know me!!" This time, Veronica''s resisting power got ruined and she shouted furiously, "Listen Mr. Brown.. Don''t cross your limit. If you again try to say any bad words about me then¡­" Before she could complete her sentence, Alonzo burst out laughing as he said, "Oh my God.. Miss Lopez.. You are misunderstanding me. You forget, some days ago, you got collided with a man in front of Fusion... and that person was none other than me. I just wanted to remind you that. But you.. Hahaha.. you literally yelled at me like a tigress.. hahaha.." Veronica looked at him confusedly and then she remembered the incident and sighed, "Oh.. That person was you.." "Yes. And sorry if I said something rude. Actually I like to joke very much." Alonzo expressed still chuckling. Veronica looked at him suspiciously but didn''t say anything. Alonzo then spoke, "I saw you were calling someone. Is it done?" Nodding at him, Veronica said, " Yes. And now I''ve to leave. My family is waiting for me in the hall." "Sure. Let me take you there." Alonzo told as both of them headed to there. ---- Outside the hotel.. The whole Brown family stood near the carpark area to bid goodbye to the four most powerful families of Country K. As they were approaching to their estimated cars, Reuben saw Veronica to go with her parents and suddenly the thought of staying without her for a whole night struck into his mind and his face soured. He exactly knew that if Veronica once stepped in her father''s car, then her parents would not allow her to go back to their loving bungalow, which will be a big torment for him. As he already stayed very long without her before, so now even a single night without her is like the biggest torture for him. He really couldn''t sleep without embracing her and feeling the softness of her body in his arms. He started to think different types of ideas to let her not stay away from him and finally his brilliant brain got an amazing idea... He then whispered something in Henry''s ears and when Henry denied his words, he then mumbled in a low voice, "Bro. Help me this time. I promise I will arrange a date for you with Lucinda at my hotel without any disturbance." Henry smirked at this awesome proposal and finally agreed to help him before whispering, "You promised it yourself. Don''t forget it later." Reuben vigorously nodded his head and said, "Promise.. 100%.." When Veronica was about to enter her father''s car, Henry said, "Reuben, why don''t you drop Veronica on your way home? Both of your place are in the same way whereas the Lopez Mansion is on the exact opposite direction. It''ll be a big trouble for Uncle Lopez to drop Veronica at her place and then again going back." Father Lopez tried to dodge it, "But I''ve thought to keep Vero in our mansion today. She haven''t stayed there for two weeks." Veronica stopped entering the car and raised her eyebrows towards Reuben and saw the pitiful expression on his face. She wanted to laugh hard there but hold on the urge to do so. Father Smith who was gazing at Reuben, guessed something naughty and immediately helped Reuben, "Come on James. Your daughter has grown up. She must have some office work left in her home. So don''t pressure her. So Reuben drop her off before you go home. Will you?" "Why me? Are you telling me that I''m a chauffeur of her that I''ve to drive her home?" He mocked her in pretense. "If you don''t want then it''s okay. I''ll go with my parents." Veronica counter attacked. Reuben''s eyes widened but he tried to stay calm, "Don''t overreact. Come, I''ll help you for this once. Humph.!" And hold the passenger door for Veronica to get inside. Their friends just rolled their eyes at their overacting, cause they already knew what this couple would exactly do after going back and also boarded their own cars. After everyone left, Alonzo looked at Reuben''s departing car and murmured to himself, "Today I let you go easily, my dear Veronica. But now that I''m here, you will not have a peaceful life anymore." And smiled evilly. Chapter 63 - Odd and Peculiar… Love-Paradise¡­ After getting fresh and taking a nice bath, Reuben laid on the bed and hugged Veronica from behind. Kissing her nape, Reuben snuck his hand under her pajama top and caressed her tummy. Even after sometime caressing her curves and kissing her ear, nape and shoulders, when he got no response from her, Reuben knitted his brows and slightly shook her. "Baby.. What happened? Why are you silent?" Reuben asked. Coming out of her notion, Veronica turned towards Reuben and rested her left leg on his waist. Facing him properly, Veronica stroked Reuben''s cheek softly and then outlined his lower lip with her thumb. Reuben''s frown got deepened as he saw his girlfriend in a daze and hugged her more tightly. Giving her a quick peck on her lips, he said, "Babe. If there is something bothering you then please tell me. Don''t keep it to yourself." Veronica sighed and then answered, "Actually it''s nothing much honey. But.. But I feel this Alonzo Brown some kind of a odd person. I mean... I can''t express it clearly but I think he is not like how he shows to others. Seems like he has many secrets and his behavior is also peculiar." Reuben was baffled after hearing this things from his girlfriend. Then he spoke out, "Hmm.. I also felt the same today. But baby.. He hadn''t done anything to make you this much suspicious." Taking a deep breath, Veronica told everything about her conversation with Alonzo in the balcony to Reuben and waited for his response patiently. Thinking for some while, Reuben sighed and said, "Alright, you don''t have to worry about him. Maybe he was really joking." He assured her, though his mind was saying something else. When Veronica hadn''t said anything back, Reuben pretended to be angry as he said, "Are you thinking about another man in front of your boyfriend? Are you trying to make me jealous? You already ignored me in the party today. And now you are talking about another man. Looks like I have to punish you for that." Giggling at her boyfriend, Veronica closed their distance more and winked at him before muttering on his lips, "Then punish me honey. What are you waiting for?" Getting the direct provocation from Veronica, Reuben kissed her lips hungrily and slid his hand under the top to cup her breast. Fondling it with his hands, he twitched her nipple. When Veronica moaned, he broke the kiss and helped her to put off her pajamas along with his boxers. Seeing the naked white flesh in front of him, his eyes filled with lust and he attacked on her right breast.. And like this, their night activity carried on with loud moans and groans¡­ ---- Sunday passed by like usual and Monday came soon.. Reuben was not satisfied to leave Veronica and to go to his office. After spending two days alone with her, always rolling on the bedsheet and doing many naughty activities with her, he was really reluctant to let go of her and head back to his office. Parking his car at the backside of CREATION, where many people didn''t visit, he kept hugging Veronica, without any intention to leave her. Veronica smiled at her boyfriend''s clingy behavior and parted him from herself. "Honey.. It''s just some few hours and after that I''ll be back into your arms. So now don''t sulk anymore and go to your office." Veronica coaxed him before kissing his cheek. "Only a peck on the cheek? That''s not gonna happen. Your boyfriend needs more.." Reuben demanded childishly. Shaking her head sideways, Veronica pulled him towards her by holding his collar and kissed him passionately. Happy with the kiss, Reuben grinned joyfully and said, "Thanks babe.." Veronica smiled at him and reminded him, "Drive safe and message me after arriving at your office." "Okay sweetheart. I will." Reuben replied before kissing her forehead. "Bye." Veronica said before getting out of the car. Seeing her vanishing inside the building, Reuben also headed to Smith Enterprise.. Chapter 64 - Being soft is far more complicated.. Smith Enterprise¡­ The conference hall was in a drop dead silence mode. Everyone who were present there, were sweating like hell and shivering profoundly. The only person who was calm beyond expect was Tom, because he exactly knew what his boss was about to do. But the person, who made all the executives and employees of his company almost peed in their pants, was sitting casually in the head chair with a cold expression on his face. "So these are all that you have prepared in the past week?" Reuben asked in a intimidating voice. All the executives bowed their head in silence, fearing that they would say something wrong which would terrify their Boss''s mood more. Reuben who was noticing each and every move of his employees, became more angry after getting no response from them. "Why are you all dumb now? I gave you just one project to handle the past week, but you all miserably fail to accomplish that single task.. instead you guys gave me this garbage as an strategy for our upcoming hotel project?" Reuben yelled. Seeing that still no one dared to make any noise, he sniggered, "Do you guys forget how to work or... is it that I became too much soft towards you guys that you couldn''t took my order seriously." After he said that, everyone stared at him like they heard something unbelievable. They looked at Tom in a questioning gaze as if asking, ''When our Boss became soft to us?'' Tom who was sitting there quietly, felt many piercing gaze falling on him, so he looked upon them to analyze what this was for.. And when he finally understood the meaning of all the employees'' gaze, he shot them a glare which told them, ''Don''t you dare look at me like this. I don''t know anything about it.'' But inside of his heart, Tom was contemplating loudly, ''Boss, do you even look softly at anyone without Miss Veronica? So being soft towards others is far more complicated..'' As he was too much busy in his thought, he jolted up when one of the employee said timidly, "Boss. We''re really sorry. But we tried our best to complete the project." Everyone gaped at the employee who spoke out suddenly, without knowing that he dug his own grave by his own hand. "Best? Do you even know, what is the meaning of the word best? You called this garbage the best? Even an intern could submit far more better than this." Reuben''s rage got burst out after hearing the employee and he added, "More briefly, are you tired of your job?" Shiver went down though the spine of the employee as he instantly apologized, "Boss, I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to say that." Reuben hold his hand out, making a signal to let the employee stop his blabbering as he said in a cold tone, "Two days.. I''m giving you two days to present a good strategy in front of me. If you guys couldn''t then it''ll be the last day in this office. Understood?" When the employees nodded their head, Reuben got out of the room, being followed by his assistant. Entering in his office, Reuben opened his computer and browsed through the internet to see the business market''s news. Feeling the presence of his assistant in his office, Reuben snapped out, "What?" "Ahem.. Boss.. you told me to announce the winner of the bidding competition after the party of Brown Corporation. So when should I do it?" Reuben thought for a while and then replied, "Do the announcement right before the lunch break." "Okay Boss." Tom nodded. "And one more thing." Reuben said. "Yes boss?" Tom asked. "Schedule a meeting with Mr. Alonzo before the week ends." Reuben ordered. "As you say boss. I''ll immediately schedule a meeting with Mr. Brown according to your free time." Tom responded. "Hmm¡­ You may leave now." After Tom left, Reuben called Veronica as he needed to talk to her the most right then to calm down his temper, which was being ruined by his employees who thought that they could impress him with a project strategy like that. And the best way to get his mood better is to kiss his girlfriend by holding her in his arms. But as they both were now busy with their own company, he would only call her and talk to her to relax his mind¡­ Chapter 65 - Good for Health… After Tom left, Reuben called Veronica as he needed to talk to her the most right then to calm down his temper, which was being ruined by his employees who thought that they could impress him with a project strategy like that. And the best way to get his mood better is to kiss his girlfriend by holding her in his arms. But as they both were now busy with their own company, he would only call her and talk to her¡­ He dialed her number and after few rings, a sweet voice cooed into his ears¡­ "Honey..!!!" ----- Veronica was making a Roto Footage (1) for a VFX project, when her phone rang out loud. The ringtone was a song by John Legend ''All of Me''. But the song that Veronica set as ringtone was a cover of this song by Park Chanyeol, a famous singer of a famous K-pop boyband EXO. As soon as Veronica heard the ringtone, she understood who the caller was, without even lifting her eyes from her computer. This romantic ringtone was set on Reuben''s caller ID, so without any hesitation she picked up the call and placed the phone beside her ear, still doing her work on the computer. "Honey¡­!!!" Veronica sweetly called her boyfriend. As she had her own office with a sound proof walls, so she could talk to Reuben with her heart''s content and could call him by sweet names. On the other hand, Reuben''s face showed a refreshing glee and his lips curved up into an ambiguous smile, after hearing Veronica''s sugary voice.. "Babe.. I''m missing you." Reuben softly said. The previous anger, furiousness and rage cooled down immediately and the former temper was nowhere to be seen in his face. There was only an inexplicable gentleness and warmth lingering in his eyes. If his employees would see him right now, then they would surely have an heart attack by now, after seeing their boss being all smiley.. Veronica chuckled, after hearing Reuben''s confession and said, "Already missing me? Well, that''s good for you. A boyfriend should always miss his girlfriend every passing second. That''s good for health." She behaved like she is very serious while saying the last two sentences. Grinning at his girlfriend''s funny yet cute clarification, Reuben said, "Then I don''t have to worry about my health in the future. As I always think about you.. no no.. let me rephrase it. As I always imagine your face in my mind, then I''ll not have any health issue when I''ll be getting old." Hearing this, Veronica couldn''t stop herself and burst out laughing. Her boyfriend is really too cheesy. Hardly trying to held her laughter, Veronica said, "Mr. Smith, your pick up lines will not work for me. Try anything else." Laughing lightly, Reuben asked, "But baby.. Do I really need to try new things? Aren''t you already mine?" Veronica smiled widely and asked pretending to be innocent, "Am I?" Reuben frowned on the other side and replied teasingly, "Seems like my girlfriend is still not sure about it. Then I have to handle this matter by myself. So let me assure you tonight.. clearly.. on bed." He whispered the last words in a seductive voice. Veronica gulped hard and thought what is going to come for her tonight and just by imagining the scenery in her mind, she blushed hard, making her face turn into a red balloon. "Ahem.. I don''t think this is the real purpose of you to call me at this time just to flirt with me. So what''s the exact reason? You seemed to be a little displeased at the start of our conversation." Veronica tried to change their topic of discussion as they were going to a erotic path. Reuben sighed, thinking how his girlfriend could easily understand his mood. So he said truthfully, "I''m okay baby. It''s just that my employees really made me angry today, so I called you to brighten my mood." Nodding her head, Veronica asked, "So.. Has your mood brighten finally?" Smiling broadly, Reuben replied, "Of course darling. My mood got instantly brighten when you picked up my call and called me honey." He then added, "Okay now I''ve lots of work to complete. Let''s talk letter babe. Bye." "Bye darling." Veronica said, before cutting the call and again getting indulged in her work. ---- (1)Roto :- Rotoscopy is a VFX technique to trace over some objects or figure.. so that they could cut the figure and use it in any background or any place.. It is very important in VFX industry and one of the most useful techniques for using in Visual Effects.. Chapter 66 - Work The Hardest… The H.R. Department of Smith Enterprise¡­ Everyone was busy with their estimated work, when the assistant of the H.R. head entered the floor. After seeing him, the employees started bowed their head in greetings and said respectfully, " Good Morning Sir." " Good morning everybody. I had a work for you guys to complete immediately. Our CEO''s assistant, Mr. Tom just informed us to announce The Brown Corporation as the winner of the bidding competition at sharp 12 o''clock." The assistant said. Checking the time in his wrist watch, he then added, "It is 11:30 right now. So you have half an hour to write a report about it. So hurry up." " Okay Sir¡­" The employees nodded together before the assistant walk out of there. ------ Brown Corporation¡­ It was the first day for the company and its higher stuffs in City S. They all were happy as well as nervous for their first day there. As it was also the first day for Alonzo to officially start his work in this city, he called the higher executives and shareholders for a meeting early in the morning. He shifted all of his trusted employees to work with him in city S. He also hired many interns to make the work more smoothen and that is why many unemployed but very capable people came to work there. Though, the Browns are not very much famous in city S, but still everyone knows about its achievements and accomplishments in city B. Or, should I say.. that everyone specially the girls knew more about the CEO, Alonzo Brown for his good looks and handsomeness. As he is in the list of '' top 5 most handsome bachelor''s of Asia'', the girls had seen him in different types of magazines. Not only the unmarried girls but also the elder ladies liked him for his attractiveness, but still their first choice would always be The Reuben Smith. Reuben''s charm was totally incomparable to anyone. He had a special kind of aura and charisma that no man could compete with him. But sadly, they all knew that they couldn''t even get a glimpse of either of the man. Moreover, Smith Enterprise''s employee eligibility criteria had high demands. Not everyone could pass all those criteria at their first attempt. So when the Brown Corporation declared that they would hire some capable interns, most people went for the interview and many of them also got selected. Alonzo entered the meeting room with an imposing aura and all the higher executives stood up and greeted, "Good morning boss." Nodding at them, he took a seat and gestured all of the executives to sit also. He then started saying, " All of your hard work took our company in the highest peek in city B. But now, you all have to work the hardest to establish this company here in city S. So I need all of yours cooperation. Now you people decide, if you guys wanna help me in this.. to make our company bigger or not." The head of the management department stood up and spoke, " We all have come here because we trust your capabilities. And we all know that our company will flourish more under your guidance. So we all are beside you." The other executives and shareholders also agreed with the idea which made Alonzo more confident in himself. Thanking them, they all started to discuss about the other developments which were required for improving the company more. ---- After two hours of long meeting, Alonzo finally entered his office and sat on his comfortable swivel chair. He rubbed his temples to remove the headache that he was getting now before ordering Bill to bring a cup of black coffee for him. As everything was already settled about the task distribution, the only thing that was still bothering him was the result of Smith Enterprise''s bidding. As Smiths were the most influential company of country K, so it would be very helpful for him and his company to partner up with them. Few minutes later, Bill headed in the office room with coffee in his hand but what was most evident on his face was a huge smile as if achieving something really big. Taking the cup of the coffee from his assistant''s hand, Alonzo frowned and asked, "What''s the matter? Why are you so happy?" Smiling big, Bill immediately replied, "Boss. The news I''m about to give you, will also bring a smile on your face." Chapter 67 - Look Does Matter… Taking the cup of the coffee from his assistant''s hand, Alonzo frowned and asked, "What''s the matter? Why are you so happy?" Smiling big, Bill immediately replied, "Boss. The news I''m about to give you, will also bring a smile on your face." Frowning more deeply, Alonzo took a sip of his black coffee and said in an cold voice, "Don''t beat around the bush. And say directly whatever you want to say." Calming down his over excitement, Bill said, "Boss.. Smith Enterprise just announced the name of the winning bidder who will work directly with them." When Alonzo saw that Bill paused there without continuing, he raised his eyebrows to his assistant, asking him to complete his sentence¡­ Getting the commanding gaze from his Boss, Bill hadn''t made him more awaited and spilled the beans, "Boss.. And the winner is none other than us, our Brown Corporation. Congratulations Boss." Alonzo smiled in victory and said, "It''s really a great news. Now we''ll step in the business world of city S more easily and enhance more power." "Yes Boss.. we can." Bill nodded. "Do one thing. Double the bonus of those employees for this month who worked in this project." Alonzo ordered. "Okay Boss. And one more thing¡­ The Smith Enterprise also asked us to make an appointment with them before this Friday.. They personally want you to meet with their CEO." Alonzo smirked, as if everything is going as per his plan and said, "Hmm.. That''s even more good. Make an appointment with Mr. Smith according to his availability." "Understood Boss." And then he left his office. After Bill left, Alonzo muttered to himself, "Now that I got the partnership with the biggest company, so I have not to worry about you anymore my love. I''ll also possess you soon. And no one will try to stop me." But is this even possible? Could Alonzo possess the girl he was searching for so many years madly? However, the hardest question here is¡­. If the girl is just a possession. People could only possess a thing, not a person. Is the girl only have a priority like a object in his life? Is this even true love that Alonzo is so much proud of.. ----- Wilson Industries¡­ After handling a boring meeting, Neil tried to take some rest in his office and tried to take a short nap. He couldn''t sleep properly for some days after the day he visited Willa''s house. He didn''t know what happened to him from that day that he couldn''t focus on any of his work and his mind was always wandering somewhere. This made him very frustrated and he wanted to bump his hand onto the table before scratching his head like some mad man. But he knew that he couldn''t do that because he didn''t want to harm his face or head, more like not even a single part of his body. Even a single scratch would look bad in his handsome face and body. After all, look does matter¡­ He was working like a madman at the day though he couldn''t focus on it properly and he would drink all night till he felt that it was enough for him to fall asleep in the night. But still an alcohol can never make anyone get his blissful and peaceful sleep which would make oneself more relax and energize them more. Just when Neil closed his eyes and thought of falling asleep, a sudden knock interrupted his single wish for the day and made him scrunched up his brows tightly.. Still hearing the knocking sound getting more louder, Neil fiercely opened his eyes, borrowing a killing intend towards the person who had the guts to disturb him in his sleep, especially when he clearly told his assistant not to let anyone enter the premises of his office floor¡­ As he rushed furiously towards the door and opened it with full force, totally ready to fire up and to yell at the person, his all rage splashed into a surprise expression¡­ There stood a beautiful girl in her mid twenties looking at him with a cute smile on her face.. Chapter 68 - Ulterior Motive… As he rushed furiously towards the door and opened it with full force, totally ready to fire up and to yell at the person, his all rage splashed into a surprise expression¡­ There stood a beautiful girl in her mid twenties looking at him with a cute smile on her face.. "What.. What are you doing here?" After it seems like a day already passed, Neil finally was able to open his mouth.. Without answering him, the girl pushed him aside and passed by him to get into the room. She went straight towards the leather sofa of the big office room and made herself comfortable there. Noticing that the man was still standing dumbfounded at the door, she cleared her throat before saying, "Why are you so much surprised to see me her that you are standing there like a log? Can''t I come here?" Neil stared at his sister like he had seen a monkey in his office and closed the door before walking towards his only sister. Sitting beside Lucinda, he raised his eyebrows and said, "It''s not like you can''t come here¡­ but whenever you visit me here.. in my office.. then there must be an ulterior motive¡­ a very big ulterior motive." "What? Ulterior motive? Bro¡­ how can you say this to your little sister? Am I that kind of person in your eyes?" Lucinda acted pitiful like her tears would fall on her cheeks at any moment. Rolling his eyes on his drama queen sister, he mocked, "Stop your acting. And tell me why have you come here?" Lucinda cheekily smiled and said, "I''ll tell you everything.. but before that, you have to let me eat the pasta of your office canteen." Neil sighed before calling his assistant to order one plate of pasta for his hungry sister. ---- After half an hour¡­ Lucinda took the last piece of white sauce pasta in her mouth and chewed it with full of passion, savoring the seasoning and taste of it, like she was not eating some pasta but eating the apple of heaven.. Swallowing the pasta, she kept the empty plate on the table and drank the orange juice in one sip. "Aah.. It was really good." Lucinda exclaimed with her eyes closed after sipping the last drop of the juice. Neil scrunched up his face into an ugly frown and yelped, "Eeww.. Don''t eat like a hungry wolf. You are behaving like some kind of zombie. For how many days you haven''t eat well?" Lucinda glared at him angrily and said, "Stop mocking me.. otherwise I will not tell you why I came here." "Okay sorry.. I''ll not.. now tell me what happened?" "Actually Mom wanted to see you and so she asked you for a dinner this weekend." Lucinda said. "Dinner? Why so suddenly?" Neil asked suspiciously. "I don''t know. Just come home this Saturday." Saying this, Lucy took her bag and ran out of the office without waiting for her brother''s response. Neil again fell into a despair when he saw his sister running out of his office clumsily. He knew that there is something wrong with her behavior today. Specially when she was telling him to visit their parent''s house, there was some kind of odd expression on her face which showed him that she was feeling guilty about something.. but couldn''t understand about what she is so guilty.. Thinking too much of it, made his head ached more. So he thought to himself that whatever would happen there in the Wilson Villa, he would manage it there. So... he needed rest more than anything right now due to the upcoming fight he have to handle the end of the week.. Neil called his assistant to inform him to cancel all of his appointments and meetings for that day''s afternoon and took a quite nap at the big sofa.. Chapter 69 - Lots of Ifs… Creation... Veronica had just finished her lunch and she was browsing through her phone gallery, seeing different kind of pictures. As it was still not the end of their lunch break time, she thought of looking through her gallery so that she could bring back some old memories of her and Reuben''s. She saw a photo of her and Reuben, in which both of them were looking at each other passionately while Veronica was sitting on Reuben''s lap horizontally.. Both of them had plastered a smile on their face and their facial expression clearly showed that how much these two are in love with each other. The picture was taken two years ago when both of them were lazing out in their balcony on Sunday evening, enjoying the sunset. Another picture came to her notice which brought a big widening smile on her plump lips. And the picture was like that¡­ Reuben was wearing a brown sweatshirt which had a print of one letter on the chest portion and the letter is a big¡­.. W.. Whereas, Veronica''s sweatshirt was deep red in color and the letter on her chest was a big¡­ E.. So if you join both of the letters W and E.. it will create the word WE.. As they are one by their heart so this WE sweatshirts were just a sign of them being together. They both were wearing black jeans and black caps. They were hiding their face from the people there by wearing a black mask and goggles. The photo was shot in front of a big aquarium, filled with different types of dishes. They were both holding their hands and looking at the fishes. She remembered that it was their first date after proposing their feelings to each other and the photo was taken exactly four and half years ago.. The two figures in the picture were not so intimate as they were now. As this photo was taken at the start of their relationship, they were still very shy that time.. even they held each other''s arms awkwardly that time.. Thinking about all of this past memories, a sweet sensation erupted in her heart and she couldn''t help but smiling wider. She started to wander what would happen to her, if Reuben was not by her side in those most difficult days of her life.. What would have happened if he hadn''t helped her through out all those hard times and gave her courage to strengthen up herself more.. She would never be what she wad right now and never would be able to smile like how she was doing right now. If he hadn''t become her boyfriend four and half years ago, she would never feel the safety she was feeling in his arms. She would never live her life with calmness and peace like how she was living now.. There were a lots of ''IFs'' in Veronica''s mind, but the truth was that she was now with the love of her life, her Reuben who stole her heart unknowingly and now this heart only belongs to him.. Every single happiness, every single reason of her smile and joy was all because of that one person who supported her through out these past years and had been loving her unconditionally.. He was really her knight in the shining armor.. her love.. her angel.. her everything.. She was so much busy in her thought that she hadn''t heard the knock from the outside of her office. She only notice her assistant when Willa waved her hands in front of her eyes.. "Hey girl, Where are you? Come back to earth." Willa said. Veronica jumped out of her chair in fright when she noticed Willa''s face suddenly right before hers.. "Oh.. When had you come?" Veronica asked. Willa sat on a chair and replied, "Just now. I was knocking the door continuously but when you didn''t response, I just barged in and saw you dozing out. Veronica said, "Leave it.. Tell me why have you come here?" Willa smiled cunningly and said, "Well I''m here to give you a good news." Pausing for a while she added, "The work is done that you had told me to do." Hearing this, Veronica also smirked wickedly and muttered, "So now the right time has finally come." Willa asked, "Yup. So.. are you going to complete the task now?" Veronica looked at Willa and nodded, "Yeah. Let''s go." Before getting out of the office with Willa. Chapter 70 - Two Biggest News… A man was sitting in a dark room with two computers in front of him.. He was smiling coldly looking at the computer screen. His smile was not some type of sweet or cute but it gave a dangerous feeling. Thankfully, there was no one with him in the room. Because if any person would see his devilish smile, then the person would be shivering in fear right then. The man then took out his phone and called someone. As soon as his phone was received, a sweet voice of a girl rang into his ears, "Hello?" Louis heard the girl''s voice and asked, "Where are you? How long are you and your assistant would make me wait for you guys?" The girl replied, "We are on our way there. Wait for another two minutes and we''ll be right there." Louis nodded his head and said, "Okay.. come soon.. Everything is ready as per your demands." Before cutting the call. Exactly two minutes later, the door of the dark and silent room got opened and two feminine silhouettes entered the room with their cold demeanor.. The cold room now decreased it''s temperature from ten degrees to zero, after the entry of those two women. Now the dark room totally resembled the north and south pole of the world. If we were talking about the non visible people to shiver before, but now they would be freezed to death. Louis''s eyes finally shifted to the two ladies and he smirked, "Come, I was waiting for you both. Now that you two already come, then let''s not waste more time and get ready for our mission." The two ladies sat on the chairs on the both side of Louis and the assistant was the first one to speak, "You said everything is ready. So let''s start." After the assistant finished her sentence, the other girl who seemed to be the boss of the assistant also opened her mouth and sneered coldly, "Release the articles and proofs that we have collected." "Okay." After replying, Louis''s fingers danced on the keyboard haphazardly. Five minutes had already passed when Louis pinched the final code and muttered evilly, "Done. Now the true game will begin." The other two ladies also smiled wickedly as they said at the same time, "Yes. The game has indeed begun." Louis then looked at the Boss and asked, "So now that I had already done the work, will miss CEO treat me to a lunch in a high class restaurant?" Yes, the boss was none other than the CEO of Creation and all three of them were now in the private room of the top floor of Creation, where no one could enter without any of these three person''s permission. The CEO snickered, "What are you rushing for? The game hasn''t finished yet. Do you think that I will leave that scumbag so easily. You know this better that my revenge is not so simple. Anyone who would try to harm my company''s reputation, I''ll make him rot in hell." Louis gulped his saliva whereas the assistant just nodded her head in acceptance. ---- At exact 3 pm¡­ The whole social media was in a huge uproar as an unexpected article and some shocking videos got out, trending the whole country. The Headline of the news were¡­ "D. B. Animate theft the secret information from Creation." "What will be the revenge of Creation on the thief CEO of D. B. Animate?" Whereas, the summaries were like¡­ "The famous animation house D. B. Animate tried to steal the project of the top Multimedia company Creation and one of their employee got caught while trespassing and selling the secret information of Creation to their rival company." "Our journalists tried to talk to the CEO of the D. B. Animate, Mr. Hill. Though their company hadn''t given any statements till now but after seeing the full proof videos of Mr. Hill, planning and plotting with one of the employee of Creation, the truth had already been confirmed." The business world was too shocked with the two biggest news of today... The first one was the revelation of the winner of the bidding competition of Smith Enterprise which was certainly the new company who entered the S city just few days ago, Brown Corporation. And the second and most shocking one was the articles and videos about the two rivalry multimedia company. One was the thief and the other wan was the company whose information was being theft.. Chapter 71 - Deliberately Hadnt Stopped... While the whole country was getting hyper about that day''s two biggest news, there was a man who was extremely happy with the sudden turn of events.. He smiled so freshly as if he got the best thing he could ever imagine of. The bright smile on his face shocked the two representatives who were sitting in the man''s office. Reuben who was smiling after hearing something from his assistant Tom, had finally come back to his sense.. that he was still in the middle of a meeting. So he quickly composed his expression and said, "Hmm.. you guys did a good job. Just correct the mistakes I''ve told you to do and then present the final copy to Tom." The two representatives nodded and left the room as soon as they got their Boss''s order. After they left, Reuben quickly opened the website forum for business related matters and finally his eyes caught the headlines, he was waiting to see eagerly while he was busy in meeting.. His eyes flashed with some kind of proudness that no one could ever think of and then an idea popped into his mind.. Quickly closing the website, he called for Tom and ordered him to do something¡­ --- In Creation¡­ The three people were extremely satisfied with the output of their plan and they all celebrated it with some coke and fried chickens.. While eating, the CEO asked, "When will he come here?" "Very soon.. My men informed me a while ago that they are on the way with him. So they will be here at any moment." Louis replied. As the last piece of fried chicken went into the CEO''s mouth, she hiccuped in satisfaction and drank the coke from her glass. Louis stared at her as if he saw some alien and asked, "How could you eat so much? Aren''t you afraid that your boyfriend will dump you because of your eating habits." The CEO didn''t mind Louis''s babbling and continued to drink her coke. After she finished sipping the last drop of it, she casually said, "He will not dare to." Louis smirked and asked, "How are you so sure?" But before the CEO could answer, the assistant noticed some persons entering the 19th floor of the building and she immediately exclaimed, "They are here. Let''s go." ---- A man was being seated on the carpeted floor with his head bowed down. His hair was disheveled and the suit he wore was crumpled all over. The buttons of his shirt were already unfastened and his tie was loosely hanging around his neck. He was a middle aged man with black hairs and a big belly. His facial features were not too good and his eyes were red with tears. Though he wore branded suit and shoes, but still he was looking nothing more than a beggar now. Some armed men with well built body were guarding him like he was some suspected criminal who had been prisoned in the jail. But what he doesn''t know is.. his life would be far worse than staying in a jail. Suddenly the door of the room opened and a tall figure came into the view of the armed men. They all bowed their head at him and quietly left after getting their Boss''s sign. Feeling that the hall became very quite after some time, the caged man finally raised his eyes and saw the person right in front of him. "Mr. Louis?" Mr. Hill shuddered in fear. Louis coldly smiled and said, "Yes.. That''s me. Are you feeling excited after seeing me?" Yes, the big bellied middle aged man was the CEO of D. B. Animate who stole CREATION''s project informations. But the poor Mr. Hill didn''t know that if the mysterious CEO hadn''t gave him permission secretly to steal their things, then they wouldn''t even get a hold of a little pen of Creation.. What the CEO of D. B. Animate was able to do in the past days, were all the planning of the mysterious CEO. She had known all the things about you and she deliberately hadn''t stopped him.. Mr. Hill shook his head and apologized, "I.. I''m really sorry. I''ll confess all my wrong doings in front of the reporters. Please just leave me." Louis raised his eyebrows as he snickered, "Are you apologizing to me right now? But it''ll not work.. Do you know why?" When Mr. Hill shook his head again, Louis leaned his face forward and muttered in a low yet deadly voice, "Did you think that the conspiracies you and your company schemed behind us, we wouldn''t have any idea about that? Hahaha.." and he started laughing loudly. Stopping his laughter his face again became cold as he gritted his teeth, "From the start to the finishing point of your schemes, all had been known to us and our CEO herself helped you to rob our secrets.. so that you can fall in our trap and get revealed to the whole world." Chapter 72 - Newest Joke of the Town... Stopping his laughter, his face again became cold as he gritted his teeth, "From the start to the finishing point of your schemes, all had been known to us and our CEO herself helped you to rob our secrets, so that you could fall in our trap and get revealed to the whole world." Hearing this, Mr. Hill''s eyes widened in shock as he stammered, "What.. what did you mean by that?" You all knew about everything from the first." This was the biggest blow in Mr. Hill''s life that he ever could have. He was so much in a thunderbolt that his tears started to fall from his eyes. He sobbed loudly reminiscing about what had he done and repenting about all his misdeeds. He was pondering that if.. if he hadn''t done all those mistakes, he and his company wouldn''t suffer now. Each and every businessmen were making sarcasm about him as he now became the ''newest joke of the town'' among everybody. And he also knew this well that the CEO of Creation is really rebellious. He/ she would not stop here just by dragging him in their company, they would surely make every arrangements to make him suffer. Mr. Hill also knew this very clearly that his company would be bankrupted soon.. or .. should he say that, maybe his company was already in the verge of bankruptcy¡­ But the issue that is bothering him the most was what would his family do without him as he already had two sons and a wife in his home. Noticing that Mr. Hill was in a daze, Louis cleared his throat and mocked, "Now don''t you dare to give excuses about your family as your little betrayer also did before to us. Though that man really cared about his family but you.. you don''t give a damn about them. Otherwise¡­." Stopping Louis in midway, Mr. Hill asked while shivering, "Otherwise what?" Right then, Mr. Hill was totally in despair thinking about the possibility that if the man in front of him knew about his another mistake.. Louis coldly smiled and whispered in a low voice, "Otherwise you would not fool around with your little mistress behind your wife''s back and also have a son with her." Now, all the patience that Mr. Hill was holding got broken into cold sweats and his mind stopped working already.. "Please.. please don''t reveal this in front of my wife. Please¡­" Mr. Hill pleaded. "Okay. I promise. I will not reveal this to your wife or kids." Louis very simply replied. Hearing that, when finally Mr. Hill sighed in relief, Louis''s cold voice again interrupted his thoughts, "But that doesn''t mean that our CEO couldn''t reveal that. What''s more.. maybe she already posted your little dirty secrets to the whole world. Let me check it first." Saying this Louis started to browse the internet. After seeing the most awaiting video and article, Louis smiled and said, "Ah.. it''s already done. Why don''t you see it yourself?" and he hold his phone in front of Mr. Hill''s eyes. The Headlines were... "The CEO of D. B. Animate, Mr. Hill had cheated on his wife and already have a son with another woman." "Mr. Hill having an extra marital affair with his mistress.." After watching the videos which was collaged with lots of pictures of him and his mistress and reading the headlines, Mr. Hill''s vision blurred and he fainted on the floor. Louis took back the phone and called his man inside. "Splash some cold water on his face." Louis ordered. After that, the men splashed a bucked of ice water on the unconscious body of Mr. Hill and the latter had jerked up from his senselessness. "Argh¡­!!" Mr. Hill groaned in pain when one bulky man kicked his torso. Controlling his pain, he looked at Louis fiercely and shouted, "Why? Why don''t you just let me die? Why are you torturing me like this?" "How can I let you die so easily? Don''t you want to see the face of our mysterious CEO?" Louis asked. Another bucket of cold water was splashed into his head as Mr. Hill shivered and nodded his head, "Yes.. I want to see her. Where is she? Tell her to see me. I want to talk to her face to face. Call her." He yelled. "Seems like you are being too much impatient to see me¡­.." A cold yet sweet girly voice rang through the corridor of the empty room as the enigmatic CEO of Creation stepped into the room alongside her assistant. But when the rival company''s CEO, Mr. Hill saw the person''s face, his entire body froze¡­ Chapter 73 - Least Punishment... "Seems like you are being too much impatient to see me¡­.." A cold yet sweet girly voice rang through the corridor of the empty room as the enigmatic CEO of Creation stepped into the room alongside her assistant. But when the rival company''s CEO, Mr. Hill saw the person''s face, his entire body froze¡­ There, in front of him, stood a slender figure of a girl. She was beautiful.. very very beautiful. Her untied hair was falling back on her shoulder and her tall figure was creating a shadow over that big bellied man, shading his fat figure with the darkness of her silhouette. Though the room was not brightly lit, but the little light coming from the lampshades from the four corners of the room couldn''t hid the fact that the girl had a pair of dark brown eyes with an oval face. Her figure was like a model and her aura could make anyone collapsed on her shoes.. She was really as beautiful as a goddess... But the question is, if the girl is so much beautiful then why Mr. Hill got flabbergasted so much. She was not ugly, then why? Was it for lust? Well, no¡­ The CEO of D. B. Animate got shocked so much from his core, because the tall figure in front of him wearing a green top and black jeans with a black blazer, was none other than the perfect daughter in everyone''s eyes, who never did any bad things in her life. Every business men and their wives'' first choice for their would be daughter in law and even not only them, even their sons were crazy to make this girl their girlfriend or wife.. She is the top beauty of whole country S, the only heiress of Lopez family, Veronica Lopez.. Yes, yes, you guys are reading the right thing.. The sweet and simple employee of the biggest multimedia company who was also the daughter of one of the biggest businessman of country K, is the¡­. CEO of Creation.. Veronica stepped forward as she headed towards Mr. Hill and took a seat beside Louis who was smiling all evilly, watching each and every expression of the middle aged man whose face was nothing but like a torn yellow page. He moved his head towards his left when the mysterious assistant of the mysterious CEO also got herself seated beside him. He looked at Willa and she also looked back at him. Both of them smirked at the same time and waited for their CEO to speak up.. Veronica who acted all sweet and cute all the time, whose innocent face was everyone''s soft point, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the aura she was emanating was totally opposite of her true one. She was sitting there with a cold expressionless face but her eyes had an undescribable glint which could pierce through anyone''s soul, making them shiver to their bone. "So¡­ now that finally you have seen me¡­ are you satisfied and feeling happy?" Veronica coldly said. Mr. Hill felt all of his hair on his body stood up, showing the goosebumps. He gulped in fear as he never had thought in his life that this girl, Veronica Lopez could be the CEO of Creation. At first he thought, even if he betrayed Creation, he could still save his life as his family was very powerful whereas the mysterious CEO must not have any backer or would not belong to from a reputable family. So, handling her would be a lot easy. Nonetheless, after finding out the truth, he couldn''t help but curse his luck because not only she was the CEO of this company but also her family background is formidable which he could not even touch after hundred times of trying. Still couldn''t believe in his eyes, he asked, "How¡­ how can this be? How can you be the CEO of Creation?" Veronica laughed at that man''s antics and smirked, "So shocked that after seeing me almost for ten minutes, you still couldn''t trust your eyes. Ha ha ha¡­ It makes me want to laugh more. Ha ha ha.." Controlling her laughter, her face once again became cold and serious, as she said, "But don''t worry. I''ll try to give you the least punishment for your deeds." "Pu.. Punishment? What kind of punishment?" Mr. Hill stammered. "You will see that later yourself. After all challenging us is not a good thing you know right. But still you opposed us. So how can this ruthless CEO would just leave you without a proper punishment?" Veronica grinned wickedly. Though Mr. Hill was in verge of breaking down, he still tried to defend, "If you dare to hit me then I''ll tell your secrets to the media that you, Veronica Lopez is the CEO of Creation." Veronica who was lazily combing her hair with her fingers, shot him a glare and a killing intent showed in her eyes, "Yes.. You can tell them. I don''t have any problem about that." Seeing the confusion on Mr. Hill''s face, Veronica became more happy and let out a chuckle, "You can only reveal that if you can get out of the place. But unfortunately, you can''t. And even after, we let you go, if you still tried to open your mouth then¡­ then you know I have more proofs of your other dirty things. So don''t try to threaten me again." Now, all the power he was trying to hold had got down to his nerves and he broke out in tears again.. Expecting the response from Mr. Hill, Veronica got up with Willa and walked towards the door before saying, "Louis you know what to do with him. Right?" Louis sniggered as he replied, "I know this very well. You go and leave this man for me. I''ll take care of him." Chapter 74 - Dust Who Passed By The Air... After Veronica and Willa left, Louis looked at the sobbing man and said in a low voice, "Now comes the actual punishment time." Saying this, he punched the man in his face and blood started to ooze out from his nose and mouth. Kicking him on his chest, Louis kicked his stomach and the man shouted in pain, "Aahhhh¡­." He then called his men to punch and kick him to their heart''s content but ordered them to keep him alive as he had other plans with him. After one hour of long beating and bashing, they stopped when Louis ordered, "Leave him to the base and later send him to his home." He squatted down in front of the half dead man and said, "If you try to say anything about today, then you know the consequences, right?" Though Mr. Hill was extremely in pain and his all body was aching, he still managed to utter one word out of his mouth, "Yes.." Getting the answer, Louis left the room and his men took the half conscious man to their secret base. ---- As usual, when the clock ticked five, Veronica left her office and directly went to the secret parking lot which was only for CEO, her assistant and Louis. As Veronica is the CEO of this company, she maximum time used this parking lot, where her boyfriend could easily wait for her without getting noticed by others. Entering the parking lot, she immediately spotted the handsome man in his grey suit, standing there all high mighty, leaning against the car, waiting for his beloved to come to him. The charming man''s eyes finally dropped on Veronica who was smiling all brightly whereas her previous viciousness couldn''t be find anywhere on her small face. Reuben''s eyes softened noticing the beautiful figure coming towards him and his smile enlarged. When Veronica finally was an arm distance from Reuben, he stretched his hand and instantly pulled the petite figure in his arms. Veronica hadn''t expected the sudden pull and directly fell in Reuben''s embrace whereas her face collided with Reuben''s hard chest. Reuben buried his head in Veronica''s hair and smelled the sweet scent of her hair. It was like a process to calm his mind after the whole day''s toil. Hugging him back tightly, Veronica also sniffed the fragrant of his flesh by burying her head in his neck. After all, it was really a very hard day for her as she had to handle so much or moreover she had to face that rubbish CEO of her ex-rival company. Now, she only needed the comfort and peace which could she only found in Reuben''s arms. She looked up at her boyfriend and pecked his lips. Reuben saw the turmoil in Veronica''s face and tucked her hair strands behind her hair. Kissing her forehead, he praised her, "I''m so much proud of you Miss CEO. You really confronted your enemy in the best way." Getting praised by Reuben, Veronica''s smile couldn''t content more as her perfect white teeth flashed out in front of Reuben and she said, "You know baby. Today was a lot hectic for me. That bastard Hill even tried to threat me about revealing my CEO identity even after getting abducted by me. You know I was so enraged that time that I wanted to punch his face. I mean.. how could he just threaten me so blatantly!!" Knowing that his girlfriend could only show her frustration in front of him as not everyone knew about the special identity of his amazing girlfriend. And today was really a bad day for her so he just let her talk her heart''s out while he listened everything patiently because he very well knew that being a CEO of a big company like Creation, was really very tiring as he also had his own empire to run. "I know baby. And trust me you are the best. Now my CEO girlfriend don''t think about those too much and let''s go home. I''ll make you, your favorite fried chicken noodles today." He then gave her a naughty smile and winked at her before whispering, "And later, I can give you a full body massage." Veronica rolled her eyes as she perfectly understood what kind of massage he was talking of which was not as pure as other massage but more erotic. As soon as they entered the car, Reuben turned towards the backseat and took out a beautiful bouquet of pink Dahlias and a pack of chocolates. "This is for handling your enemies very cleverly today. I''m so much proud of you Ica." Reuben said as he handed the gifts to Veronica. His face was showing the huge pride he had for her. Earlier today afternoon, when Reuben saw the article about his girlfriend revealing the dirty things of her rival company, he immediately ordered his assistant Tom to buy those gifts. "Thanks a lot Bennieeee.. I love you very much." Veronica squeled in joy as she kissed him on the cheek. "I love you more." Reuben pinched her nose before driving off. ---- Love ¨C Paradise¡­ After having a tasty dinner, both of Reuben and Veronica were having a warm coffee date in their balcony when Veronica''s phone buzzed. "Dad?" Veronica picked up the call. Mr. Lopez spoke as soon as Veronica answered the call, "Princess. How are you? Is everything okay now? I saw what that useless Mr. Hill did to your company. And I must say that I''m very satisfied with the aftermath of his stupidity. So princess.. tell me, are you okay?" Veronica smiled when she heard her father''s worried voice as she replied, "Dad¡­ I''m perfectly fine. Don''t worry too much about me. You know your daughter is awesome, right? So these little problems like Mr. Hill is nothing to me. He is just like a dust who passed by the air." Father Lopez laughed out loud and said, "Hmm.. good. That''s why my princess is the best. So now tell me how is going everything between you and Reuben?" Shifting her eyes on the person who was sitting beside her, checking his phone and sipping his coffee, Veronica smiled and said, "All is going smooth between us dad. He really takes care of me well." After talking for some more time, they cut the call when Reuben wrapped his hand around her waist. He then asked, "Was my father in law asking about me?" Veronica nodded her head and told him about their conversation. Finishing telling about everything to Reuben, she leaned towards him and kissed him on the lips and then this simple kiss led them to their intimate exercise. Chapter 75 - Capable of Handling Such Matters... Few days later¡­ It was only 6 am so both Ica and Bennie were still sleeping in each other''s arms when Reuben''s phone rang out loudly. Reuben opened his eyes to pick up the phone but when he saw who was calling him at this moment, Reuben''s brows furrowed down. He then looked at the sleeping beauty in his arms and answered the call, "Hey.." Willa said, "Hi Reuben. Good morning." "Yeah. Morning. Why did you call me so early in the morning?" Reuben asked. "Actually Reuben¡­ there are some issues that I need to tell Vero. Is she awake?" Willa asked. Reuben frowned as he said, "Issues? What kind of issues? Ica is sleeping right now. Tell me what happened. I''ll pass the message when she wakes up." Willa on the other hand sighed and told Reuben everything what she got to know this morning in details. After hearing everything, Reuben said, "Okay. I understand. Now don''t worry too much about the matter and tell Louis to complete the task that you guys have planned before. After Ica gets up, I''ll tell her to call you." Cutting the call, Reuben looked at the girl beside him who was his life and sighed. He thought to himself that his girlfriend really had some brain to think of such an amazing plan. He then hugged her waist again and buried his face in Veronica''s neck. Veronica''s eyes twitched when she felt Reuben''s uneasy hands on her body. She opened her eyes slowly and asked in still a hoarse voice, "Honey, stop roaming your hands and let me sleep." Despite of Veronica''s warning, Reuben kept wandering his hand here and there which really made Veronica angry and she roared, "Reuben Smith.... If you still don''t stop right now, then I swear I''ll you kick you out of our room tonight and let you sleep on the floor." This warning was enough for Reuben to stop his actions and he lied down beside her gently, hugging her simply. Veronica buried her face in Reuben''s chest and smiled secretly before dozing off to sleep again. ----- Alonzo''s Apartment... Alonzo was sitting in his living room, sipping black tea and checking some documents. This is when his assistant, Bill called him to inform him something really serious. "Hello?" Alonzo picked up the call. Bill hurriedly said, "Boss there is something big news circulating around the whole city, which is now the top search among all." Alonzo frowned when he listened to his assistant''s round words. "Will you please tell me the exact matter?" He asked impatiently. Getting the impatient vibe from his boss, Bill immediately spilled out the things he got to know in the morning. The news brought a faint smile in Alonzo''s face and he said, "Now I really have to think about meeting the CEO of Creation." "But Boss¡­ I heard that no one knows about the CEO of Creation." Bill said. Alonzo heard this and frowned more. And then a big matter stuck into his mind and he asked, "Why did not the Vice President of Creation come to our party? Did you forget to invite them?" "No boss. I really invited them. Mr. Louis couldn''t come because he had other business to do but his assistant send us a bouquet and a gift." Bill replied. "Okay. I understand. Come to office in time." Alonzo said before cutting the call. He searched for his phone and checked through the recent business news in his phone. ''Seems like the CEO of Creation is really interesting.'' Alonzo murmured to himself. --- Smith Mansion¡­ Mr. Smith was reading his newspaper when his eyes fell onto a sudden headline. He narrowed his eyes on the news and read the full story. When Mrs. Smith saw her husband reading some news being so focused, she asked, "What are you reading honey?" Father Smith looked at his wife and said, "Look at this yourself." Before passing the newspaper to his wife. After reading the full news, Mother Smith was really amazed as she said, "Isn''t this the company that Veronica working in?" Mr. Smith nodded his head and replied, "Yes. It is." "Then I would talk to her later about this matter to know if everything is okay there." Mrs. Smith said worriedly. "Don''t worry honey. The CEO of her company is very capable of handling such little matters." Mr. Smith said. "How are you so sure?" Mrs. Smith asked. "Because I know about her capabilities. Moreover we both know her very well." Mr. Smith said all smilingly. Frowning more, Mrs. Smith asked, "So the CEO is a female as you said it''s her. But how do I know her?" "You will know about it soon." Mr. Smith smirked. Mother Smith was not at all impressed with her husband''s mischievousness but still stayed mum. Chapter 76 - Wear A High Neck Dress... Willa''s Apartment¡­ The doorbell rang which made Willa to stop browsing through the net and went to open the door. Opening the door, when she saw the figure standing in front of her, she became surprised as she hadn''t expected him to come right then. "Sam?" Willa asked. "Good morning. I was passing by here. So thought to buy some breakfast for you." Sam said before lifting his hand up to show Willa the packets of food. "Oh. Please come in." Willa locked the door properly after Sam got inside her apartment. Sam kept the foods on the center table and made himself seated on the sofa. Willa looked at the bags full of foods and then at her boyfriend. She also sat beside him as she said while smiling, "You don''t have to do this Sam." Sam raised his eyebrows as he asked, "What ? Now can''t I even bring breakfast for my own girlfriend?" Willa''s cheeks blushed in red when she heard the word ''girlfriend'' coming out of Sam''s mouth . She smiled at him sweetly and replied, "Thanks Sam for coming here and bringing breakfast for me." Patting her head gently, Sam said, "Don''t say thanks to me for this small reasons.. Now that we are finally in an relationship, so it is quite normal for a couple to do this kind of things like bringing breakfast for your girlfriend and all.." Smiling sweetly, Willa got up from sofa as she said, "Let me bring some plates." While having their breakfast, Sam suddenly asked, "I read the news about your company today morning. So¡­ is everything going to be okay there?" Looking up at Sam, Willa sighed before replying, "Don''t worry about this. Our CEO is very competent and will manage everything single handedly." Sam''s eyes twitched for a second but before Willa could notice any changes in his behavior, his face again came to normal. He then asked, "So is the CEO a she or he?" Willa stopped eating for a while and calmly said, "I don''t know. The CEO never showed her/ his face to anyone, without our Vice President. So we never know about the CEO''s gender." Nodding his head, Sam continued to eat his breakfast. ---- Henry''s place¡­ "This time it''s really a huge news." Henry said in the phone. "Hmm¡­ But I''m sure that my sis gonna handle it well. After all, she is an awesome businesswoman." Neil said from the other side of the phone. Henry grinned and replied, "Yes.. that she is." "Okay now gotta go. Talk to you later." Neil said chuckling slightly. After cutting the call, Henry thought to call Reuben but when he saw the time, he thought not to bother the love birds as they would probably still be sleeping now. ---- Love ¨C Paradise¡­ Veronica''s alarm started to ring loudly which made her woke up from her sleep. Stopping the alarm, she opened her eyes groggily and cutely blinked some times before shifting her eyes towards the man beside her. She caressed his cheeks before whispering in his ears, "Good morning darling." Reuben who was already awake smiled cockily and pulled Veronica towards his body. Veronica fell on his chest and when she noticed the man opening his eyes, she gave him a peck on his lips. "Good morning love." Reuben said and kissed her. Breaking the kiss, Veronica dashed towards the washroom whereas Reuben called his assistant, "Cancel my morning meeting today and I''ll also be a little late for office." Veronica walked out only wearing a bathrobe and a towel wrapped around her hair. She sat on the stool and started rubbing the moisturizer on her body in front of the dressing table. Seeing the hickeys covering her neck and shoulder areas, Veronica sighed and looked fiercely at her boyfriend, "Look what have you done. Now it would take me half an hour to hide all these marks with concealer." She snapped. Chuckling at his creations on her body, Reuben replied coolly, "Babe. What can I do when you are so tempting. By the way. I have a better idea to hide your hickeys quickly." When Veronica raised her eyebrows asking what the idea was, Reuben grinned as he replied. "Wear a high neck dress. It''s simple." Glaring at him, Veronica became more angry but she hadn''t any other choice right now other than accepting the idea, so she went to the cupboard to find a suitable dress for her. Throwing the towel that was wrapped around her head to Reuben, she said, "Go quickly freshen up. I''ll make the breakfast." Quickly getting out of the bed, Reuben back hugged her before whispering, "Do you need any help to change?" Veronica threw daggers through her eyes at him and said, "No thanks. Just clean the bed and it will be the biggest help for me." Keeping the dress on the bed, she headed downstairs to make some healthy yet tasty breakfast. Reuben also chuckled and after cleaning the bed, he went to take a shower. Chapter 77 - Dutiful Boyfriend... Reuben came down wearing a cream color shirt and peacock blue pants, rubbing his wet hair with his right hand. He was actually half ready for his office. Not seeing the slim figure in the dining room, he searched in kitchen and there he found his girlfriend, plating a dish still wearing the bathrobe with her hair tied with a single clip on the back of her head. Feeling a warm stare at her back, Veronica faced the door and after seeing the person there with a smile on his face, she also smiled back and took two plates in her hand. Giving the two plates in Reuben''s hand, she said to him, "Keep these plates on the table. I''ll bring the others." Reuben listened to her orders like a dutiful boyfriend and waited for Veronica to come with the other dishes. While having their breakfast, Reuben observed Veronica, drinking her soup quite happily. That was why, he was reluctant about the fact that whether he should let her know today''s big news or not. But he finally agreed with the first one as he knew that she would definitely be aware of the truth somehow before or later. So it would be better if he himself broke the news to her. Contemplating for another minute, he finally sighed and said, "Baby.. I have something to tell you." Veronica tilted her head up to him and arched her eyebrows as she asked, "What?" Sighing again, Reuben stated, "Well baby. Rather then saying, I would prefer to show you something." And then he handed his phone to her after opening a certain webpage. Taking the phone from his hand, Veronica scrolled down the pages and narrowed her eyes after scrutinizing every single word of the article. After reading thoroughly, Veronica''s expression hadn''t changed at all which made Reuben quite suspicious. But before Reuben could say something, Veronica moved her face towards him with a worried expression as she nervously said, "What should I do now Bennie? I haven''t ever thought that this could happen. Now everything is out of my hand. I.. I''m really scared now." Seeing his girlfriend''s anxious face, Reuben raised his eyebrows and said in a same tensed voice, "Right baby. I also haven''t thought that you have to go through this difficulty. Now how will you handle this issue?" Veronica''s frown got deepened as she bit her lips nervously, "I don''t know.. I don''t know anything Bennie.." she said as one teardrop fell from her left eye. ---- Creation¡­. Veronica entered the secret elevator which was directly connected with the CEO''s floor and pressed the top button. Waiting for few seconds when the elevator finally stopped and the door got opened with a ''ding'' sound, she got out of the elevator and entered her office room. Louis and Willa werd already present there waiting for her and finally seeing her, they became agitated and skittish. "Finally you are here?" Louis asked first. "Yeah. I am." Veronica replied. "What took you so long?" Willa worriedly asked. Veronica sat on her swivel chair and explained, "Actually I reached near the entrance of our office 45 minutes ago but noticed the media was there covering the whole main gate area. So Bennie told me to wait for sometime till his men removed the reporters from there. And meanwhile, he kept supporting and assuring me that everything would be alright. So while the reporters were being moved away, I was getting comforted in his arms. That''s why I''m a little late." Both of Louis and Willa relaxed after hearing the whole story and gazed at Veronica in concern. Well, what Willa and Louis didn''t know was that this ''getting comforted'' meant none other than them, hugging and kissing all along in the name of an excuse to spend some more time together. Louis then asked, "Now what should we do?" In the meantime, Willa''s phone buzzed and when she opened to see the message, her eyes got widened in shock. "Guys.. look at this." Willa said. "Why are you behaving like this? What happened?" Veronica asked. Passing the phone to Louis and Veronica, Willa said, "Sam just sent me the link of this article with some photos as a proof of today''s morning news." And when both Louis and Veronica looked at the pictures, Louis was utterly shocked and enraged whereas Veronica''s face remained calm. The headline of the articles were¡­. Chapter 78 - Say goodbye... "Mr. Hill found dead in his apartment." "Mr. Hill committed suicide by cutting his vain." There were also some photos attached with those articles where Mr. Hill could be seen lying on his bedroom''s floor with his wrist slit, making all the blood of his body drowning in the white marble floor. The contrast of both colors, red and white gave the room an exaggerating feel. There was a blade beside his right hand and there was a paper lying under it. The police took his dead body for postmortem and only could reveal that the estimated time of his death was around 4 am in the morning. And for the other results.. everyone had to wait for the postmortem result to come out, regarding if it was really a suicide or a murder.. But for now.. they only suspected this as a suicide and got hold of the suicide note that Mr. Hill had left for them but the police hadn''t revealed anything about the note till now as they would be revealing all the things together with the report. The trio kept silent for few minutes after reading the article and watching the images. "Now what should we do? He just committed suicide. Though I don''t care about it but.. what if he wrote something about your identity in that letter, then what would happen?" Willa asked tensely. Veronica''s lips curved in a smirk as she tried to comfort her friend by rubbing Willa''s back with her left hand and said in a calm voice, "Don''t think about it too much and sit here properly, enjoying the drama." Louis frowned, seeing Veronica so much calm that he couldn''t help but ask, "Aren''t you even a little bit worried about this matter?" "No.. Not at all." Veronica instantly replied. "But how?" Louis asked. Again, Veronica''s lips showed them an evil smile before saying them the whole story.. --- Earlier this morning, when Veronica and Reuben was having breakfast, Reuben showed her the news about Mr. Hill by passing her his phone.. After reading thoroughly, Veronica''s expression hadn''t changed at all which made Reuben quite suspicious. But before Reuben could say something, Veronica moved her face towards him with a worried expression as she nervously said, "What should I do now Bennie? I haven''t ever thought that this could happen. Now everything is out of my hand. I.. I''m really scared now." Seeing his girlfriend''s anxious face, Reuben raised his eyebrows and said in a same tensed voice, "Right baby. I also haven''t thought that you have to go through this difficulty. Now how will you handle this issue?" Veronica''s frown got deepened as she bit her lips nervously, "I don''t know.. I don''t know anything Bennie.." she said as one teardrop fell from her left eye. Reuben quickly hold her face in his hand and kissed the teardrop on her cheeks. But instead of coaxing her, he pinched her cheeks which made Veronica cry in pain. Glaring at Reuben, Vero yelled, "Why are you pulling my ear? Shouldn''t you coax me right in this difficult moment?" Rolling his eyes, Reuben said sarcastically, "Difficult moment? Really baby? Your acting is getting better day by day. Huh??" "You really know this right." Veronica smirked. Reuben smiled and hugged her side-wise before saying, "So tell me what''s the next plan now? I had already ordered my men to beat that bastard Hill and after that, they also showed the photos and videos of his and his mistress and other girls to his wife." "But then.. that bastard tried to threaten you by trying to sell your information to one of the journalists. How could I let this happen?" Reuben gritted his teeth out of anger. Veronica rubbed his arm and continued Reuben''s sentences, "And then your men threatened him back that if he said anymore then they would kill his mistress with their son. Right?" Reuben nodded his head before saying, " Yes. So I gave him two options. Either he committed suicide after writing a letter that he was in depression or say goodbye to his mistress and their illegitimate son." Smiling evilly, Veronica said, "And he did what we had expected." Reuben didn''t say anything but endearingly looked at Veronica which expressed his full love towards her. This time Veronica''s eyes welled up, not in sorrow but in joy. She hugged Reuben tightly and mumbled, "Thank you for everything, Bennie. Thanks a lot." Hugging her back, Reuben muttered naughtily, "Well, if you want to thank me, then you can do it in bed." Biting Reuben''s earlobe, Veronica whispered seductively, "Then let me thank you properly tonight." --- Back to present¡­ Willa and Louis''s mouth were wide opened when they heard that even Mr. Hill''s suicide was this couple''s plan. They could not help but shiver just by thinking how this pair be so cunning together to plan this whole thing without encountering any suspicious from anyone. Louis said, "Woaaaahhhh..!! You two are really despicable." "You should at least inform this from before to us." Willa said. "I''m sorry guys. But I thought not to bother you guys with these little matters." Veronica apologized. Shaking his head, Louis said, "I understand. But tell us everything beforehand from the next time." Talking for some while, everyone left for their own offices. Chapter 79 - My brothers future depends on todays occasion... It was already Friday morning and the Wilson Mansion was super busy, huddling with the servants running from here to there. Mrs. Wilson was dictating some of the servants to prepare the food as per Neil''s choice because today was the day when Neil was coming to visit his parents in the Wilson Mansion after so many days. Though it was completely the request of mother Wilson to make Neil agree to come here but still she was very happy that her son would finally visit them. To her, it didn''t matter whether Neil willingly come here or she had to ask him for it. That''s why, she was very excited for evening to arrive soon. Lucinda who just came downstairs with her handbag, ready for her office, was really shocked to see the preparations by them as if the house was not theirs but had changed into a totally different one. She cutely pouted, "Mom, you never did any of these things for me. Neither you had decorated the vases with my favorite flowers nor did you ever put my favorite pink color cushion cover. But now.. you are all changing these just because brother is coming home back. This is not fair." Father Wilson who just completed his breakfast, came to his pouting daughter and wrapped his hand around her shoulder as he said, "Yes. This is indeed not fair. How can my daughter''s wishes not be valued by anyone? She also has her own favorites. Right princess?" "Yes Dad. Look Mom doesn''t love me at all. She only loves brother." Lucinda hugged her father as she acted like she was crying. Mother Wilson rolled her eyes on the pair of father and daughter''s fake pitiful faces and said, " Both of you clearly know why I''m arranging all these. So stop behaving like kids. Today is really important for us, Wilson family. Today evening will decide our Neil''s future and that''s why I''m doing all these arrangements to give it a better feel." Lucinda who was acting all crying and pitiful, quickly gaped at her mother as she remembered something. Grinning ear to ear, she then said dramatically, " Yeah Mom. You are right. My brother''s future depends on today''s occasion." Chuckling at his daughter''s behavior, Father Wilson patted her head and exclaimed, "Aww! My princess is so cute. Come, give Dad a hug." When Mother Wilson saw them hugging each other, she asked, " Don''t both of you have to go for your work? And you Lucy¡­ if you want to eat your favorite ice cream tonight then leave right now and come back early." Hearing about her favorite ice cream Lucinda instantly gave her mother a kiss before running out of the mansion in hurry for her work. ---- Outside Wilson Mansion¡­ A black sports car was waiting with tinted glass, through which the person in the driver seat couldn''t be recognized at all. Lucinda who just came out of the house, saw the car and without wasting any second, got into it. But before she could utter something, she was being pulled by someone in a warm hug. ---- Henry who was the owner of the car, was sitting patiently in the car, for his girlfriend to come, had finally felt relieved when Lucy ran out of the mansion with a big smile plastered on her face. And as soon as Lucy hoped into the car, he pulled her into his embrace. After getting into the relationship, this became both of their habit to go for their work together. Henry would everyday pick her up and send her to her cafe before going to his own office and later sent her back home. Pulling out from the hug, Lucinda cutely said, "Good morning Henry. Have you eaten your breakfast yet?" Smiling at her, Henry replied, "Morning baby and yes, I''ve already done my breakfast. What about you?" "Me too." Lucinda replied. On the way to the caf¨¦, Henry suddenly asked, "Babe. Today you were looking kinda nervous. What''s it?" Giving a sigh, Lucinda said, "Actually Henry. Bro Neil would be visiting us today." Frowning, Henry asked, " Then it''s good, nah? Why you are acting weird then?" Gulping a mouthful of saliva, Lucinda replied, "Actually our parents had organized a blind date for him today about which bro isn''t aware at all. And the ridiculous thing was, I personally went to his office to request him for coming today." "What? A blind date?" Henry was utterly shocked by this revelation. "Hmm.. But please don''t say anything about this to my brother. Otherwise he would kill me." Lucinda pleaded. "Of course not baby. I''ll definitely not tell him about this." Henry said before a playful smirk hung on his face, already analyzing about the upcoming hurdle for his another best friend. Parking his car outside ''Sip and Drip'', Henry kissed Lucinda on her lips passionately and then finally let her go. Chapter 80 - Not At All Sisterly Gaze... Wilson Estates... Neil was busy in a meeting with the supervisors, when his phone rang loudly. Noticing the identity of the person who was calling him, he said to the supervisors, "Rectify the things I have told you to. The meeting is dismissed for today." Saying this, he left the hall before picking up the call. "Hello." Neil said. "Hey bro.. what''s up?" Came Henry''s energetic voice from the other side of the phone. "All good. Why?" Neil said. "All good? Hmm.. but I thought that you would be not so good." Another male voice rang into his ears. Neil quickly bring the phone in front of his eyes and checked why there is another voice coming from there. And as he guessed, it was a conference call from his two best friends. But now he was more confused that why his two buddies suddenly engaged him into a conference call. Placing the phone back to his ear, Neil asked, " Why this sudden conference call?" Chuckling slightly, Henry said, "I heard from Lucy that you are visiting your parents today evening. So just thought to have a talk with you." Grinning widely, Reuben also joined, "Yeah. After all we are friends. So obviously we would care for you. And from the deepest part of our love.. we thought to call you to encourage you for today." Henry couldn''t held his laughter anymore after hearing Reuben''s sticky words and stammered in between his laugh, "Yes bro. We love you too much." Hearing the sudden confession from those two men, Neil''s eyebrows furrowed together as he queried, "Both of you. What are guys talking about? Are you guys hiding something from me?" Reuben laughed out loud as he said, "Nothing bro. Just want to say all the best." Henry also added, "Yeah.. all the best for today evening." "What are you--- " But before Neil could complete his sentence, the call got cut, leaving a puzzled Neil there, pondering about what his friends just blurted out. --- As Neil was busy in his own thoughts, there Reuben and Henry were laughing hard on the either side of the phone. "Gosh! Neil is going to have a hard time today." Henry said drumming the office table with his hand. Chuckling lightly, Reuben said, "Who said him to stay single till now? And even if he was single then why play with different types of girls. Obviously uncle and Aunt would be worried about their playboy son. Though¡­ he really deserve it." "Yeah.. You are right about that. But I think sometimes, that there is no girl who could take his heart." Henry said astonishingly. Scratching the back of his neck, Reuben said, "Maybe he already has someone in his heart but could not understand his true feelings yet." Henry who was grinning till now, paused his smile when he heard the big piece of news from Reuben. His ears perked up in excitement as he asked, "What.. what did you say? Neil already has someone in his heart. But who?" Reuben sighed before saying, "It''s Willa. Though I''m not sure about it but I feel a hunch about it." It was a real shock for Henry which made his eyes widened and mouth opened in a ''O'' shape as he stammered to say, "Wi.. Willa? You mean our Willa? But how?" Reuben nodded his head from the other side though he knew that Henry couldn''t see it but he still did so. "I don''t know how Henry. But I can see it in his eyes. You know the kind of loving stare that we give to our lovely girlfriends, Neil always stare at Willa like that. But still we can''t be so sure about that right now. So let''s just keep it to ourselves." Thinking for some while, Henry said, "Hmm.. Now you said about it, I also started to feel that Neil''s gaze towards Willa is totally different from other girls. And even I don''t have a gut to compare his gaze towards Willa with how he gazes at Lucy and Vero. I mean it''s not at all sisterly gaze." "You are right. Let''s wait for the right time then. Things will reveal by itself." Reuben said. Right then Tom knocked his office door and informed him, "Boss, Mr. Alonzo Brown is here with his assistant for the meeting." Reuben nodded his head and replied, "Okay. Send them in." He then told Henry, "Bro. I have an important meeting right now. Let''s talk later about this matter." "Yeah bye. I also have to check some files. Bye." Henry said. As soon as Reuben cut the call, the door of Reuben''s office got knocked again¡­ Chapter 81 - Mischievous... Outstanding... As soon as Reuben cut the call, the door of his office got knocked again¡­ "Come in." Reuben commanded. Getting the response, Tom entered the office, being followed by two people who was neatly dressed in business suits. But there was definitely a big difference in both of the men''s ambiance and behavior that one could easily find out that one among them was the employer and the other one is his employee. As Alonzo walked in the office with his assistant, Reuben studied him up and down with his dark eyes, utilizing each and every single detail about Alonzo in his mind. "Please have a seat Mr. Brown." Tom said. Sitting on the chair, right opposite of Reuben, Alonzo stretched his hand towards him for a handshake as he greeted, "Hello Mr. Smith. It''s nice to meet you. Thanks for selecting our plans for your next project." Reuben who was sitting quietly observing Alonzo, hold out his hand and accepted the handshake and greeted back, "It''s also good to see you again Mr. Brown. And about selecting your plans.. it was the best among all. So we would definitely choose the best to gain more profit." Apprehending the statement, Alonzo understood that Reuben was very straightforward. He didn''t beat around the bush at all. And this feature of him really impressed Alonzo. "So let''s start about the business matters." Reuben said. Alonzo nodded and took the file from Bill''s hand before starting to explain about the different types of schemes and plans to architect the new hotel project. Listening each and every part of the whole presentation very contently, Reuben voiced out his thoughts, "Your ideas are very good. But I think it would be better if we build the elevator at the middle of the hotel so it would help our clients and customers to find their rooms more easily." Nodding his head, Alonzo replied, "Yes. That is a brilliant idea. I will talk with the architects of my company to design the building according to your suggestions." "Hmm. Do that then. If you want, you can also send your employees to talk with the engineer department of our company. Just tell us beforehand so we can inform them about the collaboration. I want this project to start as soon as possible. It will be better if we can start the project by the end of the next month." Reuben reminded him. "Sure, Mr. Smith." Alonzo agreed. As they finished talking about business, two secretaries walked inside holding two trays with coffees and some snacks. Ruminating for sometime while having their coffees, Reuben suddenly spoke up, "Business aside, I want to ask you a personal question if you don''t mind." Alonzo looked up at him from sipping his coffee as he asked, "Yeah sure, Mr. Smith. What is this?" "In your party¡­ you told everyone that the reason of your setting your company here is a person. So who is it? Someone regarding very close to you?" Reuben asked. Alonzo smiled before replying, "Well, you are right Mr. Smith. The person is really close to my heart. And I''ve come here to make her mine." A determine glint flashed in his eyes. Reuben frowned when he heard the words from Alonzo. He somehow felt that it was something about a girl and his relationship with her which must be very complicated. But as he was not very close with this man, he couldn''t ask further, just smiled at him. "I understand. That''s mean it''s a girl who brought you here." Reuben smiled as he said this. "You can say so Mr. Smith. It''s indeed a girl who forced me to come here." Alonzo''s teeth clenched. Finishing their coffee, Alonzo stood up and said, "It''s time for me to leave." Reuben also stood up from his seat before replying, "It will be good to work with you in future." "Same here." Alonzo also said before leaving the Smith Enterprise. After Alonzo left, Tom nudged his boss, "Boss. Don''t you think that Mr. Brown is really mischievous." Hearing this, Reuben''s lips curved up in a cold sneer, as he said, "He surely is mischievous. But it''s all good as long as he doesn''t dare to harm any of my close ones. But if he tries to.. then I''ll be the biggest opponent before him who will bring his death." ---- Inside Alonzo''s car¡­ Bill who was present with his boss all while and now was driving the car, said, "Boss, Mr. Smith seems to be very outstanding." Alonzo nodded his head in response but didn''t say anything. He was truly amazed by the work ethics of Reuben. He was really professional while talking about business and this professionalism impressed Alonzo a lot. He now understood why Reuben was the richest businessman of country S. Because..... he was truly amazing. Chapter 82 - Symbol of Love and Sincerity... Before lunchtime, the postmortem result came out which again blew up the business world of country K. The news broke that the CEO of D. B. Animate, Mr. Hill indeed committed suicide and he hadn''t blamed anyone for his death. He took this big step because he was ashamed of his own wrongdoings and wanted to repent on his misdeeds. Mr. Hill''s lawyer also stated about his will that he made the day before his death. Mr. Hill decided to give his company, mansion and 60% of his property to his wife and the rest 40% was for his mistress. As D. B. Animate was already bankrupted so the company he had mentioned in his will was a interior designing company which was settled by both him and his wife. Though it was not as big as D. B. Animate, but still it was not too small. Though the matter about Mr. Hill was resolved but the intellectual people in the business industries doubted about the certainty of this case as they truly believed that there was something amiss there which would be connected with Creation.... because everybody knew that the CEO of Creation was not someone to challenge with. The CEO was extremely ruthless and despicable¡­ --- Creation¡­ In spite of all the turmoil and storm that were brewing through the city S, Veronica was watching K-pop music videos in YouTube while mumbling the lyrics with a big smile on her face. Her eyes were like glued on the screen. At that moment, her phone rang which made her frown because of the disturbance. She knew it was not Reuben so she ignored the call and continued to watch another video. The phone stopped ringing but few minutes later again started to ring. She impatiently received the call without noticing the ID and asked, "Who is that?" "Ohoooo¡­ In a bad mood? Did you fight with Reuben?" The person asked. Hearing the voice, Veronica immediately analyzed who it was. Hence she stopped the music video that was playing on her desktop and said, "No. I haven''t fought with Bennie. It''s just that I was watching K-pop when you called me that''s why I got a little disturbed. It''s nothing much Henry." Henry laughed and mocked, "You and your K-pop. By the way, I saw the news today about Mr. Hill. You did good handling him. However, I called you for a help." Furrowing her brows, Veronica asked, "Help? What kind of help?" Scratching the back of his neck, Henry awkwardly laughed and replied, "Actually, I''m thinking of taking Lucinda for a date. But I can''t understand what should I buy for a gift. So I need your help by giving me some ideas." Grinning widely, Veronica teased, "Now this lover boy already learned how to be romantic. Good good. Good progress. And about the gift¡­. You can buy her a handbag. She was asking me to go for a shopping with her to buy a particular bag but I couldn''t as I was too much busy. So go for it. I''ll send you the picture of that bag. But yeah.. don''t you dare to forget to get a bouquet of flowers. Because, we girls are not that much money oriented. You can give her a gift worth millions but the thing that would bring the brightest smile on our face the most, is the flowers which is the symbol of your love and sincerity." Henry smiled when he heard Veronica''s suggestion before saying, "You know what Reuben also said me the same when I was going to propose Lucy. He told me that if I really love Lucy then I should focus on showing it to her by expressing my sincerity. You two really think the same always. By the way, thanks for the idea. Don''t tell anything about this to your bestie." Chuckling lightly, Veronica replied, " Don''t worry. You can trust me about this. My mouth is zipped up. And your welcome." Cutting the call, Veronica again busied herself into watching the videos. ---- After office hours, Reuben picked Veronica up as usual and both of them decided to have a dinner outside that day to celebrate the happy finale about D. B. Animate. They headed to Fusion for their dinner and ordered Italian cuisines including pastas and pizzas alongside some good wine. While they were having their dinner, Reuben got a message and after reading it, he laughed aloud. Veronica who was filling her mouth with the cheesy pizza stopped her eating and looked at Reuben curiously, as if asking him for the reason of his sudden laughter. Reuben noticed this and said to Veronica, "Henry messaged me now, saying that after dropping Lucy, when he was coming back he noticed Neil''s car entering the street towards Wilson Mansion." Chewing the pizza in her mouth quickly and gulping it down, Veronica asked confusedly, "So what Neil was going to the Wilson Mansion? It''s after all his home too. What''s there to laugh about?" Controlling his laughter, Reuben said, "Babe that''s not the thing. Let me tell you the whole story." After listening the whole matter, Veronica also joined Reuben in laughing and said, "Lol.. That was so hilarious. Ah! My poor brother. Let me call him okay..?" Saying this, Veronica immediately dialed Neil''s number and after few rings, Neil''s voice sounded from the other side¡­ Chapter 83 - More suited to be their wives rather than sisters... Veronica immediately dialed Neil''s number and after few rings, Neil''s voice sounded from the other side¡­ "Hey Sis. What''s up?" Neil said cheerfully as he just arrived at the Wilson Mansion and now having some coffee which his mother specially made for him. "Bro¡­ Are you already at the mansion?" Veronica asked. As Veronica and Lucinda were best friends from childhood, Veronica often went to Wilson Mansion to play with Lucy. That''s why, she and Neil were also used to play together in childhood. Neil''s one weak point was his only sister, Lucy since childhood. Hence whenever Lucy played with Vero, Neil would always take care of them and started to treat Vero like his own little sister. And he was proud to say from his childhood till now that he doesn''t have only one sister but two, which would always make the other boys jealous, specially Louis and certain someone. Whereas Reuben and Henry were not interested with Neil''s bragging about having two little cute sisters¡­ maybe because their heart already knew from the start that Vero and Lucy would be more suited to be their wives rather than sisters. "Yup, I''m already at the mansion. Why are you asking? And more importantly, how did you know about me coming back home?" Neil asked dementedly. "Uhh.. That''s good then. And I''m having dinner with Reuben so he informed me about you visiting the mansion." Veronica casually replied. Reuben who was quietly eating his pasta, became all ears after Veronica mouthed him that Neil had already arrived there. So he urged her to keep the call on speaker which Veronica obliged to easily. When Neil just got a basic reply, he cocked one of his eyebrows as he enquired, "Now don''t tell me you just called me to know if I''m here or not. Quickly spill the beans about the reason of your sudden call." "He he he.. Come on bro. There is nothing much. I just called you to say all the best." Veronica cheekily smiled while Reuben grinned before taking sip of his wine. This time, Neil''s suspicions grew even bigger and he could guess that something was wrong otherwise why would all of his friends would call him on the same day just to wish him all the best. There is nothing like that he was going to give any exams or something like that. Then why his friends were giving him good wishes or more like mocking him for something. Moreover, Lucinda was also talking with him with some kind of guilty conscience and his parents were also behaving strangely since he came back to their house. He could sense that there was something fishy but couldn''t point out the reasons from it. He certainly felt that everyone was making conspiracies around him, resulting him to force into a puddle of confusions and worries. So, Neil thought to ask Veronica directly, "Sis. Tell me what''s happening? You really know something which I don''t." Veronica who was on verge of laughing out loud after hearing the choked voice of Neil as if he was feeling some kind of wrong, controlled herself very forcedly. "Bro... Don''t worry too much. Just enjoy your dinner. I''m hungry so I''ll continue to eat. Talk to you later. Bye." Veronica quickly cut the call to avoid more suspiciousness arousing in his mind and again started to enjoy her dinner with her handsome boyfriend. However, it only made Neil''s frown got deeper as he stared at his sister doubtfully but Lucinda blatantly avoid his eyes so that she could ignore him. After some time of intense staring when finally Neil decided to ask Lucy about today''s certain meeting, the doorbell rang. And later a beautiful woman wearing a gorgeous dress stepped into the living room with a bouquet of flowers in her hand. She was wearing a red dress with red lipstick and her hair was curled into soft tangles. She was wearing some diamond jewelleries which was glistening brightly against the lights and her makeup was so thick that it could be compared to the peak of a mountain. Noticing the unknown face of the girl and the way of her dressing, a rapid thought struck in his mind which made his gaze turn to his sister involuntarily. Lucinda felt a cold shudder ran through her spine, making her tremble in fear. She gulped nervously before shifting her eyes off her brother. Mrs. Wilson who was busy in kitchen, quickly came to greet the girl as soon as she got informed by one of the maid of her arrival. "Welcome Diana. Welcome to our home. Have you faced any trouble coming here?" Mrs. Wilson asked enthusiastically. Chapter 84 - Everything seemed to be fatal and uninteresting... "Welcome Diana. Welcome to our home. Have you faced any trouble coming here?" Mrs. Wilson asked enthusiastically. "Hi aunty. How are you?" Diana said before passing the bouquet of flowers to Mrs. Wilson. Taking the flowers from Diana''s hand, Mrs. Wilson exclaimed, "So beautiful flowers. Thanks darling. And I''m absolutely fine. Now don''t stand there and make yourself comfortable on the sofa." Diana smiled at her before taking a seat but her gaze then landed onto the handsome man who was looking at her coldly sitting beside Lucinda. She smiled at Lucinda before introducing herself, "Hi Lucinda. I''m Diana Baker. Nice to meet you. I heard a lot about you from Auntie." Awkwardly smiling at Diana, Lucinda also greeted back, "Hi Diana. It''s nice meeting you too." Diana then shifted her eyes towards the man in yellow shirt and smiled shyly. Her cheeks turned red in color in blush which made Neil''s eyes twitched. She then got the courage to finally greet him, "He.. hello Neil. How are you?" Neil''s lips pursed tightly as he stared at the girl in front of him. Without replying her anything, he just nodded his head before glaring at his sister who was sitting there meekly, looking at everywhere in the living room except at him. At this moment, Mr. Wilson also came down with Mr. Baker who had already arrived here before as both of them were talking about stuffs in the study room. After they arrived at the living room, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Baker greeted each other''s son and daughters before heading to the dining hall for their dinner. Neil took his seat at the left side of his father and Lucinda followed the suit as she went to sit beside her brother. But before her butt could touch the soft cushion of the chair, her mother called out, "Lucy.. come here and sit beside me today. Let Diana sit beside your brother." Lucinda widened her eyes, hearing her mother''s command and guiltily looked at her brother as if asking about his opinion. As her eyes fell on her brother''s face, she shivered incompetently. Neil''s face like an angry dog who was ready to bite her as soon as he got a chance. His eyes shot her a deadly glare, saying, ''Don''t you dare to move your legs from here. Otherwise you will be a dead meat.'' Shaking involuntarily, Lucinda knitted her brows and gulped a mouthful of saliva before trying to pursue her mother, "Mom¡­" "No Mom and Dad. Quickly come and sit here. Don''t make me repeat myself." Mrs. Wilson beat Lucinda in talking and glared at her. Facing the wrath of her mother, Lucinda obediently followed her mother''s orders and sat beside her before giving an apologetic look to Neil. On the other hand, Neil''s facial expressions turned like a rock, as hard as ever. But his mood got darker when Diana sat beside him, smiling all sweetly while peeking at him from time to time. This made Neil more annoyed. Therefore, he shot a look at his parents but they seemed to avoid it and that is why he couldn''t have his dinner peacefully, which made him eat a lot lesser than his average appetite. After dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson urged Neil to show Diana the mansion but he refused to by saying, "Why don''t Lucy let her show the mansion? I''ve come here after so many days, so I even forget where my room is.." His mother rolled her eyes before forcing him to go with Diana which led him to reluctantly obey her order. After making a tour of the whole mansion, Neil finally took Diana to the garden. For this whole time, both of them were totally silent with Neil commenting sometimes to make Diana know about the places. Diana was all shy and was listening intently to Neil''s every words, only nodding at him from time to time. But when she entered the garden area, she couldn''t help but gasp loudly, "Wow¡­ So beautiful." She exclaimed. Neil averted her eyes to Diana and scaled her from head to toe. She has a perfect height, beautiful face, mid shoulder length hair, good fashion sense and most importantly.. good figure. If it was few days ago, Neil would already pulled her into his bed and be intimate with her. But now everything seemed to be fatal and uninteresting to him. Everytime, he was looking at her, he couldn''t help but compare her with a certain girl who was making his head go all frenzy. By staring at her, only one thought is knocking into his mind¡­. No¡­ Not at all¡­ She is not so good. Willa is more beautiful and attractive. Her smile is the best. No one can compare her at all.. As he was thinking this, a sudden cold wind passed by him, making his head get back to the reality again. ''What are you thinking Neil? Why are you remembering Willa at this moment?'' He muttered internally. But, what could he do? From the day, he had returned from Willa''s apartment, he couldn''t do anything properly without thinking about her. It''s like he had gone crazy all over in a moment. His mind was not his¡­ It''s like his mind was being controlled by someone else which was literally frustrating him like a madman. It was filled with Willa and only Willa¡­ ''Fuck!'' He couldn''t stop himself from cursing in his mind for being so stupid and helpless¡­ Chapter 85 - Find a girl by yourself or let us find one for you... His mind was not his¡­ It''s like his mind was being controlled by someone else which was literally frustrating him like a madman. It was filled with Willa and only Willa¡­ ''Fuck!'' He couldn''t stop himself from cursing in his mind for being so stupid and helpless¡­ He looked at the girl beside him whose eyes were glistening brightly after seeing the garden. The lights of the garden was falling on her face which was covered with a light makeup. Neil knew about this woman. She is the daughter of one of his father''s business partners. Now that he was handling Wilson Estates with his own hands as the CEO, he also had to deal with Mr. Baker for business related purposes. Even, he also met this Diana Baker few times in some parties where she came with her father. She is the only daughter of Mr. Baker and her mother had died when she was nineteen years old in some disease. She worked as the general manager of Baker Corp and the company was running smoothly under her proper guidance. Though Baker Corp wasn''t that big to talk about but it still hold a strong footing in the business industry. Diana Baker was known to be a sweet kind of girl but extremely professional during work. She had good reputation among the friends circle and also a gorgeous woman. Though she can''t be compared with the beauty of Veronica and Lucinda but still she was very good looking for one''s eye to see. But¡­. These things didn''t matter to Neil anymore.. because his mind now only had the collage of one person''s smiling face. Sighing deeply, he said to Diana, "Lets go inside. It''s very cold here." Nodding her head, Diana blushed and followed him inside. ---- Inside the mansion.. When both Neil and Diana came back from the house touring, Mrs. Wilson nudged them, "You guys are back? Did you guys come to know about each other?" Neil rolled his eyes before replying, "Stop it Mom. What should I know about her?" "Come on. Now don''t be like that. You have to know each other well for your future. What''s say Diana?" Mrs. Wilson kept on bugging them. Diana blushed and said, "Yes auntie. I''ll like to know Neil better." Hearing this, Neil raised his eyebrows and then glared at his sister Lucinda who was sitting there meekly trying to hide from his furious gaze. Lucinda immediately started drinking the tea to avoid her brother''s murderous look. After some more talking, Mr. Baker and Diana decided to leave because the elders clearly knew that a one day meet up wasn''t enough for the youngsters to decide on a big step like marriage as the new generation was quite progressive and didn''t like to be burdened by any other''s orders, so they didn''t force those two children to comment on their relationship right then. They decided to give some time to them for more meet ups then they could decide what to do with their future. "Visit us whenever you get some time." Mrs. Wilson reminded Diana before she left nodding her head. After they left, Neil''s eyes went chilly as he stomped his feet on the floor furiously, questioning his parents and sister, "You guys know that I don''t like this kind of things like blind dates and still you guys tried to set me up.. what''s the meaning of all these? No one even tried to give me heads up. And you Lucy.. I always supported you in everything and now you are repaying me like this by lying to your brother to this extent?" Neil was extremely enraged that time as he was keeping all his anger from the evening suppressed inside him. As he didn''t want to create a scene in front of some outsiders, he kept all his fury to himself till now, but his limit had crossed at last, making him blast like a erupting lava in front of his family. Mr. Wilson who was sipping the tea, got up from his seat and faced his son. "What do you mean by set you up? Yes we indeed lied to you so that you can find a girl for yourself. What do you think that we don''t know about your playboy image? We know this very well but tried to ignore it for many days. But now this is enough. Either you find a girl by yourself or let us find one for you." He shouted in rage. "Honey¡­ calm down. Don''t anger yourself." Mrs. Wilson tried to calm her husband. She then looked at her son and tried to console him, "Neil, you are big now, so try to understand our worries. Listen to your father and try to know more about Diana." "I''ll marry whoever and whenever I want. So don''t try to force me." Saying these, he left the mansion gruntingly. Lucinda sighed, seeing the tensed scene enfolding in front of her. She knew that today would be a hard day for everyone of her family specially for her brother. And she couldn''t help but feel the tremor of the upcoming blow from her brother as a revenge. Chapter 86 - You sure know how to embarrass me... Alonzo''s Apartment¡­ Myra was sitting in the living room, watching some Korean dramas. She had a bowl of snacks in her hand, munching from time to time. She was so much engrossed in the drama that she hadn''t noticed someone had opened the door and entered their apartment in a hushed way. The man who entered the living room just now, noticed Myra drowning in the television drama. He quietly walked towards her and bending down a little, he muttered in her ear, "What are you eating?" "Aaahhhhhhhhh¡­" A loud scream erupted in the whole apartment, making the bowl in Myra''s hand flipped over in a second while her eyes were closed in shock. She continued screaming until the man behind her covered her mouth with his big palm. "You stupid? Why are you screaming?" Alonzo asked his sister in astonishment. Myra opened her eyes when she heard the familiar voice and finally relaxed. She slapped the hand off that was covering her mouth and yelled, "You¡­ how could you scare your sister like this?" Alonzo laughed and said in a mocking voice, "I don''t know how can you be this cowardly when you are my sister. You sure know how to embarrass me." He shook his head as if he was truly amazed. "Humph! Then don''t talk to me." Myra snapped. "Okay. Jokes apart. Tell me if you have thought of any plans about your restaurant." Alonzo asked as he sat beside her. Nodding at him, she replied, "Yes brother. I checked the places that you shortlisted for me. All are good. But I personally like two places but I''m confused between the both." Alonzo bobbed his head and suddenly a thought came in his mind which he conveyed to his sister, "Why don''t you do one thing. Ask Miss Wilson and Miss Lopez to help you. As much as I know, you guys had already exchanged your phone numbers, so why don''t you call them?" Myra''s eyes lit up when she heard the suggestion as she said excitedly, "Thanks brother for this awesome idea. I''ll call them tomorrow morning." Alonzo''s lips curved up in a smile, seeing her sister so happy and also he knew that this is the start of him coming close to the biggest families of country K. --- City B¡­ A girl in her twenties was throwing tantrum to the servants as she shouted, "Is this you call food? You know I don''t like beans but you still added it in my soup. Is my dad paying you all for this?" The servants kept their heads bowed down in the fear of angering the young miss of the Parker family more. They stayed quiet and didn''t dare to speak a single word. Getting no response from the servants, Regina''s anger got worsened and she threw the bowl of soup on the floor, splashing the hot soup on one of the servant''s leg. The servant yelped in pain but didn''t complain, being feared of losing her job. She apologized and said, "Young Miss. I''m sorry. This fault will not happen again. Let me make another bowl of soup for you." "What do you mean by making another bowl of soup? You already made me lose my appetite and now you are apologizing to me?" Regina yelled. Mrs. Jennie Parker came to the dining room, hearing the commotion and she couldn''t help but get furious after seeing the scattered pieces of the bowl while one maid was cleaning the soup on the floor. "How did this happen?" asked Mrs. Parker looking at her daughter. Regina pointed towards the servant who cooked her food and blamed, "She added beans in my soup even after knowing that I hate it." "That''s why you have to throw the bowl?" Mrs. Parker was truly enraged as she asked her. "What!! I just only threw the bowl on the floor. They should thank the God that I didn''t splash it on their faces." She laughed evilly. "Regina¡­ Is this how I taught you to speak?" Mrs. Parker shouted seeing the stubbornness of her daughter getting bigger and bigger that she didn''t respect anyone. "Why are you shouting on me? You should shout on these lowly servants." Regina shouted back. "You¡­." Mrs. Parker was about to say something but got interrupted by a sudden voice, "Regina, don''t talk to Mom like that. Go to your room. I''ll tell someone to deliver your food in your room." Regina looked at her brother and tried to complain, "But brother¡­" "No more talking. Go up and I''ll talk to you later." Cole Parker said in dominance. Regina eyed the servants before running to her room. After Regina left, Cole held his mother''s shoulders and said, "Mom. You should rest too. It''s already quite late." Mrs. Parker looked at her son and nodded her head before leaving the dining room. Cole silently looked at the back of his mother and ordered the maids to send Regina''s dinner to her room and then he also left the dining room and headed to the study room. Chapter 87 - Is she seeing those things?’ Settling himself down in the study room, Cole took out a cigarette from the packet and lightened it up before taking a puff of it. The whole room was extremely dark, only the little dim light from the study lamp was illumining through the blackness of the room, reflecting on the handsome face of him, making him look more enchanting. Though the soft light was falling on his face but still it couldn''t hide the seriousness on his face .. The room was filled with the pungent smell of the cigarette and the smoke made the atmosphere more suffocating. But it didn''t make any difference on the man sitting on the chair leisurely with a cold face. His eyes didn''t show any kind of expressions which made the air of the room more colder. Cole made a whip on the cigarette when it reduced in half because of the burning and the ashes which was stuck on the head of the cigarette, fell from it directly inside the ashtray.. Taking another long puff of the cigarette, Cole finally picked up the phone that was laying on the study table and kept fidgeting with it. Thinking for quite a while, he finally made a call to someone and waited for the other person to pick it up. After three rings, the call got picked up by the other person and another cold voice resonated in his ear. "Hello.." Alonzo said, wondering why his best friend called him so late at night. "How are you?" Cole asked. "How your business is going there in city S?" Alonzo who was also working in his laptop, furrowed his brows before replying, "Everything is good here. What about you." "Hmmm¡­. I''m also well. It''s just Regina today created a big scene at dinner time." Cole said. Hearing the name Regina, Alonzo''s mood got worse but he didn''t express in words as he knew how much he didn''t like that girl, she was still after all his best friend''s sister. The pause on the other side, made Cole understand that he carelessly spoke his sister''s name without thinking too much. He knew that Alonzo didn''t like his sister and he also didn''t love to pester on this matter. So he tried to change the topic and came to the main point. "My sister is making huge ruckus here. What about yours?" Cole tried to ask the question with very consciousness as he didn''t want his friend to understand anything inconvenient from his words. That''s why he gave a small example of Regina while talking so Alonzo couldn''t doubt him. Alonzo couldn''t guess anything uneasy from it as they were both friends from childhood, so it was common for Cole to ask about Myra. That''s why replied casually, "She is also fine. Myra is now focused on opening a restaurant of her own here. So she is busy with these." "Oh!" Cole just gave a short reply. Talking for some more times, they hung up the call. ---- Love- Paradise¡­ Veronica was sitting on the bed, her eyes were fixed on her laptop, watching something contently. She was so much busy in looking at her laptop that she hadn''t noticed that the bathroom door got opened. Reuben, on the other hand, came out of the washroom, rubbing a white towel on his hair, wearing only his pajama without the top. He looked at the small person who was sitting on the middle of the bed and the spectacles was hanging on her nose, her hair strands were falling on both side of her face and the light from the screen contouring her face, making it more brighter.. This sight was quite sexy to look for¡­ It is making his little brother hard down there that he couldn''t help but grunted. But Reuben became extremely disappointed when his girlfriend didn''t even bat an eye on him and kept focusing on her computer. *cough* *cough* Reuben coughed for sometimes to get the attention of Veronica back to him but to no avail. Now it''s making him anxious as to why his girlfriend wasn''t even bothered to look at him. He wanted to know the reason of this. So he started to take his thought too far in his mind and started to imagine pointless things.. ''What is she watching?'' He pondered in his mind while scratching his chin with his index and fore fingers. ''Is she seeing those things?'' ''Is she really seeing those things?'' ''No she can''t. How could she watch those type of things totally avoiding his boyfriend.'' It''s okay if she saw those things behind his back but not now.. when he is right beside her in the same room with him. Chapter 88 - Jealous Over Nothing... ''Is she seeing those things?'' ''Is she really seeing those things?'' ''No she can''t. How could she watch those type of things totally avoiding her boyfriend.!'' It was okay if she saw those things behind his back but not now.. when he was right beside her in the same room with him... A fire ignited inside of him when he thought about the possibilities of his girl watching another man''s picture. Her watching the famous K-POP groups and all those handsome men with good figures, dancing and singing with so much charisma. Just thinking about this, was making Reuben burn in extreme jealousy. He shook his head as if to confirm himself that those K-POP boys were irrelevant and incomparable to him. ''Nah¡­ I''m more handsome than them. There is no way my girlfriend will cheat on me for those boys.'' He looked at his reflection on the mirror and gazed at his handsome face and well maintained body with perfect abs and toned muscles. He brushed his hand through his still wet hair and once again took a full glimpse of his body. ''Perfect. Very sexy. No one can compete with me when it comes to handsomeness and sexiness. Huh? Those K-POP guys want to steal my girlfriend''s attention. Not a chance.!'' He thought in his mind and quickly proceeded to the bed to snatch his girlfriend''s attention back to him, so that he could seduce her on the bed by making love with her all the night and let her forget about those annoying flies. Walking towards the bed, he placed his one leg on the bed and the other one was on the floor. He bent towards her and placed a kiss on her cheek while rubbing her back with his right hand. Trailing feather kisses from her cheek to her jawline, he moved his lips on her little ear and kissed it gently. Still not getting any response from Veronica, he bit her ear and then licked it, expecting to get at least a little glare from her. But, to his dismay.. not only Veronica even didn''t glare on him but also hadn''t paid any attention to his advances by not even making a single snort on those disturbances. She kept on looking at her laptop screen whereas her hands was busied on the mouse, scrolling through some webpages which might be the pictures of those young boys. Finally his patience broke into tiny pieces and he grunted very disdainfully. Not getting to handle those jealous feelings anymore, he made himself seated on the bed and hugged her sideways. "Baby. That''s enough. Enough of you ignoring me over those stupid men. I can''t just take these anymore. Stop looking at them so intensely as if you are going to swallow them whole." Reuben complained pouting his lips in an adorable way. This definitely got Veronica''s attention and she turned her head towards him. She couldn''t identify quite the meaning of those words which Reuben said. For her, it was like some ''out of the syllabus'' things. Looking at the cute face of her dear boyfriend her heart immediately melted and her eyes spoke about her love for him. Kissing him on the lips suddenly, she asked, "Baby why are you behaving like these? And what were you talking about some men. When I ignored you in the first place.!!" Reuben who finally got her attention on him, snuggled closer to her and shoved his head into her neck. Seeing her boyfriend being extreme clingy to her, Veronica understood that there was something amiss in his behavior, so she asked him again, "Honey, what happened to you?" Getting her worried expression, Reuben looked at her expectantly and then peeked through her hair into the laptop but couldn''t understand clearly what was on the deeply. He again pouted and started to complain, "Baby .. look I''m not being jealous. But how can you boldly ignore me for these not so handsome human beings¡­." He pointed his fingers at the laptop screen. Veronica followed his finger''s direction and gazed at the screen. She scrunched up her brows in confusion and look back at Reuben asking for explanation as she hadn''t found anything wrong there. "What? What not so handsome human beings?" She snapped. "Baby.. I''m talking about these¡­.." His words got froze when he turned his head towards the laptop and saw what was on the display of the webpage. It was not some images or videos of any of those so called K-pop boys, he was being jealous over¡­ it was a shopping site where Veronica was scrolling through, looking at the phone back covers. So.... he was eating vinegar over nothing. He got frustrated for these backcovers!! Was he even serious? If Veronica came to know his thoughts of the actual reasons, then it would be his doomsday. He would surely be thrown out of their lovely bedroom and he wouldn''t even got to taste her today. No¡­ He couldn''t let this happen.. He couldn''t sleep without her.. NO¡­ NO.. NO.. He had to think of some plans to distract her. Then suddenly an idea strucked into his mind. What could be more workable than being pitiful in front of her so he faked a face like he was being wronged by her. "Bennie.. what are you thinking? I was searching for a suitable back cover for my phone. That''s why I hadn''t noticed you, I hadn''t ignored you intentionally baby." Veronica couldn''t take it anymore and kissed him on his lips. Woahhhhh!!! A sweet kiss. A compensation kiss. What could be better than it.! NOTHING... But being shameless as him as ever, how could he miss this opportunity to devour her completely. So he hold her head with his right hand and her waist with the left one before deepening the kiss, slowly sucking and nibbling on it. Breaking the kiss, he whispered beside her ear, "Sweetheart, now that you already made a huge mistake by avoiding me, then let me give you a punishment." Saying this, he immediately pushed her on the bed and fiercely kissed her blocking her to talk more. Right at that moment, Veronica clearly understood that this was gonna be a long night for them. She could already imagine her sore waist tomorrow. But what could she do! After all she was also yearning for his love and touch very much as it was a hectic week for her. So she had already given up to him to take her into the pool of waves of intimacy. Chapter 89 - Asking For The Two Girls Help... It was already Saturday, the long awaited weekend for every working persons as they could sleep their ass off the whole morning. And how could Lucinda be different from those lazy human beings. She was really the best example of a perfect best friends as she also liked to laze around on her bed whenever she got any free time, completely like Veronica. As she was sleeping comfortably on her bed, hugging her teddy bear, covered with a blanket, her peaceful sleep got disturbed when her phone rang loudly. Lucinda groaned when the loud ringing sound entered her ears. She pressed the pillow on her ears to avoid the sound from making her distracted from her sleep, but to no avail. The phone kept ringing and ringing, without any possibility of stopping soon. Grunting loudly, Lucinda sat up on the bed with a grim face. Her hair disheveled and falling on her eyes. She searched for her phone near her pillow and checked who the caller was. It was an unknown number which really surprised Lucinda because no outsiders know about her number except for her family members, friends and closed ones. And there was even no chance of any of the insiders to give her number away to anyone. She was so much angry that some unknown caller just woke her up from her slumber and that was even on holiday morning. She was determined that if it was any prank call or bugs then she would not leave this person alive anymore. Therefore, she frowned and answered the call hesitantly, "Hello? Who is this?" A very sweet voice echoed through out the phone which made Lucinda stopped from yelling hard. She found the voice quite familiar but couldn''t make it out the person''s identity. "Good morning Lucinda. It''s me, Myra." "Oh? Hey Myra. What''s up?" Lucinda finally recognized the voice when the person herself told about her own identity. "Yeah.. All good. Am I disturbing you?" Myra asked cautiously. Lucinda settled the pillows behind her back and leaned onto them, before saying, "No. You are not. Tell me how are you? Do you need any help from me in anything?" Myra on the other hand sighed weakly and said, "I''m fine. Actually¡­. I really need a help from you." "Hmm¡­ what kind of help?" Lucinda asked raising her eyebrows. "Actually, I''m thinking of visiting some places to choose for my restaurant. Will you go with me? As you know I''m new to this place, I don''t know many things about here. So it would be a great help if you manage to come with me." Myra requested. "Oh.. That''s not a big deal. I''ll go with you and will also call Vero if she wants to come with us." Lucinda immediately agreed to help. Myra cheered in joy as she said, "Thank you so much." After deciding on the time and place, they cut the call and Lucinda dialed Veronica''s number. ---- Love-Paradise¡­ The previous night was very much energetic and passionate. So both of the love birds hadn''t woke up from their Dreamland yet. They were sleeping in each other''s arms peacefully with their bodies entangled with each other. At this moment, Veronica got a call from her best friend and moved away from Reuben to search for her phone. Getting the phone in her hand, she picked up the call immediately and said in a hoarse voice, "What happened Lucy? Why are you calling so early? Isn''t it still your sleeping time?" Lucinda breathed lightly and replied, "You are right. But I had to wake up because of Myra''s call." "Myra? You mean Miss Brown?" Veronica asked. "Yup. She called me to help her for finding a suitable place for her restaurant. So I''ll be meeting with her two hours later. Will you come with me?" Thinking for some while, Veronica agreed, "Okay. I''d come with you. I''ll pick you up from your house in an hour." "No. I''ll pick you up." Lucinda replied. "Fine." Veronica replied. Finishing the call, Veronica looked at the peaceful face of her boyfriend who was sleeping soundly, wrapping his arms around her waist tightly. Her boyfriend was looking extremely adorable in his sleepy face. His eyelashes were big and chiseled jawline was a sight to hold on his closed eyes, which made his face more charming. So she couldn''t help but plant a kiss on his forehead and then his lips. Loosening his hand from her waist, Veronica slowly got up from the bed and headed in the washroom to get freshen up. After taking a bath and dressing up, she slowly walked down the kitchen to made a simple yet healthy breakfast for both of them. Chapter 90 - Rverything has a right place to wear... Alonzo''s Apartment¡­ Myra was humming while choosing a dress to wear for today''s place hunting for her restaurant when someone patted her at the shoulder, making her jump in fright. "Oh. Brother¡­ when will you change? Stop scaring me like this." Myra yelled at her brother. Chuckling at his fuming sister, Alonzo sat on her bed and asked, "What are you doing that you hadn''t even noticed me?" Without turning, Myra searched for a perfect dress and answered, "I am trying to find something to wear for going out today." "Going out? To finalize the place?" Alonzo cocked his eyebrows. "Yup." Myra replied in one word. Alonzo furrowed his brows as he questioned, "You are just going out for a little matter. What''s there to look so much just to find a dress.?" Getting nothing perfect to wear, Myra huffed before holding her hips with her hands, "Brother, you will not understand about dressing up. I would not like to think of a proper dress if Lucinda and Veronica wouldn''t come with me today." Alonzo''s thin lips created a smirk as he said, "So Miss Brown is also going with you today.." "Yes. That''s why I need to dress up well. I mean look how much pretty both of them are. If I wear anything bad or dress up like my usual, then I would not have any face in front of them. I''m sure that they will dress up too well." Myra whispered sadly before sitting beside her brother on the bed. Sighing deeply, Alonzo said, "First of all, you are also very pretty like them. And second of all, I don''t think that they would wear something flashy. So wear your casuals like you do. That will be more preferable today and I''m sure they will also dress the same." Myra narrowed her eyes at Alonzo before asking, "How are you so sure? What if.. what if I make a joke of myself by wearing jeans and they would not wear the same..!!!" Alonzo hugged his sister and said, "I''m in the business world for years to judge a person. So I could clearly tell that those two women are not at all like others to always show off. Don''t worry and wear what you are comfortable with. Trust your brother. Okay?" Myra nodded her head before taking out a pair of black jeans and red t-shirt and headed in the washroom, "I''m going to get ready then." She said before entering the bathroom. After Myra went to get ready, Alonzo lied on the bed with his legs hanging down as he remembered a girl in her early twenties who always wear jeans and tops in carefree way and would always have a beautiful smile on her face. He clearly remembered that once he asked her about her dressing style, "Doesn''t girls always like to wear frocks and gowns? Then why you wear jeans always? I mean you look extremely beautiful in this and you carry yourself too good. But still, I just wanted to know why you are not like other girls? Like always flashy?" The girl just laughed out loud, hearing him and said, "I''m not like those women. It''s Not like I don''t like to wear gowns or dresses but it''s just everything has a right place to wear. Like now we''re studying for hours, so it feels better to wear jeans or shorts so you could seat comfortably anywhere." He smiled thinking about her... How she laughed or talked... Alonzo''s trance broke when Myra asked, "Brother is it okay?" pointing at her dress. "Yeah.. Good. Now get your hair and makeup done. I''m going to study room." Alonzo said before leaving Myra''s room whereas Myra started to comb her hair. ---- Love ¨C Paradise¡­ Reuben woke up with an empty bed and this made his mood a little bitter as he love to see Veronica''s face the most after waking up. But he knew that his girlfriend had already woken up and might be cooking breakfast for them, so he quickly got up from the bed and decided to take a quick shower. Taking a shower, he wiped his hair with a small towel and wrapped his lower part with a big one. He walked towards their walk-in closet and took out a normal t-shirt and shorts. Dressing up, he walked down the stairs and found his girlfriend, cooking in the kitchen as he expected. He quickly walked towards her silently and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. He kept his palms on her stomach and rested his chin on her shoulder, smelling the fragrant of her hair. Veronica at first shuddered a little by the sudden appearance and hug, but within a second, she got the familiar warmth from the body behind her and wished, "Good morning baby." "Morning sweetheart." Reuben also wished back as he kissed the nape of her neck. Veronica turned her head a little and tilted his head up a little with her right hand and kissed him on the lips. Chapter 91 - Remember the last sentence clearly... Veronica turned her head a little and tilted his head up a little with her right hand and kissed him on the lips. It was a quick good morning kiss for both of them so that they could start the day with more energy and love. The kiss was like a medicine to them or more like a energy booster that made their day happy and flawless. After the kiss, Veronica again busied herself in cooking whereas Reuben just kept hugging her leaving small kisses on her head, neck and shoulder. As Veronica was wearing just a bathrobe so it was easier for Reuben to kiss her here and there. Five more minutes later, Veronica finally finished her cooking and started to serve it on the plates. "Okay done. Let''s take the plates to the table and eat our breakfast quickly." Veronica said before removing the hands which were now trying to sneak under the robe. Reuben followed her orders and helped Vero to place the plates on the table and took a seat beside her. Finishing the breakfast with small talks and laughs, both of them headed towards the bedroom again. But before Veronica could enter the room she was already pulled by a pair of arms and immediately her lips got devoured by another pair of lips. Reuben was kissing her hungrily, licking, biting, nibbling, sucking, making her go senseless. Kissing for a long time, he left her lips and preceded to kiss her neck and shoulder while his hand roamed all over body, finally stopping on the slash. And within no time he opened the opened the knot of the robe. Veronica was so into the sensation of his kisses that she hadn''t noticed yet that her bathrobe had already been untied by an expert hand, leaving her full body on display to the hungry evil. But her sense got back again when she felt cold air in front of her body. She shivered and pushed Reuben''s moving hand from her bare skin, again tying the knot. "Not now Bennie." Veronica said as she tightened the robe around her body properly. Pouting cutely at her, Reuben whined, "But why baby? Today is Saturday. Holiday for us so that we can roll around the bed for the whole day." Veronica rolled her eyes at Reuben, before walking towards the walk in closet to find a suitable dress for today''s restaurant hunting. Reuben also followed her walking inside the closet, resting his body on the doorframe. "Baby, why are you here to dress up? You don''t need to wear anything as it will be ripped off your body anyway." Reuben said as a matter of fact. Shooting a glare towards Reuben, Veronica said, "Sorry baby. That''s not going to happen today. I''m going out with Lucinda and Myra to find a suitable place for Myra''s restaurant. So today I''ll not be home for the first half of the day." This was enough to make Reuben''s mood bad as he looked at her in a sorrowful way, asking her to back off the plan whereas Veronica completely ignored him and picked up a jeans and t-shirt to wear. Looking at the handsome face in front of her, all pouting, she sighed deeply, "Babe. Please don''t behave like a child now. I promise I will be home before afternoon and then we can cuddle each other as much as you want." Hearing this Reuben''s mood brightened a little and he smiled cynically, "Okay. Remember the last sentence clearly." When Veronica nodded her head as a response, then Reuben grinned and said, "Then it''s a deal." "Deal." Veronica laughed at his childish behavior and went into washroom to change. Coming out of the washroom, Veronica quickly did a light makeup by only putting some eyeliner and lipstick. She took half of her hair from the other side making a little bun and let the hair of the lower part fall on her shoulder freely. She wore an off-white t-shirt with a black jeans and paired it with a black small earrings. She wore her watch and sprayed some perfume over her body. Finally done with her makeup, she looked at the reflection of herself and smiled happily with content of her perfect look. Though her makeup was light but still she was looking extremely beautiful. She put her phone, lip balm, money and credit cards in her black sling bag. She then looked at her dear boyfriend who was busy with his phone and walked in front of him. When Reuben felt a shadow on him, he looked up to see his beautiful girlfriend looking all pretty and cute. In jeans and t-shirt with a light makeup, she was looking much younger like a college girl. And suddenly the possessiveness grew inside of him of other man seeing his love in a mesmerized way and he hated to say it that he was becoming extremely jealous just by thinking over it. He quickly pulled Veronica towards him, making her gasp and fall on his lap. Tightly holding her on his lap, he hugged her and asked, "Honey, do you really have to go today? Can''t you just cancel it?" Chuckling at the silly questions, Veronica ruffled his hair and said, "No. I can''t cancel. I already promised them to come. So I''ve to go. And I''ll be back as soon as possible. Okay?" Seeing him nodding, Veronica quickly pecked him on the lips and hugged him back. Right at that moment, a car honked loudly, making both the couple break the hug as Veronica said, "It must be Lucy. Let''s go." Before walking downstairs. Chapter 92 - Count all the single seconds of our whole lifetime... Seeing him nodding, Veronica quickly pecked on the lips and hugged him back. Right at that moment, a car honked loudly, making both the couple break the hug as Veronica said, "It must be Lucy. Let''s go." Before walking downstairs. "Niccyyyyyy¡­.." shouted Lucinda as soon as her best friend opened the door, she threw herself at her, hugging her tightly. Veronica who was being suddenly hugged by an excited Lucinda, stumbled a little at first but later hugged her back after regaining her balance. "You can''t even imagine how much I missed you, Niccy." Lucinda exclaimed after pulling herself back from Veronica. Veronica cocked her eyebrow at that statement and teased her instead, "Really? You really missed me? Whereas I thought that your mind is only occupied with Henry." Again, Lucinda''s cheeks flushed red in shyness, after hearing about Henry''s name. And as always Veronica hit the jackpot of making Lucinda embarrassed. Seeing the flushed face, Veronica laughed out loud and asked after calming herself, "Come inside and have a cup of coffee." Lucinda denied it, saying, "Nah.. Not today. We don''t have time for coffee." "What are you so hurry for? Firstly you are taking my beautiful girlfriend away from me for few hours on a weekend which is meant to be our alone time and now you are hurrying so much." came Reuben''s grumpy voice from the house as he came towards the girls and wrapped his left arm around Veronica''s waist. Rolling her eyes at Reuben, Lucinda retorted, "You won''t understand. Now let me leave with my bestie. You had enough time with her. So it''s my turn to spend some time with her." Frowning at Lucy, Reuben huffed. "Even if you count all the single seconds of our whole lifetime, then still it is not enough for me to love my baby girl." He said gazing at Veronica with full of affection and love. "Awww!!! My baby. So sweet of you honey." Veronica said hugging him and gave him a sweet kiss. "Ewww.. Stop it both of you. This is not the time for being all lovey-dovey. Let''s go now Niccy." Lucinda rolled her eyes again at the couple. Veronica then pecked Reuben''s lips one more time before leaving their bungalow with Lucinda. On the other hand, Reuben sighed after his beloved left him for half of a day. Now it is only him left in this whole house which made him more lonely. So he decided to go to his study room to cut off the boredom. ---- Lucinda and Veronica finally reached to the designated coffee shop where they planned to meet with Myra. They got out from the car and walked into the caf¨¦, quietly searching for her. Myra was sitting there, waiting for them and when she noticed the two girls, she called for them, "Hey guys, I''m here." At that instant, both of the best friends turned their heads towards Myra who was sitting there, wearing a top and jeans. She was looking cute in her own way there. They went to her and sat on the vacant chairs with a smile on their faces. "Hi Myra. You are looking really cute." Lucinda praised her and Veronica added, "Yes. Very much cute." Myra blushed but remained looking at them in daze. When Veronica and Lucinda saw that she was not talking, just kept staring at them, they peeked a look at each other in confusion and then again glanced back at Myra. At last, Veronica waved her hands in front of Myra to bring her out from her dreamland and that worked. "Where are you zoning out?" Veronica asked. Shaking her head, Myra spoke out, "My brother was right." This made the besties again confused as Lucy probed herself to ask, "About what?" Smiling at them, Myra shyly replied, "Actually¡­ today morning I became a nervous freak about what to wear. I couldn''t decide that whether I should wear a dress or just wear casuals because I thought you would wear some magnificent dresses as you guys are from the one of the wealthiest families. And by the way, you both are looking really good too." Hearing this both Veronica and Lucinda laughed hard and then Veronica said, "Oh Myra. So what if we belong to some wealthy families, you are too. Then why are you wearing the same as us? Look Myra, being simple and wearing casual doesn''t verify your class or standard. You just have to wear what are you comfortable with. So be yourself. Okay?" Myra nodded her head and smiled happily, "Okay." Lucinda broke their not so serious conversation by saying, "So Myra, where are we going first?" After telling them about the places they were going to visit that day, the three of them left the caf¨¦ and hopped into Lucinda''s car. Chapter 93 - Same Ship... Love Ship... After half an hour of driving, the three girls reached at the first place in search of the restaurant. The three of them walked out of the car and met the broker who was being appointed by Alonzo''s assistant earlier. "Good morning ma''am. As you have already decided on two places to look for. So I would guide you to search for the perfect place." The broker immediately greeted Myra and looked at the other two girls. "Oh¡­ They are my friends, Veronica and Lucinda. They came with me to help me for choosing the perfect location." Myra introduced them to the broker. The broker smiled looking at them and also introduced himself while thinking that how could he be so lucky today to get to serve these three beautiful women in a single day, at the same time. He was in his fifties and happily married with children. So he wasn''t looking at them in some lusting way, but still he thought it was a lucky day for him to be their broker. Because, most of the clients he handled before, were quite arrogant and spoiled brats. But after looking at the three girls, he couldn''t find any of those rich arrogance in them. Instead they were sweetly smiling at him, talking very politely which was quite a big surprise for him. Otherwise the other Rich heirs or heiresses would throw tantrum in every little things, insulting him very way they could. So it was his first time to see three extremely beautiful young ladies with good manners though he could just tell by their appearances that they belong from a rich family but still down to earth which was enough for him to get pleased. He mentally counted it and decided to tell those things to his boss in details. He now kept the thought away and decided to show them the place. The building was four storey with a magnificent view. The top two floors were occupied by other business which was a furniture company. And the bottom two floors were vacant to sell. The place was in one of the most crowded place of the city. So it was very good location to attract customers. The girls liked the place very much but decided to not say anything right now. They were waiting for the other spot to visit and then they could determine which place to choose. That''s why, they headed to the next place eagerly in Lucinda''s car by following the broker''s car. "The place was good right?" Myra asked excitedly. "Yeah. Right. I like that place." Lucinda also nodded. "Me too. But we should see the next place before taking any decision." Veronica said. Lucinda and Myra agreed with that and waited for their next hunt. And after waiting for 20 minutes in the car, they finally reached to the location and met with the broker again. When they entered, they finally saw the location and the building that was supposed to be for sale and they all were in awe. It was a three storey building, covered with glasses. The garden area was also very beautiful and had a big area for car parking. It had a small pond in the garden and some lotuses were floating on the water, giving the soulless place a life. Most importantly, the place was at a very popular area where the biggest shopping malls, multiplexes were present. Even it was very close to Veronica''s family''s famous shopping mall, ''Sky-Heart'', just ten minutes walking distance. "I liked it." Veronica was the first one to appreciate the place. "Me too. What about you Myra?" Lucinda agreed with Veronica before asking Myra about her opinion. "I just love it." Myra mumbled with a great sense of joy. "Then what are we waiting for? Let''s make it final." Lucinda exclaimed. Veronica laughed and fist boomed with Lucinda before shouting, "Final." Myra looked at both of them and jumped into them for a hug. "Thanks a lot guys... For helping me." She said sincerely. "Hey¡­ If you wanna thank us then why not you come with us for a shopping?" Veronica joked after pulling out from the hug. "Hehehe.. Why not?" Myra said. "Wow! Finally, I''m going to shop after so many days." Lucinda dramatically said. "Yeah. Let''s shop till we drop." Veronica cheekily smiled, making the other two laugh. And like that, they went for shopping at Sky-Heart and bought a lot of stuffs including dresses, shoes , bags and other accessories. But when they came near a men''s shop, Myra paused. "What happened?" Lucinda asked. "I''m thinking of buying my brother a present. So shall we go to the men''s section?" Myra asked. "Sure girl. Drop those formalities with us. Even if you didn''t plan to go there, me and Lucy were already planning to visit here." Veronica said eyeing Lucinda. Lucinda got the clue and agreed, "Yeah... Right." Myra became curious as she asked, "Why? I mean why will you go into a men''s shop. Do you guys have boyfriends?" Lucinda looked at Veronica and then getting the clue from her, she denied, "No. We don''t. Actually we''re thinking of buying something for our brother." "Oh. I see." Myra said and then looked at Veronica, "Lucy is buying for her brother but you? How much I know you don''t have any brother. You are a single child, right?" She asked. Veronica just smiled at her and said, "Yeah. You are right that I''m a single child. But the thing is I also brought up with Lucy''s brother Neil from our childhood. So practically he is also my brother and very close to me. Actually he is the best brother in the world. So I''m also buying him something." "Oh. Let''s go in then." Myra said. Lucinda then whispered into Veronica''s ear, " Are you really going to buy for Neil or have you other plans in your mind like me?" "Well, you are right my bestie. I really have other plans to buy gifts for my dear boyfriend like you. After all I left him today alone in our home, so I''ve to repay that. Right?" Veronica whispered back. "Hehehe.. same with me. I cancelled mine and Henry''s date today. So I also have to repay, you know right!" Lucinda said. "Yes hun. After all, we are in a same ship..... Love ship." Veronica winked at Lucinda, making both of them giggle hard. Chapter 94 - It is not good to forget about our past... After shopping, the three girls had lunch together and talked about some random stuffs. But before that Veronica hadn''t forgot to remind her precious baby to eat his lunch properly. "Honey.. I''ll be a little late as I came for shopping with Lucy and Myra. And now we are already having our lunch. So please eat your lunch in time. I have already ordered your favorite food from FUSION and it will be delivered at our home soon. So manage without me today. Okay?" Veronica texted. A quick message came through her phone and she read it. "Though I''m very much upset that you''ll not be having lunch with me today¡­ but it''s okay. It was a stressful week for you babe. So enjoy. And I love you." Reuben texted back. Veronica smiled and replied, "I love you too." ---- When they were having their dessert, Myra picked her phone to make a call, before saying, "Girls. Let me make a call to my driver to fetch me from here." "You don''t have to. If you want then we can drop you on our way back home." Lucinda said before stuffing her mouth with chocolate mousse. "Will it be okay for both of you?" Myra hesitated. "What are you saying? It''s absolutely fine with us and didn''t I tell you to stop being so formal?" Veronica faked anger. Myra signed and then gave them a hearty smile, "I understand." ---- After lunch, the three girls entered Lucinda''s car and Myra told the driver the address of her apartment. After forty minutes of drive, they reached there and Myra invited them to come in. Though both of them refused at first but later agreed to go in. As they got out from the elevator, Myra headed towards their apartment and rang the doorbell. And few seconds later, the door got opened and Alonzo stood there in his home attire. "You are finally back?" Alonzo asked. "Yup. And guess what? I brought my friends with me here." Myra squealed excitedly. Hearing this, Reuben''s eyebrows arched up and when he finally understood the meaning of what his sister had said, his heart raced erratically, making him open the door widely as he started to peek behind Myra. Myra noticed it and became surprised to see his brother''s reaction. Her cold hearted brother was peeking behind her... STRANGE..!!! Getting out of the trance, Myra turned around and gazed at the duo who were standing behind her quite awkwardly. She actually forgot about them while inspecting her brother. ''Shit.. This was bad.'' She internally cursed herself. "Hey, guys. Come inside." She welcomed them in her house. "And I guess I don''t have to introduce you guys with my brother as you already met him in the party." She said looking at her friends and brother. Lucinda and Veronica nodded and greeted Alonzo, "Hello Mr. Brown." "Hello Ms. Wilson and Miss Lopez." Alonzo also greeted back. As they settled themselves into the living room, they stayed quiet at the presence of Alonzo because they still didn''t no much about him. Understanding the awkwardness, Alonzo cleared his throat and said, "You guys sit here. I''ll make you guys some coffee." "Ah. No . Don''t bother. We have to leave today. We have some works undone in our homes." Veronica declined. "But you guys just came here and that even for the first time, and already talking about leaving." Myra pouted, making Lucinda and Veronica giggle. "We''ll come another time hon. Now we really have to go." Lucinda said. Myra nodded whereas Alonzo''s gaze remained on Veronica which made her a little bit uncomfortable. As they walked up to the door, Alonzo suddenly said, " Miss Lopez, I think it is not good to forget about our past." It made them look at Alonzo in an unreadable way. Veronica was the most shocked one among the three of them. She thought that something was really wrong with Alonzo otherwise why would he say those stupid things which literally have no meaning at all. Veronica''s mind was now wondering about one thing¡­ ''What is he talking about? And why he said such meaningless things!'' Seeing the confused faces of the three ladies, Alonzo chuckled before saying, "I meant to say that now that you guys are leaving, don''t forget to come here again by leaving it as a past." This made everyone sighed in relax while Veronica kept looking at Alonzo, trying to find any uneasiness, but couldn''t find any. His eyes were calm and collected. "Okay. We''ll not forget it. Bye now." Lucinda said before giving Myra a hug. Then Veronica also hugged her and left with Lucinda. Reaching her home, she sighed and entered her beautiful home. And when she turned the doorknob and took the first step, a pair of strong arms pulled her into a hug, making her shout loudly¡­. Chapter 95 - Very much observant... Arriving at the bungalow, she sighed and entered her beautiful home. And when she turned the doorknob and took the first step, a pair of strong arms pulled her into a hug, making her yell loudly¡­. But immediately warm lips collided with hers taking her by surprise. Reuben lifted her up by her waist and wrapped her legs around him, making her gasped. And he took the right chance to enter his tongue in her mouth, totally dominating over her. Still kissing her hungrily, Reuben walked towards the couch and settled himself on there, caging Veronica on his lap. Veronica also compiled with him, kissing him with same passion while her hands played with his soft hairs by running through them. Few minutes of kissing done and both of them finally pulled out of each other, panting heavily as their chests were raising up and down in a rhythm. They pressed their foreheads together and breathed on each other''s face with a contempted look. "I missed you so much babe and that resulted me becoming hungry for you." Reuben whispered on her lips, looking straight in her eyes. Veronica''s face was all red from the kissing and now she blushed more after hearing Reuben''s confession. She gave him a peck and said, "I missed you too. And I promise I would cover for my absence at night. Okay? And for now¡­. I have also bought you something. Let''s give it a look." This made Reuben''s mood brightened as he started to guess what his sweetheart brought for him. Veronica passed him the gift and he quickly opened it. The gift was nothing like extremely pricey or extravagant. But it was much more of sincerity and observation in each other''s life¡­ It was a simple tie of maroon colour with small designs on it. But it made Reuben a lot happy and he instantly kissed her passionately. "Thanks babe. You are really very much observant. Aren''t you? You even remembered this small thing." Reuben said, impressed with his girlfriend''s present. Now everybody would think what was so special to buy a tie? It was not even something exceptional. Just anyone could afford it. But NO¡­ There lies the biggest difference between some other couples and between these two people who were sitting in each other''s embrace with so much love and smiling brightly. Actually, few days ago, Reuben bought a shirt for himself but when he tried to put it on himself for office, he found that he doesn''t have any matching tie for it. So he couldn''t wear it and left the shirt in his closet hanging. But¡­ how could this little thing go out of Veronica''s sight and the result was in front of Reuben right now. "Okay. I''m now going to change." Veronica said. "Do you need any help babe¡­ in changing? I would be very happy to help you." Reuben said with a smirk on his face. "No thanks honey. I''ll manage on my own." Saying this, Veronica rushed towards her bedroom to change, leaving a laughing Reuben there. ---- Henry''s place¡­ Henry was damn bored in his home, sitting alone. Though he now had Lucinda but still, they were not living together like Veronica and Reuben. So he was quite alone in his big house. He also lived separately from his parents after taking over his father''s company. And he was now really fed up with staying here alone. He wanted Lucinda to move in here from the first day of they started dating but never conveyed his thoughts to her as he wondered that maybe it was not the right time yet. Maybe it would be too soon for her which would make her uncomfortable. Though Henry and Lucinda had been dating each other since weeks but still they didn''t go over more than kissing. He really wanted to make Lucinda completely his because he knew that she was the only woman who would hold the title of Mrs. Johnson in future. But he was really afraid that this would scare Lucinda off, so he couldn''t do anything but wait patiently for her. Moreover he had a date with her today which had been cancelled because of some stupid things, making him really pissed off. He was not at all angry on Lucinda, rather angry on his bad luck that his date got to be cancelled on this day which he had been planning for so many days. He could never be angry on Lucinda. Never ever¡­ How could he be angry on his baby girl whom he had been loving for more than four years. It''s all the fault of his bad luck. Humph..!!! But inside of him, a thought crept up on his mind. He actually was turning into a second Reuben slowly slowly, who would always think of his girlfriend and cling onto her. This single thought was giving him a jittery feeling all over himself. But it was not bad at all. In fact, he was more than happy because he was feeling this way, making him grin hard. In the meantime he was thinking over such silly things, his doorbell rang, making him wonder who would be here at this moment. He slowly stepped towards the door and opened it which in turn made him gaped at the person in shock¡­ Chapter 96 - Beyond repair... In the meantime, his doorbell rang, making him wonder who would be here at this moment. He slowly stepped towards the door and opened it which in turn made him gaped at the person in shock¡­ There stood a beautiful girl wearing a casual jeans and top, smiling brightly at him. She had many shopping bags in her hand of different types of expensive brands, which could be easily guessed by the logos in them. "Are you going to keep staring at your beautiful girlfriend like that? Huh? Or will you let me enter?" An impatient Lucinda asked. "Oh¡­ Yeah.. Yeah.. Come inside. Actually I was a little surprised to see you at my door. That''s it." Henry said before opening the door ajar to let Lucinda enter. "So you spaced out? Of course you would be, after all your girlfriend is so hot and beautiful." Lucinda said with a playful smirk on her face. Henry chuckled hearing the narcissistic words of his girlfriend and didn''t waste any time to take her in his arms and captured her in a warm embrace, shoving his head in the crook of her neck. Inhaling the scent of her body, his mind relaxed and all the previous frustration that he felt because of his failed date gone vanished away. "Of course, my girlfriend is very very hot and beautiful and I love her so much that I kept on missing her for the whole day." Henry murmured in Lucinda''s neck. "Hmm¡­ good that you have accepted this. Otherwise¡­ I would definitely break your head today." Lucinda threatened him in a deadly way. Henry laughed at her behavior and pecked her on the lips before asking, "By the way, what are you doing here? Aren''t you suppose to be with Vero and that Miss Brown?" "Yup.and I have already met with them and now I''m back here. And for your information, I came here to give a surprise to you. Now tell me can''t I come to my own boyfriend''s house?" Lucinda asked puffing her cheeks. "of course baby. You can come here and go anytime you want." Henry said before kissing her senssless. Lucinda also kissed him back with same passion and they pulled back when they finally were out of breath. They looked at each other in an endearing way which couldn''t be described by words. Calming herself down, Lucinda handed him a bag and said, "Look at it and tell me if you like it or not." Henry hurriedly opened the bag and the soft material of a black T-shirt came into his palm which made him jerk in happiness. "It is awesome babe.. I really like it. But why did you buy me this?" Henry asked furrowing his brows. "Well, as our plan of going out was ruined so I thought why should not I take my boyfriend out for a date?" Lucinda said grinning widely. "What? Are we really going on a date? But I cancelled all the reservation for today." Henry shouted in nervousness. "Yaaaa... Stop .. stop overthinking. I already arranged everything for tonight. You just go and wash up. And I''ll also get ready.". Lucinda said before grabbing another set of shopping bag, running into Henry''s bathroom, leaving a dumbfounded Henry there. ----- B city, Parker Textiles¡­ Colm Parker was busy handling some office staffs when he got interrupted by a phone call. He dismissed it anyway as he didn''t like to talk with people while he was busy in a meeting with his employees and managers. He didn''t even try to see the caller tags but just continued with the meeting. After a while when his phone again started to ring, he switched it off and focused completely on his meeting. He never liked to take any holidays on Saturday as if by taking a holiday for a single day would mean a lot of waste of time to him. He would rather work on the day and make money rather than wasting his time lazing around in his home. Of course, he would not compromise with his relaxation and fun and that was by getting laid at nights. It was like becoming a habit of him to work his ass of the whole week and taking different women in his bed at nights specially on weekends. Still he would compromise doing it on Sundays before because of a special person, as it was the only day he would like to spend some time with that particular someone¡­ talking, chatting, laughing, going out etc¡­. But now the source of his single happiness was also out of his life because the person had gone far away from him, leaving him in a miserable way. Well, it was not the person''s fault because he himself ruined all those special moments of his life by doing something so wrong that it was beyond repair right now. After an hour or so, the meeting finally finished. Dismissing all his employees, he gave a long sigh and switched on his phone. The first thing he noticed was two missed calls from a certain someone whom he couldn''t even imagine to call him at this moment. He cursed himself for not taking that person''s call when he was busy in meeting and instead cut it off without even looking at it. Pondering for a while that if he should call that person back or not, he finally decided to choose the first one, resulting him to dial back that number¡­ Chapter 97 - Love will heat up your body... He cursed himself for not taking that person''s call when he was busy in meeting and instead cut it off without even looking at it. Pondering for a while that if he should call that someone back or not he finally decided to choose the first one, resulting him to dial back that number¡­ And after three rings, the person on the other side picked up the phone.. "Hello¡­." Hearing the voice, after so many days or like a month, Cole''s heart started to beat loudly. The voice was very soothing to his ear, like a slow melody that made him lose focus from whatever he was doing. It was like a mood changing drug that turned his mind into chaos, led him to become frenzy. "How are you?" After like a day passed, though it was only few seconds, Cole got back his sense and asked almost in a whisper. "Uhm¡­ Fine. What about you?" The girl asked back. "Hmm¡­. Good maybe." Cole replied. And again both of the callers stayed silent, making them feel stiffed. "Why did you call me suddenly Myra?" After a pause Cole blurted out to get out of the awkward silence. Myra, on the other hand, didn''t know what to reply. She knew that this question was meant to come sooner or later but she was still not prepared to answer. Because, she herself didn''t know why she had called him so suddenly. It''s like her mind couldn''t work properly and she subconsciously followed her heart. As if the veins of her heart connected with her hand and it worked accordingly with their own motions. Myra sighed and replied, "Uh.. nothing much. Actually I just wanted to ask you how were you doing and that''s it. Nothing much. Why did you ask?" Cole rubbed his forehead with his left hand while his other hand held the phone to his ear, as he said in a low voice, " Just simply." Taking a deep breath, he continued, "It had been a long time I heard your voice Myra." "Yeah. It''s been so long." Myra who was sitting on the bed cuddling a pillow, felt her eyes lost its clarity since it filled with tears. "Right. The last time was when you left on that evening." Cole whispered in a defeated voice, thinking about that remorseful day. A tear escaped from Myra''s eyes but she tried hard not to sob while in the phone because she didn''t want to show her weakness to Cole. She couldn''t really forget the day when her world crashed down into pieces. Trying to control her sob, she hurriedly said, "It''s already late. I''ll talk to you later. Good night." And then she instantly cut the call without hearing from the other person. Cole felt broken when Myra cut the call without waiting for his reply. He knew what he did was wrong. But how could he get rid of those habits which became his lifeline since he was a teenager. But still he really had a big regret stored in his heart for whatever happened that day. Whereas, Myra finally let out all her tears that was threatening to fall and cried loudly in her room. That day was the worst day of her life when all her dreams got broken which led her to S City today. She didn''t know when but she fell asleep while crying and let all the sleep took over her tiredness, exhausted and most importantly her sorrow. ----- FUSION¡­ Henry and Lucinda entered their dine room where they would have their perfect date. It was Lucinda''s surprise to him so Henry just followed her in wherever she was going. The dinner was simple, nothing extraordinary. The food was all their favourites. They talked to their heart''s content, laughed, took pictures and everything was special to them. When they were having their dessert, Lucinda excused herself and went to the washroom. Entering the washroom, the first thing she did was to dial Veronica''s number with shaky hands. As soon as Veronica picked up the call, Lucinda spoke, "I''m really nervous Niccy. I mean¡­ really really nervous. I don''t know how to do it. My palms are covered in sweat Niccy. I don''t know what I''ll do next." "Calm down Lucy. Don''t stress out so much. I was also like you in my time but when you got into the mood then no one can stop you. All your nervousness, stress will fly away and your love will heat up your body. So chill out." Veronica tried to calm her friend down while staying in Reuben''s arm who was kissing her naked back while his hand was being restless all over her bare body. "Oh God Niccy. I''m so much tensed." Lucinda couldn''t control her nervousness still. Veronica suppressed her moan when Reuben bite her ear playfully. She wanted to laugh because of Lucinda''s situation because she also once faced it but instead of laughter, her mouth only let out a moan. Slapping Reuben''s hand that was now on her private part, Veronica said, "Lucy, let me ask you one question. Are you ready for this?" Thinking for awhile, Lucinda took a deep breath and replied, "Yes, I''m sure." "Then just go for it. Don''t think about anything. Just listen to your heart. And for your information, everything is ready and well prepared. You just have to take Henry there and accomplish your target. All the best my girl. Rock it Lucy." Veronica cheered for her. "Thanks a lot bestie. Okay now got to go. Henry must be waiting for me." Lucinda said before cutting the call and went back to the room. But without sitting, she told Henry to come with her and then they headed through a big hall way. "Where are you taking me baby?" Henry asked when he saw that his girlfriend''s surprise hadn''t ended yet. "Just a minute Henry. We''re almost there." Lucinda said and finally reached before a door which seemed to look like a suite. "Why are we here?" Henry asked confusedly, furrowing his brows. "Don''t talk. Just follow me." Lucinda said after opening the door with the key. But when Henry went inside and saw what was in front of him, he was all shocked and his jaw dropped in astonishment and surprise¡­ Chapter 98 - 100% sure... When Henry went inside and saw what was in front of him, he was all shocked and his jaw dropped in astonishment¡­ The room was decorated with rose petals spread everywhere. The floor was covered with a red carpet while the room dimly lit with different types of scented candles. But the most interesting part was the bed in the middle of the room. It was a queen-size bed with a white bedsheet covering it. There was heart made on the top of it with beautiful red rose petals outlined with pink petals. The room looked so beautiful that Henry couldn''t take his eyes off from it. But what surprised him more was why the room was decorated so romantically which exactly complies the wedding night decoration? Then if it was then why did Lucinda brought him here? Eyeing each and every corner of the room, Henry couldn''t help but think of the possibility of something intimate but he shook his head in denial. He didn''t want to rise his hopes so early just to crash it later miserably because he believed that Lucinda was not capable of doing all the arrangements so soon as she would be too much shy to imitate it first. Finally when he couldn''t suppress his curiosity anymore, he immediately looked at Lucinda whose face was as red as a cherry and she was fidgeting with her fingers nervously with her head bowed down. Lucinda was wearing a red short dress and she was looking extremely pretty. Though Henry complimented her when he saw her in this dress in his apartment but now she was looking more hot and sexy. As if the romantic atmosphere of the room intensified her beauty more, making her look more gorgeous. "Lucy?" Henry said. "Hmm..???" Lucinda just hummed. "Did you¡­ did you prepare all of this?" Henry asked in anticipation. "Uh.. Yeah. I thought¡­" Lucinda stopped in mid sentence. "You thought¡­ what?" Henry asked as he took one step closer to her. "I thought¡­ thought that we should take the next step in our relationship." Lucinda almost whispered while her cheeks blushed in embarrassment. Henry''s eyes widened when he heard this and he stayed there like a statue with his mouth hanging open, the other tongue tied. "You are talking about the thing I''m thinking about now right? I mean¡­ I mean of making love to each other. Right?" Henry almost stammered because he didn''t want to get rejected after coming through so much in this evening. Lucinda''s head now hung so much low that if she bent down a little bit more then it would got sprained and she nodded in response to Henry''s question. Henry took a sigh and held Lucinda''s shoulder with both of his hands before asking, "Lucy¡­ Look at me babe." And after a minute, when she finally looked at him, he asked, "Are you sure about this? Are you really okay with us being intimate in more passionate way?" This made Lucinda think of her decision once more. Was she really ready for it? Was she ready to give herself fully to Henry? Would she regret later? But when she thought of the moments they spend together and all those years when they just looked at each other with longing without a courage to confess their feelings and now the love she was seeing in his eyes all made her mind clear as she finally made the decision which could become a turning point of her life¡­ Taking a deep breath, Lucinda looked straight into Henry''s eyes and replied, "Yes.. I''m 100% sure." As the words left her mouth, Lucinda was pushed back on the wall while being kissed recklessly. Henry had already lifted her up from the floor so that her legs were now wrapped around his waist while they were busy exploring each other''s body by trying to uncover their clothes that became a barrier to them. Henry carried her to the bed, still kissing her passionately whereas Lucinda already unbuttoned his shirt completely and now was roaming her hand on his bare chest, wearing only her bra and panty because that had been already removed by Henry on the way. Their eyes were now showing hunger for each other and the lust they burdened in their mind, finally disclosed, as after one another one, all clothes were spread on the floor with two naked person kissing every inch of each other''s body. Henry took one of her nipples in his mouth and his fingers invaded in her private part smoothly. They couldn''t stop touching each other''s skin as the atmosphere got more intense. "It will hurt a little honey for the first time. But I''ll try to be as slow as possible." Henry whispered as he guided his member in her honey pot. "Oh Henry." Lucinda gasped when she felt him inside her. And soon lots of groans and moans could be heard from that beautifully decorated room as the two persons lost their virginity to their loved ones. Chapter 99 - Free Practical Class... The sun shone up, letting the two sleeping figures clung onto each other more. They were both entangled in each other''s arms like some shrubs. Lucinda''s head was resting on Henry''s chest while her hand was kept on his tummy. Whereas Henry had his face shoved in Lucinda''s hair while he hugged her tightly with his hand tightened around her waist. They were sleeping so peacefully but the regular sun couldn''t wait more to wake them up from their beautiful slumber. "Good morning babe." Henry said as he rubbed her bare back. Lucinda became very shy when she noticed their sleeping position and burried her faced in his neck as she whispered, "Morning." Henry then checked the time and it was already past 10 so he said, " It''s already late babe so let''s get freshen up quickly and then we can have our breakfast." Lucinda hummed in reply and tried to get up, covering herself with the blanket. She then directed Henry to something and said, "Give me your shirt." "Why?" Henry asked instantly, getting out of the bed in his naked glory. Lucinda turned her face at another way, trying not to look at him and replied, "So that I can wear it or do you want me to wander around like you?" Chuckling at that comment, Henry spoke in a seductive voice, "Then it''ll be better for me to see you like that without any clothes." And this sent him a dangerous glare from Lucinda. "What babe? It''s not like we had made love with our clothes on. I have seen each and every part of you and memorized it in my exceptional mind." Henry winked. "You¡­." Lucinda''s face was now so much red that it couldn''t be guessed if it was because of anger or embarrassment which in turn made Henry laugh really hard. "Okay okay. You go freshen up first. I''ll order some food in the meantime." Henry said after controlling his laughter. While they were having their breakfast, Henry asked, "Will you go back to your home or would like to spend the night with me at my place?" Instead of replying, Lucinda asked back with her eyebrows raised, "About this what do you want me to do honey?" "Oh¡­ Trust me honey. If you ask me about this, then I would like you to move in with me right now without any delay." Henry seductively said. Nodding her head, Lucinda giggled, "Not sure about the moving in thing. But yeah¡­ I would not deny to stay with my dear boyfriend tonight." This made both of them grinned as they left the hotel. ---- Love-Paradise¡­ "What do you think about this hon?" Veronica asked. "About what?" Reuben enquired. "Did they do it?" Veronica looked at him expectantly. Reuben who was working on his laptop looked at Veronica who right now was folding some of their clothes and replied, "Honestly speaking honey. No man can control themselves when their own girlfriend is making advances. And Henry is no exception in this. So I''m damn sure they had already done the deed." "Do you think so?" Veronica folded the last clothe and kept it at the side before jumping on the bed. Reuben eyed her questioningly as if he was trying to find out some serious traces and said in a husky voice, "Babe. Did you forget about our first time that you are asking me this stupid questions? And if you really forget then I''m always ready to make you remember that with a completely free practical class." Now it was Veronica''s turn to become speechless. She remembered that eventful night which made her a complete woman and a small smile crept on her face. Whereas when Reuben thought about their first time he couldn''t help but grin thinking about the day when he made Veronica completely his. They were both in their own thoughts when their eyes locked and they didn''t know who started it first but now their lips were locked with each other in a passionate kiss. ---- Alonzo''s apartment¡­ Bill was sitting in Alonzo''s study room showing him a file when he remembered something, "Boss, you told me before to contact with the vice-president of Creation few days ago. I was thinking to call his assistant tomorrow to make an appointment with him. What do you say Boss?" Alonzo tore his eyes from the documents in his hand and replied, "Yes. That will be good. Call them tomorrow and try to take an appointment as soon as possible." "Okay boss. But don''t you think that the CEO of Creation is quite amusing? Because after so many years of establishing the company, no one get to see the CEO. Actually no. Let me rephrase it again. No one got even a hunch if the CEO is a male or a female." Bill said pondering over something. Signing the last page of the file, Alonzo intertwined the fingers of his both hands and rested his face on it. "Hmm. That''s quite phenomenal. The CEO is either very much careful about hiding his or her identity or must have other ways to control such big company that we are unsure of." "You are right Boss. Now I really can''t wait to see the CEO. I''m really eager to know who the incredible person is to run this huge company so professionally without letting anyone know about her or his whereabouts." Bill sighed. Alonzo didn''t reply but just kept on looking out of the window with a serious expression... Chapter 100 - Rubbish Excuses... Soon Monday came and Veronica was already in her office, getting some work done. She was checking some new project ideas to decide which one to select. Finalizing everything she finally chose the best one and informed Willa to call the team for an urgent meeting who were handling this project. Few minutes later, Willa knocked on her door and came inside as she said, "Ma''am I have settled the meeting with our team half an hour later. Is there anything else you need?" Veronica looked up at her from the computer and replied, "Nothing much. Just make a coffee for me if you can." "And for me too." Another voice came from the door. Louis entered the room and took a seat on the chair opposite to Veronica. He then looked at Willa again and said for the second time, "I also want a cup of coffee for me." Veronica rolled her eyes at his behavior and scoffed, "Don''t you have your own assistant to order around?" "Yes. I do. But still Willa make the best coffee." Louis eyed at Willa which in turn received a scowl from her. After Lucinda came back with two cups of coffee and handed them to the both, she was going to leave the office when Louis stopped her, "Willa stay here. I have something to tell you both." Willa looked at Veronica asking for permission if she should stay or leave and in response got a swift nod from Veronica. So she sat beside Louis and focused on him. "So what do you want to say?" Veronica asked as she took a sip of the coffee. Louis gave a quick stare at both of the girls and said, "Well, my assistant got a call from Mr. Brown''s assistant asking for an appointment with us." Willa frowned at this and questioned, "Mr. Brown? As the CEO of Brown Corporation?" Nodding at Willa, Louis looked at Veronica who was now in a deep thought and asked her, "What do you think about this? Should I accept for an appointment with them or not?" Veronica scratched her chin with her index finger and gave her attention back to Louis, "I think you should accept it to find what they want from us and if they are talking for any collaborations then go through the deal first then inform me about it. If the deal is negotiable then we''ll decide later to take it or not. And don''t agree with the appointment right now, take two or three days before it." "I understand." Louis said before leaving Veronica''s office. "Ma''am.. it''s also been the time for the meeting." Willa reminded her she checked her watch. Finishing the coffee, Veronica got up before saying,, "Okay. Let''s go then." Veronica left the office with Willa carrying the important files and USB drive. ---- SECRET 7... Reuben was sitting in one of the big room with two men kneeling in front of him with their hands and legs tied down. The two men were looking extremely scared because of the surrounding around them. There were many armed men guarding the room. They were all bulky and extremely strong. But what made them scared most was the big boss himself sitting in front of them with an expressionless stoic yet very cold face. His eyes were like an eagle, piercing through their body like a burning file which made them perspire from head to toe. "Seems like you both didn''t take our warning seriously last time." Reuben coldly stated to them. The two men instantly shivered at the chilly voice and tried to defend themselves, "We didn''t. We really did not do it." Their denial made Reuben seethed in anger as he threw daggers at them through his eyes, "I don''t like people who lie to me. I''ll give one last chance to tell me the truth. Now say it before I order my men to do something which you will never expect." The man with the black hair got the warning from him seriously and stuttered to say, "Ye.. Yes.. But we didn''t have any choice to¡­." Reuben cut him off by slapping him hard in the face, "I don''t like people giving me rubbish excuses after committing a huge crime." Inhaling a deep breath to control his rage, he gritted his teeth, "I warned you the last time to not sell drugs anymore but you did the same thing again and now you are acting like you don''t have any fault in any of these." "So¡­ sorry sir. Please give us one last chance." This time y was the bald man who was apologizing to Reuben. "Chance? Hahaha¡­ You guys must be kidding me." Reuben laughed in an evil voice which was enough to haunt them to their core. After laughing for a while, Reuben turned all serious again and ordered one of his man, "Bring the knife and made a good cut at the side if their faces and later spread some chilli powder on the cut." The man immediately brought the knife towards their faces when a voice loomed in the room. "Seems like you are enjoying torturing them by yourself without me. That''s not fair you know." A male voice thrilled in the room, making everyone snapped to the door to look for the person. Whereas Reuben was not at all disturbed with the presence of the person as he was busy glaring at that two drug dealers. "Huh? They don''t seem to have many bruises on their body. Hadn''t you done anything yet?" The man sat beside Reuben as he asked him the question¡­. Chapter 101 - HURL and NEO... "Seems like you are enjoying torturing them by yourself without me. That''s not fair you know." A male voice thrilled in the room, making everyone snapped to the door to look for the person. Whereas Reuben was not at all disturbed with the presence of the person as he was busy glaring at that two drug dealers. "Huh? They don''t seem to have many bruises on their body. Hadn''t you done anything yet?" The man sat beside Reuben as he asked him the question. Reuben looked at the man who just came here and smirked, "I was waiting for you to come." The man also gave a devilish grin and turned his state to the two kneeling men, "It''s nice to meet you guys again." The two men shuddered after seeing him and pleaded in a almost crying tone, "Please sir, leave us. Whatever we did , would not repeat again. We promise." The man was very much handsome like Reuben and almost of the same height as him. He had a face worth of drooling over by girls. In comparison of looks and handsomeness, he was no less than Reuben and also equally dangerous when he got angry. But who was the handsome man sitting there? Well, he was none other than the heir and CEO of the Wilson Industries¡­ The Neil Wilson¡­ Neil gazed at Reuben and asked with his one brow raised, "Since you were waiting for me¡­ that''s mean I can do whatever I want to with them, right?" Nodding his head in confirmation at him, Reuben said, "Absolutely right. They are all yours to torture now." Neil smirked after that and glared at the two persons on the floor. His eyes were holding so much anger for them that he might kill them if he couldn''t control himself. "We warned you both last time but you still didn''t take us seriously! You guys think that we were joking when we told you not to sell drugs otherwise we would kill you. Huh?" Neil roared and kicked both of them on their faces. Woahhhhh¡­.!!!! Did Neil just kick them??? But why? Moreover what was he doing here? Wasn''t he a playboy who loved to fool around the girls and got into the pants with them. Then how could he torture someone when he was never even serious with his life or other things. Actually¡­ there was another identity of this man along with being the CEO of Wilson industries, he was the member of the legendary underworld group Secret 7.. He would not even think twice to kill any person who would try to harm any of his close ones. He was as much ruthless as Reuben Smith. Reuben was the leader of Secret 7 and the other six members including Neil were his companions in controlling the top Empire of underworld. Neil was known as the famous Neo in the business of underworld as it was his code name¡­ Whereas the leader Reuben himself was known as Hurl¡­ The name Hurl itself carried a huge and bold meaning which is FIRE¡­. Reuben really was a specimen of fire when he became angry. No one couldn handle him except one person when his fire alarm rang on.. Neil again kicked both of them but this time not on their faces but at their crotches which were the weakest point of any man''s body and of course how can these two would survive when they were hit in their little members, by the great Neil Wilson. They groaned in pain as tears rolled down from their eyes. The bald man apologized again, "Please¡­ please don''t do this with us. We are really sorry for what we did. It will not happen again. We promise. Please leave us." He literally begged to the two rulling man who were sitting in front of them with their legs crossed. Reuben who was enjoying the show till then, finally opened his mouth and what he said next made the two captivated man almost shriek in fear. "Enough talk. You guys really talk too much. Seems like I have to cut your tongue to stop you from blabbering non-stop." Reuben coldly warned. "No.. no.. no.. please don''t.. don''t do this¡­" this time the other one begged. "Shut the fuck¡­." Reuben was cut off when his phone started ringing. Reuben quickly took out his phone and warned the two men, "Don''t you dare to make any noise otherwise.." he pointed towards their tongues and continued, "I''ll cut those off from their mouths." Before answering the call. This made Neil really frown because he knew Reuben would never pick up any phone call when he was attending such an interesting business if it was not very important. But when Neil heard how Reuben greeted the other person on the phone, he smiled shaking his head. Chapter 102 - No peck, only proper deep kisses... This made Neil really frowned because he knew Reuben would never pick up any phone call when he was attending such an interesting business if it was not very important. But when Neil heard how Reuben greeted the other person on the phone, he smiled shaking his head. "Hey babe¡­" Reuben said. And it was enough for any fool who knew about Reuben and Veronica''s relationship to understand that the caller was none other than Reuben''s life, Veronica.. So it was just like a kid''s play for Neil to understand that Veronica''s identity by the tone Reuben was using, after all Neil was not only the best friend of Reuben but also the big brother of his cute little sister, Veronica¡­ "Hi honey. Where are you?" Veronica asked on the phone. "Well I can''t tell you about this. It''s a secret." Reuben chuckled. Veronica on the other side was frustrated hearing this but didn''t force him to say much. She just came to the point directly, "Benniee¡­ when will you finish your work?" "Umm.. about half an hour later. Why?" Reuben said after checking his watch. "Oh. Actually I don''t have many work left today. So I thought to go back home soon." Veronica said. Reuben looked in front and glared at the two men who were staring at him strangely. He ignored them and replied, "Okay. That''ll not be the problem. I''ll be there in 20 minutes." Veronica squealed in joy when she heard this because she didn''t want to go back home alone, so she spoke excitedly, "Really? Then we can buy some pastries on our way home from my favorite pastry shop. Yeipiee¡­!!!" Reuben laughed hearing his girlfriend''s overexcited voice as she behaved like an excited kid, "All right. We''ll go there and buy lots of pastries. Okay?" "Oh.. Bennie. I love you so much baby." Veronica said making noise of kissing. Reuben grinned at this as he replied back, "I love you too honey." Before cutting the call. Then he turned towards Neil and said, "Bro. I have to go now. My baby is waiting for me in her office. So I''ve to hurry and pick her up. You handle these two bastards." Neil nodded his head as an affirmation whereas Reuben turned his back towards those two little punks and growled with a smirk on his face, "Say thanks to God that I''ve to go and now you have to handle only one demon instead of two. But still, it''s not time for you to be happy because one is enough to make your life hell. So wish you all the good luck." Then he gave a bro-hug to Neil before saying, "Take care of these two. I''ll call you later." Neil also hugged him back before replying, "Don''t worry. I''ll not control myself in torturing our dear guests." They grinned at each other before Reuben left the building in hurry. Neil took his seat back and said to the two men who were shuddering in fear, "As you see that Hurl is already gone but that doesn''t mean that Neo will leave you without any scratches. And if you thought those things then it was the stupidest idea you could ever have." Before holding a knife in his hand and scratching both of them in their chests. ---- Creation¡­ "Willa, you also can go back soon today as there is no more important work left here." Veronica said to Willa who was busy checking some files. Willa looked up from the file and said, "No ma''am. It''s okay. I have to check this last file and then will take my leave." "Oh come on Willa, this one is not much important for now. You just leave it here and check it tomorrow. You already had done enough work for today. So now let''s leave." Veronica said after snatching the file from Willa and closed it off. Willa sighed after her boss as she had no other choice other than packing her stuffs and going back home, making Veronica giggled. The girls were going out of the building when Veronica noticed that Willa wasn''t going to the parking lot. Usually she headed there first after leaving from work. "Where are you going Willa? Aren''t you planning to go home straight? And if you are then why are you going that way?" Veronica asked pointing at the way. "No. I''m going home. But the thing is that my car had gone for a wash so I''ll just take a cab." Willa replied. "Oh. Then why don''t you come with me and Bennie. We''ll drop you." Veronica offered. "No. It''s okay Vero.. " Before Willa could complete, Veronica dragged her towards the parking lot and noticing Reuben''s car, she pushed her in the backseat before sitting on the passenger seat. Before Willa could complain, Vero told the amazed Reuben who was looking at both of them stupidly, "Honey, let''s drop Willa first before we go to the pastry shop." Reuben nodded his head before arguing, "Okay. I will. But before that, where is my good evening kiss?" Veronica rolled her eyes before pecking his lips which made Reuben frowned. "Babe.. that''s not a kiss. It''s called a peck. Now give me a proper kiss." Reuben cutely said. "Stay happy with that kiss now Bennie. Don''t be too demanding." Veronica scolded him. "That''s not fair. Did you forget our moto when we see each other after office. No peck, only proper deep kisses." demanded with a cute pout on his face as he hold her waist with his left hand, bringing her close to himself. Chapter 103 - Ultimate Winner... "Babe.. that''s not a kiss. It''s called a peck. Now give me a proper deep kiss." Reuben demanded with a cute pout in his face as he hold her waist with his left hand bringing her close to himself. Obviously how could Veronica ignore him when he pouted so cutely. And it''s not like anything very big that Reuben demanded from her. So without any other thoughts, she just dived in for a kiss which made Reuben grinned on her lips as he started coping up with her pace, letting his tongue enter in her mouth, kissing passionately. *ahem* *ahem* A sudden cough broke the couple from devouring each other as they turned their heads towards the backseat where a shy Willa was sitting, looking at them. "Guys, don''t forget that you guys are not alone here." Willa said being frustrated at this couple''s shameless behaviour. "Willa, it''s not my fault that my girlfriend is so tempting that I can''t hold myself from kissing her." Reuben said as a matter of fact. Veronica glared at him, before saying, "Enough. Don''t start to fight and drive now." While they were nearing Willa''s apartment, Veronica suddenly asked, "Willa.. How about you and Sam? Is everything okay between you guys?" Willa smiled little before replying, "Everything is okay between us. Even he is very caring and considerable towards me." Veronica nodded her head thinking something and looked at Reuben giving him a secret message through her eyes. Reuben caught the meaning of her look and gazed back at the road. But suddenly he suggested, "What about a gathering up of all friends? We last had a meet up to celebrate Lucy and Henry''s new relationship. So let''s plan a small party with only friends. And Willa, you can bring Sam with you. It''ll be good to meet him again and even we can name the party as both of yours ''dating party''." Willa blushed at the last few words and replied, "Okay. I''ll ask Sam about it then will inform you guys." "That''ll do." Reuben said before stopping the car in front of Willa''s apartment. They bade themselves goodbye and Reuben drove towards the pastry shop. And after buying some chocolate, mango and strawberry pastries, they went back to their home. ---- B city¡­ Regina was sitting in her room holding a phone on her ear, speaking to someone or more like yelling at someone. "Can''t you even do this little job for me? What type of manager are you who can not even get a project for their own sake?" Regina yelled at her manager. "You know I tried really hard to get the project for you but it''s already given to someone else. So we can''t do anything now." Her manager frustratingly said on the other side of the phone. Willa shrieked at this and shouted at her manager, "You know what. You are good for nothing. I''ll ask my brother instead of you for this project. And I am damn sure that he will let me have this by hook or crook " Cutting the call angrily, Regina threw the showpiece near her on the floor, smashing into pieces before dialing up another number. The phone kept ringing and ringing again and finally ended up being in a voicemail. Regina kept calling again and again for five times but still no one picked up the phone. And at the sixth time, a mechanical voice told the other line was being switched off. Gritting her teeth in anger, Regina threw the phone on her bed and started yelling loudly, "Alonzo¡­ Alonzo ¡­ Alonzo¡­ How dare you not pick up my call? You always ignore me and my calls. Everytime.. everytime you would see me, you would behave like that I''m not even present there. Always avoiding and making me feel like some stupid girl always running behind you." She then got up from the vanity chair and walked towards the window, taking some fresh air to cool herself down and finally she relaxed when she thought about her engagement with him. She said with a smirk on her face, "Ignore¡­ ignore me as much as you want. But few months later you have to take me as your lawfully wedded wife. Then what will you do that time?" After few seconds, Regina came back to her room and taking her phone back in her hand, she opened her gallery to find the pictures of Alonzo. Opening a picture of him in a suit, she brushed her fingers over it, saying, "When I''ll be Mrs. Brown, you have to live with me even if you do not want to. And then I''ll wrap you around my finger so tight that you will have no other choice other than always listening to me. After all of your ignorance and insults, I''ll be¡­ I''ll be the ULTIMATE WINNER¡­" she laughed cynically in triumph. Chapter 104 - More than hugging and kissing... Few days passed by and everything was going as usual in S City. The normal people were having their daily life struggles to fulfill their dreams while the rich people were mingling themselves to become more richer. Alonzo Brown who just stepped into the business industry of S City, also wasn''t among one of them to stay behind because he kept himself busy in his work. He had a meeting today with the CEO of Smith Enterprise about their joint project. That''s why he was making sure all the files and presentations were all okay. Because.. this time Alonzo was not visiting Smith Enterprise but Reuben himself was coming for the meeting to Brown Corporation. They had met each other for few more times after their first consultant at Reuben''s office. So for the first time ever, Alonzo would be welcoming Reuben in his office. So he wanted each and everything to be perfect. "Bill, whenever Mr. Smith comes just inform me immediately. And again make sure that everything is ready." Alonzo ordered his assistant through the intercom. About half an hour later, Alonzo got a call that Reuben and his assistant Tom along with some of his managers already had arrived. So without wasting a moment, Alonzo told Bill to direct them to his floor. Alonzo then buttoned up his suit and walked towards the elevator to personally greet them. As the elevator door opened, Reuben got out from it first followed by Tom and his managers. "Welcome Mr. Smith to our company." Alonzo greeted as he stretched his hands out for a handshake. Reuben shook his hand and nodded at him as they entered the meeting room. As the meeting started, Alonzo showed some PPT (PowerPoint Presentation) to Reuben for the final check ups and talked about the final planning. The final project was itself very good, making Reuben very much satisfied with it. So without further delay, both Reuben and Alonzo signed the contract, making them each other''s business partners. When the meeting come to an end, Bill whispered something into Alonzo''s ear, making him nod his head. Alonzo then looked at Reuben directly and asked, "Mr. Smith, actually I want to discuss with you about something." Reuben looked up at him from the contract he was reading and asked, "Yes. So what is that you want to ask?" "Actually, recently I have made an appointment with the vice-president of Creation for this upcoming project. It''s a big one so I wanted to make the 3d and 2d models of the hotel with the help of the best multimedia company. And as everyone knows that Creation is the topmost company and always every business person''s first choice. So I thought of Creation to handle our project''s every animated work. What''s your opinion about this?" Alonzo slowly spoke out about his plans to Reuben. He became very tensed when Reuben didn''t say anything back to him. He was internally praying that Reuben would agree to his suggestion so that he could have a benefit to work with another big company. But most importantly he could have the chance to be close with Veronica by working with her and later he could easily layout his plans regarding her. But what he didn''t expect was the ruffling feeling going in Reuben''s head. He was feeling like he was flying in the air. Even without him doing anything or playing any stupid tricks, he could work with Creation. Or should he say, he could spend more time with his beloved girlfriend and see her more. If they would work together then obviously Veronica have to handle their project and he would make sure of it. Because how could he leave such a golden chance of having an office romance with the most beautiful lady of the world who was already his precious girlfriend. This way, he could get kisses and hugs from her even in the office hours and if he get further chance then he would also do more than hugging and kissing with her. Just by thinking this, make the butterflies in his stomach jumping in excitement and unbeknownst to him, a small smile crept on his cold face which he immediately disguised by everyone by covering his mouth with his right hand, acting like he was thinking very hard about the proposal. "Okay fine. It won''t be any problem to work with Creation. You can talk with them and later inform me about what they say." Reuben said feigning that he was not too much interested about these things. But this made Alonzo relax a lot as he already started planning in his mind to win the girl back to him again. Shaking each other''s hand, Reuben left Brown Corporation and got in his car. Just thinking about his girlfriend, he wanted to talk to her and he did so. Reuben called Veronica and after few rings, she picked up the call. "Hey honey, already missing me?" Veronica''s voice resonated from the call. Chapter 105 - The Boss is not me but your girlfriend... "Hey honey, already missing me?" Veronica''s voice resonated from the call. "Oh baby. You know, I always miss you." Reuben said. "Aww.!! I miss you too. So honey, what are you doing? Having some boring meeting in your office?" Veronica asked. "First of all, I''m not in my office. I just finished a meeting with my client few minutes back and now heading back to the office. And about ''boring meeting''.. yeah.. it was kind of boring at first but the last few minutes was awesome." Reuben said in a pleasant voice. "Awesome? That even a meeting? Why? Was there any beautiful and sexy girl present there at the last minutes to make the meeting AWESOME." Veronica sarcastically said, pressing on the word ''awesome'' in jealousy though she knew that Reuben would never cheat on her. Reuben laughed at the last question and teased her, "Is my baby jealous right now?" "No I''m not. Who cares about you if you found another girl sexy? Humph!" came Veronica''s immediate answer. "Oh. Is that so? But still I would make something clear even if there are any girls out, they would not be as beautiful as my dear girlfriend. Not even you Miss Lopez." Reuben said in an exasperated way. Veronica rolled her eyes at this and played with him, "Really? But my boyfriend says that I''m the most beautiful woman in the world." Reuben laughed again in this comment and replied, "Oh my baby! You really know how to play along with me. But let me tell you that whatever your boyfriend says is absolutely right. And now your dear boyfriend told me to inform you that he loves you very very much." An instant smile erupted on Veronica''s face, making her eyes twinkle brightly as she replied, "So do me a favour and send my boyfriend this message that his pretty girlfriend also loves him a lot." This helped this couple to nothing but cracking into small giggles as they kept teasing each other. --- Sip and Drip... Lucinda was in her coffee shop when she noticed that a familiar person entered her caf¨¦. So she immediately went towards her and hugged her tightly. "Oh Willa. How are you? It''s been so long we have met." Lucinda exclaimed after breaking the hug. Willa smiled at her and said, "Yeah. It''s been really long." "So what brought you here at this time? Isn''t it your working time?" Lucinda asked before ordering two coffees for themselves to one of her workers. She then dragged her upstairs which was a small room with a small bed and sofa. It had a bookshelf filled with some comics and music was playing in the room. The room was filled with many pictures of Lucinda with her friends and families. There were also some pictures of Willa and her together. The room was small but very comfortable. It was actually Lucinda''s relaxation room. Sitting on the sofa, Willa replied, "Yeah. I went for a meeting few blocks away from your caf¨¦. So while returning, I thought why don''t I come to visit you and have a cup of your great coffee and on the way back to the office, I can also bought one for our another bestie to make her jealous that we''ve spent some alone time without her." "Yup, and we will send her some selfies of us to make her more jealous." Lucinda winked as they both burst into laughter. "I''m damn sure, Vero will kill me when I''ll arrive at the office from here." Willa said between her laughter. Lucinda wiped a tear that escaped from her eyes from laughing too hard and said, "She sure will do that." In the meantime, their coffee had reached with a caramel cake for both of them as they busied themselves in eating and savouring the smoothening taste of the cake while sipping the hot milk coffee. "Woah.. seems like I came in a wrong time." A male voice suddenly came into their ear making them look at the door. ---- Creation¡­ Louis was busy in a meeting with his assistant when his phone rang. He dismissed his assistant from his office and picked the call up. "From which side, the sun rose today that the cousin of mine is suddenly calling me?" Louis said in an over exaggerating tone. "Stop your nonsense and listen to me why I called quietly." Reuben said from the other side of the call. Louis rolled his eyes and said, "Okay Boss. Tell me what you want to say." Without any hesitation, Reuben started telling his intention for calling his little cousin, "The Brown Corporation and Smith Enterprise are having a collaboration soon. That''s why the assistant of Alonzo Brown had called you few days ago for an appointment for the 2d and 3d model of our hotel project. So I want my baby to handle this project. Do you understand?" "What? You are telling me to make Veronica the head of this project? You know that she handles the VFX projects, not the animation or graphics ones. And more importantly, you are forgetting that here the Boss is not me but your girlfriend. How can a little vice-president order his CEO?" Louis shrugged off the idea immediately. Reuben rolled his eyes this time and threatened calmly, "I don''t know how are you gonna do this. But I definitely know that if you don''t do this I''ll tell Uncle that you are the one who broke his favourite chess piece." Louis shivered thinking about the aftermath if his father came to know about the truth as he said, "Okay fine. I''ll see what can I do." Pleased with the answer, Reuben cut the call. But before it, he warned him, "Don''t you dare say anything about the call to Ica. Otherwise you know what can I do, right?" "Such an evil brother." Louis muttered after cutting the call. ---- Louis Morgan was the little cousin brother of Reuben Smith. He was the son of Reuben''s uncle from his mother''s side. And Reuben was the one who helped him to fulfill his dream to make a career in multimedia. Reuben along with Louis''s elder brother made his parents agree with his path of career so that they wouldn''t pressure him to join the family business. Though Reuben and Louis fought with each other most of the time, but they loved each other dearly. Louis was even more close with Reuben than his own brother. And Reuben also treated him as his own little brother and doted on him as he was also the only child of his parents. Anyone could call them the best cousins of all time... Chapter 106 - Mute Person... Sip and Drip¡­ "Woah.. seems like I came in a wrong time." A male voice suddenly came into their ear, making them look at the door. The handsome Neil Wilson was standing there with a coffee mug in his hand, wearing a black suit which seemed to clarify that he also came here from his office. "Bro.. What are you doing here?" Lucinda exclaimed in joy and ran to hug her brother. Neil hugged her back as they both walked towards the sofa where Willa was already sitting. As Neil took a seat opposite to her, he greeted her, "Hey Willa." "Hi Neil." Willa said. There was an awkward silence between them after the hello - hi session¡­ so Lucinda tried to break the ice, "So bro. You didn''t give me the answer of my first question.?" "I came here to give you this. But I hadn''t expect to see a familiar face here." Neil said before handing her a box. "What is it?" Lucinda asked after taking the box from his hand. "See it yourself." Neil said before laying his head back on the sofa lazily. As Lucinda opened it, she shrieked in excitement when she saw what was exactly in it. There was the new edition of her favourite comic book which she wanted to buy so eagerly. "Bro, you are the best." Lucinda kissed his cheek before hugging him tightly. Neil kissed her on the cheek also and said, "Anything for my little sis." As they finally broke the hug, Willa said, "Guys, I''ve to leave now. I''ll talk to you later Lucy." "Why are you leaving so soon?" Lucinda pouted cutely. Willa laughed at her cute antics and said, "Did you forget that I have a job to handle. So gotta go." She then proceeded to hug Lucinda. Lucinda hugged her too and suddenly an idea came in her mind, "Bro, why don''t you drop Willa at her office?" Willa looked at her with widened eyes and denied immediately, "That wouldn''t be necessary at all. Actually I brought my own car here. So Neil wouldn''t need to drive me to office." Neil looked at her in an intimidated way like he was trying to say something but his face betrayed the expression of his eyes. Willa felt some heated gaze on her from Neil but when she gazed at him, he immediately lowered his eyes. So shaking her head, Willa left the caf¨¦ before taking some Irish coffee for Veronica. ---- Creation.. Veronica was sitting in Louis''s office at lunch break with her hand resting on the table as she played with her hair with other hand. She was waiting for Louis to say something as he sat in his chair with a nervous look on his face. Louis had called Veronica earlier to have lunch with him in his office, hinting her that he had something very important to tell her. But even after ten minutes had passed, he hadn''t opened his mouth which made Veronica frustrated as hell. "Are you even gonna say something? You are making me really angry by behaving like a mute person." Veronica gritted her teeth in annoyance. Louis gulped his saliva and cleared his throat before stuttering, "I.. actually.. as you know that Brown Corporation had made a request to work with us earlier. So now I thought of scheduling the appointment tomorrow." "Okay. So what now?" Veronica asked before taking a bite of her sandwich. "Uh.. the thing is that I want you to handle the project." Louis said almost in one breath. Veronica instantly stared at him in disbelief in her eyes. Taking the whole thing in her mind, Veronica finally contemplated what Louis exactly meant. And then the heater in her brain immediately turned on and she spat in rage, "What the hell do you mean by I have to handle the project. You know that I work in VFX department. Then why would I work for the animation?" Louis again gulped in fear as he muttered in a very low voice, "Relax Vero. Come on, drink this water to cool yourself. And try to understand." Veronica took the glass that Louis handed to her and drank half of the water in it before nodding her head to tell him to continue. Taking a deep breath, Louis started his speech which he literally memorised line by line a little while ago, "You are the CEO of Creation. So you have the biggest upper hand in everything. But you also know it that the animation department is currently busy with our upcoming animated movie so they would not be able to make this. So I don''t have any other person without you right at that moment because you are the best in everything. And we can''t even deny the project because we already confirmed an appointment with them so refusal is not an option now. Please Vero. .think about it. You can take your own time and tell me." Veronica nodded her head before looking at Louis before saying in seriousness, "Sometimes it feels like you are the Boss here where I''m just your employee." Veronica muttered in a mocking way. After quite a while, they both burst into laughter when Veronica interrupted, "Okay I''ll think about this project and when I can finally fix my mind, I''ll tell you." "Okay." Louis found a sigh of relief at the mention that Veronica would at least think about it and laid back on his chair after Veronica left. Chapter 107 - Very Confusing... Love-Paradise¡­ It was already over 9 pm when the two love birds were busy sitting in the living room, watching some movies on TV. Veronica''s head was resting on Reuben''s shoulder and his chin was on her head. He was holding her by her waist while Veronica kept her hand on his thigh supporting her balance. There was a comedy scene playing which made Reuben laugh which resulted his chest to vibrate because of the laughter. But on the other side, Veronica was awfully silent which made Reuben paused in his laugh as he looked at the girl in his embrace with furrowed brows. Normally, if there was a funny scene like this, Veronica could not stop her from laughing like crazy but she was now all silent. It was confusing to him.. very confusing.. "Babe.. what happened?" Reuben asked as he rubbed her shoulder lightly. Veronica tilted her head up to gaze at his eyes and then again rested her head on his shoulder. As Reuben was going to say something Veronica stopped him. "Honey, today Louis asked me to handle the project of our new client, Brown Corporation." Veronica mumbled as she played with his fingers. Reuben''s body stiffened at this but he immediately made himself relaxed. He feigned an act like he didn''t know anything about these things as he said, "But baby, I can''t see any problem in this." Veronica sighed and looked up at him again, "Bennie, the thing is that it''s an animation project and there will be some works of graphics too. And I''m the head of the VFX department." "So what baby? You are a pro at everything. I don''t see anything impossible for you." Reuben tried to make her agree. Sighing again, Veronica replied, "Babe. I know that. But you know I already have many VFX projects in my plate right now. So I can''t take any new ones right now." Reuben stroked her forehead to ease her furrowed brows and muttered calmly, "Ica. Look baby. You can give those projects to your subordinates and handle this new one yourself. After all, how much I know Brown Corporation is a good business company and they can be a good client to you." Veronica narrowed her eyes at him in suspision and asked, "Bennie, are you hiding something from me? Why do I feel like that you are forcing me to work into this project? You never forced me into anything, even you always nag me to work less so that I can''t stress more. But this time.. this time you are acting surreal. Exactly what''s going on your mind!" she gave him a death glare. Reuben gulped in nervousness as he knew that if he didn''t make any proper excuse right now, then Veronica would catch his plan in a minute and then it would be his doomsday. He cleared his throat and made some stories, "Honey, how can you say this thing to me? You know I can''t hide anything from you. It''s just that I think that the project is itself is a big one. I heard about them. So I''m just trying to help you. Nothing more. You know that how much I adore you baby. I love you so much." When he saw that Veronica was still not convinced, he made a sad face because he knew that this was his one of the best weapons to gain his girlfriend''s sympathy and as like his prediction, his strategy worked. Veronica''s eyes softened and she hugged him tightly before giving him a peck on his lips, "Oh baby. I love you too." Reuben smirked and whispered in her ears, "Babe if you really love me so much then show it in your actions." Veronica smirked back and said, "Sure babe." She then rubbed his crotch with her hand over his pants and kissed his ear, making him groan. He hold her waist and pulled her onto his lap, making her straggle him more as he kissed her passionately. The kiss was demanding and dominating. They sucked, licked nibbled each other''s lips like there was no tomorrow while Reuben''s hand found its way under her pajama top. Veronica also started working on his shirt, and pulled it up over his head. She ran her hands on his bare chest and soon her lips followed the paths of her hands. She kissed him on his neck, his shoulder and his chest, slowly gliding towards his torso. Reuben released a sharp breath as Veronica''s lips descended on his bare skin. He hold her head as he enjoyed the sensation. And when Veronica finally came towards his pants, he pulled her into another kiss. This kiss was more intimate than the before which made her moaned in his lips and Reuben took the perfect chance to glide his tongue into her mouth, sucking hers. As the kiss got more and more hotter, Reuben hold the hem of her top and pulled it over her head as fast as he could. His eyes darkened at the sight of her bare upper body as he kissed the corner of her lips. He then kissed her chin then her jaw and licked it. His lips then moved down to her neck and kissed it softly. This got another moan from Veronica, "Uhmm¡­" She stretched her neck back to give him more access and Reuben easily took the help of her as he nibbled on her neck and bit it. His lips did the same magic to her shoulder as he bit, kissed and licked it, giving her hickeys all over her shoulder. When he was finally satisfied with his lip-work on her neck and shoulder area, he slowly glided his lips in the middle of her two big peaks... Chapter 108 - Inside you...** [ WARNING..!!! THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER CONTAINS MATURE CONTENT...] When he was finally satisfied with his lip-work on her neck and shoulder area, he slowly glided his lips in the middle of her two big peaks... Reuben lifted his eyes up to stare at the perfect round breasts of Veronica and as usual, he couldn''t suppress his hunger for those two precious meatballs. He ducked his head onto it, leaving small kissed all around the horizontal line of the perfect breasts. Licking the area with his tongue, he made a border of her flat skin with the two mountains with his saliva which made it glistened with the reflection of the light. Then without wasting a freaking second, he took one nipple in his mouth and sucked it hard which made Veronica moaned in pleasure, "Oh honey¡­." Veronica closed her eyes in pleasure while her hands found its way in his hair, holding it tightly to keep Reuben''s face steady on its position. Reuben licked her nipple, making it all wet, nibbling it in the middle while his other hand massaged her another breast. When Reuben was sure that the area around her nipple were perfectly wet with his saliva, he then bit it hard with his teeth which made Veronica squirmed under him. Getting the cue, that he really had bitten her nipple very hard, he slowly licked the portion again and then kissed the top of it to ease her pain. After giving enough attention to the first breast, he moved to her other one and repeated the process again. He gave all his priority to it how he exactly had done with the previous one, by licking, biting, sucking and kissing it all over. Veronica moved her hands over his neck to his shoulder as she dabbed it lightly, making Reuben growl at her actions. Veronica smirked at him and continued to do the same with his chest by poking it lightly. Reuben shook his head at her naughtiness but continued with his own work as he licked each and every inch of Veronica''s belly and biting her navel later. When he finally reached at the down part of her body, he quickly removed the thin part of panties off her legs and did the same with his boxers and threw both of them quickly on the floor, leaving both of them all naked. Veronica''s eyes scrutinized his handsome face first, then moved to his strong built chest and slowly to his hard abs. Her eyes lingered on his torso and finally landed on his little brother which was now hard as rock and large like a cucumber. Reuben also made a trip of her body with his eyes ¨C firstly her beautiful face, then her neck and two large yummy breasts, her stomach and finally on her beautiful ''V'' area, ending at her long legs. Then both of their eyes locked and they both smirked when they caught themselves at feasting each other''s body with their eyes. Reuben hovered over her in a swift movement and locked his lips with Veronica in an urgency and Veronica complied with him by pulling his head towards her and deepening the kiss more. Her hands roamed around his chest, outlining his perfect abs and finally moving more lower and lower... When her hand reached at the designated place of his most sensible part, she quickly hold it in her hands. She tightened her grip in Reuben''s crotch which earned a groan from him. "Oh babe¡­" Veronica broke the kiss and looked at his eyes directly, whispering on his lips, "Bennie, you are really hard like a rock." Reuben''s face showed her a stupid grin instantly as he moved his lips to her ears, mumbling, "Only for you baby." Hearing this, Veronica''s face blushed in red but still she replied back in a seductive voice, "It''s better be only for me honey." Reuben chuckled at her bluntness and kissed the top of her nose whereas Veronica started working with her hands by gently stroking his little brother with her soft hands. When she heard Reuben groaned in pleasure, she fasted her hand movements and stroked him faster and faster. She made a light grip on his balls and stroked it lightly. Then again she moved her hands up and down on his little brother making it more harder than before. Couldn''t able to handle the satisfaction of her strokes, Reuben clashed his lips with hers, kissing her fervently. They both fought with their tongues and exchanged their saliva like it''s some kind of tasty beverage. Finally when Reuben couldn''t control his need for Veronica, he whispered shakingly, "Babe, I really need to be inside you. Right. Now. Otherwise I can''t hold anymore. So just put it inside you." Veronica could see the lust in his eyes and she knew that the same thing was happening to her and if she waited for another minutes to put him inside her, then she wouldn''t last too... So she hold the tip of his little brother and gently guided it into¡­ Chapter 109 - Patience baby... Patience...** [WARNING..!!! MATURE CONTENT AHEAD... READ AT YOUR OWN RISK... I WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYONE''S HEARTATTACK...(~_^)...] She hold the tip of his little brother and gently guided it into her hole. Reuben pushed himself more inside of her and when he was all in, he let out a groan. Feeling him inside of her made Veronica completely satisfied and the emptiness that she was feeling till now got all vanished in a second. Reuben''s eyes fell on her and he pushed himself in and out continuously very slowly and steadily, making Veronica frustrated. "Reuben Smith. Stop teasing me and get faster. You know very well that I''m not some wax doll who will break easily if you thrust a little harder. So make it fast and rough Bennie. I really need it rough." Veronica gritted her teeth while panting slowly when she clearly understood that Reuben was intentionally messing with her. This made Reuben chuckle in satisfaction and he started to thrust in and out more faster, grinding her roughly. "Ah. Reuben. Oh babe.. " Veronica moaned in ecstasy when he started moving quicker. Reuben locked their lips together and kissed her passionately, still pounding inside her taking a faster pace everytime. Veronica could feel a sudden force inside her core which only meant the possibility of cumming her there. So she panted, "Bennie, I think I''m about to cum..." Reuben broke their kiss and then sucked her jaw saying, "Not now baby. Not now. I''m yet to finish it." As soon as he completed his sentence, he pulled out of her, making Veronica knitted her eyebrows together in confusion. She complained with a pout, "Why the hell you put your dick out when I was just about to cum." Reuben chuckled at her impatient behaviour and muttered before putting his index finger on her lips, "Patience baby... Patience. And let me continue what I''m about to do." Veronica narrowed her eyes and about to say something when Reuben did something that made her yelp in surprise... Now the question was, what Reuben actually did? Well, then Reuben hold her waist up from the bed and flipped her over, making her front side touch the mattress while her face buried into the soft pillow with her back facing Reuben. Wasting no time, Reuben moved all her brown hairs on her left side which was sprawling all over her shoulder and started kissing her nape. He kissed her on her nape and then her back shoulders and bit them hard. He then run his fingers on her spine, his lips following his action then. Reuben gave wet kisses on the margins of her sexy spine, finally landing on her ass. He gave each of her ass cheeks few kisses then again used his teeth on them biting on it, making it all red by his sweet torture. Veronica moaned at this unconvincingly amazing feeling and arched her body up, giving him more access to continue his unbearable pleasure. Noticing the red marks on her perfectly rounded butt, he licked it with his tongue and then proceeded to go more down. Until he reached at her core area, he licked and kissed her clit, twirling his tongue around it as he pushed his finger inside of her. Twirling his tongue on it, biting her strawberry with his teeth, kissing it over every time. When he finally got satisfied over his work, he got up on her and pushed his cock inside of her from back. He thrusted inside her in a swift movement earning a sexy moan from Veronica. Reuben hold her up on the bed and grabbed her breast with his left hand, squeezing it on every thrust while his other hand rested on her slim waist. Veronica moaned out loud, "Ahhh babe." "Oh baby, you are so fucking tight and I love it like hell." Reuben groaned when her walls get tightened around his shaft. Veronica couldn''t describe the immense pleasure she was feeling in words because she knew no one in this whole world without Reuben could make her feel so horny and demanding like now. She grabbed his head when he started kissing her on her neck to make a grip over herself as they both continued to push themselves to each other. Reuben also felt that he was riding the waves of ocean falling up and down continuously which was so damn special and satiable. He kissed her on her bare shoulder still thrusting into her, feeling that this goddess under him was inseparably his and only she could turn him on like this. Few minutes later, Veronica stuttered, "Argh honey. I.. I really can''t hold anymore. I''m.. I''m coming." Reuben nodded his head at her and muttered, "Come with me babe." As he quickened his strokes inside her. Veronica came first as she moaned out his name, "Bennie¡­" Following her, Reuben also released himself by shouting her name, "Oh Ica¡­" And the he collapsed on her and after catching his breath, he slowly brought himself out of her and discarded the used condom in the bin. Returning on the bed, Reuben took Veronica in his arms and covered themselves with the quilt. Kissing her on the forehead, he whispered, "Goodnight babe. I love you." Veronica smiled at him and gave him a quick peck on his lips as she whispered back, "Goodnight honey and I love you too." After the passionate and lovely night, both of them dozed off to their peaceful sleep. Chapter 110 - My efforts from yesterday... Creation¡­ Louis''s office.. "So what have you finally decided?" Louis asked eagerly waiting for her answer and he hoped that it was a positive one. Veronica took a deep breath and replied, "I decided hard about it. Really. So my final decision is.... a ''Yes''." Louis'' eyes bulged out as he heard the answer from her and interrogated, " Are you serious? You seriously accepted my idea.?" Again taking a sigh, Veronica replied, "Yup. I''m very sure." Louis jumped out of his chair merrily and hugged her in a tight embrace, "Thanks a lot Vero. You don''t know how big pressure you put out of my shoulder!" Veronica thought that he must be talking about the pressure of work for him on this project but it was exactly opposite for Louis. He was actually thanking her for saving his life from his dangerous cousin brother... Tapping him on the shoulder, Veronica broke the hug and said, "If there is nothing more, then I''m leaving. I''ve to settle my ongoing projects to the right employees who I think can handle it properly." "Hmm..just one question. As like you have already decided to supervise the project then should I inform the Brown Corporation about it and make an appointment?" "Yeah. Do that and later tell me the date and time of the meeting. I''m leaving now then." Veronica said picking up her phone from the table. Louis nodded his head to let Veronica leave and called somebody. "Bro. Your work is done. Veronica agreed to do the project." Louis told the person on the phone grinning widely. Reuben rolled his eyes and replied, "Do you think she agreed because of you? It''s all my efforts from yesterday. However now that you have given me the good news, I''ll keep my promise and will not tell Uncle about that chess piece." Louis furrowed his brows when Reuben said that it''s not because of him.. but later became happy when he got the news that he would be safe from his father''s wrath. ---- Brown Corporation¡­ Alonzo''s office¡­ A knock interrupted Alonzo from his work and he told the person to come in. Bill entered with a smiling face and said, "Boss, we got news from Creation." This peaked Alonzo''s attention to his assistant and asked with one of his eyebrows raised, "And what''s their answer?" Bill replied brightly, "They accepted our proposal and ask for an appointment. I looked into your schedule and saw that you don''t have anything to do tomorrow without a meeting. So I made an appointment at 11 am tomorrow at Creation. Is this okay with you Boss?" Alonzo was extremely happy from inside because he knew that his next plan also worked on, so he told his assistant, "You did a great job. I will double your bonus for this month." "Thank you Boss. Now may I leave?" Bill was glad that he was a getting a double bonus this month and tried to suppress his smile as he asked Alonzo. "Okay. You may now leave but don''t forget to inform Smith Enterprise about this.." Alonzo said. The moment Bill left the office, Alonzo''s lips showed an evil grin as he thought about his next step for tomorrow''s meeting and mentally prepared himself for the upcoming battle. --- Veronica''s office¡­ "Willa, can you please come to my office with a cup of coffee?" Veronica asked Willa rubbing her forehead. "Yes Ma''am. Right now." Willa''s voice rang through the intercom. Veronica leaned back on her chair and kept continuing with rubbing her forehead and the space between her eyebrows. Last night was very intense for her. Reuben didn''t stop pounding on her till dawn, so she only got few hours of sleep, resulting her to have a headache. And now she have to give away all her projects to her subordinates, deciding on the basis of their intelligence and accuracy which was a very difficult work for her. And that''s why she needed to calm herself and had to ask for Willa''s help in this. Few minutes later, Willa entered her office with a cup of coffee and said, "This is your coffee." Veronica took a sip of it and motioned her to sit. After Willa took a seat, Veronica started, "Willa, we''ll be starting our new project with Brown Corporation, so we have to distribute our current ones among the perfect employees and I need your help in all of this." Willa nodded her head and told her, "Don''t worry much about this. I''ll ask the employees for a meeting after lunch and we''ll then decide which work should we give to whom." Planning about the projects and discussing about the employees under VFX department, they came to a conclusion between themselves who to give the important burden of these works. And after they finally decided on it, Willa left the office. ---- Smith Enterprise¡­ As soon as Reuben ended the call with Louis, he let out a triumph chuckle, making him look like a little boy. Tom knocked on the door and getting his approval he entered the office. Reuben already made his face neutral back again and cocked an eyebrow to ask Tom what he had to say. Tom cleared her throat and said, "Boss. Brown corporation just informed that they have scheduled a meeting tomorrow at 11 am at wth Creation about our hotel project." Reuben low down his head to hide his smile and said, "Okay. Tell them to attend the meeting tomorrow without me and I''ll join them from the next one" Tim left the office with a nod and Reuben started his work with a smile lingering on his lips... Chapter 111 - We met again... It was already the day of the meeting between Brown Corporation and Creation and Alonzo was on the way there. He gazed at the outside of his window, taking the feeling of the beautiful city. But he was extremely nervous about the meeting from inside. A jolt of the car broke him from his trance as Bill announced, "Boss, we are here." Alonzo closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. Opening his eyes again, he replied, "Let''s go." Bill got out of the car first and opened the car door for him as Alonzo descended from the car, buttoning his suit jacket. He looked up at the building and took in the marvelous view of the company with black glasses, a very big logo of CREATION was upon it shining brightly due to the sunlight. Entering the main gate of Creation, Bill asked about their meeting with the vice-president to the receptionist as she ushered them up to the floor of Louis''s office... Louis''s assistant was already waiting for them near the elevator and he let them in his boss''s office before knocking on the door. "Hello Mr. Morgan. It''s nice to meet you." Alonzo greeted him, shaking his hand with Louis. Louis smiled at them and told them to sit. As they seated themselves, he said, "It''s also nice to meet you Mr. Brown. Sorry that I couldn''t attend your party last time as I was busy with some work." "It''s absolutely okay. I''m actually happy that you decided to work with us." Alonzo said. Louis smiled at him and said, "I guess so." He then looked at his assistant and ordered, "Call Ms. Lopez to come here in my office." His assistant, Brad nodded his head and left them to call Veronica. Alonzo''s hand sweated when he heard Louis to call for Veronica. He took another deep breath and tried to defocus himself from the nervousness by managing to talk something with Louis. "Mr. Morgan, as you know that our project is a joint one with Smith Enterprise but Mr. Smith couldn''t come today because of his important works but he will be here for next meeting." Alonzo tried to converse. Looking at Alonzo, Louis thought to himself, ''You don''t know about the truth man. Otherwise you would know that Mr. Smith aka my cousin is more excited than you to come over here but not for the project... instead for his girlfriend...'' "No. It''s definitely okay. I know Mr. Smith very well. You don''t have to worry about him." Louis said laughing a little. A knock got the attention of the three male species and they turned their head towards the door. Veronica entered the office room wearing a beautiful off-white blouse with a cherry red skirt that ended on her knees. Her hair tied in a ponytail, she had a simple make up with some eyeliner and a light pink lipstick. She was looking very professional in her attire but extremely beautiful. Alonzo''s heart raced erratically and he just kept looking at her in awe. The girl she had imagined for so many ears was finally in front of him, looking all beautiful and gorgeous. "You called me Mr. Morgan?" Veronica asked Louis as she came forward towards the table. Louis replied her, "Yes, Ms. Lopez. Please have a seat first." Veronica sat on the vacant chair and eyed the two men sitting there. She gave a simple nod to them and make an eye contact with Alonzo who was staring back at her. Something inside her was telling her that somehow she was accustomed to the gaze that Alonzo was giving her but she shook her head in denial. Louis broke the silence and said, "Miss Lopez, as you know that we''ll be working with Brown Corporation on their new hotel project and now they are here for the meeting. So meet with Mr. Alonzo Brown, the CEO of the Brown Corporation and his assistant Bill." Louis then turned his eyes on Alonzo and said, "Mr. Brown. She is Miss Veronica Lopez, the head of the VFX department and she will be supervising your project in all the multimedia purposed." Alonzo hold his hand out for a handshake and said, "Good morning Miss Lopez. We met again." Veronica smiled a little and shook his hand. "Morning Mr. Brown. And yeah. We really met again." Louis became confused at their greetings and asked, "Well, do you guys know each other?" "Very well." Alonzo smiled at her as he instantly replied, making both Veronica and Louis frowned. Veronica thought, ''But we only met for two times then how could he say that we have known each other very well?'' Seeing the confusion in their eyes, Alonzo said trying to convert their mind, " We met at my party and there she became good friends with my sister, Myra. She always talks about her and Miss Lucinda. So I quite know about Miss Veronica by my sister''s nonstop talking." Both Veronica and Louis sighed in relief when they heard that when Louis said, "Okay. Now let''s start the meeting." They started to discuss about the plans and different ideas. At the end of the meeting, Louis looked at Veronica secretly for a confirmation for signing the project and when she nodded, Louis announced, "Mr. Brown, all seems to be perfect about it. So let''s sign the project on our next meeting. And as we talked, Miss Lopez will work on this project so if you need any type of help or have any enquiry then you can ask either me or her." Alonzo smiled internally about the thought of working with Veronica and staying beside her all while. He would make sure to use each and every single second of the time being, he promised to himself. "It would be good working with you." Louis said as he shook Alonzo''s hand. Alonzo nodded his head and said, "Same here." He then shook Veronica''s hand and said, "I''ll look forward to work with you." Veronica nodded her head and smiled but didn''t think of replying anything. Taking a last glance at Veronica, Alonzo left with his assistant... Chapter 112 - Single Dog... Smith Enterprise¡­ "Boss the next meeting with Creation will be on next week Monday. Mr. Brown and Mr. Morgan has decided to sign the contract on that day. Their assistants talked to me about your schedule and as it was already free on Monday, I confirmed them to continue with the date." Tom informed Reuben who just entered his office after a meeting. "Good. Tell Mr. Brown that I''ll be present there this time. And about Louis, I''ll inform him myself." Reuben said before letting Tom leave. He called Louis and told him that he will be present for next day''s contract signing. Louis grinned and teased him, "Aww..! Seems like my brother is very excited about this project or more like for the person who will supervise the project." Reuben smirked and stated casually, "Obviously... I''d be very excited to work with my baby. However, how can a single dog like you understand the excitement of working sidy by side with your beloved?" He mocked. Louis humphed from the other side, "This is not fair bro. You can''t make fun of me like this." "Whatever!" Reuben said before cutting the call. He looked at the photo on his wallpaper of Veronica and murmured to himself, "It''ll be fun to work with you baby or more like work on you." He smirked at the thought of them having an office romance and smiled foolishly. ---- City B¡­ Regina just finished her photoshoot for a magazine and heading back to her car when one of the other models who was also working for that magazine blocked her way. "Why the hell did you block me?" Regina yelled. "Aww..!! Seems like Miss Parker is very angry because she lost her chance to be on the cover of the famous magazine. Are you angry that someone more capable than you snatched your work?" The model mocked her. Regina''s temper rose again as she shouted, "How dare you to mock me? Don''t you know that I can ruin your modelling career just by a single call to my brother?" The other model laughed at her and said while checking her nails, "Well, for your information... Your brother will not help you this time. Do you want to know why?" When she saw the confused look on Regina''s face, she gave a smirk before continuing, "Because the person who got to be the cover model for that magazine, is now sleeping with your one and only dear brother. I saw them recently to walk out of the hotel few days ago." Regina''s mind got blasted in anger as she tried to stop herself from beating her because of the other people present there and if she slapped her here then it would not be very good for her public image. She tried to smile and coolly replied, " So what? They are just some play things for my brother. Once his interest come to an end for her, he would kick her out right at that moment. And even if she got to shoot for the magazine cover with the help of my brother, still don''t forget who exactly my fiance is..." At the name of Alonzo, the other model''s mouth got shut and she stopped herself from talking more. Seeing the victory of herself, Regina passed by her but not before giving her a push on her shoulder intentionally as she left with her manager. She thought in the car, ''Having the tag of Alonzo''s fiance really gives me many privileges which means... becoming his wife will be the source of me having the ultimate power. I have to make him mine as soon as possible.'' ---- In a club of city S¡­ Two men were sitting opposite to themselves with a glass of alcohol in their hands. Four girls with low-cut tight clothes that could barely cover them were serving them drinks and occasionally kissing them. "So how is the progress?" A middle aged man asked. The other man who was sitting opposite to him was quite young, probably in his late twenties or early thirties. He was good looking and handsome with his tall body. One girl was sitting on his lap and kissing his neck while his hands were placed on her buttocks, squeezing it sometimes. "Everything is going well but I need a little more time as I couldn''t get anything out from my girlfriend." The man said. "Well your girlfriend seems to be really fool to think that you seriously love her." The middle aged man chuckled. The young man kissed the girl''s lips who was on his lap and replied with a devilish smile, "Huh.. who would know that the assistant of the head of a VFX department of the biggest multimedia company would be a big fool? She trusts me so much that she haven''t noticed even for a single time that how much I loathe her " The middle aged man who was holding a blonde in his arms and another brunette was massaging his shoulder, smirked, "That only means that she loves you very much." "Love my foot! Do you think there is a thing like true love exists? She is just a dumb girl who fell in our trap. She is nothing more than a toy for me. After I get the informations that I needed from her, I''ll just throw her away on the street." The man said. "But you agree or not, she is very very beautiful." "Yeah, you are right. That''s the only thing I like about her. But that bitch never let me touch her alone fuck her. Argh! She is really a big dumbass. But I''m determined to take her at least for once. Because the only person who can take her virginity is me." He said gritting his teeth. "Possessive much Sam. Aren''t you?" Chapter 113 - Want more than anything is money... "Possessive much Sam. Aren''t you?" Sam chuckled and said, "Not possessive. But the thing is that I''ve been with her for so many days, at least I should get a reward. Right? And what would be better than fucking that bitch Willa?" The middle aged man whose name was Peter said, "You are right. But I''m more interested on fucking her Boss. What''s her name? I can''t remember properly." "Veronica. Veronica Lopez." Sam replied before giving the red haired girl another kiss and squeezed her butt. "Yeah. Veronica. She is really beautiful and sexy. I really hope to take her on my bed one day." Peter said. Sam rolled his eyes at him and asked, "You hadn''t told me about the real reason still that why you want to destroy Creation so much? Don''t you still believe me after I work for you till so many days that you''re hiding the truth from me?" Peter shook his head and said, "I trust you now without any doubt." "Then tell me about the cause of your so much hate towards Creation that you agreed to give me so much money even when you are nearly broke yourself." Sam questioned. Gritting his teeth together, Peter replied, "That stupid company Creation took everything from me. My company was going all smooth and was one of the biggest empire in multimedia. But that bastard of CEO of that company had to meddle in my business and suppress me in everything, making me all broken without any projects and clients. And they now say that the technologies and formulas of our designs are all awful and nothing new. How dare they? Those idiots compared my company with that newbies and told me that they are far better than us and more creative. How rubbish!" He hold the glass tightly and poured more whiskey in his glass, drinking all at one go before pulling the brunette who was massaging him earlier on his lap, kissing her ferociously. Sam was shocked with his confession and exclaimed in his mind, ''Well, the works of your company is really rubbish. But it''s okay for me as long as you pay me well for destroying that company. After all, what I want more than anything is money.'' His thought got interrupted when he felt someone was sucking his little brother. When he looked down it was the other black haired girl who was sucking him. He hadn''t even noticed when she opened the zipper of his pants but there was nothing he could do when he was getting pleasure from her. He looked at the red haired on his lap and then his gaze fixed on the black haired girl as he suggested, "What about a threesome today?" When both of the girls nodded and smiled at him, he took them out of the private room before bidding goodbye to Peter who was also busy in making out with other two girls. But what he missed was.... a pair of eyes which were following his way the moment he stepped out of the private room. The eyes got narrowed at him as the man threw cold daggers towards his way. "What''s wrong sir?" The girl who was wearing a skimpy black dress asked him as she kept her hands on his arm. Neil turned his gaze at the girl and said, "Nothing. Let''s head to the hotel room." The girl seductively smiled at him and both headed to the top floor of the bar which was provided only for VVIP members. ---- In the VVIP room¡­ As soon as they entered the room, the girl started kissing Neil and he also kissed her back in urgency. The girl unbuttoned his shirt and threw it on the floor. Neil started kissing her neck, her shoulder and her collarbone, making her moan. They both fell on the bed and Neil pulled down her dress from her, leaving her in underwears. Neil got rid of his pants and unclasped her bra and removed her panty. He started kissing all over her body and took off his boxers. Wearing a condom when he was about to enter... an image of Willa''s beautiful face with a cute smile, flashed in his mind, making him stop in his action. He closed his eyes to forget her face but the more he tried, the more her face got clearer and clearer in his mind. Getting down of the bed he wore the boxers before removing the condom from his member, making the girl in his bed become befuddled at his actions. Neil picked up the girl''s clothes and threw them on her body, earning a gasp from her. Still closing his eyes, he ordered the girl, "Leave." The girl opened her mouth in shock as to know what suddenly happened to him and asked, "What.. what happened? Aren''t we going to do it?" Neil hissed in anger as he shouted, "I said. Get. Out. Right. Now." Becoming scared of his sudden outburst, the girl quickly wore her dress and left the room hurriedly. Neil sat on the bed and rubbed his face with both of his hands and thought to himself that what was happening to him? Why he was behaving like this? Previously, he would go out everyday and have sex with random girls in pubs and bars. But right now, whenever he tried to get close to any girl, Willa''s face flowed in his head, making him all uninterested in everything related to other girls sex... He hadn''t been intimate with any girls since the day he sent Willa at her apartment but he didn''t know the reason of all of it. Now only he wanted one thing and that is to go to the root of all this feelings of him so that he could fix the problems and finally live in peace. Otherwise, these shitty thought of her would kill him each and every day¡­ Chapter 114 - I’m not a lion who will eat you... Few days later¡­ Love-Paradise¡­ It was already Monday when the meeting for the contract signing between the three companies was scheduled. But the dispute here was that Veronica didn''t know about the other company which was the main source of the deal. She was extremely busy the previous week on distributing her work pressure to her subordinates and couldn''t get any time to enquire Louis about the third company which is none other than Smith Enterprise. She trusted Louis more than anything. After all, he was the one who helped her to create her own empire Creation. He stood with her for everything and fought with her to make her company from dust to diamond. Reuben and Veronica just finished their breakfast when Reuben suddenly said, "Ica, I will not be able to drive you to your company today. I have some important meeting." Veronica nodded her head in understanding and replied, "That''s not a big problem. I''ll drive on my own car." Reuben released a sigh of relief when Veronica didn''t suspect anything and he mentally clapped for himself to plan such a big surprise for her. When he was busy in self- praising, Veronica narrowed her eyes at him, thinking of the reason of his sudden unusual behavior but shook it off when Reuben gave her a sweet smile. ---- Creation¡­ It was already nearly the time to start the meeting. Alonzo had just arrived there with his assistant Bill and Brad took them to the large meeting hall. Louis also arrived there with Veronica and Willa following him. They seated themselves around the large mahogany table. Alonzo''s eyes never moved from Veronica but when he noticed that another girl came with her, he furrowed her brows. Observing Alonzo''s confused face, Veronica introduced, "Mr. Brown, she is Willa, my personal assistant. She would be helping us in this project." Alonzo nodded his head before shaking Willa''s hand. Willa also acknowledged him by a small smile. "So shall we start the meeting?" Veronica asked after opening her laptop. Louis''s mouth got dried when he heard the question. But to his good luck, Alonzo answered her before he could say something. "Actually we still can''t." When Veronica raised her eyebrows as if to ask him about the reason, he said, "Mr. Smith hadn''t arrived yet. He would be a little late." "Oh how much I hate people who are late for a meeting." Willa mumbled showing her dismay, making Louis chuckle. But that was not the thing which caught Veronica''s attention but rather it was the surname Alonzo had mentioned. "Mr. Smith? Which Mr. Smith?" Veronica asked, praying it must not be Reuben because she already told him before that they would not be associated with each other in business. Louis cleared her throat to avoid the discussion but his wish hadn''t fulfilled because a deep voice from the door resonated in the big hall. "Well, I didn''t know that there was any other Mr. Smith other than me in the business world of city S." Reuben entered the room, being followed by Tom. Veronica''s eyes got widened when she heard his voice and turned her head to look at him. Pure shock was evident in her eyes when she saw that it was actually that Mr. Smith whom she hadn''t expected at all. Her mouth was wide opened when all the recent incidents jumbled in her mind¡­ like Reuben trying to convince her accepting the project, him not driving her to Creation today.... All were the perfect signs for her to understand the loopholes of the meeting... But she missed it totally... All the scenarios flashed in her mind one after another, making her very angry that she couldn''t help herself from glaring at the pretender or more like imposter, who was standing there with a smirk on his face. Willa''s face was also not less funny than Veronica''s. She hadn''t ever thought even in her dreams that Reuben would be here as the client of them. Alonzo saw the shock in Veronica''s eyes but couldn''t think of anything much from it. Louis saw the atmosphere turned a little awkward, so he tried to break the silence, " Oh. You have already come here Reuben. Come come. Sit here. Don''t waste your time." Reuben took a seat exactly opposite to her, gave her a childish smile portraying himself as an innocent child who didn''t know anything about what was happening around him. Veronica got more angry at him and asked, "What the hell are you doing here Mr. Reuben Smith?" "Miss Lopez. Actually Smith Enterprise is the one whose project is this. So he must be here to sign the contract also." Alonzo said when she saw anger flashed through her eyes. Veronica''s head immediately snapped at Louis as she asked through gritted teeth, "Is it true?" Gulping his saliva, Louis replied nervously, "Yes. It is." Reuben internally laughed at her reaction and asked, "Oh. Miss Lopez. Why are behaving so unprofessionally? Calm down your anger. I''m not a lion who will eat you." He gave her a naughty wink at the end of the sentence which didn''t go unnoticed by Louis and Willa as they controlled themselves from letting out a huge laugh... Chapter 115 - Played with my feelings... Reuben internally laughed at her reaction and asked, "Oh. Miss Lopez. Why are you behaving so unprofessionally? Calm down your anger. I''m not a lion who will eat you." He gave her a naughty wink at the end of the sentence which didn''t go unnoticed by Louis and Willa as they controlled themselves from letting out a huge laugh. They exactly knew what Reuben mean by the two words... ''eat you''... which was totally on a savage part so their mind couldn''t help but getting wilder with the thought. Veronica threw him daggers at him through her eyes but didn''t continue on this topic because she knew if she did then someone might get killed today by her hands. They started the meeting and signed the contracts. Veronica took the blueprints from Bill and discussed with Alonzo and Louis about the whole planning. Reuben hadn''t said anything but just kept his eyes focused on Veronica as he cared less about the meeting. When Veronica felt a gaze on her, she moved her eyes on him sometimes and gave him a cold glare. After the meeting finished, everyone went out the office. Veronica was left behind to shut off her laptop and Reuben deliberately slowed down his footsteps. She was about to step out of the door when Reuben took the chance to pinch her waist, earning a glare from her. He whispered in her ears, "Love the surprise, baby?" before stealing a kiss near her ear. Veronica didn''t answer him instead she stepped on his foot hard, making him groan in pain. The close proximity of them caught the eyes of Alonzo. Though he didn''t see Reuben kissing her, he thought that they were fighting among themselves but still the closeness of them bothered him a little. Not a little actually.. but very much¡­ He suppressed the jealousy he was feeling and reminded himself that it was about few more days when Veronica would be in his arms and no man would dare to look at her... let alone touch her... While they were leaving the hallway, Tom got a call of emergency in his office so Reuben had to rush back but he didn''t forget to blow a kiss to Veronica secretly which made Veronica cool down a little as a smile crept on her face. Truthfully saying, actually she was also very much excited to work with Reuben beside her so that she could spend more time with him. But the perspective that made her angry was that she was unknown to all of those plans that Reuben and Louis had brewed together. "Willa, do one thing. You give Mr. Bill the layout of our previous projects so that they could get an idea an idea of our works." Veronica said. Willa nodded her head and led Bill to her office so that he could give him the hard copies. Louis also excused himself as he had an important meeting with a client. So now it was only Alonzo and Veronica who were present there. Alonzo kept looking at her which made Veronica a little bit uncomfortable. Couldn''t stand holding herself anymore, she asked, "Do you have something to say to me Mr. Brown?" "How long are you gonna keep up with this pretending?" Alonzo asked back stopping himself in front of her. "What do you mean?" Veronica''s eyebrows furrowed when he heard the sudden question. Alonzo let out a mocking laugh and said, "You really don''t know what I mean? I didn''t know that you would be such a good actor." Being already angry on the previous circumstances, Veronica''s anger grew high up on her head and she said in a very cold voice, "Mr. Brown if this is some kind of joke like last time then I would prefer you to drop it. Otherwise it''ll be not good for you if you keep on insulting me like this." Alonzo gritted his teeth when he saw that she still was not admitting the truth, "To your dismay, this time I''m not joking. But seems like you took me like a joke. You played with my feelings five years ago and now pretending not to know me." Getting confused at what Alonzo was saying, Veronica tried to calm herself from bursting out at him, "First of all, I met you for the first time at your company''s inauguration party. So I don''t know what are you talking about that happened five years ago? And second of all, you don''t have any right to talk to me like this." She pointed a finger at him. Alonzo grabbed her finger in his right palm which instantly made Veronica narrowed her eyes and Alonzo smirked at her reaction. "Oh. You met me for the first time in my party? Really? Can you please stop lying to me anymore?" Alonzo sarcastically said. "Enough is enough Mr. Brown. You can''t insult me like this that even standing in my office." Veronica warned him, her eyes was burning ,hot in anger. Alonzo left her finger and instead hold her shoulder with both of his hands and scowled, "If you met me recently then what about the time we spent together in city B?" The name of the city instantly brought up many memories of her new friend that she met there and later became extremely close but she couldn''t remember any Alonzo Brown that she met there... "City B?" she asked in a deep thought. Gripping her shoulder more tightly, nearly making Veronica flinched in pain, Alonzo was about to say something when they heard footsteps near them. Alonzo let her go while Veronica stood there confusedly, still trying to remember anything about him but her mind was completely blank about the name Alonzo. Willa and Bill reached them and Alonzo left Creation with his assistant. Before leaving, Alonzo stopped in his track and told Veronica with a fake smile on his face, "I hope Miss Lopez will think about what I''ve said her earlier." Veronica stared at his back until his silhouette was no more there to see and this got Willa''s attention. "Anything happened Vero?" Willa asked her calling her name as she knew that there was no one present there in the hallway. Veronica turned her face towards her and replied unattentively, "No¡­ nothing." Chapter 116 - Alexander Brown... The day finally came to an end by Veronica thinking about Alonzo''s words over and over again. But nothing came to her mind. And that ended with her having an extreme headache. As usual Reuben came to fetch her from her office and she easily obliged with him. The car ride was undeniably silent which made Reuben a little upset. He thought that maybe Veronica didn''t like him to hide this big thing from her so much that she became super angry on him and stopped talking to him... They reached their home soon but Veronica didn''t wait for him this time outside the door and just entered without even batting an eye on him, making Reuben more guilty. After their dinner, Veronica straightly went to her bedroom without even saying anything to Reuben. Washing the dishes, Reuben also headed to their bedroom and lied down on the bed. He gently hugged her from behind and buried his face in her neck. "I''m sorry Ica.. Please don''t ignore me. I really can''t bear not talking with you. It''s making me more and more guilty towards you. I thought that... that maybe working with you would make you happy like me." Reuben apologized whispering in her hair, making Veronica turned towards him, looking at him questioningly which Reuben took as a sign to continue. "I thought if I didn''t say anything about the whole project thing beforehand to you and instead give you a surprise by presenting myself physically in front of you then it''ll be more effective. Though I knew you would be a little angry on me for hiding you such a big thing, but believe me Ica.. I haven''t realised that it would upset you so much that you would stop talking to me. Please talk to me honey. Please¡­" Reuben pleaded with pitiful eyes. Veronica looked at Reuben astonishingly and suddenly she burst into laughter. "Hahaha¡­ oh god Bennie¡­ Hahaha¡­ you thought that I''m... I''m ignoring you for that purposefully?" Veronica asked in middle of laughing. "You are not?" Reuben''s brows raised in confusion. "No.. not at all. How can I even be angry at you for this little thing.!" Veronica exclaimed cupping his face into her palms. Reuben kissed her palm and asked, "Then why baby? Why are you behaving like this?" Letting out a sigh, Veronica described everything that happened in the office after he left and what Alonzo told her. Reuben listened to her very attentively without missing anything and in the middle, he would sometimes furrow his brows or made some comments. "Baby.. After listening everything, I came to one point that Alonzo was talking about you from five years ago. He also mentioned that you both met in city B and both of you have some kind of connection which he accused you to act like you forget about him." Reuben said analysing the whole incident. When Veronica nodded her head in confirmation, Reuben took a deep breath and asked, "Ica.. do you remember anyone from city B with the name Alonzo Brown? Try to remember babe. Maybe you met him during the few months you lived there." Veronica shook her head after thinking for a while and said, "No Bennie. I don''t remember anyone by the name Alonzo Brown." Making Reuben more confused that if she didn''t know Alonzo then why would he told her that they both had known each other and more than anything Veronica never lied to him... So that''s a big NO.. Then what''s the matter? What''s the big loophole among all of it that he couldn''t guess properly? Same was happening to Veronica as she kept thinking of all the people she met there. Pondering for some while, Veronica suddenly murmured, "Though I can''t remember any Alonzo Brown from B city but there I met a friend whose surname was also Brown." "What do you mean?" Reuben asked gazing at her questioningly. Veronica sighed before answering, "Do you remember I told you about a guy friend I met in B city and later who became very close to me there and we became good friends." Thinking for a minute when Reuben remembered about the guy she talked to him, he nodded his hand and said, "Yeah . I remember." "Well, though his name was not Alonzo but his surname was also Brown. His name was Alexander Brown. I used to call him Alex" Veronica confessed. "So you meant to say that both Alonzo and Alex are same?" Reuben questioned making Veronica scrunch her nose. She shook her head in denial and said, "No. That can''t be. That''s impossible." "Why so?" "Because¡­ Alex belonged from a poor family, he was not even a little close to Alonzo. He loved simple things and dressed like normal people whereas Alonzo kept himself always quite aloof. He was such a sweet and kind guy that everyone would like him, he would also laugh often.. not at all like Alonzo who has a serious face all the time. There are no match between them." Veronica narrated. Reuben closed his eyes for few seconds to let out the frustration he was feeling about not finding the conclusion that would make an end to Veronica''s stress. He then again opened his eyes and stared at her beautiful face. Kissing the tip of her nose, he said, "Relax babe. Don''t overthink too much about it and pressurise yourself. I''ll think of a solution about this matter. Now be a good girl and sleep." Nodding her head, Veronica hugged him tightly and slept off... On the other side, Reuben mentally cursed Alonzo for letting his Ica become so stressed over nothing. He thought if all of his statements were nothing but pure lies to put a stunt on her then he would make sure he would regret this for his whole life. But if what Alonzo said was all true then he would do whatever he could to find out the truth and later would make decision according this whole situation... Chapter 117 - Tasted the delicious meat... Willa''s Apartment¡­ After a day of hard work, Willa finally reached her home. Entering the living room, she shrieked in fear when she heard some noises from her kitchen. Her heart leapt into fear and she hold her breath at the thought of someone might be invading in her apartment. But the apartment was full of security, then how could someone unknown enter without getting caught? Gaining some confidence in herself, she reached for a fruit cutting knife that she had left in the living room before going for work and walked very silently towards the kitchen. Tiptoeing when she finally reached the door she saw a man pouring some orange juice in a glass. She slowly walked towards him and pressed the cold metal of the knife on his neck. "Don''t move.. otherwise I''ll not even think for a minute to cut your neck off of your body." Willa warned in a dangerous voice. The man didn''t move from his place instead he kept the glass of juice on the kitchen bar, saying, "Oh my baby? Don''t you even no my physic?" then turned his face sideways to look at her. Willa gasped when she heard the very familiar voice and removed the knife away from the man''s neck. "God! I''m so sorry Sam.. I didn''t notice that it''s you. Really really sorry." Willa hold his shoulder as she apologized looking into his eyes. Sam cupped her face in his hands and said, "Relax babe. It''s absolutely okay. Instead of getting angry, I''m happy that you are on your guard always. You don''t know honey how much it stresses me when I think of you living here all alone. The fear of something going to happen to you is always in my mind whenever I go to sleep or eat." Staring at his eyes and hearing the heartfelt words that he said, Willa''s heart melted immediately and she hugged him tightly, "I''m so happy that you came into my life honey. I can''t even think of my life without you." "Ditto baby." Sam said kissing on her forehead. "So tell me what are you doing here this late?" Willa asked holding his hands. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, he mumbled, "Did you forget that it''s been one whole week we hadn''t met each other and I missed you like hell. So I came here to see you along with your favourite food." He pointed towards a packet of foods. "So just go to change and I''ll heat up the foods." He spoke pushing her out of the kitchen. Before leaving the kitchen, Willa turned towards him with a smile on her face and confessed, "I love you. You are the best." As Willa was vanished into her room, Sam let out a devilish chuckle and murmured, "You are too stupid to trust me my lovely Willa. You are too innocent to understand me and my dirty games..." --- Love-Paradise¡­ Veronica was sleeping when Reuben got out of the bed slowly taking his phone out with him. Stepping in the balcony, he dialed a number and a man picked it up after few rings. "Hey man." The man said panting lowly. Reuben chuckled hearing his friend''s panting voice, knowing exactly what was happening on the other side. "Seems like you are busy man into something. And that something is very sensuous and important." Reuben teased. Henry growled from the other side, "Like you already know everything, then you better say it quickly about what you have called me for, this late at night and that even totally breaking my precious time with my sexy girlfriend." Lucinda hit his chest playfully while she glared at him to stop blabbering nonsense, still staying under him. Henry laughed at her cuteness and kissed her nose making her giggle. Reuben smiled when he heard both of their playfulness in the phone and looked over his shoulder to see the beautiful lying figure of Veronica. Seeing her face which was glistening in the moonlight, he remembered the reason he had called Henry for and cleared his throat to get Henry''s attention back to him. "Henry, we''ve a serious matter to discuss." Reuben said gaining his full attention. Henry got up from the bed covering Lucinda with the blanket before walking towards his balcony too. "What''s it?" He asked. "Something happened today at Creation." Reuben stated running his hand through his hair. "What happened? Is Vero okay?" Henry asked in a panicking voice. "Nothing happened to Ica. Actually it''s something about Alonzo Brown." Reuben stated. Sighing in relief, Henry asked, "What about Mr. Brown?" "Actually.. he suddenly told Ica that they have known each other from past five years and they had met in city B." Reuben said and continued to tell him in details. Henry raised his eyebrows before saying, "But you said that Vero doesn''t know anything about him." "Yeah right. But she told me that she met a friend there whose name is Alexander Brown." "So you meant to say that something is fishy there." Henry said in confusion. Reuben nodded his head though he knew that Henry couldn''t see him, "Yup.. And I think that both Alonzo Brown and Alexander Brown definitely have some connection between them which must be very close." Henry sighed again before saying, "Okay. Don''t think too much about it. We''ll discuss about it when we meet next time. Now sleep and let me have some amazing time with my baby." Chuckling at Henry, Reuben said, "Hmm.. go go.. Now that you have tasted the delicious meat of your girlfriend... you won''t be able to control yourself like me." Before cutting the call. He took a deep breath and looked up at the sky, gazing at the half moon. "I won''t let anyone harm you baby. I promise." He whispered to himself before heading back to the bed and then hugging Veronica tightly, he dozed off... Chapter 118 - Turn Creation into a traitor... Willa''s Apartment¡­ Getting fresh and changing into home clothes, Willa came into the dining area where Sam was already seated on his chair with foods covering the dining table.. And all was Willa''s favourites¡­ Willa smiled seeing it and thought to herself, ''I must be very lucky to get a boyfriend like Sam.'' "Oh.. you are already here." Sam said after noticing Willa in the dining room. "Yeah " Willa said before taking a seat beside him. When they were having their dinner, Sam asked, "Babe.. so how is your office?" "Everything is going good. We are starting a new project really soon." Willa said taking a spoonful of pasta in her mouth. "New project? What kind of project is this?" Sam asked trying to whip out information from her by putting his facial expression as much normal as he could. Willa sipped the orange juice and replied, "It''s a hotel project. We''re collaborating with two big companies right now... Smith Enterprise and Brown Corporation... It''s one of a hell big project for which we have to work our ass off." This peaked Sam''s interest immediately as he smirked thinking in his mind, ''Now now... it''s quite a big information. I can get a lot of money after revealing this to Boss.'' "Oh. So when your project will start? Are you in it?" Sam asked trying to suppress a smile. "Maybe from next week. Actually Veronica is the one to supervise this project so I''d be helping her too." She replied without doubting Sam even a little bit when he kept asking her questions after questions. Finishing the dinner, Sam got up to leave, "It''s already late now. So I''ll be leaving. Go to sleep." "Yeah. Good night and drive safe." Willa said with a pure smile handing him his suit jacket. Kissing her on the forehead, Sam gave her a brief smile and left the apartment with a big smirk on his face. Entering his car, Sam locked the door and called his employer. "Boss, I''ve a good news for you..." Peter was in the middle of a rough sex with a girl in the bar as he said panting heavily, "What''s it?" "You would be happy to hear this. Creation is having a merger with Smith Enterprise and Brown Corporation." Sam informed. "What? You mean the biggest company Smith Enterprise? And the Brown Corporation is the new one that opened in city S. Right?" Peter asked jumping out of the bed in excitement, leaving the girl on the bed in bewilderment. Sam chuckled as he confirmed, "Yes boss. It is the same company." Laughing like a devil, Peter said, "Wow! It''s gonna be fun then. If we can get a hold of even a small information about the project and sell it to others, then it would be enough to tarnish Creation''s reputation. Because Smith Enterprise is not someone to deal with traitors and I''ll make sure to turn Creation into a traitor in front of everyone. Oh ho ho..!! It''s going to be exciting to see them getting destroyed. Hahaha¡­" "Yes Boss. You are right. So¡­ can I expect a good sum of money for such a big information?" Sam asked getting more excited. "Obviously you will. I''ll send you your wage tomorrow morning. Now go to the club and fuck some sexy girl to enjoy our upcoming victory." Peter exclaimed. "Sure Boss..." Sam cut the call with a big smile on his face, heading towards a bar to bed some random girls. ---- Smith Enterprise... "Boss you called for me?" Tom asked entering his office. Reuben who was busy typing in his computer, looked up at him and said, "Yeah¡­ I want you to find out every single details about someone." "Okay boss. Tell me the name of that person." Tom urged. "Alexander Brown¡­ He is from B city. Check about each and every details about him. Don''t even miss out about the time he sleeps or eats. I don''t want you to omit anything about him." Reuben ordered him. Tom nodded his head and replied, "Okay Boss. Anything specific about him to find?" Pondering for quite a while, Reuben said, "Find about him from six years ago. What did he do or what type of man he is." "Okay Boss." Tom said before going to leave the office. But before he could turn the doorknob, Reuben suddenly spoke out, "Tom.. I think I''ve one more person for you to check out. " "Who is this Boss?" Tom asked. "Alonzo Brown." Reuben stated. "Find it as soon as possible. And also notice if there is any connection between both Alexander and Alonzo Brown." Reuben continued. Tom''s expression changed into confusion as to why his boss suddenly would ask him to check about their new business partner but he didn''t express his thought. Because he knew whatever Reuben is doing or asking for must be for some important reasons. So nodding his head, he left his office to work for his boss''s order. After Tom left, Reuben muttered to himself, "If I find anything wrong about you Alonzo Brown which would hurt my Ica then I promise to make you regret every single wrong doings of you..." Chapter 119 - Own selfishness... Creation¡­ Veronica was sitting in her office lazily, reading some random news on her computer because she didn''t have anything left to do as her work was being done by others. So she only had free time to pass till the next week before getting busy again with her new project of her dear boyfriend''s company. She rolled her eyes thinking about Reuben and his magnificent planning to make her work with him. So she was just passing her boring time scrolling and searching different kinds of things when someone knocked her door. "Come in." Veronica said. As the person entered her cabin, Veronica got surprised to see him at this hour and that even in her office. "Dad¡­" Veronica called in excitement and went to hug him, being hugged back by her father. "What are you doing here?" Veronica asked before making her father sit with her on the couch in her office. "I was just passing from here so thought of giving my baby girl a surprise visit." Mr. Lopez said as he kissed her on the forehead after hugging her sidewise. Veronica''s eyes sparkled with joy seeing her father in her office as she rested her head on his shoulder... "Thanks dad for coming here. I missed you a lot." Veronica confessed. "Aww my baby! I missed you too. How about we have lunch together and spend some father-daughter time?" Mr. Lopez asked patting her head. "Really? You really have time for a lunch with me today?" Veronica''s eyes lit up in enjoyment. Mr. Lopez''s smile got broadened after seeing her daughter''s cute excited reaction as he said, "Which father doesn''t have time for their own daughter, specially when she is so sweet and lovely like you?" "I love you Dad." Veronica hugged him more tightly. Getting her purse and phone and shutting her computer down she went for lunch with her father. While leaving they both collided with Willa who just got back to her table from washroom. "Hello Mr. Lopez. I hope you are well." Willa greeted politely. "Oh, my little girl... There is no one here right now except we three. So you can call me uncle. And I''m very much well. How about you?" Mr. Lopez asked. "I''m also fine Uncle. It''s good to see you after so many days." Willa said with a smiling face. "Same here, Willa. Now that I remember you haven''t visited us for long. Why don''t you come to our home one day? Your aunt will also be very happy to see you." Mr. Lopez said. Willa''s face enlightened in happiness as she confirmed, "I''ll definitely visit someday. I really miss aunt''s cooking." Willa was very close with both of Veronica''s parents. They treated her like their own daughter alongside Lucinda. Despite being so much wealthy, they always stayed humble and treated everyone similarly. They didn''t judge any people with money or power but with their kindness and loving nature. They were truly the best parents anyone could ever have. Veronica smiled at them and offered Willa, "We are going for lunch. Would you like to join us?" "I''d really love to. But can''t as I''ve meeting with the production company." Willa denied with a sad face. Mr. Lopez patted her head and said, "Its okay girl. Don''t work too hard and take care of yourself. We''ll be leaving then." ---- At the restaurant¡­ "So how everything is going on princess?" Mr. Lopez asked. "Everything is going smoothly." Veronica replied taking a bite of the pork ribs. Mr. Lopez nodded his head and said, "That''s good." After talking about anything and nothing, Mr. Lopez suddenly said, "I''m really happy that you are dating Reuben. No one would care so much about you as he does. He really loves you very much." "I know that Dad. And I also love him a lot. But why did you say this so suddenly?" Veronica asked at his father''s sudden confrontation about her and Reuben''s relationship. Shaking his head, Mr. Lopez said, "Nothing honey. Just said as a matter of fact." Nodding her head at him, Veronica continued eating her food... After having their lunch, Mr. Lopez dropped Veronica at her office before going back to his own. As the driver started his car, he dialed someone''s number. "So everything is done?" The person asked. "Yes. Thanks to you Reuben that I got to spend some special time with my lovely princess and make her mood better." Mr. Lopez said on the phone. Reuben smiled from the other side of the call and said, "No uncle. Don''t thank me. I called you to meet Ica because of my own selfishness." "Your own selfishness? I couldn''t understand properly." Mr. Lopez spoke out in uncertainty. Sighing deeply, Reuben asserted, "Uncle, whenever my Ica gets sad or she feels stressed, my heart gets clenched like hell and I feel pain all over my body seeing her like this. So obviously if I want to stay healthy, I''ve to keep her happy." " And these past few days had been very stressful for her and I know very clearly that even how much anyone tries hard, no one can ever take a place of a father in a girl''s life¡­ not even a boyfriend or husband..." "I can claim to the whole world that I love her the most... but the undemanding amount of love you have for Veronica can''t even be compared to mine. I''ll always be second to you at loving her, because no one can ever break the purity of the relationship between a father and daughter like both of you have..." Mr. Lopez''s eyes welled up in tears and if there was not the driver present with him, he would cry in happiness and pure joy of having such a lovable future son-in-law for himself. He accepted by his heart that no one¡­ literally no one could love his daughter so much as the person on the call did.. Calming himself, Mr. Lopez professed, "You know what Reuben¡­ I''m very happy that my daughter met you and both of you eventually fell in love. I bless you both for your undying love for each other. Thanks for loving my daughter so much." Hearing the heartful confession from his soon to be father-in-law, Reuben smiled and confessed sincerely, "Don''t worry Uncle. I''ll always love and cherish your princess because she became my life now..." Chapter 120 - Little less perceiving... Reuben picked up Veronica from her office and both of them left for their home. He noticed that the stress she was feeling earlier today was all gone... Sitting in the car, Veronica looked at his side-face as she placed her hand over his arm, resting her head on his shoulder. "Thanks Bennie.." She whispered closing her eyes. Reuben was perplexed at her sudden gratitude thing as he asked, "Why thanks?" "For everything." Veronica replied in just two words, still keeping her eyes closed. "You are not answering me properly Ica." Reuben said as he kissed her hair before focusing again on the road. Veronica tilted her head up, kissing his jaw, she said, "Thanks for calling my dad to visit me today." When she saw the shocked expression on Reuben''s face, she giggled before resting her head on his shoulder again as she continued, "I know very well that you told Dad to visit me in my office. Because no one except you knew that I was a little stressed out and moreover you can''t see me sad at all. So who could be other than you to call him?" "And my Dad understand it very well that I want to stay humble as much as I can so he wouldn''t suddenly interfere in my professional life by coming at my office if it is not so important." Reuben looked at her amusedly and chuckled before stating, "Can''t you be a little less perceiving?" Grinning widely, Veronica denied, "No. I can''t after all I love you so much." Smiling to himself, Reuben sped his car to their home.. Sweet home¡­ ----- The next day at Smith Enterprise¡­ Reuben entered his office and unbuttoned his suit jacket before sitting on his swivel chair. He looked at his watch and it was only 9 am as he had his first meeting today at 10. He called for Tom as soon as he saw that he had enough time to interrogate him about his research which he gave him yesterday. "You called for me, Boss?" Tom entered with a file in his hands. "Yeah. Have you found anything yet?" Reuben asked directly without beating around the bushes.. Tom looked at the file in his hand and gave it to Reuben, "Yes Boss." Taking the file from his hand, Reuben checked it thoroughly without letting Tom leave his office. He checked each and every details that was kept in the file but his brows furrowed deeper and deeper with each turn of the pages. He abruptly looked up from the file and his eyes fixed on his assistant as he asked, "You didn''t find anything about Alexander Brown?" Lowering his eyes, Tom replied, "No sir. There was no one registered with the name of Alexander Brown in city B''s resident list." Reuben didn''t say anything when he saw that Tom had more to say. He just gestured him to continue. Taking a long breath, Tom said, "Boss, we have searched very heard to find Alexander Brown. But seems like the person doesn''t even exist at all. We didn''t get any clue about him... far away his other personal informations¡­" Reuben nodded his head wandering something in his mind. Staring at a certain page of the file, Reuben asked, "There is an information saying that Mr. Alonzo Brown had left the city B six years ago. Where did he go?" "Mr. Brown seemed to go to country M for his further studies but he came back one year before the session time was supposed to end." Tom replied. "What do you mean? He hadn''t completed his studies in city M and came back to city B one year prior to the actual degree period." "Yes Boss. But later we found out that he had done his further studies from one of the very famous University in city B and got the degree in the same year when he should be getting it from the University of city M, which is apparently four years ago." The suspicions Reuben was feeling, became more terrified and only one possibility was running in his mind. And that is¡­ Alexander Brown is none other than Alonzo himself¡­ But for more clarity and surety Reuben told his assistant, "Tom, one last work for you. Find out if Alonzo had really departed the plane for city M six years ago or not? Get his University certificate or any kind of information which would prove if he really had studied one year in city M or that was a complete lie." "Do it at first as you can. Dig each and everything about him even if you have to use my name and manpower then do it. I want the result clear and accurate." "Sure Boss..." Dismissing Tom from his office, Reuben rubbed his forehead and ran his hand through his hair hastily. Taking deep breaths to calm his anger and frustration down, he called someone and said, "I need you and Neil both at our base today night." Henry asked in the phone, "Why? Is anything serious?" "Yes.. I need to talk to both of you about Alonzo Brown." Reuben said with a grave face. "Okay. We''ll be there." Henry said as his face also become serious... Chapter 121 - Either Ghost... or hidden his identity... Creation¡­ Veronica''s phone rang as she entered her cabin after having lunch with Willa. Seeing the caller ID, a smile bloomed on her lips. "Hey honey." Veronica said picking up the call. "Babe¡­ I wouldn''t be able to pick you up today from your office. I''ll tell Tom to drive you back to home." Reuben said. Furrowing her eyebrows, Veronica spoke, "That''s okay. But do you have something important to do today?" Veronica heard a sigh from the other side as Reuben told, "Yeah. Today Neil, Henry and I are meeting up for a chat. So I''ll be a little late. Eat your dinner at the right time and don''t wait for me." "Okay. Then see you at night honey. Bye." Veronica said with a smile on her face. "Yeah, Bye." Reuben said as the call got cut. ---- Secret 7... Henry and Neil were already sitting in the base of Secret 7. Henry was narrating everything to Neil because... when Reuben called yesterday night, he wanted to have a conference call, but Neil didn''t pick up the phone resulting Reuben only to talk with Henry. Henry was also a member of Secret 7... His code name is HUNTER... And he really behaved like one when he saw his preys, he would not show any mercy on them.. "So that''s all what happened." Neil said after hearing the matters of Alonzo from Henry. Henry nodded her head in affirmation as he replied, "Yes. That''s what Reuben had told me yesterday." "I don''t know anything about anyone but if that Alonzo tried to hurt my little sister then I''m gonna kill him without even batting an eye." Neil roared in anger gritting his teeth. Sliding one of the corner of his lips up in a smirk, Henry said, "Do you think that Reuben would leave Alonzo easily if he do something to hurt our sister? Don''t you know how much he loves her and how much overprotective could he be about her?" Right then, a tall silhouette entered the base with a cold look on his face. Taking a seat with his other friends he sighed before folding his hands together and leaning front towards them, resting both of his elbows on his knees. Both Henry and Neil looked at him as they sensed the restlessness in his movements. Sighing deeply, Neil started, "I heard everything from Henry. So what''s the matter about all this Alonzo? And exactly who is Alexander?" Lifting his eyes up to him, Reuben said, "Alexander was Veronica''s friend while she was in city B. And about Alonzo¡­ you know who exactly he is. But you will come to know everything when you see this." Reuben took out the file which had all the details about Alonzo which Tom had presented him today morning. Neil took the file and shared it with Henry to look through the information. Ten minutes had already passed when both of them finished reading the file and both of their faces were totally surprised to look at, which was kinda funny to watch... If it was other times Reuben would laugh out loud, making fun of them but it was not a time to joke around... "So Alonzo had came back to B city without finishing his studies but still got his degree on the scheduled year from a famous University there. How could that be possible?" Henry spoke coming out of the shock. As Reuben nodded his head, Neil''s face became more intensified when he ask, "But there was no registered name of Alexander Brown whom Vero claimed to be her friend." "Yes. But the thing that is triggering me the most is how can a person doesn''t have his name registered when he was a resident of our country¡­ otherwise he was a ghost or¡­. He had hidden his identity." Henry''s expression changed from confusion to realisation when he said this. Neil looked at him like he also understood the intensity of his meaning as he murmured, "And both Alexander and Alonzo''s surname is the same. Brown." Reuben stared at them as he continued their comprehension, "More than everything, Alonzo had came back from city M exactly after one month Ica had finished her experiment in city B and returned to city S." Again realisation hit them hard when Henry opened his mouth, "So¡­ you mean to say that¡­ both Alonzo and Alexander are the same person." Reuben''s gaze hadn''t fluttered at all but his eyes became colder and his jaw clenched in anger which was enough to make the two men understand that they were absolutely right about their thoughts. Letting out a sigh, Neil asked, "So what are we going to do now? Are you telling about this to Vero?" Shaking his head in a denial, Reuben said, "No. Not now. I told Tom to enquire about Alonzo''s University informations and when it gets confirmed that he is really the Alexander Brown we''re thinking about... only then I''ll tell her." "And about Alonzo.... I''d rather give Ica the decision to do whatever she wants. But if he intimidated anything rude to her, then I''ll not just sit around without doing anything." Rage was illuminating from Reuben''s low yet threatening voice. "Do whatever you want but just make sure to tell us everything beforehand so that we could be prepared." Neil said patting Reuben''s shoulder to calm him down... Chapter 122 - Making me tickle... "So this is what happened¡­" Lucinda said lying on Henry''s bare chest. "Yeah.. I''m really worried about my little sister." Henry whispered as he stroked her hair. Lucinda sighed before saying, "Me too. After all she is my best friend. I hope that Alonzo is really not Alexander." Right then, her phone got a message and it was from Myra. The message says, ''If you are not sleeping, then can I call you now? I have something important to tell you.'' Seeing the message, Lucinda furrowed her eyebrows and when Henry noticed this, he asked, "Who is this babe?" "Myra." Lucinda replied. "Why she texted you so late at night?" Henry asked. "Don''t know. She told me that she has something important to tell me. Let me call her. Okay?" Lucinda said before dialing Myra''s number. "Hey Lucy. I hope I didn''t disturb you." Myra said picking up the call. Lucinda denied, "No. Not at all. Tell me what important thing you have to say?" Lucinda asked. "Actually, as we decided, I recently bought that place for my restaurant. Actually not me. But my brother bought it for me. But¡­." Myra stopped in her sentence midway. Raising her eyebrows, Lucinda asked, "But what?" Sighing deeply, Myra narrated the whole story, "Actually, I don''t want my brother to help me in this. I really want to build this restaurant by my own and I don''t want my family''s name to come in all of this, making people judge me that the restaurant was built because of my family''s money and fame." "Hmmm¡­ That''s understandable." Lucinda hummed before leaning towards the headboard. "But the problem is, my savings will not be enough for building this whole restaurant as per my dream one. So¡­ so I need an investor in this who would co-own with me. However, as you know I don''t know anyone in this city who could be trustful to invest in my dream like restaurant, so I need help from you in this. Can you please suggest me some good investors for it?" Myra asked almost pleading. Taking a deep breath, Lucinda replied, "Okay. I got it. Why don''t you do one thing. Come to my cafe tomorrow and we''ll discuss about this more clearly. If you want I can also call Veronica to help you. She is really good at this kind of stuffs." A sigh of relaxation filled in Myra''s mind as she said jovially, "That would be great. Thanks a lot for your help once again. I''ll meet you tomorrow then." "Yeah. Bye." Lucinda said before cutting the call and again lying beside Henry who was scrolling through his social media accounts. ----- Love-Paradise¡­ "Ah.. Don''t do this. You are making me tickle." "But you love it extremely when I do this. Don''t you?" "You are such a mean¡­" "Hahaha¡­ Stop wiggling, let me put it on your face¡­" "I don''t want to.. It''s so squishy¡­" "Stop behaving like a brat Reuben Smith and let me put the mask on your face." Veronica warned him as she trying to put a facemask on Reuben but he wasn''t giving her any helping hand to do so. Reuben was squirming and wiggling in his chair and continued to shake his head to stop her from doing so. "It''s a girly thing Ica. I don''t want to do this. You know that I''m very handsome so I don''t need this little masks for my amazing skin. And if you want to make my skin more healthy then you can kiss and lick me all around my face. I wouldn''t mind that." Reuben said with a naughty smile on his face. "Shut the fuck up. Bennie. And it''s for skincare. You stayed outside for so many hours so I need to protect your skin from the germs. And if you don''t oblige with me right now then I promise I''d not allow you to sleep with me for one week." Veronica scolded him in a threatening voice. Hearing the warning in her voice, Reuben immediately zipped his lips and sat like a behaved child who seems to be very obedient towards his mother. Veronica smiled at her triumph and thought to herself that she really had a big baby in the shape of a man to care¡­ Reuben really behaved like a five years old child sometimes... As she finished putting the mask on his face, Veronica heard her phone ringing and it was none other than Lucinda. "Hey Lucy." Veronica said. "Hi Niccy. Can you make some time for tomorrow?" Lucinda asked. "Yeah, I can but why did you ask?" Veronica asked back. "Actually Myra had some problems with her restaurant thing so she asked us to help her." After that she described everything to Veronica. Veronica also agreed with Lucinda to help her and she also told that if Willa got some free time then she would bring her there too.. As it came to a settlement, Veronica kept her phone down when she saw Reuben looking at ger questioningly. She narrated everything to him as Reuben also approved it because he knew very well, whatever was going to happen between Alonzo and them, didn''t need to include Myra among all of these. So helping her, would not be a problem for his Ica¡­ Chapter 123 - Half Truth... Sip and Drip¡­ "So let''s start the meeting." Lucinda said getting all excited. Rolling her eyes at Lucinda, Veronica said, "Don''t mind her Myra. She is always like this. By the way, meet her. She is both my and Lucinda''s best friend, Willa." Turning towards Willa, Veronica introduced, "As I told you on the way here, she is Mr. Alonzo Brown''s sister, Myra Brown. We met her at the party and became good friends." "Hi. Nice to meet you." Myra greeted Willa. "Same here." Willa shook Myra''s extended hand with a smile. As they all narrated the problem of Myra with Willa, she kept calm thinking about every aspect to help her. She absent-mindedly said, "So you need a trustful investor. But the person can be only trustful to a newbie like you if she / he is known to you." Veronica''s head jolted up at the mention of this as she thought hard for an idea and as like her superfast memory, an extremely good plan hit her brain.. She immediately shifted her gaze towards her childhood best friend and asked, "Lucy, Didn''t you tell me once that you were planning to open a branch of Zip and Drip in city S which will not only serve cookies, pastries and coffee but will be more focused on different types of cuisines. But your plan is being delayed because of your lack of time." Lucinda remembered about her long time dream and nodded at her foolishly. "Yeah. Why did you bring up this matter now?" Face-palming herself, thinking how stupid her not so idiotic best friend could be sometime, Veronica snapped, "Lucy.. where did you put your brain today? Didn''t you get what I mean?" Veronica became astonished when she noticed that not only Lucinda but also Willa and Myra kept staring at her in a dumbfounded state... God.!! These girls.!!! What should she do with them?? She internally cursed her luck for having such dumbass friends and suggested, "What I mean is... since Lucinda and Myra both have same kind of dreams and Myra need a investor while Lucinda can''t get on with her idea because of her short time¡­ then why don''t both of you become partners?" "And that way... Lucy will not need to give her every time to the restaurant whereas Myra will get herself an investor as well as a business partner who is also her friend and trusted one.. What''s say?" Veronica wiggled her eyebrows in a questioning way. Each girls'' face got delighted as they looked at each other being stupified, specially Myra and Lucinda. "Oh My God! Niccy¡­ You really are my best friend. I''m so much in love with you." Lucinda jumped on Veronica embracing her tightly. She then turned towards Myra and said, "See... Didn''t I tell you that she is a mastermind about all these kind of tasks.!!" Myra vigorously nodded her head as happy tears run onto her face. She smiled sweetly at them and said, "Thank you guys for helping me." Willa said, "Come on. Now don''t be a crybaby at this joyous moment. We should enjoy your partnership..." Everyone ordered their favourite coffees, pastries and cookies as Willa asked, "So Myra, from which University you have studied?" Myra took a bite of her pastry and replied,, "I studied from the top most University of city B. Actually, my Dad was planning to send me foreign for higher studies but some circumstances occurred which didn''t let me to go over there." Munching her favourite cookie, Lucinda asked, "If you don''t mind... can you please tell us what was the reason that you couldn''t go foreign for your studies?" Sighing loudly, Myra bowed her heads to think about those memories before replying, "Actually, my brother Alonzo was planned to go out of the country for his MBA course. Six years ago, he had gone there for completing his degree. But¡­" Myra thought if she should say the real reason to them but remembering her father''s threat.. she decided to tell the half truth to her new friends and hid the actual one.. "But near about one year later we found out that he hadn''t actually boarded the plane six years ago, instead stayed in disguise for a whole year in B city. He also met a girl in the meantime and fell on love with her but she dumped him five years ago and left city B without saying anything to him." Veronica''s interest peaked up at the mention of Alonzo staying in disguise, meeting a girl in City B, Alonzo mentioning her about their meet up at her office, and moreover all the time and dates were all correct to the point when she also met her friend at city B and her returning to city S... She joined all the dots of the previous discussions in her mind silently and finally came to a conclusion¡­ Is Alonzo really Alexander Brown? Her long lost friend¡­ But how could that be possible? She need to tell this to her Reuben and only he could solve all her problems. She said goodbye to her friends, giving excuse of her work and left with Willa¡­ As soon as she reached her office, she dialed Reuben''s number and said, "Bennie, I need to tell you something..." Chapter 124 - Chubby Nerd... As soon as she reached her office, she dialed Reuben''s number and said, "Bennie, I need to tell you something." Reuben became alert when he heard Veronica come directly to the point without even saying a ''Hello'', so he said,. "Ica.. firstly calm down.. and tell me what happened?" Sitting on the couch in her office cabin, Veronica let out a sigh and described, "You already know that we met with Alonzo''s sister Myra today, right?" "Yeah.. so what? Did something happen there?" Reuben asked in a worried voice. "Actually, Myra revealed that Alonzo had stayed in a disguise in city B for 1 year. There he met a girl near about five and half years ago who had also left him around half months later. The timing is quite matched to my visit and exit from there. And..." "And the previous inspection of Alonzo really forced me to think that he might be my friend Alex¡­ I don''t know even if I''m right or wrong but it feels too much frustrating." Veronica unfolded her assumption to Reuben. On the other hand, Reuben sighed before replying, "You are right Ica.. Alonzo is your friend Alex." "What?" Reuben''s sudden revelation made Veronica shrieked like a thunderbolt. "How are you so sure about it Bennie?" "Babe¡­ Calm down and don''t freak out. We''ll talk about it at home. Okay? And now clear your mind from all of these stuffs and watch some your favourite videos to relax. Let''s see you at evening." Reuben tried to make her cool down. "Yeah¡­ bye." --- "So it''s true then." Neil said. "He is really good at hiding his identity." Henry gritted his teeth. "Yeah.. He really is." Reuben said. Currently, the three of them are having a conference call during their lunch break. Reuben told them about the investigation result that Tom brought out today morning. Tom reported that Alonzo hadn''t boarded the plane that day and the news was subsided very well by him.. Through immerse searching and threading their power, they came to know that instead of studying in the university of city M, he completed his course in city B where Veronica had been transferred for their six months compulsory outsource project. Tom also got a snatch of few photos of Veronica and Alonzo at a coffee shop. They were both talking lively and discussing something about the book Veronica was holding. But the thing that shocked Reuben, Neil and Henry the most was the appearance of Alonzo in that photo which Reuben had emailed to them... Though the photo was a little bit hazy, but their eagle like eyes didn''t miss to recognise the actual person in a complete disguise. He was wearing a plain shirt with simple jeans. His hair was not organised and the whole attire of him was giving the vibe of a simple boy who really belonged from a middle class family... Even his face was not as sharp as right now, he was a little bit chubby, not at all like today''s hard chested Alonzo. He had a stupid smile on his face and his hair was falling on his forehead. He had a square shape spectacles on his eyes which made him look more old fashioned type. In simple words, he was looking like a chubby nerd¡­ If they would be in place of Veronica who was only around 20 years old at that time, they would also couldn''t recognise the new Alonzo Brown who was extremely handsome and well toned. They would also thought of him as a mere stranger after meeting him almost five years later¡­ "So what are you gonna do now? Will you warn him not to come close to our Vero?" Henry asked. "Are you stupid? Why would he do so?" Neil rolled his eyes at Henry''s not so good question. Henry growled, "What did I say wrong? Isn''t it every boyfriend''s responsibility to protect their girlfriends?" "Shut up both of you." Reuben yelled in the phone making both of them stop their idiotic bantering.. As both of them closed their mouth, Reuben expressed, "You are absolutely right Henry and I will definitely protect my Ica. But that doesn''t mean that I have to threaten him. I''ll give full freedom to my Ica about Alonzo. Whatever she determined to do with him or whether she wanted keep their friendship or move out from it.. is absolutely her choice. I will not interfere in her own decision on her life. But yeah.. what I will do is to give her support in everything she would decide to do and if she needs my help or protection in all of these matters them I''ll happily oblige to do so. I''ll be by her side in her every judgement and be her support system..." "Alright. Whatever you say. But if you need any kind of help you know that we''re always with both of you." Neil reminded while Henry agreed with him. "I know." Reuben said smilingly. ---- Alonzo''s Apartment¡­ Myra was cooking in the kitchen when Alonzo got back from his office. Myra earlier today had told Alonzo about Lucinda being her new investor and Alonzo supported her in it. "What are you making?" Alonzo asked. "Some spaghetti." Myra replied before serving it into a bowl. "Okay. Then I''ll come getting freshed up." Alonzo said before going to her room. As soon as he kept his suitcase near the bed, he got a call from his mother. He was avoiding his father''s call from few days but when his mother called, it was not the same. So expecting his mother on the call, he received the phone, "Hello." "So you accept your mother''s calls but always avoided mine..." "Dad¡­???" Chapter 125 - I’ll be by your side... He was avoiding his father''s call from few days but when his mother called it was not the same. So expecting his mother on the call, he received the phone, "Hello." "So you accept your mother''s calls but avoided mine." "Dad¡­???" "So you remember me¡­" Mr. Brown sarcastically said. "Where is Mom? And why are you calling from mom''s phone?" Alonzo growled. Mr. Brown''s mood got extremely sour hearing Alonzo''s chilli mixed spicy words as he yelled at him, "Don''t you dare talk to me like that, you boy.. Don''t forget that I''m your father." "If you called me just to remind me that you are my father then drop it. You are not even near a ounce of that. Now if you want me not to cut the call then tell me your demand." Alonzo spoke through his gritted teeth. Mr. Brown remembered what he had call for and said, "Today I and Regina''s father had met to decide on your engagement day. After discussing through everything, we fixed the date within a month. So be ready for that." Alonzo''s eyes flared up in anger as his head started to heat up. He pursed his lips in rage and murmured, "I already told you before that I''ll not marry that girl. Don''t you understand that?" Chuckling evilly, Mr. Brown said, "You know me very well my dear son. The thing I have decided once will not change at any cost. So you have to obey my order like a good boy and get engaged with Regina in a month." But before Alonzo could retort back, Mr. Brown cut the call and smiled in triumph, "Oh my dear son.!! It does not matter what if you want to marry Regina or not. The only thing that matters here.. is what I want." On the other hand, Alonzo was extremely angry at his father and he threw the phone on the floor furiously. He ran his hands over his face and breathed heavily. "I need to work on my plan faster and make Veronica my wife soon in order to cancel the engagement." ---- Love-Paradise¡­ "How did you know that Alonzo is Alexander?" Veronica asked as soon as she reached the living room. "Okay babe now don''t fret over this. Sit here first and drink some water." Reuben made her sit on the couch and gave her a glass of water. As she finished the water and calmed a little, Reuben narrated, "I let Tom do a background check on both Alonzo and Alexander. But then I came to know Alonzo hadn''t completed his studies in city M but still got his degree on the same year from city B. And there was no one naming Alexander Brown there. So I told Tom to check if Alonzo really went to city M that time as I already had a doubt about them being the same. Moreover, as you told me at the phone that your visiting and departing time from B city is the same of Alonzo''s whole incident. So after Tom got the report, my hunch got true and we came to the point that Alonzo is your friend from city B." Veronica nodded her head in understanding but the question that was running in her mind couldn''t let her completely relax so she finally asked Reuben, "If he was really Alex then why did he tell everyone that I left him five years ago when it was exactly the opposite. Moreover he told me that I played with his feelings when I never think of him more than a friend. Then why was he blaming me for those things that I haven''t committed ever.??" "I don''t know that babe. Only Alonzo can clarify it. But the thing I want to ask you that... do you want me to interfere in this? Should I call Alonzo and tell him to confront you tomorrow?" Reuben asked as he tucked on of her hair strands that had fallen over her face behind her ear. Shaking her head, Veronica''s said as her eyes flashed through an unknown determination, "No honey. I don''t want this. I want Alonzo to admit himself first then I''ll search for all the answers that I need..." Reuben hold her face in his hands and told her before giving her a peck on the lips, "Do whatever you want but always remember that I''ll be by your side at every step you take and every obstacle you cross. You are my life Vero and I won''t let anyone harm you." Veronica''s eyes teared up at his statement as she hugged him tightly, "Thanks honey for always supporting me. I''m really lucky to get you." "Nah.. I''m the lucky one here." Reuben said before inching their lips close to each other and kissing her passionately... ---- City B¡­ A man and woman were entangled in their own passion on the bed as their moaning sound could be heard from the room. The girl was panting heavily while the man was pounding inside her relentlessly. They were both wet in perspiration of themselves as their mouth found each other and they kissed wildly... But an interruption of a phone call broke them from their passionate moment. The girl looked at the caller ID and seeing the name she told the man, "Let me take the phone call first and then we can continue." "What happened Mom?" Regina asked picking up the call. Chapter 126 - Preponing the meeting... But an interruption of a phone call broke them from enjoying their passionate moment... The girl looked at the caller ID and seeing the name she told the man, "Let me take the phone call first and then we can continue." "What happened Mom?" Regina asked picking up the call. "Where are you? It''s already so late but you hadn''t come back yet." Mrs. Parker scolded her daughter. Regina sat on the bed resting her head on the headboard. Covering herself with the comforter, she said, "I''ll not come back home today and don''t yell on me because I''m at my friend''s home." She bit her lips when the man kissed her neck. She thought in her mind that she hadn''t lied to her mom about being in a friend''s house after all he was also her friend¡­ Well with a special attachment to the word ''friend''... They were more like¡­ Friends With Benefits¡­ "You need to come back home right now. Your father and Mr. Brown had finalized both of your engagement day in a month." Mrs. Parker informed her. Hearing this, Regina got up from the bed and asked, "Really Mom? You are not joking. Right?" "It''s true. Come to home as soon as possible." "Okay. I''ll be leaving in five minutes." Regina told her mother as she started to dress up. Cutting the call, Regina kissed the man''s lips as she said, "I have to leave now Mike. Will meet you later." Mike also got up from the bed and kissed her back saying, "You know that you''ll get me whenever you want so that we can finish what we''re doing later." "Sure." Regina said giving him a wink before leaving Mike''s home. --- Creation¡­ The next morning, Veronica entered Louis''s office with Willa for a personal meeting. "I want to prepone our meeting with Brown Corporation from next week to this week." Veronica said. Both Louis and Willa made a confused face towards her as if to ask what was the reason behind her sudden decision. "I want to start this project fast so we could get back to our previous schedule." Veronica lied reading her friends'' minds. Louis gave a playful smile to her and said, "Is that so? Or are you too much eager to work with your dear boyfriend?" Veronica rolled her eyes at him, making Willa giggle. She flicked Louis''s head before saying, "Quickly inform Brown corporation about the early meeting at the end of this week and then tell me if they agreed or not." "Okay Boss " Louis gave her a salute in an army manner, making the girls grin at him. "Let''s go Willa and examine the blueprints closely." Veronica held Willa''s wrist, pulled her towards the door and left left Louis''s office. ---- Brown Corporation¡­ Bill knocked on Alonzo''s office door and when he ordered to get in, he entered the office hurriedly. "Boss, we got a call from Creation asking to prepone the meeting of the next week." "Prepone?" Alonzo scrunched hid eyebrows at the mention of this particular word. Bill nodded his head in affirmation and said, "They want to have a meeting at the end of the week. What should I reply them because there are two meetings of yours with the H.R. head and another manager that day." Alonzo looked at him for a second but then retreated back to his desktop to think over the matter. So, they asked for a early meeting... Interesting¡­!! ''Maybe Veronica already remembered me or at least got the clue from my words. Well, it''s for my convenience. The more the meeting would be earlier, the more time I will get to woo Veronica over again and then marry her off. Therefore the matter of Regina will go haywire. I wouldn''t need to give her any attention because I know that she is a perfect example of a manipulative bitch.'' Now that Creation is already asking for an early meeting, Alonzo didn''t want to waste the golden chance of him making his plan smoother and easier. He would not make a fool of myself to reject the meeting. So he did what his heart wanted to do¡­ "Cancel the meetings with the H.R. Head and the manager. Inform Mr. Morgan that we''ll be attending the meeting on Friday whatever time they want." Alonzo told his assistant. "Okay Boss. I''ll notify you the time later then." Bill said before leaving the office. Alonzo took his phone out of his pocket and opened the private gallery of him where he kept many photos of Veronica¡­ some were with Veronica''s acceptance and the others were clicked without her noticingwhich were completely candid.. Opening a certain picture of them together, smiling at the camera, he zoomed on her face. Caressing the part of her face over the phone screen with his thumb, he murmured to himself, "We''ll meet again very soon. And I hope that the caressing I''m giving your photo right now would be real before you know it. I really can''t wait more to run my hands over your beautiful face and kiss those plumpy delicate lips of yours which I''m sure will be very delicious." Chapter 127 - Prideful so called ego... The day finally arrived and Veronica got ready for the meeting. She wore a beautiful peach colored blouse which had beautiful trails at the collar area and sleeves. She matched it with an off white colour pencil skirt that ended just before her knees. Letting her straight hair fall on her back, she applied a light makeup consisting of eyeliner and a little compact. She put a nude lipstick on her lips and wore the pearl earrings with the her silver plated watch on her wrists. "Are you sure that you don''t want me to come with you today?" Reuben who was wearing a similar color of off white suit with Veronica, asked her hugging from behind. He was a little worried about her though he knew that it was her own company and nothing could happen to her there. But still¡­ being the overprotective boyfriend as always he couldn''t help but shielded her with his care. Smiling at their reflection in the mirror, Veronica covered his hands with her own which was resting on her stomach before assuring him, "Don''t worry honey. I''ll be all okay. I''d not be anxious while confronting Alonzo. And if I feel anything wrong I''ll immediately call you, I promise." "That''s good.. However don''t forget to call me after the matter with Alonzo solved." Reuben mumbled as he gave a kiss behind her ear. "I won''t." Veronica replied before patting his cheek. ---- Creation¡­ Veronica and Willa were already sitting in the meeting room, waiting for Louis and Alonzo to arrive with their respective assistants. Finally after ten minutes, they arrived as both Willa and Veronica stood up to greet them. They shook their hands with each other. While shaking his hand with Veronica, Alonzo kept holding her hand for few more seconds than the others and squeezed it with a certain force to make her feel a little pain, but not too much to make her cry in pain... Veronica gave a sharp glare to Alonzo which warned him to leave her hand. In spite of letting go of her hand, Alonzo tightened it more and returned her glare with a cocky smirk on his face. Pulling her hand out of Alonzo''s hold as calmly as possible, not to bother anyone, she sat on her chair and opened her laptop. But¡­. This little interaction didn''t go unnoticed by Louis¡­ Earlier this day, Reuben had called him to look after Veronica today and if he unraveled anything erroneous in Alonzo''s behavior that would be directed towards Veronica, he should notify Reuben right at that moment.. Reuben didn''t defined him anything about the actual reason for this, but Louis knew that if his cousin told him to do so, then that would surely have something to meddle with Veronica''s safety. And he would happily compel with it because aside from being his cousin''s precious girlfriend, she was also her long time friend... best friend you could add... "Let''s start the meeting." Louis said to pass any kind of inconveniences. As the meeting processed forward, both party kept their own perspectives at every single kind of prospects. They discussed about the making of the model for the building in a more suitable and profitable way. "I think the 3d assumption of this model should be in a brighter color to attract more customers and clients. We should use more vibrant colour to get their attention." Alonzo gave his idea. "No. That can''t happen. Bright and vibrant colour for making a 3d model that even of a hotel is definitely not a good option... Instead of attracting more people, it will go other way around. Lighter colour would give a softer vibrance to the model which would look more appealing and real to the onlookers." Veronica denied Alonzo''s idea in a straight cut way. Alonzo moved his eyes up to Veronica as he said, "Ms. Lopez. You are forgetting that this is our project and you are obliged to agree with us." Veronica''s eyes turned colder to minus degree centigrade as she retreated back, "And Mr. Brown. You must have some problems of a short time memory loss otherwise you wouldn''t forget that the responsibility of this 2d and 3d modelling project had been given to our company and I''m the one who is supervising it. Moreover, no one can have a better idea of colour contrast than a animator and modeler herself. So I would prefer you to not interfere in this kind of affairs..." Coldly laughing at her, Alonzo uttered, "But I''m the co-investor here. So you should prefer my choice too. It''s not good for a simple employee of a big company like Creation to disrespect their clients." Those words not only shocked everyone but Alonzo himself too was shocked that how could he say those harsh words to his one and only love.!! But his ego was not something to loose in front of many people. Louis, on the other hand became very angry at his words as he thought, ''A simple employee? You idiot! She is the CEO of this company and wouldn''t hesitate even once to make you go bankrupt and your prideful so called ego.'' Though he couldn''t reveal about her real identity to Alonzo, but atleast he could protect his employees¡­ right? "Mr. Brown. I''m not trying to disrespect you but you should keep it clear in your mind that no one¡­ no one in our company could be treated badly or insulted by others." However, the morph they didn''t notice was Veronica''s expression... Her expression turned into anger to confusion and then to sorrow.. ''No this man¡­ this man in front of her can''t be her sweet friend Alex. He was not like that. He was cute and kind type of person. Not a harsh and rude man like Alonzo. Though he once behaved like the same to her in city B, by insulting her but that might be out of his childishness.. But he would never humiliate her by degrading her occupation like Alonzo did..." Chapter 128 - Already won the verbal battle... ''No this man¡­ this man in front of her can''t be her sweet friend Alex. He was not like that. He was cute and kind type of person. Not a harsh and rude man like Alonzo. Though he once behaved like the same to her in city B, by insulting her but that might be out of his childishness.. But he would never humiliate her by degrading her occupation like Alonzo did..." ''But all the proofs and facts are pointing towards him that he is the Alexander Brown whom she met five and half years ago.'' Then how could he change so much in mere few years?? The answer of all her questions would be revealed when she would confront him.. And she would do it today¡­ Right after the meeting¡­ Veronica took control of her emotions and got back to her professional mode. "If you are really mentioning about you, being the co- investor gives you all right to interfere in my work, then I must say this¡­" "Why don''t we ask about the real investor''s decision?" Veronica calmly made a question or more like a threat playing with the pencil she had in her hand. Alonzo''s face scrunched up, emitting his hesitancy about what Veronica had said. But Louis being Louis, asked the uncertain question to Veronica, "Real Investor? You mean Reuben?" "Yes.. We should take Reuben''s opinion in this matter." Veronica said, giving a little smirk. Louis and Willa gave a hats off to Veronica mentally and smiled with contempt when they heard Veronica mentioning about Reuben''s judgement about this.. Knowing that Veronica already won the verbal battle with Alonzo as Reuben would never say a ''NO'' to Veronica''s decision, they couldn''t help but mentally clap for her.. Unbeknownst to Alonzo who really didn''t know anything about the power Veronica hold over Reuben, smiled at the suggestion and said, "I think that would be more preferable. I would ask Mr. Smith then." "That would be better. Then we should end the meeting here." Saying this, Veronica got up from her chair. Louis shook Alonzo''s hands and said, "Then we''ll meet later." "Yeah.." Alonzo said. When everyone was exiting the office, Veronica stood on her position without moving. Before Alonzo could leave, Veronica said, "Mr. Brown. Do you have few minutes of time to talk with me? It''s important." "Yeah.. sure.." Alonzo happily agreed and told his assistant to wait for him in the hallway. "Please have a seat Mr. Brown." Veronica pointed towards the chair exactly opposite to her. After Alonzo took a seat, both kept at staring each other without uttering a single word... Two minutes passed but still no one of them spoke first. As Alonzo''s gaze got intensified, Veronica looked down on her fingers to keep herself calm and then again kept her eyes on him. "So Mr. Alonzo Brown¡­." Veronica started but stopped midway. "Or should I call you Alexander Brown..?" Alonzo''s jaw clenched when Veronica mentioned the name he was trying to hide making Veronica smirk at him. Seeing the tensed expression on Alonzo''s face made Veronica sure about her and Reuben''s assumption of him being Alex... Relaxing his clenched jaw a little and giving her a fake smile, Alonzo mumbled, "So you finally got it¡­" Veronica narrowed her eyes at him and answered, "Did you think you could hide the truth from me?" "No. I didn''t want to hide it but I also didn''t want to reveal it so soon. But as expected, you are really intelligent¡­" Alonzo said leaning forward and resting his hands on the table. Seeing him being so much unfriendly, Veronica got hurt that her long lost friend changed so much that he wasn''t even talking to her a little. "Why? Why Alex? Why are you behaving like this? Why had you treated me as a stranger when we both met after five years at your party? And don''t even give me any excuse that you didn''t remember me. Because each and every words of you proved that your every step was pointed towards me." Veronica wanted a defination of his behavior as her eyes got softer and gloomy. Alonzo abruptly stood up from the chair, letting it knock on the floor hard. His eyes was red from anger as he bumped his hand loudly on the table. "Why I''m doing this? You don''t know the reason?" Alonzo literally interrogated her. "I really can''t understand anything about you. You are changed Alex. Totally changed¡­. Oh no.. I''m sorry.. You are not Alex, it''s just the name you took in your disguise to decieve me." Veronica said. "Decieve? Did you just direct the word decieve towards me when you are the one who treated me like a fool?" Alonzo gritted his teeth. "I never treated you like a fool Alonzo. You were my friend, you damn it." Veronica also thumped her hand on the table furiously. "Friend? Only a friend? Really Veronica how much more of a lie are you harboring in your head?" "I never lie Alonzo. Make it clear in your mind. And the only person lied... was you." Veronica said in a cold voice. Alonzo shuddered in rage and tried not to turn over table on the floor by controlling himself, "You know what we should not talk about these things in the office. We should find a place to chat." "No.. we should talk here. Right now." Veronica snapped. Holding his head in his hand, Alonzo said, "You really wanted to talk here, Naah?." As an answer Veronica just nodded her head to which Alonzo''s reply was... "Fine.. let''s talk." Chapter 129 - Mentally calm... Holding his head in his hand, Alonzo said, "You really wanted to talk here, Naah?." As an answer Veronica just nodded her head to which Alonzo''s reply was... "Fine.. let''s talk." "Can''t you be a little gentle when you talk?" Veronica asked with a frown. "I''m being already gentle with you. If not then you''d be pinned on this wall abruptly getting kissed by me." Alonzo shouted before pointing towards the wall behind Veronica. Shock would be an understatement to describe Veronica''s now expression¡­ it was more like she couldn''t believe what was happening in front of her. "Mind your language Alonzo." Veronica yelled back at him when she finally got out of her trance. She wasn''t at all thinking of people outside the meeting room would listen their conversation as the room is already soundproof for confidential purposes. Alonzo''s face got darkened when Veronica used her high pitched voice on him as he clenched his fist tightly not to burst out over her. Veronica took deep breaths to turn down her raging emotions that were building up inside her as she asked softly, "What did I do wrong Alonzo to make you hate me so much? You weren''t like this before." Laughing like a maniac, Alonzo replied, "Yes. I wasn''t like this before Veronica. You made me like this." "I¡­? How..?" Before Veronica could finish, Alonzo laughed bitterly and an unknown emotion crept on his face which later turned into a softer one. His gaze became more loving as he stared at Veronica''s exasperated face and said, "I loved you¡­ I loved you from the first day we''ve met. But you¡­ what did you do to me?" "You¡­ you broke me. You broke an innocent soul who loved you like crazy. You confessed that you also loved me but then¡­ then when we''re going to our first date you left me without a word¡­ only giving me a letter of you telling about your departure." Alonzo was now almost holding his tears which would fell anytime if he blinked for just once... Uncertainty was clearly showing on Veronica''s face as she was totally confused of what Alonzo was speaking. She blink for a few minutes while herblips parted a little to take breath. Finally finding herself able to talk again, Veronica stuttered, "I con¡­ confessed to you that I loved you? But.. but when?" Veronica''s was eyes filled with pure confusion as she deliberately wanted to know when she had said those love words to him.. As per her memory, she never said so to anyone other than her one and only Love Reuben... She wanted to know bexactly what stupid things was Alonzo blabbering about¡­ Alonzo scoffed at her response and said in a mocking way, "Now you are even going to deny that.. Oh my God!! Veronica, from when you learnt to lie so much?? You don''t care about anyone''s feeling while telling lies after lies to protect your so called innocent reputation.. You don''t even care about me for a little bit¡­" "I never¡­ never in my life said to you that I loved you Alonzo. It must be some kind of misunderstanding. I could never have ever loved you in my life like a lover, Alonzo. You were always a friend of mine.. a very precious friend." Veronica whispered in a low voice, tears brimmed in her eyes and started falling on her now red cheeks. Chuckling sarcastically at her denial of their past love, Alonzo shook her head to stop his tears from falling and said, "Friend? Like really? I was just a friend to you? What a big lie..! I can''t believe I have to heard this cruel lie from you like this Veronica.." "Okay let it be.. but what did you say just now¡­ that you can''t ever love me in your lifetime? Why Veronica, why? Am I that much bad? Am I that bad that no one can love me , not even you¡­" Hurt was clearly showing on Alonzo''s face as he uttered the most sadistic truth of his life. "No Alonzo, you were never bad¡­ you were a good guy who loved to help people in their needs, who loved to spend his time just studying without passing his time playing, wasting money like water like other young boys even though you were magnificently rich¡­ though you even hid the fact of being rich by pretending to be a poor guy in front of me.." Veronica tried to console him by letting him forget about the misconceptions that he had for himself. Alonzo looked into her eyes in so much pain and asked, "Then why¡­ why did you tell me now that you can''t love me like a lover ever?" "Because¡­ because I lo..." Before Veronica could finish, a loud bang erupted on the wooden door of the meeting hall, letting both of them get broken from their emotional trances. Veronica took few deep breaths and wiped the tears that were stained on her face whereas Alonzo also presented himself well like before when Veronica told the person at the door to come in. "Uhmm¡­ sorry if I bothered you guys but there is some important things I have to discuss with you.." Louis opened the door to peak at them and said. He didn''t miss the puffy eyes and pale face of Veronica which made him curious to know the reason of her appearance. When they left the meeting room, Veronica was all okay but now her face was changed fully from brightness to dullness... If his cousin brother Reuben would find out that Veronica was crying few minutes ago here in the office thought he warned Louis to look after her for today which he clearly failed, he was sure that he would be going to hell today... Veronica brought back her professionalism again in her body gesture and said, "Okay Sir.. I''ll be there in a few minutes." Then turning towards Alonzo, Veronica said, "I think we should talk about it later when you are mentally calm and will be able to talk with more respect. Thanks Mr. Brown for today''s help. See you later.." Chapter 130 - Beauty with Brains... Then turning towards Alonzo, Veronica said, "I think we should talk about it later when you are mentally calm and will be able to talk with more respect. Thanks Mr. Brown for today''s help. See you later." Alonzo nodded at Louis before leaving Creation with his assistant... ---- As soon as Alonzo left, Veronica asked, "What important things do you want to discuss?" Shrugging his shoulder, Louis replied, "Nothing... It''s just that Reuben called me a few minutes ago as you hadn''t answered his phone." Checking her phone immediately, Veronica noticed few missed calls all from Reuben which she couldn''t heard probably because of keeping her phone silent. "I understand. I''ll call him now." Veronica said, dismissing Louis as she was not at all in the mood to converse with anyone expect Reuben. Mentally thanking Reuben to call Louis at the perfect time which helped her from breaking into cries, Veronica dialled his number. "Hey baby.." Within a ring Veronica''s call got recieved and Reuben''s melody voice rang into her ear... "Benniee¡­" Veronica whispered in a very low voice. The hoarseness of her voice made Reuben jerk up in anxiousness as he asked concernedly, "Ica¡­ baby.. What happened to your voice? Were you crying?" Veronica smiled lightly as she heard the concerned voice of Reuben which made all her previous sorrow evaporated in a second and an eased feeling was born in her frenzy like mind, whereas her heart sang a song of feeling loved with each of her heartbeat... "Nothing to make you tense honey. It''s linked to Alonzo. I''ll tell you about it at home. Don''t worry about me now and tell me if you had your lunch already." Veronica pacified him with a soft voice. Looking at his watch which was indicating that it was near the lunchtime, he sighed, "No.. I haven''t yet." But that sigh turned into a mischievousness when he explored something in his amazing mind as he said, "How about we have lunch together today?" "What do you mean?" Veronica rubbed her nose with her index finger. "Come to my office so we can have lunch together. And I also know that you are not completely okay though you are telling me so... Therefore I could console you with my lots of pampering and sweet kisses and then we can also talk about Alonzo." Reuben said getting excited. Veronica laughed at his childish behavior when she became certain of the meaning of him consoling her. She very well knew what would happen to her if she went to his office for a lunch... Still she wanted to go there even after knowing the consequences. Because her stupid heart now only needed Reuben to comfort her, to make him hold her in his assuring arms and listen to his sweet nothings and playful remarks. Her heart badly wanted him... Therefore wasting no time, she responded with a YES.. "Okay. I''ll be there in a minute Mr. Smith as your very workaholic client for your next project." Veronica joked as she already had a spontaneous excuse to meet him without getting doubted by others. Reuben laughed at her joke and played on with her, "You have 20 minutes Ms. Lopez to come here. I don''t like clients who is late." "Don''t worry Mr. Smith. Your this client is very punctual." Veronica made a serious voice making Reuben chuckle. ---- Smith Enterprise¡­ Exactly 15 minutes later, Veronica reached at Reuben''s company and Tom was already waiting outside the main entrance for Veronica. As soon as he saw his lady boss, Tom said, "Good afternoon Ma''am. Sir is waiting for you in his office." He didn''t greeted Veronica as Lady boss because no one in the company other than him knew about the actual relationship between Veronica and Reuben. So he chose to call her Ma''am.. Veronica nodded at Tom giving him a sweet smile and said, "Hello Tom." Tom ushered her towards the private elevator which was only for the most important people in Reuben''s life to use which included his family members and his close friends.. Not to forget Veronica was one of them¡­ Though everyone in the whole city S knew that Reuben and Veronica couldn''t tolerate each other for even a second and started bickering at the first moment they saw each other''s face.. but still she was one of the precious daughter of Lopez family who were friends with Smith family from long decades. Whereas Reuben and Veronica both were childhood friends and despite their hate to each other they were still playmates since they stepped foot into the world¡­ So their bond was still extremely great even when most of the time they did nothing but fight together. Attached to that, now Veronica was Reuben''s client as the news of Smith Enterprise, Brown Corporation and Creation''s merger made the top place at the breaking news of all media channels in country K which created a huge roar among all the business world till now... While Veronica being recognised as the most beautiful woman of country K and being the daughter of one of the richest families of the whole Asia, was well known to all as the VFX head of the biggest multimedia company Creation. Everyone knew about her neat work and advanced inventions in multimedia industry who didn''t waste her youth in spending her time in some beauty parlours and throwing money at shopping malls, partying and gossiping like other so called Richie young misses of wealthy families.. So she got an instant respect from all the netizens. She was the perfect example of beauty with brains¡­ Chapter 131 - Beautiful tale to tell our future children... She was the perfect example of beauty with brains¡­ Entering the top floor of the big building of Smith Enterprise, Tom opened the door and closed it after she got into the office, leaving the love birds¡­ no sorry¡­ the two clients for their unclear meeting.. *sigh* ( note the sarcasm¡­) Getting into the office, the first thing her eyes got attracted to.. was the man on his working table, looking dashing and handsome as always¡­ Her heart started to jog like always whenever she saw the love of her life, Reuben would be busy in his work, very focused on his computer and looking as hot as the midday sun of summer... Everyone would get burnt on a single touch of him and turned into ashes in a minute¡­ Especially if someone tried to disturb him in his worktime.. But who is this? This is Veronica Lopez.. the rain to pour down on this hot sun, making him all calm¡­ She slowly walked towards him in her tippy toes as Reuben was too much immersed in looking into something in his computer¡­ But what she missed was the small smirk playing on his face.. As soon as Veronica reached the table and going to shake him with all her might to scare him off, instaed of him... she became shocked... A pair of big arms caught her small fairly like hands and pulled her towards him, making her fall on his lap directly. Getting the chance to hug her, he tightened his hold around her waist and kissed the red lips which were slightly opened by the pure shock. "Did Miss Lopez think that her dear boyfriend would not reckon the presence of his one and only Love?" He whispered looking at her crystal eyes, smiling wickedly. "You are really cheesy, aren''t you?" Veronica said hitting him on the chest. Cocking an eyebrow and smiling naughtily, he murmured in her eyes, "Of course I''d be chessy¡­ after all I love to eat your cheese so much.." he then pointed towards her downwards with his eyes¡­ "You..." when Veronica finally understood what he was meaning, she flushed red all over her face, even her ears turned into red as deep as beetroot... Reuben chuckled seeing her reaction and bit her ear, saying softly, "Lets have lunch. Tom had already bought your favourite mac n cheese¡­" As they were having their lunch, Reuben asked, "So what''s the matter with Alonzo? Did he say something?" Gulping the food down, Veronica looked at his eyes and nodded as an affirmation to his questions. Drinking the juice that Reuben passed to her, she shifted more towards him and hold his hands tightly. "Alonzo¡­ he told me that five years ago I confessed to him that I loved him which was not at all true.. he said that I betrayed him on the day of our first date and left him with a letter saying that I was leaving city B." Veronica told him everything in details. "A letter?" Reuben seemed confused. "Yup.. he said so. But I don''t remember giving anything to him. But that''s not the point because how could he lie about me confessing to him when I always loved you even before meeting him and instead he claimed me as a liar." Veronica showed her annoyance to Reuben. "First of all, exactly that was the point. Because if you hadn''t given any letter to him that''s mean someone else gave him that. So there must be other person who knew about both of your friendship. " Reuben said thinking hard. Pondering for awhile, Veronica said, "No.. no one knew about our friendship other than his grandmother and some friends of our college.." Nodding his head at her, suddenly something stuck in his mind as his face changed into a type of jealousy, "And why was he talking about some first date?" Hearing this, Veronica made a face of amusement and told him, "Are you serious Bennie? Among all of these things, what do you have to point out is¡­ about the date.. then for your kind information Mr. Smith, I never had told him to have any date.. but¡­" "But..?" Reuben raised his eyebrows. "I was going to inform him about coming back to city S, so I told him to meet me at the usual place and he told me he would come.. but around thirty minutes ago he messaged me to meet him at a coffee shop and I agreed with him. I arrived at the coffee shop at the decided time but¡­ He never came. I waited for few hours when one of his friend came there to tell me that Alonzo wouldn''t be able to meet me as he had gone out of country for his higher studies in gaming without even telling me.. I was sad and depressed that I couldn''t talk to him for the last time before I leave city B but as my flight was booked for the next day so I had to leave." "I even tried to contact him after coming back here.. but his phone was always switched off.. and then that incident happened which made the biggest enemies to fall in love¡­" she said pointing at herself and Reuben which made Reuben chuckled. "And the rest you know¡­" Veronica told flicking his forehead. Hugging her tightly and kissing her head, Reuben spoke out, "Hmm.. the rest is a beautiful tale to tell our future children.." then he gave her a seductive wink, making Veronica slap him on his arm. Laughing out loud, Reuben pinched her cheeks and said, "Okay.. jokes apart.. What I''ve understood hearing this... there must be some kind of miscommunications between you.. or rather like someone''s plan to create some misunderstandings between both of you¡­ and last but not the least, ask Alonzo to bring the letter for the next time you meet. Okay?" Veronica nodded and hugged him back.. ----- Willa''s Apartment¡­ It was already 7 pm when Willa finally got to her apartment. She entered the elevator and clicked the button of her floor.. The door got opened after few minutes and Willa got out, searching for her key without looking at the front. As she finally found her keys, she looked up to go forward when suddenly she slammed into a hard chest¡­ "I''m sorry¡­ I''m really sorry¡­ I had not¡­." Willa was going to apologise when she tilted her face up and finally saw the familiar face of the man whose chest was being collided with Willa''s beautiful face¡­ "You¡­ what are you doing here??" Chapter 132 - Not lucky to have someone like you... "I''m sorry¡­ I''m really sorry¡­ I had not¡­." Willa was going to apologise when she finally saw the familiar face of the man whose chest was being collided with Willa''s beautiful face¡­ "You¡­ what are you doing here??" Willa asked narrowing her eyes at the person as she hadn''t expected at all to see the person here.. that even on the same floor of her apartment. Neil smirked and said, "Why? Can''t I come here?" Scrutinizing her eyes over his ridiculously handsome face, Willa said, Of course, you can. But who are you waiting here for?" "You.." Neil answered in monosyllable, making Willa shocked at his answer. Noticing the weird expression on her face, Neil rolled his eyes and said, "Stop looking at me like that. I was just passing from here. So thought to meet you. Will you not welcome me in your home? Don''t you have any hospitality towards your guests?" Thumping her foot on the floor angrily, Willa stormed towards her door passing Neil and put the key into the keyhole. Opening the door hastily, Willa turned her face to Neil and said, "Come in." Walking lazily behind her, smiling contently, Neil entered her apartment and sat on the couch without even taking permission from Willa. He crossed his legs over one another and whistled lowly moving his face here to there looking around... Willa huffed at his behavior and went to the kitchen. After few minutes, she brought two cups of coffee and handed one to Neil before sitting opposite to him. "So tell me why did you come here¡­ to meet me? I''m very sure that the party lover Neil Wilson will not suddenly show his face here just to see me..!" She sarcastically mocked him because she also was confused at his sudden visit. Putting the coffee mug down on the table, Neil became serious as he asked, "How your relationship is going with that¡­ ban.. ham¡­or plastic can.. or whatever his name is..?" Narrowing her eyes at him at the mention of her boyfriend''s name being pronounced wrongly, Willa inaudibly cursed him under her breath and then corrected him, "It''s Sam¡­ And our relationship is going very smoothly." Neil cocked one of his eyebrows at her questioningly and asked, "Really? Then why I saw him that day at the bar hugging two hostesses in each of his arms cozily and going towards the hotel room upstairs?" Willa blinked her eyes few times to get the meaning into his head and when she finally get to understand it, she flew into a great rage and shouted at him, "What rubbish are you spouting? Sam will never do anything like this¡­" Clearly watching her turning from a polite little lady to a raging woman whose eyes were flashing anger and venom, he smirked and said, "Didn''t you hear the phase ever¡­ ''Never trust anyone blindly''?? And right now you are doing the same.. The person you think is all sweet and charming... is nothing but a big bastard who loves to play with other girls, leaving his girlfriend trust him blindly. Don''t you think you should let him learn his own lesson?" The venom in Neil''s voice was so obvious that anyone could apprehend clearly how much he hated and despised Sam¡­ But Willa was absolutely oblivious to all of these¡­. Because her mind was already full with different types of questions which only leaded her into becoming furious.. She glared at him wrathfully and uttered each word forcefully, "Sam. Will. Never. Cheat. On . Me.. And right now what I''m going to do first is¡­ to make you leave my house. Get. Lost¡­" Staring at her beautiful eyes which had nothing but fury and too much trust for her asshole boyfriend, he couldn''t help but get jealous over him for getting such a lovable and innocent girl like her. Everything about her was beyond appealing.. she was the most charming girl he had ever seen who would not let a sex-crazy guy like him to not have sex for months¡­ Getting up from the couch in a manly way, he was about to go towards the door but instead he turned back to ask the final question before leaving, "Do you really trust the playboy boyfriend of yours much more than me?" Without wasting any moment on thinking, Willa replied flatly, "Of course. I do trust Sam more. And how can you call him a playboy when you''re one yourself??" Chuckling at her nativity, Neil turned back his face towards the door to avoid seeing her face and replied, "You are true that I''m a playboy myself. But the biggest thing you missed here is.. I don''t have a loving girlfriend like him who has only her eyes for her boyfriend... If I would have you, I would never even dream for a single time to cheat on you by screwing other girls behind your back. Instead I''ll always love and pamper you from the bottom of my heart and never let any tear fall from your beautiful eyes... On the other way around, I''m not that much lucky to have someone like you by my side to take care of me and love me from all of her heart so I just keep myself as a playboy¡­" Turning towards her again, Neil softly spoke, "I know I don''t have a right to say this, but you deserve much better than him Willa¡­ Trust me¡­" Neil gave her a little smile finishing what he wanted to say and left the appartment without looking back at her for the second time, making her stand there dumbfounded with many uncertain questions¡­ Making a round of those words that he told her few minutes ago, Willa kept staring at the door and murmured to herself, "What did he mean to say by all that?" Chapter 133 - Secret Spy... Creation¡­. Next day morning, Veronica already had reached her office and thinking about ideas to present the animated design of the hotel project¡­ She would not at all think of the stuffs about Alonzo to make her mood worse which would lead her to do her job badly which she clearly didn''t want.. After all, this was her boyfriend''s project¡­ How could she let anyone harm her mind to ruin the project¡­ she would never allow this in her lifetime¡­ Not possible... Humph..!!! As she was busy in her work, a call got her attention and it was none other than her brother Neil. She smiled seeing his number and received it immediately. "Hey bro.. What''s up?" Chuckling at her sweet response, Neil said, "Hey my dear sissy. I''m fine and I also know that you are too.. because of my best friend Reuben is always with you." He teased. Veronica also giggled at him and said, "Well, you are right about that.. Jokes apart.. why did you call me? You don''t call me at this time usually if it''s not too much important." Sighing on the Phone, Neil rubbed his forehead, racking his brain how to say those things for which he had called her... Finally reminiscing the fact hard in his mind, he said, "Sis.. actually about Willa.." "Willa..?" Veronica was now confused as to why he suddenly became interested about her matters.. "Yes.. Willa¡­ Surprisingly I found something about her boyfriend, Sam which will make you shocked." "What is this? Veronica asked as her eyes sharpened after she heard the name, Sam... Neil ran his hand through his hair rapidly and told Veronica, "Sam is a cheater. I saw him at the bar few days back with some girls in his arms. But the most shocking news is¡­ he went there to meet the person whom we all despised and who was once a competitor of yours¡­" Veronica didn''t say anything, just hummed in response, giving him a sign to continue and he did "It''s Peter¡­" "Oh.. So he made Sam his pet in his dirty planning and plotting against me¡­" Veronica said calmly. Furrowing his eyebrows at the unexpected reply from his sister, Neil asked, "Did you know about it?" Picking up the pen from the pen stand and playing with it, Veronica very coolly replied, "I had a hunch that Peter was planning something to destroy Creation. I was doubting him from the news of of D.B. Animate''s fraud case came out because I was sure that Mr. Hill was not the one who would be able to plan whole thing. His capabilities are in limit.. However, I couldn''t take his matter in my hand seriously because of the certain circumstances. But what I didn''t expect that he would make Sam to be his secret spy.. I had a hunch that Sam was hiding something but didn''t inspect further about him because of Willa''s rejection. Nevertheless now that I got to know about his dirty little secret, I will alert Willa about him.." Neil got up from his chair and walked towards the big glass window he had in his office and gazed over the city as he said, "She will not believe it. Yesterday I went to her apartment to warn her. But she is being blinded by her love for him. So we have to search for proofs first.. " This sudden confession made Veronica arched her eyebrows as she couldn''t help but ask, "From when did you become so concern about Willa as to visit her home personally to warn her?" Neil coughed awkwardly to avoid her suspicions and said, "I''m not concerned about her. It''s just that she is your good friend. And I know if she got a heartache you will also feel upset about her. You are my little sister and I care about you. That''s why I tried to counsel her." Veronica let out a smirk but didn''t force on this topic, as now the most important thing for her was to protect the heart of Willa from breaking apart and the rest would be handled later¡­ specially about her brother''s sudden interest in her bestfriend... Therefore she said, "Okay. I understand. I know that you love me too much." In spite of the present serious situation, still at the end she didn''t forget to tease her brother. ---- Few hours later¡­ Veronica remembered something and called for Willa¡­. "Do you want something ma''am?" Willa asked as she entered Veronica''s office. Taking notice of her slightly pale appearance, Veronica said, "Yes, can you please ask Mr. Brown''s assistant for his number? I need to talk to him." "Yes ma''am sure. Anything else?" When Veronica shook her head in denial, Willa took her leave. ---- Brown Corporation¡­. A sudden ring made Alonzo came back from his daze and she picked up the phone. "Yes¡­??" "Boss.. Miss Willa was asking for your number as Miss Veronica would like to talk to you. Shall I give her your number?" Alonzo''s face showed a smile as he replied, "Yeah.. give it to her." Alonzo replied as a faint smile bloomed on his lips. "Okay boss.." "So you finally asked for my number... huh? Didn''t you take too much time for it?" Alonzo murmured to himself. Few minutes later, his personal phone rang and an unknown number appeared on his phone screen.. Happily picking up the phone from the table, he whispered, "Veronica¡­" Chapter 134 - Calculative liar... Few minutes later, his personal phone rang and an unknown number appeared on his phone screen.. Happily picking up the phone from the table he whispered, "Veronica¡­" "How do you know that it''s me?" Veronica asked being perplexed¡­ Chuckling at her, Alonzo replied, "Well, I don''t have to go haywire just to guess that the person who is calling me... is YOU.." Rolling her eyes at his stupid reply, Veronica came to the main point she had called him for, "Alonzo, I need you to answer me truly about something. You told me that I gave you a letter which I had certainly not¡­ but still can you bring it the next time when we meet? I want to see that letter.." "So you called me just for the letter? You really have many free time. Don''t you? I don''t know how your boss is still allowing you to continue working in your company when you are such a lousy employee " Alonzo mocked. The rage she was trying to control till now, finally got out, "Listen very carefully Mr. Alonzo Brown.. First of all stop talking about me like you have known everything about me." "Secondly, the letter will prove that what you were blaming me for so many days are all false. It will also prove that the liar is you.. not me.. So you better bring that letter that day otherwise you don''t know about Veronica''s exact capability of handling things¡­" Veronica immediately cut the call finishing her sentence and breathed heavily in anger. Alonzo removed the phone from his ear and muttered, "I know exactly who you are Veronica. You are nothing but a calculative liar who only knows how to play with hearts¡­" ---- Creation¡­ Willa was presently in her own world, thinking about last evening.. The words that Neil had said to her, was still ringing in her ear clearly.. The accusations that he brought upon Sam was already taking a toll on her brain¡­ She couldn''t match the sweet and caring Sam with the person that Neil had described to her yesterday.. Sam could do anything but can''t ever cheat on her. He was not that kind of person.. No.. Sam was not a cheater.. he was my sweet boyfriend¡­ Fixing that lie in her mind, she was about to start her work when Veronica entered her cabin without a notice. Sitting in front of Willa, Veronica said, "Willa.. Do you remember that I told you to bring Sam to meet us?" "Ah.. Yes.. I forgot to ask him among all of these stuffs. I''ll ask him today, I promise." Willla said with a small smile on her face. "Yeah. Please do that. By the way I came here to take you for a lunch. I missed us having lunch together." Veronica said because she wanted to destruct Willa from all her stresses because when she would find the truth later, then it would be a great shock for her. Veronica knew if she herself told Willa about Sam''s infidelity, Willa would definitely trust her but she would not be able to move on from him.. But what Veronica wanted was to clear each and every memory of Sam from Willa''s mind and to do that, Willa need to see Sam''s betrayal by her own eyes.. and that is why she asked Willa to bring Sam to meet with them so that she could easily manipulate him in his own games¡­ ---- Love-Paradise¡­ Reuben was lying on the bed, resting his head on Veronica''s lap as she ran her fingers through his hair, playing with it. She just finished explaining about Sam to Reuben which in return got a scowl from him. "That bastard, I always doubted him. I''ll kill him the next time I see him for his bravery to hurt our friend''s emotions. However you told me that Willa haven''t told about our relationship to him. Right?" "Yes. She didn''t. Sam only know about our friendship just like others.. nothing more. He also thinks that despite of our family friendship, both of us hate each other with our everything. So I''m damn sure that he would took the chance to ask informations from me to create a hindrance between both of us and our companies.. He will definitely try to attack Creation as he is working for Peter by using me.. And I''ll take that exact chance to tie him in my plan from which he could never escape." Veronica described to Reuben with a bitchiness in her eyes¡­ Reuben laughed seeing his girlfriend turning into a devil and brought her face down to kiss her lips but stopped when a sudden realisation crossed his mind.. "Babe.. You told me that you and Alonzo were friends in the past but you didn''t tell me the details. I need to know everything about him to solve the riddle about him. So I need you to tell me every single incident that occurred there in city B after you landed your first step there five and half years ago¡­" Reuben said playing with her fingers. Leaving a sigh, Veronica looked at his eyes and nodded her head at him¡­ Closing her eyes for a moment, she waved her mind back to the past, reminiscing about the day when she first stepped out the airport of city B¡­. Chapter 135 - First day in city B... "Babe.. You told me that you and Alonzo were friends in the past but you didn''t tell me the details. I need to know everything about him to solve the riddle about him. So I need you to tell me every single incident that occurred there in city B after you landed your first step there five and half years ago¡­" Reuben said playing with her fingers. Leaving a sigh, Veronica looked at his eyes and nodded her head at him¡­ Closing her eyes for a moment, she waved her mind back to the past reminiscing about the day she first stepped out of the airport of city B¡­. ---- *FLASHBACK*¡­ Five and half years ago¡­ A twenty year old girl in a simple jeans and yellow t-shirt with a high ponytail got out of the airport of B city. She was wearing a rounded sunglass to protect her gorgeous dark brown eyes from the scorching heat of the sun.. A big luggage bag was with her and she was talking on her phone, "Yes Dad, I just arrived here. Don''t worry, I already saw the car you sent for me. But dad, don''t forget that I want to stay as low-key as possible." "You know princess, I even not wanted to let you go there all alone. But your insistence made me change my decision. Now you''re not even allowing me to leave bodyguards behind you and you are also not taking any special privileges from me. Now tell me, what should I do to make sure that you are safe and sound?? You are my little princess Vero... so of course I would be overprotective and tensed about you." Mr. Lopez tried to reason with his daughter. Veronica sighed and said, "Dad I know how much you love me. But you need to understand that I''m a big girl now. I can take care of myself and if some problems occur, I''ll call you immediately." "You promise to do that.. right?"" "I promise Dad." Veronica said entering the car.. One hour later, she reached the small apartment she had requested her father to rent. Mr. Lopez wanted her to live in a big penthouse there but he couldn''t win in argument with his daughter¡­ So he let her do what she wanted.. It was a small apartment, consisted with one bedroom, a single bathroom, a kitchen with a small living room. It was not at all suitable for any wealthy person to live here without any luxuries. But who was this¡­ it was Veronica Lopez who loves to lead a simple life and wanted to enjoy the six months of her staying here alone, like a normal middle class girl. She didn''t want to boost her family''s power in city B because she only wished to study here without any disturbance¡­ Getting in the apartment, she made some omelette and toast as her mother already made sure that her fridge and kitchen cabinets would be full with food and utensils for her necessities.. Eating her food, she unpacked her suitcase and went in her bedroom to surf through the internet about city B. She already had enough of information about the city so she decided to visit a caf¨¦ in the evening. As it was already noon she decided to sleep a little bit first, before going for some coffee outside.. ---- Soon evening came and she wore simple white shorts with a cream colour tank top with a white jacket over it. She made a messy bun on the top of her head and put some lipgloss before leaving the apartment with her phone and purse¡­ She spotted the caf¨¦ which had a good review in the internet. Walking towards the counter, she ordered a capuchino. After getting it, she was about to move back towards a vacant table when she collided with a guy and the coffee in her mug get spilled all over his shirt¡­ "I''m sorry.. I''m really sorry¡­ I didn''t notice you." Veronica appologized immediately. The guy tried to wipe the coffee strain on his t-shirt with a tissue and said, "It¡­ it''s okay. I also didn''t see you." Veronica looked at the appearance of the boy who seems to be in his early twenties. He looked cute in his black t-shirt. He wore a spectacle on his face and he was also a little bit chubby.. The guy was looking at his shirt pitifully like a cute child which made Veronica smile a little without her notice. He seemed to belong from a poor family by his appearance as it was not at all branded and instead the colour of his dress seemed to fade after many washes. "I''m sorry that your shirt got stained because of me. Let me buy you a new one." Veronica said. The guy didn''t even look up at her and denied, "No... That''s not needed." "Okay. If you don''t want that then at least let me buy you a coffee. Look, your coffee also got wasted because of my clumsiness." Veronica pointed at the coffe mug that was splashed on the floor. "No.. no.. it''s okay." The boy stammered. "I insist please.. otherwise my guilty conscience would not let me sleep peacefully." Veronica tried to convince as she felt really bad for his shirt and wasted coffee... He moved his eyes towards her face and when he saw her, he was dumbstruck by her beauty.. She wore no makeup but her face was so smooth without any pores. She was very beautiful and her big brown eyes was so innocent to watch. The boy felt his heart racing and his ears became red in shyness as he agreed, "Okay.. if you say so.." Being happy at him, Veronica again made another order and after taking the coffees, both of them sat on a table. She noticed that the boy was silent from tge beginning but failed to observe that he was stealing some glances at her from time to time.. "So tell me, what is your name? By the way, I''m Veronica." Veronica tried to be civil with him as she introduced herself before stretching her hand out for a handshake.. The boy smiled shyly and shook her hands before introducing himself, "Alex¡­ My name is Alexander Brown¡­" Chapter 136 - Friends on the second day... "So tell me what your name is? By the way I''m Veronica." Veronica tried to be civil with him as she introduced herself before stretching her hand out for a handshake. The boy smiled shyly and shook her hands before introducing himself, "Alex¡­ My name is Alexander Brown¡­" "It''s nice to meet you Alexander." Veronica smiled at him which got a shy response from him. Looking at her watch, Veronica saw that it''s already late and she had to attend the new college for her project purpose and she didn''t want to be late at the first day.. That''s why, she looked at Alexander and said, "I''ve to leave now. And sorry again for the mess I created today." Alexander looked at her and nodded so Veronica took her leave from there¡­ ---- It was already next day and Veronica arrived at the "Golden Institute of Multimedia" of B city sharp at 9 am.. It was a branch of the biggest and most famous University of country K which was situated in city S where Veronica was also continuing her studies. It was a rule of the university to send the top 10 students of them to their different branches of the country to complete a brand new cultivation project along with the other students of those branches and they could also help those students to make them learn about new kinds of softwares and it''s uses in multimedia.. Louis and Willa were also part of top 10 so they were also sent to different cities for the project.. Now Veronica was sitting in front of the CEO of the city B branch, discussing about her ideas and plans to go through the project and how to train the juniors about new kind of technics... "Now I really understand why you are the top student of your university. Your ideas are really creative and you are very much capable which I really appreciate." The CEO praised her. "Thanks sir. Then I''ll go and meet with my new classmates." Veronica said. The CEO nodded and said, "Wait, I''ll tell my best student to show you our campus." Few minutes later, a boy in a sweatshirt and jeans entered the office and said, "You called me sir..??" "Yeah. Come Alexander. This is our new student who had came from city S for a project and would help you all for next six months." Veronica looked at the boy and saw that he was the one who she met yesterday. After the got out from the office, Veronica said, "So you are also a student here?" Alexander looked at her blushingly and said, "Yeah.. Welcome to our college." When they were going past the laboratory, someone whistled and said, "Now who is this beautiful girl here?" The boy saw Veronica and then looked at Alexander before shouting at him, "You nerd, what are you doing with her? Didn''t I tell you to complete my project? Instead you are wandering around with such a pretty girl.??You bastard.!!" "Mi.. Mike¡­ Actually sir told me to show her our campus." Alexander replied shuddering lightly in fear. The boy whose name was Mike grabbed Alexander''s jaw tightly which made him flinch in pain and said, "Do one thing. Complete my work and I''ll show this beautiful piece of art, our college." Veronica was silent all the while and watching everything without any sound. She was inspecting both of the boys'' behavior and finally came to a conclusion that Mike was an arrogant boy who loved to rag Alexander as he was a calm boy. She had a hunch that Alexander is not like other boys. His behavior was like a lost child who get bullied easily and wasn''t strong to protect himself¡­ But when she saw that Mike was hurting Alexander, she opened her mouth, "Listen Mr. I don''t know who you are. But you better leave him otherwise it''ll not be good for you." "Woah¡­!! Feisty huh?" Mike asked with interest. "That I am." Veronica said before slapping Mike''s arms from Alexander''s jaw and bringing him to the cafeteria.. Ordering some juice for both of themselves, Veronica silently looked at Alexander whose head was bowed as low as possible. She couldn''t suppress the questions that were lingering in her mind and blurted out, "Alexander, why didn''t you protest against Mike? He was hurting you. Why did you stay mute when he was bullying you?" Alexander stared at her with glossy eyes and stuttered, "I.. I''m not as strong like him." Veronica sighed rubbing her forehead and asked, "Then why didn''t you ask your parents for help?" Alexander shook his head like he wanted to stop her from saying anything and replied, "I¡­ I don''t have any parents. I don''t have any family. I''m an.. an orphan." Hearing it, Veronica''s eyes also welled up in tears in sympathy for him and a gasp left from her mouth, "Oh..!" Gaining her emotions back after few seconds, Veronica cutely smiled at him and said, "If you don''t have family then it''s okay. We can be friends. So, will you be my friend?" Nodding shyly at her, Alexander replied, "Yes.." Veronica clapped her hands in joy of making a new friend on the second day of her staying in city B and said, "Then we are friends from now on. By the way, your name is too big to pronounce. So I''ll shorten it and call you Alex.." Chapter 137 - Desperate to talk... Days went by and both Alexander and Veronica became good friends¡­ Chapter 138 - Powerhouse of Energy... Finally taking her phone from the side table, she started playing with it in nervousness.. After taking three big and deep breaths to calm herself, she dialed the number, very excited to hear the other person''s voice¡­ "So you finally got the time to call me back?" Reuben said from the phone. "Woahh..! No hi and hello.. you just jumped into mocking me?" Veronica protested. Reuben on the other side felt her behavior really funny. So he started chuckling at her making her more angry. "Hey.. why are you laughing?" Veronica argued. "Nothing.. tell me how are you? Are you having any trouble there?" Reuben asked. Veronica puffed her cheeks in anger and said, "Why do you care? Not that you are my father or brother." Reuben chuckled and said, "Obviously. I can''t be a father of a 20 year girl when I myself is only 22. And about being your brother¡­ First of all both Neil and Henry took that position for you. Secondly, I will never allow you to be my sister.." "Why can''t you be my brother? I can create a vacant seat for you in my life for your brother position?" Veronica teased him. "Well, I can''t take it as I''m not in the mood to be your brother. Now stop talking rubbish.. and tell me how are you doing there?" Reuben stopped her from teasing him further. "Yeah.. I''m doing fine here. Even I got a new friend here." She said the last part excitedly, making Reuben wonder about the uncertain things which could make his blood boil. Couldn''t able to suppress his curiosity, he asked in a serious voice, "Is the new friend of yours a male or female?" Veronica smirked hearing the question and said playfully, "A very handsome male friend... Why do you ask?" "A handsome male? Huh!! Is he more handsome than me? Nah... He can''t be, as I''m always the best. And one more thing, stop making friends with guys in city B. No one is there to help you if you fell in some problems." Reuben strongly spoke out his points. Taking deep breath to control her laughter, Veronica mumbled in a low voice, "You can''t tell me who should I make my friend or not. Stop acting like my boyfriend when you are absolutely not the one." Before Veronica could realise, the words slipped out of her mouth and she face-palmed herself... Whereas Reuben''s experience was the most iconic one to see and finally when he overcome his shock he teased, "Boyfriend? Do you want me to be your boyfriend? If you want then¡­" Before he could finish his sentence, Veronica yelled on the phone in embarrassment, "Who wants to make you boyfriend.. You Moron.." "But you just said that. Now don''t act like you didn''t say it few seconds ago.." Reuben continued to tease her. "You.. you bastard. I don''t want you as my boyfriend. Keep dreaming. Not even for a single day of my whole life, I can think of being your girlfriend.." Veronica shouted and cut the call. She buried her face in her pillow as all the blood of her body rushed into her face, turning her cheeks completely red in shyness. She felt her face turned hot and she slapped herself to reduce the redness getting stronger and brighter. "Oh¡­God¡­ Why is Reuben behaving like this? Does he know about the little crush I''ve on him? No.. no.. no..he definitely doesn''t know about it. Don''t overthink Vero and have a good night sleep. Don''t forget you have to go to class tomorrow morning." Veronica muttered to herself as she suppressed her blush. On the other hand, Reuben couldn''t help but laughed out loud. He was missing his little mortal enemy so much.. ----- It''s already been more than a week that she went to city B, leaving him here all alone. He was missing her cute bickering with him like hell.. There was not a single day he wouldn''t think of her. The days without her was like lifeless to him. He was missing the fun of fighting with her. The cute blabbering and argument of hers with him, was the most favourite part of his everyday boring life. Her nagging was the most favorable melody for him.. her sweet smile was his powerhouse of energy... He couldn''t forget her doe like eyes which would look at him with so much anger and sometimes with affection.. Reuben was certain that Veronica also had some feelings for him which was more than friendship.. Well, for him.. it was always her when he went to sleep or woke up in the morning. Her face would always flushed in his mind whenever he was working, eating or studying since their teenage days.. Now, the long distance between both of them, making him understand that how much he loved her and every passing second without her is like a torture for him.. *sigh* However, now he has to wait for six months to see her beautiful face again¡­ ---- Three months had already passed in a blink of eyes.. Veronica had roamed all around the city in this last three months with her new friends.. She had come to know about every routes and beautiful places of this wonderful city.. Oh.. About friends.. she had became friends with many of her classmates. Diana was one of them.. Though, she was not her classmate, but both of them met in a college seminar. Diana was studying fashion designing and she was studying in one of the top fashion designing institute of city B... Like Veronica, Diana was also not a resident of city B. She came here two years ago for her further studies.. She was one year younger than Veronica but both of them had a good sense of humour so they both became good friends in those short time. Diana didn''t know anything about Alex because he was shy about meeting new people. But she couldn''t understand that if he was really this much introvert type then why didn''t he ever have a problem talking with her.??? Even Alex seems to be more comfortable around her than others... "Hey.. where are you dozed off?" Diana asked waving a hand in front of her. Veronica got back to earth from her world of thinking and said smilingly, "Nothing. Just thinking about anything." "Oh.." Diana replied and continued to play with the straw of her mango juice. Veronica noticed that something was unusual about her as she was not behaving like herself. She seemed to be a little depressed about something. But she couldn''t pinpoint it out... Other times, Diana would be the one to eat Veronica''s head with her non-stop talking. But today she was very much submissive and quite unlike her daily demeanour.. "Is everything okay Diana?" Veronica asked keeping her hand over Diana''s. "What? Ah yeah.. everything is okay." Diana tried to smile. Sighing at her, Veronica said, "Look Diana. If anything is bothering you then you can tell me about it. I will gladly help you." Closing her eyes for some while and then opening it again, Diana looked at Veronica''s eyes and held her hands in a tight grip as she started to discuss about the problem that was bothering her from two days.. "Actually Veronica.. Do you remember that I told you about my parents earlier? When Veronica nodded her head, Diana continued, "As you know that my Dad had died one year ago by a severe heat attack, from then my Mom started to handle our family business. But recently.. Recently she seemed to be dating another man who is one of her business partner. My Mom seemed to be serious into this relationship and both of them are thinking of marrying each other soon. But I don''t want them to.." Veronica raised her eyebrows and asked, "Why? Is it because you love your father too much? Although it''s completely your mother''s life to decide about herself but I can understand your insecurity.." "You are right that my father is one reason I don''t want my mother to get married with someone else. But there is one more thing which bothers me the most... Actually, I don''t like the man my mom is currently dating. I feel uncomfortable around him and he seemed to be little you know.. a little irritating. I mean the way he looks at me is not at all fatherly.. It''s kind of perverted.." Diana let out her problems in front of Veronica. Shaking her a little bit, Veronica said, "You should then talk to your mother about it. I think she will understand your problems. No mother will want to make their child suffer for some other man." Diana smiled at her and said, "Yeah. You are right. I should talk to ty Mom about this when I go for the vacation one month later." They both laughed together and talked about more things when Veronica saw that it was already the time to meet Alex today for their discussion about the manuscript. So she bid goodbye to Diana and left for the riverbank where they decided to meet. --- At the riverbank... Veronica got there ten minutes late than their actual meeting time there. She saw a boy who was sitting on the bench near the bank, wearing a baggy sweatshirt. Slowly walking towards him, she bent a little and shook him from behind to make Alex scared. But his behavior was not at all like she expected... Not only he was not scared at all but he was smiling like a fool after seeing her. Seeing him smiling, Veronica also smiled back and sat beside him.. "Hi Alex. When have you arrived?" Veronica asked as she kept her backpack on the bench. Alex looked at her with clear eyes and said, "Hello Veronica. I just reached here few minutes ago." Veronica scrunched her eyebrows at him calling her in full name, and said, "Alex. Why are you calling me Veronica? It''s Vero for you.." "Oh.. I forgot." Alex said and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck which made Veronica a little wary about him. She felt like something was amiss in Alex today. Like Alex was not Alex today but a different person.. Like he had totally changed into a different man in just one night¡­ Chapter 139 - D-Day closer... She felt like something was amiss with Alex today. Like Alex was not Alex today.. but a different person.. Like he had totally changed into a different man in just one night¡­ She also noticed that Alexander''s appearance is quite different today. His fair face was a bit paler than his usual self. His cute chubby cheeks were also a little slender today. The sweatshirt he was wearing today was also a little loose on him... But all in all, he was looking handsome rather than cute today... The eyes which were always glossy that even seemed to become clearer and softer. He had a beautiful smile on his face whenever he was looking at her. This time no stealing glances instead it was a pure eye to eye look. Veronica kept looking at him in astonishment as to think of the reason of his sudden change which was obviously good. "Hey Vero¡­ Are you listening to me?" Alexander asked her raising his eyebrows. Scrunching her eyebrows together, Veronica couldn''t held up her interest about his sudden demeanor change and asked, "Alex, why do I feel like you have suddenly turned into another person?" As if, Alex already expected the question from her, he cutely smiled and asked sheepishly, "What change you are talking about?" Veronica made a face like she didn''t know how to answer this but still tried to phrase her words properly to make him understand... "Look Alex.. I don''t know how to express it properly but you seem to become more confident about yourself.. and for before... Whenever you would meet me, your cheeks used to turn red in shyness but now you are looking into me right in the eye without getting all pinky on your cheeks." Veronica said moving her hand in the air. Hearing it, Alex chuckled and said, "Actually. I couldn''t sleep yesterday at all, so I had became a little skimpy." "Why hadn''t you slept yesterday?" Veronica asked in confusion. Alexander looked at her mischievously and then bowed his head shyly to avoid looking at her eyes and replied, "Actually.. actually I have joined a self grooming class a week ago. And it was the training of them which makes me look more confident and smart." Veronica made an awkward face at this and then burst into a huge laughter. She then asked in between her laughs, "Really? But why? You are cute in your own way. Is there any special reason for it?" Smiling sheepishly again, Alonzo replied, "In reality.. I want to impress a girl who is very beautiful. And if I want to gain her heart then I''ve to become handsome too like other guys. So.. so I joined the classes." "What? You want to impress a girl? Tell me who is she. I''ll help you in this." Veronica''s eyes widened hearing her friend having a crush over a girl. She was very happy for him that her always shy friend is showing interest on someone and trying to change himself... Alex grinned at her and said, "You know her already very well. But I''ll tell you after I complete my grooming class. Now don''t press me much about her." He pouted. "Aww..!! You are looking so cute. Though you are trying to convert yourself into a more confident man but remember this.. never turn your adorable heart into a stone like one. By the way.. I like the cute side of you more." She said becoming all childish and excited. Nodding his head at her, Alex showed her a bright smile and said, "I promise, I''ll never change to a cold person and always stay cute for you." "So it''s a 100% promise?" Veronica asked letting her pinky finger out. Holding her pinky finger with his, Alex said, "100% promise." Veronica shook her head at him and said, "Okay. Now time for our discussion about the manuscript. Let''s concentrate on that thing." Alexander smiled and both of them started discussing about it.. ---- One week passed by like this... Veronica was busy with her studies and helping her classmates to learn the new software functions. The modelling part is quite difficult which was making everyone a little tensed and restless. Therefore, all of them were really bragging Veronica to help them as she was already a pro in this... And she being the kindest and modest one, always tried to help everyone which was decreasing quite a lot of energy from her everyday. She just finished her class today which was quite hectic as their professor literally scolded most of the students for not being able to do the modelling correctly or more like they didn''t have the urge to learn it properly... Coming out of class, she went to the canteen to have a cup of coffee as her headache was already severe. She also hadn''t met Alex for more than four days.. Alex was busy in his grooming class so he couldn''t able to attend the college for few days. Although they were conversing about the project and class everyday. The coffee she ordered had finally been served. She just started to drink it when an annoying voice disturbed her peace.. "Hello beautiful." Mike greeted as he sat in front of her. Veronica ignored him completely and continued sipping her coffee without giving him any attention at all. Mike got angry at her ignorant behaviour and he asked while smirking, "Where is your little dumb friend today? Is he so much scared of me that he is hiding in his home?" This questions pulled the string in Veronica''s head and fury rose in her whole body as she shot him a glare before saying coldly, "Where he is, should not matter to you. And if you said one more bad thing about Alex, I swear I''ll punch you right on your face." Getting straightly insulted by her, Mike said through his gritted teeth, "Don''t try to challenge me Veronica. I''m not a good guy because I don''t think twice to hurt a girl. And let me tell you a secret¡­ that you are not a exception in it." Veronica didn''t say but just continued enjoying the show of Mike rattling on his bad boy image which she was not a bit of interest about.. She wondered in her mindnd, IF¡­ Only if Mike would know about her true identity then he would even not be able to have the courage to show his face in front of her.. No showing face would be too little to describe it.. maybe he would just pee in his pant.. *Hahahaha* Just thinking about this, made Veronica burst into a peak of laughter. Everyone in the canteen looked at her in an awkward way. Noticing it, Veronica stopped laughing and looked at the confused Mike. She said sorry to others for disturbing them and stared at him again. Leaning forward to him, Veronica muttered in a deadly tone which was only audible to Mike, "Listen carefully you donkey¡­ I''m also not as simple as you think. You can''t even imagine in your life what can I do to your bloody ugly face if I get angry. So don''t make me lose my temper. It''ll only call your D-Day closer." Saying it, she got up from the chair in a swift movement and left the canteen after paying for her coffee, leaving a furious Mike there.. ---- As Veronica didn''t have any more work to do, she called Diana if they could meet today but to her bad luck, Diana was also very busy like Alexander.. So Veronica thought to spend her boring day by spending some alone time in library. She stayed there for three hours reading books then went for some grocery shopping.. It was already very late at night when she reached home. She unlocked her apartment and entered with the grocery bags. She was about to switch on the light when she felt someone''s presence in her apartment. ''Who could be here at this hour? Moreover no one has the key of my apartment.. neither Alex nor Diana except my Dad¡­ So had dad come to visit me?'' She thought to herself felling very happy, thinking her dad might have come here... But then something struck into her mind, ''No.. That can''t be possible. Dad is out of country now. And if he would come here, he would definitely inform me beforehand just not to scare me off.. Then who is there.?'' She was wondering about the person in her mind when the sound of footsteps entered her ears. She became alert and kept the grocery bags on the floor very silently, not to aware of the other person who trespassed in her territory.. As the footsteps came nearer and nearer... Veronica took few deep breaths to steady herself and readied herself to kick off the person on the floor.. Positioning herself in the right posture, she was about to hit the person who came extremely close to her when her wrist got caught in a tight hold of a strong man as he turned her over in a swift motion making her shriek in pain.. Chapter 140 - Trap you in a relationship... As the footsteps came nearer and nearer, Veronica took few deep breaths to steady herself and readied herself to kick off the person on the floor.. Positioning herself in the right posture she was about hit the person who came extremely close to her when her wrist got caught in a tight hold of a strong man as he turned her over in a swift motion making her shriek in pain.. Trying to regain her balance, she tried to back-kick him when her leg also got pressed down smoothly by the unknown person while he tightened his hold on Veronica''s waist.. "You bastard¡­ Leave me right now. Do you know who I am?" Veronica shouted at him. "Well my wild cat.. no one knows you better than me." The man whispered in her ear fanning his hot breath over her bare flesh. Veronica''s eyes widened when she recognised the voice of the unknown intruder who was definitely not a stranger to her.. But what was he doing here??? Wasn''t he supposed to be in City S? Then why was he there, holding her in a right grip? When Veronica was busy in her thoughts, the man turned her over, making her face him and then started walking forward still holding her petite body in his arms.. Finally he stopped when Veronica''s back was pressed on the wall, she shuddered feeling the sensation of the cold wall behind her while still staying in his arms.. "Did you miss me so much that you kept on looking at me?" The man teased in a low voice as he moved his left hand towards her face. Caressing her cheeks with the back of his hand, he then roamed his hand from her shoulder to her arms. Veronica stood there quietly still in total shock as she hadn''t any courage to say anything... Regaining her sense, when she felt the man''s face was very close to her, she was about to yell when he moved his face towards her right side and swithched on the lights of the room.. The lights illuminated the whole room, getting brightened up with the sudden electricity.. The lights fall on the two person''s face who were looking into each other''s eyes without caring about the world. "Are you surprised to see me that much that you even forget to breath, Vero?" Reuben smirked at her. Veronica left a big breath which she was holding till then without knowing herself. She looked at the man in front of her who was smirking in a teasing way and all her blood boiled up in anger.. "Reuben Smith.. What the hell are you doing here? And how did you get the house key of my apartment?" Veronica shouted as soon as she gained her sense back and noticed that there was none other than the great Reuben Smith, standing in front of her.. Reuben let go of her from his arms and distanced himself from her. He then bowed down a little and held up the grocery bags from the floor and straightly walked towards the kitchen, avoiding the fuming Veronica at the doorstep. Veronica stomped her feet and ran towards the kitchen before asking again, "Can you please tell me why are you here?" Taking out all the groceries from the bag, Reuben started cleaning them one by one in the sink and said, "Well, I''m here for a business meeting which will be hold tomorrow. So I have come to visit you as you are now in city B." Grabbing the clean groceries from Reuben''s hand, Veronica started to keep them in to the fridge while asking, "If you have a meeting here then which hotel you''re staying in?" "I hadn''t booked any hotel. I''ll be staying here.. IN your apartment." Reuben said casually as if it was not a big deal to stay here... On the other hand, Veronica gasped and said, "Wha.. what do you mean? You can''t stay here. Go book a hotel for yourself now." "Come on now Vero. You can''t do this with me. Should not friends help each other when they are in some problems? I know that we''re born enemy but think about our family friendship and let me stay here for one night. How can you throw an innocent boy like me out of your house so late at night? It''s not safe at all and if some horny girl try to r.a.p.e me!! No no.. I have to keep my body pure for my future girlfriend who would also gonna be my wife one day." Reuben said looking at Veronica with a smirk which made Veronica rolled her eyes.. "Moreover I''m very tired to even move my fingers and you are telling me to move my legs.. sorry sorry.. Let me rephrase it.. You''re telling me to move my whole body with my heavy luggages? That''s not fair at all.." Reuben pouted cutely. Though Veronica was not showing any softer feeling on her face but inside of her heart and mind, she instantly did a summersault out of happiness. Unknown to them, both Reuben and Veronica missed each other very badly. So after seeing each other after three months, there was no horizon of their happiness of seeing each other after so many days.. Actually, truth to be told.. the meeting Reuben was talking about was not at all important for him to just attend personally.. but how could his heart stop him to catch the chance of seeing his long time love after months.. So the sole reason of his visit to city B was absolutely Veronica.. And now seeing her here all again, he felt refresh and lively again¡­ "Okay.. You can stay here tonight. Let me cook something for dinner then." Veronica said, trying to hide the smile that was forcing to bloom on her plump lips.. ---- After dinner, the biggest tension had arrived between them.. The problem of sleeping arrangements.. As it was a one bedroom flat so there was only one bed there which was also not very big to fit two person properly without touching each other. "You.. you sleep on the bed and I''ll sleep in the sofa in the living room." Veronica said to Reuben. Reuben didn''t argue about that because he very well knew he couldn''t win over her about this.. Moreover he didn''t want to waste the peaceful moment fighting with her. So he nodded his head and entered her bedroom like a good boy.. ---- In the middle of the night, Veronica was soundly sleeping on the sofa in the living room when the bedroom door got opened very lightly, not to make any sound so that the beautiful angel would wake up from her sleep.. Silently walking towards the couch, Reuben sat on his knees very slowly and kept looking at her beautiful face. Every lights without the table lamp was off so the soft yellow colour of the lamp fell on her face which was shining like a star.. Bending a little more, Reuben tugged her hair locks behind her ear and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. This kiss was of pure bliss and longing that he was feeling for her from the past three months. "I missed you Ica.. so much.. I hope the rest three months would end soon and you come back to us again.." Reuben whispered very lowly. Smiling at her pout which she was unknowingly doing in her sleep, Reuben ran his hands through her hair and murmured, "You know what Ica.. I don''t like to call you Vero like others. Because you are very special to me and I also want to be the special one in your heart. I wasted a lot time, bickering with you for our whole life. But now.. now I really can''t wait to make you my girlfriend. I know you need a little bit time and want to enjoy your life. That''s why, I never tried to trap you in a relationship for the past years with me because I know you like your freedom very much. But these three months without you, had made me restless completely. I felt my heart is not with me anymore. So I decided.. after you finish your project here and come back to S City again.. I''ll make you mine. I felt itching all those times when you smiled so brightly or looked so beautiful yet I couldn''t hug or kiss you because I didn''t want to ruin your teenage life which is very important to everyone.. specially to a girl. But believe me, I can''t help but be selfish now. I badly want you to be my girlfriend. Am I behaving like a bad guy then?" Sighing deeply, he continued, "I hope one day, you will also love me back, like how much I do. I want to call you Ica for my whole life but not secretly like I''m doing now. Because my endearment for you is not something I can express in mere words. I love you Ica. Hope you will soon be mine." A tear slipped from his eyes as he professed his love to the sleeping beauty in front of him. Kissing her forehead again, he said, "Good night love. Sleep well." Then he entered the bedroom again. ---- It was already morning when both of them were having their breakfast. And of course, Veronica was absolutely oblivious to the last night incident... She thought she saw a beautiful dream yesterday night where Reuben was proposing her to be his girlfriend. She shook her head in a negative way, thinking it couldn''t ever happen in this life. Reuben could never love her. It would always be one-sided love from her side.. Finishing their breakfast, both Reuben and Veronica got out from the apartment for their own personal works.. As they were standing outside the gate of their apartment building, Veronica''s heart clenched thinking about Reuben leaving city B and she would be all alone again here.. Same was happening to Reuben. He didn''t want to leave her but he couldn''t step over the boundaries which led to her dreams. So with a heavy heart, he decided to say goodbye to his one and only love... Before leaving, he caressed her head and teased, "Behave well little girl. Don''t be clumsy again because there is no one to protect you." Hearing the sarcastic remark, Veronica huffed, "I''m not a little girl and not clumsy too. You are an idiot." Reuben ignored her banter and said, "Take care and if any problem arises... don''t hesitate to call me." "Hmm.. bye." Veronica said pouting. Reuben nodded but before entering his car, he motioned towards his secret bodyguards who were hiding in the corners, to look for her who were protecting Veronica from the past three months without her knowledge. Giving her another smile, Reuben told his driver to start the call and soon it vanished from her vision.. Looking towards the way with a sad teary face, Veronica was about to enter when another male voice called for her, "Vero.." Turning towards the voice, Veronica smiled, "Hi Alex. Good morning." "Morning. Are you ready for the class?" Alex asked and when Veronica nodded both of them started walking towards their college. In the halfway, Alex hesitantly called, "Vero¡­" "Hmm¡­??" "When I came to your apartment, I saw a man entering a car. Is he someone close to you?" Alex asked, trying to suppress the unknown jealousy in himself... Chapter 141 - Definitely not today... In the midway, Alex hesitantly called, "Vero¡­" "Hmm¡­??" "When I came to your apartment, I saw a man entering a car. Is he someone close to you?" Alex asked, trying to suppress the unknown jealousy in himself... Veronica looked shocked when she heard the question. She thought in her head what to tell him as she couldn''t tell about Reuben to him.. Because if Alex came to know about Reuben''s identity then it would not be hard for anyone to find out that she was none other the only heiress of one of the wealthiest family of country K...Veronica Lopez.. She was thinking very hard when Alex nudged her, "You didn''t tell me about him?" Awkwardly smiling at him, Veronica said, "What to tell about him when I don''t know him? He was just passing by me when we collided with each other. So he said sorry to me and left by his car." She blurted out any lie that she could make instantly to avoid any kind of suspicions from her friend. Inwardly she thought, ''But this is called betrayal to hide the truth from your own friend.'' But then she decided that she would tell him everything about her real identity, her friends, family.. everything one day.. but that one day was definitely not today.. She would let Alex and Diana know all the truth before leaving for city S. Then they could get connected with phone and stay friends for their whole life. She would also let them meet with her friends... Neil, Henry, Will, Lucinda, Louis and most preciously Reuben.. Getting determined about it, the guilt in Veronica''s heart reduced a little and she smiled at Alex who was also smiling back at her. Alex felt more relaxed when he heard that the man whose back had he seen few minutes ago.. was just a stranger to Veronica.. and the strange feeling that he was feeling had also evaporated in a minute.. They both kept talking and went for their class.. ----- One and half month passed away again without anyone''s notice... Veronica was badly missing her family and friends from S city. Though she video called with everyone frequently but still her heart was aching for them.. specially for the one handsome man whose birthday was coming in two months.. It was her five months in City B and there was one more month left for her to spend here. She would definitely miss this city but the attachment she had with her hometown could not be compared to her love for city B... Because, for her.. City S was like a heaven where all her most loved ones lived.. except one person.. who suddenly got vanished like a thin air without them knowing¡­ Her bond with Alex and Diana got stronger.. She was happy to find such good friends here.. she also thought of letting both Alex and Diana meet before her leaving the city so that the three of them could be friends¡­ Early on the morning, Diana had called today to ask Veronica for a meet up. She told that she had a very important matter to tell her, which is why Veronica was waiting at a restaurant for a lunch date with Diana.. "Finally¡­ you are here?" Veronica asked when she saw Diana entering the restaurant ten minutes late. "Yeah.. the princess is finally here.." Diana joked in a sing-song voice. Veronica shook her head for her childishness and said, "Good that you are here. Let''s order something first. I''m super hungry." "Yup sure.." Diana said before calling for the waiter. Ordering their respective foods, they started to discuss about their college and classes.. "So.. what is the matter you have to tell me urgently?" Veronica raised her eyebrows questioning her. Diana drank a sip of water and said smilingly, "I have a good news to tell you.. As per your suggestion, I told my mom about my problem over her boyfriend who is also her business partner. And guess what?? Listening to my perspective about him, my mom assured me to break up with him. She also told me to visit home soon. And as my holiday is starting from this week, I''m leaving for home to spend some alone time with my Mom.. Yeyyy.." Veronica chuckled at her behavior and said, "That''s really good. Everything is finally solved now. You don''t have to be stressed anymore. I''m so happy for you." "Yeah.. me too." Diana said laughing with full energy. The lunch got served and both of them engrossed themselves in eating. When it was time for their leaving, Veronica said, "When will you come back again? You know nah.. that my project is almost complete and I''ll also be going home after one month." "Don''t worry Vero. I''ll be here in three weeks. And the rest of the week here will be only for you. We''ll do lots of shopping and have fun." Diana said cheerfully, her happiness was on cloud nine to meet her mother. Smiling at her, Veronica asked, "When will you be leaving then?" "Tomorrow morning." Diana replied. "Okay. I''ll come with you to the airport." Veronica said for which Diana got agreed very easily... ---- Next day morning, Veronica dropped Diana at the airport and after bidding her goodbye she went for her class. She will be meeting Alex after one whole week. The past week was very busy for Alex. He had very rare time to meet with her and whenever she would call him, he would either say that he was tired after attending his grooming class and he just wanted to rest now. So Veronica also didn''t mind him and let him take some rest as too much labour was not good for health.. When Veronica was going to enter the college her phone rang and it was a call from Alex. "Hey Alex.. where are you?" Veronica asked. "Uhm.. Vero.. I think I wouldn''t be able to come for the class today. But can you meet me at the riverbank after your class is over? I want you to meet someone." Alex said from the other side. Veronica was confused at first when Alex told about someone to meet her but later she agreed thinking it must be someone close to him, "Okay. I''ll be there." Deciding on the time, both cut the call and Veronica attended her class. ---- At the riverbank.. It was already 4 in the evening when Veronica had decided to meet Alex. She walked towards the place where they usually loved to sit and talked about everything¡­ As she went nearer to the bench, she saw that Alex was sitting there with an old lady beside him. The old lady was very beautiful despite of having white hair. Even her wrinkles couldn''t hide the beauty of her. Slowly approaching them, Veronica greeted, "Hi Alex.. how are you?" Alex smiled and said, "Hi Vero. I''m fine. Come meet my grandmother." He motioned towards the old lady sitting beside him. "Your grandmother? But you said that you are an orphan?" Veronica asked in confusion. Alex already expected her to ask this question so he smiled before narrating, "Yeah¡­ You are right about me being an orphan. But she was the one who took care of me in the absence of my parents. My grandmother loves me the most but I didn''t mention about her to you because I was a little bit hesitant because of her illness. But now she is okay, so she asked me to meet you. That''s why I brought her here. I hope you don''t mind." Shaking her head at them, Veronica smiled sweetly and said, "Thanks for letting me meet your grandmother. I don''t have any grandparents. My grandfather died when I was seven years old whereas my grandmother left the world three years back. She loved me very much and always told me that I''m the most sweetest granddaughter of the world... She used to make me different types of dishes which I really loved and told me many stories from my childhood so that I could sleep well. I already miss her." A tear of sorrow escaped from her eyes. Alex''s grandmother brought her in a hug and said caressing her hair, "Aww my little child. Don''t cry please. I''m also like your grandmother. You can treat me like one." Veronica smiled in between her tears and said, "Thank you, grandmother. Actually you know what, even though my grandmother passed away the grandparents of my other friends love me very much. They treat me like their own just like you told me." She then gave her sweet smile. Wiping the tears from her face, Alex''s grandmother cooed her, "That''s really good. By the way I heard many good things about you from this boy so I couldn''t hold the excitement of meeting you personally. So right now I have come here to meet you. I must say, just like Alon.. I mean Alex had mentioned, you are really good from your heart and even more beautiful from his description." Getting compliment from an old lady of her grandmother''s age, Veronica became very happy and giggled with contentment. "Hey.. Did you forget that I''m also here?" Alex complained. His grandmother laughed at him and replied, "How can I forget my favorite grandson? Come here. Give me a hug." Alex also hugged his grandmother back and three of them chatted happily. "Okay. Veronica. It was nice to meet you. Hope we''ll meet again. And next time I''ll cook for you something." Alex''s grandmother said when it was time to leave. "Sure grandmother." Veronica hugged her again before leaving for her home with a smile on her face. She was surely missing her grandmother now¡­ Specially Reuben''s grandparents who loved her more than they love their own grandson. She thought to visit them as soon as she landed on city S one month later¡­ Chapter 142 - You are really beautiful.. from both inside and outside… Time passed by smoothly without taking care of anyone''s wishes or demands... Like that, another fifteen days had been spent by Veronica giving final touch to her compulsory project. Two or three more weeks and she would say goodbye to city B soon.. Truthfully, she would miss this city, her new friends and also the beautiful atmosphere here. Each and everyday was passing without her knowledge and every morning would be the time when she would feel the tug of war in her heart¡­ At one side was the sorrow of leaving her friends here; whereas on the other hand, was the anticipation and joy of hers to go back home where her loving family, friends everyone would be waiting for her¡­ Veronica sighed sinking in the thought of her ever-changing emotions and dialed the one number she was talking continuously on the phone without missing anyday. After few rings the call got received by the other person and a meek voice of a girl could be heard. "Hey Vero.." Diana greeted. Veronica felt something was weird with her voice as if like she was crying few minutes ago, so she asked hesitantly, "Diana.. What happened to your voice? Were you crying?" Not choking on her voice, Diana smiled a little and said, "I''m not crying Vero. It''s just that I ate too many ice-creams yesterday that my throat is aching in pain. So I can''t talk properly." Sighing in relief that nothing bad had happened to her friend, Veronica spoke, "That''s good then. By the way, when are you coming back? You know na, that I''ll be leaving in few more weeks?" Diana nodded her head slowly though she knew that Veronica couldn''t see her and replied almost in a whisper, "I remember Vero. I''ll be there in time. Don''t worry." "Okay. My last class is in few minutes. I''ll be calling you later. Bye." Veronica said. "Yeah. Bye." Diana said before cutting the call. Although, Veronica thought that something was wrong in Diana''s behavior but she removed the idea of it from her head thinking if there was really any matter that was bothering Diana, she would definitely tell her herself. So shaking her head to erase all those crazy ideas, Veronica went to attend her last class for today... ---- When Veronica headed back to her home, it was still early in the evening. As she had no one to meet today so, she came back to her apartment before the clock could ticked at 5 pm.. Getting freshed and having some snacks, Veronica was watching TV when she saw that her mobile was ringing and it was from Alex. She huffed seeing his number because for the past whole week, Alex was not answering her call at all... Veronica tried to call him for countless of times for the previous week but he never received his call. Moreover Veronica had met Alex last time when he came to visit her at the riverbank with his grandmother. From then, she had never seen him again which made her really very angry... How could he not meet her? Is he that much busy to atleast call her for a minute to inform her about his short time disappearance? Humphh..!!! Today getting a call from him, Veronica got excited but she decided to stay angry on him. So she answered his call in a angry tone, "So finally you have the time to call me." Alex from the other side said in a hurried voice, "Vero.. can you please meet me today?" "Today? But I''m already in my home and it''s also late at night." Veronica tried to dismiss the idea of meeting him tonight as she was too lazy to change into another perfect dress. "Oh. You don''t have to come out to meet me. I''ll be at your apartment in ten minutes." Before Veronica could agree or deny, Alex cut the call. ---- About thirty minutes later, she got a message from Alex telling her to come down as he had something important to say. Reaching near the gate of her apartment building, Veronica searched fall Alex and saw him sitting on a stool there. "Hey Alex." Veronica greeted joyfully forgetting all her anger on him. Alex looked up at her from staring at his lap and gave her a forced smile, "Hi Vero." Veronica noticed the slight difference on Alex. He became chubby again but his face lost the glow he had previously. His eyes were a little gloomy like before and now his smile was totally artificial, not at all like Alex''s carefree and gentle smile... Sitting beside him, Veronica questioned, "Alex.. You seemed to have gone back to your previous self. Why this sudden change again?" "I.. I left the grooming class two weeks ago so I must be looking a little chubby like before." Alex tried to make excuses to let Veronica drop the topic. But being a stubborn girl as always, Veronica was not at all satisfied with his response. She tried to find more clues from Alex''s strange behaviour as she asked, "Why did you leave the grooming class suddenly?" Alex looked at her weirdly and then replied while stuttering, "Actu.. actually.. I couldn''t spent time with my grandmother property and as her health is not well that much, I decided to.. to join the grooming session later when everything got settled again." "Ok that''s good. Now tell me what important thing you have to tell me?" Veronica asked. Scratching the back of his neck, Alex said, "Uhm.. let''s talk about it later and tell me about your project." "Its on the final stage and after rendering and some other corrections, it''ll be a deal done." Veronica replied but didn''t miss the change in Alex''s expressions. So she asked, "Alex.. Did something happen? You seemed to be nervous and tensed about something." Alex''s ears turned red and he seemed to hesitate a little bit. Wiggling in his seat, he found a more comfortable sitting position and said, "Actually Vero.. You are really beautiful.. from both inside and outside¡­" "Aww..!! Thank you for the complement." Veronica exclaimed in a very friendly manner. Blushing redder than before, Alex gulped the lump in his throat and started to say, "You are also my first friend and I really appreciate you for your sweetness. And I really li.. like you.." Veronica''s eyes widened hearing Alex speaking this. She couldn''t hold the idea of Alex liking her at all because she never thought of him more than a friend to her... To clear his misunderstanding about both of their friendship, Veronica was about to open her mouth when Alex beat her in this, "Like a friend¡­" "Huh?" Veronica was completely uncertain about what was clicking in Alex''s mind. "I like you as a friend.. not like something more. Thanks for being my friend Vero." Alex cleared his thoughts to Veronica which made her sigh in a big relief. "You are also a very good friend of mine Alex and I''m happy that I met you. Promise me that we will always remain as friends." Veronica said with a big smile. "I promise." Alex replied, making Veronica''s smile bigger but she missed to notice the saddening and hurt feeling which were reflecting in Alex''s eyes. After their heartfelt conversation about their sweet friendship, both of them talked a little bit more and decided to eat some ice-cream.. As they were walking on the cementing path beside the main road, eating their favourite ice-creams, Veronica suddenly said, "So Alex.. These were the important things you wanted to tell me.??" Alex''s footsteps paused when he heard Veronica and he bowed his head in a defeating manner. His mind was juggling through many kind of stuffed, mostly were about the truths and lies¡­ ''Should I tell her the truth? What would she think of me knowing about my past?'' ''Would she think that I betrayed her by lying to her?'' ''No.. no.. she is my friend. She would definitely understand my situation and forgive me..'' ''But what if she broke our friendship after knowing the lies I told her and decided to never talk to me again..'' These were all the conceptions that were wandering around his mind. Finally deciding what to say, Alex looked at her with a clear eyes which hold complete determination. He stopped Veronica and started to say, "I told you many lies Veronica.. I.. I''m not an orph.." Before he could finish, Alex''s phone rang and when he picked it up, his face slowly paled. The determination that was present in his eyes few minutes ago, now was nowhere to be seen. Now his eyes hold a morph of shock and extreme sorrow and he seemed to look extremely broken... Two minutes later, when person on the phone finally finished speaking, one drop of tear escaped from Alex''s eye and he said to the person, "Okay.. I''m coming now." Cutting the call, Alex wiped the tears and forced a smile on his face. He then turned towards Veronica who was grinning widely after seeing a message on her phone, for which she hadn''t observed Alex''s previous changes of expressions.. Looking at her beautiful smiling face which was very much comparable to an angel, Alex said with a heavy heart, "Vero.. something came up.. I''ve to leave now." "But what about the important things??" Veronica asked lifting her head from the phone. Alex smiled faintly before replying, "Another time.. I''ll call you later. Bye." "Okay. Bye. Take care." Veronica said and then saw Alex running away from there. She thought that something was definitely different in him today which she couldn''t guess but decided to ask him later on their next meeting. Therefore, shrugging it off her shoulder, she went to the nearest market to buy some dairy products. While walking she felt someone was following her, so she abruptly turned over to see if anyone really was there or not¡­ But saw no one there other than some local residents.. so again she busied herself in her dairy shopping and then walked back home.. After she entered her home, one man in black dress called someone and informed the person as soon as the call got received, "Boss, she came back home safely and securely.." "Hmm.. Good job. Keep protecting her like always." Reuben ordered the bodyguard that he appointed for Veronica''s safety before she came in city B. "Copied Boss." The bodyguard replied before the line got cut. "Only two more weeks till you are back again to me." Reuben whispered to himself closing his eyes.. Chapter 143 - Dirty words and dishonorable nicknames... "What do you want?" "Nothing.." "Then why did you call me?" "To irritate you.." "Don''t you have any work?" "Work is boring.. So you came in my mind first. After all no one can be more fun to tease other than Ms. Veronica Lopez herself.." Reuben teased. "Reuben. Smith¡­. If you don''t have work that doesn''t mean that I''ve all the free time of the world to entertain you.." Veronica seethed in anger on the phone call. "Oh.. really? What kind of work do you have?, You already told me that your project is completed." Reuben said. Veronica was already very much angry because she couldn''t find her favourite shirt and now the stupid Reuben was irritating her first in the morning by saying all the idiotic things after calling her.. Urghhh..!! Nerve of this boy..!! She wanted to kill this douchebag Reuben early in the morning.. "First of all, stop irritating me. Today we have to take the clearance of the project from our professors. If he approved it, then I''ll be finally free from the biggest tension forever.." Veronica said packing her bag for that day. Suddenly Reuben''s face delighted in joy when he heard that today might be the day of the completion Veronica''s college project which meant she could come back to city S before the allotted time.. Yeipiee¡­!!!!! Reuben could finally prepare his surprise then. He could finally see the beautiful smile of the precious gem everyday... "Where are you?" Veronica''s loud voice rang in his ears. "I''m here.. Where else could I be? Or are you asking me this because you are missing me." Reuben hadn''t left any chance to tease Veronica. "Stop it you idiot... I was calling your name from so long but you were not replying that''s why I asked about your presence." Veronica said locking her door and getting out. Reuben nodded his head like a little child as if he understood whatever Veronica was saying and asked, "So if today your project got approved, then you will come back before this week ends. Right?" "No.. I will not leave so soon.." Veronica replied making Reuben questioned her wishes. Furrowing his eyebrows, Reuben suppressed his sorrow and asked, "Why can''t you come back soon? Your project has already finished." Veronica walked through the pathway, enjoying the morning sunlight and told him about her plan, "I''ve decided to stay here for another two weeks here. My friend Diana had gone to meet her Mom and would come back in two days. So I''ve planning to go shopping with her and would also introduce her to Alex. Then the next two weeks will be spent by us doing a lots of fun and visiting lots of places." "Oh... Good then. I''ve a important meeting now. I''ll call you later." Reuben cut the call immediately feeling depressed that Veronica would be still away for another two weeks. "Can''t she just come back the next day? Humphh..!" Reuben pouted like a silly kid.. Whereas Veronica was like, "What is with this boy!!" ---- Two days later, Veronica finally submitted her project and today was the day of Diana''s return. She was already excited to meet her.. She even planned a meeting with Alex today in the evening so that both Alex and Diana could become friends.. Veronica called Diana to ask for her flight time but when Diana picked up the call, Veronica''s expression changed completely. "Diana.. why are you crying? What happened?" Veronica asked getting tensed over her friend''s welfare. Diana sobbed and said, "Nothing Vero... Nothing happened to me. I''m crying because I couldn''t fulfil my promise to you. I''m sorry Veronica. I can''t come back today. I''ve decided to stay here for another week... Please don''t mind. My Mom is not leaving me as she had seen me after so many months. Please don''t get angry." "It''s okay. Don''t cry. I''ll be leaving two weeks later. You''ll be able to come before I depart from here." Veronica tried to console her. Silence was crept between the two friends for some time when Diana finally stuttered in a very hesitant yet low voice, "Of.. of course." ---- Evening time came and Veronica waited for Alex in the caf¨¦. Though Diana couldn''t make it but Veronica still decided to meet him as he was her first friend in city B and he would always hold a special place in her heart. Veronica had been waiting for Alex to come for over forty minutes but he was still not there. She hadn''t eaten anything for hours that''s why she was feeling very hungry. So she ordered a sandwich and coffee to eat till Alex could arrive there... Biting her sandwich she was chewing it with her heart''s content and was sipping the coffee when she noticed disheveled looking Alex was entering the caf¨¦. She stood up from her chair seeing her friend. She was extremely happy that Alex had come today as she was missing Diana very much... When Alex came closer to her, Veronica wanted to hug him and when she was about to engulf him in a friendly hug, she fell on the floor, making her eyes bulge out of her face in a complete shock.. Everyone in the caf¨¦ turned their faces towards her and stared at her like she was a big joke.. Because the joke was like this.. Veronica didn''t fall on the floor by herself but her dear friend Alex had pushed her mercilessly with a strong force that she had landed directly on the floor.. Surprise would be understatement to describe her expression because she was beyond shock at Alex''s behavior.. She never had thought in her life that her friend would push her off like this. Getting up from the floor, she regained her balance and stood up steadily. Veronica took few deep breaths and then looked directly in Alex''s eyes.. "What was that Alex?" Veronica asked. Alex threw daggers at her and shouted, "That was nothing but a punishment for your sickening mind and rotten heart." "Alex.. I think you are out of your mind. You are saying whatever you could without caring if those words can hurt me. And what punishment you are talking about?? I have a sickening mind and a rotten heart.!! Really Alex? Do you come to know this about me, after being friends with me for these past few months?" Veronica was very much hurt by Alonzo''s words. "Hahaha hahaha.." Alex''s crazy laughter resonated the whole caf¨¦ snatching everyone''s attention towards them. "You know what Veronica.. you think too much highly about yourself. You pretend to be the most kind hearted woman in front of everyone whereas your heart is as dark as coal... You always act like that you are the most innocent girl of the world whereas you are nothing more than a two faced disgusting bitch. You..." *slap* Before Alex could finish his insulting words anymore, a loud smacking sound could be heard in the air of the caf¨¦. A throbbing pain hit his left cheek and a fingerprint of a small hand imprinted on his cheek... Yes.. Veronica had slapped him.. She slapped him really hard.. "One more bad words about me Alex and I''m telling you.. I''ll forget that you are my friend. If you think that I''m a bitch then why did you become my friend?? I think something has cracked into your mind that you are not thinking right. You are saying whatever is coming in your mind. And when did I behave like a two faced bitch?? There were other people who always bullied you while everytime I supported you. I fought with them to keep you safe. And you.. you are now telling me that my heart is dark like coal. Like seriously?" Veronica lost her patience with him and became extremely furious when she heard those vile words from her innocent like friend Alex. Alex''s eyes were now red in anger and he caught Veronica''s hand so tightly that her wrist was about to break and the bones there would smash into pieces if he applied a little more force on them.. "You helped me because you wanted to show everyone how great you were. You never thought of me as a friend, Miss Veronica but used me as a staircase to put your pride, greatness and nobility in front of the people... You wanted to show everyone that no one could be as prominent as you but you forgot that truth would always come out one day. You just sympathized with me and treated me like a stepping stone.." Alex threw his cruel words one after another like a bullet train without stopping for a second. *chuckle* "Woahh..!! I never knew my kindness, my friendship with you would turn into just a mere sympathy. And what did you say just now?? That I treated you like a stepping stone? Then tell me Alex... What would I get from you in return of doing this shitty things? Just some praises from other people? Like hell I care about them.." Veronica stopped to take few breath and then again started.. "I trusted you with my whole heart. I always treated you like a true friend but what did you give me in return? Some insulting vile words?? I really can''t believe these venom was coming out of your mouth Alex. You know what Alex¡­ After tonight I''m rethinking about the idea that, if I should stay as your friend anymore or not.. You should clean your head first then come to talk with me again if you want. I''m leaving now.." Veronica spatted with both anger and hurt. "Yeah. Just leave from here. Don''t show your evil face again in front of me. I would be really happy when you''d leave this city and make the environment of this city clear again... You are polluting the atmosphere here. You are nothing but a wicked woman. So just get lost from here and never show me your face. I don''t even want to hear your name as if it would make me deaf. Just. Get. Lost.." Alex yelled with so much hatred towards her in his eyes that Veronica couldn''t handle it more and ran away from there while trying to stop her tears from coming out. As soon as she entered her apartment, she jumped on her bed and cried like crazy. She poured out all her sadness through her tears and let it fall on the bedsheet making it wet. She now didn''t want anything but just wished to go back to her hometown and stay with her family. She was now missing her friends there more... "Why God? Why? Did I deserve those insults? I never tried to differentiate between him and my other friends though he was not completely normal. But what did he return me for my care and friendship? Some dirty words and dishonorable nicknames.." She cried and cried and asked answers from the God but there was no answer. But today she understood one thing very clearly¡­. that how much you treat someone with so much care and tenderness.. still the friends of hers in S city would only be her true friends and no one could take their place in her life¡­ Chapter 144 - Determination to protect your relation... Next day morning, Veronica got up from the bed very late. It was the first day she woke up from her sleep so late after coming to city B as it was already 11 am... Actually, she slept very late yesterday night after crying her soul out, mourning over those insulting words that were thrown to her by her best friend and just slept around 2 a.m... Getting up from the bed she stretched out her body to get rid of all the sleepiness and yawned loudly. Rubbing her eyes with her fingers, she checked her phone and saw many missed calls from her childhood best friend, Lucinda. Immediately calling her back, she talked for some minutes with Lucinda about their daily gossips. "So I met Reuben yesterday in a party and he told me that you are going to stay another two weeks there." Lucinda said finishing their gossip session. "Yup. I was thinking about doing so. But now I am in middle of changing my decision to come back home earlier." Veronica said twirling her hair around her index finger. Lucinda jumped in happiness and said excitedly, "Oh.. Niccy.. Don''t think too much about it. Just come back soon. I''m missing you like crazy. Willa and Louis already told me that they are returning on the weekend." Veronica laughed hearing the cheering voice of her friend and said, "Okay.. I''ll try to. Now bye. I''m very much hungry. So let me eat my brunch first. Talk to you later." "Yeah. Bye. And please come back before this week ends.." Lucinda said before cutting the call. Walking towards the kitchen, Veronica made garlic bread and some chicken soup before filling up her already empty stomach. Finishing up, she washed the dishes and then headed towards her bedroom again... Taking a chair from her living room, she sat beside the window and stared at the scenery before her. She played some music on her laptop and listened to it, contemplating about the matter of her return. As she had already eaten so late, she hadn''t anymore appetite so she kept sitting there till 4 pm without caring about the world... Finally determining what should she do, she picked up her phone and dialed her father''s number. "Hi princess." Mr. Lopez, Veronica''s father greeted his daughter after receiving the call. "Hey Dad.. I have called you for an important matter today." Veronica said. Mr. Lopez who was currently in a meeting right now, waved his wand towards his vice-president and other directors, motioning them to wait for a few minutes so that he could talk to his daughter. "Yes Princess. Tell me what you want. I''m all ears." Mr. Lopez said with a frown on his face, pondering about what happened in B City that Veronica had to call so urgently. Veronica understood clearly by her father''s voice that he was being overly tensed about her whereabouts, so she tried to calm down his nerve, "Dad... Don''t stress out too much. Even the news I''m going to give you, will make you jump in joy." Now, Mr. Lopez was out of his stress but extremely excited what his daughter was going to say... He was thinking internally, ''Did my princess get any boyfriend there? No... How could that be possible. She said that hearing the news I''ll be happy.?? But if she would get a boyfriend, in spite of being happy, my mood would definitely turn sour. After all my daughter is still so little to have a boyfriend. I can''t let any other man be close to her, she is still mine to pamper... Nowadays boys are really big devils. They just love to play with innocent hearts of the girls. And I don''t want my little princess to get hurt by those evil men. I''ll protect her from them. Yes, I definitely will.'' "Dad, are you listening to what I''m saying? Veronica asked in little loud voice to break his father''s trance and letting him come back to the earth again. "Huh? What did you say princess?" Mr. Lopez came out of his dreamland and asked in embarrassment when he got caught by his daughter open handedly... Veronica shook her head at her father''s inattentiveness and said, "Dad. I want to go back home as soon as possible. Please book a flight ticket for two days later." "Really? You are coming back home?" Mr. Lopez shouted in joy, making his subordinates jumped in fear for his over raised voice.. But when they noticed the big smile lingering on his face, they relaxed that it was not any bad omen otherwise they would surely fall in trouble today. Laughing at her father, she said, "Yes Dad. I''ll be back home in two days. Please tell assistant uncle to book the flight and when it gets confirmed, inform me.." "Fight booking isn''t important princess. If you want I can arrange my private jet for you right now. But I know you won''t allow me to do so... So I''ll book your ticket right at this moment." Mr. Lopez told his daughter, knowing about her very well. "Okay Dad. Bye now." Veronica said. One hour later, she got another call from her father, telling that her flight was two days later at 10 am. She said okay to him and started packing her stuffs.. She called Diana to inform her about her departure but she was not picking up her call even after dialing her for more than 10 times. Veronica thought that she must be still sleeping as it was already night time so she decided to call her back in morning... --- Veronica ate her dinner after tiring herself out by packing half of her clothes, books and other necessities. She would go for shopping tomorrow to buy presents for her loved ones. She laid on her bed and started fiddling with her phone. Many thoughts were wandering around her mind. If she should call Alex or not.. If she should inform him about her leaving city B or not.. But whatever had happened the previous day, didn''t mean that she should break all the relations with Alex and left the city without even telling him. Though he had insulted her yesterday but she was not so much ruthless to forget their good time as friends for months in a single day and became selfish just like him.. Henceforth, she finally called him.. She hadn''t any expectations from Alex to pick up her call. And right to her thought, the phone kept ringing and ringing and there was no one to answer the call.. or rather like Alex was not interested to pick her call. When Veronica was about to cut it, Alex''s voice came out from there. "Yes Veronica?" Alex''s voice was extremely soft unlike yesterday. Veronica took a deep breath and spoke out, "Alex.. I need to tell you something important. So can you please come to meet me at our usual place, near the riverbank?" Alex was silent for few minutes which led Veronica think that Alex would deny her request but she was surprised when he suddenly appologized, "I.. I''m sorry Veronica for whatever happened yesterday. I shouldn''t say you those vile words. I had a big reason for it though I know I did a big mistake. And yes, I''ll come to meet you tomorrow and talk about it with you." Closing her eyes to control her emotions after Alex''s apology to her, Veronica muttered, "Alex. Let''s talk about this tomorrow when we meet and clear all the things regarding our misunderstandings. Just meet me tomorrow at the riverbank around 5 pm. Please come there. Maybe it''ll be your last chance to see me." She whispered the last sentence almost in a inaudible voice so that even Alex couldn''t hear it. "Okay. I''ll be there before time. Good night Veronica." "Good night Alex." Both of them slept peacefully without knowing that tomorrow would be the toughest day for both of them which would change their friendship for their whole life.. There would be no same Veronica or no same Alex from the next day anymore... The truth they had buried up to hide their respective identities, would be revealed in such a way after five years which they would have never expected in their life. It would really change their life one day... The beliefs Veronica had kept in her heart for Alex would broke just by a single shake of wind and would crack it into pieces. Future was not an object to plan from beforehand but the past could haunt their whole life but it wouldn''t matter when you would try your best to represent your present with love, sincerity and morality... No one could tell anyone''s fortune but it could create a havoc in everyone''s life if it had started with a lie. But the determination to protect your relation to your loved ones could definitely turn the guilt in your heart to a pleasant feeling of being loved by someone... Though Veronica hadn''t lied to anyone about herself but she definitely tried to hide her identity from the people of city B¡­ Whereas if Alex had told any lie to her or his whole life was nothing but a complete lie... would be revealed when the right time comes.. Now what mattered was... only the willingness between them to keep each other''s relationship steady and healthy.. It didn''t matter if it was only friendship or anything more than that¡­ Chapter 145 - Last day in City B... Veronica woke up early in the morning next day. Today would decide about the future of Alex and Veronica''s relationship that if they should continue it or break it apart.. The first thing that she had done after getting up, was to call Diana but again but she didn''t pick up the phone.. Actually this time her phone was completely switched off. Having a simple breakfast, Veronica went for shopping and bought a lots of gifts for her parents, her friends... but she couldn''t decide on the thing she should buy for that idiot Reuben Smith. She became frustrated as she couldn''t find anything appropriate to gift him and started to walk pass the shops.. When she was passing by the street to celebrate her last day in city B, she was enjoying the moment when something caught her attention.. It was a traditional kind of shop filled with lots of beautiful show pieces.. Her feet led her towards the showroom and she observed each and every single pieces of those amazing handiwork species. She was roaming around the shop when a particular something caught her gaze, which was a beautiful silver coloured photo-frame... The top left and bottom right corners of the photo-frame were decorated with beautiful black stones in heart shapes. Whereas the whole frame was covered with very small silver bids which were shining brightly. She was so mesmerized by the beauty of this photo frame that her eyes were fixed on it... Seeing the beautiful stoney frame, Veronica''s mind drifted to the only person whom she wanted to gift it badly. So without wasting any time, she bought it and gift wrapped it in a beautiful golden molded paper. She told the accountant to stick a paper note on it so that she could write the name of the person there.. Done with her shopping, she happily exited the showroom and decided to have lunch at a fancy restaurant as it was already very late. After one hour or so, she also finished her lunch and roamed around the city. She walked by the shops selling different types of jewels like earrings, bracelets etc.. She bought some for both of her and her friends'' mother''s. She saw some platinum bracelets, engraving two words with black and violate cursive typographies. The engraved words were.. "FRIENDS FOREVER¡­" She bought nine of them.. Seven of them were for Louis, Willa, Neil, Henry, Lucinda, Reuben, an unknown someone and herself too.. the other two were for her new friends Diana and Alex.. The clock was showing that only 45 minutes were left to hit 5 so she quickly left for her meet up with Alex. She prayed to God inwardly that every misunderstandings which Alex had about her would be sorted today.. Fifteen minutes later, she got a message from Alex, saying, "Let''s change the destination of our meet up today. Let''s meet at the caf¨¦ near your college." Veronica thought it was strange for Alex to suddenly change their meeting spot but she obliged to it and replied back, "Okay." Arriving at the coffee shop five minutes before the scheduled time, Veronica waited for Alex to come. But even after half an hour later, there was no sign of him... She fidgeted with the handle of her sling bag and waited patiently for Alex. Another hour passed but still there was no Alex in the caf¨¦. Getting bored, she ordered an expresso for her and started sipping it. One hour was spent by her again alone in the caf¨¦ while watching different people coming and going out with their friends... Feeling angry about Alex with the thought that he might not come today, she got more depressed. Picking up her phone she texted, "Where are you Alex? I''ll wait for another hour here and if you don''t come before it, then I''ll leave the caf¨¦." Veronica huffed sitting in the coffee shop and ordered chocolate pastry for her. She was now becoming hungry after waiting for Alex for atleast three hours. She almost slept in the caf¨¦ with her head resting on the coffee table and woke up by a shaking on her body. She was beyond happy thinking that finally¡­ finally her friend Alex had arrived... Looking up at the face of the person who was shaking her by her shoulders, she was about to greet him happily when her smile fell seeing the person there¡­ The man in front of her was not Alex¡­ but the irritating bastard Mike¡­ "Hey beautiful, what are you doing here alone?" Mike asked smilingly. Veronica rolled her eyes at him and retorted, "I''m not obliged to answer you. So just leave." "Still feisty huh? Or are you waiting for that stupid Alex here? Did he not come here?" Mike asked mockingly. Her patience that she was holding till now finally broke down and she yelled at the animal in front of her, "Listen Mike. I''m already very much pissed off right now. And if you really don''t want me to beat you into a pulp right now, then I''m warning you.. Just leave from here. Otherwise you will regret this day for your whole life." Mike laughed crazily and said, "Oh. Beautiful. I really like your boldness. But I''m very sorry to inform you that even if you wait for your whole life here, still you won''t be able to see him as he is currently not in the city." "What.. what do you mean?" Veronica was now perplexed when she heard Mike informing her about Alex leaving the city. Smirking at her, getting the result he wanted to see on her face, he said, "Yup. Alex left city B and went out of the country for his further studies. He got a scholarship from our college to study gaming and graphics." "But.. but he told me to meet here. Even few hours ago he changed the destination of our meet up to here." Veronica became very emotional hearing that Alex hadn''t even thought for a single time to tell her that he was leaving and here she was waiting for him like a fool. "If you don''t trust me then I''ll show you the proof. Look today I came back from another city and when I was exiting the airport I saw him at the international boarding section." Mike showed her a photograph of Alex at the airport which really broke Veronica and she felt betrayed... She remembered that particular day when Alex told her that he had a dream to study outside of the country after passing out from college. She blamed herself for being so stupid to think that Alex was really sorry for yesterday''s behavior and now she got so much hurt by him in return¡­ AGAIN.. Giving the phone back to Mike, Veronica haphazardly picked up the shopping bags and after paying the bill, she left the coffee shop. After her figure was out of Mike''s sight, a wicked smile crept on his face as he called someone.. "Job done Sir. I hope I''ll get the money soon." Mike said as soon as the other person received the phone. The reciever was a man who laughed evilly before saying, "Good job young man. I will transfer the price in your account soon." Cutting the call, the man smirked in a devilish way as he muttered to himself, "The last part of my plan and rest of everything would also go according to my wish.. Hahahaha.." ---- Veronica reached her apartment and cried her heart''s out after the betrayal of her friend. She was so much sad that she hadn''t noticed that her phone was ringing continuously. After sometime she saw the light was peeping through her phone and she saw that the caller was Reuben.. Wiping her tear off from her face, she answered, "Hello." Reuben furrowed his eyebrows hearing her hoarse voice which was clearly indicating that she was crying earlier. But he knew that he couldn''t ask about the reason right now because it would make her cry more as there was no one beside her to soothe her... So he did what he was best at doing when he was with Veronica and that was to pull her leg, "Hey. I heard that you are coming back tomorrow. Oh God! Now I have to see your ugly face again for everyday." "Who you called to have an ugly face? I''m the prettiest woman of the world. Don''t you know that? And you are the one who has a rotten face." Veronica fought back with full confidence. "Huh? Don''t you dare insult my handsome face. Girls drool over me to get a chance to see my face just for a mere second. And here you little devil is calling my face rotten. You just come back here and I''ll cut your sharp tongue out from your mouth." Reuben joked to make her mood brighter. Veronica narrowed her eyes and replied, "You idiot... Let me come back tomorrow and then I''ll show you who cut whose tongue... Not only tongue, I''ll remove those stupid smirk from your face. Just wait for another day..." Like these, they both continued to bicker with each other without having any filter in their mouth or caring about their image that they were not some simple people but the heirs of the wealthiest families of country K.. Half an hour later of their non-stop bantering, Veronica ate her dinner and again started to packup her belongings. Almost finished with the packing, now she was putting the gift boxes in her bag when the golden wrapper came to her view which had her favourite photo-frame in it that she decided to give to one of her most closest person.. The previous conversation with Reuben rang in her mind. She was very sure that Reuben knew that she was sad but still he didn''t put any pressure on her to tell him the reason, instead started teasing her to lift up her mood... Veronica was very much thankful to him for being so supportive to her. Though they always fought with each other but still he knew how to ease up her mind. But she was most amazed about the fact that how he would always show his presence to her the right moment when she was having difficult time... She was very happy to get a friend like him.. Maybe they could promote from being friends to something more one day... She took out a pen from the drawer and smiling evilly, wrote down on the paper card¡­ "To, The rotten face bastard, Reuben¡­ From , The prettiest angel, Veronica¡­" Chapter 146 - Chop her head off... Back to present¡­ Veronica told everything to Reuben which she had known.. Reuben giggled remembering the gift and teased, "That gift was really awesome and the note was the best. Hahaha.. what was that?? Yeah.. Rotten face bastard and beautiful angel.!! Like seriously? I seriously laughed so hard when I read the note. Hahaha..." Veronica sheepishly smiled and said, "You remember the time when I gifted you that photo frame?? Your facial expression was so hysterical that time after reading the note. You were all scrunched up with your ugly face and were glaring at me like I did something very wrong. You even scolded me for calling your handsome face rotten and I just shook it off like I did the right thing.. And after fighting for few more hours we both laughed so crazily that our stomach started to hurt. Hahaha.." Veronica remembered the day when she gifted him the frame just two days later of her coming back to city S. "Yeah right. But when we finally got cooled down and I opened the gift wrapper¡­ I was totally surprised by it. The photo-frame was so beautiful but what I loved the most was the photo attached to it which was none other the picture of us at our early teenage days." Reuben smiled remembering the beautiful photo . The picture was taken when Veronica just stepped into her teenage line and Reuben was pulling her hair whereas Veronica was pinching his ear. They both had a big grin on their faces and we''re looking at the camera happily... Veronica also smiled seeing him in daze, remembering those days and rested her head on his shoulder, "Hmm.. and from then the photo frame got a good place to stay..." Reuben averted his gaze at his beloved girlfriend and hugged her by waist and completed Veronica''s words, "Umh hu.. My office desk was empty without that photo frame and from that day.. my desk is so full with happiness, joy and love because whenever my work gives me stress, I just look at that picture." "Aww..!! So sweet." Veronica tilted her head up and gave a peck on his lips. Suddenly Reuben got out of the sweetness moment and faced Veronica towards him, "Babe.. on a serious note¡­ as I heard about the past, I got some loopholes between them. So I need you to clarify those. Okay?" "Absolutely okay for me. I only have trust in you who can solve all my problems in a blink of eye and ask me whatever you think to be fishy. I''ll answer them if I''m aware about it." Veronica also turned into a serious mode.. Reuben sat up on the bed as both of they were lying till now and also helped Veronica to sit... Taking her in his arms, he asked, "My first question is, you told me that Alex.. I mean Alonzo got a scholarship on gaming bit when we checked we got the information that Alonzo had a degree in both BBA and MBA. And as you know he is right now a very big and successful businessman. How can it be possible?" Shrugging her shoulder at him, Veronica thought for quite sometime but still didn''t get any idea about it, "I really don''t know anything Bennie. It seems that whatever he said in past was all just a lie. He even told me that he was an orphan when he had a full family with both of the parents, a lovely sister and an old grandmother¡­. Speaking about grandmother.. I now remember that why grandma Brown seems to be so much acquainted to me. Because Alonzo had already made us meet at the riverbank... But I''m still shocked that how can a person tell such a big lie about his family? Now I started to believe that the Alex I had known five years ago whose real identity is Alonzo.. is not at all known to me. He is like a stranger whom I just met few times but never was a friend with him." Reuben patted her hair to console her and whispered soft words as he saw that Veronica was now back to being serious, he asked about his second doubt, "Babe.. there was another thing which was not making sense.. I mean, why he suddenly behaved like he was not normal person like others and acted being dumb? Then he even started going to grooming center but suddenly stopped it. These are not at all a simple coincidence. It''s nothing but a well planned plot. But I don''t know why he did so?" He looked at Veronica who was now deep in thought as her eyebrows were furrowed tightly, her face was very much tensed. He had many questions in his heart and much more doubts to solve but what he needed to do now the most was to stop Veronica from getting anymore stressed... "Sleep baby. It''s already very late at night." Reuben dropped the conversation there and let Veronica slept in his arm. As she dozed off in her sleep, Reuben decided that from today on, he would not let Veronica take any more stress and he would handle all this Alonzo stuffs alone. Whatever doubt he was harboring in his mind, would be left for himself to clear and then he would show what he actually could do because he was very much pissed off after hearing from Veronica that how much that Alonzo had insulted her two days before her leaving city B.. Gritted his teeth in anger and fisting his finger in a ball, he promised to himself, "I''ll not give you another chance to hurt my Veronica, you Alonzo Brown. Because I would be her strong barrier in this." ---- Next day at Creation¡­ Veronica''s head was already filled with so much stuffs and now she had to solve another problem regarding her best friend.. The previous phone call from Neil seeing Sam in the club and her own doubts on him, made her more determined to scratch out the gentleman mask from Sam''s face and she was currently preparing for that... "Are the preparations done?" she called someone on the phone. "Yes Ma''am... All done." The man replied. "Good. I don''t want you to miss anything today. I want all the proofs without anything missing. Got that?" Veronica said in an authoritative voice. "Don''t worry ma''am. We''ll not let you down on your expectations." The man said. Getting the response that she wanted, Veronica hung up the phone and asked Willa to come to her office with a cup of coffee as she was having a bad headache. "Here is your coffee, Ma''am." Willa handed the coffee mug to Veronica after she entered her cabin. Veronica sipped some of it and told Willa to sit in front of her. Signing the last page of the doc.u.ment file she was working on, Veronica closed it and directly stared at her best friend. "Why are you looking at me like that Ma''am?" Willla asked when she felt Veronica''s strange gaze at her. Sighing deeply, Veronica leaned over the table and said, "Willa, let''s drop the employee and employer role away for few minutes. I need to discuss something important to you." Willa listened to her and asked, "What is it?" "Did you ask Sam about our meet up? If he had time for today then let''s meet today. I want to know him more and see by my own eyes how much good of a man he is as per your description.." Veronica straight forwardly put her thoughts in front of her friend come assistant... "Ah.. about that he was ready to meet you but I''m not sure if he had time today. Let me ask him first." Willa said. Veronica smiled at her and said in a sweet voice with a cute pout on her face, "Come on, Willa... That''s not fair... Isn''t he your boyfriend?? Then he should be able to fulfil such a simple wish of his girlfriend. Bennie always do this for me. Like, even if I call him now to ask him to come here he would come here running to me." Though Veronica knew that it was not good to compare both Reuben and Sam together as that asshole Sam was not even could be compared to Reuben''s toe nail but still she had to do so because there was no other option for Willa to bring Sam to meet her today... Then pondering over something, Veronica suddenly spoke, "Why don''t call Sam right now? No... Actually you dial his number and I''d talk to him.." Hesitantly Willa called Sam and when he picked up the call he said, "Sam, my friend Veronica wants to talk to you." Veronica took the phone from Willa and said, "Hey Sam. This is Veronica here. Let''s meet today. I want to see what kind of man is my friend''s boyfriend?" Sam on the other hand was shocked to speak with Veronica and specially when she asked him to meet today. But how could he miss this golden chance to make Veronica spill out about their company''s secrets and earn more money. So he accepted it easily. "Sure. Tell me the time and place.." "Okay. Willa will inform you about it." As soon as she hung up the phone, Veronica told Willa the place and decided to bring Lucinda with her as she would be a grat help in all these plans.. Mostly if she didn''t inform the rescue plan of Willa to Lucinda, then she would definitely chop her head off later... After Willa got back to her work, Veronica smirked devilishly and murmured sarcastically, "Your dooms day is coming soon, dear Sam.." Chapter 147 - A secret only for today...’ "Are you sure you don''t want me to come?" Reuben asked in the phone. "I''m very much sure about it. Moreover, if you come with me, that plan will be a big flop which I really don''t want. I can''t risk Willa''s heart to be broken for that bastard." Veronica described her point of view to Reuben. Reuben sighed and said, "As you wish. But if you face any problem then I''m just one call away. Remember that.." Veronica felt contented at Reuben''s caring words as she replied, "Okay.. my cutie pie. Now gotta go. Bye..." "I''ll pick you up from Fusion.. Bye..." Reuben said. ---- Fusion¡­ Both Willa and Veronica reached there half an hour later and waited for Lucinda to join them too... "Hey guys.." Lucinda yelled from far in a jolly voice, snatching people''s attention to her. She then ran to her friends and hugged them tightly, asking, "Why hadn''t you gone inside?" "Just waiting for you." Willa replied. "So now that I''ve come, let''s go inside." Lucinda said cheerfully. Willa scratched her neck and said blushingly, "You guys go inside first. I''ll be waiting for Sam here." Lucinda and Veronica both looked at each other and then left Willa there.. Heading inside, they seated themselves in a private room when Lucinda asked, "I can''t wait to punch that bastard on his face and kick him on his butt." Veronica laughed hearing her, "The feeling is mutual Lucy. So you know nah, what you have to do today??" "Of course Niccy. You know that I''m good at acting.. Right??" She winked at Veronica making her laugh. Meanwhile, Willa entered the private room holding Sam''s hand. They saw them and welcome them to sit in front of of them... Settling themselves on their seat, Sam said, "Hello girls nice to meet you. If you don''t mind then today will be my treat.." "Hey Sam. We heard so much about you. And it''s okay if you want to pay after all we should take full advantage of having such a sweet future brother-in-law." Veronica said sarcastically which was only got noticed by Lucinda as she tried to hide her smile. Sam didn''t mind it much and called the waiter to order dinner for everyone. They talked freely with each other asking casual questions.. In middle of their conversation, Sam checked the girls out and an evil smile glinted on his face thinking what he would do after getting to know about the project plan by the head of the VFX department of Creation, the famous heiress of wealthy society Veronica Lopez... Unknown to Sam, his every movement and expression was being noticed by Veronica and an equally wicked smile was playing on her pink lips.. As they completed half of their dinner, Veronica nudged Lucinda by her elbow, signaling her to start the first stage of their plan which would start with Lucinda''s great acting skills.. Acting like sipping the wine, Lucinda deliberately slipped some wine on her dress and acted like that the grip on the glass was loose as she yelped, "Oh Shit! This was my favourite dressband I ruin it.." Everyone looked at the dark patch on her dress and Willa gave her a tissue to remove the stain but once it got soaked to the fabric, it would be difficult to remove it without using water which was also in one of the plans of the girls. Lucinda faked her tears and said, "I loved this dress so much. If I don''t wash it, it would forever left a stain on it." Then she tilted her head towards Willa and asked in a pitiful voice, "Willa, can you please come with me to the washroom and help me out of it?" Without any hesitation, Willa got up from her seat and walked with Lucinda to the washroom leaving Veronica and Sam stay there alone.. After they left, Veronica eyed towards a particular corner of the private room and checked if the camera was placed in the right place by which they could easily film their conversation with both of their face clearly shown on the screen.. The installation of camera was not at all a big deal for Veronica as it was both Reuben and Veronica''s restaurant.. Just a call from Veronica in the morning, got all the work done without any problem. And that was the exact reason, Veronica chose Fusion to be their meeting place.. They could easily search for any other restaurant and do their work done but it would be a little hectic for Veronica as she had already a lot in her plate. So with Reuben''s advice she told the manager to plant a camera in the room and hide it in a way that no one could find it if they were not aware about it from before... Checking everything was all set to perfect, Veronica also started with her acting. Well, she was also a damn good actor after all she was acting for the past five years to the whole world of hating the one and only love of her life, Mr. Reuben Smith from the bottom of her heart.. "So Sam how is work going?" Veronica asked. "Everything is alright. Tell me about your work." Sam didn''t miss the chance to get some information out from Veronica''s mouth. Veronica faked a defeated sigh and said lowly, "Don''t talk about it. You know that our company is merging with Smith Enterprise and Brown Corporation and I''m the one to lead the project. But.." "But?" Sam asked raising one of his eyebrow. Making a sad face, Veronica replied, "But I''m having some problem with understanding the blueprint of the hotel. So I couldn''t even start to work on this and plan a model out of it." "Oh.. Then why didn''t you ask Smith Enterprise or Brown Corporation to clear your doubt over it?? Moreover, how much I know the CEO of Smith Enterprise is your friend so you can directly ask for his help." Sam said. "What? Are you mad? I, Veronica Lopez, will ask help from that Reuben Smith? And the biggest truth to tell you is... we are not at all any type of friends but some moral enemies. So I can''t ask for his help even if I''m on the verge of dying... And about asking others or more like Brown Corporation, then let me tell you... I don''t want anyone to think that I''m an incompetent person who could not even deal with a single blueprint. This will lower my value. So right now, I''m searching for an architect to let me make understand the blueprint." Veronica huffed like it was a big task to deal with. Suddenly Sam''s eyes lit up in excitement as a fabulous idea came into his mind. For him the idea would be a drastic change in many people''s life which could destroy Creation in one single push and he could get as much money as he want to live a life without any care and getting caught by others... "Uhm. About that, I can help you in this... Actually one of my friend is an architect. If you want, I could ask him to help you in understanding the blueprint." Sam asked trying to hide the evilness in his eyes. Being the keen observer as always with a fox like brain, how could Veronica miss the greedy glint in Sam''s eyes.. She would never... She acted to be surprised and thankful to him as she said, "Really Sam? You really have a friend who can help me? Then please appoint him for me and tell him that I''m ready to offer any mean of money as per his wish. And one more thing. Please don''t tell this to Willa. You know what, I don''t want her to think low of me. You understand nah, what I mean??" "Don''t worry. It''ll be a secret only between us." Sam promised but interally thought, ''A secret only for today...'' In the meantime, Lucinda came back with Willa and Veronica gestured her with her eyes that the plan was very much successful which made Lucinda smile in joy... "So now your dress is okay?" Veronica asked. "Yup... It is.. Willa really is a magician to clean the stain out of my dress completely in just few minutes." Lucinda told, taking her seat again beside Veronica while Willa sat beside Sam. After that, the four of them finished their dinner and Sam paid the bill thinking, ''To get a big deal, sometimes we need to spend a little bit of penny...'' Willa got up from her seat and said, "So guys let''s leave now.." "No Willa you and Sam leave. We''ll be out in a minute." Lucinda said. But when Willa furrowed her brows, Veronica hugged her and whispered, "Reuben and Henry will be here to pick us up." So that only Willa could hear that. Willa smiled at them and left with Sam. As soon as they were out of Fusion, three men entered the private room. "So the fish already got caught in the net.!!" Reuben''s voice bloomed up in the girls'' ears, making them turn their faces behind to look at them... Both Reuben and Henry went to their own partners and sat beside them hugging their petite figure in their embrace whereas the only single man Neil rolled his eyes at their open PDA... "Yes. The fish is finally in the net." Veronica replied happily pecking Reuben on the lips. "So you gave him the fake blueprint?" Henry asked Veronica, making her smirk at him. "Well, she definitely did. After all I''ve to ask my architects to make a fake blueprint for her in so little time by offering them double price..." This time Reuben was the one who spoke on her behalf. Lucinda wowed at this and exclaimed, "Woahh.!! My bestie is really a genius." "Any doubt about that?" Veronica said winking and praising herself as she high fived with Lucinda. Reuben shook his head at her narcissistic comment and kissed the top of her head. He always loved how Veronica always stayed carefree within her friends and showed her bubbly personality to them... Every action of Veronica always gave a tingle in Reuben''s heart and he fell more and more deeply in love with her... But the next question from Veronica shifted everyone''s attention from her to the single man Neil, "Bro, what are you doing here? You are supposed to be at some club, enjoying some party.. Isn''t it? Then why are you wasting your time in solving Willa''s problems who is not even considered a friend of yours?" Chapter 148 - Fallen in the fool Veronicas trap... But the next question from Veronica shifted everyone''s attention from her to the only single man Neil, "Bro, what are you doing here? You are supposed to be at some club having party.. Isn''t it? Then why are you here wasting your time in solving Willa''s problems who is not even considered a friend of yours?" Neil was tongue-tied when Veronica suddenly asked the most unexpected question to him. He really didn''t know how to give an answer to her questions. He was completely baffled and his mind was not loading with any kind of excuses which could divert the situation to another direction. So he just sat there with his mouth opened slightly looking everywhere but not at his friends which surely made his friends and sisters to stare at him like a hawk... As Neil was busy in thinking of several excuses, the two couples shared some meanie glances at each other conveying their queries through their eyes. It''s like they were sharing the same thoughts about Neil''s weird behavior to each other. They noticed the different types of emotions in Neil''s eyes like¡­ uncertainty, confusion, fear and most importantly the thing they would never thought of seeing in his eyes for someone which is a softer look, very close to the word which is called ''Love''... Reuben and Veronica glanced at each other and a known smile crept on their face as they came to the conclusion that their brother or best friend was finally whipped by a girl and more to their liking, the girl was not just some other girl but Willa herself.. Though Lucinda and Henry wasn''t able to point out the exact meaning of Neil''s restlessness but they also guessed something unpredicted and unusual is about to happen... For Veronica and Reuben it was very much easy to find the meaning of Neil''s uncertain gestures as they were already in love with each other for near about five years.. but to the newly built couple it wasn''t that much easy but still they were extremely suspicious about Neil... Breaking the sudden silent atmosphere, Lucinda asked her brother, "Bro can you please answer now that why are you here instead of partying somewhere?" Neil glared at both of his sisters and said, "Shut up you both.. Like the four of you, I''ve also known Willa for many years. Though we don''t talk much but still I have to protect her as I protect the both of you." But the next attack from Reuben made everyone''s expression priceless as they tried very hard not to laugh whereas Neil''s eyes was completely filled with a shock and then some kind of anger. Now what did Reuben say? Well let''s know about it¡­ Reuben looked at Neil with a smirk and asked, "So Willa is also a sister to you like Ica and Lucy??" Neil gritted his teeth in anger and said, "No. She is not." "Then what is she to you? You just told that she is not your sister and like we all know that she definitely is not a friend to you too. So what relation is left there to give a name to other than¡­" Henry stopped in his sentence and pointed to both of the couple and continued, "other than you guys are in love like us..." Like this, the laughter the four had tried to control so hard, was finally burst out and the room erupted in huge laughter.. But much to their expectations, Neil''s face and ears turned red in colour as he got of from his seat abruptly and shouted, "You guys laugh how much you want. But there is nothing like that between me and Willa. And I''m leaving now.." Neil then didn''t waste a minute of his precious time on his friends and left Fusion immediately without looking at his back for onece.. However, as soon as he entered his car, his face changed from stone stiffed to a cotton candy one. His lips bloomed up into a attractive smile and his eyes showed affection in them as his cheeks turned into red hinting a small blush. After Neil left, the two lovely couples also left after discussing some plans between them which will be going to change many people''s lives specially the relationship between the two certain people.. ---- Next day morning.. Sam''s apartment.. "Boss I got the blueprint of Smith Enterprise''s hotel project. Now we can show it to them telling that Creation had tried to sell the project to us by backstabbing them. And the downfall of Creation would not be very far to see." Sam called Peter early in the morning and inform about his great success to earn secret informations from Veronica. He was literally underestimating Veronica in his mind for being such a big fool to give the blueprint of a big project like this to her best friend''s boyfriend who was nothing but a complete stranger.. But unbeknownst to him, he and his so called Boss Peter had already fallen in ''the fool'' Veronica''s trap.. "Really? That''s a big news. I''ll tell my assistant to make an appointment with Smith Enterprise as soon as possible. And you surely need a good payment for your hard work." Peter was overly excited about the news without estimating the upcoming typhoon around him. Sam was very happy for getting a high pay and he thanked Peter before hanging up the call. "Are you done now baby?" A feminine voice called Sam from behind. Sam who was sitting on the bed turned to the beauty whom he picked up from the club randomly yesterday night, turned towards her. He saw the marks on her n.a.k.e.d body as the aftermath of their steamy night and couldn''t help again hovered over her with hunger.. ---- Few days passed and the date of sightseeing the land of the hotel had finally come and Veronica alongside Willa had to visit the place as the head of the project of Creation... They had to reach there after the lunch break so they decided to go home from the sight directly as the hotel was on different city. Packing their stuffs and having their lunch, both of the girls headed towards the land. Both Smith Enterprise and Brown Corporation would also send their men to visit the place but what they didn''t know that in spite of sending his employees, Alonzo would himself go there.. Though it was already predicted by Reuben and he asked her if he should also come with her, but Veronica declined his offer. "Hello Ms. Veronica and Ms. Willa." Alonzo greeted them. Veronica didn''t reply but just gave him a curt nod whereas Willa gritted him back, "Good afternoon Mr. Brown." "Let''s check the sight first. It''s already late." Veronica said before asking the employees from Smith Enterprise to show her the whereabouts of the place according to the blueprint... "Sorry for being late. I''ll show you the whole land." A male voice said from behind. It was Tom, Reuben''s assistant who was walking towards them or almost like running as he was late to the scheduled time. Veronica cursed Reuben in her mind for being so overprotective for her to send Tom here but still a small smile was peeking through her lips.. After two hours of toil, visiting each and every corner, marking them and pointing those on their notepad and laptop, the work had finally done. The hotel was already 60% done by Smith Enterprise from before.. And they only asked for Brown Corporation''s planning for the middle portion specially as it need to be the most attractive... Even the work of the middle part, specially the entrance one was also started building one month ago.. Now the only work left was for Creation to make an extraordinary animation design to promote the hotel.. After the sightseeing, all the employees left for their office already half an hour ago leaving only Veronica, Willa, Tom, Alonzo and Bill there.. "Don''t you want the letter?" Alonzo almost whispered in Veronica''s ear making her glare at him. Veronica looked at others and said, "Guys, please you go ahead and Willa, you wait in the car. I have some important matter to talk with Mr. Brown here." Willa and Bill understood that there must be something personal that their boss wanted to talk so they waited near their respective cars.. But there was one person who stood their silently without moving his legs, making Veronica roll her eyes. "Tom, I also want you to stay a little far away from us. Can you please give us some privacy?" Veronica said in a sugar coated voice but her eyes were completely throwing daggers at him, making Tom shudder badly. "Yes.. yes lady.. I mean sure Miss Lopez." Tom walked to a little distance but kept looking at their direction to maintain the safety of his would be lady boss.. After everyone was out of her view, Veronica moved her attention towards Alonzo and asked, "Where is the letter?" Alonzo showed her a lofty smirk and took out a yellowish paper from his pants pocket. He stretched his hand out to give the letter to Veronica but as soon as Veronica touched the paper, Alonzo took it back again from her, making her scowl at him. "What the hell was that Mr. Brown?" Veronica whisper-yelled at him. Giving her a mocking smile, Alonzo replied, "Nothing is free Madam here. So I also want something in return." Veronica tried to suppress her anger and asked, "What do you want?" "I''ll tell this later but you have to promise me that whatever I would want, you would fulfil my wish without backing off." Gritting her teeth and glaring at him furiously, Veronica said, "Fine. But now hand me the letter.." Seeing her being agreed with his offer, Alonzo gave the letter to her. Still glaring at Alonzo, Veronica took it in her hand and opened the letter to get one of the greatest shock in her life¡­ Chapter 149 - Acting like a freaking PSYCO... Still glaring at Alonzo, Veronica took it in her hand and opened the letter to get one of the greatest shock in her life¡­ The letter says¡­ "Alonzo, I recently came to know that you love me and I love you too. But maybe only love is not enough to spend a whole life with you. I have a dream to fulfil and a beautiful career waiting for me in the near future. So I''m leaving.. I know you will be sad after reading this letter but this is the reality Alonzo. Nothing is permanent in our life and without money, it''s just meaningless. So Alonzo, I can''t drop my career and the chance to earn more money because of love. That''s why, after thinking very hard, I decided.. I decided to finally leave to chase my dreams. I am leaving this City B... And I''m leaving you Alonzo¡­ Don''t try to find me again because it''ll be futile. You have a happy life ahead so try to find your happiness in some other girl. I''m not the right one for you.. Bye Alonzo.. Maybe we''ll meet each other some day, somewhere else.. For now, bye forever¡­ Yours, Veronica¡­" Reading the letter intently without missing a single word, Veronica''s jaw dropped and tears started to fall from her eyes. She could never ever imagine in her life that she had to read a letter with her name below it which she had never written and couldn''t even think to write in her whole life.. For her, it was not a letter but it was that heartbreaking note which could change her morals, her personality into a completely opposite one. It just made her a heartless bitch which she never was... Now she understood why Alonzo was calling her with all the bad names because if she would place herself in Alonzo''s place, maybe she would do the same too. She would also blame him for breaking her trust.. Actually No.. She would never do that. Because she would believe to go to the letter''s root at first.. So Alonzo should not call her with these names. She would always be in the blaming position.. But the twist here was that, she never wrote this letter which meant that someone else did this with her name. It was a complete plan to create misunderstanding between the two friends.. It was a well planned conspiracy..!!!! "Alonzo, I never wrote this letter." Veronica said to Alonzo. "Really? Now you are even lying about it? Look at the typography Vero.. it''s your handwriting damn it." Alonzo yelled at her. Right at that moment, Veronica noticed that this was really her handwriting but something was off there too.. The alphabetical lines in her handwriting was completely different from the one on the letter. It was a little smaller than her actual writing. No one except the typography perfectionist and the actual person whose handwriting had been copied couldn understand it.. "This is not my handwriting Alonzo. Look, my writing style is a little more curvier and bigger whereas the writing style of the letter is a little straight and smaller. Look for yourself Alonzo." Veronica said with hope in her eyes to make him believe that this was not her handwriting. Alonzo carefully scrutinized the handwriting and finally something hit on his head that whatever Veronica was saying... was totally true. If one looked very carefully then they would definitely notice the differences.. But before he could say something, Veronica stopped him when few of the words in the letter clicked in her mind.. "One minute. The letter says that I preferred money more than love. I chose my career and dream over a man whom I loved. And you believed that? Weren''t you my very good friend Alonzo? Hadn''t we spent six months of our friendship together? Was it not enough to know me well that I couldn''t ever be a selfish person like this small shit of chit defined me to be?? Instead you believed all of these and said those rude words to me. Was my personality in your eyes so low that you thought me as a gold digging bitch? And moreover, why would I run after money when I''m the daughter of one of the wealthiest man of country K, Mr. James Lopez? My dad is alone enough to buy the world for me.. Moreover I''m myself the owner.." Veronica made questions after questions while her eyes pour out all her sorrow that was suppressed for so many years but stopped in between when she was about to reveal the truth of her being the CEO of Creation.. If it was another situation, she might have told the truth to Alonzo.. but now when he doubted her over these cheap matters, she could never accept that.. Finally everything got cleared for Alonzo and he hold the hands of the now sobbing Veronica and whispered, "Sshh! Sshh! I now understand that it was not you who wrote this letter. You convinced me Vero. You made me convinced completely. I trust you Veronica." Taking a deep breath, Alonzo continued, "Now that I got to know the truth that''s mean... we could be back together." This caught Veronica''s attention as she looked up at Alonzo controlling her sobs before leaving his hands that were holding hers tightly and asked, "What do you mean by we can be back together? When the hell were we even together?" Alonzo smiled before cupping her face tightly making Veronica more confused with his actions whereas Tom flinched at the vision and when he was about to come in rescue of his future lady Boss, Veronica eyed him before shaking her head, gesturing him not to come here because she could handle everything in her own way as also wanted to know what was running in Alonzo''s mind.. Still cupping her face, Alonzo made Veronica looked at her before conveying with a smile in his face, "Yes.. We can be back together again Veronica but this time not as some mere friends¡­ but as two lovers.. I know Veronica that you also love me very much like I do. You also have romantic feelings for me like I have for you. It''s just that¡­ Just that you couldn''t got the chance to confess to me. But this time I promise that I''ll never leave you and we together will make a very happy couple. I love you so so much Veronica Lopez..." The instant moment Veronica saw the craziness in Alonzo''s eyes about and felt the madness in his words about her, she forcefully pulled away herself from Alonzo''s strong grip by slapping his hands hard from her face and said with teary eyes, "Alonzo you are again misunderstanding everything. You are again taking everything wrong and acting like a freaking PSYCO... I don''t love you Alonzo and I never can''t. Even in the past, I just treated you like a friend and five years later also, you are nothing more than a friend to me. I had never loved you before like a lover neither do I love you now.. nor I''ll love you in future.." Veronica''s words broke the tiny hope in Alonzo''s heart, his smile got faded in a wink. Remembering the promise she had made to Alonzo before taking the letter, Alonzo felt a rush if happiness in his mind as he said, "But you have promised me that you will do whatever I said. So I want you to be my girlfriend.." Hearing this, Veronica gave a mocking laugh before saying, "Oh Alonzo..!! Do you think you''re the only one who could break promises. Well it was an empty promise for me as I knew that you would never agree to give me the letter if I didn''t fake promise you.. So forget about the so called promise because I believe in ''TIT FOR TAT''.. I can''t pretend to be an innocent lady when you behave like a rogue. I''m not a simple woman Alonzo.. You have many more things left to know about me.." The soft Alonzo who was confessing his love to Veronica till now, suddenly changed into a raging volcano again and he shouted, "Why Veronica? Why can''t you love me? I''ve always loved you from the first time I saw you at the caf¨¦ but why can''t you reciprocate my feelings?" The sudden change in Alonzo''s behavior made Veronica more furious to her core and droplets of tear started falling from her beautiful eyes out of anger.. Staring at the now angry Alonzo, Veronica couldn''t suppress her own anger which she tried very hard to control and busted out the biggest truth of her life to him, "Because I love someone else Alonzo. It was never you Alonzo because form the past five years or more than that.. there was only one in my life whom I loved the most¡­ who is my heartbeat, my life, my breath, my everything... Even if hundred Alonzo starts to show their love in front of me still there will be only one in my heart¡­ the man whom I loved the most.. the man who stole my heart.. the man for whom I take every breath of mine.. the man for whom I wake up from sleep everyday with a smile on my face... The man who is the sole reason of my strength, my happiness, my eternity.. he is the world for me.. he is the only love of my life.. he is my Reu¡­" *crash* Veronica was about to take the name of the most important person in her life who lived in every breath she took when Alonzo smash the drum that was placed beside them on the sight... Alonzo paced from one place to another place restlessly with his hands running through his hair making the neat combed hair all disheveled. The anger he felt when the only woman he loved for the past five and half years with all of his heart, confessed her love for another man, was taking a toll on him. He couldn''t believe his own ears that his Veronica just confessed that she loved a man who was not him unfortunately. His already red eyes turned towards Veronica who was watching his every moves and his face turned more furious.. Clutching her shoulders in his hands in a tight grip, Veronica shook her vigorously and yelled at her like a maniac, "You can''t love anyone else except me Veronica.. There will be no other man in your life as a lover other than Alonzo Brown himself. I mean what does that creepy guy has that I don''t have. I have money, power, name everything which a girl want from her partner. I can make you happier than anyone. So Whoever that bastard is.. you are going to break up with him right now otherwise I''d not think for another time to kill him with my own hands." Completely loosing her calmness at that second, Veronica raised her hand and gave him a tight slap on his face. She couldn''t believe this Alonzo was once her friend who was always gentle with her but now he turned into a crazy beast who hadn''t any sense of humanity in him right now and acting like he could possess her.. NEVER... She was not a weak person like others.. She wasthe toughest one.. "This slap was calling my boyfriend a bastard. You want to know nah what does he have that you don''t. Then let me tell you Mr. Brown he has a pure heart which certainly you don''t have. You were talking about keeping me happy right? Like really? You are going to keep me happy by making me cry everyday? The man whom you called bastard just now never let me shed a single tear from my eyes whereas you are bringing tears in my eyes every single day we met. He loves me to the moon and back which no guy could ever do for me.. So what if you have money, power and a name but you don''t have the most important thing which my boyfriend has.. that is pure love, adoration and care for me. You can''t never be him, Alonzo. Keep it in this bloody mind of yours... And one more thing.. in my whole life I never thought that I would pronounce these words to someone.. specially to you. But today you forced me to do so.. I HATE YOU MR. ALONZO BROWN.. I JUST HATE YOU¡­" Disclosing the hated she was feeling right now for Alonzo, Veronica left the place immediately without looking at back for even once, being followed by Tom as her personal bodyguard... Chapter 150 - Don’t blame yourself... Disclosing her hatred she was feeling right now for Alonzo, Veronica left the place immediately without looking at back for even once, being followed by Tom as her personal bodyguard. Tom had already told Willa to go back home using Veronica''s car as he would personally drop her home as per Reuben''s wish. He opened the car door for her and Veronica entered it without complaining to him like she did most of the time whenever Tom came to pick her up.. Veronica silently sat in the car resting her head on the window panel and closed her eyes to control her emotions while Tom started to drive off.. ---- "I HATE YOU MR. ALONZO BROWN.. I JUST HATE YOU¡­" These were the only two sentences that kept ringing in Alonzo''s ear. He couldn''t still come to believe that he really heard these ''hate'' words from the love of his life Veronica and that too direct towards him. He couldn''t adjust with the thought that Veronica loved another man who was not him... Alonzo fell on his knee on the ground whereas tears pooled out from his eyes without his knowing. The strong Alonzo was nowhere to be seen anymore.. instead a vulgar and broken person was sitting there, pondering over the things that occurred in his life few minutes ago.. Keeping a hand on his chest where his heart resides, Alonzo felt his heart crashed into pieces and it shattered into his worst dream. He felt his heart was not anymore present there and Veronica''s words of calling him a heartless man wounded his serenity. But how could that be possible? She was the only one five and half years ago who dared to talk with him full confidently without any fear. Though he pretend to be a little abnormal but she didn''t saw it as any problem or differentiated between him with other normal people on the basis of their mental status.. There was always a soft look on her eyes whenever they met or talked. She was always gentle and caring towards him and tried to protect him from those stupid classmates of them though it was not needed.. ''But it could only be friendly gesture. Any true friend would stand for another friend without caring if he was normal or had some mental problems. It''s not a big deal.'' Alonzo''s subconscious mind kept repeating this. No.. No.. this couldn''t be possible... Veronica must have loved him. He wouldn''t love anyone else and if she really did love any other man then.. Then he would not think twice to remove him from Veronica''s life.. "I''ll claim you back Veronica. No one can love you more than me. Only I deserve you the most." Alonzo made a promise to himself. ---- After 10 minutes of drive, the car halted near the main road. Veronica was not at all concerned about it at the first as she was deep in her thoughts but few minutes later.. When she felt the car was not moving at all, Veronica looked outside the window and found it was outskirts of city S. "Why did we stop here?" Veronica asked to Tom because the distance from the sight to her home was around two hours, if there was no traffics on the road as the sight was in another city... Tom got out from his car seat and made a round of the car towards Veronica. Opening the door for her, he gestured her to step out from the car. Veronica looked at him in confusion as if to ask why they were here in middle of the almost empty road but didn''t get any answer from him again.. So without any other choice, she stepped down from the car and stood there noticing her surrounding carefully. She couldn''t find anything there, not even an animal, so she again asked, "Tom can you please tell me that, what are we doing here in the middle of an almost lifeless road?" Tom bowed his head a little and said, "Sorry ma''am. I can''t tell you anything right now. But you will get your answer in few minutes." Veronica was not at all in a mood to fight with him, so she kept mum and didn''t speak anything. She stood there silently looking at her feet and playing with her hair. Few minutes later, a black colour expensive sports car screeched it''s tier loudly, making it stopped just behind Veronica''s car. A handsome tall man with extreme good looking feature with a perfect face and a very well built body descended from the car and started walking towards her.. Veronica turned to see who was exactly the person and her eyes turned again watery sensing the presence of her most trusted man, who was none other than her love.. Reuben.. Reuben took few big strides to reach Veronica and took her in his arms immediately, resting his chin on her head. Feeling herself very much protected and safe in his embrace, Veronica leaned on his chest and hugged him by his waist. Inhaling the masculine scent from his body which she missed and the warm protective hug that she needed the most right now, she felt content and sobbed a little burying her face in his chest.. Reuben kissed the top of her head and moved his hands in a circle on her back to sooth her down. He ran his fingers in her hair to comfort her as he whispered in her ears, "Sshhh baby.. You know the one thing I hate the most in my life is, to see tears in your beautiful eyes. It hurts me honey. I really can''t see you in pain you know nah?" Veronica tilted her head to look at him before nodding her head with tear in her eyes, "I know.. but Alonzo.. how could¡­" "Babe.. let''s discuss about him at home. Okay? Now you need to calm yourself down. Let''s get in the car first." Reuben said before opening the front passenger seat for Veronica to enter. Buckling the seat belt around her, he closed the door and looked at Tom, "Thanks Tom for taking care of her and calling me at the right time when you saw Alonzo misbehaving with her." He gritted his teeth while saying the last sentence. Tom was shocked hearing his boss to thank him and didn''t know what to reply at that moment so he stood there like a statue without saying anything... Understanding the reason of his silent behavior, Reuben chuckled and said, "Nothing is more important than Ica for me Tom. If I need to say thanks for even hundred times to anyone for saving her from any disruption then I''d happily do so without backing out. So thanks again for today..." Seeing his boss so much in love with Veronica, Tom really felt happy for him and said, "It''s nothing big, Boss. It''s my duty to protect our future lady Boss so I''ll do it for my whole life time without any complains." Reuben smiled at him and entered the driver seat. Veronica looked at him with curiosity as if to ask what he was talking with Tom but Reuben just shook his head and caressed her cheeks with his thumb. Veronica closed her eyes when she felt Reuben''s hand holding hers and placing it on his thighs. Starting the engine, Reuben drove off silently with a sleeping angel beside him¡­ ---- Four hours later, Reuben entered their bedroom holding a tray in his hand which had dinner for both of them. Slowly walking towards her, Reuben kissed her forehead before waking her up, "Honey... You have to eat now. Sleep again after filling your small tummy. Come on.. Get up now." Veronica pouted cutely when Reuben tried to break her beauty sleep and urged, "I''m not hungry but if you feed me then I don''t mind to have few bites." Chuckling at her childish behavior, Reuben helped her to sit up and feed her gently while eating his food too. After that he gave her water to drink and let her lay on the bed before joining himself with her too. Cuddling her soft body with him, Reuben asked, "Ica.. what did Alonzo say to you today that made you cry so badly?" Hearing him questioning her about today''s activity, Veronica placed her head on his chest and narrated each and every single words to him. Reuben''s hold tightened around her as he listened everything with extreme patience but in his head only one wish was wandering around and that was to bash Alonzo''s head right away... Disclosing everything to Reuben, Veronica felt light hearted but the tears started to drop from her eyes, making her cheeks wet again when she remembered how Alonzo behaved with her today. "Babe.. why are you crying now?" Reuben asked tensedly when he saw tears in her eyes. Veronica''s lips quivered as she expressed her thoughts to him, "You know.. I sometimes feel like whatever Alonzo did was somewhat right from his point of view. After all he was also mislead to think that I loved him. He was also a victim of someone else''s conspiracy. I think I should have cleared everything to him from the first time we met." Seeing his girl sobbing like that and blaming herself for everything, Reuben cupped her face before consoling her, "Babe... It''s not your fault at all. Though Alonzo was also a victim in the whole incident but that doesn''t mean that he could treat you like some trash... Just think about yourself Veronica, even before the whole conspiracy thing, Alonzo insulted you with so many harsh words five years ago. But still not for once, you treated him bad... instead you said that maybe he was in pressure to do so. But what did Alonzo did without always hurting you and making you cry? So please don''t blame yourself. It was never your fault. Now sleep.." Tucking her in the comforter, Reuben kissed her forehead again and caressed her head to let her fall in her dreamland... On rhe other hand, Veronica felt a lot of stress free after talking with Reuben and let sleep consume her again. Reuben saw her fall in sleep but he stayed up for one whole hour, thinking about all the recent incidents and the loopholes among them. He still felt something was fishy in everything like Alonzo was still hiding something which could bring a storm in Veronica''s life which he never want to succeed. He would do his best to find all the secrets related to Alonzo and it was Reuben''s promise to himself.. Thinking about it for sometime, he too let sleep consume him, as he also went to his dreamland hugging the love of his life in his arms¡­ Chapter 151 - Shut your mouth with a smacking kiss... Smith Enterprise.. "So they finally called?" Reuben asked sitting on his office chair and playing with a Rubik''s Cube. "Yes sir. They just called us today morning telling us the blueprint of our hotel project has been sold with a huge sum of money by Creation." Tom informed. Reuben smirked at this, as the second stage of Veronica''s plan had also become a big success. "They asked us to set an appointment with them whenever you are free. They had also informed that they would hand us back the blueprint as their company doesn''t work with a scammer like Creation. So what should I say to them?" Tom asked. "Don''t give them any appointment time yet because it would seem a little bit fishy as Smith Enterprise is not some small company to randomly meet with anyone. Just inform them that I''m busy nowadays and couldn''t give any time on this matter for now. I''ll talk to them when I got some time free in between my hectic schedule." Reuben said to his assistant. Nodding his head at Reuben''s decision, Tom left the office to inform their new toy Peter and Sam. Getting proud of Veronica''s awesome soon to be successful plan, Reuben picked his phone up from the table to inform this great news to his one and only girlfriend. ----- Creation¡­ Two days had passed since she met Alonzo last time and she overcame with the tension between them already with the help of her sweet boyfriend. She was designing the layout of the lounge of the hotel when Reuben called her making her smile brightly. Even after almost five years of their relationship, they would never get bored with their conversation on phone. Every time anyone called each other in the middle of their work, other one''s face would always lit up in excitement to talk to each other. And maybe that''s why after so many years of being committed, their love was always pure and eternal... "Hey honey." Veronica said. "Hi my sweetie pie.. What are you doing?" Reuben asked. Veronica chuckled before sarcastically replying, "What can I do when my boyfriend himself gives me a load of work to complete?" Hearing this Reuben''s smile had no limit as he said, "That''s because you could remember your boyfriend for the whole day even when he wasn''t present there. By the way, I have a good news for you." "Good news? What is it?" Veronica asked getting excited. "Today Peter called to complain us about their rival company which is by their luck or unluck my own girlfriend''s company. Little did they know that my girlfriend is also the one who gave them the blueprint intentionally." Reuben laughed while saying this. Veronica''s expression changed to an evil smirk immediately as she said, "But the biggest thing they don''t know that how big of a bitch your girlfriend can be if she wants.." "Hey!! Don''t you dare to call my girlfriend a bitch. Otherwise you know I''ll shut your mouth with a smacking kiss." Reuben teased, pretending to be serious making Veronica laugh more. Reuben''s antics were really awesome when it came to Veronica. He was the biggest reason why she felt so comfy in her life and stay like her own way without caring about anyone''s outlook on her... "Well if that''s the case then, this bitch would love to get many more kisses from her lovely boyfriend." Veronica equally teased and their conversation went on like this for few more minutes. --- Peter''s company... Though Peter was on the verge of bankruptcy, still he had few of his loyal employees to work for him who earned a huge sum of money from him while their company was still in the list of leading companies. And among those loyal employees, one was Sam and the other was his assistant.. "Boss the receptionist of Smith Enterprise just called to inform us that, Mr. Smith is quite a bit busy for the next few days. So once he get to be a little free they will meet us." Peter''s assistant said. Sam who was also present there couldn''t stop smirking as he said, "So we are not very far from destroying Creation completely." Peter laughed crazily and said, "Yes... This good news calls for a party tonight." Three of the men then laughed with their heart''s out, unable to analyse the upcoming storm that would be soon brewing in their life making it a hell... ---- City B.. Regina stormed in Cole''s office without knocking on his office door though his secretary was trying very hard to stop her. She glared at everyone present there making them stop talking anymore on fear of losing their job. Getting the response she wanted from them she entered her brother''s cabin with a loud bang on his door. Cole who was busy in meeting with some of his directors stared at his little sister angrily, who was not so small now before continuing his meeting again. "Bro. Can''t you see that I''m here in your office now? So stop the meeting and talk to me." Regina yelled. "It''s not your home Regina. So behave properly. And for your information, I''m right now in an important meeting. If you want me to talk with you, then wait for some time in the longue otherwise leave because I''ve better things to attend right now." Cole felt very much irritated with Regina''s behavior and couldn''t help but scold her in front of the directors. Regina huffed in anger and her chest raised and fell in rage as she shouted, "Brother. Did you forget that I''m your own blooded sister whereas these people are just some mere employees whom you pay for their work. So I should be more important to you than these stupid people. That''s why they can wait but I can''t.." This pulled the trigger in Cole''s head and he lost all of his conscience about her being his sister. He was already mad at her for her past actions which made him lost the most precious person of his life completely¡­. And now the annoying behavior of her was infuriating him so much that he couldn''t help but yelled back at her. "Listen Regina. Don''t you dare insult my employees like this. If they don''t work hard then the money and fame you are getting because of being the heiresses of Parker family, would be completely futile. So stop throwing your tantrums and let me complete my meeting right now." Regina seethed in anger but controlled herself as she knew that she could never win with a furious Cole at any cost in spite of the fact that he loves her with all of his heart. So she stopped being an arrogant brat and headed to the longue area to wait for her brother. Around twenty minutes later, Cole entered his office longue and sat beside Regina who was going through her phone. "Why had you come here for?" Cole asked. Regina turned her attention to her brother and questioned back, "I heard you are going to city S next month?" Narrowing his eyes at her, Neil replied calmly, "Yes. I''m going there for a business purpose. Why do you ask?" "Take me there with you." Regina said. "I can''t." Cole answered as he already knew that Regina would definitely ask to come with him after getting informed about his departure, so without any hesitancy he denied her. Because taking Regina with him means.. taking more trouble on his shoulder which would definitely ruin the main reason for his visit to city S... "Bro. You have to take me there. I''m your only sister and you have to fulfil my every wish bro." Regina tried to make her brother agree with her. Cole stood up from the couch and said in a firm voice, "I said No means No.. Enough of talking. Now leave. I have work to do." Then he left his raging sister there alone. ---- Love-Paradise¡­ Both Veronica and Reuben were lying on the bed n.a.k.e.d after their passionate love making. Theywere cuddling each other like Koalas and Veronica was almost on top of Reuben while he continued to play with her slender fingers. Both were feeling so calm and peaceful in each other''s arms that all the tension and rigidity around them didn''t matter to them at all.. like everything had fallen in their actual place and their was no obstacles in their way.. "Bennie.." Veronica called almost in a whisper. "Hmm?" "I have finally decided something." Veronica said. "What is it Ica? Is it something about Alonzo or Sam?" Reuben asked rubbing her palm with his index and forefinger. "It''s not about Alonzo or Sam¡­ it''s about us." Veronica spoke. This caught Reuben''s attention as he gazed at her before asking, "Us? What about us?" Veronica started to make circles on Reuben''s bare chest with her other hand and revealed her thought to him, "Lets tell everyone about us. Let the world know that we are not some enemies but a sweet couple who love each other with their everything. Let''s confirm our relationship to the world Bennie..." Chapter 152 - The beast inside him got wakened... "Lets tell everyone about us. Let the world know that we are not some enemies but a sweet couple who love each other with their everything. Let''s confirm our relationship to the world Bennie..." Veronica told the last sentence directly looking at Reuben whose eyes were broadened like an elephant''s super big eyes.. He kept staring at her in pure shock as if he heard something unusual and shocking, which he had never thought to hear at this moment. Reuben wanted from the first day of their relationship to make the whole world know by yelling loudly to them that this girl in his arms was his.. ONLY HIS... He always dreamt of the day when the whole world would know that, The Reuben Smith was dating the most amazing girl of the world, The Veronica Lopez. He wanted to shout out to everyone that both Veronica and himself were booked for each other personally and specifically, so that no other flies could try to pry in their amazing relationship... But circ.u.mstances were not on their side. Though they wanted to reveal about them to the public but there were two reasons which were restricting them to do so.. But what were those restrictions which would block the two most lovable person who was also the power couple to everyone to hide such a big truth about themselves?? Moreover why should they act as an enemy to each other?? Veronica looked at Reuben who was in a deep thought and without any further delay, she understood what exactly he was thinking¡­ She cupped Reuben''s face in her palm and made him look at her while Reuben easily followed her actions and stared at the most beautiful woman of the world in his arms.. "Honey, I know that I was the one who suggested to keep our relationship as a secret from everyone. And you know the reasons behind it very well." Veronica said. Reuben nodded his head at her in response and started to speak, "First reason was to avoid any unwanted attention of the medias and other people. We wanted to maintain our privacy so that we could lead a normal life because once everybody becomes aware of our relationship¡­ there would be no simple us.. All has to be extravagant and showoffs like other Richie rich type of families do, which was absolutely not our forte as we always wanted a humble and sweet loving relationship above of those fakeness.." "Exactly... But we already came a long way in our almost five years of relationship. We stayed happily and spent our lives like we had always wanted. But now it''s high time to change that also. I mean we can''t forever hide our relationship from the world, right??" Veronica said looking at his eyes directly. Smiling a little, Reuben replied, "Right... I never wanted to play hide and seek with you around the people with our relationship. I always wanted to shout out to the world that this beautiful and amazing girl in my arms is already taken and no one should think of eyeing her... The two reasons never mattered to me as I know whatever would happen in our life, we would never stop loving each other, instead our love would grew more stronger and stronger¡­ But for you, the second reason was¡­" Before Reuben could complete, Veronica made him stop by kissing him on the lips and then continued what Reuben was going to say to her, "Bennie, I know baby.. that more than the first one, the second reason was holding us back to listen to our hearts but now¡­ after thinking carefully, I came to an conclusion that the past is past and we have to forget it.. It''s already been more than five years since he went missing or more like went in hiding. After that incident, he just disappeared from all of our lives like he was never belonged to the world. Everyone accepted the fact including our friends that he had died but we always had a guts feeling that he is alive, safe and sound but he didn''t have any urge to show himself in front of us.. We wanted to find him so we pretended to be enemies with each other so that he could broke all of his resistance and come back to us and be our pillar but he never came.. I don''t even know if he would ever come back but what I know is that, we can''t mourn over him for our whole lives and forget to live the life which we truly wanted.." Veronica was already in tears while saying all those things to Reuben. She was remembering all those moments of that unknown person with them and their friends.. The happy times when they would laugh like crazy persons.. the sad times when they would cry together on each other''s shoulder.. And among all of these, the missing person would be the one who would keep them altogether as a group though how much they fought or quarrel.. Reminiscing all the griefs that they were holding in their hearts for all the past five years, still pretending to be okay, Veronica felt sad more and more.. While the all time strong and supporting Reuben who would always soothe her by rubbing her backs or teasing her, was also having tears in his eyes.. Reuben was no different than Veronica when came to talk about this certain someone whom they had never seen again after one eventful day as his eyes were also burning in pain and as a result, silent tears were falling on his cheeks holding the crying Veronica in his embrace. Suddenly Veronica seemed to come back in her rational way. She wiped her tears hurriedly and looked at Reuben who was looking up at the ceiling with gloomy eyes.. Everyone knew that compared to others, Reuben was the only one who was the most close to that particular person, even Veronica couldn''t compare her friendship with the missing someone with Reuben''s brotherhood to him. So after his disappearance, Reuben was the one to get hurt the most.. Veronica kissed his forehead and the tears on his cheeks which were silently falling from his eyes. She then kissed his eyes and took his head in her arms and get it buried in between her chest so that he could let out all those misery with the help of his tears. Reuben sobbed holding her waist with Veronica equally sobbing with him. Few minutes later, Veronica separated Reuben from herself and said holding his face, "We know that we are missing him but that doesn''t mean that we''ll let his absence affect our lives. We''ll not cry for him anymore. Okay?? If not for him, we might have been already engaged with each other or even already been married. I know Bennie that you wanted to propose me for marriage since many months but you restricted yourself because I always wanted to get married with you in his presence. But now.. Now I have changed my mindset. I''ll not wait for him to come back to us anymore. I will not allow to hide our relationship at any cost. We''ll disclose about us to everyone now and will shout to the whole world that you are only mine and I am all yours¡­" Reuben faintly smiled and asked, "Are you sure about this Ica?" Veronica kissed his lips again and said, "Never been this much sure in my whole life.." This time, Reuben''s faint smile turned into a huge grin and he enclosed her in his arms again in a swift movement before kissing her all over her face... "I love you.. I love you so so much Ica.. Finally my one wish would going to be true¡­" Reuben''s happiness was out of control. Chuckling at his behavior, Veronica kissed his jaw before confessing, "I love you too Bennie with my everything. And from now on, we will not remember him because from this moment on, there will be only us to take care of.." After their sad to sweet confession, Veronica was about to sleep when Reuben''s mischievousness woke up and he hovered over her in a swift movement making Veronica yelp at him.. "Benniee.." "Yes Ica.. Your Bennie is here.. After all this confession, the beast inside him got wakened again in excitement and happiness. Now he wants his Ica only..." Saying this Reuben immediately started kissing her all over her body, letting their passionate night to continue once again¡­ ----- Country Z¡­ A man was sitting near the glass window while the rain was dropping outside heavily, wetting the window glass with its splitters.. He was holding a wine glass in his hand whereas his eyes were fixed outside of the window with his mind roaming around some internal thoughts that he could not express to anyone without one person.. Well, in the past he had many friends to listen to him, to spend time with him, to take care of him but now no one was beside him except one.. Now he was completely lonely... Actually he was the reason of his own loneliness. If he would not have done such grave mistakes then he would be now there with his friends and family¡­ not here sitting alone cursing over himself for his past cruel deeds.. "If you are missing them so much then why don''t you go back there?" Suddenly a woman came out from the other room and stood behind him. The man looked behind himself and then again turned his head back towards outside before replying, "You know very clearly that I can''t.. They would never forgive me for what I have done in the past. They would be starting to hate me after knowing the truth. Staying far away from them, is atleast better than living under their hatred.." The woman sighed before taking few steps forward to reach him. Keeping her hand on his shoulder, she tried to console him, "From the informations I get about them through your talking.. I strongly believe that they would never hate you. Though they might be angry on you for what happened five years ago and even after that... but I''m sure that they will not loathe you. Trust me Andrew that they would forgive you. They can''t keep themselves away from you if they came to know that you are still alive.." Andrew hold the woman''s hand and kissed her palm before muttering softly, "I don''t know if they would forgive me or not but the only thing I realise is.. I don''t have any confidence or strength to go in front of them again.." "But.." The woman was about to say something when Andrew stopped her, "Please Lisa¡­ Let''s not talk about it anymore." Lisa sighed again before trying to stay silent¡­ Chapter 153 - Half day off... Next day morning¡­ Reuben was driving and Veronica was sitting beside him as they were heading to Creation to drop Veronica there. Both of them had a beautiful smile on their faces because of their last night decision and wonderful love making... Veronica suddenly remembered something and said to Reuben, "Bennie.. as we are planning to reveal about our relationship, I think we should first talk with our parents before it. So that they could also mentally prepare themselves.. " "Hmm.. that''s a good idea.. let''s call them now." Reuben said. "No. We can''t say this over phone. Let''s invite them to our home today.. I mean both of our parents.. so we would not have to describe the same thing twice and as an interest we would be able to meet them and spend some time with them.." Veronica gave an idea. Reuben''s face turned into a mischievous and naughty smile as he said, "But the most important thing will be to see them completely shock when they would find out that we''re leaving together from past few years without their knowledge.." Veronica laughed at him and said, "Yup... That''ll be really a great fun to watch. But Mr. Smith, you better stay safe from my father''s rage. He may kill you today." "Hey. Don''t be so mean. And what''s there to fear? I know your parents love me very much. And if they want grandchildren then they need to agree with us in living together." Reuben said in a matter of fact tone. Hearing his naughty comment, Veronica hit him on his hand and said, "Stop saying rubbish and focus on your drive." Reuben pouted at her but continued to drive. Few minutes later, they reached Creation but Veronica didn''t go out from the car. They decided to call their parents to invite them right then before going to their office. At first, Veronica called her parents or more like her dad. "Hey my little princess." Mr. Lopez answered the call. "Hi... Dad, I have to ask you something." Veronica said. "What''s it Vero?" Mr. Lopez asked being confused. Veronica''s phone was on speaker so she looked at Reuben before replying, "Dad, can you please come to my bungalow today at the evening. Both I and Reuben have something to tell you. Reuben''s parents will also come." Mr. Lopez heard his daughter and he knew something big was going to be announced today by her daughter and would be son-in-law, so he agreed, "Okay. Both me and your mother would come at the evening." "Thanks dad. Bye now." Veronica said happily. "Bye princess." Mr. Lopez said. After Veronica''s call to her parents, Reuben called at his house phone number. As his Father already gave the responsibility of Smith Enterprise to Reuben, so both Mr. and Mrs. Smith were present in their mansion. After the phone rang, a maid picked up but when she came to know that it was their young master, she immediately informed their madam to recieve the call. "So my dear son finally remembered that his mother is still alive." Mrs. Smith joked as soon as the maid handed her the phone. Reuben chuckled hearing his mother''s joke and said, "Oh Mom.. You know what, I don''t remember you at all... Because to remember someone, you need to forget her first whereas you are always stay in my mind." "Aww..!! My baby son seriously know how to melt his mom''s heart. However what your mom want is to keep your mind thinking only about my daughter, my Veronica. By the way tell me why have you called?" Mrs. Lopez asked after teasing him a little. "Don''t worry Mom. Your daughter Veronica already occupies my heart, soul, body, mind everything. But the reason for which I have called you now, was to invite you to Veronica''s bungalow today. We need to tell you something important. So bring Dad also with you and to let you know that Veronica''s parents would also be there today." "Oh really? Finally I can see my daughter today after so many days. It''s okay I and your dad will arrive there at the evening." "So you now are more interested to meet Ica today than me? Very well.." Reuben pretended to be angry, making Veronica laugh at him. "Stop being jealous and cut the call. I need to prepare for today evening. Bye." Mrs. Lopez said before hanging up the call without waiting for Reuben''s response. Reuben turned to Veronica and said, "See.. You even snatch my parents'' love from me. They adore you more than they adore me." Veronica grinned at him and equally teased, "They love me more because I''m better than you. And now I''ve to go to office as today I''ll take a half day to prepare everything for our big announcement to our parents. So you better come home early." Smiling at her, Reuben replied, "Don''t worry Baby. Even I''ll also take a half day off to help you. Wait for me before lunch time here. I''ll come and pick you up." Gladly accepting the amazing offer, Veronica kissed him once more before getting out of the car. Then Reuben also went for his office to finish his work as soon as possible. ---- Smith Enterprise¡­ Reuben entered the office and Tom followed him inside... Sitting on his chair, Reuben opened the computer and let Tom inform him about his today''s plans and appointments. "Boss today you have a meeting with the board of directors at 11 am and then after lunch you have to attend another meeting with a client." Tom said. Reuben just nodded his head and said, "Cancel the meeting with the client today. I will be taking half day off today." Tom was a little bit puzzled hearing it from his Boss as Reuben seldom take half day off so he couldn''t get to control his extra questioning mind and finally asked, "Boss.. Is everything okay? Are you or lady boss ill?" "No everything is okay. Just have a family gathering tonight." Reuben replied truthfully as Tom was his most trusted employee because not only he had worked for him from years positively but also Tom was one of Reuben''s college friends. Understanding the meaning, Tom smiled before saying, "Okay Boss. I''ll handle the rest after you go back home." Reuben nodded his head but didn''t let Tom to leave. Tom was at first confused because whenever Reuben made him wait at his office, then that would mean to be either he was thinking over something serious or he was hesitating about some problems... Finally deciding what to do, Reuben said, "Tom, do one thing. Notify Alonzo Brown to visit me tomorrow at Fusion.. Tell them that I''ve to discuss something about the project with him over lunch." Tom nodded his head and left Reuben''s office understanding that he had nothing more to say. ---- Brown Corporation¡­ Alonzo was having a meeting with a big investor when Bill''s phone vibrated in his pocket. He avoided it at first but when his phone continued to vibrate, he took it out from his pocket to see the call was coming from none other than, Reuben''s assistant Tom. Going near Alonzo, Bill whispered, "Boss, Mr. Smith''s assistant is calling me. Seems to be something important. I''m going outside to receive the call." Getting permission from Alonzo, Tom went outside and talked with Bill while Alonzo busied himself in his meeting though his mind was wandering around the cause of Tom''s sudden call to him. His mind drifted off to the thought of the previous day as he remembered that Tom was also present there when Alonzo was speaking to Veronica or more like blaming her and pressuring her to accept his heart. So his mind couldn''t help but guess if Tom would have said something to Reuben. Or, might be Veronica herself complained about him to Reuben by making up different stories?? And no Reuben might be trying to talk with him about yesterday''s incident. He was pondering if Reuben would break the partnership with Brown Corporation. But it would not be possible as both of the companies had signed a contract. Still, it was Reuben Smith himself.. The wealthiest man of whole Asia with the title of biggest tycoon of whole country S or even Asia. So he could do anything without thinking twice that Reuben must not be too much irrational to just break a contract in one go... Well as everyone, Alonzo was also well informed about Veronica and Reuben''s hate for each other so he declined the idea of Reuben cancelling the contract... Moreover, Veronica would not have wanted help from Reuben as she was always super prideful and very much stubborn... So without thinking much, Alonzo again focused on the meeting. Half an hour later, when he was finally done, Bill told him about the phone call. "Boss Mr. Smith wanted to discuss about something on the project over lunch. They called us to tell you to be present at Fusion tomorrow at sharp 1 pm." "Okay. Tell them I''ll reach there in time." Alonzo replied as the previous fear of getting the cancellation of their contract vanished away from his mind. Chapter 154 - Living together for three and half years... Love-Paradise¡­ Both Reuben and Veronica were preparing for dinner in the kitchen while talking about useless things.. They came back home two hours ago after Reuben had picked her up from Creation and has dinner outside. Veronica was making some cream chicken with other side dishes and Reuben was helping her in cutting salads, bringing the ingredients for her. Both of them also made some deserts together like strawberry icecream and black forest cake which was now being iced by the cutie boyfriend of Veronica.. Well, more than helping, Reuben was busy in teasing Veronica by giving her sloppy kisses from time to time, tickling her or pinching her waist, sucking her nape or playing with her hair strands time to time¡­ making Veronica extremely irritated which made her curse badly on him under her breath.. Though she was enjoying his naughty behaviour but it was creating disruption in her work very much, making the work of inly half hour to get long till forty five minutes or more which was really not commendable if they wanted to finish the whole dinner preparation before their parents could visit their lovely home.. "Bennie.. if you don''t stop me disturbing right now, theb I promise I''ll not give you any sweets today." Veronica warned him. Reuben didn''t think of caring about her warning and again started kissing her neck as he whispered in her ears, "I don''t want sweets babe. I just want you." "Well, I was also talking about myself before. Am I not your mist tastiest sweets? So if you don''t want to have the delicious sugary sweet like me then continue what are you doing now. And later I''ll show you how can this sweety Veronica Lopez will turn into a bitter gourd for you..??" Veronica evilly said, winking at him. Finally Reuben understood what she meant and left her to her own job as he seated himself on the kitchen slope before peeling the peas and filling those in his mouth one by one to eat.. Few hours later, when it was already 5 pm the dinner was done so Veronica and Reuben cleaned the kitchen and the living room clearly without letting any dust to occupy any inch of their beautiful bungalow. They decorated the living room with different types of flowers in the beautifully designed flower vases along with colourful cushions on the sofa and other things¡­ Finally finished with the decorations after one hour, they hurriedly rushed towards their room to change themselves into a new dress and made themselves look pretty and handsome respectively as they would not leave any chance to look good on the day of revealing their big decision to their understanding and lovely parents.. Around 7 pm, they heard the sound of a car honking. So without wasting any moment, they went to welcome them as they knew it would be definitely one of their parents. But to their shock both Lopez and Smith parents came together in one car. The couple welcomed them happily and started to chat about everything that had happened in the past few days. As Veronica was sitting between both of the mothers, Reuben gestured her with his eyes to come beside him as he thought that it was the best time, they would tell their families about their decision which would be a big step for their future... The parents noticed their eye to eye talk and asked, "Children, we know that you guys wanted to tell us something important. So don''t hesitate about anything and say whatever you want to without thinking too much. We''re patiently waiting here for both of you." Veronica got up from the couch and sat beside Reuben who instantly pulled her into his embrace and encircled his hands around her shoulders to give her immense support. Veronica caught his other hand and gripped it tightly in her small palms before looking at Reuben with a pair of confident eyes.. Reuben too stared back at her and then gaining the motivation from each other, he started to speak, "Both of our Moms and Dads¡­ there are two things that we wanted to share with you guys. First one is that.. I and Veronica both had been living together for the past three and half years in this bungalow which is owned by both of us.." A big gasp could be heard by everyone in the room as soon as Reuben finished his sentence. And everyone looked at the only person who was the one to gasp so loudly.. Well, who could it be other than the loveliest father of his cute princess Veronica... Yeah, it was Mr. Lopez who was completely shocked after hearing the news of his daughter staying together with Reuben so Veronica tried to urge her father to not become angry, "Dad¡­." But before she could pronounce more than one word, Mr. Lopez turned his head towards Mr. Smith and asked, "Logan didn''t you tell me that they are living together only for one year then how did it so suddenly turn into more than three years?" Mr. Logan Smith scratched the back of his head and said sheepishly, "Aye James.. Stop sulking like a kid. It doesn''t matter if they are living together for one year or three and half years.. Just think about the positive thing in these matters without freaking out too much.. the more time they will stay close to each other , the more sooner we will be able to see the face of our little grandchild.. Isn''t it a cool thing?" As both of the father continued to say random things while fighting with each other about the living together and grandkids, the mothers just chuckled looking at each other whereas the couple were completely shocked to hear whatever their parents were saying.. "Wait.. wait.. wait.. what are you guys speaking? You already know that we''re living together here?" Reuben asked to break the confusion.. The father''s cheekily smiled at them after sharing a quick glance at each other when Mr. Smith said, "Come on son... Do you think us as a fool? You already hid your relationship from us for so many years like some professionals which was really decisive. So how could we let you guys decieve us once more??" Chapter 155 - A pleasant day... The father''s cheekily smiled at them after sharing a quick glance at each other when Mr. Smith said, "Come on son... Do you think us as a fool? You already hid your relationship from us for so many years like some professionals which was really decisive. So how could we let you guys decieve us once more??" "So one day, Logan visited the penthouse you told us to be staying, even without seeking for your permission and came to know that Mr. Reuben Smith was not living there for years though your father lied to me that it was only for one year.." Mr. Lopez said the last few words with a huff. Father Smith laughed and then continued, "Whereas, James came here to talk with Veronica but then saw the name plate of the bungalow so he doubted something and didn''t enter. "Then both of your fathers decided to have a parents meeting with both families to plot against their own children¡­" This time Veronica''s mother, Jessica opened her mouth to joke.. "And later we came to the conclusion that you both are staying together but decided not to confront you guys before you reveal about it to us yourselves." Victoria, Reuben''s mother cleared every doubts that the couple was having. Both Veronica and Reuben was utterly shocked at the revelation and both gaped at their parents with their mouths wide opened. They were now very much sure that these two happily married couples were definitely their parents.. "Like seriously guys?" Veronica said after coming out of the shock. Reuben chuckled before saying, "You guys are not less than us at playing hide and seek." Everybody laughed at his words and when the laughter stops Reuben announced, "Well, this is not exact reason we had called you for." "Don''t tell me we''re already going to be grandparents.." Mr. Smith intervened whereas Mr. Lopez threw him a glare but later smiled. Veronica looked at Reuben''s father and said, "No Dad. We''re not yet ready to be parents but I''m confident that when you would hear the news, you are gonna be extremely happy." "What is it princess? Don''t go merry go round with us." Mr. Lopez complained like a kid. Reuben and Veronica locked their eyes and intertwined their hands together before saying in a synchronised pace, "We''re going to confirm our relationship to the whole world." Both the families became shocked but few minutes later they smiled brightly like it was the best news they had ever heard as the mothers came to their children to hug them first, later being followed by the fathers... Everyone congratulated them, "Congratulations dear." Mother Lopez and Smith said. "Its really the best news and we''re happy for both of you." Mr. Smith said hugging them. "Yes. We''re proud of you." Mr. Lopez said kissing Veronica''s forehead. After the congratulatory session and some more talking and laughing, they had their dinner with a happy atmosphere but the happiest person among them were none other than the couple themselves. After their parents left, the couple changed into the night dress and lied down on the bed as Reuben said with a bright face, "I''m happy for us." Veronica also smiled before saying, "Me too. It was really a pleasant day." As they were already tired, both of them slept there in each other''s embrace with relief and joy engraving on their face... ---- Smith Enterprise.. Next day Reuben went to office as usual and buried himself in the work. When the lunch time approached, Reuben together with Tom went to Fusion for their lunch meeting with Alonzo. At sharp 1 pm, Reuben entered one of private rooms of him which he had built for himself, Veronica and their friends to meet their client there.. Alonzo was already waiting for Reuben with Bill and as soon as he saw Reuben there, he got up from his seat to handshake. Reuben felt a great urge to give a tight punch on his face or to beat him into a pulp for letting his baby girl cry but he controlled himself from doing so as he wanted Veronica to handle it herself as per her wish. But that didn''t mean that he wouldn''t help her in these to find the truth so that he could lessen her pressure a little.. And that was the exact reason for him to come here.. He had already many doubts about Alonzo so he decided to try his fox like brain on him.. Shaking their hands together, both of the young businessmen took their seats with their respective assistants and ordered their lunch. Till the food arrived, they started to talk about the hotel project and it''s progress.. "So Mr. Alonzo oh sorry can I call you Alonzo only?" Reuben asked Alonzo. "Yeah sure. I already told you to call me by my name in our first meeting." Alonzo replied with a slight smile. "Okay.. So Alonzo.. how was your sight visit few days ago with Creation employees?" Reuben asked professionally like a businessman should ask to his client without hinting anything about Veronica... Alonzo remembered the day and his jaw clenched before he again turned normal as he replied, "It was good. The work is going on smoothly. And Miss Veronica seems to be very capable." Reuben''s fist tightened when he heard him mention Veronica''s name but he didn''t let it out to show them his anger. So he just nodded his head. Meanwhile the waiters already served them their lunch and the four men started to indulge himself in eating by talking randomly about different types of business collaborations or other matters. Their lunch also got finished between their talks and they ordered some deserts for themselves. Spooning the mango pie which was Veronica''s all time favourite, Reuben took it in his mouth and ate it with love filled in his heart, remembering his dear girlfriend while he didn''t forget to pack some for her.. Pondering for a while, Reuben finally asked the question what he wanted to ask from the moment he came here.. "Alonzo.. Do you have any interest in games or ever studied about gamings?" Chapter 156 - Foolish excuse... Pondering for a while, Reuben finally asked the question what he wanted to ask from the moment he came here.. "Alonzo.. Do you further have any interest in games or ever studied about gamings?" Hearing the question, the expression Alonzo gave him was of pure confusion like he was thinking in his mind, ''Why suddenly Reuben had asked this type of question which had no connection to our conversation??'' Despite of the his utterly confused reaction at first, Alonzo still smiled and replied, "No.. I never liked the idea of playing games because for me games were like the perfect example of wasting time unnecessarily. I would rather like to spend those time on expanding my business." Reuben observed his every expressions like a detective observe everything through his magnified glass like eyes to search the truth, to know if the other person was telling the lie or not. But after his careful observation, he finally came to know that¡­ No.. Alonzo was not lying.. But according to Veronica, her friend Alex who was also the same person Alonzo, had got a degree in gaming. Then how could it be possible to be a game developer or gamer when he never liked games. And Reuben was very much sure that Alonzo wasn''t lying because of his long experience of being a successful businessman for years. So he could just tell if the other person was saying truth or not just by looking at him for once.. Just like he felt something was wrong with Alonzo''s behavior specially in his speech when he first met him on the day of Brown Corporation''s inauguration party.. He was already direction some hidden words looking towards his friends zone, specifically Veronica.. Though he was not sure that Alonzo was exactly staring at his girlfriend but still he analyse something was wrong with him.. And true to his guess, Alonzo seemed to be the long lost friend of Veronica in city B.. Reuben nodded his head and said, "Hmm.. Seems like you are really not interested in gaming. Actually I like games a lot and love to play with my friends too. So asked you after thinking a little, if you also loved games like me then we could play once.." Alonzo smiled at him thinking that however or whenever, he finally got to take a place in the upper class society of city S, more profoundly in Reuben''s friendship book. It was definitely a huge success for him.. In spite of this, Alonzo''s expression suddenly changed in a friction of second and his eyes seemed to reflect a hidden sorrow in them as he muttered with a faint yet sad smile plastering on his face, "Though I never liked gaming but one of my very close friend who was like my own brother to me and vice versa, really liked gaming. He even graduated in gaming and wanted to have higher studies on this.. But.. situation and circ.u.mstances didn''t turn out well and his dream always stayed as a mere dream for the rest of his life.." This statement caught Reuben''s attention back on Alonzo and he stopped eating his mango pie and stared at Alonzo like he was trying to find something interesting in him... "Your friend liked gaming and also had done a course on it? What is his name? Then we can play one day together and I will also introduce him with best players of our country.." Reuben said like he was giving out a plan but inside of the inner wall of his mind, many uncertainty, confusions were brewing up and his head started to buzz thinking over the matter over and over.. Alonzo gave him a fake smile and stammered, "He is.. he is not here anymore.. He went abroad for his family reasons.. So let''s just not talk about him now. It upsets me as I had not seen him for many months.." Reuben looked at him like a hawk trying to catch each and every single uneasy expression of Alonzo.. "Uhm.. actually Reuben.. I can call you Reuben right?" Alonzo asked with hesitancy. When Reuben nodded his head to give him the permission to call him by his name which made Alonzo smile as he said, "Thanks Reuben.. So what I was saying that I have an important meeting to attend right now. So I have to leave now if you don''t mind otherwise I''ll be late.." Reuben looked directly at Alonzo''s eyes and his face twitched when he caught a certain nervousness on his facial expression but he didn''t claimed to say something that time. He just said, "Sure.. Alonzo. You can obviously leave. I would not mind as our discussion is already over. We''ll talk next time." After Alonzo left, Reuben''s eyes narrowed as he knew that meeting was just a foolish excuse of Alonzo to pass over the conversation about his close friend who loved gaming, which was really very suspicious to him. Clicking on all the dots, Reuben understood one thing that the answer of all the loopholes and mysteries was lying on this particular friend of Alonzo... For which, he need to know all the answers... ----- Smith Enterprise... After arriving back at his office, Reuben gave his first order to his assistant Tom, "I have another task for you to do. This time, try to find the truth more calmly and in a specialized way. I want to know everything more clearly and correctly without missing any details.." "I understood Boss. But what do you want me to find out?" Tom asked. "Find about this special friend of Alonzo. What Alonzo did for the past two years of his disguised period, whom he met, where did he go, where he lived.. Everything. Each and everything.. I want to know everything. I have huge doubt or more like a hunch that if we could get any information about this particular friend of him, everything will be sorted and all the unknown answers will be answered soon." Reuben said as he tapped on the armrest of his office chair.. Chapter 157 - Proofs against Creations hypocrisy... "I want to know everything. I have huge doubt or more like a hunch that if we could get any information about this particular friend of him, everything will be sorted and all the unknown answers will be answered soon." Reuben said as he tapped on the armrest of his office chair.. Tom nodded and said, "Got it Boss. But what should we do about Peter and Sam?" "Tell them I have half an hour of free time for them two days later." Reuben said and after that Tom left, leaving Reuben to ponder over more about the certain questions, his mind was trying to ask for answers about... ---- Peter''s office.. His phone rang when he got a call from an unknown number. He picked it up and found it to be the assistant of the biggest businessman of city S.. "Hello Mr. Tom." Peter greeted. "Mr. Peter. Our boss finally got some time to meet you. Please come to our office two days later at sharp 11 in the morning." Tom said in a firm tone. Peter was flying in the cloud nine when he heard this as he replied excitedly, "Sure. I will come with one of my most trusted employee." After cutting the call, Peter laughed like a madman and called for Sam and his assistant to share the good news with them. "Let''s have a party tonight then." Peter said making both of his assistant and Sam chuckled in excitement. Three of them were so much happy thinking that it was one of the bestest day of their life from the past few two years, without having any guess of the upcoming storm over them.. ---- Creation.. "So they agreed to meet you?" Veronica asked on the phone. "Yup. How couldn''t those fools agree? They are probably now enjoying about their success in trying to damage Creation''s reputation. But unbeknownst to them, they are directly falling in the trap of the CEO of Creation and her dear boyfriend." Reuben chuckled. Veronica also grinned and said, "Then all the best baby for your upcoming acting day." Reuben laughed at her and said, "Sure baby." They kept talking for few more minutes before again starting their work. ---- Two days later... Smith Enterprise¡­ The day finally came to collect the final proofs of those sc.u.mbags and cheaters to protect their friend or sister Willa.. As usual, Reuben was working on his computer, eagerly waiting for those bastards to come and his wait didn''t last long as Tom knocked his door to inform him about the presence of them... Both Peter and Sam entered Reuben''s cabin as Tom told them to sit on the chairs. Reuben didn''t look at them for even a second and continued his job whereas those two kept sitting there silently, trying their hard to not disturb the wolf of the business world... Around ten minutes later, Reuben finally finished checking on his mails and turned his face towards the two new guests in his office and made sure to remember all the facial features of them so that after he smashed it like a potato.. he would atleast rememeber then, how these stupids looked like previously.. "So.. what is the reason of the meeting?" Reuben asked with an expressionless face. Peter and Sam felt underweighted under Reuben''s cold yet piercing gaze as Peter said, "We have come here to give proofs against Creation''s hypocrisy.." Sam also joined him and said, "Yes Mr. Smith. Creation tried to sell the blueprint of the project to one of my friend and fortunately it came into my hand. As I don''t like to cheat on anyone, I told this to my Boss and he called you to inform this matter.." "Oh.. Really? How could Creation think of betraying us? They would definitely pay for it. Before that, please tell me the name of the people who was selling our official stuffs.." Reuben said acting to be angry. "Well, it''s the head of VFX department and her assistant, Miss Veronica and Miss Willa who tried to sell the blueprint." Sam said enthusiastically. Reuben gritted his teeth in anger as his jaw clenched tightly and his fist turned into a tight bump when he heard them blaming about his girlfriend Veronica and sister Willa. But both Sam and Peter thought, Reuben was being this much furious out of anger for Veronica and Willa.. They shared glances with each other and smiled wickedly which didn''t go unnoticed by either Reuben or Tom.. "I got it. Thanks for informing us about their way of backstabbing us. We''ll handle this matter well and you both will definitely get rewards for it. Tell me what do you want?" Reuben asked, trying very hard not to beat the shit out of them. Peter gazed at Sam and then turned to Reuben before saying, "Nothing much. We just want you to hand Creation to me and kick out the CEO from the office by tarnishing his reputation." Reuben shook his head in disgust towards them for their greediness as he said, "Sure.. You''ll get a call from us later to get your gift." Again, Sam and Peter had nothing more to be happier than this as both of them thanked him by bowing their head, "Thanks a lot Mr. Smith. Very much thanks." After the two idiots left, Reuben mocked them in front of Tom, "So they want my girlfriend''s company, huh? In their dreams.!!" Tom also chuckled as he imagined their future after trying to disgrace his lady Boss''s reputation.. Reuben then leaned back on his chair and asked, "So you recorded everything right?" Tom immediately took out the hidden cameras from the flower vase on the table and other places and handed them to Reuben. "Yes Boss. All are recorded in high definition." Reuben connected them to his computer and saw the videos from different angles from different cameras. A sinister smile crept up on his lips as he played the videos and praised Tom, "Good job.." Tom smiled and left the office immediately. Reuben picked up his phone to call someone and as soon as the person picked up, he said, "Babe, you should give me yourself as a reward tonight.." Chapter 158 - No denial, no excuses... Reuben picked up his phone to call someone and as soon as the person picked up, he said, "Babe, you should give me yourself as a reward tonight.." Veronica who just picked up the phone call after saving an important file in her computer, was totally surprised by what she heard from her dear boyfriend Reuben as soon as she received his call. She thought in her mind about the matter that, what happened to her boyfriend who didn''t even say hi or hello at first and directly jumped into the prize thing.. "What are you talking about Bennie? You didn''t even greet me first and started speaking about some kind of rewards.." Veronica said pretending to be angry. Grinning widely from the other side, Reuben said, "Oh baby.. I forgot to as I was already very much excited to give you an amazing news which would make you go all La La Land.." Veronica got excited at the mention of the amazing news when she guessed it right that it was about Sam and Peter, Reuben was talking about.. As she was already waiting for him to call her to deliver a good next she became more thrilled because today was the day of Reuben meeting those dumbasses.. "So the plan was successful?" Veronica asked being elevated. "Come on honey. You ruined the fun again. I was going to surprise you by telling you about them, revealing their mistreats and wrongdoings which I successfully caught in secret cameras. But you already asked the question making my all surprises go under the river. You shouldn''t do this to me you know.." Reuben pouted and said in a cute voice as if he was been wrongly accused. Shaking her head for his kid like behavior, Veronica also acted like an elder to him, "Reuben... You can''t hide anything from your elders. We know what is in the mind of our children. They never can be secretive towards the older ones.." "Child? Who is your child? I''m your super possessive boyfriend." Reuben retorted. "Aww my baby.!! How can you be my boyfriend when you act like a little cute child most of the time?" Veronica teased him. Reuben snorted at this and mumbled seductively, "If you don''t believe me that I''m not a child then I''ll show you tonight on the bed if I''m really a child or not.. Moreover if you want we can one of ourselves tonight.." Veronica''s face turned red in colour out of shyness and she tried to divert the situation, "So Bennie¡­ tell me how did everything go today?" "Everything went well. Finally we got each and every proofs that we needed. So now the only thing left is to show the videos and every proofs to our Willa... And then we will let her decide what she wants to do with them. After she was done giving her punishment to them, then it will be our turn to show what is the exact hell looked like if anyone tried to hurt anyone close to us or our group..." Reuben smiled devilishly. Veronica was no less than him and her face also showed an evil smile as she said, "Hmm.. And I''ll give you a helping hand in all this happily. By the way when are we going to reveal about them?" Thinking for a while, Reuben said, "What about we ask our friends to meet us today evening at Fusion and we can show them.. I mean show Willa all the proofs. The quicker, the better.." "Hmm.. That''s a good idea. Then you call Henry and Neil whereas I''ll bring Willa, Louis and Lucinda with me." Veronica suggested. "Okay.. Good idea. Then I''ll see you at Fusion straightly." Reuben said. "Okay. Bye." Veronica also bid goodbye with him before cutting the call. --- Few minutes later, Veronica got out from her cabin and headed towards Willa''s cabin. She knocked on the door and when Willa said to come in, she entered her office with a faint smile on her face.. "Ma''am.. What are you doing here? Do you need something? If you want anything, you just had to ask me. No need to come here." Willa asked as soon as she noticed Veronica coming in. "Oh My God, Willa!! How can you ask so many questions in just one breath.. Just relax my friend and you don''t need to stand up. Actually I have come here to tell you that everyone is planning to meet at Fusion today, so you are coming with me. No denial, no excuses." Veronica said sitting in front of her. Willa furrowed her eyebrows together, getting to know about the sudden gathering up as she was not aware of any meet up like this and asked, "Why so suddenly?" Sighing slightly, Veronica replied, "We had something huge to discuss or more like reveal.. so we need everyone there specially you." Nodding her head, Willa said, "Okay then. Let me finish my work soon." "We''ll go directly from our office. Be prepared for it." Veronica said before leaving Willa''s cabin. Biting the pen with her teeth, Willa thought in her mind, what would be so much important that they suddenly decided to meet up and moreover they were not giving any hint to her.. They had never done anything like this as before taking any kind of decision like this, they would ask everyone''s opinion if the could come or not.. But for the first, Veronica just told about going with her.. Strange..!!! Her heart was beating dangerously as if giving her a signal that something extremely bad was going to happen today which could change her whole life in a single whip of movement.. ------ Fusion... Neil, Henry and Reuben had already arrived at Fusion and waiting for the girls to come with Louis. They were sitting on the top most floor which was also their private spot. The boys were talking amongst themselves when the door got opened and Louis came in, followed by the three girls.. "Hey bro.. What''s up?" Louis greeted his three big brothers who were sitting there, looking at him.. Chapter 159 - Sams true colours... "Hey bro.. What''s up?" Louis greeted his three big brothers who were sitting there, looking at him.. No.. No.. Sorry¡­ It was a mistake.. They were sitting there looking behind him.. Both Reuben and Henry ignored Louis and waited for their own girlfriends to come near them. As soon as Veronica and Lucinda reached them, both of the boys pulled the girls towards them which let them fall on their respective laps and started kissing their lips hungrily as they had missed their soulmate very much.. Whereas Neil only just nodded without looking at him for even once as his gaze was also fixed on the most beautiful girl for him, Willa.. Louis felt he was being cornered by them, so he complained, "Yaa.. You couples. Did you forget that we singles are also here?? Don''t act to be so lovey dobey." Henry broke the kiss from Lucinda and glared at him, "We are not acting Louis because we are really in love. Not like you who is a single pig " Feeling insulted, Louis was about to interrupt them when Willa pulled him towards the couch and made him sit before saying, "Don''t overreact. Just sit here silently.." Louis made an unpleased face and continued to glare at the couples who were still enjoying their own moments... Meanwhile Neil''s eyes never left Willa''s face from the time she had came here.. Willa identified his gaze and looked at him with an unknown emotion which was very much uncertain to her.. After few minutes, when the couples were finally done with their cozy moments, Reuben said, "Lets eat first. We had already ordered the food for everyone.." Finishing their food after battling with Louis for their favourite food, they finally became serious.. "So what is the thing that you all wanted to discuss?" Willa asked to break the silence which were invading from the past five minutes. Everyone moved their eyes to Willa and continued staring at her without saying anything, making her more curious... "Guys.. please say something. You are making me nervous by your silence and weird gaze." Willa said. Veronica sighed and said, "Willa.. Rather than saying anything, we would like to show you something.." Getting the clue from Veronica, Reuben got up from his seat and brought out the pendrive which had all the proofs against Sam and Peter. He attatched it to the large projector in the room and played the videos one by one.. Again, everyone focused themselves on the screen and started to watch the videos with all the intensity they have.. First video concluded the conversation between Veronica and Sam when Lucinda took Willa out of the private room to wash the stain on her dress. The video was showing that Veronica was giving the blueprint to Sam as they heard everything that was being spoken between both of them.. Willa made a confused face after watching the video and asked Veronica, "What was that Vero? Why are you giving him the blueprint of Reuben''s hotel project?? As much I know we are not having any problems to understand anything in it. Even if we had any problem, we would ask directly to Reuben for help. But instead, you gave Sam the blueprint.." "This is not the real blueprint Willa. Ica gave him the fake one." Reuben informed Willa. Hearing this, Willa became shocked and asked, "What do you guys mean? What is happening here.??" Veronica got up from her seat and sat beside her. Placing her hand on her shoulder, Veronica said, "Willa.. Please control yourself. And first watch the full video.." Willa looked at Veronica and getting assured by her, she nodded her head as Reuben again started playing the videos.. The second video was taken today morning when both Peter and Sam visited Reuben at the office. The conversation between them and Sam blaming her and Veronica to sell the blueprint to them and calling Creation a hypocrite was clearly shown in the video. "Well, it''s the head of VFX department and her assistant, Miss Veronica and Miss Willa who tried to sell the blueprint." Sam''s voice erupted from the video and Willa put her hand on her mouth as fresh pool of tears had started to well up in her eyes. She couldn''t believe what was she seeing and listening now.. She turned towards Reuben and asked him, "Wha.. what is all this?" She then tilted her head towards Veronica and asked, "Why is he blaming us of backstabbing? Why is he telling those lies?" Veronica hugged her shoulder and said, "Calm down Willa.. Please calm down.. We''ll tell you everything when you finished watching this." "There is more to see?" Willa asked nervously and Veronica nodded as the video continued. The last but not the least, the third video consisted of Sam and Peter in a club, sitting there with girls in their arms who were kissing them, sucking them.. Sam was having a blonde and one red haired woman on his lap who were wearing very tight and revealing dresses as if their dresses would get ripped apart at any moment if they moved their bodies even a little bit from their place.. They both were busy talking about their future plans to own Creation, destroying the CEO of the company.. But the sentence that caught the attention of everyone''s the most and made Neil and Reuben clenched their fist together was¡­ "Yeah.. after conquering Creation, I''ll f.u.c.k that bitch Willa and also made a chance for you to bed her dear best friend Veronica." It was Sam''s voice from the video. Hearing it, the boys wanted to kill them.. Especially, Neil and Reuben felt like their blood was boiling up in a very high temperature and they were ready to kill those two bastards right at that moment.. But before they could lost their control over themselves, a loud sob broke them from their anger as they saw a disheveled Willa crying her heart''s out in Veronica''s embrace, hiding her face in her arms.. Chapter 160 - Is this really Neil or his ghost?... But before they could lost their control over themselves, a loud sob broke them from their anger as they saw a disheveled Willa crying her heart''s out in Veronica''s embrace, hiding her face in her arms.. She was sobbing and wailing loudly, resting her head on Veronica''s shoulder¡­ "Willa.. Don''t cry for a bastard like him. Look, we get to know about his true face before anything serious could happen. Thankfully, you didn''t involve yourself with him like we did with our boyfriends. So don''t cry please. You are lucky that you got to know about him before anymore mishap could happen." Lucinda tried to console her. Willa didn''t say anything just continued to cry on. Everyone was looking at her pitifully while Neil was clenching his teeth out of anger. He couldn''t see Willa crying like that. It was hurting him the most.. Few minutes later, Willa suddenly got up from there and wiped her tears from her face. She then looked at everyone and stammered, "Guys.. I need to leave now. I''ll .. I''ll talk to you guys later." Before anyone could say anything, Willa dashed out of the room, leaving everyone tensed for her wellbeing.. Veronica also got up from the couch to run behind her but before she could take another step forward, Neil hold her wrist and said, "You stay here Vero.. I''ll look after her.." Lifting her head up to see the face of Neil, Veronica noticed his extreme worried expression for Willa among the reflection of love.. Turning towards Reuben, when Veronica saw that he also nodded his head to her, she then hold Neil''s shoulder with her other hand and said, "Please take care of her bro. Though she pretends to be strong but she is extremely weak and fragile from her heart. What she needs the most right now is not just some consoling words, but a shoulder to cry on..." Neil kept his hand on Veronica''s cheeks and assured her, "I promise sis. I''ll take all the pain out of her. Now I''ve to leave." As soon as he completed his sentence, Neil ran out of the room, making others puzzled.. The sudden changes in Neil''s behaviour was not at all expected by others. Neil who never had any emotions towards any girls without his two sisters even though he was a known as a famous playboy of the town, showed fury, sadness, tension, worry and love in a single day.. Moreover for whom..?? For Willa with whom Neil had never talked much more than few words for their past eight years of familiarity with each other.!! Everything was just formal between them. Neil always behaved like he didn''t care about her and the little bit of attention he gave to her was all because of the reason that Willa was both of his sisters'', Lucinda and Veronica''s best friend¡­ After Neil left from there, Louis asked, "Am I dreaming or what? Is this really Neil or I''m seeing his ghost?" Lucinda glared at him and scolded, "Shut up you fool. We''re now tensed about Willa and you''re muttering nonsense here." "What can I do other than that now? I''m also very much worried about Willa. But the scene I just saw now was totally unbelievable. Neil never behaved so much concerned about any girl without you two." Louis uttered in complete wonderment. Though everyone was tensed about Willa, they still knew that if Neil went behind her, then there was nothing more to concern about Willa. Neil will handle her himself as they know about the exact definition of his feelings.. Obviously except one idiot who was the only single dog present there.. Louis... Henry laughed seeing him and said, "Well, Louis. Every man will become like this one day when they came to know about the new feelings inside him." "What do you mean by that?" Louis asked still being confused. Reuben rolled his eyes at his cousin''s stupidity and said, "That means that Neil is madly in love with Willa but isn''t ready to accept it." "What? Are you guys serious?" Louis shouted loudly being surprised at the revealation. Veronica hit him on his head said, "Do you think we are at the position to joke right now? You idiot.." Everyone laughed at Louis when he made a puppy face and all decided to call it a night... ---- Neil rushed out of Fusion and asked the manager if he had seen Willa to come out from there. As Willa was one of their friends, the manager also knew her very well and respected her very much.. "Yes Sir.. She just left from here and went that way." The manager said pointing towards the direction where Willa went. Neil immediately ran to his car and started driving towards the way the manager had pointed... After few minutes of driving, Neil finally spotted a fragile figure walking by the side of the road with her head bowed down. He stopped the car beside her and walked towards her with super fast long strides... Willa was not at all aware of Neil''s presence and even before she could realise something wrong, she was pulled into a warm chest by a strong force... Getting shocked from the sudden force, Willa was about to fight back when a manly voice rang in her ears, "It''s me Willa... Don''t worry and let me drive you back to your home." Willa didn''t disagree with him and allowed him to led her to his car. Making sure that she had seaten well in the co-passenger seat, Neil drove off towards Willa''s apartment... ---- Willa''s apartment.. As soon as they both arrived there, Willa opened the door and entered the apartment, being followed by Neil... She told him to sit on the couch and asked, "You sit here. I''ll make some coffee for you." But before she could go to her kitchen, Neil hold her hand and said, "You go.. Freshen up.. I''ll make coffee for both of us.." Willa looked at him confusedly and said, "You don''t have to. Moreover you don''t know where the ingredients or utensils are." Neil pushed Willa towards her room and pressurised her, "Wash yourself first. I''ll find everything myself." Chapter 161 - The pain in Neils voice... Neil pushed Willa towards her room and pressurised her, "Wash yourself first. I''ll find everything myself." Silently Willa entered her room before taking a glance at Neil and after locking the door, she immediately crumpled down on the floor and balling her knees together, she placed her head on it.. Slowly the tears she tried to control till now because of Neil''s presence, started falling down again making her cheeks all wet... Neil very well knew that she needed privacy the most right now but he was not even able to leave her in her flat alone in her hardest time. So he made her enter her room in the excuse of making some coffee.. He reached the kitchen and started finding the coffee, sugar and other necessities. And after five minutes of searching, he finally found everything and another seven minutes later he was done with the coffee.. Walking towards the living room, he hadn''t seen Willa there but heard the weeping sound from her room. Though he didn''t want to disturb her but he could not also allow her to cry for a stupid bastard like Sam. So keeping the coffee mug on the center table, he walked towards her room and knocked on the door... "Willa, if you already got freshened up then please come out. The coffee is already prepared." Neil said in a soft voice. Willa stopped sobbing and said in a hoarse voice, "Yeah... Give me five minutes." Saying that, she walked slowly towards her bathroom and took a quick bath. Changing herself into a comfortable night dress, she exited the room and saw Neil waiting for her sitting on the couch in the living room.. Neil saw her coming and made a little space beside him for her to sit and said, "Come.. Sit here." Like an obedient child, Willa sat beside Neil as he handed the coffee to her. Both of them sat beside each other quietly for sometime before Neil finally opened his mouth, "I already warned you about him. But sadly you didn''t trust me." Again, the tears started flowing from her eyes, hearing Neil mentioning about his previous warning to her about Sam but like a fool she was.. In spite of listening to him, she kept trusting the person whom she think as her only lover... Sighing deeply, Neil placed his coffee mug on the table and hugged Willa quickly. Embracing her tightly in his arms, Neil whispered in her ears, "Sshhh.. I''m here. Don''t cry for a bastard like him. He isn''t worth of your tears." Hearing his soothing voice, Willa broke down completely and placed her head on Neil''s chest, weeping like a baby... While crying, she asked stuttering, "Why? Why he.. he did this to me? Why did he betray me like this? Wasn''t my love enough for him that he decided to hug and kiss those s.l.u.tty girls? Maybe I trusted him too much that he had not even thought for once to put some dirty blame on me and Veronica.." Neil said nothing but just caressed her back with his right hand whereas his left hand hold her waist in a firm grip. "He did this because he is an asshole. He didn''t value the diamond he had and instead went for coal... More than love, money mattered to him the most.. So please Willa... Don''t waste your tears on a douchebag like him. I can''t see your tears." Neil muttered before placing a kiss on her head. Willa was so much busy in crying for her own grief that she didn''t notice Neil kissing her head nor she heard the pain in his voice when he said the last sentence. She just continued to cry in his embrace, burying her head in his chest and clutching his shirt strongly making it all wet.. ----- Outside of Fusion... Everyone already left for their home but only Veronica and Reuben were still present there as Reuben had something important to talk with the manager of this restaurant. So Veronica waited outside in the garden for him to come and took in the fresh air into her lungs.. "So Miss Veronica is also here today? Did she come on a date here today?"A manly voice suddenly loomed from the back of Veronica. Veronica span her body towards the source of voice and found the person to be Alonzo.. Alonzo came towards her with a smirk on his face and muttered, "So I guessed it right. You indeed came here with your bastard boyfriend." Veronica raised her eyebrows at him as her nose flared up in fury hearing him call Reuben a bastard. She said through her gritted teeth, "Listen Mr. Alonzo Brown... I''m not obliged to tell you with whom and for what I''ve come here. And for the last time, I''m warning you not to call my boyfriend a bastard. Now move from here." Turning to get away from him, when Veronica took a step forward, her hand had been caught in a strong grip and she had been pulled by Alonzo harshly.. "Don''t you dare run away from here. You are enjoying yourself with your so called boyfriend whereas I''m drowning in my own sorrow for you. How could you be so heartless Vero?" "Whatever you do is none of my business and vice versa. And I''m not being heartless here, because certainly the person is not me to say cruel things to you. It''s you who is an asshole. So just leave my hand Alonzo, otherwise you''ll regret it later." Veronica yelled at him with rage in her eyes. More anger built up inside Alonzo as he tightened his hold around her wrist more and snorted, "No.. I won''t leave you. Let me see how that boyfriend of yours would protect you from me.. Let me know how much powerful your boyfriend is, that he could compete against me..." "If you don''t leave my girlfriend''s hand right now then I promise I''ll not even think twice to break those dirty hands of yours.." Suddenly a voice erupted behind them, making both of them shock... Chapter 162 - The pure love and affection between a couple... "If you don''t leave my girlfriend''s hand right now then I promise I''ll not even think twice to break those dirty hands of yours.." Suddenly a voice erupted behind them, making both of them shock... As soon as the familiar voice entered her ear, Veronica''s tensed heart calmed down a little and her face showed a big relieved smile as she instantly turned to look at the face of the only person in the world who was the king of her heart, mind, body and soul¡­ Her anger subsided down immediately as soon as her eyes caught the view of a handsome silhouette of Reuben, glowing under the dim light of the garden, making him look more gorgeous.. Alonzo who was holding Veronica''s wrist, found the masculine voice quite familiar but couldn''t recognize it immediately as he was already brooding over his own furry to notice anything wrong in the tone of the unknown person. But when he looked at the smile of Veronica, he understood very clearly that the so called boyfriend of hers who was his love rival had finally come here.. He was about to scold him to go away from here as he had no interest to see his face but Veronica''s blooming voice stopped him from doing so.. "Bennieee.." Hearing the endearment tone in Veronica''s voice while calling the name of her so called boyfriend, Alonzo''s whole body turned rigid in fury and in the next second, he twirled his body around to see who was the person, for whom Veronica was ready to even forget him and moved on in her life.. But when his eyes met the two sparkling eyes, his every human vessels shuddered as he couldn''t believe his own eyes anymore and kept gaping at the person with wide eyes, who was none other than his first business partner of city S, the person who had settled his good fortune in the land of this amazing and wealthy city, the world famous businessman and every girls'' dream boy¡­ The Reuben Smith.. Reuben''s face was extremely cold but his eyes were burning in anger when he saw the irritating face of that stupid Alonzo Brown.. He started to walk towards both of them angrily while his gaze was fixed on the hand of Alonzo which was still holding Veronica''s wrist in a tight grip.. When Reuben almost came near them, Alonzo wanted to greet him, "Hel... Hello Reuben.." But he was immediately stopped when Reuben captured Alonzo''s arm in a tight grip and threw it in the air with a strong force and released Veronica from him. As soon as Veronica was freed by him, the most shocking view of Alonzo''s whole life was being presented by Reuben and Veronica in front of him which was nothing less than a movie... Veronica leaped out of Alonzo''s grip and jumped into Reuben''s embrace in a swift movement within a fraction of second. Encircling her arms around Reuben''s neck, Veronica pulled him closer to her and immediately attacked on his lips with her soft ones.. Reuben who was glaring at Alonzo with his fierce gaze for the whole time as if he could kill him just by his eyes at any moment, seethed in an extreme anger over him.. But when he felt the soft plump body of Veronica with very definite curves in the right places hugging him, his expression instantly changed to the most softest one and his eyes became as tender as possible like some melted butter... Tilting his face down to look at the lovely face of his precious girlfriend. He wrapped his large hands around her small body when he felt Veronica capturing his lips in a soft kiss and he too soon compiled with it, kissing her with the same passion.. The kiss was soft yet very much passionate as if Veronica had poured all her emotions of relief, joy and peacefulness in that one single kiss.. Reuben also knew that right now his beloved need him the most. He knew that she was neither shock nor sad... But she needed him to find comfort in his arms because she was feeling so much hate for Alonzo right then, that just a simple touch from him irritated her very much.. That''s why she tried to find solace in his arms which Reuben gladly returned with glee.. After all, who would deny a fabulous kiss from the person whom he loved beyond anything in this whole world... Few seconds later when Veronica filled all her pending frustration in that one kiss, she finally pulled away from him and looked at the calm eyes of Reuben who was assuring her that everything was okay because now he was here with her, standing right beside her as a firm pillar who would protect Veronica from every evil things... Veronica smiled meekly at him and Reuben smiled back at her. They both kept hugging each other without caring about the left out bone when Alonzo''s voice suddenly resonated in their ears.. "What is all these? What are guys doing?" Alonzo tried to enquire them as every piece of shock, uncertainty was painted on his face. Both Reuben and Veronica looked at Alonzo who was utterly confused at the sudden display of affection between the couple.. Reuben hugged Veronica''s shoulder with his left hand and pulled her into his embrace whereas she wrapped her hands around his waist and rested her head on his chest staring at Alonzo with a mocking eyes.. Kissing the top of her head, Reuben smirked at Alonzo before saying, "What are all these? Well this is the pure love and affection between a couple.." Each words was caught in a whiz by Alonzo as his eyes widened in bewilderment... Though he already got a hunch about them being a couple, when he saw both of them kissing together so passionately but couldn''t believe his eyes that this could even be possible.. "You.. You are Veronica''s boyfriend that she was talking about?" Alonzo stuttered. Chapter 163 - A witless bet... "You.. You are Veronica''s boyfriend that she was talking about?" Alonzo stuttered. Veronica glared at him with red eyes and replied, "Yes.. Bennie.. I mean Reuben is the boyfriend I was talking about who is my love, life, heartbeat.. Everything.." "But how.. how could that be possible? Aren''t both of you some kind of moral enemies? Don''t you guys always fight each other?" Alonzo continued stuttering still trying to grasp everything which were happening around him. Chuckling at Alonzo''s question, Reuben fell the biggest bomb on him when he spoke, "Well, we''re not any enemy but the most affectionate lovers, Alonzo.. And about fighting... We don''t fight, we just bicker.. which is very much necessary to keep a relationship healthy." Alonzo couldn''t still trust any of his ears or eyes. He just kept gaping at the couple who were embracing each other lovingly and asked, "That means, all the hate you showed for each other, the fights that you portrayed, everything was nothing but just a mere act.." "We never acted Alonzo. We just hid our relationship from the whole world for some of our personal reasons.. But the hiding period is also now over cause very soon everyone is going to know the actual relation between us¡­ that we were never some stupid enemies.. but a power couple who love each other so much that one blink from one''s eye was enough to express the inner feeling of each other.." This time it was Veronica who proudly described their relationship, staring at the man she had ever loved in her life.. While the loving couple was drowned in their own world, Alonzo couldn''t express what tornado was brewing inside his heart and mind... The hurt he was feeling, seeing Veronica in another man''s arms, the love in her eyes while staring at Reuben, was making him feel like the most precious possession of him was going far away from him.. It was making him feel utmost pain from inside.. Understanding that Alonzo was not able to talk anymore, Reuben whispered in Veronica''s ears, "Honey.. can you please go and inform the manager that we''re leaving. Then wait for me at the parking lot.." Veronica looked at him hesitantly but when Reuben gave her an assuring smile, she left the place, glancing at the two men for the last time.. After Veronica was gone from their sight, Reuben thrusted his hands into his pockets and warned Alonzo, "I was ignoring all of your shits from the past few days. You had only given pain and tears to my Veronica in those days but I never for once jeopardize you. But now... Now all the limit of my patience had broken when you tried to harass my Ica. I was staying mum all these days because I wanted to give Ica the freedom to handle your matters as you were a good friend of hers once. But today I''m breaking my oath to her that I''ll not meddle into your stuffs. So I''m warning you for the first yet last time, if I again see that you are hurting my Ica then I''ll make you regret about your own existence in this world." Alonzo who was hearing silently to Reuben, suddenly spoke up, "Whatever I did to her was not even a penny in return of how much I got hurt. But yaa.. Now I can challenge you one thing.. that I''ll gain my Veronica back. If I have to fight for her with you then I will.. But I''ll take back what is mine to me. I openly challenge you about this.." Reuben was now the one to get the farthest shock. But the shock was not for the challenge Alonzo was throwing on to him, but in exchange, it was the way of his choosing words for Veronica... "How can you talk like this as if Veronica is some kind of possession? Alonzo tell me one thing clearly.. Did you have ever loved her? Because if you would, then you couldn''t ever mention her like she was some kind of object that anyone can bring to their home without asking for her consent if even she wants to be with you or not." Reuben shouted in anger. Sighing deeply to calm his raging mind, Reuben continued, "She is an human Alonzo. She has a heart and emotions. No one can gain anyone if she did not give her heart herself to you... If you want to fight for her her with me then do so but not placing her as some obsession of yours. Fight with me with the same love I have for her but don''t name her as a challenge between two people. My girl is not someone who could easily claim to be any person''s who would treat her like a non-living thing. My Ica has a loving heart who can''t be won over through some stupid bets.. She is my life and I''ll not tolerate anyone to play with her like some games of a witless bet..." Pausing for a while, trying to soothe his anger down, Reuben said again, "Let me warn you for the last time Alonzo.. Don''t you dare to come near my Ica if you only want to hurt her again otherwise I''ll personally show you the hell.. Keep it in your damn mind.." Saying this, Reuben left and a dumbfounded Alonzo stood there with a stiffened face. --- Parking lot of Fusion... Veronica was waiting for Reuben in the parking lot, leaning her body on Reuben''s car with her hands folded together under her chest. She was biting her lips pondering over, what was exactly happening in the garden right now. She was looking here and there to pass the time when Veronica finally noticed the intimidating figure of Reuben.. When Veronica saw Reuben was coming towards her, she asked with concern, "What took you so much time Bennie? Is everything okay?" Reuben saw her tensed expression and his raging mind calm down immediately as he caressed her cheeks and said, "Everything is fine honey. Now let''s just leave from here.. It''s already very late.." Veronica nodded her head and both of them drove off to their home.. Chapter 164 - Photo will last longer... Love-Paradise... The next morning... "Don''t you worry.. I''ll ask Willa to approve our plan before working on it." Veronica said to Reuben. Reuben tied his shoe laces and turned towards Veronica before saying, "I have full confidence on you honey. Do whatever you want but you must have to be careful.." Veronica nodded her head and wore one of her favourite wrist watch before saying, "Yeah... But at first, I have to see if Willa is okay or not. She cried so much yesterday. I still can''t erase her heartbroken images from my mind." Sighing deeply, Reuben said, "You are right. I hope she becomes fine soon. It''s now going to be your responsibility to console her. She needs you the most right now as you are the one who revealed Sam''s true identity to her.." Nodding her head, Veronica assured Reuben, "I know Bennie. I''ll do my best to make my best friend recover from her heartbreak quickly..." Reuben smiled and caressed her hair before saying, "Of course, you can do that. My girl can bring smile on anyone''s face in a blink of her eyes.." Veronica beamed and hugged him tightly before muttering, "I love you the most..." "I love you the mostest most.." Reuben also said as he pecked her on the lips.. ---- Willa''s Apartment¡­ Willa woke up from her sleep next morning with puffy red eyes but flinched when she tried to move her body as she felt her neck and shoulder area to be extremely sore. She again tried to get up few minutes later, by trying to press her weight by holding her bed but instead of the soft mattress, her hand touched something really hard.. She was confused at first and turned her head at the right side towards the hard thing that she had touched.. She rubbed her eyes softly and saw the place where her hand was resting on and her eyes widened¡­ To her shock.. It was not some kind of soft mattress but a thigh.. It was a strong thigh of some man..!! The sleepiness in her mind already vanished away like some magic and she trailed her eyes slowly from the thigh to the person''s stomach then to the broad chest of him and finally her eyes landed on the face of the muscular man who was sleeping on the bed.. Her eyes widened in beyond shock when she saw the face of the man whose hands were wrapped around her shoulder while his head was leaned backwards, resting on the bed''s headrest.. The person was none other than the very handsome Neil Wilson... How was he here? What was he doing here? Why was he sleeping here hugging her shoulder? Most importantly.. What was he doing in her bed with her? She checked her body immediately out of fear and saw that she was fully dressed in her night clothes that she wore last night.. Looking at the surrounding, she found ou that it was not her bedroom.. Wait.. What? She was not in her bedroom then where was she? Well.. She was in her liviing room, sleeping in a sitting position on the sofa.. *sigh* Coming out of the shock, Willa tried to distance herself from Neil but he tightened his arms around her, holding her more tightly and slipped off his head from the sofa and placed it on her shoulder.. Willa''s body turned stiff with that sudden turn of position but when she noticed the peaceful sleeping face of Neil, her heart started to beat loudly that she could hear it herself with out any stethoscope.. She moved her eyes down towards his forehead, then to his nose and lastly her eyes remained on his perfect lips. He was pouting his perfect lips so cutely in his heavy sleep as if it was inviting her to kiss him restlessly for over and over... Oh God!! What was she thinking right now? Had she gone crazy that now she was thinking of kissing no other person but Neil? Like seriously? But she had to really accept the fact by watching his face from so close for the first time that.. Neil was extremely good looking.. He was very much handsome in his different way from others.. His hair was falling on his forehead covering half of it, making him look more charming than anything.. Slowly raising her left hand up, she carefully moved the hair strands from his forehead and pushed it towards the back of his head. Gliding her hand from his head to forehead, she traced his cheeks still staring at his lips.. But when she was about to outline his pointed nose, Neil''s voice suddenly jolted her up from her own dreamland.. "I know I''m very handsome and if you want to acknowledge it¡­ then take a picture, it will last longer. And then you can brush your fingers on my face in the photo all day long without anyone''s disturbance by getting caught red handed.." Willa jumped up from his sudden voice and crawled backwards on the sofa.. "You.. you were awake for the whole time?" Willa asked being astonished. "Yes.. I was.. From the time you tried to take advantage of me by moving your hands from here to there on my face." Neil said with an act of complaining to her. Willa''s face turned red in embarrassment and she looked down at her fingers quietly fidgeting with it.. Neil smirked after seeing the always haughty and high tempered Willa being submissive towards him today for the first time.. So he took the perfect chance to tease her and asked, "Are you being shy now?" Trying to save herself from further embarrassment, Willa tried to divert his attention into something else as she shouted, "What.. what are you doing here in my place?" "Woah Girl..!! Calm down.. I came here yesterday to help you from getting out of your misery but now you are blaming of trespassing in your apartment. A really well process to say thanks.." Neil mocked. Remembering yesterday''s incident of seeing the true face of Sam, Willa felt pain in her heart again and bowed her head down to hide your sorrow from Neil.. Neil saw it and cursed himself in his mind for reminding her about that bastard. So he got up from the sofa and sat on the floor by kneeling down in front of her.. Taking her hands in his warm one, he made her looked up at him and tried to console her, "Willa... Please don''t be sad again. Isn''t it already better that you found his true colour before he could harm you more? So now don''t stress out more and be happy. A bastard like him doesn''t deserve your love." Willa kept staring at his eyes which were assuring her like a child. She found that all the pain inside her had instantly disappeared and an easiness in her heart crept up suddenly, making her very much comfortable around him which was quite unexpected for her.. "I know.. He doesn''t deserve my kindness and love.. Even I''ll also not mourn over him anymore. But that doesn''t mean that I''d not pay him back for whatever he did to me." Her eyes flashed through an evil glint which Neil noticed and smiled thinking that the strong headed Willa was back again. Chapter 165 - Friendly Gesture... "I know.. He doesn''t deserve my kindness and love.. Even I''ll also not mourn over him anymore. But that doesn''t mean that I''d not pay him back for whatever he did to me." Her eyes flashed through an evil glint which Neil noticed and smiled thinking that the strong headed Willa was back again. "Of course.. We''ll not leave him at all after what he did. We will pay him back tenfold for whatever he had done along with his douchebag boss, Peter.. But for that you have to gain energy. So get freshened up, we''ll go out for breakfast today and then I''ll drop you to your office." Neil said, getting up from the floor. Willa nodded but suddenly a thought came into her mind which she asked, "What about you? Will you not get changed? You are wearing the same suit from last night.." Neil smiled seeing her care for him and said, "Don''t worry. I''ll take a bath at my office. I have extra clothes there." Seeing his dazzling smile, Willa became mesmerized by him and asked him without her knowledge, "Why are you doing so much for me Neil when I had never talked to you properly before?" The smile on Neil''s face faltered as he said, "I''ll tell you everything one day Willa when you will be capable to handle it, which is definitely not today. So now let''s focus on your health." Willa couldn''t understood what he said or meant by his words but she gave him a sweet smile and went to her washroom.. ---- Creation¡­ Willa came and greeted Veronica with a cup of coffee. Veronica noticed that the sadness inside her was no more visible on her face, instead she looked a little bit more fresher and happier.. "Are you okay Willa?" Veronica asked her confusedly. Smiling at her overprotective friend, Willa said, "I''m perfectly fine. Don''t worry." Veronica couldn''t understand the reason of Willa''s sudden change of behavior because she was so much broken the previous day that she thought that she have to give Willa her shoulder today to cry out all her sorrow and frustration.. But the next day morning she was as fresh like a flower like nothing has happened yesterday.. What was the reason behind it?? "Uhmm.. Willa.. Why are you not sad? I mean, yesterday you were all broken after knowing the truth about Sam but right now you are..." Willa giggled at her best friend and disrupted her between her statement, "I know what exactly you mean, Vero. Actually Neil was always there for me from tonight, trying to console me and making me understand that how big of an asshole Sam is. So I''m now feeling lucky that I got rid of him before he could do more damage to my heart." "What? Neil was with you for whole night?" Veronica almost chocked on her saliva after hearing Willa as she asked surprisingly. "Yup... He was with me the previous night and we also had breakfast together at a nearby restaurant today morning. Not only that he even had dropped me here before going to his work." Willa said without knowing the fact that her each and every sentences were making Veronica think something savage.. Veronica didn''t speak anything but just gave her a teasing smile which Willa noticed clearly and her face turned red as she said, "Don''t look at me like that. It was just a friendly gesture of him.." Chuckling at her protest, Veronica said, "Yeah.. yeah. I understand that. I didn''t even say anything about it but you yourself kept blabbering. However Willa.." "Hmm..???" Willa asked. "Actually.. I and Reuben had decided to send the videos of Peter and Sam in the club today to blackmail them. So I wanted to know if you are okay with it before taking any further step.." Sighing deeply, Willa looked straight in her eyes and replied, "Do whatever you want Vero. I won''t stop you at all as he absolutely deserved this. But I want to give him a last beating before the perfect closure.." Veronica wickedly smiled and said, "No problem. I''ll inform you about it later." Willa also returned the same evil grin and left Veronica''s cabin after discussing few more office matters... After Willa left, Veronica immediately called Reuben and informed him about Willa''s decision. "Bennie.. Willa agreed. I''m going to send it to Sam''s number and will make sure that Sam or Peter don''t have to search much to find that I was the one who is blackmailing him." Veronica informed him. Reuben sighed and told her, "Ica... Whatever you''re going to do is quite risky. So be careful a little. My men will be around you and follow you from far. But still stay safe. You know this clearly right, that I can''t even see a little scratch on your body." "I know honey. Don''t worry. Nothing will happen to me as you very well know what kind of person I am and what are my true capabilities. By the way, I''ll talk to you later once I finish with my next step of Sam''s punishment." Veronica smilingly said. "Hmm.. Bye. If you face any danger at any moment then you know I''m just one call away from you." Reuben cautioned her. Hanging up the call, Veronica very beautifully edited the video with her own good time and created a ghost social account of herself which could be easily hacked by any experienced hacker... Finally checking for the last time, if everything was perfectly ready as per her wish, she clicked the ENTER button on the keyboard and the video was instantly sent to Sam''s phone without any hindrance... She also wrote a very beautiful message under the video which would be enough to shock the hell out of Sam and Peter, "The proof of your betrayal to Willa is here. One click and she would come to know everything about your treachery.. If you don''t want to let it happen, then meet me near the deserted part at the left part of the city.." Chapter 166 - Ghost blackmailer... "The proof of your betrayal to Willa is here. One click and she would know everything about your treachery.. If you don''t want it to happen, then meet me near the deserted part at the left part of the city.." A message popped on Sam''s phone and he furrowed his eyebrows to think who the person was to text her right now in his private number as not everyone was aware his particular this number which were only fir official calls.. Even Willa didn''t know about it... His face changed into a dark shade of colour as soon as he read the message. Gripping the phone in his hand tightly, he dashed towards Peter''s cabin hurriedly.. Peter was busy with his daydreaming about destroying the CEO of Creation and getting it under his own wings when Sam barged in even without knocking for once. Peter jumped in fear from the sudden loud bang on the door as Sam pushed it open so hard that it collided with the wall loudly making a shrill sound. "What was that Sam? Though you are one of my favorite employees but that doesn''t mean that you would have the audacity to barge in my cabin at any time without informing me beforehand." Peter shouted at Sam. Sam who was already breathing heavily because of his running, got angrier when he saw Peter was scolding him and he also shouted back with sudden rage, "F.u.c.k with your primeness. Because it''ll not last long if this video gets public soon." "How dare you talk to me like this? And what kind of nonsense are you spouting right now? What video are you talking about?" Peter stood up from his chair firmly and yelled at Sam. Sam was not at all sane in front of Peter after watching the video so he rushed towards him and dropped his phone on the table before yelling, "Watch it yourself." Taking the phone from Sam hesitantly Peter played the video with his shaking hands but his legs turned into a jelly as soon as he saw it and he stuttered, "Who.. who sent this video to you? And how did that person get this video in his hand? I already ordered the bar manager to not allow any camera or CCTV footage to get leaked. Then what is it? And how could this be possible?" Peter''s situation was not less agitated than Sam. He could not believe his own eyes that it could even be possible as he had already taken the necessary measures to hide their all plans and schemes from their rivals.. "I don''t know who sent this video to me as I received it from a ghost number. But the person informed me to meet him today evening if I don''t want it to get leaked.." Sam informed. Peter was already going mad as he scratched his head crazily and pulled his hair out of frustration. He paced around his office in a speedy way to get some idea for thinking of some solution¡­ and then his mind hit the correct cord suddenly.. "If this is a ghost number then we can hack the number and know about the real identity of the person. Then it will be more helpful for us to handle. Let me call my assistant first." Peter said when he found out that, hacking would be an extreme good idea to know about the blackmailer''s identity without much hindrance.. Sam nodded his head vigorously, feeling a hint of relief in his heart and mind that there might be a possible way to handle this matter without getting caught. So he then waited for Peter''s assistant to come here. After few minutes of patience, Peter with his assistant ran towards his cabin with sweat tickling on their faces.. As soon as they entered Peter''s cabin, his assistant asked, "Boss, where is the phone in which the message was sent. I need to check it first." Peter pointed towards Sam and said, "It''s with Sam. He recieved the text about half an hour ago." Peter''s assistant nodded and quickly took Sam''s mobile from him and tried to open it. But it was unlocked so he returned it to him back.. "Sam unlock your phone fast then hand it to me. I''ll check the tracking address and see who did this." Peter''s assistant said before opening his laptop. He checked the number before connecting with some of his hacking software and pressed some buttons and codes on the keyboard. But still he was not able to find the actual account holder. "Sir... We couldn''t find it. It had been hid very well to protect its proper signalling pathway." Peter''s assistant told them. Peter kicked the table in frustration and anger as he cursed loudly, "Damn it.! Now how will we found the secret blackmailer?" They were about to lose their all hope when suddenly Peter''s assistant found some code line to be visible on his laptop. He was confused at first but when he followed the instructions according to the pointers, some dots started to connect with each other randomly. Soon also the name with the face of the ghost blackmailer got showed on the laptop screen with a HD quality image and few of her personal information.. "Got it.. I found out who the person is." Peter''s assistant exclaimed excitedly. ---- On the other side, Veronica who had already hacked Peter''s assistant''s laptop at the first, was eating some candies while watching their activities.. "Oh Peter and Sam.. You have no idea what are you guys doing right now. And that stupid assistant of yours doesn''t even know the simplest technique to hack an ID details. That''s why I have to send you guys some help from here. Aishhhh!! You guys have to pay for this double when we will meet.." Veronica said smirking for all while.. She checked time on her wrist watch and when she saw it was all perfect, she quickly clicked a special button on her keyboard and soon the data with her personal information started to get linked with Peter''s laptop.. "Now see my beautiful face and enjoy it.." Veronica smiled devilishly.. Chapter 32 - You ruined my lipstick… Two days later¡­ Veronica was sitting on the stool, wearing a magenta color floral frock that went up to her knee. She was wearing a pair of top earrings, designed like a flower and her long hair was loose open on her back. She was applying a light pink lipstick on her lips after wearing eye-liner on her beautiful long bright eyelids... Reuben was setting his hair with some hair gel, standing behind Veronica. He was now perfectly ready to go to his future In-Laws'' house for the first time as Veronica''s boyfriend... He checked on the mirror of the dressing table for one last time, then his eyes shifted to the reflection of the woman, who was now applying some face powder on her face. Sensing the gaze on her, Veronica lifted up her eyes and showed a very sweet smile to her dear boyfriend and stood up. Veronica then moved some hear strands behind her ear and asked without turning over, "How am I looking?" Reuben''s gaze now shifted on the exposed skin of her neck and his lips automatically moved to that place. His hand wrapped around her waist whereas his lips now moved up to her ear. Kissing her small ear gently, he murmured, "My girl looks always the most beautiful...¡­ specially when she is n.a.k.e.d under me..." then bit her ear lightly and sucked it. Flushing red in embarrassment, she turned around and hit him on his chest, "How can you be so shameless?" Tilting her head up with his index finger and thumb, he whispered on her lips, "If I don''t be shameless, then how can I make my girl m.o.a.n for me?" Reuben moved his eyebrows up and down teasingly at her. Veronica glared at him and bellowed, "You....." The unspoken words of Veronica, were being swallowed when Reuben crashed his lips with hers. This time, their kiss was slow, steady and sensual; expressing their love to each other. Veronica was the first one to pull herself from the kiss after some minutes, she then looked at the mirror and pouted, "Look¡­ You ruined my lipstick." Chuckling at her pouting face, Reuben took out a wet tissue and helped her to remove the smudged lipstick on her chin and side of the lips. "Now it''s okay." Reuben was satisfied with his handiwork. "No.. It''s not okay still." Veronica replied and snatched the tissue from Reuben''s hand. "Huh..??" Reuben was puzzled because of Veronica''s sudden action. Veronica also wiped the lipstick stains from Reuben''s lips with the same tissue and exclaimed, "Now it''s okay." After reapplying her lipstick, she hooked her arms with Reuben and said, "Lets go now." ----- Alonzo''s apartment¡­ Alonzo was checking some files about the upcoming inauguration program, whereas his assistant Bill was standing in front of him, giving him a brief explanation of all the planning. "Hmm.. Everything is fine. So, did you send an invitation to Mr. Reuben Smith?" Alonzo looked up and asked. Bill answered immediately, "Yes boss, I personally send it to Mr. Smith''s secretary department." "Good. And what about the other invitation?" Alonzo enquired. Bill said in hesitation, "Ah.. Boss that.. I was about to send it today." Alonzo thumped his hand onto the table and asked furiously, "What to you mean by ''I was about to send it today''? Didn''t I tell you that this is the first thing you should do?" Alonzo''s eyes were red in rage as he gritted his teeth to sooth his anger down, "Now don''t waste your time here. Go and send the invitation to Mr. Lopez¡­ as fast you can¡­" "Yes Boss.." replying, Bill hurriedly left the office with the invitation card in his hand. Chapter 167 - Provocating the wrong person... "Got it.. I found out who the person is." Peter''s assistant exclaimed excitedly. Sam ran towards him in a few seconds and asked exasperatedly, "Who is this?" "It''s Veronica.. Yeah.. Veronica Lopez." Peter''s assistant muttered. "What?" Both Peter and Sam shouted at the same time feeling completely shocked.. Peter''s assistant nodded his head in affirmation and replied, "Yes... I''m sure it''s Veronica Lopez. Creation''s VFX head.." Sam snatched the laptop from his hand and scrolled through the page and found the beautiful smiling face of Veronica in a business attire. "This bitch!! How dare she blackmailed us?" Sam cursed through his gritted teeth. Peter was also no less angry than Sam as he fisted the stack of papers on his table and shouted, "She has to pay for this. But for now, we need to meet her so that we could snatch the proof from her and make her pay for the absolute brave encounter by kidnapping her." "Yeah. You are right. We should go. But before that, we should prepare ourselves properly for our mission." Sam said as he clenched his hand in a fist. Peter also agreed with him and about to give him some advice when his phone rang. He got more angry at the person who tried to disturb him in between his planning and plotting to make Veronica regret for her whole life.. Fumingly he stomped his foot and picked up the phone call without checking the number and said rudely, "What the hell do you want?" "I think you hadn''t checked the number before calling us Mr. Peter. If you would have, they you wouldn''t get the bravery to talk to me like this." The other person over the phone said in a cold voice without expressing any emotions in his voice. Peter immediately brought the phone down from his ear and saw the name.. And to his good or bad luck, it was Tom, Reuben''s assistant. "I''m.. I''m sorry sir. I didn''t notice. Actually we''re getting a little bit of trouble at the company, so our mood is not that good." Peter stammered. "It''s okay. By the way, I called you to inform that my boss had finally decided what to do with Creation and asked for you to come with that employee of yours, Sam. I''ll send you the address and time in a minute." Tom said in a firm yet cold voice. "Uhm.. Sir, I don''t think it would be possible for Sam to come. But I''ll go with my assistant if this is okay for you." Peter said. "Sure. No problem." Tom replied before ending the call. "Sam, I won''t be able to come with you as Mr. Smith has called for us. But I''ll send my men with you." Peter said and Sam nodded his head.. ----- Hanging up the call, Tom looked up at his boss and said, "Boss. They''ll be coming." Reuben smirked at this and said, "Now. Things are going to be more interesting." Then his eyes flashed through some emotions which was kind of a mixed feelings of tension and concern as he ordered Tom, "Make sure that our men are all covered in that area. I don''t want any harm to my Ica. Not even a scratch.." "Yes Boss. I already made sure if it." Tom said. "Good job. I''ll directly meet you at the base then. You know nah, what do you have to do?" Reuben asked. "Obviously Boss. We''re full prepared for this mission. You just be present there with others." Tom assured him and took his leave for the further preparation. ---- Creation¡­ It was already the time for Veronica to leave. So she packed her things in her handbag and got out of her cabin but before leaving she turned towards Willa''s cabin and said, "You remember nah about our plan today." Willa who was also getting ready to leave, looked up at her boss come bestie and said, "Yup... I know. And don''t be worried about me. I''m absolutely fine with what we are gonna do. I don''t even have a single bit of sympathy for him after his betrayal. So you go without caring about me and please take care of yourself.." Veronica felt proud of her friend that she calmed her heart and was trying to get out of the heartbreak. So she smiled and said, "Okay.. Then I''m leaving. Oh Yeah... One more thing... I told Neil to pick you up and he''ll be here at any moment for you. So that you could get a company on your way to our planned destination." Getting the shock after Veronica''s revelation, Willa mumbled feeling embarrassed, "You didn''t have to disturb him. Neil had already did a lot for me from the past night." "Oh... Come on Willa. Let him do a little bit more for you. I''m sure he wouldn''t mind this.." Veronica playfully winked at her before leaving... ---- Half an hour later, Veronica had already reached the place she had told Sam to come... She opened the door of her car and walked forward. She gazed at her surroundings and found the people she wanted to meet.. But she ignored them and feigned an act of not knowing their presence. She looked at the front and took another step forward but then.... Then a strong pair of arm caught her hand from backside and a sharp object was pressed against her neck.. It was a sharp steel knife which had been hold right beneath her chin area... Veronica got scared of the knife and her face became immidiately pale. She never could think in her life that Sam would bring a knife to threaten her. "What beautiful? You thought you could blackmail me and I''d not do anything back to you?" Sam whispered in a scary tone. "Sam.. Sam please don''t do this. We.. we can talk over it calmly. Don''t harm me please." Veronica pleaded as hot tears ran down from her eyes. "Huh? Do you think that, I''d fall for your pleading? No baby... Now that you had made a big mistake of threatening me, then I''d definitely show you the aftermath of provocating the wrong person..." Saying this, Sam pressed the knife near her neck and slowly more to her skin... "Ahhhhhhh¡­!!!!" Chapter 168 - Sudden change of positions... "Sam.. Sam please don''t do this. We.. we can talk over it calmly. Don''t harm me please." Veronica pleaded as hot tears ran down from her eyes. "Huh? Do you think that, I''d fall for your pleading? No baby... Now that you had made a big mistake of threatening me, then I''d definitely show you the aftermath of provocating the wrong person..." Saying this, Sam pressed the knife near her neck and slowly more to her skin... "Ahhhhhhh¡­!!!!" A loud scream resonated in the air of the whole deserted place, making it vibrated through the atmosphere.. But wait..!! Instead of a female shrieking voice, the scream got more matched to a male voice... But how could that be possible? It should be Veronica who had got hurt by Sam''s knife... Then why is it a male voice instead of a female? And where was Veronica? Well.. well.. well.. A big twist of plot was waiting for everyone here which was going to be the most uncertain part of Sam''s whole life.. At the place of Sam, Veronica was standing on his position while her hands were folded under her chest and an evil smirk was playing on her beautiful rosy lips. She was looking down at a man on the floor who was holding his arm which was bleeding with his other hand as he kept screaming loudly in absolute pain... Yes... It was Sam instead of Veronica who was lying on the ground with his bleeding arm which now had a large cut on it.. But how did it happen? How was the sudden change of position? For that everyone had to go a little flashback of minutes ago.. ---- Two minutes ago.. Sam pressed the knife more closer to her neck and was about to cut her bare flesh under her white chin when Veronica did the most unexpected thing.. She caught hold of Sam''s hand which was clutching the knife with her free hand and twisted it behind him and kicked him on his groin in a swift movement. Sam yelped in pain and left her other hand from his hold to cover the most sensible area of his body.. Veronica got the perfect chance at that moment and pulled the knife from Sam''s hand with her other hand and thrashed it on his left arm in another easy force which was stronger than a man''s power.. "Aahhhhhhh¡­!!" Sam screamed in utter pain holding his bloodied hand when Veronica threw a hard punch on his face and kicked on his lower abdomen again, making him fall on the ground with a huge ''thump'' sound.. He lied on the floor, trying to bear the pain while putting an effort to get up but failed again and again.. But what shocked him the most that how Veronica could be able to put such a big stunt without getting noticed by him.. She was just fragile woman nothing more than that... ---- Back to present¡­ Veronica was standing there with a smirk on her face, looking down at Sam but suddenly she felt another cold obstacle pressed at the side of her head. Just by getting touched by that cold object, she very well knew exactly what it was... It was none other than a bullet filled gun.. If it was another simple girl, she would already had fainted till now.. But not to forget... This is Veronica Lopez.. The girl who could turn any impossible to possible.. Like that, she also turned the event again upside down.. So she turned towards the person who was holding a gun to her head and found other four persons with black clothes surrounded her with him as each and everyone had a gun in their hand. The five of them were tall and bulky, they had some scratches on their faces making them look more scary and ugly... But again who was she? She was Reuben''s Veronica¡­ The Ice Queen of the flaring king who was also the big boss of the most powerful underworld gang.. Now being the lady of the devil king herself, how could she be like other women who were fragile and didn''t know how to protect themselves... "Huh? Did you think I''d come alone? Now just wait and watch, how my men will show you your correct place?" Sam uttered through his gritted teeth, still feeling the pain when one of his men had helped him to get up from the muddy ground. "Aww..!! You really are very much clever, Sam. But Alas!! I am really sad to say that.. I''m the queen of wickedness." Veronica said cynically as her eyes moved towards a corner and she blinked her eyelashes to gesture something to something or more like some people... Soon several men with white and black donned suit, came out from their hidings and placed their arm loaded guns behind Sam''s men while one held Sam in his tight grip... There were more than ten men who were surrounding them and everyone were more bulkier, stronger than Sam''s bodies and also had well fit bodies... Veronica was already aware of the circ.u.mstances she would face after coming there so she was also well prepared by Reuben''s help. After all, Reuben would not play with his one and only love Veronica''s safety.. Veronica smiled evilly when she saw Sam''s pale face and said, "Let''s leave from here and fetch them towards our next destination in another car." The men nodded at her and started pulling Sam and his men altogether towards the big black cars which had suddenly arrived in front of them... All the armed men who were more like bodyguards, planted by Reuben for Veronica''s security, pushed all of Sam''s men in the big black cars which were standing right before Veronica''s expensive sports car.. Sam took hold of everything in his mind by his ever roaming eyes and when he was also about to push inside the car, he suddenly asked, "Who exactly are you? What is your real identity??" Chapter 169 - The true identity of ICE... Sam took hold of everything in his mind by his ever roaming eyes and when he was also about to push inside the car, he suddenly asked, "Who exactly are you? What is your real identity??" Veronica turned her face to look back at him and replied, "What''s the hurry? You will get to know it very soon." Then Veronica motioned the men with her eyes as they took him into another car and left while Veronica entered her own car and called someone. "The mission is successful here. I''m totally safe and now leaving. What is the situation there?" Veronica asked as soon as the person received her call. A sigh of relief escaped from Reuben''s mouth as he said, "Good that you''re safe. And everything here is good. We''re also going according to our plan. Everyone had already reached there and I''m also almost near the place. Come soon." Veronica replied a ''yes'' and cut the call before starting her car.. ---- On the other hand when Veronica was busy handling Sam, there was another group of men at the end of the city who were keeping their eyes on the road, waiting for two persons to come there. After few minutes their wait was over and their preys already came to their target zone. Peter and his assistant got out from their car and viewed the place around them and found that it was a completely secluded area. "Boss.. Are you sure that Mr. Smith''s assistant Tom had given you the address of this place?" Peter''s assistant asked him looking at the place. "Do you think I''m stupid? Of course he messaged me this address." Peter retorted. Peter''s assistant felt something was wrong with the area so he said, "But why do I feel like the place is a little bit frightening.??" Peter also felt the same but didn''t expressed his thoughts loudly... Soon a car stopped in front of them and Tom came out if it. Peter and his assistant felt relieved after seeing him but didn''t know that their good luck had come to an end already... Smiling at Tom, Peter asked, "You are finally here but where is Mr. Smith?" Tom returned the smile and said, "He is already on the way and eagerly waiting for you. Now let''s come with me." "We have to go somewhere else from here?" Peter''s assistant asked. Tom looked at him and then said, "No... You don''t have to go anywhere.. But our men will carry you there." "What do you mean?" Peter asked as he felt a little scared. Tom didn''t reply but just motioned his hand to somewhere and soon few people with gun surrounded them as some held Peter and his assistant''s hands tightly so that they couldn''t escape and started to drag them towards a car. "What.. what is going on here? Where are you taking us?" Peter asked as his face became pale out of fear. Without giving them any answer, Tom just went to his car and called Reuben to inform about it before boarding his car.. ---- Outskirts of city S¡­ Veronica parked her car in front of the big gate and several armed men with same attires like the earlier men bowed their head at her.. She entered the big building and walked towards a particular room on the ground floor and from there took the staircases to the underground and walked there with a cold attitude... She stopped in front of a large wooden door and two men opened it for her before giving her a bow. Veronica just nodded at them and entered through the opened door. It was a large room without many furniture present in there without a huge table and some sorts of small equipments. Her eyes then landed on the three figures who were tied down with ropes on the floor while one had a bleeding hand and the other two were having several beaten marks on their faces. Seeing their disheveled situation, a smirk appeared on Veronica''s face as she walked towards them. An armed man placed a chair for her and she easily sat on it with her one leg on another. "So how much are you guys enjoying after hurting my best friend and playing with her feelings?" Veronica asked the three men who were staring at her like they had seen some alien. "Wha.. What are you doing here?" Peter asked feeling shocked seeing her here. "Well.. what I''m doing here.. is really a big question." Veronica placed her palm under her chin and tapped on her cheek with her index finger, pretending to be thinking hard. Suddenly her eyes widened and a smile bloomed on her lips. She jumped on her seat excitedly and replied, "Oh... Now I remember what I''m doing here. Do you guys want to know the reason of me being here?" Both Peter and his assistant nodded their heads whereas Sam just kept looking at her silently as he already guessed that she was not any normal girl like others. She was definitely different and more than it.. Sh wasvery much scary with lots of mysteries inside her... A sinister grin played on her lips when Veronica saw them being submissive to her as she leaned her head a little downward before replying, "You guys tell what could I do in the base of Secret 7?" "Secret 7?" Three of the men muttered the most terrifying name of the underworld at the same time. "Yes.. Secret 7. If you have a doubt then I can tell my men to show you around the building to confirm it but yeah with a little punishment.." Veronica smirked. Sam just stared at her unbelievingly and asked, "Who are you Ms. Lopez? Exactly what is your identity?" Veronica shook her head at them and said, "You are really behaving like you are set on a fire. However I''m not in the mood of playing around, with you guys anymore. So let me tell you exactly who I am.." "I''m the queen of the biggest underworld gang, Secret 7 and one of the most scariest person in the world after Hurl¡­ ICE.." Chapter 170 - Spying on Reuben... Veronica shook her head at them and said, "You are really behaving like you are set on a fire. However I''m not in the mood of playing around, with you guys anymore. So let me tell you exactly who I am.." "I''m the queen of the biggest underworld gang, Secret 7 and one of the most scariest person in the world after Hurl¡­ ICE.." A gasp came out from the mouths of those three men as their expressions changed from fear to extremely horrified one.. Sweat were covering their forehead and they started shivering vigorously as if they were suddenly placed in the ice continent, Antarctica.. The name ''ICE'' alone was a big name and indeed had so many power to make one big criminal to fall on his knees and cry for mercy. "I.. Ice? You are the legendary Ice? The mysterious member of Secret 7." Peter stammered in fear. Veronica eyed him as she chuckled before confirming his doubt, "Yup. I am that Ice whom evil people like you are afraid of. Didn''t expect it right? But what can I do when I myself hadn''t expected that you guys would have so much guts to plot against me and my friend Willa.. But now that you guys are already here I''ll slowly take revenge on you guys for whatever you had done to us or more specifically to my bestie Willa..." Everyone shuddered hearing her cold voice but somehow Peter''s assistant got some courage to ask about the sudden circ.u.mstances around them, "We had been called here by Mr. Smith but we got kidnapped by his assistant. I thought that Mr. Smith would definitely have some problems with us so he had made us kidnapped by his men.. But after coming here, we unexpectedly saw you in the base of Secret 7. Then what does it truly mean? Is Tom your man? Are you trying to backstab Mr. Smith too with his assistant?" Veronica''s eyes twitched when she heard their stupid question and her lips turned upside in a smile.. Although she wanted to burst in laughter but how could she miss the awesome chance of hearing their stupid comments?? She was waiting to watch a comedy show from so many days which was now going to present in front of her on LIVE.. Uhmmmm... Veronica really could not wait to be an audience of it, so she decided to keep quite for few minutes to get free entertainment.. Sam also got the hint from Peter''s assistant and said, "So that''s mean you have appointed Tom to keep an eye on Mr. Smith for your profit. That''s why, when we went to Smith Enterprise to plot against you, Tom heard everything and told you about our plans and now we are detained." "If you are really the ICE then don''t you think you still can''t go against Mr. Smith? After all he is the most powerful man in the business industry. If he heard about you betraying him with his assistant, do you think he would leave you both without giving any punishment? He can destroy you guys in a minute just by a click of his finger. So just leave us right now. We...we promise not to tell anything about today to anyone. Not even Mr. Smith. This secret will stay buried between us." This time it was Peter himself who tried to make an alliance between both of them in fear of losing his life... *Hahaha hahaha...* At last Veronica couldn''t hold her laugh any more and busted out laughing loudly... Shaking her head at their nativity, Veronica chuckled and said, "Aww.. you guys are so much naive.. Do you guys think I''m afraid of Reuben? Well, to your utter dismay, I''m definitely not..." "You shouldn''t fly in the air so much Veronica. If we inform Mr. Smith about your wrongdoings then you don''t know what he can do to you." Sam said with anger in his eyes while Veronica just smirked. "Then why don''t you tell me what to do with her after I know about her backstabbing to me?" A male voice dominanted from the door and soon a tall shadow fell on the floor... Everyone turned to see who was there at the doorway while Veronica just kept sitting there without moving... For Veronica, she was aware of everything that was happening around her.. Though she was not looking at behind of her, still she knew who was the exact person that has entered the room.. Especially when it is the person, on whom she has kept all of her trust and beliefs... As soon as they saw the face of the man, all of their face lit up with brightness.. "Mr¡­ Mr. Smith. You are here? Please save us from her. She is evil and spying on you with the help of your assistant." Peter begged when he saw Reuben entering the hall as he felt that he finally found his savior. But what he didn''t know that the actual shock for him was yet to come.... Reuben walked inside, taking his own time when another armed man took a chair out for him. Reuben opened his suit jacket and sat on the chair right beside Veronica with an element of extreme elegance... " You are right that I should punish Veronica for whatever she did. After all, she needs really a big punishment for betraying me.. So let me think what would be the best punishment for her for spying on me." Reuben pretended to be thinking really hard... ------------------------------ Guys, I want to apologise for the inconvenience again.. Like I had promised, I replaced all the chapters so that you could read them without any disturbance.. Thanks for supporting me till now and please keep supporting till the end of this book.. I hope you guys didn''t have to waste coins for those repeated chapters.. I really wanted to caution you beforehand but because of the network issues I was able too.. So again, SORRY.. Chapter 171 - Sweeter than Sugar... "You are right that I should punish Veronica for whatever she did. After all, she needs really a big punishment for betraying me.. So let me think what would be the best punishment for her for spying on me." Reuben pretended to be thinking really hard while James, his assistant and Sam just kept staring at them with hopeful eyes... But on the other side, Veronica just rolled her eyes at him as she exactly knew what was coming for her right now... She was absolutely sure that the punishment Reuben was talking about would be nothing like those three idiots were talking about.. Reuben would definitely punish her but instead of force, he would rather apply his so called sweet torture on her.. Few seconds later, when finally Reuben thought that it was enough time to make those three bastard like men kept waiting for his decision, without saying anything or giving any single glance to them, he directly dived into punishing the accused culprit.. Sam, Peter and his assistant got excited when they heard Reuben at first and their bruised face lightened up a bit as they started to look for Veronica''s dooms day but the next action of Reuben which they witnessed the next minute, made them completely dumbstruck... Without a warning, Reuben hold Veronica''s waist and brought her towards him before placing heron his lap. Holding the back of her neck with his other hand, he closed the distance between both of them and finally smashed his lips on hers, making their bodies crushed with each other like some Tsunami waves... As Reuben''s every move was already estimated by Veronica beforehand, so she did not yelp at all when Reuben pulled her in his arms and started kissing her passionately while pouring all of his emotions in the kiss.. In fact, instead of pushing Reuben away, Veronica pulled him more to her body by clutching his shirt collar tightly in a firm grip with one hand while snaking the other around his neck... Siding her face to get more comfortable position, Veronica kissed him more deeply as both of them got drowned in their own passionate moment, ignoring others present in the hall, including their own hired men who were posted for protecting the base of Secret 7.. Well, what could they say to the couple? They were very much habituated to the couple''s open public display of affection as whenever they would see the couple together here, there would be at least one moment when they would witness both of their boss and lady boss kissing each other.. Truthfully, this became a must in their life.. Now their eyes got accustomed to these kind of scenes.. Instead, if they didn''t watch them like this, they would feel that their eyes must be blinded or their must had been some serious issues with their view... "If you guys are done with eating each other''s face, then let''s get focused on treating our new guests right now.." Another male voice came from right behind the couple who were busy engulfing each other''s mouth. When the person came inside a little, his face got reflected by the dim light of the room and it was none other than Henry Johnson himself who just looked at his right side to find his another best friend, Neil Wilson shrugging his shoulder... "What? Don''t you dare look at me like that, Henry. I am not even a little bit scared of your those piercing eyes. You can''t expect anything other than this from this shameless couple. They are always like this. So what is so new about them? You should get used to this kind of scenary till now.." Neil said as if it was very much normal for the couple for this type of things which was indeed really true.. "Gosh.!! I just can not even imagine how this two people can be this much lovey dobey even in this type of situation when they need to be serious." It was another male voice but the depth of his tone was a little lighter than both Henry and Neil.. Both Reuben and Veronica kept kissing, forgetting that they were not at their home but came here for some special reasons even though three ither person who were their best friends and brother had already started commenting about them.. Few minutes later, finally when they fell out of breath, then only they broke the kiss and looked at the source of voices and found out that their friends were already standing at the entrance... The three men including Neil and Henry walked in together as another three chairs had been already placed for them to sit by their guards.. "What? Aren''t you going to sit?" Henry asked when he saw that the younger one among them was still standing there, looking at the couple or more like glaring at them.. "Yeah. Yeah. I''m sitting." The younger one said before coming towards the chair as he took his seat right beside Henry.. Again Peter, his assistant and Sam were beyond shocked seeing the other three most dominating persons of country K all together. But they were most perplexed and terrified after seeing the face of the younger one among the male members.. "Louis.. Louis Morgan?" Peter''s assistant muttered unbelievably. Louis who was just throwing draggers at the couple till now, who were still sitting in each other''s arms, moved his head towards the prisoners and smirked at them like a true devil.. "Yes... I''m Louis Morgan. And I know that I''m very much handsome so you don''t have to stare at me like that with your creepy eyes. My handsome face is only for the beautiful girls to gawk at." Louis said behaving like a upper class narcissist. "Stop fooling yourself by saying that, you''re the most handsome one among us." Reuben mocked him and Henry nodded his head in approval whereas both Neil and Veronica rolled their eyes at them.. "Enough of your bickering boys.. Now let''s focus on whatever we came here to do." Veronica said as she tried to get up from Reuben''s lap but he wasn''t ready to leave her at all... Reuben pouted to her in a cute way while Veronica just shot him a furious glare so he had to leave her without his wish.. Taking her seat again beside Reuben, Veronica again got back to her cold attitude and the males also did the same.. Now the five devils'' faces were equally stone tied and their eyes were completely emotionless. Actually the five of them were complementing each other so well with their stiff yet cold aura that the three captives couldn''t help but shivered from top to bottom¡­ Veronica then wrapped her arm around Reuben''s hand and gave him a peck on his cheek before saying, "Honey.. your punishment was too much sweet to give me diabetes..." Reuben grinned at her and said after giving her a wink, "Yes.. Even sweeter than sugar." "You.. you two.. Why are you both behaving like some infatuated couple?" Peter pointed at them. "Because they are indeed a couple." Louis said as a matter of fact. "What? This can''t be possible. This can''t be. That''s mean you guys knew everything from the start but acted like you were supporting us, whereas in the back, you all were playing with us." Peter''s assistant said. One after one, blows were going over the betrayers'' head and now they were not even able to pretend like they were still not enough scared of them... "You really have a good brain. I should clap for it." It was Neil who was silent all the time, finally opened his mouth. Hearing that, Peter and his assistant broke down and started pleading, "Please. Please don''t kill us and forgive us. Please.." While the two were busy in crying, Sam was still sitting there, trying to compose all his thoughts without knowing the upcoming storm would break all his sanity and patience that he was holding till now. "Okay enough of talking guys. I already introduced myself to them. Now it''s the time for you all." Veronica raised up her hand to stop everyone. The four men smirked and continued to tell their most dangerous identities and the first one to introduce himself was.. Reuben himself.. "Hi, I''m HURL.. the Demon King of underworld." Next was Neil, "Hey.. This is NEO.. Secret 7 member." "Hello bastards. This is HUNTER. Not so nice to meet you." Henry said. Louis shook his head at other''s boring introduction and said, "Hey guys. I''m the hottest member of Secret 7. The handsome MARK.." Watching the five most threatening underworld gang members together that even for the first time, they were about to pee in their pants when another voice stopped them.. and to their surprise it was the voice of a female... "Did you guys just forget to introduce me? Well never mind.. Let me do it myself. Hello everybody. FlASH is here..." Chapter 172 - Encouraging Smile... Watching the five most threatening underworld gang members together that even for the first time, they were about to pee in their pants when another voice stopped them.. and to their surprise it was the voice of a female... "Did you guys just forget to introduce me? Well never mind.. Let me do it myself. Hello everybody. FlASH is here..." Everyone in the room turned their face towards the door in trying to be available to see, from where the sweet female voice had come. The five devils were all grinning widely from ear to ear seeing the girl.. But exactly to their opposite expression.. the faces of the three men who were sitting on the floor with their hands and legs tied, opened their mouth wide with their eyes broadened in shock.. But among them all, the person who had the most terrified expression on his face was none other the two timed bastard, Sam.. He really couldn''t believe his own eyes when he saw the person in front of him, standing tall with confidence, was none other than his so called girlfriend or rather like ex girlfriend, Willa.. There stood Willa with all her glory which was being beautified more by the illuminating LED lights of the room which had been shut on by their guards when they got the signal from Neil.. She was still wearing her office attire but still her flawless beauty was something which were giving her simple look a flavour of gorgeousness with a spark of conservative attitude.. "Willa?" Sam spoke for the first time after staying mum for more than an hour which was actually nothing but mere three to five minutes.. "Yes. Willa.. the Willa whom you betrayed. The same Willa whom you played a like a piece of toy. And the same Willa who is one of the member of Secret 7 who is feared by assholes like you with the name FLASH.." Willa shouted while her eyes started to fill up with tears after seeing the face of the betrayal whom she loved with all of her heart. But actually did she ever love him? Or was it some kind of infatuation..?? These were the big questions now that was roaming in her mind... Cause the pain Willa was feeling right now was not for the particular reason that Sam never had loved her or he cheated on her but more like she had wasted her precious time on this bastard.. Sam not only broke her trustb but also had broken her belief from love.. Nonetheless, she would not behave like any other weak girl who would destroy her own life just for a man who never gave a damn to her feelings.. Moreover she would not break down in front of him to see the satisfied smile on his face.. Especially when her friends were with her all the time and trying really hard to support her. They stood for her completely and even took the first effort to protect her from Sam so that she wouldn''t face the heartbreak in a bigger way.. And she would stay strong for them because they were giving their all to make her get out of the evilness. Blinking away the tears which were threatening to fall from her eyes, she managed herself and sat on the vacant chair beside Veronica... Neil''s eyes were totally on her from the moment she entered the hall and the little glossiness of her eyes didn''t go unnoticed by him. His heart clenched in pain when she saw her hurtful face. Right at that moment, he wanted to punch that asshole Sam till he started begging for his own death and made his body graved under the soil of Secret 7. But he controlled himself from dashing out on him. "Are you okay?" Veronica asked as soon as Willa sat beside her. Willa gave her a small smile seeing the worried face of her friends. Her eyes then fell onto Neil with whom she had spent the most time after the revealation of Sam''s true character. She instantly remembered the last incident before coming here.. ----- Few hours ago.. Neil had picked Willa up from Creation before coming here as like Veronica informed her before. They both were quite on the whole way there but she noticed that Neil was taking few glances on her from time to time. She also saw the worried expression on his face which he was trying to hide really well.. They had waited in another room in secret 7 after coming there. But before Neil was about to come in this room, he turned to her and asked one last question which made her all haywire mind to go out of her scalp and helped her to be the real Willa who was always confident and optimistic... "You are sure nah, you could handle this? If you don''t feel like get going then just tell me.. Because I will not stop you from doing so but I''ll make you understand that you have to be strong and firm on your heart... You can''t be weak Willa, you can''t depress yourself for that bastard. You have to fight for yourself Willa. You don''t have to prove anyone but prove yourself that you are not any ordinary girl who will cry over her heartbreak for her whole life.." Neil tried to encourage her. Willa looked at Neil surprisingly as if she couldn''t believe, this was the Neil who was a playboy and broke so many hearts of girls knowingly or unknowingly, was giving her all motivated speeches now.. She gave him a faint smile and replied, "Don''t worry. I''ll not let Sam overpower my feelings anymore." As soon as she said those words, she saw the relaxed expression on Neil''s face as a small yet encouraging smile bloomed on his lips... ---- Back to present¡­ "I''m okay. Don''t worry too much Vero. If something would bother me, I''ll not be here with all of you." Willa assured Veronica who just returned her a lovely smile.. "So now that we all are present here, we should start treating our guests well like we treat others." Neil spoke out. Chapter 173 - Tomorrow Onwards... "So now that we all are present here, we should start treating our guests well like we treat others." Neil spoke out. "You are wrong bro.. These three idiots are special than others. So we should treat them in a better way.." Henry said with a cold face.. Everyone nodded their head as Reuben said, "It is you they hurt the most Willa. So it will also be you who would start giving them their much needed retribution." Willa looked at Reuben who patted her head and indicated her to go for it with confidence. Smiling at him, Willa leaned towards Sam with an expressionless face and raised her hand high in the air.. *pak* *pak* Two slaps fell on Sam''s cheeks and blood started oozing out from the corner his lips. The sound was so loud that the whole big hall just vibrated with its noise... "Do you know why I just slapped you?" Willa asked. Sam smirked and replied, "Because I hurt you and you still love me very much.." Willa laughed at his answer and said sarcastically, "Ohh.. You think too much highly of yourself. I don''t have any freaking time to love the bastard who tried to frame his own girlfriend and her bestfriend... I just gave you the slap because you wanted to destroy the company that we built with our blood sweat and tears for so many years. The company which is the sole dream of my friend Vero, who took all the responsibility on her shoulder to bring the company to where it is now. And you guys tried to damage our years of toil and hard work just by some fake blueprints.." "Huh? Do you think we are fools who would just watch you destroy our dreams? Not possible you bastard. Not at all possible." Willa''s eyes were filled with extreme rage as she spat those words.. She got up from her chair and gave another slap to Sam and then two others to Peter and his assistant. Then looking at Veronica, Willa said, "I don''t want to waste my time on them anymore. Do whatever you guys want with them. I''m now leaving." Neil saw that she had already left the hall so he also stood up. Kicking them each in their groin and punching few more times on their faces he whispered in a chilling voice, "You know what, I wanted to beat you so much till you beg for death. But seems like your luck is quite good today.." He then turned towards Reuben and said, "I''m going after Willa. Don''t worry about her." Reuben nodded his head and said, "Go and take care of her. And one more thing... Their luck is not that good because we''re gonna make it worst." Neil smiled at him and hurriedly left. It was now turn for Veronica to hit the bell and she would do it in the most decisive way. She ordered a man to come near her with some equipments and held one chopper knife from the tray. She then sat down on the floor supporting her body weight with her one knee pressed on the floor and fisted Peter''s hair in a tight grip. Then she placed the knife against his back of neck and slowly slid the knife down on his skin, making him bleed and shrike in pain, "Aahhh.." She did the same with Sam and Peter''s assistant and left everything for the others to do. After Henry and Louis had beaten them to their fullest, Reuben came next for his revenge. His mind was wandering around only one thing and that was from the video when they saw the conversation between Sam and Peter where they wished to bed Veronica and Willa.. He took one piler in his hand and peaked out the nails of their hands. He then looked at one of his men and ordered him, "These men wanted to be intimate with your two lady bosses, so just chop their d.i.c.k off from their bodies and when they feel like passing out, try other methods too. And last but not the least, after they left their last breath, just throw them from the cliff outside the city.." The men nodded their head while Sam, Peter and his assistant tried to protest in fear by pleading to Reuben but the guards held them out tightly... Reuben hold Veronica''s wrist gently as both of them left secret 7 with Henry and Louis. As they exited the hall, the shouts of the three men inside the hall, erupted inside the whole building but it couldn''t passed through the soundproof walls of the big building... ----- Willa''s apartment.. Neil parked the car and Willa stepped out of it immediately. Neil was also about to get out when Willa stopped him.. "Neil, you already did many things for me and I can even see the tiredness in your eyes. So just go back to your home. You would be more comfortable there." Neil didn''t say anything but his face was telling that he was very much tensed about her whereabouts. Willa saw it and said before smiling lightly, "Go back your home Neil. I''ll be okay. Trust me.." Sighing deeply, Neil returned her smile and drove off out of her apartment... Seeing his car went out of her view, Willa also entered her building and few minutes later her apartment light got switched on... After setting her foot in her bedroom, Willa dashed towards her bed and cried loudly and murmured to herself between her sobs, "This will be the last time I''m crying, because from tomorrow onwards there will be a more stronger Willa." Whereas on the other side, Neil parked his car on the road from where he could see her apartment and when he saw her bedroom light on, he finally left with a promise to himself, "Today will be the last time I''ll let you cry, Willa. Because from tomorrow onwards, I will be the sole reason to bring smile on your beautiful face everyday..." Chapter 174 - Smash Alonzos big empire... Love-Paradise... Reuben and Veronica entered their home in silence but as soon as Veronica saw the comfy couch in the living room, she plopped herself on it and released a deep breath.. Reuben saw her tired face but later chuckled when he saw her already dozing off. Walking towards her, he kissed her forehead and said, "Love, I know that you are tired but at least freshen up a little first. I''ll make dinner for us and take it to our room. Then you can sleep as much as you want.." Veronica opened her eyes lazily and smiled at Reuben before pouting, "I don''t want to eat. I just wanna sleep." Reuben knew that she was not gonna agree like this, so he just picked her up in his arms and walked towards their bedroom. He took her to the washroom and opened the shower before adjusting its temperature as he said, "Now, take a quick bath. I''m going downstairs.." Veronica nodded like a kid and started to unbutton her dress as Reuben smiled at her before leaving for the kitchen to cook something delicious while shaking his head.. ---- Alonzo''s Apartment¡­ Myra was cooking dinner in the kitchen while humming one of her favorite song as she was very much happy that she and Lucinda both had already talked about the investment thing for the restaurant and sorted it out without any problem.. They had met in the evening of the same day at a restaurant and also talked with a famous interior designer suggested by Veronica. As Veronica could not meet them because she was busy with her meeting with few not so important people and Willa was also busy with her, Myra and Lucinda discussed all the matter with the interior designer alone.. Though they did not know that the meeting was not only attended by Veronica and Willa but also Neil, Reuben and Henry were also show their presence there but they still thought, it must be quite very important otherwise neither Veronica nor Willa would miss to help their friends... However what they were not certain about was, they were not in a meeting with some supreme clients but some idiot bastards who were the sole reason of Willa''s heartbreak in secret 7.. Although they didn''t mind when Veronica declined their offer to come, they still fixed everything with the interior designer according to their preferences.. Now Myra had just finished her cooking and decided to call her brother to have his dinner. But now she was most worried about the matter related to Alonzo''s behavior.. She was completely confused seeing Alonzo in the apartment for the whole day without talking anything. He hadn''t gone to his office today and spent his while day in his study room alone.. Moreover he even had not talked with her from the last night after he came back home from a meeting with his client in Fusion.. He seemed to be very low in his mood so Myra thought that it must be the meeting did not go well to Alonzo''s expectations and that''s why her brother''s mood was not so good. So she left him at his own way because she knew her brother never got decieved in anything and always got what he wanted. And right now, he needed some privacy to calm his mind so that he could found a perfect solution of his all trouble.. She knocked on the study room of Alonzo where he had caged himself from this morning. But she didn''t get any response from him even after few seconds so she knocked once more. Again there was no response... So she very slowly yet steadily opened the door and entered the study room while walking in her tip toes. There she found him sitting on his chair, looking outside the window emotionlessly without any concentration in his work or any worry about the world... Walking towards her brother, she waved her hand in front of his eyes but still his focus did not get intervened from outside scenery. That''s why she tried to shake him a little to make him come out of his daze and right to her expectations, Alonzo finally got broken from his trance and looked at her in a questioning gaze as if trying to ask, ''Why are you here?'' Myra understood his facial expression clearly as she was brought up with Alonzo as she told him, "Brother. The dinner is ready. Let''s go to eat now, otherwise it will turn cold.." "What? It''s already dinner time?" Alonzo looked at the time in his phone and found out that, it was really too much late. He was so much disturbed in his mind from last night, after knowing the truth about Veronica and Reuben that he didn''t notice that the time had already passed so much and it was now already night time.. "Yes bro. Now freshen up a little bit and come for dinner. Till then I''ll serve the food." Myra said before walking out of the study room. Alonzo nodded his head and went out to his room for a refreshing bath. The whole day he was busy thinking about Veronica and Reuben. How Veronica kissed Reuben in front of him¡­ How they kept hugging each other, holding their hands tightly together without any worrirs... Their sweet smile on their faces when they stared at each other.. Theleir gaze to each other was filled with so much love that he couldn''t help but just envy Reuben.. It was paining him very much when he saw the love of his life in another man''s arms. And that too Reuben Smith who could smash Alonzo''s big empire in a blink or twitch of his eyes.. At first, Alonzo was very much confident about the fact that whoever the person would be Veronica''s boyfriend, he would easily fight with him and let him leave from Veronica''s life.. He was very much sure about the certainty that no man would be more powerful than him to snatch his Veronica from him¡­ Chapter 175 - Mood Changing Drink... He was very much sure about the certainty that no man would be more powerful than him to snatch his Veronica from him¡­ Except three persons who were Neil, Henry and Louis... He had already searched about them and found out that both Neil and Henry were like her own brothers whereas Louis was her boss come one of her best friend as they had studied together in the same college and university.. About Reuben.. Well, he never thought him as a competition because everyone including him knew that both Reuben and Veronica loathed each other so much that they really tried hard to stop puking at each other while seeing their faces.. But truth was something else which was not at all expected by anyone. It was like the reality hit him really hard.. He never thought that anyone.. literally anyone other than Reuben could be her boyfriend. But then he saw the love in both of their eyes specially Reuben''s expression which was the gentlest and most softest when he looked at Veronica.. He never knew that now he had to compete with his own business partner over Veronica and inside of his heart, he was slowly losing the courage and confidence to fight back with Reuben.. Pushing all the thoughts away for few minutes, he got fresh and went for dinner where he saw his sister Myra was already waiting for him in the dining table. Myra saw him coming and poured water for him in the glass and both of them started eating. Myra noticed that Alonzo was not eating properly and his expression was totally stiff and no emotions were seen in his face. Though Alonzo was expressionless and cold most of the time, but with her, he was not the same as he would became all caring and loving.. "Bro.. are you okay? I have been noticing you from yesterday but your behaviour seems to be quite different and upsetting. What happened bro? Was there any problems in the meeting?" Myra asked getting worried over her brother. Alonzo stared up at his sister and said, "No problem with the meeting Myra. It''s just another thing that is bothering me." Myra got confused and asked, "What is it bro? Tell me. Maybe I can help you some way." Pondering for some while, Alonzo finally decided to tell the truth to his sister, "You remember Myra¡­ I told you about a girl with whom I had fallen in love five and half years ago?" Nodding her hard, Myra instantly replied, "Yes. I remember about her. But why are you asking this right now?" "Actually.. you know the girl very well." When Myra made a confused face Alonzo added, "It''s Veronica Lopez. Your new friend in city S." "What!!!!!" Myra thumped her spoon that she was holding on her plate and screamed beyond belief. "Veronica was the one whom you loved and who left you all shattered? How.. how could be all this possible? She is so sweet and lovely." Myra asked. Alonzo pursed his lips and said, "Yes. You are right that she is lovely. And there seemed to be some misunderstandings between us. The letter she left for me before leaving city B was all fake because it was not her handwriting which I came to know few days ago. She really didn''t leave me by cuckolding me." Myra was shocked but later her lips lifted up into a beautiful smile as she exclaimed happily, "Oh bro.!! That''s so good then. If Veronica hadn''t done anything wrong then that''s mean you can be with her again. You know what, after coming here, I always felt that it would be the best if she becomes my sister-in-law. And now you are telling me that she is the one who captured your heart in the past.." Alonzo was shocked when he heard her sister''s wish to make Veronica her sister-in-law but he smiled at her before saying, "I''m happy that you like her so much. But there is a problem in this. Actually.. Veronica is already in a relationship with someone else and her boyfriend is more powerful than me. So I''m not sure if I would be able to fight for her." Slapping her forehead, Myra chided, "So what bro? That doesn''t mean if her boyfriend is more powerful or wealthier than you or not.. The thing that matters the most is that you love her. So brother don''t step back and go, get your girl." She cheered him up. Sighing deeply, Alonzo nodded and said, "Let me think over this for some time." "Take your own time bro. But never compromise with your love. Like I did before." Myra said the last sentence almost in whisper so that only she could hear as a single tear drop escaped from her eyes. ---- Love-Paradise.. The couple thought to sleep after having dinner but suddenly Veronica''s all sleep went haywire, which resulted them to now sit in their balcony, drinking coffee while seeking comfort in each other''s arms. As they had already finished their dinner after a full hectic day with lots of fracas, so they thought to calm themselves by spending some lone time together with the all time best friend of ''mood changing'' drink, Coffee.. "Honey¡­" Veronica called. "Hmm??" Reuben hummed while running his fingers in her hair. "When are we going to disclose about our relationship?" Veronica asked. Reuben moved her face down to see her face and replied before kissing her temple, "If you want, I can confirm our relationship tomorrow itself." "Really? Will you? By the way, I really don''t have any problem. The sooner¡­ the better.." Veronica exclaimed happily. Chuckling at her overexcited act, Reuben ruffled her hair and said, "Okay. Then tomorrow it is. I''ll post about us in my social media account." Veronica smiled brightly and replied, "Then I''ll also confirm about us after you are done with your posting." "Deal.." Reuben made a fist and forwarded it to her grinning. Veronica giggled and fist-boomed with him before shouting in joy, "Deal¡­" And both of them sealed their new promise for their upcoming journey with a very passionate kiss.. Chapter 176 - Glittery Excitement... Next morning was as usual busy for everyone. People were rushing to their job in the bustling city. All were having their work without getting any idea of the upcoming news which would flow their hairs off their brains.. Reuben arrived at the Smith Enterprise after dropping Veronica at Creation.. Entering his office cabin, the first thing he did was to call for his assistant, Tom. "Sir you called me?" Tom asked as soon as he walked in the huge cabin of Reuben''s office.. When Tom entered, he saw his Boss was being occupied in his own thoughts looking out of the big glass window and a serious expression was looming up on his face.. So his mind internally gave an automatic signal to his brain that something big was going to happen soon which certainly he had no idea about.. "Tom, make my schedule free after lunch hour. I will not attend any meeting anymore and directly work from my office in the late afternoon. Just give me some files that I''ve to check or sign immediately as I have no mood of attending any meeting to listen to those stupid clients who can''t even prepare a presentation properly. So either prepone the meetings before lunch or cancel it." Reuben said. Tom agreed with him in a second and said, "Sure Boss. I''ll come back after half an hour with your coffee and also inform you if the meetings got preponed or cancelled." Reuben nodded his head and dialled Veronica''s number after Tom left his office room.. "Hey babe. Are you ready for the biggest revelation?" Reuben asked as soon as Veronica picked up. "Yes, definitely... Willa and Louis are already with me. I''m now going to call Lucy and you call Neil and Henry." Veronica said looking at her two friends who were looking at her in confusion. Seeing them, Veronica couldn''t help but laugh a little as she remembered, from the time they entered the office on the top floor which was specially for the CEO, they kept looking at her with detective like eyes as if she attempted a big crime... Ignoring their intense gazes, Veronica called Lucinda whereas Reuben added Neil and Henry in a conference call.. "Heyyo Niccy." Lucinda greeted as soon as she picked up the phone call. "Babe.. Are you with Vero?" Henry''s voice bloomed in when he heard Lucinda. "No idiot. It''s a conference call. Reuben and Lucinda are also with me." Veronica informed. Neil who just got added in the call asked, "What is happening guys? Why is the sudden need of a conference call? Is there anything important?" "Yes bro. It''s more important than anything." Reuben replied. Willa now got impatient after waiting for almost 15 minutes and enquired, "Guys if you are done with making us wait, then please proceed with your big news and tell us what you want to say without beating around the bush." Louis also agreed with him and said, "Yes. Just tell it nah.. You guys are trying to give me an anxiety attack as you kept me waiting here for so long." "Okay guys... So we have a good news to share with you. We couldn''t do it yesterday because of the crucial circ.u.mstances." Veronica said making everyone more excited. "What is it?" Lucinda asked. Veronica and Reuben both stopped for three whole seconds and like a perfect love birds, their mind connected with each other and when the perfect time came, both screamed together, "We both are going to reveal our relationship today to the world..." "What?" everyone shouted together making the couple keep the phone away from their ears so that they could protect their ear from being deaf... Henry was the first one who came out of the shock and asked, "You guys are going on public today but you are telling this to us now, at the end of the moment?" "Gosh..!! This couple really knows how to give me a heart attack." Louis said pressing his hand over his chest, acting like he was seriously having a severe chest pain. Veronica rolled her eyes at him and said, "Guys. We''re really sorry. This was all a sudden decision of ours. We thought to tell you yesterday but you already know what happened then so it was completely an another matter.." "Did you guys inform your parents about your decision?" Willa asked the most important question in between all these idiots. Reuben interrupted everyone and said, "Yup. We did it two days ago. And they are being supportive with us. Or should I say, that they are jumping in joy.." There was a few minutes of pause in the conversation when suddenly Neil broke the silence, "Congratulations guys. I''m very happy for both of you." "Yeah.. congratulations Niccy and Reuben." Lucinda yelled with happiness dripping in her voice. One by one everyone congratulated them and asked them more questions about the time and details of their revealation, by which they were going to tell the world and the couple replied to all of them happily. After the call ended and everyone left, Reuben messaged Veronica, "I''m going to post at lunchtime. You are okay with it right?" "Of course honey. I''m always ready for this moment." Veronica replied. Reuben smiled and replied on the message, "I''m getting excited more by every passing second. Can''t wait to tell the world that the girl who has the most precious heart in the universe, is all mine.." Veronica chuckled and texted back, "I''m nothing to less excited then you. Right now, I''m feeling like I''m flying in the air. I really can''t wait to let the world know that I''m the girlfriend of the most loving of the universe.." They both smiled together and hung up soon with a glittery excitement in their heart.. ---- Smith Enterprise¡­ Tom came back right after half an hour and informed Reuben, "Boss there is only one meeting for you today. I cancelled the others and rescheduled it to another day." Reuben nodded his head and sipped the coffee that Tom brought for him before asking, "Tom, do you not want to ask why I''m cancelling the meetings all suddenly?" Chapter 177 - Reubens Revelation... Reuben nodded his head and sipped the coffee that Tom brought for him before asking, "Tom, do you not want to ask why I''m cancelling the meetings all suddenly?" Being shocked with the certain question, Tom shook his head and said, "No Boss. I know it must be something important for you, that''s why you are telling me to cancel the meetings." Chuckling at Tom''s understanding towards him, Reuben said, "Actually, today I''m going to disclose about my and your Lady Boss''s relationship. So please inform the H. R. Department to stay ready from beforehand for any upcoming troubles." Tom was very much happy with Reuben''s decision. So smiling hugely, he said, "Sure Boss. I''ll inform them. And congratulations." Reuben grinned at him and smiled genuinely before saying, "Thanks Tom. You have helped me a lot in these past five years in keeping our relationship a secret. I owe you a lot friend..." Smiling as much brightly as he could, Tom spoke, "I did nothing for you Reuben, compared to what you did for me." Yes, Tom did call Reuben by his name cause whenever Reuben would address him as ''friend'', that would mean that right then Reuben was not confronting Tom as an assistant but as his old friend of college... ---- At 12:40 pm¡­ Reuben just ended his meeting with some of his clients and hurriedly entered his cabin. He took out his phone from his pocket and searched through some photos of him and Veronica together... He was busy in searching in his gallery but he couldn''t find any photo which would be the most perfect for today''s revelation.. Though all of their pictures were equally cute and awesome but he needed the best romantic picture for the big day of their life... After all, the picture he would post today would be on the headline of every news channels and newspapers for the next few days. So it had to be the best and most mesmerizing... Finally after five minutes of surfing through his phone, his eyes landed onto the one picture that he liked the most among the others.. The picture was like this¡­ Veronica''s back was pressed against a big tree and she had turned her face towards her left, whereas Reuben stood in front of her pressing her body with his own a little and his face was a little dipped down so his nose was touching her right cheek... They were both smiling lovingly at each other while Veronica kept her left hand stretched out which was being held by Reuben''s right hand. Reuben''s left hand was resting on the tree bark whereas Veronica''s right hand were kept on his chest.. Veronica was wearing an off shoulder white knee length dress and her brown hair was curled softly whereas Reuben was wearing a white shirt with brown khaki shorts. Though their dress up was very much simple but their beauty was hovering over everything with the minimalistic of the beautiful nature... They both were looking exceptionally beautiful in the middle of the greenish scenery. Their natural look with their pure smile could be called as ''The Perfect Shot'' to make everyone notice the real love between this amazing couple... Smilingly Reuben, selected the photo and wrote a lovely caption under it.. "You are the rain that pours love in my burning heart... You are the angel that makes me feel like I''m residing in the heaven where everything is beautiful and righteous... You are the shining star of my blazing sky.. You are the peace of my racing heart... You made my boring life all colourful with your smiling presence.. My soul.. My heart.. The one and only love of my life.. My everything... Without you, my life is incomplete.. Thanks for coming in my life honey. The past four and half years of our togetherness were the best years of my life which will continue till death do us apart... I love you and will always keep loving you Ica.." Then he added two "love emoji" and when the clock shows exactly 1 pm, he finally clicked the ''send'' button and posted it on his social meadia account... After that, he immediately messaged Veronica, "Honey... Check my account right now.. I''m already done with my post..." Veronica got the message and immediately opened her own social media account to see how Reuben had revealed about their loving relationship to the whole world.. As they have decided to not let each other know about their ideas for posting about their love, so no one knew what and how the other would reveal their relationship... She opened her timeline and saw Reuben''s post and she was in awe after reading the caption he had written for her... Moreover, the image he had posted was so beautiful and romantic that she felt tears pricking in her eyes but she controlled it when something hit her mind suddenly... Taking her phone, she sent Reuben a message, "Did you just steal my idea Bennie? I was going to update my profile by the same process like you. You THIEF..!!!" Reuben got the message and laughed out loudly, "Babe.. You very well know that we think the same almost everytime. So it is quite natural to have to the same thought in this matter also, especially when it is about the revelation of our love... Moreover if we post in the same way, they will also come to know about our compatibility..." Veronica pouted but still replied, "Yeah.. You are right about this. But just wait and watch Mr. Smith¡­ my choice of photo and caption will be far more better than you... Humphh.!!" Again Reuben''s phone dinged with a message and when he read it, he couldn''t help but burst out laughing again.. His Ica was always competitive even in this matter too... Shaking his head, he wrote, "I''m waiting for it then.. EAGERLY.." "Don''t worry. I''ll not lose to you. Now bye. I''m selecting the best photo of us. I''ll call you when I will be done with it." Veronica replied back. Hanging up the call, Veronica started selecting the best photo in her gallery¡­ Chapter 178 - Veronicas Confirmation... "Don''t worry. I''ll not lose to you. Now bye. I''m selecting the best photo of us. I''ll call you when I will be done with it." Veronica replied back. Hanging up the call, Veronica started selecting the best photo in her gallery¡­ There she got the most beautiful and romantic photo of the world which could show their love just by one look on the photos¡­ The picture was captured on the beach at the sunset. The whole nature was painted with the golden red colour and the sun was peeking behind the reddish blue sea... Reuben was sitting on the sand with his right leg folded up whereas his right hand was kept resting on it. He was wearing a lemon yellow colour t-shirt with a black shorts... Veronica was sitting on her knee right in front of Reuben and her left hand was on his right cheek slightly caressing it. She was wearing a sea green coloured sleeveless crop top with small frails on the bottom part, paired with a black colour thigh length shorts... She had her face lifted down while her forehead and nose were touching Reuben''s forehead and nose respectively who had his face tilted up diagonally. They were looking at each other with a spark in their eyes and a blissful smile was playing on their lips... Reuben''s left hand were clutching Veronica''s waist and Veronica''s right hand was holding Reuben''s neck. Veronica''s hair was flowing in the air because of the warm breeze whereas both of their lips were just an inch away from each other. The blushing sunlight was falling on their face, giving a tint glow on their faces, making the atmosphere more romantic and mesmerizing.. In one sentence, the photograph was a ''Picture Perfect'' one... Veronica selected the picture and wrote a lovable caption under it which portrayed all her feelings for him.. It was more like a sweet and memorable poem than captions.. The rhythmic words at the last showed the that captions were not just unfathomable words but a well written ''Love Poem''... "You are the scorching sun of my dark life, making it more bright.. You are the reason of my every smile, taking away all my sadness in a while.. Your loving gaze is the only one I search for.. Making my heart jump to the end of my core.. You are the healer of my every pain.. Cause your love for me is my biggest gain.. I love you Bennie the most in the universe.. No one can ever be able to seperate us.. You are my love, my life who makes my heart whole.. We are two bodies but only one soul.. And I''m proud to say this like a queue.. My Heart Beats Only For You.." Finished with writing the caption which had her love confession for Reuben, she at last clicked the ENTER button and posted it on her social media account which had millions of followers.. Thereafter, she called Reuben and he picked up in just two seconds because he was already waiting for her call opening Veronica''s timeline in his computer... "I''m done honey... Just see it now." Veronica exclaimed excitedly. "Okay.. Okay... Let me check it first." Reuben said chuckling. Refreshing her timeline, a post popped on his computer and he saw the most beautiful picture of the world and read the caption attatched to it that she posted... Now it was his turn to get tears in his eyes.. He always knew that, his Ica had already a poetry vibe in her heart but he hadn''t ever imagined that she would profess her love in front of everyone for him in a poetic style. He was beyond happy and on the top of the world, as very soon a single joy of tear ran down on his cheek... Though he wanted to just keep staring at her post but first he had to praise his Ica for this lovely surprise.. "Babe.. You really won honey. The Love filled poem for me is the best I can ever read.. Actually, you are the best. I really love you..." Reuben said from the bottom of his heart in a soft yet husky voice.. Veronica felt her heart was doing summersault after hearing his voice and she understood at that moment that he was finding difficult not to cry. But this time, she didn''t want to stop him from shedding tears because this was the tears of their joy, the tears of expressing their happiness of taking another big step of their life, for their relationship... Both of them wanted to live on this moment, forgetting all about the world. Because right now, only one thing mattered in their lives the most and that is the love they shared, the fast beating sound of their hearts.. Unknowingly, Veronica also started having tears in her eyes and both of them just kept silent, listening to only their breathing.. Few minutes after their silence, Reuben professed, "I love you honey..." Veronica smiled at him and confessed with the same passion as Reuben, "I love you too darling..." ---- When the love birds were busy in their own romantic moment, the whole country was already in a big uproar.. All the tabloids and news channels were now completely focused on one thing and that is to post about the sudden revelation of the most unexpected couple who were being nicknamed as the ''All Time Enemy'', Veronica and Reuben.. Their fingers were racing on the keyboards, trying to write as fast as possible to compete with their rivals.. Soon they were finished with their editing and ready to post it.. The news channels were very much sure that their TRP would go skyrocket as soon as they started telecasting the big fat news.. "The most unexpected couple had confirmed to be dating..." "The biggest business tycoon, Mr. Reuben Smith and the most beautiful heiress of country K, Veronica Lopez are in a relationship from the past five years..." "Enemies turned into lovers? Most unobvious pair of this century..." These were all the headlines that were surfing through the broadcasting channels, tabloids and online with the couples'' images that they posted, attached to the news.. The public were completely shocked and it was really tough for them to overcome their surprise from the news. They had never expected that the most gorgeous and reputed girl of country K Veronica Lopez would be dating the most handsome hunk and billionaire Reuben Smith who were famous for their rivalry and never stepped back to show hate towards each other¡­ The accounts of the two love birds were buzzing with comments from their millions of followers.. Follower 1 : Oh My God..!! I can''t believe that these two god-like people are dating.. I mean how could that be possible? Follower 2 : Wait a minute... Our prince charming had mentioned in the caption that they are dating for almost four and half years.. then how they had hidden it from us for so long? However they are looking so much good together. God bless you... Follower 3 : No.. My dream boy is not anymore single because he is already mingle with the goddess Veronica.. Aww!! My poor heart.. By the way, their pictures were conveying the actual truth that they were very much in love. So much romantic... Follower 4 : Please someone tell me that I''m still daydreaming and my dream girl is not now off the hook. Though I''m feeling very sad seeing Veronica is now being off the market, still I''ve to see that the couple were looking awesome. *Made For Each Other*.. Follower 5 : "WOW..!! Love is in the air.. I''m sure they are gonna be superb Power Couple.. Uhmm.. let me think a Nickname for them.. What should it be???... Yeah.. Got it¡­.. REUNIC¡­" Follower 6 : REUNIC¡­ Oh I love this nickname. So let''s call our power couple with the name ''REUNIC'' Couple from now on.. Let''s go guys.. I''m their no. 1 supporter from today." Follower 7 : "I love the name too.. Supporter no. 2 here.." Follower 8 : "Supporter no. 3 is me¡­" Like this, more and more comments were adding into the pile of their accounts. All were giving them their blessings. The amount of supporters of the couple were increasing one by one and turned into millions.. Even the stock price of both Smith Enterprise and Creation were running upwards by minutes. Though people were unknown about the fact that Veronica was the CEO of Creation but her being the head VFX Artist of the company was enough to skyrocket their popularity.. Lopez industries was also not behind in gaining more and more stock prices.. Everyone was very much happy except one.. ---- Alonzo was also absent today in his office. So he was not aware of the new trendy news which had got lots of shares and comments in just few minutes.. He was standing at the window, watching the outer beauty of the nature when Myra barged in suddenly.. "Bro.." "What happened now?" Alonzo asked without turning around. Myra who was trying to normal her breathing, said, "You didn''t tell me that Veronica was dating none other than Reuben Smith?" Alonzo twirled his body in a second and kept staring at his sister with furrowed brows as he asked, "How did you come to know about this?" Calming her heavy breath, Myra replied, "Not only me.. Now the whole world knows about it." Scrunching his eyebrows together, Alonzo asked, "What do you mean?" "Just see it yourself." Myra said passing her phone to Alonzo. Taking the phone from his sister''s hand, Alonzo scrolled through the webpage and finally noticed the post of Reuben.. "Reuben had confirmed their relationship?" Alonzo said with widening eyes... Myra took the phone from his hand and after typing something, he again gave her phone back to Alonzo before saying, "Brother, not only Reuben.. but also Veronica had posted about their relationship in her timeline... Just see it..." Chapter 179 - Wonder Couple... "Reuben had confirmed their relationship?" Alonzo said with widening eyes... Myra took the phone from his hand and after typing something, he again gave her phone back to Alonzo before saying, "Brother, not only Reuben.. but also Veronica had posted about their relationship in her timeline... Just see it..." Alonzo took the phone from her hand and saw Veronica''s post which consisted the cozy picture of Reuben and Veronica who were looking at each other with so much love filled eyes... He then read the caption under the picture and his blood started to boil like burning lava.. He couldn''t help but feel jealous over Reuben for being with his love, Veronica snd he just kept looking at the photo of their sunset love while feeling absolute pain in his heart... Gripping the phone in his hand tightly, Alonzo wanted to just break it so that he could not have to see the picture for even a single more time.. Myra noticed Alonzo''s rage filled expression with a touch of pained emotions in his eyes. So she tried to snatch her phone from her brother but Alonzo was holding it very tightly as if he was adamant to not give back Myra''s phone to her.. But after trying very hard for few more minutes, Alonzo finally snapped out from his trance and gave Myra''s phone back to her.. As soon as, Myra took her phone back, Alonzo turned around and faced the big window in his study room. Fisting his right hand in a tight ball, he started to punch the window railing with an extreme force which was making very loud noises all around the study room... Myra became tensed when she saw her brother acting like an angry lion as he was trying to hurt himself to get out of his fury which she couldn''t able to tolerate anymore.. So she clutched his hand tightly in both of her palms and begged in a feeble voice, "Bro.. Please stop it. You are hurting yourself by hitting the window railing. If you continue to behave like this, then that doesn''t mean that Veronica will come running to you in a minute... You have to be strong bro..." When finally Alonzo came into his senses after hearing his sister, he stood there silently with his eyes focused on his sister.. Sighing deeply, Myra hugged his left arm and said, "Brother. If you really love her, then prove it to her. I saw you have been remembering her from the past five years when she left city B.. You were always happy and jovial before meeting her. But after she left, you became a cold person. You have to change back to your old self bro. You have to become the one who could capture one''s heart just by a smile on his handsome face... I know it won''t be easy for you to bring back the previous Alonzo. But trust me bro, it''s not that much tough or anything like impossible. Just for the sake of your love, you have to fight with your past. Fight for Veronica bro. I know you''ll succeed one day..." Alonzo looked at his sister and reminisced about the past of him.. The beautiful memories with Veronica that he spent with her made him smile a little. Her sweet smile towards him, her sparkling eyes... her spending time with him... he played the memories in his mind while closing his eye.. Counting the past in his mind for few more minutes, he opened his eyes again as he finally decided about his next steps like what he would prefer to do in the near future, like if he should continue to fight for his love or let her be happy with his love rival... Nonetheless, being the stubborn Alonzo Brown who always got what he wanted, he made up his mind and said with determination in his eyes, "Myra, you are right. I should not be a loser anymore. I should fight for my girl and I''ll definitely win in this battle of love." Myra was happy with her brother''s decision without understanding the fact that their own selfishness could ruin not just one life.. but there lives together... However they were still not aware with the certainty that Reuben and Veronica who are now being loved by the netizens with the name ''REUNIC'' was not any ordinary couple who would just break by a little push of their enemy... No one could ever destroy the love and blissful relationship that they shared by trying to make a barrier between them.. Their bond was way stronger than anyone''s malicious planning because they were the ''Wonder Couple'' of the country.. Myra left Alonzo''s study after few minutes whereas Alonzo just kept staring at outside and muttered to himself, "Hope you would have been here bro. Though you are away from me, you will still be in my heart till I leave my last breath. If today you''d have been beside me, then I''m sure you would definitely help me to get my Vero back. I miss you so much..." ----- Lopez Industries¡­ "Oh my God.!! I''m so happy for our children James." Father Smith said feeling escalated with different kind of emotions. "Yeah.. Me too Logan. I can''t believe that, finally we could brag about our children''s relationship to everyone proudly without any hesitation." Father Lopez said smiling widely at his best friend.. Currently they were sitting in Veronica''s father, Mr. James Lopez''s office and chatting about the revelation of Reuben and Veronica''s relationship. They were giggling from time to time, thinking about their kids who were now a.d.u.l.ts and already in very much love with each other that no one could seperate them... Mr. Smith laughed heartily and said, "Yes. We could surely do that like bragging about our children to the whole world, especially towards our friends..." Father Lopez laughed with his friend but stopped when suddenly Mr. Smith said, "By the way I have an awesome plan for this. Why don''t we call all of our friends for dinner tomorrow so that we could boost about our son and daughter. We can even call both of our children''s friends too." Chapter 180 - REUNIC Together... REUNIC Forever... Father Lopez laughed with his friend but stopped when suddenly Mr. Smith said, "By the way I have an awesome plan for this. Why don''t we call all of our friends for dinner tomorrow so that we could boost about our son and daughter. We can even call both of our children''s friends too." Mr. James Lopez was extremely happy hearing the idea and said excitedly, "Yeah.. That''s a really good idea. Let me call Neil and Lucinda''s parents and also Willa. You invite Henry and Louis''s parents. And we''ll tell them to bring their kids along with them so that our children also get some company and would not get bored in between us older people.." "That''s really an amazing plan. Okay then I''m leaving now. I can''t wait anymore to make our friends jealous." Father smith said feeling elevated. "Okay then let''s meet tomorrow. But where?" Mr. Lopez asked. "Where else? Paradise Hotel¡­ As it is completely ours, so we don''t have to worry about paparazzi." Mr. Smith suggested. "Cool then." Mr. Lopez said and both of the fathers hugged each other before Mr. Smith took his leave... ---- Creation.. Veronica got out from her office after her work was over. She hadn''t left her cabin for even a single time since they had revealed about their relationship... Now when she was passing through everyone, her colleagues were giving her congratulatory wishes. But there was also some girls who were giving her weird looks because she had gotten the man for herself who was every girl''s dream.. Even there were some men who were sighing sadly because the most beautiful woman was no more single and they wouldn''t get any chances in front of her.. Ignoring all this peculiar glances, Veronica just thanked them who were genuinely happy for her and went towards the entrance.. One hour ago, Reuben called her saying that Veronica should wait for him at the main gate of Creation, because from today onwards he would be picking her up from there, not from the parking lot.. As they were already an official couple to the world so there was nothing more to hide.. They could openly show their PDA to everyone without any hesitation.. Let others ogle at them and they would proudly made the public eat vinegar over their extreme fondness¡­ Veronica noticed that Reuben''s car was already parked at the entrance but he was not in the car like usual. In fact, he was standing outside with his back pressed against the car, supporting his weight. He was looking extremely handsome like always in his tailored suit and all the girls outside were literally eye raping her man.. Rolling her eyes at their drooling gaze, Veronica walked towards Reuben with a big smile on her face and seeing her Reuben also smiled back before opening his arms wide for Veronica.. Seeing his outstretched arms, Veronica happily jumped into his embrace and Reuben also hugged her back instantly as he kissed on the top of her head.. After they were satisfied with the long hug, they parted a little and Reuben immediately opened the back seat and took out a big bouquet of red roses with a pack of chocolates which were Veronica''s all time favorite.. Veronica took it from Reuben and her smile brightened more, getting her favourite chocolates. She again hugged him and said, "Thank you a lot Bennie.." "Anything for my girl." Reuben said and gave a peck on her lips, making Veronica blush as it was her first time to kiss Reuben in front of the public.. But being the shameless that Reuben always was, he gladly showed his affection towards her without caring about the people who were seeing them with widened eyes.. "Let''s get back to home, sweetheart." Reuben said and opened the front passenger seat for her.. Beaming like a stupid teenager, Veronica entered the car and then both of them drove towards their home.. ---- Love-Paradise¡­ They were about to go to bed when both of Veronica and Reuben''s phone beeped indicating a message had come. They looked at each other suspiciously and checked their phones and later they noticed that both of them had the same messages. "Come tomorrow at Paradise Hotel. Time ¨C 7 pm. Don''t be late." Reading it loudly, Reuben said, "I''m sure they are cooking some plans in their heads." "If I''m not wrong, then our parents might also call our friends and their parents tomorrow to show off our relationship." Veronica said in a detective like voice." "Sometimes I think that our parents are crazy." Reuben said laughing hard. Veronica also chuckled and said, "Not crazy but kiddy because nowadays they behave like a child." They both laughed together when Veronica remembered something and turned towards Reuben. "Bennie.. Did you notice that we got a nickname from the netizens?" Veronica asked, excitement was dripping from her beautiful voice. Reuben grinned and exclaimed dreamily, "Yup. I saw it. And already fell in love with the name." Veronica giggled and soon Reuben brought his face close to her. Veronica looked at his eyes and stopped giggling... Their faces were now few inches apart from each other while their breath were fanning on both of their cheeks.. "I love you Ms. Lopez.." Reuben whispered lowly looking at Veronica''s eyes, making her lips dry out in the midst of passion.. "I love you too Mr. Smith... A LOT..." Veronica whispered back giving birth to a hunger in Reuben''s already sparkling eyes.. Not able to control anymore, they both came more closer and their lips touched in an instant which turned into a l.u.s.tful yet love filled kiss in a minute.. They tasted their mouth each other with their overpowered tongues as they bit their lips while nibbling and licking it in the middle.. Sucking each other''s soft lips which were asking for their attention, they poured all of their desire into that one kiss which shared the joy of a new step in their life.. Few minutes later when they were finally out of breath, their lips parted and both of them muttered together in sync while staring at each other''s eyes, "REU from Reuben, NIC from Veronica, symbolizs US, our love... REUNIC together.. REUNIC forever..." As soon as the words left from their mouths, they again started kissing which resulted both of them to fall on the bed unknowingly as they made love to each other for the whole night.. Chapter 181 - Compile with situations... City B, Parker Mansion¡­ After a very long time, all the family members including Regina and Cole were having their dinner together. Both of the parents were confused by the special treatment like why suddenly their two little children who were actually two big a.d.u.l.ts, had turned out to be so much eager suddenly to have a family dinner together with their parents.. It was quite unexpected as well as confusing.!! Cole still most of the times liked to have dinner at home but Regina¡­ NEVER¡­ She was always busy, partying with her friends whom none of her family members had no idea about or she would spend her rest of the time with her so called modelling which became a little bit of successful for her because of her family influence... Truthfully, she had no talent in anything except bitching over people and making their lives a hell so that she could suppress them under her feet with her family name.. Even whenever she would stay at home, those few times also she would have dinner in her own room.. So today was really very surprising for the Parker family to see their dearest yet arrogant daughter in the dining table eating dinner with them without much ruckus that she loved to do the most by blaming for small things on the servants of their home.. "Why all of you are looking at me like you have seen a ghost?" Regina asked while drinking her soup when she noticed her parents and brother, all were just staring at her. "Nothing.. just you haven''t really eaten with us for many days princess.." Regina''s Father, Mr. Parker had said. "It''s not days Dad.. It''s been many months.." Cole corrected his father with a smirk on his face while Regina just glared at him in anger which her brother very coolly ignored as he kept eating without bothering about her too much.. Regina avoided her brother and turned her head to look at her father as she said, "Because Dad, I didn''t have much time for sitting here and waste my time on some family dinner. But today I was free so thought that it would be good to dine with you all." Mr. Parker was extremely happy that his daughter wanted to have dinner with them but both Mrs. Parker and Cole didn''t have any trust either on Regina or on her words, as they always had a bad hunch of doubts in their hearts that she was must be harboring some demands or ill intentions in her mind, for which she was behaving a little less arrogant today.. "Regina.. I don''t think it''s only for spending some quality time with us that you are dining with us today. Because I think there is more of a reason or like some kind of selfishness of yours to be with us here. So without wasting neither of yours or our any single bit of time, just tell what do you want from us this time?" Mrs. Parker asked directly as she was not like other socialite mother who loved to sweet talk with her children who was as spoiled like a brat... Though Cole was also a playboy, but he never insulted anyone or behaved bad with his parents or the servants of their family. He always tried to give his family time and loved them dearly, whereas the princess of this house not only have stupid egoistic attitude but also she was super selfish who didn''t treat people as a human being but like some animals.. For her, the poor people were made to always lick her shoes, nothing else.. They would always be under her in her low mind thinking.. Regina was puzzled that how her mother understood so easily that she was here because of something else but she soon discarded the thought from her mind and came directly to the point.. She then very swiftly demanded what she wanted, "Okay.. I''ll not dilly dally anymore then and will straight come to the point. Dad few days ago, I asked brother to take me with him to city S as he was already going there for some business purpose. But he is not agreeing with me at all. Please tell him not to deny my request and take me there with him. Then I can also spend some more personal time with Alonzo. You know nah, it''s been months I had met him last. I even couldn''t go to his inauguration party because of my busy schedule.." Mr. Parker looked at his daughter who was trying to manipulate him but he was not going to ignore it because of his own selfishness.. After all, the more his daughter met with Alonzo and came extreme close to him, then the sooner they would get married and both his and Alonzo''s father''s motive would be successful really quickly.. So he immediately agreed with his daughter and ordered, "Neil, you are taking Regina with you and that''s final." "But dad.. It won''t be possible for me because Regina is not a person who loves to compile with situations. She is like a¡­" Neil wanted to argue when his father cut him off in the middle of his sentence. "No more conversations about this. I already told you what you have to do, so just follow it silently." Mr. Parker said with finality in his voice.. Cole just stayed mum but his head was filling with rage for his sister. He really wanted to scold her right now for always putting her leg into his well sorted plans¡­ His eyes found his mother looking at him and when she blinked her eyes to assure him like everything would be okay, then only he calmed himself but still his anger was not yet over her.. In his mind, now only two thoughts were wandering.. First, he had to inform Alonzo about this.. Second, if he would even be able to complete his real mission properly in the presence of his irritating sister.. ---- Alonzo''s apartment¡­ Alonzo was busy in his own thoughts or more like planning few things in his mind about Veronica and Reuben''s matter when his phone suddenly rang. He checked it and saw that it was none other than his long time best friend, Cole Parker.. Chapter 182 - Deep Turmoil... Alonzo''s apartment¡­ Alonzo was busy in his own thoughts or more like planning few things in his mind about Veronica and Reuben''s matter when his phone suddenly rang. He checked it and saw that it was none other than his long time best friend, Cole Parker.. "Hey bro.. What''s up?" Alonzo asked a little bit cheerfully than other time. "Woah.!! Am I hearing Alonzo''s voice? If I am really listening to my best buddy Alonzo, then what happened to the cold guy suddenly?" Cole asked from the other side. A smile set on his face when Alonzo heard Cole and he replied, "Nothing much dude. It''s just that I finally got the courage to get my love back to me." "What do you mean? Who is your love? Hey.!! You are not talking about the girl from years ago.. right?" Cole asked. As Cole was Alonzo''s best friend so without his family members, he also knew about Veronica though none of them knew about her identity or never had seen her.. "Yes. I''m talking about her only. Do you want to know who is she?" Alonzo said. Cole was now really agitated to know about the girl as he asked in excitement, "Yes.. Tell me who is the girl?" "She is Veronica Lopez.. heiress of Lopez Industries.. And daughter of James and Jessica Lopez." Alonzo replied dreamily, thinking about her. Cole sat rooted in his chair when he heard that the girl Alonzo had loved for years, was none other the one and only Goddess Veronica Lopez who was very much famous among the high society people, specially among boys for her natural beauty and aristocracy like aura. Her nobility and beguiling beauty was something just to be praised by everyone.. Anyone could be tantalized in a second for this striking enchantress.. But then something clicked on his mind and enquired, "Wait.. If she was the Veronica Lopez you are taking about.. Then how can she be a gold digger who ran away from you for money? I mean she already has enough money to spend like water.." "She is not a gold digger which we thought. The letter was all a misunderstanding between us." Alonzo gritted his teeth and then explained everything to him. Cole was listening to him while surfing through the business news when his eyes caught something and he started to read the complete tabloids patiently.. "Now what is that? Veronica Lopez and Reuben Smith are in a relationship? What kind of joke is this? Aren''t they always some enemies?" Cole asked thinking that the news was nothing but fake, created by some lousy people.. On the other hand, Alonzo sighed sadly and his fingers clenched into a tight fist as he said, "It''s not a joke. It''s all true, Cole. They are really dating for almost five years and I''ve seen that from my own eyes, how close they are to each other." "What the hell do you mean? Then why are you not angry?" Cole asked getting perplexed about the whole situation. Sighing deeply, Alonzo said, "Yes I was angry at first but now I have decided that I''ll not back off anymore. I''ll tell you everything when you''ll come here." Finally Cole remembered for what he had been called and said, "Alonzo actually there is a little change in my plans." "What is it?" Alonzo asked with his arched eyebrows. "Actually Regina would be also coming with me. I tried till my best level to stop her but dad ordered me to bring her and now I have no other choice.." Cole said with a sigh. "Shit..!!" Alonzo was already in a deep turmoil to think over a plan about how to keep his love away from his love rival. Now another twist entered in his life and that bitch was coming here to destroy everything by making him crazy with her nonsensical behavior.. ---- Love-Paradise.. It was already next day when the couple had to meet their parents at Paradise Hotel. As today was Saturday so the couple woke up very late from their slumber and had a late brunch together.. Thereafter, they both went for an afternoon walk in their beautiful garden and spent some alone romantic time with each other by walking bare foot on the soft grasses with their hands intertwined together.. They would also not forget to give each other small feather like kisses in between of their lovely walk. "The weather is so good nah, Bennie?" Veronica asked slightly hugging Reuben''s arm sidewise. Reuben stared at her with a smile on his face and muttered in a soft voice, "Everything is beautiful when you are with me, love.." Immediately, Veronica turned her face towards her dear boyfriend and gave him a big smile with a sparkling eyes.. "You really know how to make my mood all good with yours sweet talks, nah?" Veronica asked as she hit his arm playfully. Chuckling at her, Reuben kissed her over her hair and said, "I''m not sweet talking honey.. It''s one of the biggest truth of my life.." Veronica didn''t reply anything to him, just gave him a peck on his cheek as they both continued their walking.. When they were finally done with their cute romance, they entered their room to get ready for today''s dinner party which were more like a boosting party for their parents.. Veronica was already done with her hair, dress and makeup. The only thing that was remaining, was to just add some lipstick on her luscious lips and put the earrings and shoes.. While she was wearing her earrings, Reuben came out of the washroom with only a towel around his hip. His hairs were wet after the bath and water were dripping from his hot chiseled chest. He was looking damn s.e.xy.. Veronica saw him and drooled over his muscular hot body which had been noticed by Reuben very well. So how could he miss such a good chance to tease her?? Reuben walked towards her and back hugged her from behind and whispered in her ears in a husky yet very much seductive voice, "Babe.. you know right that we have enough time for a quickie.. So if you want to drool over me then do it on my s.e.xy body, which you were ogling like a hawk from the time I had come outside after having a bath.." Chapter 183 - VIRAL COUPLE... Reuben walked towards her and back hugged her from behind and whispered in her ears in a husky yet very much seductive voice, "Babe.. you know right that we have enough time for a quickie.. So if you want to drool over me then do it on my s.e.xy body, which you were ogling like a hawk from the time I had come outside after having a bath.." Veronica blushed hard in deep red colour on her cheeks as soon as she heard his naughty comments which was being spoken in a very seductive tone.. At this moment, Reuben enjoyed her blushing red face which was being reflected on the mirror in front them. Thinking Veronica would not have noticd his actions, he placed his hands on the belly portion and kissed the back of her nape. Veronica slapped his hand lightly which was roaming around her stomach and said, "Go. Get ready. Don''t waste your time here by your shameless acts. You can continue it after we come back. Our parents must be waiting for us along with her friends.." "Oh!! So I can continue at night. Good then." He muttered against her neck then gave her a naughty wink which showed his dirty thinking about Veronica which she loved very much. The seductive smile that Reuben gave her, had been also clearly seen by Veronica as both of them were facing the mirror. "Shut up Reuben. And wear your t-shirt." Veronica scolded him. Laughing at her, Reuben wore the t-shirt and jeans that Veronica took out for hin. The couple wore casual dresses as it was just some family meeting and not some big business parties. Even might their friends would also there be with their parents to lighten up the gathering more.. Veronica also wore a beautiful black blouse with light pink short skirt. She had kept her hair loose down and put on a light makeup. She was done with her pink lipstick becoming completely ready and was waiting for Reuben who was now gelling his hair backwards with his fingers.. After both of them were finally done, Reuben looked at Veronica who was looking so much pretty and alluring that he couldn''t help but hug her tightly and kissed her passionately. Veronica was not at all prepare for the kiss as she was also ogling at her boyfriend when Reuben attacked her with his hungry lips. After the kiss ended, Veronica playfully slapped on his chest and said, "Why you always ruin my lipstick? Bad Bennie. Now move and let me apply it again." Reuben moved from there and wiped the lipstick stains on his lips with a tissue and both of them went for their destination. ---- Paradise Hotel¡­ Everyone was already except only the main guest, the couple and Willa. Neil was looking at the entrance waiting for her but still there was no sign of Willa. All of them were sitting in a large square table in middle of the private room... One side was booked by the elders and the other side was for the younger clan. As expected, Lucinda and Henry was sitting side by side whereas Louis was sitting at Henry''s right. There were only two seats vacant at the front for the couple to sit and the other chair which was left out by Everyone was beside Neil. Louis'' family couldn''t come because they had to attend some other boring function, for which Louis couldn''t miss his fun time with his friends. So he ditched them and came here, not knowing that today would be going to change his entire life in a single swing.. The Smith and Lopez families were not stopping from boosting about their children and showing off their happiness to the other elders who were now throwing dangerous daggers towards their own children through their eyes as if they were going to kill them right now, because they were still single when the famous REUNIC couple had been already in a relationship from the past few years.. They also wanted to see their children happy with their partner but these little brats who were not really very little, were not listening to them at all. Louis was thanking his luck in his heart that his parents were not here. Otherwise they would definitely chew his head off his body and let the dogs in the streets eat it with whole pleasure, for still not having a girlfriend yet when he was already so much successful.. Few minutes later, the wait was finally over when the door of the private hallroom got opened and from there walked out the most gorgeous, good looking and the new VIRAL couple for the netizens to gossip, Reuben and Veronica.. Everyone noticed them and smiled sweetly at them but only one guys who was certainly Neil hadn''t set his eyes on them because he was gazing intently at the girl who was behind them, wearing a cute one piece gown... "Sorry everyone.. We are late because we had to pick up Willla from her apartment." Veronica said to the elders and also the younger clans.. "It''s okay Darling. We''re happy that both of you bring my other daughter with you." Mrs. Lopez said as she went to hug Willa because right now, Mrs. Smith was hugging the couple. "Come Willa. Sit beside Neil." Mrs. Wilson invited her to her son''s side. Willa smiled at everyone and greeted the elder first, "Hello Uncles and Aunties." "Hi sweetie. You are looking really beautiful." It was Mrs. Johnson this time who complimented her.. Looking at the only vacant chair beside Neil, Willa became nervous but sat beside him without any complain. But as soon as she went near him, her heart started to thump loudly that she got scared that it might be heard by others... Veronica and Reuben had already seaten in the couple chair when the waiter served them the wine of celebration.. Mr. Smith got up from his chair and raised his glass in the air together with Mr. Lopez as both of them clank their glasses together, cheering with extreme joy, "Congratulations to the new couple for the new step in their committed life.." Chapter 184 - NOW OR NEVER... Mr. Smith got up from his chair and raised his glass in the air together with Mr. Lopez as both of them clank their glasses together, cheering with extreme joy, "Congratulations to the new couple for the new step in their committed life.." The rests also clanked their glasses and shouted together, "Congratulations to the new couple.." While everyone one was busy congratulating them, Reuben was smiling widely like a idiot whereas Veronica was utterly embarrassed and shy because of their parents'' overexcitement.. "Are you being shy now honey?" Reuben whispered in her ears seeing her red cheeks. "Shut up Bennie.." Veronica glared at him making Reuben chuckle. Now again started the show off about their children by the parents as Mr. Smith said, "Look our daughter and son are so much happy with each other. They are so compatible and cute.." Mr. Lopez also joined him, "Yes.. Look how affectionate they are towards each other. They are such a romantic and lovely couple." As they were having a overactive drama, Henry''s father couldn''t bear the torment of his friends who were keeping on boasting about their children as he suddenly spoke, "Henry, when are you bringing a sweet daughter in law for our family?" Henry was having some drinks when his father asked him such a question, so he couldn''t do anything with the sudden blurt up but choke on his own drink, coughing like a crazy.. "Uncle.. I think Henry already found a daughter in law for you. Isn''t it right Henry?" Reuben asked him in a teasing manner. Henry glared at him and told him to close his mouth, "Shut up, you fool!! Otherwise I''ll kill you..." Whereas Reuben didn''t give a damn to his threat and smirked mischievously whereas Veronica just shook her head at her boyfriend''s craziness.. "Really son? Did you really find the girl of your dreams?" Henry''s mother asked excitedly. Louis who was sitting beside him , mumbled in his ears, "Bro it''s the only time you could reveal about relationship without stammering as all are very much happy about my bro.. So just spill it. Just remember one thing.. NOW OR NEVER.." Lucinda also looked at Henry and held his hand in her own. Henry turned his face to her and said in a very gentle yet comforting voice, "Lucy... Don''t listen to his rubbish. I know you''re still not ready to reveal about us. If you need some more time, I''ll wait. Don''t worry." Feeling very lucky to get such an awesome man who cared for her, Lucinda smiled and replied, "I also want to let our parents know about us Henry. And today is the best time for it." Henry was jumping in joy inside his heart that his love was ready to accept the relationship to their parents and other elders who were also very close to them, so he quickly squeezed her hands with his before giving her a breathtaking smile. All the youngsters were looking at them and when they felt their gaze, they glanced at them and in return all of them gave them an assuring smile to let them know that whatever the couple would decide, they would be always with them like a supporting system.. Returning the smile towards their friends, Henry asked in a low voice, "Are you ready babe?" Lucinda just nodded her head in acceptance and both of them stood up suddenly from their seats making all the elders gaze at them with a questioning expression.. "Mom.. Dad.. we want to say something to you." Henry announced with a firm voice but he was literally shivering from inside out of nervousness.. Same was happening to Lucinda as her hands were sweating very much but she had full trust in her boyfriend. "What is it Henry? Is anything serious?" Lucinda''s father asked becoming a little suspicious as he saw that alongside Henry, his precious daughter had also stood up with him.. Lucinda didn''t reply her father and took a deep breath to calm her nerves and finally getting the confidence she did such an unpredicted action that even the youngsters also looked at her with widened eyes¡­. But what had she done?? Well, Lucinda just intertwined her fingers with Henry''s fingers under the table very tightly and within a fraction of second, she raised their joined hands into the air in front of everyone and declared, "Dad, Mom, Uncle, Aunty¡­ We are dating.." A loud gasp left from everyone''s mouth because that was very much uncertain to them to believe.. Even Henry was also completely dumbstrucked at her bold behavior... "Are you serious?" Henry''s father asked coming out of the shock. Henry looked at his father with a smile on his face when Louis nudged him in his waist to break him out from his trance and said, "Yes Dad. We''re serious. She is my girlfriend and your soon to be daughter-in-law.." Mr. Wilson just kept staring at his daughter in rage and barked out loudly, "How could you betray me like this Lucy? I have always loved you like the most precious gem of mine.. And you are giving me this hypocrisy in return?" Lucinda was completely shocked with the sudden outburst of her father and tears started to stream down from her eyes when she heard her father''s hurtful words, "Dad.. I wanted to tell¡­" "Stop it Lucinda. I don''t want to hear anything from you." Lucinda''s father shouted angrily, making everyone present there to get surprised because of his furious action as he never had shouted on anyone specially when it was his own daughter.. "Dad... Please listen to me." Lucinda pleaded as more tears came out from her eyes as Henry hugged her by her shoulder. "Uncle, if you have to scold someone then I''m here. Don''t yell at her please. It''s not her fault at all. We just fell in love eventually. Please Uncle, don''t shout on her. I can''t bear to see her tears." Henry said with a stern face but still in a pleading tone.. Neil was watching everything from the start but hadn''t made any noise or comment until then and enjoyed the show that was playing in front of him.. But when he saw that everything was going overboard, he stood up from his chair and said in a bored yet dominating voice, " Dad.. It''s already enough. Now stop your overacting.." Chapter 185 - The cure to mend a broken heart... But when he saw that everything was going overboard, he stood up from his chair and said in a bored yet dominating voice, " Dad.. It''s already enough. Now stop your overacting.." Mr. Wilson made a scowl face to Neil and glared at him with irritated eyes. But Neil just rolled his eyes at his father who was eyeing him like he was going chop his head off his neck.. However few seconds later, Mr. Wilson just grinned at his son before complaining, "Oh Neil.. You just ruined my Fun time.. I was acting so real like a professional actor but you.. my son.. have to ruin my plan.." Neil just shook his head at his father''s childlike behaviour whereas the others present in the room were puzzled for what was happening in front of them.. "What? You were acting all this time? You almost gave me a shock." Mr. Johnson, Henry''s father said in amazement. "It''s not just a small shock, but you can call it as a mini heart attack..!!" Mrs. Johnson, said exasperatedly. "Gosh really.!! And I thought that you are opposing their relationship by behaving like those egoistic stupid fathers. You know what.. just let us get back to home. Then I''ll show you what is the result of pranking with my daughter!!" Mrs. Wilson, Neil and Lucinda''s mother scolded her husband with a glare, making him shiver in utter fear.. Reuben and Veronica looked at the a.d.u.l.ts who were indulged in their childish bickering and then their gaze fell on the stunned couple who were just staring at their parents with widened eyes and slightly opened mouth like they were watching some interesting climax of a meeting great movie scene... They then made an eye lock with each other and gave a sigh before nodding together as a silent sign which only they could understand.. "Uncle, Aunty, stop fighting and focus on the main subject here¡­ which is nothing other than the exclusive relationship between Henry and Lucinda." Veronica said loud enough to make the a.d.u.l.ts stop their unimportant fight.. Right then, Reuben joined his girlfriend to support her about the recent matter and said, "Yes.. Look at the new couple who are standing there like a still statue. You should congratulate them first and then you old couple can do as many fight as you want..." "Yaaa.. You boy.. who are you calling old? I''m looking younger than you and the other boys including my son." Mr. Johnson retorted. Mrs. Johnson smacked him on his shoulder and backfired on him, "You just stay silent for a while and let me hug my daughter in law first." Saying this she walked towards the couple as she took both Henry and Lucinda in a motherly hug, before congratulating them, "Oh my god. I can''t believe that this pretty girl whom I''m watching from her diaper state is going to be my daughter in law soon " Lucinda blushed in red and hid her face behind Henry''s arms, making him giggle. Then followed Mrs. Wilson to hug her daughter and future son-in-law, "God bless you both. I have never thought that you guys would date each other. But if Reuben and Veronica could be in a lovely relationship all of a sudden without anyone''s idea, then nothing can be impossible in this world..." Hearing this, Veronica just laughed with a blush on her face whereas Reuben just wiggled his eyebrows proudly at everyone with a bright smile on his face.. The father''s didn''t say anything but just hug each other before shouting in happiness, "Oh my god, friend. We''re going to be in laws very soon." Mr. Wilson said excitedly.. Mr. Johnson hugged him back and said in a happy voice, "Yeah.. We''ll also be in laws like James and Logan." Like this, each and everyone congratulated Henry and Lucinda before continuing their dinner when suddenly Mr. Wilson asked, "Neil, your sister already found her match even before you when you''re the elder one. So now tell me when will you bring my daughter in law in my home? After all you''re not being younger anymore. Look your friends are already in a relationship with the beautiful girls like Veronica and Lucinda, whereas you are still single like a prick." Neil didn''t argue with his dad and replied, "Dad.. I''m ready to be in a relationship at this moment but before that, the girl I like has to accept my proposal right?" "Then what are you waiting for? Just make the girl fall in love with you with your charm and caring personality.." Mr. Smith said and all the elders nodded their head whearas the younger clans just stared at him.. Staying calm, Neil took a sip of his wine before saying, "Dad.. she isn''t yet ready to get into another relationship as some stupid boy had broken her heart few days ago.. I need to give her some time so that she could manage herself again and gain her trust back in Love." He then turned his face towards his right side where Willa was sitting before staring at her with an unknown yet determined expression.. Everyone except the elders was surprised for his indirect proposal and Willa was gaping at him with a shocked expression.. ''Is he directing this to me or is it just coincidental that the girl he loves and my situation are same? Yes.. That must be it.. Why would a playboy like him would love a girl like me who is simple like a mat?'' Willa thought to herself.. Although Neil''s parents didn''t know about the girl''s identity about whom Neil was confessing his love, but they understood his situation very well and felt very proud of their son that he was respecting the girl''s privacy and giving the girl her own time to recover from her brutal past.. So his mother suggested him, "Neil.. the cure to mend a broken heart, the most useful medicine is the unconditional love.. So just try to show your love to the girl and she would recover from her heartbreak slowly but completely.." Chapter 186 - Another Ship is going to Sail... So his mother suggested him, "Neil.. the cure to mend a broken heart, the most useful medicine is the unconditional love.. So just try to show your love to the girl and she would recover from her heartbreak slowly but completely.." Willa just bowed her head down, hearing all these when Neil said, "I will mom." Again everyone focused on their dinner with lots of chattering, battering, fun and jokes.. The whole private room was filled with the sound of laughter and happy voices.. The two couples who just came out of their hidden relationship were the happiest among all, seeing their loved ones accepting their relationship and supporting them.. On the other side, Willa and Neil both were stealing glances with each other when the other one was not looking at them.. The lonely one, Louis was just watching everything and seething in anger for his f.u.c.k.i.e.d up luck.. Hours later, finally the dinner had completed and everyone decided to call it a night. The elders already left with a happy smile on their faces and only the youngsters were present now outside the hotel.. Reuben then looked at Neil who was busy in staring at Willa who was just trying to hide her shyness from everyone. So Reuben smirked and said, "Neil, can you please drop Willa on your way back to home? Actually I and Ica were planning to have a late night ice-cream date.." Veronica knew that there was nothing like this planned between them, so she just looked at Reuben who smirked at her before giving her a wink and Veronica immediately understood that it was one of his plans to put Neil and Willa close together.. Willa looked up immediately as soon as she heard Reuben''s question, before denying, "No.. No. It''s okay. I can book a cab." "No Willa. It''s not safe for you to go alone. So just go with Neil." Veronica insisted. Before Willa could deny again, Neil just pulled her towards his car and said to his friends, "Don''t worry about her. She would be safe in my hands." The two couples smiled whereas Louis just rolled his eyes at their silly sally tricks... "Soon another Ship is going to Sail and then only one stupid person will remain.." Henry sarcastically said to Louis. "Do you think any girl would be there for a stupid like him? No girl can handle this crazy boy.." Reuben mocked pointing his finger at Louis. Veronica and Lucinda frowned and defended their friend.. "Shut up both of you.. I''m sure, there would be a beautiful girl somewhere to love our Louis. So don''t mock him." Lucinda chided in. Veronica also agreed with Lucinda and said, "Yup.. And mark my words, Louis would be a better boyfriend than everyone." "Honey.. are you sure he will be better than me?" Reuben asked with a smirk. "Yes. I''m very much sure." Veronica said while Reuben pretended to be sad and their lovey-dovey moment started again.. While Louis was busy with cursing the craps of his friends, his phone buzzed and it was his brother. So he excused everyone, "Guys.. you all leave. I''ll be going back after I received the call." The four of them nodded and left the restaurant with their respective partners.. Louis sighed at them and picked up the call.. After talking for few minutes Louis cut the phone call and was about to turn around when he collided with someone.. "I am sorry. I''m really sorry " Louis apologized immediately without seeing the face of the person. "It''s okay." The person said in a sweet voice and Louis couldn''t help but tilted his head to see the owner of such a tender voice.. The person was a beautiful girl seems to be in her early or mid twenties with big doe like eyes. She had blonde wavy hair which had a length till her midback. Her skin was fair with a cute small nose and rosy lips which seemed to be too much juicy for Louis.. Louis was awestruck with the beauty of the girl. For him, she was the most beautiful girl in the earth that he had ever seen and her voice just echoed in his mind which he compared with the sweet melody of a singing bird.. The girl also saw Louis and she was equally mesmerized by his look. Louis was looking extremely handsome with his white t-shirt and blue jeans with his hair gelled up backwards. His toned face with his handsome sculpture really attracted her very much. Both just kept looking at each other without blinking but their intense stare got broken when the valet interrupted them, "Ma''am.. Your car is here." The girl got to her sense and said, "Ah.. Thanks.." After the valet left, she looked at the guy in front of her and noticed that his gaze was still on her. She blushed before stammering, "Uhm.. Exc.. excuse me. I have to leave." "Yeah.. sure. By the way. I''m Louis Morgan." Louis introduced himself without even knowing that why he had suddenly did it.. He never had introduced himself to any stranger specially when he had met the person just for once that even for few minutes.. The girl looked at him, being astonished but didn''t say anything. Louis saw her hesitation and moved aside to not block her way.. Noticing it, the girl passed by him without sparing him a glance which made him feel a little hurt.. But before she could enter her car, she turned her face a little and said in a low voice yet which was audible to only Louis, "Diana.. My name is Diana Miller.." And left the restaurant by driving her car. Louis just stood there with a stupid smile on his face. He remembered the girl''s beautiful face and her melodic voice which made his smile wider. He didn''t know how but his heart started to thump loudly just by hearing her name.. Her name was like a magic wand for him as he whispered smilingly to himself as if he was trying to remember the name, "Diana Miller.." Chapter 187 - The Shadow... Days passed by but still the buzz about REUNIC couple was on.. Each and everyone were hooting for them but the biggest shock and terror fell into the business world after they came to know that the heir and heiress of the two big fat wealthy and reputed companies were dating.. Now every businessman wanted to just get teamed up with either Smith Enterprise or Lopez Industries or Creation.. They all knew that after the relationship revelation of the REUNIC couple, the bond between Smith''s and Lopez''s would be more stronger . So it''ll definitely benefit them if they could do partnership with any of the companie between these two.. Whereas, Creation was the biggest multimedia company and one of the biggest reason of its success is surely Veronica Lopez herself. Everyone knew the power of her in this industry. She literally made Creation stood up to where it was now with her amazing work skills and inventions¡­ Veronica could be called as the ''Queen of Multimedia''.. That''s why, the three companies were quite busy with the liveliness of the sudden impact on their projects and other stuffs.. Meanwhile the biggest problem occurred now for Lopez Industries¡­ The fashion designer that they had hired for their upcoming showroom opening, had met with a sudden unfortunate accident and became bed ridden. She even hadn''t completed the designing of the dresses and the opening was in just two months¡­ It would be definitely okay for any designer to complete the designings and preparing the dresses before in the alotted time but the problem was.. they don''t have any designer for it.. So it would be really a big trouble to search an excellent designer in this short span of time and letting her know about the programme with utter description.. Even if after they were able to finish making her or him to understand the styles or themes about the upcoming event which revolves around the showroom opening, still they would not have much time to make a perfect design which would attract people to buy the dresses and other stuffs.. All were in a great tension specially Mr. Lopez.. Being a businessman for all these years and after the establishment of Lopez Industries, they had never faced such kind of problems.. Moreover, they would have never thought that their trial for the showroom would be in such a big trouble. They had never back stepped on anything related to any kind of projects but now they were facing this kind of problems for their first own designer showroom which would be labelled after Lopez''s family name.. As everyone knew that Lopez Industries had many shopping malls, hotels and other things in their name but they never tried their luck in fashion business.. So it was the first most interesting yet important project of them which was one of the biggest wish and dream of the person who was helping James Lopez to handle the company from staying behind the shadow.. And he couldn''t compromise with it at all.. After the shadow had been helping them from so many years, she or he had never wished for anything but for the first time, the person had presented her or his view on this single project.. Henceforth, how could he deny it..?? So Mr. Lopez did the one thing which he had thought would be the best for now, which was to call the person directly to help him.. The person had always stretched out her/ his hand to help them in any kind of situations and the present success of Lopez industries which had levelled up double than before was also the credit of that single shadow somewhere.. After thinking a little bit, Mr. James Lopez finally dialled the number who could help him and his company right now the most.. "Hello.." A sweet angelic voice of a woman rang into his ear.. "We got a problem.." Mr. Lopez immediately came to the point.. The woman furrowed her eyebrows and asked, "What happened suddenly that you are directly coming to the point without giving me even a little bit of greetings? You didn''t even ask me about my wellbeing." Sighing, Mr. Lopez said, "We are facing a big problem at the moment, for which I need your help as I can''t ask Vero for it as she is already very much busy with her company." "I see.. So what''s the matter?" The woman asked. Mr. Lopez described everything to her and said, "It was your only only wish from me.. But seems like I couldn''t fulfill the single thing you demanded. You always helped us from behind even after staying far away from the country. But what I''m giving you in return?" "Please don''t say like this.. You were always with me in my toughest time. Though you are not here but I''m still happy. I miss you very much. And about the problem, I''ll try my best to find a sweetable fashion designer as soon as possible. So don''t worry and take care of your health.." The lady assured him. "Yeah.. But you have to take care of yourself the most right now. You know nah that after my wife Jessica and my princess Veronica, I love you the most... And now that you''re carrying a little angel inside you, I''d be more protective about you." Mr. Lopez showed his care for the lady on the phone.. The woman smiled and said, "Don''t worry about us. I and my baby both are doing absolutely fine. And the problem regarding the showroom would be solved soon. I''ll help you in this. So just don''t worry to much and take care of your health." Mr. Lopez also smiled back and replied, "That''s good then. Though I''m not there with you, but keep it in your mind¡­ that you''ll always be precious to me. I told you many times to tell everyone about your identity but you never listened to me. *sigh* But I can''t also go over your wishes. Whatever you would decide for yourself and the baby, I''ll prioritise those over anything.." Chapter 188 - Big Blow... "But I can''t also go over your wishes. Whatever you would decide for yourself and the baby, I''ll prioritise those over anything.." "I don''t want to create any trouble in your relationship with your family. It will also make a huge hindrance to others related to you which I clearly don''t want. So please don''t bother. And I love you.." The girl confessed with a sad smile on her face. "I love you too.." Mr. Lopez said, before hanging up the call. ----- Creation¡­ "Willa, when is our next meeting with Brown Corporation?" Veronica asked. "Ma''am. It''s on next Tuesday." Willa informed. "Okay.. so we have a lot of time to complete it as it is only Thursday." Veronica said. "Yes ma''am." Willa replied as she checked the files in her hands. Veronica nodded and looked at Willa with a scrutinized gaze, "Willa, I''ve been noticing you from the past few days. From the night of our family dinner in Paradise Hotel, you have changed quite a lot which seemed to be a little bit suspicious to me. You also seemed to be lost somewhere after that day. So can you please tell me, exactly what happened to you?" Willa became stunned by the sudden question but didn''t get the courage to look at Veronica. She bowed down her head and stammered, "Noth.. nothing happened to me Vero. You are thinking too much. Now I have some work to be done.. Bye.." Willa escaped from Veronica''s cabin in a tornado like speed, making Veronica doubt on her strange behaviour more. But she let it go for now as she had more important work to do and that is to call someone.. and that someone is Alonzo Brown.. She dialed Alonzo''s number and within few seconds, he picked up, "Hello.. my sweet Vero.. Missed me?" Veronica rolled her eyes and retorted, "Stop blabbering nonsense. I want to tell you something that''s why I called you." "And what''s that?" Alonzo asked sitting on a comfy chair in his office. "Can you meet us on this weekend in Fusion?" Veronica asked. "Us? And who are these Us? You and your boyfriend?" Alonzo questioned back with a bit of jealousy in his voice. Smirking at his question, Veronica replied and said, "No.. This ''US'' is not me and Bennie.. Bennie has some other work to handle so he wouldn''t be there this time. But instead of him, there will be my friends who are really eager to meet you. One more thing.. Bring Myra with you. It will be a gathering of just between friends." Alonzo furrowed his eyebrows together, thinking about the reason of this sudden get together that even with her friends. So he couldn''t help but asked, "Why this sudden meet up? Why your friends want to me? Most importantly, why should I bring my sister with me?" Veronica smiled to herself and replied, acting very much innocent, "Oh Alonzo.. My friends recently came to know about you. Like how you helped me in city B as a friend and they are very much thankful to you for taking care of me. So they just want to meet on this weekend, so that they can say you thanks properly.. And about bringing Myra.. As you very well know that she became very good friends with us, girls.. So she could also join us in our get together. Right??" "Okay.. I''ll bring her with me." Alonzo said before hanging up.. ----- Brown Corporation.. As soon as Alonzo hung up, he called for Bill and when he came in, Alonzo immediately ordered, "Bill, Find out about Veronica and Reuben''s whereabouts. What they are doing in these few days or who are they meeting and calling. Find everything about them with every bit of details.." Bill nodded his head and left for his work.. "What are you exactly planning Veronica?" Alonzo muttered as his face became stiff with his eyebrows scrunching down together in confusion.. ---- Smith Enterprise.. "So everything is prepared?" Reuben asked Tom. "Yes sir. Only the last proof is remained to collect which would confirm if our assumption is right or wrong." Tom answered politely.. Reuben nodded his head and said with anger in his eyes, "If Alonzo really did, about what we are thinking right now, then what he did is totally unforgivable. " Tom didn''t reply anything but just nodded his head as he also agreed with his Boss. So he just left after he discussed everything with his boss about their upcoming strategies over the matter of one and only Mr. Alonzo Brown.. Reuben''s phone rang few minutes later and he accepted the call immediately with a smile on his lips, "Hi babe.." "Hey honey. Had you found out everything?" Veronica asked. "Yeah.. Almost everything." Reuben replied in just few words. Veronica pouted and said cutely, "But why are you not telling me anything about your plan, Bennie? You just told me to call Alonzo to ask him for coming at Fusion with Myra and I did it. So now can you please tell me what is cooking in your mind?" Reuben sighed and asked, "Honey, Do you trust me?" Furrowing her brows, Veronica replied, "You know that better yourself Bennie.. that I trust you more than I trust myself.." Reuben smiled at her and replied, "Then just keep trusting me.." Sighing deeply, Veronica said, "I understand, But just tell me one thing. Why are you hiding all the things about Alonzo from me?" Understanding her worried temperament very well, Reuben assured her, "Ica.. I''m not telling you anything because I''m not sure about my doubts. Because whatever our assumption is, if it becomes to be the truth, then it''ll be very hard to accept for everyone, specially you.. So I want to be sure first before informing you.." "Okay.. I understand and I trust you." Veronica said after giving a sigh. Cutting the call, Reuben closed his eyes and whispered to himself, "I hope my presumption doesn''t come out to be true, Ica. If not, then it''ll be a big blow on you, my love.." Chapter 189 - Identity and Family Issues... Secret 7.. The three friends were now sitting in the base of Secret 7, discussing about the upcoming meet up. Reuben had told them about his own plan that he insisted Veronica for it, but he skipped the part regarding the truth he was trying to dig out about Alonzo Brown and his family.. "So we all have to come at Fusion for the meeting this weekend?" Henry asked. "Yes.. You all have to as I''ll not be there to take care of my Ica. And I know the things which are going to reveal, will not help Ica to be calm anymore." Reuben said. "What exactly are you planning, Reuben? Why suddenly you had told Vero to call that idiot Alonzo to meet with us and that even in your absence?" Neil asked getting irritated even at the thought of meeting that Alonzo Brown. "Uh huh.. Wrong words, my bro. I''ll not be absent for the whole evening there but I''ll come later after collecting the proofs which will differ the truth that my Ica had been know till now or the truth that we are expecting to be. Till then, you both have to protect your sister Vero on the behalf of me.." Reuben told about one part of his plan to his two best friends. "You don''t have to worry about that in anyway. Because I''ll not let anyone harm my sister. Vero''s safety will always be on the top most in our priority list.." Henry assured Reuben but still he gritted his teeth, thinking about Alonzo. "I know that.. And I''m not tensed about Ica''s physical safety or pain, because Alonzo would never harm her physically or should I say, he would rather dare not to do such a thing. However I''m more frightened over the mental pain, he could give to Ica.."; Reuben said with a sigh. Neil just played with a crystal ball before saying, "Reuben.. I''m sure if you are talking about mental harm then there must be something really big. So I want to know exactly what is it that is forcing you to protect Veronica so much? And we all know that our Vero is both a strong hearted and willful minded woman and she never had succomed to such kind of issues which would affect her mentally." Reuben looked at his childhood friend and pursed his lips before narrating the whole story to them, "Though I am not sure about it but I have a big hunch about it. So to get the proofs of my doubts, I''m going to meet someone who would tell me about the truth.. However, what I''m afraid about the most is that, Alonzo is¡­" Few minutes later, Reuben had finished describing his all suspicions and sat there idle with a blank face, waiting for Neil and Henry''s response.. Whereas both Neil and Henry had an indescribable expression on their faces. Both were completely shocked after hearing Reuben''s assumptions because if it was really going to be true then it would be really a big deal which would not only devastate Veronica emotionally, but would make her belief that she lived those six months in City B under the manipulation of Brown Family''s or rather specially Alonzo''s lies.. They still couldn''t believe that such a thing could even happen in this real world. If all this was gonna be the truth, then Veronica was living for all those years under the cover of the biggest deception... Alex or Alonzo had just made their sister a puppet of complete lies which had no forgiveness.. Henry clenched his jaw and punched the chair in front of him before roaring out furiously, "That bastard..!! How could he? He just played with Vero''s feelings. Veronica had thought him as a friend and he in return betrayed her about all his identity and family issues.." Neil who was calm till now patted his shoulder before putting out his thoughts, "He not only lied about his own self but manipulated our Vero with his falsity. Moreover now even he is blaming our sister as a betrayer. He really had gone overboard. I''m going to break his bones and feed him to the stray dogs.." Reuben was no less anger than them. Even though he was boiling from inside his mind and heart, out of rage but he had to control himself for his Ica''s sake... He would not let any other people to decieve his beloved girlfriend like this anymore.. "Guys.. I know that you all are very much angry and furious.. and trust ne, I''m no lesser than you. But we have to also keep it in our mind that the sole decision of Alonzo''s punishment would be in the hand of Ica. As she was the sole victim of all his lies and falsification. We can protect her but can''t overrule her decisions regarding that bastard." Both Neil and Henry nodded their heads as an affirmation to Reuben''s statement.. ----- Alonzo''s Apartment¡­ Alonzo just came back from his office with a smile on his face which Myra thought of quite unexpected. "Why are you so much happy today brother? Did something good happen?" Myra asked. "Myra, you have to come with me at Fusion this Saturday night.." Alonzo informed his sister, keeping his office bag on the sofa and drinking water that his sister had fetched for him. "Oh.!! That''s why you are so happy because you could meet Vero.. However, I know about that bro." Myra replied without showing any oblivion towards the news. "How did you know?" Alonzo asked, confusion written on his face clearly. Face-palming herself, Myra sighed and said, "Uff Brother.. Did you forget that I''m friends with both Vero and Lucy and even with Willa? So Vero called me in the afternoon and informed me about the get together. You know what I''m very much excited that I''ll be going to meet more people and become friends with them." Alonzo just nodded his head and said, "That''s the thing. Fine then. You just serve the food. I''ll be here in a minute after getting a little bit fresh.." "Okay.." Myra replied before setting the table Chapter 190 - Precaution is better than safety... Alonzo''s bedroom¡­ Entering his bedroom, Alonzo called his assistant Bill, "Did you find anything about them?" "No Boss. Nothing is suspicious. They are just spending their daily life normally like they use to do." Bill replied in a respective tone. Alonzo frowned but said, "Okay.. Check further about this. I don''t want any kind of mishap to happen on that day." "Understood Boss." Bill said. Cutting the call, Alonzo thought about all the recent circ.u.mstances and incidents to find any clue about Veronica''s plans. But no answers came out of his mind.. "What are they planning? It''s looking kind of mischievous to me." Alonzo was in his own notion. He was contemplating about all of the stuffs which could bring misfortune to him but there was nothing much except one thing that nit only he, but his whole family is trying to hide from all.. Just one thing which could crumble all of his plans.. The biggest truth which was also the biggest lie of his life and was definitely a horrible past not only for Alonzo, but for his whole family, except his father obviously.. If the truth came out, the whole Brown family would be put under everyone''s inspection.. Everyone would question their family''s upbringing, their brutal heart.. how they could do something like this to a little boy.. even the biggest heartless people would have sympathy for their own children which the Brown family didn''t have.. Or more specifically Mr. Brown was worse than an wild animal.. Atleast animals would give away their life for their kid''s sake but here, the father himself had ruined his own son''s life without any repentance.. How could a father himself destroy his own child''s innocent childhood, his life, his everything as those must be very much precious to any of the children¡­ Alonzo himself wanted to reveal about his dad''s misdeeds to the world but he couldn''t, because of only one reason.. Because of his mother who had literally begged for forgiveness for his cruel father''s crimes.. Yes, he called this as a crime. Because what his father did was the biggest crime of the world.. Sometimes, he wanted to even scold his mother for her stupid sacrifices that she had made for her husband who was always intolerant to her.. He wanted to interject in her mind that nothing is more valuable than her own son. If she couldn''t protest for herself, then atleast she should fight for her own child.. But she didn''t. She never did.. Because of her undying love for her husband which even overpowered her motherly instincts for her son, everything was shattered today.. And he had to stay quiet because of his mother.. And this time also, he would be silent like everytime and would try his best to hide the reality.. That''s why, he called that someone whom he hated the most in his life. After few rings, the person picked up his call and started with his sarcastic remarks, "So finally you remember about me? Finally you got the time to call your own father? I thought that you had completely forgotten about me after going to city S.." "Dad, it would be hilarious enough for me to think about you.. I never could miss you after whatever you did with our lives. But for my mother''s sake, I have to call you." Alonzo said without any void of emotions in his voice. Mr. Brown chuckled evilly and said, "Whatever the reasons might me, the ending result is that I''m talking to you right now and the person who called first was you, not me.." Trying to control his raging mind from his father''s nonsensical talk, Alonzo took few deep breaths and said, "Let me come to the straight point if you want to protect your so called family name. There are few people in city S who might be searching for our family''s past. Specially the incident which happened in five years ago. So I''d rather suggest you to order your men to hide everything well. So that now news about our family''s dark history don''t come out after 28 years of proper secrecy." Mr. Brown was completely shocked when he heard his son and a certain kind of fear had started to wake up in his heart as he stammered, "Wha.. what do you mean? Who is checking out about our past?". "That''s not important for now. Just remember that they are not some simple people. Though I''m not sure if they are really trying to find out about it but still precaution is far better than safety.. Whereas safety is better than cure.." Alonzo said in a firm voice. "Okay. I got you. Though I have removed all the proofs about our past but still I''ll tell my men to observe the things better than before." Mr. Brown said before hanging up the call. Putting the phone down, Mr. Brown punched the wall in front of him brutally for few times which made blood to ooze out from his knuckles as he shouted in anger, "I''ll not allow anyone to wreck Brown Family''s image and reputation which I had built up from scratch for these past thirty five years.." ---- Myra''s bedroom.. After Myra and Alonzo had eaten their dinner and talked about their day, they left for their own room to take some rest.. Myra was having her regular skincare treatment for the night, when she heard her phone ringing... She stiffened right at that moment, knowing who was the person that called at this late at night, as the ringtone for that certain someone had been set differently in her phone.. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath to gain inner strength, Myra received the call with shivering hand and whispered in a very low voice, "Cole.." Hearing the voice that he had missed for days and months, Cole''s heart clenched in pain as he said, "Yeah.. It''s me, Myra.." "I know.. Why had you suddenly called me for?" Myra asked with her eyes closed while biting her soft lips.. Chapter 191 - Sisters lies over Girlfriends truths... Hearing the voice that he had missed for days and months, Cole''s heart clenched in pain as he said, "Yeah.. It''s me, Myra.." "I know.. Why had you suddenly called me for?" Myra asked with her eyes closed while biting her soft lips.. A huge sigh escaped from Cole''s mouth as he said, "To let you know the fact that I''m coming to city S very soon.." "What? You''re coming here? But why so suddenly?" Myra asked in a complete shock trance asvshe couldn''t believe vat all that he could be ever coming here in near future. But still somewhere in her heart, Myra had hoped internally that the reason of Cole''s visit to S City might be her.. However her prayers to the God had failed when Cole said, "I have a business meeting to attend there in city S. That''s why I''m coming." Myra felt her heart inside of her chest had been broken into small pieces without any mercy. She felt like crying that even after staying far away from her, he didn''t acknowledge the true price of her.. And who was she even expecting to? The man who had broke her heart voluntarily, without listening to her part of story? She cursed herself in her mind that how could be she so much na?ve to just demand something from Cole after what he had done to her.. Myra just suppressed the pain in her heart and said, "Oh.. Then if it is the reason then you shouldn''t need to call me to inform about your visit. I''m not so much of an important person in your life that you have to tell me about your every single visit here or other places." It did not take much time for Cole to understand the pain in her words which had made him to feel the hurt of his own wrongdoings more as his eyes became glossy soon by tears, which he had quickly blinked away in the fear that if one drop became successful to come out from his eyes then he would not be able to stop his tears from falling on his cheeks continuously which would make him more vulnerable.. With a stone in his heart, he replied, "Yeah.. you''re right.. You are not so much important in my life to tell you every details of my life. But I just thought of telling you as you are my childhood friend." His cruel words directly pierced into Myra''s heart and she felt breathless all of a sudden... She wanted to cry out loud so badly but she stiffed a sob which was going to come out from her throat at any moment as she said, "Oh.. I can now guess it right" "One more thing. I''m not coming alone there. Regina would also come with me." Cole informed with a bitterness feeling in his mouth to just pronounce his sister''s name in front of Myra.. Myra couldn''t help but now got extremely angry on the mention of that witch''s name. She gritted her teeth in anger and remarked sarcastically, "Seems like you are still overprotective of your bitchy like sister after what she had done to us.. specially me." Though Cole still blamed Regina for her actions but he still couldn''t hear any wrong things about his little sister so he said in a stern voice, "Don''t call her a bitch Myra. She is my sister." Hearing this, Myra let out a sarcastic yet painful laugh and said mockingly, "Oh really? If she is your so called good sister and not a bitchy one, then she would not try to break our relationship with her wicked plans.. But even whom I''m telling this to? The person who had trust his own sister''s lies over his girlfriend''s truth. I begged you Cole, I literally fell on my knees to beg you that what you saw was not at all true. It was just some fake stories that your sister was making to create a wall between our beautiful relationship. But what had you done in return?" Myra stooped for a while to take breath and continued, "You just slapped me hard on my face. No one in my life had ever even scolded me for once and you literally put your hand on me. Fine.. everything is fine. I could even accept that but what you had done the next had made ne feel like a thrown piece of shit.. You just.. You just slept with another girl in front of my eyes and insulted me by calling me with names like whore and s.l.u.ts. When you are yourself a manwhore then who gave you the right to insult me like these? You know what both you and your sister are equally trashy.. Both of you should just die in a painful death." Myra just shouted out all of her frustrations to Cole. Cole didn''t reply anything but just kept on thinking about the day when he made the biggest mistake of his life. When he lost the most precious person of his life and treated her like some garbage and threw her out from his life like some used clothes.. But what was his fault among these? His fault was only one and that was, he trusted his own sister blindly like a fool and believed all those shitty things that his sister had fed him which in turn created a big misunderstanding between him and his beloved Myra and let it to a rough breakup.. His reverie broke when Cole heard the sniffling sound from the other side. He clearly knew that his girl was shedding tears and the reason behind it, was he himself.. When he was about to console her, Myra''s next words hit him right to his heart like a dagger.. "Mr. Cole Parker.. Let me tell you one thing. If you are thinking that you could marry off your sister to my brother, then you are living in a false dream. I''ll not let your s.l.u.tty sister enter my brother''s life as his wife just to ruin him completely, just like how you have ruined me. Chapter 192 - Sorry but not Sorry... "Mr. Cole Parker.. Let me tell you one thing. If you are thinking that you could marry off your sister to my brother, then you are living in a false dream. I''ll not let your s.l.u.tty sister enter my brother''s life as his wife, just to ruin him completely, just like how you have ruined me. Even if I had to die to save my brother from Regina''s witchy plans then I''ll do so.. however I''m not even living right now as you made my heart die few months ago.." saying this Myra cut the call without waiting for Cole''s response and broke down completely in her room. Sitting on the floor, she just kept crying loudly, reminiscing about her past with Cole.. Their past which would always kept haunting her till her last breath.. On the other side, the tears that Cole tried to suppress fell on his face from one after one.. He picked up the bottle of bear in his hand and drank the alcohol as a medium of digesting his sorrow.. ---- Willa''s Apartment.. The whole apartment was filled with utter silence as the two figures in the living room were sitting there silently without mumbling even a single word.. Both Willa and Neil were looking at each other being settled down on the sofa. The silence was not helping any of them at anything which was making both of them ready frustrated but anyone was still not ready to speak first.. Few minutes had already passed again and it had been exactly one hour when Neil had came at Willa''s apartment but no one still talked to each other.. So finally getting irritated with the silent atmosphere, Neil said, "Willa.. Look, whatever had happened that day.. I know that it shouldn''t happen but I was not to my own self. I felt like my mind was not with me. I was not at all in my senses." Willa didn''t say anything but just kept staring at him blankly which made Neil more maddened. Willa''s quiteness was eating him from inside... He knew the fact, that certain night was all a mistake.. Although for him it was a pure blessing.. But he clearly knew that Willa was not still ready for all those but it just happened.. From that night, Willa had never talked with him again. He tried many times to call her but she never received any of his call.. Even that was still not enough when Willa suddenly switched her phone off on his face one time. After trying for many days when Neil didn''t get any response from her, his patience finally got broken and he rushed to Willa''s apartment without thinking much and the final result was, now he was here in an awkward atmosphere with her.. He remembered the night when Neil had fetched Willa back to her home from Paradise Hotel.. ---- Flashback¡­ The car had stopped in front of Willa''s apartment but none had got out of the car yet.. Willa was remembering the words that Neil had said in front of everyone and somewhere in her heart, she was very much sure that the words were completely directed towards her. She was feeling butterflies in her stomach when she remembered those sweet yet assuring words and her face turned into a bright red colour out of pure shyness.. Neil was observing her very closely and her blush didn''t go unnoticed by him. He was pondering about the thought in his mind that how could anyone be so beautiful even in the car''s dim light.. The fairy in front of him was so gorgeous that he couldn''t take his eyes off of her.. He felt like kissing her red juicy cheeks right at that moment which were tempting him from so long.. He kept looking at her without breaking his stare whereas Willa just fidgeted with her fingers, knowing the intentional gaze on her.. And finally Neil''s resistance got broken as he didn''t hold back from listening to both of his heart and mind.. Not knowing from where did he got the courage, Neil just leaned to his side a little and kissed her rosy cheeks.. Placing his lips a little longer on her cheek, when Neil finally came back to his conscience, he made himself distant from her instantly and noticed that Willa was looking at him right now with widened eyes... Neil got afraid that a slap was waiting to reach on his face from Willa, so he tried to persuade her.. But before Neil could even apologize to her, Willa just dashed out of the car and ran into her apartment in a cheetah like speed.. ---- Back to present... "Please listen to me. I don''t know what you are thinking right now but I''m not even feeling an inch of guilt for what I did that night. But the reason, why I''m feeling sorry is because the time was not okay for us for should I rather say not perfect for you... I know you are just trying to overcome from your bad memories but please try to understand that it was not your fault. I just couldn''t control myself seeing your flushy cheeks as it was looking like a tasty apple and kissed it in heat of the moment. I''m really sorry for what I did. But truthfully, I''m not at all sorry.." Neil said. Still no response.. "Willa for Pete''s sake, will you please talk? If you don''t want to speak then at least write your thinking into a paper. Should I give you one?" Neil asked Willa but later understood what kind of stupid things he was actually blabbering.. Though he had made a joke unknowingly but still there was no response from Willa... Sighing deeply, Neil looked down at his hand and closed his eyes before saying, "That''s enough of your silence. Now you are either going to scold me or can give me a slap. Otherwise I''ll¡­" Neil couldn''t finish his sentence when he was being stopped by the sudden attack of a pair of soft lips.. Chapter 193 - More than Friendship, but lesser than Love... Sighing deeply, Neil looked down at his hand and closed his eyes before saying, "That''s enough of your silence. Now you are either going to scold me or can give me a slap. Otherwise I''ll¡­" Neil couldn''t finish his sentence when he was being stopped by the sudden attack of a pair of soft lips.. What suddenly just happened? And how did this occured? Well, for that the whole timing should be rewind back a little¡­ Willa was watching very quietly how Neil was blabbering all those stupid stuffs continuously from past few minutes without taking a break.. She remembered the night when he had kissed her on her cheek. She was very much surprised at that moment when she felt his tender lips on her rosy cheek. Willa was completely shocked that night as she didn''t know exactly what to do with the sudden awkward situation. She felt a jittery feeling inside her heart whereas her stomach was filled with butterflies suddenly.. As she didn''t know what to feel that time so she ran out of the car out of embarrassment, without even glancing back at Neil for once.. But Neil didn''t stop after the kiss, he just gave her off for only that night. But from the next day, he tried to call her many times but each and everytime she rejected the call.. Well, why did she do that? Because she wanted to keep peace in her mind.. She was in a relationship with Sam for few months while she had known him for few years.. Even after their relationship had started by their dating confirmation, they had never kissed each other as she never felt comfortable with it. She felt resistance to do so and Sam complied with her wish to act like a well mannered good boy.. Their relationship would always contained with just a small peck on her forehead or her cheeks. But she never felt the tingling sensation that she felt through a simple kiss from Neil.. She felt like all the air in her body had started to blew in her blood veins, slowly turning into a high speed tornado... She couldn''t guess anything clearly. According to her past experiences with Sam, she never felt something like this ever, like that day in the car.. Remembering the past few days when she came to know about Sam''s betrayal, Neil was the one who stayed beside her. He was the one who soothed her, made her calm and more stronger. He helped her to move on from that bastard and made her feel that she was very much special and she didn''t deserve a bastard like Sam in her life.. At first, she couldn''t believe that it was the same Neil who was a playboy and loved to break girls'' hearts mercilessly. But now he was the one who was trying his best to mend the heart of a broken girl.. The days with Neil, trying to console her, made her feel very lucky and wonderful. She started to love spending time with him.. Unknowingly, she also started to feel something in her heart for him which was very much unexpected to believe. And when he kissed her, her heart started to race loudly.. Neil thought that Willa was rejecting his call because she wanted to avoid him. But the truth was completely different.. Willa never received the call, because she wanted to debate with all of the thoughts in her mind¡­ She wanted to know, exactly what was the feeling taking birth in her heart. That''s why she wanted to stay as far as possible from Neil so that she came to understand, what was the exact position of Neil in her heart.. Finally, contemplating for almost a week, she could give a name to her feelings.. She was sure that she didn''t fell in love with Neil till now because the word ''Love'' was not just a verbal thing to pronounce easily but it had a deep meaning... But the sensation was not like only friendship at all too.. It was something more than that.. The feeling was like.. something more than friendship but something lesser than love.. ---- Looking at the moving lips of Neil, Willa didn''t know how she got the daring spirit in herself as she got up from her seat to walk towards him.. and write something... Neil didn''t notice her as he kept on blabbering non-stop.. Taking the chance, Willa bend down a little and smacked her lips on Neil''s.. It was not a mouth hovering kiss but it''s more like a peck which had stayed for longer than an actual peck.. Understanding what she had precisely done right now, Willa moved back a little but both of their faces were still very much close to each other.. She almost laughed at Neil when she saw his baffled expression but suppressed it.. Shock would be an understatement to describe Neil''s expression as it seemed like he had jumped from Mount Everest without any harness tied around him.. Neil just kept looking at Willa with his eyed wide opened like a poached egg and his jaw was hanging low that it had almost touched the ground, under his leg.. "Are you done talking?" Willa asked when she saw Neil was still not out of his shock and was sitting there like a stone stilled statue.. "Huh?" Neil finally got out of his trance and looked at Willa questioningly as if he couldn''t still believe what had jus happened few minutes earlier. Did Willa really kiss him? Was it a dream? If it was a dream, then he didn''t want to wake up from the sweetness of it.. These were the questions Neil was pondering in his mind.. Willa couldn''t control her laugh anymore and burst out laughing, making Neil stared at her weirdly.. After a total five minutes of laughter, Willa stopped and said, "If you don''t close your mouth then a pregnant fly will enter in your mouth and it would start giving babies in your tummy.. Then the great Neil Wilson would be pregnant with baby flies.. Hahahaha¡­" Chapter 194 - Plan is on right track... "If you don''t close your mouth then a pregnant fly will enter in your mouth and it would start giving babies in your tummy.. Then the great Neil Wilson would be pregnant with baby flies.. Hahahaha¡­" Saying this, Willa again started to laugh but stopped when Neil threw daggers at her through his eyes.. Sighing at him, Willa took a seat beside him and kept her hand on his. "Neil, you are not dreaming. I indeed kissed you." Willa said. Neil at last came to a realisation that the scene of Willa kissing him was not really a dream or stupid imagination of him... But it was a truth.. "But why the sudden kiss? You already distanced yourself from me just for a single peck on your cheek. And now you are yourself taking advantage of me?" Neil narrowed his eyes at her. Gripping his hand tightly in hers, Willa said, "I know Neil that I hid myself from you for the past week. But that''s also for a reason. After you started to come at my home to drop me at my office and then again drive me back to my home . We started to talk much more than before and became extremely comfortable with each other. Even when we kept silence sometimes, it was never an awkward one. That day when you kissed me, I felt a different kind of emotion luring inside me. So I wanted to stay as far possible from you to be certain about this new feelings.." Neil just kept gazing at her with a soft expression on his face as he said, "Willa.. I thought you were angry on me that''s why quickly left the car?" Smiling at him, Willa said, "I was never angry on you. Specially when you told your parents that you were giving me some time to move on from my past and then you would start over a relationship with me." "You.. you knew that I said all those things indicating you?" Neil stammered. Willa laughed and narrated, "Who wouldn''t? Your proposal was quite straight. However Neil, through this past week, I came into a realisation. I don''t know how to say this as I had never done it before.. But Neil, let me tell you my heart''s talk today. I¡­ I like you Neil." Neil didn''t say anything just stayed there frozen with an astonishment look, grazing over his face.. Seeing his exasperated expression, Willa bowed her head and took a deep breath and again looked at his eyes before saying, "I know Neil that this is all too sudden. You must be thinking what desperate kind of girl I''m to say this after just a few weeks of break up with my ex-boyfriend..!! But trust me Neil, I don''t know from when you have started to make a place in my heart. I know that I''m not still in love with you but it''s way more than friendship. I really wanted to give us a chance. I also don''t know that if we ever started to fall in love but I really want to give it a try.. Later, if you feel like breaking up with me then.." Willa''s words remained unfinished as Neil cut her in the middle by pulling her in his embrace and joined their lips together¡­ It was no more a peck, it was a pure blissful kiss. Neil kept nibbling on her lips and Willa came out of the shock as she started kissing him back. Neil bit her lips while kissing, making her m.o.a.n and he took the chance to enter his tongue into her mouth. He started to reach every corner of her mouth with his tongue and Willa did the same.. Breaking the kiss when they were finally out of breath, Neil whispered, "I like you too Willa.. Even I like you more than the word ''liking'' could describe my feelings for you. And I''m happy that you let your feelings overpower your past and accepted me. I don''t know what comes in future, but I''ll try to give my everything to fall in love with you. And please you do the same too.." Willa smiled at him with shyness and hide her face at his chest before mumbling, "I will Neil. And I''m sure one day we''ll both fall in love with each other. I just need some time.." "Take as much time you want Willa. I''ll wait for you." Neil muttered in her hair and kissed it as they both hugged each other tightly.. ----- Love-Paradise... "So.. Do you think our plan will work honey?" Veronica said as she ran her hands through Reuben''s hair who was lying on the bed, with his head placed on Veronica''s lap.. Reuben took hold of Veronica''s hand and kissed her palm before assuring her, "I''m absolutely sure that our plan is going to be successful." "Hope so.. After all, Neil had indirectly confessed his love to Willa that day. And I know Willa is not a dumb girl to not understand this big hint.." Veronica sighed. Making imaginary pattern on her palm with his fingers, Reuben asked, "Had you noticed something unusual in Willa''s behavior recently?" Thinking for a while, Veronica said, "Yeah.. After that night, I often see Willa to doze off in her own world. Once she had vanished into her dreamland while we were having an important meeting.." Reuben''s lips curved up into a big smile as he said, "Then don''t worry, babe.. Our plan is on right track.." Veronica chuckled at him and said, "Fingers crossed then..." ----- Next day at Lopez Industries¡­ Mr. Lopez was busy in checking some files when someone called him and when he checked the number, it was none other than the shadow who had helped him from few years in business whom he loved very much as he loved his daughter Veronica.. "Hello.." he answered the call. "Hi¡­. I had emailed you the list of the designers who are the best. Select one of them whom you think would suit your taste and all priorities." The lady said. Mr. Lopez smiled and said, "Thanks Lisa for your help. Do you personally suggest someone among all of them them??" Chapter 195 - Mission to protect Veronica... Mr. Lopez smiled and said, "Thanks Lisa for your help. Do you personally suggest someone among all of them them??" "Uncle.. Don''t say thanks to me. I wouldn''t help you anymore if you thank me again." Lisa pouted cutely. Smiling at her cute voice, Mr. Lopez said, "Okay.. I''ll not. First tell me whom do you suggest?" Lisa smiled and said, "I would prefer Diana the most. She had designed many of my dresses and all of them turned out to be amazing. Her designs are very much creative and I also think that you''d like her. Least are your choice.." James Lopez got happy with the suggestion and said, "Okay.. let''s see who is the best. I would ask Vero''s help in this." "Yeah.. You should. After all, Vero is really an expert in everything." Lisa also agreed with him. "By the way, you never introduced your husband to me? When I''ll be able to meet my son-in-law? Now that you''re also pregnant, I really can''t wait to see him." Mr. Lopez asked. Liza looked behind her back and saw her husband working on his laptop as she said, "Very soon Uncle. It''ll be really soon." "Good then. Okay I''ll talk to you later. Let me check the biodata of the interviewees first." "Okay bye uncle. Take care.. I and my baby, both love you.." Lisa said. "I love you both too." Mr. Lopez answered. Mr. Lopez then opened his email and read the details about all the designers, whom he would have to interview for the showroom... Finished checking the other four candidates, his eyes fell on the description of the girl, about whom Lisa had suggested him and he really became impressed after reading her CV.. "So her full name is Diana Miller.." Mr. Lopez muttered the girl''s name.. ----- On the other hand.. Hanging up the call with James, Lisa walked towards her husband and sat beside him. She watched him working on some kind of business presentation which she never had any idea of... Leaning her head on his shoulder, Lisa asked, "Andrew.. Don''t you think that we should now go back to city B? It''s been already many years and moreover now our little one would also come to this world in few months. Don''t you think your friends for whom you were just like a big brother, also deserve to know about their future niece or nephew. For you, I haven''t even told Uncle about my own husband. He never met you Andrew and just because of that, I even told Uncle to hide my identity from his own family. That''s not fair, nah? Please Andrew let''s go back to your friends. One day or other, you have to face them and I want everything to be settled between you and your friends before our baby born." Shutting off the laptop, Andrew looked up to his wife and saw the eagerness with a lot of expectations in her eyes... Hugging her sidewise in his arms, Andrew kissed on her forehead and said, "You''re right Lisa. I need to make everything correct before our child sees the light of the world. But before that, I still need a little more time honey. I promise I''ll make everything right soon." Lisa hugged him back and said, "I really want to give birth to this little one in the presence of our close ones." ----- Love-Paradise¡­ "Honey¡­ Take care of yourself. Okay? I might not be there with you but I promise I''d come there at the moment I got the final evidence. Till then, just stay strong." Reuben said embracing Veronica in his arms tightly. Veronica sniffed his fragrance and felt calmness hovering over her mind as she said, "Don''t worry Bennie. I''ll take good care of myself. You know right that how much strong I am both mentally and physically.." Reuben smiled at her statement and kissed on the tip of her nose before saying, "Yes. I know that my baby is the best. Now let''s go, otherwise we both will be late." Nodding her head at him, Veronica and Reuben both went outside. Tom was already waiting for Reuben there as Veronica demanded to go to Fusion alone by her own car.. Before leaving, Reuben pecked her on the lips and said, "Stay strong, my love." "I will. And moreover, you have already assigned bodyguards for me. Isn''t it?" Veronica narrowed her eyes. Reuben was confused with her sudden question because he had really not assigned any bodyguards for her, so he denied immediately, "But I didn''t honey..." Veronica rolled her eyes and said sarcastically, "Do you think my brothers are less than any bodyguards?" Hearing it, Reuben laughed aloud as both of them left for their own destination by their different cars after giving another little kiss to each other.. ----- Inside Neil''s car.. Willa was sitting beside Neil as both of them were going to Fusion for their mission to protect Veronica and also to solve the biggest mystery of the so called Alonzo Brown.. While driving, Neil was stealing some glances from Willa which she noticed very clearly as she asked him with her raised eyebrows, "What?" Chuckling at her, Neil shook his head and said, "Nothing. I just wanted to thank you for listening to your heart." Willa smiled at him and replied, "Then you should say thanks to your sister Vero. She is the one who made me realise that I should not suppress my feelings." "Vero.. But how?" Neil was shocked to hear that his sister''s name from Willa and more confused at the mention of Veronica helping Willa in this.. Seeing his confusion, Willa remembered the day when Veronica had confronted her in their office.. ----- Two days ago.. Veronica saw that Willa was behaving abnormally from past few days so she took Willa to lunch so that she could talk to her personally. "Willa, can you please tell me what''s bothering you?" Veronica asked. "Nothing Vero. You are just assuming things." Willa replied. "Well, I''m not assuming anything. If you think me as your bestie then please tell me the truth." Veronica tried to persuade her.. Chapter 196 - Biggest revelation about Brown Family... "Well, I''m not assuming anything. If you think me as your bestie then please tell me the truth." Veronica tried to persuade her.. Closing her eyes to take a deep breath, Willa opened it again and looked at Veronica and finally spilled everything that she was feeling in her heart for Neil. "Look Vero, I''m sure that I haven''t yet fallen for Neil. But I''m sure that I already started to build a soft corner for him.." Willa confessed before elaborating everything that they had shared for the past few days. Veronica smiled brightly hearing those and she exclaimed excitedly, "I knew it Willa that you also feel something for Neil as he feels for you. Now let me give you a free advice.. I know that you must be thinking that how could you like someone else after few days of a bad break up. But trust me, heart doesn''t listen to anyone and acts according to whatever it wants. So give a final chance to your heart and profess your feelings to Neil.. I know it''s hard to trust anyone again but at least give it a try so that you don''t have to regret later. Now the decision is all yours. I just gave you some suggestions.." Willa nodded and gave her a smile.. ---- "Wow..! Seems like I''ve to thank my sister then.." Neil said happily. "Yeah.. you should." Willa replied as she noticed that they had already reached at Fusion. Entering the private room they saw, everyone was already here without Alonzo and Myra. Veronica and Lucinda was making fun of Henry and Louis about something. But they stopped when they noticed that Neil and Willa had come.. Veronica raised her eyebrows at Willa teasingly and she smiled shyly before nodding her head. Understanding that Willla had chosen the right decision about herself and Neil, Veronica hugged her and whispered in her years, "We''ll talk about it later. You better tell me everything without missing a single detail.." Willa smiled and about to say something when the door of the room again opened which made all of them to turned towards the door.. There came the handsome Alonzo Brown with his sister Myra. They walked in with grace and slowly greeted everyone. The girls hugged Myra whereas the men just shook their heads with a curt nod of their heads.. Everyone took their own seat and being the so called protective brothers, Veronica was seated between both Neil and Henry. Alonzo looked around the room and didn''t find Reuben which made him sigh in relief. He stared at Veronica who was staring back at him or rather glaring at him and he gave her a smirk while Veronica just rolled her eyes. "So let''s start our dinner." Henry said. As the foods arrived Veronica messaged Reuben that Alonzo was already here and asked when he was coming back but didn''t get any reply in return. In the middle of their dinner, Neil said, "Thanks for taking care of our sister in city B." Alonzo nodded his head and replied, "It was my pleasure." Henry who was glaring at Alonzo from the time he entered, finally asked, "We heard from Vero that you were a little bit mentally unstable when you met her or was that all an act?" Hearing the question, Alonzo became stiffed and didn''t reply anything. Myra looked up from her plate and said, "Mentally unstable? What are you saying? My brother was always the most handsome and intelligent man of our city." Louis who heard it, glared at Alonzo and mocked, "Ah!! Is that so? But our Vero would never tell a lie about someone''s mental stability." "I think we should not talk about these things right now.." Alonzo tried to divert the situation. Neil who was calm till now, said with a smirk on his face, "Why are you changing the topic Alonzo? Is it because you wanted to hide the truth about the matter of both Alex and Alonzo?" Veronica caught something suspicious in Neil''s words and asked him, "Neil, why are you saying both? It is confirmed nah.. that Alex and Alonzo are both same guy.." Lucinda also stopped eating and asked, "Yeah.. I also heard the same." Henry took a piece of steak to feed Lucinda and said, "What if we say that Alex and Alonzo are not the same.. And both of them are different person with same looks.." Alonzo''s face paled when he heard this whereas Myra''s face was full of confusion. Alonzo stared at them in extreme fear that the biggest secret of his life might come out at any moment. But as he was informed by his father, they had already taken all precautions then how they would find it.. No no.. They must be making a guess or trying to kid with me.. Don''t take stress Alonzo... Though Alonzo calmed himself the girls didn''t calm down at all as their doubts raised to another level by every passing second.. "What are you saying Henry? How could be both Alonzo and Alex different?" Willa asked, unable to understand anything. Veronica also became puzzled at this and asked, "Yes... How it is possible to have two different people with same faces? "It can be possible Ica.. It definitely can be possible.." Suddenly the private room door opened and the firm voice of Reuben echoed through the big hall.. If Alonzo was tension free till this time, then now his face turned as white as a sheet of paper. After noticing Reuben''s confident look, he started to believe that the truth he wanted to hide so much from the world, would not be hidden anymore.. The time had finally came of the biggest revelation about Brown Family.. "What do you mean Bennie? I can''t understand anything.." Veronica asked in a small voice as everyone''s attention was now shifted on him. Reuben walked towards her and side-hugged her before glaring at Reuben as he said in a stern voice.. "They could be different people with same looks because both Alex and Alonzo are¡­ IDENTICAL TWINS.." Chapter 197 - Superstitions... "They could be different people with same looks because both Alex and Alonzo are¡­ IDENTICAL TWINS.." A gasp left from all the girls'' mouth as they couldn''t believe the words what Reuben had just said. For them, it was like a bad dream that they ever wanted to watch and the words prickled in their ear in a thrashing way.. On the other hand¡­ Horror filled into Alonzo''s eyes as he watched Reuben announcing the truth that he and his family trying to hide from days or more like years.. He became terrified about the fact that, if Veronica came to know more about it, then she might be much more angrier than before and would start hating him double than she already did.. Maybe, she would also to be blamed herself for the incident that happened five years ago after she had left city B.. He really wanted to make her feel guilty for her sudden disappearance too... But when he looked at her face, shock was clearly written on her face. Her expression was void of uncertainty as if whatever she was hearing was completely unknown to her.. "You must be joking right? How could Alex and Alonzo be identical twins? I always had one brother and that is Alonzo¡­ Then how could Alex turn into the picture suddenly? You must have some misunderstandings.." Myra muttered in a very low voice clutching her brother''s elbow tightly in her hand. "Neither am I joking nor I have any misunderstanding because whatever I''m saying is the sole secret of Brown family. Ask your brother if I''m right or wrong." Reuben said in a pressing voice. Myra looked at her brother with her gloomy eyes and asked, "It''s a lie, right bro? Reuben is having some kind of misunderstanding here.. Isn''t he?" However what she got in return, was complete silence... Alonzo stood there quietly without any word or emotions showed on his face and just kept looking at Veronica who was now in her own world, pondering about her own imaginations.. Neil and Henry turned their gaze from Alonzo to Reuben and silently asked through their eyes if the work had been done for what Reuben couldn''t be present at Fusion for the past few hours. Reuben nodded his head to assure them that every clue about the twins matter was now on his hands so his friends shouldn''t need to worry about this matter anymore.. He then turned towards Alonzo who was staring at Veronica with an accusing eyes and his fingers clenched tightly into a fist.. Noticing that Myra''s gaze was stilled on her brother to get all the answer back, he smirked.. Breaking the silence of the room, Reuben said in a firm voice, "If Alonzo isn''t able to answer the questions then no problem. I have my own proofs against Alonzo and the whole Brown family." "Proofs?" Veronica who was not able to digest the news till then, looked up at Reuben and asked. Reuben moved his face down to look at his beloved who was clearly showing some kind of pain on her face from the betrayal of her friend. He kissed the top of her head before saying, "Babe.. at first you have to promise me that you''ll not take much stress over whatever is going to come out next. I will only tell you everything and show you guys all the proofs if only you promise me to not freak out." Veronica nodded her head at him and mumbled, "Promise.." Sighing at her, Reuben glared at Alonzo and started to narrate the whole story that he came to know, "Both Alex and Alonzo are twins.. Alex''s real name is Alexander Brown and he is 7 minutes younger than Alonzo. Mrs. Brown was pregnant with both of them 28 years ago but her pregnancy had quite a lot of complications¡­ From the time of her pregnancy, doctor had informed her that Alonzo was growing inside her tummy very well but Alex''s growth is not happening much to the expected way a fetus should grow up. Maybe he was not getting enough nutrition that a child should consume inside his mother''s tummy." Reuben stopped when he heard a gasp from Myra who was looking at him with widened eyes.. Retrieving his eyes from her, Reuben again continued, "In the aspect of any pregnancy with twins, this situation is quire normal so she gave birth to two little boys. Alonzo was very much healthy but Alex seemed to be very weak after their birth. So they had to take extra care of him. Everything was going normal until the day of the brothers'' full body check up.. The doctors found some issues with Alex''s health as he couldn''t recognise his own parents'' voice even after one month of his birth which was quite unusual. So they did a brain scan and found out that his brain had not a complete growth like any other newborn baby and it''s a little bit damaged which would result him to become a little bit abnormal later in his life." Reuben took a deep breath in the midway when he heard some weeping sound and it was coming from Myra again. She was crying badly with her hands pressed on her mouth to shuffle the cry. She asked between the cry, "If Alex was also my brother then where is he? Why haven''t I seen him anywhere?" "That''s because when you came to the sense of understanding about your surroundings, Alex was already gone. Our father had already sent him to one of the hospital where his illness could be treated.." This time it was Alonzo who described the situation. Not only Myra but also Veronica and the girls were shocked hearing it from Alonzo himself who was trying his best to hide it from them till then. "If he was sent into the hospital then why doesn''t Myra or any other person know about his existence?" Willa asked. "I''ll give you the answer¡­ Brown family had some kind of superstitions like they can''t tell about their baby''s birth until one month had completed to protect the child. Same happened with Alex and Alonzo..." Reuben said. Chapter 198 - Blackmailed him with the shares... "I''ll give you the answer¡­ Brown family had some kind of superstitions like they can''t tell about their baby''s birth until one month had completed to protect the child. Same happened with Alex and Alonzo..." Reuben said. "They hadn''t told the public about their birth as they had planned to inform about it after the physical check-up of both of the children. Sadly their plan had been ruined when Mr. Brown found about Alex''s brain problem. He pressurised both his mother and wife to keep it as a secret that Mrs. Brown had given birth to twins and then only introduced Alonzo as their only heir till Alex had come out of his issues.." Reuben cleared the confusion in everyone''s mind. "How.. how could a father do this? Isn''t Alex also his child? It shouldn''t matter to him if he was normal like other child or not. Because a father''s love would always have to be unconditional." Willa said. "Moreover, Alex was just a one month baby that time..!!" Lucinda added in a sad voice.. Alonzo left a heavy breath and said, "The love for their child could only be unconditional when the father isn''t as cruel as our dad. He never had the feeling of love in his heart for anyone. For him, only money and power is the thing which has the most of priority in his life.. Myra was two years old when Alex had been sent to asylum and she couldn''t remember him because she was too much little then. Actually, if anyone had loved Myra with his all, then it''ll be Alex. He loved her even more than I had ever loved her..." Leaving a big sigh, Alonzo continued with the the story of their family''s past, "But he had to go far away from us when he was just five years old. Years had passed but no one in our family was allowed to meet him. Our mother cried every night and begged to see him but dad never agreed to her." Alonzo felt a tear escaped from his eyes as he reminsced about those hurtful days. Reuben saw it and then continued, "Six years later, when the brothers were eleven years old, Alex had been discharged from the hospital and only then both Alex and Mrs. Brown was allowed to meet him whereas Myra was left with her grandmother in their house. Mr. Brown was happy that finally he could introduce their another heir to the world but his dream crushed when he was informed that though Alex''s brain damage had been cured but still he would not behave like other normal child. He would be slower than others to cope up with everything which Mr. Brown couldn''t able to take in..." Myra interfered Reuben in his talk and asked with pain stricken face, "That''s mean, my another brother Alex still had some difficulties with his health and our Dad again did something to hurt him??" Reuben nodded at her and narrated, "Yes, you are right. But this time, what your dad had done, was really harsh and cruel... He had grounded him in his another home far away from the city with well protected guards so that none could meet him. In the fear of losing his business, he didn''t even wince for a single time to take the big decision and for years after years, Alex had been captivated in that strictly prohibited house alone." "How could be my father so cruel? He can''t be. I can''t believe it.." Myra sobbed. "If this is the truth then why didn''t you protect Alex from your father?" Veronica suddenly asked looking at Alonzo. Alonzo tilted up his face and described, "I was very small then. If I would say anything then Dad would threat me with Alex''s life. So I decided that I have to become big and powerful to protect him. That''s why, I started to study very attentively. Finally I had turned 20, when I found Alex after one year of hard searching. I put him out of the cage and settled him in one of the house I bought before hiring few bodyguards for him. I went to visit him every evening and came to know that he was interested in gaming.. Dad found out about him going missing and confronted me but I blackmailed him with the shares of the company that he had given me when I turned 18 so he stopped for the meantime. One year later, Dad forced me to go abroad for my higher education but I didn''t want to leave Alex alone there because I was sure that after I leave, dad would definitely find about his address.." As Alonzo stopped again, Reuben continued, "That''s why you faked a boarding pass to country M and opted to stay with your brother for those two years while enrolling your name in city B''s best Business University. You took a disguise and started living it off very well." Alonzo knew that there was no way of him escaping the topic. So he just closed his eyes to calm his mind of the frustrating yet saddening emotions that he was graving in his heart now.. Veronica who heard everything from both Reuben and Alonzo silently, thought over all the previous occurances in city B. She became more puzzled ruminating the past as she couldn''t able to suppress her queries and asked, "Then which one of the brothers I had met in city B? Alex or Alonzo?" Then remembering something, Veronica said, "It must be Alex because according to your description, Alex fixed in the image perfectly. He was a little abnormal and also loved gaming. It''s Alex.. Isn''t it?" Veronica kept looking at Reuben expectantly for the answer, whereas he just sighed deeply and hugged her more tightly to his chest but what he said the next, made everyone specially Veronica more conflicted.. "No Ica.. It''s not only Alex whom you had met in city B, because Alonzo also met with you for many times. Am I not right Alonzo?" Chapter 199 - Innocent Protagonist or Cruel Antagonist... Veronica kept looking at Reuben expectantly for the answer, whereas he just sighed deeply and hugged her more tightly to his chest but what he said the next, made everyone specially Veronica more conflicted.. "No Ica.. It''s not only Alex whom you had met in city B, because Alonzo also met with you for many times. Am I not right Alonzo?" "What? But how can I meet with both of them at the same time? Because as per my past memories, I only met one guy at a time there and that''s Alex.." Veronica''s brain was not working at all so she asked whatever came into her mind. Reuben patted her head and said, "Did you forget honey that Alex and Alonzo were identical twins. And both of them took that exact advantage of their same face to play with your kindness and manipulated you badly." "My brother hadn''t done anything wrong. It''s only me who took place of Alex and acted like him to befriend you." Alonzo yelled all of a sudden. "Oh my God.!! it''s getting too much confusing right now. Can anyone please describe us what is exact truth. It''s too much frustrating to hear everything still with a question mark. I want to know whole of the story." Lucinda showed her irritation. Looking at Alonzo, Reuben asked, "So Alonzo, who should tell the truth? Me or you yourself?" Alonzo shook his head to stop Reuben and said, "As I''m the main protagonist among all of these incidents then I''ll be the one to narrate everything." "Whether you are just an innocent protagonist or a cruel antagonist, we''ll decide about it after we heard everything from you. So just stop your drama and continue." Veronica snapped at Alonzo angrily. "Yeah.. It''s completely in our hand to decide about your character. Because whatever you had done till now, hadn''t showed any good influence on us." Willa mocked and Neil agreed with her. "So Alonzo don''t waste our precious time and just spill it." Louis said. Henry looked at his watch and said, "Your time starts from now." Alonzo felt the pressure on him and then turned towards his sister to see her crying hysterically¡­ Taking a deep breath, he started to remember all the incidents that had happened five and half years ago which led them to here today¡­ ---- Five and half years ago.. Alonzo got back from his University at evening and found his brother smiling to himself. He was so busy in himself that he hadn''t noticed that Alonzo had already arrived which had never happened after he started to live with Alonzo.. "Good evening Alex. Why are you smiling like that?" Alonzo asked with a small smile on his face. Alex stopped beaming and looked at his brother. When he saw Alonzo, he immediately ran up to him and hugged him tightly. "You are back Alonzo.. I have so many things to tell you." Alex exclaimed happily as Alonzo was the only one with whom he could be the most comfortable and behave like his true self. Keeping his bag on the center table, Alonzo sat on the couch with Alex and asked, You seemed to be a lot happy today. What is the reason of it?" Alex''s cheeks became red in shyness as he muttered, "You remember Alonzo, I told you about a girl whom I met at a coffee shop yesterday who collided with me mistakenly and both of our coffee got wasted." Alonzo nodded his head and asked, "Yeah.. she even bought you back your coffee. So what about her?" Chuckling at him, Alex replied, "The same girl had started to attend our college from today for her project. She was placed here from city S for the mandatory project for the next six months.. And we.. We also became friends today. She also even protected me from that bad Mike. I''m so happy Alonzo that I got the very first friend of my life." Noticing the happiness in Alex''s face, Alonzo also smiled at him and said, "That''s good. But did you tell her about our family? And what is her name?" "No.. I didn''t tell her anything about our family as you had refused me to. So I told her that I''m an orphan. And her name is Veronica Lopez. She is also very pretty." Alex said in a childlike voice. Alonzo patted his shoulder before saying, "Good that you finally got a friend. But still, stay aware of your surroundings. I don''t want something to happen to you. And also, don''t tell about our family to anyone till I ask you to do so. Now eat the pizza I''ve bought for you." Alonzo showed him the pizza boxes which was from Alex''s favourite restaurant. Alex clapped his hands happily and started eating it while Alonzo muttered the name that would change their life in near future, "Veronica Lopez.. Hmm.. Interesting!!" ---- Three months had passed by and Alonzo noticed the change in Alex''s life. Alex seemed to be more outgoing with Veronica as he always talked about her to him.. That girl, Veronica was changing Alex day by day but all in a good way. Though Alonzo only heard about her from Alex but slowly slowly his interest level also getting peaked up everyday. Now he really wanted to see the girl whom Alex trusted so much with his heart.. "Alex.. I''m thinking that why don''t I see who the girl Veronica is? So that I can be more sure about the fact that, she will not bring any harm to you " Alonzo asked. Alex looked at his brother and said smilingly, "That would be definitely good, brother. I''ll introduce you to my friend Vero. I''m sure you are also going to like her company." "No, Alex.. I didn''t mean that. I will not meet her as we can''t disclose about our relationship for now. I just want to see her from far. Do one thing¡­ You ask her to meet you at the riverbank where you both usually meet and I''ll disguise myself as you to see what she looks like and what kind of person she actually is. She couldn''t differentiate between both of us as we both look alike." Alonzo suggested. Chapter 200 - Few differences... "You ask her to meet you at the riverbank where you both usually meet and I''ll disguise myself as you to see what she looks like and what kind of person she actually is. She couldn''t differentiate between both of us as we both look alike." Alonzo suggested. Alonzo''s intention was very much pure because he wanted to protect his brother from the bad people who could harm him. But he didn''t know that this one meeting would let him or might say, force him to do meet Veronica for many more times.. At first, Alex thought that this was not a good idea to ditch Veronica like this but he trusted his brother very much and he knew if his brother was saying this, then it would definitely mean that it had to be something important for his safety. His brother, Alonzo just wanted to take precautions beforehand to protect him.. So Alex agreed with it and said, "Okay, I''ll tell her to meet me tomorrow and then you can go there in my disguise." Alex called Veronica and she accepted it. Both of them talked for few minutes and then Alex informed Alonzo, "Bro, she would meet you at afternoon." Alonzo nodded hid head and searched for some excuses to manipulate Veronica about his look. Though Alex and Alonzo both look alike but there were very few differences between them like.. Alex was little bit chubby whereas Alonzo was more muscular and fit. Alex had the innocence in his gloomy eyes whereas Alonzo had sharp eagle like eyes which could burn anything just by his one glare. Alex had lack of self-confidence and stuttered in front of unknown people because of his shyness while Alonzo is very much confident and spoke like he was firing bullets.. That''s why, Alonzo decided to find some baggy clothes which would help him to look chubbier and he would also use some lens to make his eyes look a little less sharp. He also thought some excuses which he could give her about his supposed to be chubby face turned into a chiseled one.. ---- So next day, Alonzo waited for Veronica to come at the riverbank and finally his wait was over when he saw a beautiful girl like with an angelic face walked towards him and greeted him.. He also greeted her back, stuttering a little like Alex. But then he noticed Veronica was looking at him weirdly. But her next question made him understood why she was looking at him like that... "Alex, why do I feel like you have suddenly turned into another person?" Veronica asked. Alonzo at first pretended to be a little confused at her question and asked, "What change you are talking about?" Then Veronica told him her doubts like his chubby cheeks became more slender and other things.. Alonzo was already prepared with his answer so he replied while stuttering, "Actually.. actually I have joined a self grooming class a week ago. And it was the training of them which makes me look more confident and smart." Veronica nodded her head anod few more questions later, they started to talk about random things.. After meeting her, Alonzo got back to the house he and Alex were living and found Alex sleeping in his room. Getting fresh, Alonzo also sat on his bench and remembered the meeting with Veronica. He had to admit that she was really very beautiful and he felt mesmerized talking with her. Alonzo was extremely impressed with her.. Her talks, her laughter, her look...everything made his heart fluttered. He felt attracted towards her.. With a smile on his lips and thinking about her, Alonzo drifted off to sleep and thought if he could meet her more after asking permission from Alex.. Next morning Alonzo woke up from his sleep and got out of his room to check on Alex but he didn''t see Alex in the living room or kitchen. Alex used to wake up before him so he found it strange to not see Alex there. Entering Alex''s room, Alonzo found him shivering vigorously with his eyes shut tightly.He was also mumbling some incoherent words in his sleep. So he checked his temperature and found out that he was burning with high fever... Alonzo immediately took him to the hospital and the doctor informed him about his condition. "Alex is suffering from pneumonia. He need to be under our supervision so that we could check him properly time to time and give him the best treatment." The doctor said. Hearing that, Alonzo felt very much hurt for his brother and requested to the doctor, "Do whatever you want but just let my brother be fine." "Don''t panic Alonzo. He''ll be okay. He just needs some rest and proper treatment. If you want, you can go inside and meet your brother." The doctor patted him on his shoulder. Alonzo nodded his head and entered the VIP room. He saw his brother lying on the bed looking pale with an IV drop attached to his wrist... Sitting on the stool near Alex''s bed, Alonzo ruffled his hair and said, "Hey, Alex. You''ll be okay. Have faith in me and your doctor. I''ll not let anything bad happen to you." Alex lazily opened his eyes and said, "I have faith in you brother. Don''t worry about me. I''ll be okay. But can you just promise me something?" Alonzo hold his hand and asked, "What do you want me to promise?" "Can you please continue to meet with Veronica, disguising yourself as me till I get well? Please brother, accept my one request." Alex pleaded. Though Alonzo wanted to meet Veronica more but he hadn''t ever expected that the situation would turn out like this and he had to meet her in this circ.u.mstances.. But for his brother''s sake and somewhere because of his own selfish reasons, he gave Alex his consent, "Okay.. I will do as per you say.." Alex smiled faintly, before saying, "Thanks Alonzo." Alonzo didn''t say anything but just smiled back at him... Chapter 201 - A relationship cant ever start with a lie... As promised by Alonzo, it became his everyday routine to disguise himself as his twin Alex and continue meeting Veronica.. Theough Veronica expressed few of her doubts about Alex''s sudden changes in his demeanor but Alonzo''s skillful talks didn''t led her to find out anything odd out of him.. Alonzo started to visit Alex everyday in the hospital and Alex would ask him about Veronica''s whereabouts with his ever sparkling eyes... He would answer Alex very patiently about her and would tell him how was her project going on... Alhough Alonzo wasn''t very much expert like his brother in graphics or gaming, but he knew a few things about these two subjects as Alex would always talk about this to him and show him his work.. One day, Alonzo went to meet Veronica to her apartment when he found a handsome man entering an expensive car in front of Veronica. He only saw the back of him but the well toned and sturdy shoulder of him was enough to create an unknown jealousy inside him which was very much successful in burning his head out of rage.. As the car got vanished in the busy streets of the bustling city B, he called for Veronica and asked about the person who entered the car while walking through the pathway. He was having some insecurities about the person but after what Veronica had said, his doubts got cleared and he became very happy again.. "What to tell about him when I don''t know him? He was just passing by me when we collided with each other. So he said sorry to me and left by his car." Veronica smiled awkwardly before replying. Alonzo smiled at her and both talked about few more things. Day by day, their friendship got stronger and Alonzo got more and more attracted towards her... New kind of feelings started to born inside his heart which he had never felt for anyone. Whenever he saw Veronica, his heart jumped over a beat and it would start running so fast and erratically that he sometimes felt that a little more fast pace and his heart would pop out of his mouth.. His heart was not listening to him anymore as it would always start beating loudly just by the mention of her name. Whereas his mind would always be occupied by her thoughts.. Whenever he would close his eyes the face of Veronica would come flying in front of him and he could see only her.. No one else... All these overwhelming emotion had led him to one thing that he was developing romantic feelings for Veronica. But he was not able to confess those harboring feelings inside him, neither to Veronica nor to his own twin brother Alex.. Alex was still hospitalized so Alonzo didn''t want to pressurise him with his own feelings. So he decided to wait for a little bit more till Alex get well from his illness.. Alonzo continued meeting her regularly. But from that day when he came to realise his affection towards Veronica, he would not meet her as a mere friend but he would think of her as his future girlfriend, without caring if Veronica would even want that relationship from him.. ---- So one day he went to his grandmother asking for her to meet the girl he liked the most. Grandmother Brown was the happiest one when she heard that Alonzo found a girl whom he had started to love. Before this day, he had never liked or talked about any girl.. Happily agreeing with the idea to meet Veronica, she asked, "So when are we going to meet her?" Alonzo chuckled and said, "Maybe today evening. But grandma, you have to remember this that you can''t take my real name in front of her. You have to call me by the name Alex.. If you promise me this thing, then only I''ll take you there with me to meet her.." Grandmother Brown was the only one who was very much close to him without his siblings, so he shared everything with her. Hearing Alonzo, Grandmother Brown sighed and said, "Alonzo.. I know that you love that Veronica girl very much. Everyone can understand your feelings just by the way you talk about her.. So it means that you have to tell your and Alex''s secrets to her. You have to be truthful to her with everything. A relationship can''t ever start with a lie, my child..." Smiling at her, Alonzo replied, "Don''t worry grandma, I''ll tell her everything very soon. I''m just waiting for Alex to get well soon.." ----- That day evening, Alonzo took his grandmother to meet with Veronica and by mistake grandma Brown almost took Alonzo''s real name in front of her, but fortunately Veronica hadn''t noticed it. They had fun talking to each other and Alonzo was beyond happy to see that both of the love of his life are bonding with each other very well. Grandma Brown was very happy with Veronica. So while leaving, she told Alonzo, "I like this girl very much. She is very much innocent and well-behaved. You really have a great choice, my boy." Alonzo just smiled shyly and dropped her back near their family mansion, with a promise from his grandmother that she was not going to reveal about any of his secrets which included him, staying in city B... ----- One month passed by and Alex was finally back home from hospital. Though he was still a little bit weak but all in all, he was fine now. After coming back home from hospital, his first wish to Alonzo was, to meet his friend Veronica. While staying away from her and not meeting her for a long time, he also got to know about the true reason of his fondness towards her.. Alex was feeling something more than a friendship for her.. It''s more than a simple liking between two friends. But he was afraid to get rejected by her so he decided to ask his brother about it first.. Chapter 202 - Scratches and Thorns... Alex was feeling something more than a friendship for her.. It''s more than a simple liking between two friends. But he was afraid to get rejected by her so he decided to ask his brother about it first.. He noticed that Alonzo was coming home late most of the days now and everytime he would return with a smile on his face. So Alex asked Alonzo, "Brother, why are being all smiley nowadays? Anything special had happened to you?" Taking a seat beside Alex, Alonzo turned his face towards him before grinning widely, he finally confessed, "Bro.. There is a big reason for my happy mood." "Really? And what''s the reason?" Alex asked happily seeing his brother in joy. Right then Alonzo dropped the bond, looking at Alex with a grinning face, "Bro.. am in love." "What? You are in love? Who is that lucky girl then?" Alex was very much happy for his brother that he was now in love with a girl but somewhere in his heart he was feeling a little bit uneasy as if his next words would be going to break all of his dreams that he had planned. Breathing slowly, Alonzo looked directly in Alex''s eyes and said, "You will be the happiest person after you come to know about the girl because you''re the one who had given me the chance to meet the most beautiful girl of the world and gave me the opportunity to spend time with her in your absence.. I''m.. I''m in love with Veronica, Alex.. I''ve fallen very deeply for her that there is no way to return back.." *crash* With this single confession, the hope in Alex''s heart had been shattered down into many tiny pieces and he felt like he had lost the most precious person of his heart in a mere second... His dream was now lying in a blood pool with scratches and thorns... Today, Alex also had decided to declare his love to his brother but before that could happen, Alonzo had snatched his words from him. He badly wanted to yell on Alonzo that he was also feeling something more than liking for Veronica.. But when he saw the glitters in his brother''s eyes which were sparkling like stars, he refused to tell Alonzo about his feelings. He had never seen his brother so much happy before the day he had started to meet Veronica. Alonzo had done so many things for his betterment that there was no turning back.. Even he fought with their father for him so that he could live a peaceful life like others. He even declined the offer of his higher studies abroad just because of Alex''s wellbeing... Then how could he not forget his feelings towards Veronica for Alonzo?? It would be so little compared to what Alonzo did for him.. He would not betray his brother.. Not at any cost.. Suppressing his sorrow and the pain in his heart, Alonzo weakly smiled and said, "Congratulations brother. I''m so much happy for you. I think Veronica would suit you really well." As soon as he said this, Alonzo pulled him into a tight brotherly hug and muttered softly, " Thanks.. Thank you so much Alex for letting me meet Vero. I hope you''ll support us till the end. Right buddy?" Alex nodded a little and assured him, "I''ll always support you brother. You are the most important person in my life." ---- Two days later, Alonzo had gone to meet Veronica and Alex had followed him behind so that for once he would be able to see by his own eyes that how much Alonzo had become closer to Veronica. He saw both of them talking and laughing heartily and he knew right at this moment that his brother was the best for her.. Alonzo was very much smart, handsome and even good in studies.. He was even very much capable to handle a big company like Brown Corporation as their father had already given him shares of his company and many assets.. So it would be better for the three of them if he didn''t interfere in their lives anymore and let everything leave like this how it was at that moment.. Two weeks passed by and Alex couldn''t hold the urge in himself to meet Veronica for at least once. So when Alonzo was working on his laptop one night, he slowly entered his room. Sitting beside him, Alex asked, "Alonzo.. Can I request you something?" Alonzo looked at him with his raised eyebrows and said, "Cone on Alex. You don''t have to request anything from me. Just tell me what you want and I''ll hand you everything without a shake of head." "Actually bro. I want to meet Vero for the last time. Can I please?" Alex stuttered. Sighing deeply, Alonzo asked, "Why are requesting me for just this? She is your friend first, then mine... And I''m also thinking to tell her the truth of us being twins after I come back from my trekking. We''ll both go together and make her shock by our same appearances. Hahaha.. It''ll be great fun to watch her all shocked and surprised.." Alex also nodded happily thinking that, after they disclose the truth at least he wouldn''t have to hide anymore and both the brothers could hang out with Veronica freely. Beaming with joy, Alex replied, "Then I''ll wait for you to come back. By the way, when are you going?" "I''ll leave tomorrow afternoon and come back three days later. Why don''t you meet her tomorrow?" Alonzo suggested. "Okay. Then, I''ll call her now." Alex said after taking his phone back from Alonzo which he was using from past months. "Hmm... I have few things to buy for the trekking so I''m going to the mall now. You lock the door properly." Alonzo left after saying this.. Alex nodded his head and locked the door as per his brother''s instructions. He then entered his bedroom again and called Veronica with a heavy heart... Chapter 203 - A cold iron... Next day, Alonzo had left for his trekking on the scheduled day, whereas Alex got ready to meet Veronica.. He was beaming with joy after meeting her but somewhere in his heart, there was a layer of sadness illuminating like a dark fog.. After meeting her, he called Alonzo and came to know that, he had also arrived there safely. Both of the brothers had talked to each other for quite a while but suddenly Alonzo felt there was something wrong with Alex''s voice... It was like... Alex was not talking properly with him and having some reluctance in the middle of his every words. His voice seemed be a little heavy also... "Alex, did something happen to you? Your voice seemed to be a little hoarse? Did you cry?" Alonzo asked. "No nothing happened. It''s just that I''m a little bit tired and wanted to sleep." Alex replied. Alonzo nodded his head and said, "Okay then.. Good night." But Alonzo didn''t know that, this one simple negliance of him would lead him to curse his luck for the whole life... ---- Three days later, Alonzo came back from his Trek and called for his brother.. "Alex?" "Alex?" "Where are you?" Alonzo shouted but there was no response.. Getting no answer, Alonzo checked Alex''s room, kitchen, bathroom but he couldn''t find him anywhere.. Getting panicked, he started to sweat profusely and decided to get freshened up first, then he would find him.. As soon as he opened the door of the balcony of his room, he found Alex sitting in the corners folding his hands and knees together, crying badly with a disheveled look... Without wasting anymore time, Alonzo rushed towards his twin and shook him hardly. "Alex.. Alex.. What happened to you buddy? Why are you looking like this?" Alonzo asked getting scared of his brother''s behavior. Alex looked up at his brother with his teary eyes and pounced on him and hugged him tightly as he stuttered between his sobs, "Vero.. bad words.. slap.." Again he broke into cries while hiccuping in middle.. Alex was sobbing so badly that he could only said few words and that even couldn''t be understood well... Alonzo patted him on his shoulder to soothe him but he cried even more, "Alex, please calm down and tell me everything clearly." "Alonzo.. Dad threat.. Veronica.." Before Alex could utter more words he just fainted, making Alonzo more terrified. He patted Alex''s cheeks and called in panic, "Akex.. bro.. wake up.. wake up please.." But Alex gave him no response and kept his eyes closed. Alonzo picked him up very cautiously and laid him back on the bed. He then called Alex''s doctor to check him up. Half an hour later, the doctor had done with treating Alex and informed Alonzo, "Nothing much to worry. It''s because of his terror as he stressed out too much. Just give him some hygienic food and he''ll be fine." Alonzo nodded his head and after the doctor left, he sat beside Alex and caressed his hair for the whole night without stopping for once in the middle. ---- Next day morning, Alonzo had to go to his University for an important class but he couldn''t leave Alex here alone in the home.. That''s why Alonzo called to doctor to ask for a nurse so that she could check on him while he was outside. The nurse came after one hour and Alonzo reminded her everything about Alex''s condition.. Alex was still sleeping in his room. So Alonzo decided not to wake him up and whispered lowly to him, "Take rest buddy. We''ll talk later after I come back." Placing a soft kiss on his forehead and ordering few things to the nurse, Alonzo left for the day.. When he came back that night, Alex was already up and watching TV sitting on his bed. Alex smiled as soon as he saw his brother. Alonzo smiled back and greeted, "Hey Alex. How are you feeling now?" "I am fine." Alonzo replied. Taking a seat beside Alex, Alonzo asked, "What happened to you yesterday buddy? Why were you crying so hysterically?" Alex''s face paled as soon as he heard the question and he said, "Bro.. brother.. let''s not talk about it now. I promise I''ll tell you everything but not today, as I''ve more important things to discuss with you.." "What is it bro? Tell me." Alonzo asked. "Actually.. Vero called me today and asked me to meet her tomorrow. Yesterday I also went to meet her and some problems had occurred between us. I want to solve them with her personally so that later, both of us can explain about our true identities also and then you can propose her. But before that, I really want to meet her tomorrow personally." Alex request ed with his pituful eyes. "But you are not well Alex." Alonzo tried to stop him. "Please brother. Let me meet her tomorrow." Alex pleaded earnestly. Alonzo finally nodded his head and agreed to his brother''s wish without knowing that tomorrow would be the most horrible day of his life. Tomorrow would be the day when he would lose two most important persons of his life.. The next day would decide their future and would be provocating him to turn into a cold iron.. This day would change his morality, his emotions, his focus on his life and most of all his heart would suffer the change the most, making it turned into a hard steel.. ---- Back to present¡­ Everyone in the hall room was completely shocked, except one person who was Reuben.. No one could believe that a person could play with one''s identity, lives, emotions like this.. Among everything, Veronica was the biggest victim of their so called plots.. *wham* A loud sound echoed through the big room and everyone''s face became horrified when they saw from where did the sound came just now... Alonzo was bent towards his right side a little as he almost fell from the sudden force holding his left cheek with his left hand while his other hand held the table tightly to keep hold of his balance... Chapter 204 - Hungry Tigress... Henry was breathing heavily in anger with his fist clenched in a tight ball as the aftermath of his hard punch to Alonzo... Yes, Henry had punched Alonzo really hard when he finished explaining about the twins matter. He wanted to kill him from the first time when he came to know about the partial truth at Secret 7 by Reuben.. Reuben had informed him and Neil that he had a doubt that Alonzo and Alex would be different person or more like twins but he still wanted to confirm it before jumping into any kind of conclusion. That''s why, today he had gone to meet two person who could tell him all the truth about the Brown family.. And as expectantly, both of the person had revealed everything to him.. "You bastard! How could you play with our sister''s feelings like that?" Henry shouted angrily. Neil immediately ran to him and hold Henry''s hand who was about to land another punch on Alonzo''s face. He then muttered to Henry, "Relax Henry, Don''t get angry. Let us listen to him first. I know that it''s not still the end of his story.." Though Neil was more angrier than Henry but he stopped himself from beating him up when he saw Reuben was standing there silently without any expression on his face as he just kept holding Veronica who had a blank expression on her face. Being friends with Reuben from childhood, he was very much certain that there must be something more there, for which Reuben was still keeping calm. Otherwise, till then Alonzo would be beaten up to a pulp by Reuben and he would be lying on the floor covered with bruises and cuts all over his body.. So he just waited for Reuben to take action first then he would show what was the exact result of trying to hurt someone close to them specially when it was Veronica herself who was everyone''s apple of the eyes.. "Bro.. How could you do that? Even you have never told me that I have another brother alongside you whose name is Alex. Why brother? Why? Why did you hid all these things from me? Not only you, but our whole family even Mom and grandma also kept all these a secret from me." Myra sobbed badly while hitting Alonzo on his back. Alonzo was unable to say anything as he was reminiscing about his dear brother Alex. He still hadn''t told them about him completely like what had happened after that. He knew that he told them about the next part, then there would be another hysteric atmosphere here.. Reuben saw that everyone was blaming Alonzo right now but the person who had to be the first person to shout on him was completely silent... He nudged to Veronica and muttered in her ear in a very low voice, "Ica.. Baby.. Please say something. You can''t be silent all day." Veronica tilted her face up to look at him and when Reuben finally nodded his head to assure her that she could say anything she wanted to, she meekly smiled at him with a glimpse of sadness in her eyes... Turning her face towards Alonzo, Veronica asked, "Alonzo? I just want to ask one question to you.. Why did you play with me like some toys who can be easily thrown out of anyone''s life after its usage is done?" "I believed that Alex.. No Alonzo.. No shit.. I don''t know whom to say friends when both of you brothers just treated me like a chess piece of some games? You both brothers are really heartless who just play with a girl''s emotions who treated them as a sincere friends. You guys are really horrible. More disgusting than Mike himself.." Veronica spat out angrily. "No.. No.. My brother was innocent. No one could be as pure as him from the heart. Don''t say bad things about him." Alonzo retorted back. Veronica laughed out loud at this and mocked, "Yeah.. he was too much innocent that he could acted along with you of being the same guy.. Woah..!! I just had been fooled by both of you badly.. huh?? By the way if we''re now talking about your so called twins Alex then where is he? I want to meet him now. I want to ask him a question that how could he betray me like this? I always helped him and protected him from the evils but what did he do in return? He also acted like a hypocrite who stab their own friends behind their backs.." "Please Vero. Don''t accuse Alex for what he hadn''t done. He was obliged to the situation then. He just listened..." Before Alonzo could finish, Veronica cut him in mid sentence as she asked through her gritted teeth with anger painted in her eyes, "I said.. Where is Alex right now? Bring. Him. Here." Rage was clearly visible in Veronica''s eyes and everyone shuddered seeing the anger which was illuminating from her.. Everyone knew that angry Veronica was nothing less than a hungry tigress.. Myra and Alonzo were both shocked as they never had imagined to witness this version of the always sweet girl, Veronica Lopez.. Few minutes later, everyone came out if shock when Reuben snapped, "Ica had asked you something, Alonzo... So answer her.." "Yes bro. Where is Alex? I want to meet him too." Myra also asked, still crying while Lucinda patted her back. Alonzo just stood there lifelessly before he bowed down his head and tears started to fall out from his eyes as he muttered in a very low voice, "He can''t be here. Alex can''t ever come in front of you anymore.." "And why is this?" Veronica enquired, internally feeling that something was extremely wrong. Even after few minutes of her queries, Alonzo didn''t reply which mad Veronica more frustrated for not getting any answer back... Noticing that Veronica was losing her patience and Alonzo was still not ready to spill out the truth, Reuben revealed in a steady voice... "Because Alex is no more. He had left the world five years ago¡­" Chapter 205 - Forced my brother to the deathbed... Noticing that Veronica was losing her patience and Alonzo was still not ready to spill out the truth, Reuben revealed in a steady voice... "Because Alex is no more. He had left the world five years ago¡­" *gasp* Loud gasps could be heard from each and every corner of the room as the girls stared at Reuben with widened eyes whereas the boys had a confused looks on their faces as they didn''t know that a twist like this would be suddenly presented in front of them.. On the other hand, Alonzo was the most shocked person among everyone. He was unable to think how had Reuben come to know about this when he had personally hid this matter very securely.. The room was quite silent for almost five minutes as none could understand what was actually happening.. Veronica had also kept mum and her face was all scrunched up as if she still couldn''t process the whole thing. When finally everything knocked into her mind, she decided to break the eerie silence.. "What.. what are you saying? Al.. Alex is dead?" Veronica stuttered as she couldn''t believe what was Reuben saying.. "Is Alex really dead?" Veronica asked the question looking at Alonzo this time. Veronica''s questions didn''t get any reply as Alonzo just kept quiet while tears continued to fall from his eyes. Seeing him in this state, Veronica was absolutely certain that the fact she didn''t want to believe was absolutely true and her once good friend was really no more... Just thinking about this, Veronica''s whole body shuddered and drops of tears started to stream out of her beautiful dark brown eyes... Reuben was very much aware that Veronica was feeling immense pain inside her heart as he was noticing her every movement and expression from the moment he told everyone about Alex''s death. Though she was undoubtedly a strong woman but she was also a human who always had all pent up emotions in her heart, who cared about those persons whom she had thought of as good friends or families.. It didn''t matter to her that if those persons were returning her affection and care back or not to her.. Her eyes were now completely red along with her cheeks and her forehead was scrunched up in few thin lines out of complete agony.. The sharp nose of her was flaring out of frustration and dejection.. Whatever the matter must be, Reuben''s only weak point was to see his Ica in pain and right at that moment, Veronica was beyond very hurt after hearing the news and her eyes were enough to convey her pain to everyone... But being a specialist to understand her very much, Reuben very well knew that Veronica was not only suffering from extreme torment rather she was a whole lot of remorseful for whatever had happened to Alex. She was internally blaming herself for the sudden turn of events.. Couldn''t able to stand anymore to see his love in pain, Reuben hugged her tightly in his arms and kissed the top of her head, mumbling soothing words to console her, "Ica.. I know honey that you''re accusing yourself for Alex''s death but trust me it''s not your fault. It was just the circ.u.mstances alongside someone''s dirty planning.." Reuben said the last part in an anger filled voice which didn''t go unnoticed by Veronica.. Veronica was crying very badly in Reuben''s consoling arms. All the happenings around her was quite unexpected and very hard to believe. So she just continued weeping like a baby in the comfort of Reuben''s arms.. But when Reuben mentioned that Alex''s death might be someone''s dirty plans, Veronica stopped crying and looked up at Reuben before asking, " What do you mean by someone''s dirty planning?" "I''ll tell you everything but first, you need to know the complete story about Alex. " Reuben said. "There is more to listen?" Veronica asked with a confused face. Reuben nodded at her and asked Alonzo, "Will you please explain why Alex had died now?" Alonzo finally controlled himself after being asked of the reason of his brother''s death. He laughed out loud and said sarcastically, "You want to know? You really want to know? It''s because of your girlfriend, my brother had died. I wanted to hate her so much for his death but this stupid heart didn''t listen to my mind and continued loving her even after she forced my brother to the deathbed.." "What the f.u.c.k are you saying Alonzo? How could I cause Alex''s death when I was not even there in city B?" Veronica yelled at him, feeling she had been accused wrongly. Leaving a mocking laugh, Alonzo said, "Yes... You were not there when he died. But you already did your deed before leaving our city B which resulted Alex to leave his last breath." All the patience and calmness, Reuben was holding till now, got shattered at the exact moment when Alonzo blamed the love of his life for an allegation which she had never committed and his fury raised in a high spirit specially after seeing Veronica all exhausted because of the wrong charges against her... "Shut the f.u.c.k up Alonzo. One more word against her and I swear you''ll not be alive to say anything else." Reuben burst out, venting all his conserved anger.. Everyone except Veronica, jolted up after hearing the calm Reuben to suddenly snap out like this.. Alonzo fisted the fork on the table and fumed in anger, "Okay. Then let me tell you what caused by brother to sleep in a deathbed so young.." Taking a deep breath, Alonzo asked Veronica, "Do you remember that my brother had wanted to meet you at the riverbank, the day before you leave city B?" Veronica''s mind quickly diverted towards that day which she never wanted to remind again.. But she also can''t erase it from her mind too.. How could Veronica forget that day which had forced her to depart from city B without seeing Alex for the last time?? She could never... So she nodded her head and affirmed, "Yes, I clearly remember that day but suddenly Alex messaged me that he couldn''t¡­" Before Veronica could finish her sentence, Alonzo interrupted her midway, "He went to meet you at the riverbank that day. He stayed there sitting alone for almost one hour but you didn''t come... Finally after another fifteen minutes of his patiently waiting, you came there and confessed your feelings about me to him.." Chapter 206 - Frozen Figure... "He went to meet you at the riverbank that day. He stayed there sitting alone for almost one hour but you didn''t come... Finally after another fifteen minutes of his patiently waiting, you came there and confessed your feelings about me to him.." "What the hell do you mean? I never.." Again Alonzo cut Veronica in the middle and said, "Let me finish, Veronica." Veronica became quite whereas Reuben fisted his fingers in a ball out of anger which Veronica noticed and covered his hand with hers.. "Okay.. you finish first then I''ll start from my point of view.." Veronica said calmly and gestured Reuben through her eyes to stay calm.. Nodding his head, Alonzo started to tell what happened after Alex came back from riverbank after meeting Veronica.. ----- Five years ago... Alex returned home and met someone that night. After they left, he sat there with a sad expression and locked himself in his room.. He wept badly after lying on her bed.. Alonzo also got back home when he noticed that Alex was not anywhere and his room was locked. He went towards his room and knocked on the door. "Alex.. can you please open the door?" Alonzo knocked.. "Alex.. Open the door buddy.." He continued banging the door and finally after almost ten minutes, Alex unlocked the door with red teary eyes. "What.. What happened to you Alex? Why are you crying again?" Alonzo asked. Alex didn''t reply and just entered his room, being followed by Alonzo as both of them sat on his bed.. Few minutes later, Alex stopped crying and drank some water before turning towards Alonzo. "Alonzo.. You know that today I met Vero and she told me something about you.." Alex said facing Alonzo. Alonzo was confused first but still asked, "I understand. But what did she say?" "Vero.. She confessed her feelings to me or more like her feelings towards you. She told me that she loves you.. I mean she thought that you and me are same and confessed her love.." Alex said. "What? Veronica confessed? But why are you saying she confessed her love towards me?" Alonzo asked being puzzled. Alex closed his eyes taking a deep breath and said, "Its very simple Alonzo. The first few months when I was with her she never ever looked at me more than a friend. But after you started to meet her, she suddenly confessed me. Isn''t it con¡­ confusing? Moreover, I wanted to be sure whom she actually love? Me or you? So.. so I asked her that why she started to love me.." Alonzo was nervous but was still hopeful to hear Alex''s answer when Alex continued, "Veronica told me that she liked how I had changed after the first three months of our meeting. She liked the new Alex, not the previous one. And she fell for the later Alex''s charm which was surely not me.. So it''s you Alonzo.. She loves you like how you love her." Hearing this, Alonzo was on cloud nine and started to jump on the floor crazily and hugged Alex tightly, "Oh.. I''m so happy Alex. I''m so much happy that she loves me back. I''ll meet her tomorrow and confessed everything to her about us along with you." Alonzo was so much in joy that he became selfish without even remembering the fact that Alex was crying like hell when he approached him. He was so much into celebrating his own happiness that he forgot that his brother''s eyes were still red and puffy.. After dinner, both of them entered their room and slept off without knowing that the next day would be the last day the brothers would see each other for the last time.. ---- Alonzo woke up very early the next day with a very happy mood.. He was on top of the world, thinking about yesterday night when Alex had informed him about his love, Veronica''s confession to him.. Alonzo quickly got ready before knocking on Alex''s door. But even after twenty minutes, Alex didn''t opened the door. There was not even a single sound coming from inside which made Alonzo really scared.. Getting panicked, Alonzo got out the extra pair of keys of Alex''s room and opened the door hurriedly to find a sleeping Alex on the bed. He sighed in relief after seeing his peaceful face which reflected only purity and innocence.. With small and quite steps, he went near his bed and stood in front of him.. Patting his cheek and shaking him lightly, Alonzo tried to wake him up, "Alex, wake up bro. Did you forget that we have to meet Vero today and clear all the misunderstanding between the three of us? Alex come on bro.." Still Alex didn''t reply or not even stirred a little. Alonzo shook hus head, thinking that his brother really loved to sleep much and smiled to himself.. If it was another day, Alonzo would bother Alex to wake up so early.. But today was an important day when he was going to confess his love to Veronica, so he hadn''t any other option than waking him up.. "Alex.. Get up yeah buddy.." He again called him.. But even after so much nudging and shouting, when Alex didn''t wake up, Alonzo found it quite unobvious... Scrutinizing his body he noticed that he was lying like a limp figure and his chest was not rising up and down even a little.. Fear crept in Alonzo''s heart as he kept his fingers in front of his nose to check if he was breathing or not but to his horror, he wasn''t.. His pulse was not even working.. When he still didn''t get up he was about to take the glass of water to splash on him when he saw a bottle of sleeping pills with a letter tucked under it.. The bottle of pills were half emptied and he remembered that Alex had not been prescribed it by the doctor.. With his hands shaking badly, Alonzo opened the letter, holding his breath in his lungs and read it.. "Dear Alonzo, I know that you love me very much and I love you too. Whatever I''m writing in this letter, will express my feelings to you¡­ I know that you love Veronica very much but truthfully I also started loving her from the day I met her first time, without my knowledge. But I suppressed my feelings because of you and tried to move over her... But yesterday when Vero told me about her love towards you, I couldn''t take it more.. So I decided to end my life. It''s not anyone''s fault.. Neither yours, nor mine.. It''s the fault of just the time being.. Don''t mourn over me because of my death and promise me one thing.. Promise me that you are going to win Vero''s heart. I want both of you to live as a couple and stay happily for the rest of your life.. This will be my last wish to you.. With love, Your twin Alex.." Tears started pooling out from Alonzo''s eyes.. He couldn''t believe what he was reading but he was not in a mood to think about anything as he just lost one of the most precious person of his life... Couldn''t able to control his emotions, he looked at the frozen figure and cried out his brother''s name loudly, letting the walls of the room realise his sorrow about what he had just lost.. "Aleeeeexxxxx..." Chapter 207 - Cat got your tongue?... Back to present¡­ "My brother just died like this.. He sacrificed his love for me. I wouldn''t even able to talk to him for the last time. I''m the worst brother in the world who neglected his own twin''s feelings.." Alonzo said in a broken voice as tears continued to stream down from his eyes and fell on his cheeks. "Well, I agree over what you had said right now. You were so drowned into your own happy world, that you didn''t notice the pain of your brother. You know what Alonzo, I just despise you..." Veronica threw the cold and harsh words at Alonzo. At that exact moment, Willa suddenly asked, "I understand everything. But where is the fault of our Vero in your brother''s death?" Alonzo chuckled sarcastically and said, "Huh! You are asking me where is your friend''s fault? Then listen to me..." "The same day Alex had died, I went to find Veronica in her apartment so that she could see her friend for the last time but when I reached there, she had already left city B like a selfish woman... That time, I was so much angry to know that your dear friend Veronica Lopez, had never cared about Alex, she just only pretended to be a soft woman.." Alonzo said through pain visible in his eyes. After Alonzo finished speaking, Myra broke into tears, hugging Alonzo from back.. "He.. attempted suicide?" She asked being shocked. "Woah!! You made really a great joke of my friendliness, Alonzo. I''m truly impressed.. And what had you just said?? I told your brother that I loved you.. What a funny joke!! In my life, I had my eyes only for one person and that''s my Bennie. So how could I profess my love for another person whom I only thought of as my friend and who didn''t give a shit to our friendship." Veronica barked angrily at Alonzo. "Even if Alex attempted suicide, I refuse to believe that Niccy had ever professed her love for you to Alex. Because everyone present in this room very well know that Niccy only love one person for her whole life and that is none other than Reuben." Though Lucinda was in the brink of tears, hearing Alex''s suicide case but she still defended her best friend. "I agree with this. Vero only has her heart for my brother." Louis announced. Alonzo who was now hugging his sister Myra, gritted his teeth and roared, "Then do you think my brother is lying? He would never do that." Veronica''s expression was blank but her eyes were changing emotions in every minute as if she was contemplating over everything that Alonzo had just said. She knew that both of the brothers were nothing but two big betrayers but still her cheeks were wet with tears, hearing that her friend had committed suicide.. After all, she really thought Alex as her very good friend... But what Alonzo had said, was completely wrong and she had to present her perspective in front of him so his d.i.c.k head would go through the thing that she was not at all guilty of anything for which Alonzo was blaming her.. "Had you finished?" Veronica asked closing her eyes. "Huh?" Alonzo was confused about what she was saying. Opening her eyes and wiping her tears off her cheeks, Veronica said in a cold voice, "If you are done with your nonsense, then let me tell you my point of story.." "What? Do you have more to say? You just ruined everything..." Alonzo shouted. "Shut your filthy mouth Alonzo and listen to me." Veronica shouted back while Reuben carressed her back to keep her calm so that her health didn''t get affected... Holding Reuben''s arm for support, Veronica took a deep breath and said, "It''s true that the day before I left city B, both of me and Alex had planned to meet at the riverbank but he messaged me half an hour ago to meet him at the caf¨¦.. So I went there and waited for him for almost four hours but he never came... Instead, I met Mike there who was our classmate too. He showed me some airport pictures that Alex had went abroad for higher studies without telling me and I waited there like a fool... And do you even know for what reason, we both had decided to meet that day?" Alonzo was dumbfounded after hearing Veronica and he couldn''t able to speak anything nor he could answer her question... "What!! Cat got your tongue? We had decided to meet so that we could clear the misunderstanding between us because two days ago, he had insulted me with slang words and even pushed me on the floor in front of all the people, present in the caf¨¦.." Veronica snapped at Alonzo. "What.. what do you mean? It can''t happen. You''re lying. My brother can''t do this ever.." Alonzo denied to agree with Veronica. "Hahaha.. Do you think that everyone lies except your brother? Then listen to the whole story." Veronica laughed at him mockingly... Then sighing deeply, Veronica told everyone, specially Alonzo the whole story from the day she arrived at City B to the day she left. She narrated each and everything in details like she had said to Reuben previously.. Hearing all of that, Alonzo slumped on the chair near him and held his head with his hands before asking, "But how could that be possible? Alex said.." Cutting Alonzo off in midway of his sentence, Reuben said, "What you believe doesn''t matter to anyone.. The thing that matters the most is the proofs. Let me bring my biggest proof who will resolve everyone''s unanswered questions.." Saying this, Reuben took out his phone and called Tom, "Bring them in.." Few minutes later, Tom brought two middle aged persons inside the room which made everyone confused even Veronica too.. But in spite of being confused, Alonzo was more shocked to see both of them here. His eyes widened in pure disbelief when his gaze fell on those two people whom Reuben declared as one of his biggest proofs... Chapter 208 - Using Alex as a bet... But in spite of being confused, Alonzo was more shocked to see both of them here. His eyes widened in puro disbelief when his gaze fell on those two people whom Reuben declared as one of his biggest proofs.. Among one of them was, Alex''s doctor who had treated him from his childhood and the other one was more shocking whom Alonzo couldn''t believe to be present here ever.. Because he was the ex right hand man of Alonzo''s father, Mr. Brown who had also suddenly disappeared after Alex''s death five years ago.. "What are they doing here?" Alonzo asked Reuben. Reuben looked at Alonzo before saying, "Don''t you think there are many loopholes between what you and Ica said?? If you don''t think so, at least I thought about that.. That''s why, I had searched for every information which happened five years ago which resulted me to find these two persons who will be the bridge of every lies and truths.." Both Alonzo and Veronica stared at Reuben when they also understood that there were really not one but many loopholes between the stories which both of them represented.. "He was your father''s right hand man once, Bryce. But do you know why he had disappeared suddenly five years ago?" Reuben enquired Alonzo. But Alonzo just shook his head in denial and replied, "No¡­ I don''t know. I used to see him always with my Dad wherever he went. But he suddenly just vanished like a thin air." Chuckling at him, Reuben said, "Don''t worry. He will explain you everything why he had disappeared from everyone''s eyes." Turning towards Bryce, Reuben ordered in a stiff voice, "Speak everything in details without missing a single thing.." Bryce nodded and said, "I left your father''s side because he had killed my wife and son without any mercy when they heard something which could ruin his reputation or sent him to jail.." Alonzo was beyond shocked right at that moment. He knew his father was cruel but not so cruel to kill an innocent child along with his mother.. "What are you saying? Speak clearly." Alonzo said angrily. Sighing Bryce said, "It all started after you had taken Alex out from his clutch. He started to find him crazily and got to know that you''re the one who had let him out and helped him to hide. So he went to you for him but you declined him... Even you had threatened your own father with the shares of your company that if he tried to find Alex anymore then you would sell those shares to his rival company. And the threat indeed worked.." Everyone was quite and listening to Bryce while Reuben helped Veronica to sit on a chair with him and she placed her head on his shoulder while listening to Bryce''s explanation.. "Then what happened?" Neil asked. Looking at Neil, Bryce continued, "Then after almost one year of searching, he finally found out where Alex lived. But he was more shocked to find out that Alonzo didn''t go abroad but stayed in disguise to protect his own twin brother... So he waited for the perfect chance to come out and kept his eyes on everything which related to both of you brothers. Later he found out that both of the brothers had been playing a game of being the same person to befriend one girl who was Veronica Lopez." Stopping to take a deep breath in middle and after looking at Alonzo, he continued, "Later he also came to know that you both fell in love with the same girl.. But he was not at all worried about your brother as he was more tensed about you because, you would be the future CEO of his company. As Miss Veronica also hid her true identity and portrayed herself as a middle class woman, he thought that Ms. Veronica wasn''t worthy of being with you. So he decided to make both of you split up, using Alex as a bet of his own plan.." "Making Alex a bet? What do you mean by that?" Henry asked. "This was where the story began which was unknown to everyone except me and Mr. Brown himself, as I was the one who had informed him everything about Alex, Alonzo and Miss Veronica. He only once saw Miss Veronica''s picture for few seconds. Maybe that''s why he was unable to recognise her in your company''s party." Clearing one doubt on everyone''s mind, Bryce finally came to the main story.. --- Five years ago.. The night before Alonzo had to go for his trekking, his father Mr. Brown had started to execute the first step of his plan. After Alonzo left that day to buy something from the nearby shop for his trekking, Alex was all alone in the whole house... So Mr. Brown took that exact chance and came to meet Alex at their home. He arrived there with Bryce and two of his other men and one of them knocked on the door. After few minutes of knocking, Alex''s voice got heard by them.. "Who is this?" Alex asked from inside his room. Then Mr. Brown signed Bryce to say his line which was, "Sir, there is a delivery package on the name of Mr. Alonzo Brown." "Delivery package?" Alex asked, still from inside, without opening the door. "Yes, sir.." Bryce said from the other side of the door, faking his voice. As Alex was not allowed to open the door to any strangers so he was complexed between the two facts that if he should open the door or not... But what if it was an important delivery for his brother, Alonzo..!! Yeah, he was about to go for a trekking the next day so he might have ordered something. So he should recieve the package from them.. Deciding it, he shouted back from his room, "Okay, wait for a minute. I''m coming." A minute later, he finally walked towards the door and opened it wide only to get shocked by the people in front of him.. "Da¡­ Dad??" Alex stuttered. Chapter 209 - Scapegoat... A minute later, he finally walked towards the door and opened it wide only to get shocked by the people in front of him.. "Da¡­ Dad??" Alex stuttered. "Hey son. Won''t you welcome your father in your house?" Mr. Brown asked with a crook smile on his face, slightly peeking through the door.. Before Alex could answer anything, he was pushed aside by the men as they entered the house following Mr. Brown. Alex got afraid after seeing his father at the doorstep of his house. He knew that if his father had come suddenly to his home in the absence of his brother Alonzo, then it was not any good omen... He knew that something bad was going to happen soon and the cause would be none other than their own father. Still getting scared, he entered the house and locked the door with his shaking hands. Beads of sweats started to produce on his forehead, making his nervousness get noticed by Mr. Brown.. Mr. Porter Brown sat on the chair with a smirk on his face and continued looking at his son Alex from head to toe, whom he had never loved. His eyes literally glaring at him with an evil glint which got missed by Alex as he was bowing down his head to play with his fingers out of fright.. "Son, why don''t you sit here? Let''s have some father son talk." Porter said. Alex looked up from his fingers and sat on the chair opposite to his father silently as he asked, " Wha.. what do you want to talk about, Dad?" Smirking at him, Mr. Brown leaned over a little before muttering, "I want you to be the scapegoat of my plan.." Alex''s eyes got widened when he heard his father to say that word as he shuddered in fear before asking again, "What do¡­ you mean, Dad?" "Well, I don''t mean anything. As I''m your father and have raised you for so many years so I thought why don''t I get my payback from you now?" Porter Brown said with an evil smile on his face. "But da¡­ Dad.. You never had cared for me in the past years and it was my brother who.. who had look after me from the moment, he got me out of your cage." Alex said stuttering. Mr. Porter Brown smiled wickedly and said, "Yeah. You''re right that your brother took care of you after threatening me with my company but what he didn''t know was that I''m not any kind of simple person to just get threatened by a little boy like Alonzo who is supposedly my son also.. So I just came here to show what is my exact power in city B and what is the result of going against me.." Alex gulped nervously when he heard his father spitting threatening words to him. So he just prayed to God inside his heart to keep him and his brother safe from this dangerous man''s hand. No one knew Mr. Porter Brown better than Alex because he was the one who had stayed as a prey of his father''s fury, almost for his whole life. The amount of torture and beatings he had gone through, had still left a deep scar in his mind.. After getting a little bit of courage from his prayer, Alex asked, "How will you do that? I mean.. How will you show your power to everyone, specially Alonzo?" "I''ll not do that but you will. As you are your father''s son, so you have to help your father in fulfilling his wishes.. Isn''t it right my dear son?" Though Mr. Brown''s voice was sugarcoated, still it was not oblivious to Alex that his father meant nothing but just harm to him.. "What kind of help are you talking about?" Alex tried to be confident though he miserably failed. "Nothing much.. I jtst heard that your brother had fallen in love with a girl whose name is Veronica Lopez who is also a friend of yours... And I also came to know that you guys are acting to be the same person to meet that girl everytime and even I know that you''re going to see her tomorrow after Alonzo leave for his trekking.." Mr. Brown said. "So??" Alex asked nervously. Again giving him a smirk, Alex''s father Mr. Brown said, "So.. you just have to remove her from your brother''s life. I don''t want any poor girl to come into our household. We don''t know if she is just some gold digging bitch or not.. So I can''t risk either my son''s life or my huge property.." "Dad.. you can''t do that. Alonzo loves her very much and she is also a very good girl." For the first time in his life, Alex had voiced out his opinion in front of his father to stand up for his brother and friend. Furrowing his eyebrows at the sudden spirit of Alex, Mr. Brown said, "I don''t care about that. I just want you to follow my command otherwise.." "Oth.. otherwise?" Alex stuttered as his hands got wet by perspiration. Wickedly smiling at him, Mr. Brown muttered threateningly, "Otherwise I''ll kill both of you and that girl Veronica. Do you want that to happen?" All the confidence Alex had built up from these past few months got scattered down in a minute and at this moment Alex didn''t feel anything but despair.. "You.. you can''t do that.." Alex mumbled with hit tear flowing from his eyes. "Of course I can do that my dear son. And no one knows better than you about that. Or did you forget the beatings I gave you?" Porter Brown said it without any sympathy in his voice but just venom in his words. Alex clearly remembered those days when he was detained under his father and got beaten brutally by him most of the time. Whenever Mr. Porter Brown would need to vent out his anger, he would choose Alex as his prop and started to beat him mercilessly without catching any grief on his emotions. Chapter 210 - First Task... Whenever Mr. Porter Brown would need to vent out his anger, he would choose Alex as his prop and started to beat him mercilessly without catching any grief on his emotions. Just remembering about that memory, made Alex shuddered as he also thought of his friend and finally came to a decision, "Wha¡­ what do you want me to do then?" "That''s like my son. Well, for now you don''t have to do anything but I''ll inform you whenever you have to be my puppet. Understood?" Porter Brown asked. Alex just nodded his head with his face all wet, being covered by tears as Mr. Brown said goodbye and left the house.. ---- The same day he called Veronica to meet him near her apartment, out of fear that he might not get any more chance again in the future. As Veronica came out of her apartment, Alex told her about the fact that he liked her as a friend and she also reciprocated his feelings. He clearly knew that Veronica didn''t think of him anymore than friends so he just changed the topic and went on a walk with her when his phone suddenly buzzed and it was none other than his father who was calling him... Fear crept inside his heart as he talked to his father without Veronica''s knowledge as she was also busy with her phone when his father said, "If you are done meeting your friend then come back to your home right now. Your brother is almost there and I don''t want you to tell anything to your brother about today''s meeting with both of your sweetheart Veronica." Alex''s face paled when he heard his father but he still agreed and looked at Veronica before saying with a heavy heart, "Vero.. Something came up.. I''ve to leave now." And he ran to his home with the new fear still building up in his bones.. As soon as he entered his home, he found out that Alonzo was still not there. Sighing in relief, he quickly changed himself in his home clothes. Alonzo returned after few minutes but Alex didn''t had the courage to speak to him anything so he just kept silent which triggered Alonzo a little but he thought it''s nothing much to worry about which gave Alex a sense of appeas.e.m.e.nt.. ----- Two days later... At afternoon... Alex was getting ready to meet Veronica when the bell rang as he get frightened again because his brother was not at home which meant only his father could come there. He didn''t want to open the door at first but when he remembered his father''s threat to kill Veronica, he slowly walked towards the door and unlocked it. True to his guesses, it was his father who was standing outside with a mocking smile on his face as he said, "My son is too much lazy to open the door so late.. And I hate lazy guys.." As everyone seated in the living room, Porter Brown said, "Today I''ll give you your first task which you need to complete without any excuses if you want to keep your friend safe.." Hearing it, Alex face paled as he asked, "What.. what task?" "It''s very simple. You just have to insult her in front of the public by calling her with bad names like bitch, s.l.u.t etc¡­" Mr. Brown said as if it was nothing big to insult someone close to their heart... Alex''s eyes widened and his face paled in a white sheet as he stuttered while answering, "I.. I can''t do that. She¡­ she is my friend and I can''t ever call her with these names." Tears pooled in his eyes as he thought about it but his head started spinning when he heard his father''s next words.. "Well you don''t have to do anything as the drugs will do everything for you." Mr. Brown said with a smirk as he pointed towards a man in a white coat. "D.. drugs." Alex stuttered as he finally noticed the doctor with his father''s men who was no other than his own doctor whom Alonzo had appointed for his check ups. He didn''t see him till then as he kept bowing down his head out of fear.. "Why.. why are you here?" Alex asked the doctor. "You''ll come to know this soon." Mr. Brown said before signaling the doctor to start his duty. The doctor walked towards Alex with a sorry face and took out some sorts of yellow liquid from his bag before injecting it in Alex''s vein forcefully.. After the work had done, Bryce had picked Alex up from his home and left him near the caf¨¦ before reminding him, "Remember to insult her in front of everyone, otherwise it''ll not be good for both of you and that girl." Alex nodded his head groggily as the presence of the drug started showing its effectiveness in his body and he slowly walked inside the caf¨¦. When Veronica saw him, she got up to hug him but he pushed her on the floor harshly... Veronica stood up again and asked about the reason of his this kind of behaviour. The drug trickled on his mind as its work effected him and he barked, "That was nothing but a punishment for your sickening mind and rotten heart." After one after another he threw more and more cruel words to her which earned him a huge slap from her.. Coming back home, he started to cry badly as his heart tightened in agony and pain.. He cried and cried until his brother Alonzo came back from trekking and consoled him as Alex slowly fainted in his arms... Later Alonzo called the same doctor to treat Alex.. When the doctor got his call, he became a little bit scared and called Bryce to know about, what he should do then.. Bryce informed him to just go there and inform Alonzo that it was just simple stress, nothing more. Bryce agreed and visited the brothers'' home.. After checking Alex, he replied that nothing much happened to be tensed as Alonzo relaxed and started caressing his brother''s hair for the whole night.. Chapter 211 - Relish her beautiful face... The next day, Alex got up from his sleep and found out that Alonzo was not there in the house as the nurse had already informed him that he had gone out for some work early in the morning.. Rubbing his fingers on his face, Alex ran his fingers through his hair which were already disheveled because of his earlier sleeping posture for the whole night. All suddenly, he remembered the previous day''s events and started to cry again for whatever harsh words he had threw on Veronica but stopped when his phone rang on.. As he checked the caller ID, he got startled to see that the caller was none other than Veronica herself... Without pondering over anything too much, he just quickly picked up the call to talk to her. Alex got very much happy when Veronica wished to meet him the next day at the riverbank to clear all the misunderstandings between both of them and obviously he merrily obliged to it. Alex was more than very much contented to meet her and he finally decided that he should not listen to his father anymore and tell the about the truth, regarding the recent activities around him to Vero and Alonzo.. Unbeknownst to him, the nurse that Alonzo had appointed, was actually assigned by Bryce under the order of Mr. Porter Brown. And she had listened to all his plans and quietly informed Bryce about him.. Bryce nodded and told his boss, Mr. Brown about Alex''s certain bravery acts.. Hearing it Mr. Brown let out a mocking laugh and replied with a smirk plastered on his lips, "Oh.!! Seems like my little yet not so normal son had got quite a few big guts to backstab his own father and plan dirty behind my back. Hmm.. Let him go to the riverbank first, but he can''t meet that girl there. What is her name again?" "Sir.. It''s Ver¡­" Before Bryce could complete, Mr. Brown cut him off in middle, "Whatever her name might be. It''s not at all important for me. After all, I just want her out of Alonzo''s life along with Alex.." Bryce nodded his head at his Boss''s order and called the nurse again ordered her, "Let Alex visit the riverbank as per his wish. But before he could go out of the house, get his phone and message Veronica by his name to change the destination and meet him at the caf¨¦ near the shopping mall..." "Yes sir. I understood." The nurse replied before hanging up the call. ---- The next day, Alex got ready to meet Veronica and waited for her at the riverbank. After waiting for one hour there, he didn''t catch any glimpse of Veronica still there but around fifteen minutes later, he got a call on his phone.. He excitedly picked up his phone without noticing the caller ID, thinking that it must be Veronica but he got the biggest shock of his life when it turned out to be his evil father, Porter Brown. "Da..Dad..??" He stuttered. "Yes son. It''s me. I guess you got some really big guts to manipulate me in a wrong way and went to meet that girl. Well, if you don''t want her to die then come back to your home right now. I''m eagerly waiting here to give you a precious gift for your deadly work. You only have 15 minutes to reach here." Mr. Brown said harshly and cut the call without waiting for Alex''s response as he was sure that Alex would immediately run to his home after listening to the threat. And as per his correct prediction, Alex ran back home breathing heavily and found his father sitting leisurely on the couch of their living room. There were also other people without his father like Bryce, the doctor and other two men but he got shocked the most to see the nurse standing beside Bryce with a guilty expression on her face.. Now everything was crystal clear to him that the nurse was the one who had informed his father about his plan. He got infuriated with the thought of betrayal of all the people but at the same time he also felt devastated to the deepest core of his heart.. "What the hell do you want now?" For the first time in his whole twenty two years of life, Alex had yelled on anyone and spouted curse words intentionally, specially when the person was his abusive father... Mr. Brown''s expression changed to anger in a flick of second but he controlled it as he snorted coldly, "Nothing so big, my dear son. But you just have to say some words to your brother when he comes back home. It''s as simple as flowing water in the river.." Then Bryce told Alex what he had to say but after hearing it, the colour of Alex''s face changed drastically as he denied it instantly in a straight cut tone, "No.. I can''t do this. I can''t lie to my brother about such a big thing like this.. Clearly Vero doesn''t love neither me nor Alonzo. She sees both of us as a mere friend though she doesn''t know about the truth that we''re both different persons and moreover both of us are twins.." "Well, I didn''t come here to take your permission, my dear son. I''m ordering you to do this or else your friend will not be alive to hear your explanation anymore. I''ll personally kill her and sent her deadbody to you so that you could relish her beautiful face for the last moment." Mr. Brown said before signaling Bryce to show him something... Alex took the notepad from Bryce and what he saw the next, made his eyes bulge out of his socket out of extreme shock and his facial expression changed from anger to terror... A man was holding a gun in his hand outside the caf¨¦, wearing a casual dress to get mixed with the common people. And the camera angle was so perfect that Alex could evidently notice Veronica inside the caf¨¦ in the video, waiting for him to come.. "This..This??" Alex looked up at his father and stuttered. Chapter 212 - Kill Two Birds With One Stone... "This..This??" Alex looked up at his father and stuttered. "Yes. This will be the outcome if you don''t listen to me. The gun that the man was holding in his hand, will be shoot right at that moment you''ll disagree with me and the bullet will directly pierce through that girl''s brain, making her dead forever.." Mr. Brown said. Alex broke in tears again and said in between his hiccups, "Fi.. Fine.. I''ll do whatever you want me to do. I''ll agree to your every commands.. But you have to promise me that you would not harm Vero.." "Okay.. I promise that only if you execute the plan accordingly then I''ll not even lift my finger on her." Alex''s father promised before leaving with his men while the nurse stayed there... ---- After few hours, Alonzo also came back home and found Alex locked in his room.. So he called for him and when Alex opened the door and returned back to his room without greeting Alonzo... Feeling weird, Alonzo also followed him and sat beside him. Few minutes later Alex stopped crying and said about meeting Veronica as he also informed Alonzo that Veronica has said something to him.. "Vero.. she confessed her feelings to me or more like her feelings towards you. She told me that she loves you.. I mean she thought that you and me are same and confessed her love for you.." Alex lied with a fake smile on his face. Alonzo was unsure about this but when Alex later explained everything to him, he became very happy about the fact that Veronica loved him back, forgetting to ask about the reason Alex was crying for... Alex saw the elated expression on Alonzo''s face and felt more guilty inside his heart for lying which was not less than committing a big crime according to him.. Then the twins had a peaceful dinner and both went to sleep... The nurse saw that Alex had worked according to Mr. Brown''s plan and called Bryce for further details. But when she heard about the next step she had to take, she became horrified, "No sir.. I can''t do that.. It''s impossible." "You have to do this. Otherwise I''ll kill your daughter''s family." Mr. Brown threatened through Bryce''s phone. Getting scared, the nurse agreed and when everyone had already slept, she slowly walked towards Alex''s room and woke him up. Alex was confused to see her in his room so late at night so he asked her, "What are you doing here?" The nurse was shuddering in nervousness as she sat beside him and said, "I''m here with Mr. Brown''s next order. He had told me to give this to you." She then handed him a paper, a pen and a bottle full of sleeping pills.. Alex saw it and made a confused face when the nurse started to speak again, "Mr. Brown had told you to eat this sleeping pills all together and write a suicide note to your brother.." "Sui.. suicide note?" Alex stammered again with a terrified expression.. The nurse nodded and said, "Yes.. You have to write whatever I''m going to say.." "I.. I don''t want to do this.. I''ll not do it.." Alex denied shaking his head like a madman. Seeing him like this, the nurse broke into tears because she never thought that she had to force someone to commit suicide... She pleaded, "I know sir, what I''m doing is absolutely wrong. But I don''t have any other escape route as your father had threatened me with my family... Moreover he also told me to inform you that your father''s men are still keeping an eye on that girl. If you don''t digest the sleeping pills then he would kill her along with you and your brother Alonzo." Alex''s mind filled with horror and tears again formed in his already red puffy eyes. He looked at the paper and pen and became determined with his next and maybe the last decision of his life... "Tell me what I have to write." Alex stated between sobs, trying to control the heartache he was feeling. The nurse looked at him pitifully before reciting, "Dear Alonzo, I know that you love me very much and I love you too. Whatever I''m writing in this letter, will express my feelings to you¡­ I know that you love Veronica very much but truthfully I also started loving her from the day I met her first time, without my knowledge. But I suppressed my feelings because of you and tried to move over her... But yesterday when Vero told me about her love towards you, I couldn''t take it more.. So I decided to end my life. It''s not anyone''s fault.. Neither yours, nor mine.. It''s the fault of just the time being.." Alex wrote it and gulped down the sleeping pills at once with quivering hands. The nurse saw him doing so and left from there crying and informed Bryce hiccuping in between, "Sur.. He.. He.. had gulped those pills and.. and also wrote.. the let.. letter.." "Okay.. Good..." Bryce said before telling the news to his Boss. Mr. Porter Brown laughed maniacally and said, "Wow..!! I hit the nails.. It feels so good to ''Kill Two Birds With One Stone''.. Well done.. Hahahaha..." ---- On the other side after the nurse left, Alex locked the door and picked up the pen and paper again.. The pills already started to affect in his body. But still with the last strength which was left in his body, he added few things on the letter¡­ "Don''t mourn over me because of my death and promise me one thing.. Promise me that you are going to win Vero''s heart. I want both of you to live as a couple and stay happily for the rest of your life.. This will be my last wish to you.. With love, Your twin Alex.." As soon as he wrote his last wish on the letter, he fell on the bed while breathing heavily... Slowly the swallow of the air in his lungs become smaller and few minutes later, he took his last breath before muttering only three words, "Stay well Alonzo.." Finally, his eyes closed and the living soul inside him left his body for eternity and flew towards the door of heaven.. Chapter 213 - Menacing Murderer... Back to present¡­ A deep silence overflew the atmosphere of the private dining room of Fusion.. No one said a single thing after Bryce had completed saying the whole story which manufied the actual truth.. They were still shocked with the words Bryce had just pronounced that Alex had never committed suicide but he had been forced to do so.. Most shockingly, who had forced him to his deathbed?? None other than his own father, Mr. Porter Brown.. How could a father harm his own family.. No.. Actually Mr. Brown didn''t harm his son.. He killed Alex with a very well manufactured plan.. Truthfully, Mr. Brown was nothing but a living monster, whose hands hadn''t even shook for once nor his voice quivered while giving the order towards his men to kill his own son.. Anyone in the room still couldn''t believe that a father could be this inhuman towards his own child.. Yeah... It was a murder. A very well planned murder which took the LIFE of an innocent soul.. And Mr. Brown was a menacing murderer... The innocent soul of Alex who had never wished anyone to suffer for him, had to shoulder the weight of responsibility. And to save others, he had compromised his own life.. Wasn''t it quite melodramatic like some daily soap operas which people loved to watch?? But no, this time it was real. A real father had really killed his own son for his skeptical ego, for his undeniable greed.. The news was really quite huge to take in for everyone as they never expected that still these kind of people existed in the world who could differentiate between his own children, bading on their mentality.. So what, if your one son was normal boy with super intelligence and the other had some mental disability who sometimes acted like a little child.. But he was also a human whose heart was as pure as water.. Moreover, he was Brown Family''s second heir, who had their blood running in his vein.. Indeed, Mr. Porter Brown was nothing but a cruel heartless creature.. Breaking the silence which was covering the room, Myra muttered, "My.. my brother didn''t commit suicide? Dad forced him to kill himself?? That''s mean it was not Veronica''s fault too.. My dad.. my dad made this whole plan to destroy my two brothers.. How could he do this?" Saying this, Myra broke down in tears, snatching everyone''s attention to her.. Especially when Alonzo''s eyes fell on her, he quietly played the words in his mind which Bryce and Myra had just said.. "Do.. do you have any proof against dad? And why did your family got killed?" Alonzo asked Bryce after coming back to proper sense.. Bryce nodded his head and said, "I have proofs against him. Truthfully, the proof was the reason for which my wife and son got killed. Unknowingly my son captured the video where he was confessing his crime of killing Alex and making Ms. Veronica out of your life after the burial of Alex. He was talking to me that time when my son made that video which had been seen by my wife later.. She came to confront me about the video.. Like why I was still working with a person who didn''t even hesitate to kill his own son. She was telling me to leave your father''s side but I was quite adamant to not listen to her.." Leaving a deep sigh and after remembering the most painful day of his life, Bryce continued, "Sadly, Mr. Brown had heard the conversation while coming to my house and he barged in before shooting those bullets into my wife and only son''s scalps. He warned me that he wasn''t killing me because I was his right hand man and then he snatched the recorder which had his confession video and broke it into pieces.. I stood there like a dead body in front of my family and later decided to leave your father''s side. But what he didn''t know was the recorder''s memory was attached to my mobile and the video itself saved in my phone. I took an oath that day that I''ll give your father the punishment for his deed one day but this proof was not enough as I knew that as soon as Mr. Brown would have got any idea about this video, he would kill me and destroy the video as well. I don''t have any fear to die for, but I want to die after seeing your father getting his retribution." A lone tear escaped from Bryce''s eyes when Willa asked, "Then why did you wait for so many years? You already got the proof, right?" "Proof is not everything to destroy a cruel person like Mr. Brown.. I needed someone powerful with huge bundle of money for this. So I waited for Alonzo to get bigger and stable so that he could fight for his brother and would be able to solve the puzzles of his brother''s death. But he never came to find the veracity of his brother''s death.. Because for him, his egoistic attitude let him close his eyes and made him unable to see the truth by blaming Ms. Veronica for everything. But luckily, Mr. Smith got to the root and asked me to reveal everything about that heartless bastard which I gladly deed. Now my only wish to you all is that, please give justice to Alex and my family." Bryce pleaded while sobbing very much. Alonzo didn''t mutter anything as he was still in his own world, thinking if he was the only guilty person who didn''t notice the changes in his brother and let him die in his father''s hand... He even also blamed Veronica for everything which she never had committed and called her with dishonorable names while throwing dirty remarks at her... He was ashamed of himself for his past behaviour.. He was cursing himself mentally for whatever treacherous things he had performed.. Whereas Veronica was just sitting on the chair, placing her head on Reuben''s shoulder while crying silently. Reuben was moving his hands on her back to console her but the pain in her heart to lose her friend was quite huge, compared to those betrayals.. Chapter 214 - Wrong Stupor... Whereas Veronica was just sitting on the chair, placing her head on Reuben''s shoulder while crying silently. Reuben was moving his hands on her back to console her but the pain in her heart to lose her friend was quite huge, compared to those betrayals.. Mostly after knowing that her friend Alex was innocent among all of these. He was trapped into that cruel person''s dirty plans who supposed to be his father.. As everyone was in their own thoughts, Louis asked the doctor who was standing beside Bryce, "So you were the one who drugged Alex and gave the nurse those sleeping pills? So where is the nurse now?" The doctor fell on the floor meticulously with tears in his eyes and kneeled in front of them before saying, "I was forced to do this. Alex was my patient and as a doctor I cared for him. But Mr. Brown had kidnapped my family and threatened me to be a part of his plan otherwise he would kill my family... In fear of losing my dear ones, I was forced to do this. Same with the nurse, she was also got blackmailed by Mr. Brown with her daughter''s family. But she was lucky enough that she died early to not consume the guilt in her heart for her whole life. Please forgive me.." After he finished saying this, Reuben ordered, "Tom, take these two people back to our base and treat them well by giving them the best punishment for whatever they did." Tom nodded and hold the collar of both of the men before pulling them out. Bryce followed him obediently but the doctor stopped in middle to urge, "I know I did a crime which needs extreme punishment. But can you please promise me that you would take care of my family Mr. Smith? They were completely innocent in all of these." Reuben looked at him before nodding as the doctor smile in relief before muttering, "Thank you.." as Tom took them out of Fusion with the backdoor.. After they had left, Veronica stood up abruptly from her chair and said, "I''m going to kill that Porter Brown. I''m going to seek justice for Alex. How dare he kill an innocent soul without any mercy?" Alonzo now looked up at her before saying, "You''ll not do anything to my father." This sentence made Veronica''s head burn in anger as she shouted at him, "Seriously Alonzo? Now that the truth came out in front of everyone, you are going to stay mum? When you accused me for all these sins then you were ready to go against me but now.. now that you came to know that the real culprit is your father, you are going to back off.." "WOW Alonzo WOW!! Extremely Superb!!!" Veronica clapped her hands while mocking him sarcastically. Alonzo didn''t have the guts anymore to face Veronica after whatever he had done to her but still he cleared her doubts, "No. I''m not stopping you because I want to save my father. But I want to give him his own retribution with my own hand. If I kill him right now, he will just die without any pain but this is not enough for his sins. I''ll let him feel the same pain from which my brother went through... And if anyone agree with this or not, Without Alex the other person who suffered the most here is me.. Alonzo Brown.." Veronica didn''t say anything as she knew that Alonzo was absolutely right and Reuben also came up to her before saying to Alonzo, "For the first time, I''m agreeing with Alonzo. But I''m also in this with you cause not only you and your brother, but my girlfriend also was a victim in all of these. So I''ll not leave him so easily..." Alonzo nodded his head as he had nothing more to say but his attention turned to Veronica when she suddenly said something which no one could believe with their own ears.. "You were right Alonzo that it was my fault. Because of me, Alex is no more here with us." "What the hell are you saying Ica?" Reuben immediately yelled holding her shoulders. Veronica looked up at him and said in a mellow voice, "Yes. What I''m saying is right. If I hadn''t hid my real identity from Alex then he wouldn''t have to believe his father''s threats that he could kill me... If I told him the truth that I''m not any ordinary person then maybe he would be alive here with us. It''s all my fault Bennie." Saying this she immediately hugged Reuben and cried on his chest. Myra also hugged his brother while crying with Veronica.. Reuben tried to sooth Veronica, "It''s not your fault honey. If you knew about Mr. Brown from before then you would definitely stand beside Alex to protect him. You were an equal victim in the whole dirty game.." This time Alonzo opened his mouth, "Don''t blame yourself Vero.. If we had told the truth to you about me and Alex being twins, then nothing could happen." "Stop blaming each other. It''s not gonna solve the problem." Lucinda who was weeping, suddenly shouted. Neil agreed with his sister and said, "Yeah, we should think of something to punish that Porter Brown.." "Yes.. But before that, everyone need to take rest. It was already enough to hear many truths for one day. Now what everyone need the most specially, Vero and Alonzo.. is to calm themselves and sleep more. We can talk about this later." Henry said. Everyone nodded and prepared themselves to leave after hugging Veronica and consoling her.. As everyone left, only Reuben, Veronica, Alonzo and Myra was there. "I''ll talk to you about it later. However, don''t stay in the wrong stupor that everyone of us had already forgiven you. Because it''ll never be possible for any of us after your wrongdoings." Reuben said sternly to Alonzo and he nodded. After that, Reuben hold Veronica in his arms and left the room. Reuben settled Veronica in the co-passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt before doing the same for himself as he drove off the car from Fusion... Chapter 215 - Marvellous Serenity... Veronica already fell asleep in the car as soon as she placed her head on the headrest of the car... She was already very much stressed over the recent circ.u.mstances and now that today she got to know the biggest truth about Alonzo and Alex being twins, with the extra shocking reality of Alex of Alex being no more in the world, was really hard to believe. All these was too much informations for her to take in single day.. So Reuben decided to do something special to make her mind relax.. He noticed the time in his watch and saw that it''s just 10:15 pm.. So he had enough time to take Veronica to the place where she would find herself very happy.. Holding her hand that was resting on her lap, Reuben caressed it and kissed her palm before muttering, "I''ll not let any sadness hover in your life Ica. I''ll always try to keep you happy and jolly.." After a long drive of almost one hour, Reuben stopped the car and shook Veronica very lightly by her shoulders.. "Ica.. Darling.. We''ve already reached here. Please get up now baby.." Reuben mumbled in a very low yet sweet voice.. Veronica opened her eyes slowly and looked at Reuben with a confused gaze. Reuben chuckled seeing her expression and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that, baby??" Blinking her eyes to let go off her sleepiness and yawning slightly, Veronica said in a hoarse voice, "Usually, if I''m sleeping in the car, you would not wake me up but rather pick me in your arms without disturbing me and enter our room before laying me on the bed.. Then why is today the sudden exceptional movement?" Reuben grinned at her and said, "Because today we''re not in any position of me picking you up and laying you on the bed.." "What do you mean?" Veronica asked with her furrowed eyebrows, being extremely puzzled. "Just look at outside honey.." Reuben whispered to her in a very low voice. Veronica turned her face around to see outside of the window and as soon as her eyes fell on the scenery of that place, her facial expression changed from confusion to pure astonishment.. "Why are we here now Bennie?" Veronica asked still looking outside the window with shining pupils.. Reuben didn''t say anything in reply. He just came out of the car and moved towards Veronica before opening her side of the door. Bending down a little, he unbuckled her seatbelt and stared at her lovingly who was looking back at him with completely questioning gaze.. He smiled at her before taking few strands of her hair in his finger and then tucked it behind her ear before giving a gentle kiss on her forehead. Stretching his hand a little bit to her, Reuben said, "Come out of the car first, babe.. Then I''ll tell you the reason of us being here. But first let me remove your heels, darling.." Veronica smiled cutely at Reuben as he took off both of their shoes one after one. Then she placed her hands on his outstretched one before stepping out of the car.. Reuben took her a little far away from their car and Veronica again felt awestruck with the beauty of the place.. It was a cliff at the end of the city which gave an awesome view of the full city which could be compared to an artistic portrait of a phenomenal nightime scenery... The cliff was filled with small green grasses which were making a bouncy yet tickling effect on their bare feet. It was covered with few big trees which were giving shelter to the little bushes around the area.. The big buildings and the houses were looking so tiny from the cliff that they can compared it with some jumble toys.. The lights illuminating from the buildings, houses and street lights were glittering like some sparkles of fire.. But the scene that Veronica liked the most was the clear view of the huge sky from there. The stars were shining brightly in the sky like giving naughty winks to the couple standing beneath them.. They were glimmering with so much glow as if they were smiling at the couple wholeheartedly while blessing them for their everlasting love.. This place was not unknown to the REUNIC couple as they had come there many times before.. But it was the first time for them in the past two or three months as they couldn''t get any free time out of their busy schedule to come here and spend some time with each other. It was a beautiful place and it''d be always the most favourite and special one in the couple''s heart for their sweet memories which they had created on the top of this particular cliff.. Veronica''s eyes twinkled in joy after viewing the mesmerizing beauty in front of her.. She squealed in excitement and intertwined her fingers with Reuben''s happily.. "Bennie, now that we''re already here.. Tell me why have you brought me here so suddenly? Any special reason?" Veronica asked. Reuben again didn''t reply and sat on the soft grass before pulling Veronica with him and made her sit beside him. He then wrapped his left hand around her shoulder, pressing her body on him more. Getting the cue from Reuben, Veronica placed her head on his shoulder as both of them continue to glance at the beautiful scenery in front of them, getting pulled into the marvellous serenity of the mother nature with the infinitive touches of manmade nature.. Veronica now had already forgotten what had happened that evening, the tornado that had passed through her mind, had already subsided down as she was now being engulfed in the peaceful embrace of the most beloved person in her life.. "Do you remember the time honey, when I first brought you here?" Reuben asked her without moving his gaze from the scenery.. Smiling at the remembrance of the special day which turned their whole life into a different direction and changed their relationship status from mere friends to the most romantic couple, Veronica''s face brightened into a glowing hue with a sparkling glint of saturation in her eyes.. Chapter 216 - Mouth ravishing kiss... "How can I forget that day honey when I had become completely yours? The day you had proposed me on this beautiful cliff to become your girlfriend.. The day when we professed our unending love for each other.. Even if I loss my memory anytime, I''ll never forget that single day when we kissed for the first time sealing our love confession to each other.." Veronica said remembering that special day of their life. Reuben also smiled after reminiscing the best day of his life when he finally got the courage to propose the girl of his long time dream and made her his forever.. "Yes.. this place will be always special for us because it relishes the memory we had and let us forget all the difficult moments we had suffered through.." Reuben said looking at the bright stars.. Suddenly something stuck on Veronica''s mind, hearing Reuben''s words and she became certain of the reason for which he had fetched her here.. Looking at the side profile of his handsome, Veronica smiled with love in her eyes and said, "So you had ushered me here at this late night so that I could forget all those conflicts that happened at Fusion about Alex and Alonzo.. So that I could clear all those turmoil breezing in my mind and feel a sense of relief.." Reuben immediately turned his face towards her and now their faces were inches apart from each other as he said jokingly, "You know what, this is a big crime to understand everything about my plan for every single freaking time, without letting me showcase my boosting power to you about how much I care for you.." Veronica laughed out loud throwing her head back in the air as the sound of her angelic laughter filled the gravity of the fresh air, making it more refreshing.. Seeing her enjoying the moment, Reuben felt extreme joy in his heart and he also couldn''t help but laugh with her, being all jovial again.. Finally able to control her laugh after trying hard, Veronica sat back to her position properly and said pinching Reuben''s cheeks with both of her hands, "If that was really your super duper strategy then let me inform you that your plan of showcasing your care for me with your boosting power had been a huge success Mr. Smith.. You have won a gold medal as an award from me Mister.." Reuben said with a smirk on his face, "But babe, that is not the reward which I need. I want something else.." Just noticing the smirk on his face, Veronica clearly understood what was baking in his naughty brain but it got confirmed to her when he mentioned that he wanted something more.. But being the girlfriend of this vicious yet cute man Reuben, how could she be less than him in planning wicked stuffs... So acting all innocent, she asked, "What else do you want Mr.? I don''t remember that there is anything else more pricy than earning a gold medal.." Reuben rolled his eyes at her acting and pulled her towards him more before whispering in her ears, "There is a priceless thing only you could offer for me sweetheart and that is none other that sweet yet mouth ravishing kiss from you.." Thinking of a defiant plan in her mind, she said, "Okay. I''ll give you one but you have to close your eyes for that.." "But why should.." Even before Reuben could argue back, Veronica scolded him, "If you want a kiss then do what I say otherwise forget about it.." Reuben pouted cutely at her before huffing in a comical manner and closed his eyes to wait for the upcoming sugary kiss from his girlfriend.. Veronica looked at his handsome face and felt more lucky to have him in her life but she threw those things out of her mind now and proceeded her wicked plan. Going near him, their breath fell on each other''s face, quitely mingling together as both of their heart raced loudly... Reuben became more anticipated for that kiss as their face inched closer but Veronica left him bewildered when she gave a quick peck on his cheek and sat back straightly. Reuben opened his eyes with irritation in his eyes and complained, "What was that?" "Well.. that was a kiss." Veronica winked at him. Reuben narrowed his eyes but didn''t reply as already another evil plan attacked in his mind. He slowly stretched his hands out and pulled her very close to him.. Their nose touched and there forehead was pressed against each other. Their eyes locked with both love and l.u.s.t filled in their eyes in equal portions. They kept staring at each other with so much intensity as if the time around them had already stopped and now there was only two people in the world.. "What do you have in your heart for me?" He asked in a low yet s.e.xy voice still looking into the eyes of Veronica.. Veronica stayed silent for sometime to think over the perfect words to express her love for the loveliest man of the world.. Finally finding the proper words through which she could display her love for him, she again looked at him with pure fondness, as she voiced out the love she have for him¡­ "My Heart Beats Only For You¡­" Reuben felt his heart fluttured with so much love that he couldn''t describe anymore. So he listened to his heart and without conveying his affection towards her with words, he pressed his lips on hers.. Veronica also reciprocated and kissed him back with giving all of her emotions in that one kiss... The kiss was gentle at first but then it turned into a demanding one with nibbling, biting, sucking and licking each other''s lips.. Their breaths hitched while their lips worked together to devour each other''s sweetness. Their eyes were closed as they enjoyed the moment of their together with utmost modesty... As the man and woman kissed each other passionately under the sparkling sky forgetting the world, the Moon witnessed their love all through out the night... Chapter 217 - Focus more on our present and future... Inside the car.. A silent atmosphere was created inside the moving car which was passing through the big streets of the crowded city S.. No one talked much as they were still in their previous daze. They couldn''t recover over the truth that they had suddenly had to face that evening.. "I don''t want to go back home today." Suddenly the silence got broken by Lucinda who muttered it in a low voice which was still audible for Henry who was driving the car. "What do you mean babe?" Henry asked. Lucinda looked at him and said, "I''m already very much stressed with the sudden revelation. Just thinking about everything, is giving me a shiver. I don''t know what Niccy is feeling right at this moment... We don''t even know anything about Alex, still I''m feeling so much bad for him. Whereas Niccy had spent six months with him. And the news of him having a twin who played with her trust and now Alex being dead.. must have been taking a great troll on her." "Yeah.. I agree with you, babe. But trust me.. Reuben is there to take care of her. So I''m sure that she won''t be suffering much. But what''s the relation between you not going home with the incident?" Henry asked being confused. Lucinda played with her fingers and replied, "I''m not feeling well today after all this. I want warmth to control my emotions. So tonight I want to be in your arms Henry... Let''s go to your apartment and spend the night together. Now that our parents also know about us, so there would not be any problem regarding this.." Henry almost lost his balance on the steering wheel when he heard her but controlled at the right moment.. Stealing a glance at her, Henry asked, "Are you sure baby?" "Yup. Very much sure." Lucinda replied shyly. Getting the confirmation, Henry immediately took a big turn and drove towards his apartment with a goofy smile on his face. Few minutes later, they have reached there and soon both of them got out of the car and entered the personal elevator which would take them directly to Henry''s Penthouse. "You get fresh in my room and I''ll use the guest room''s shower." Henry said. Lucinda smiled and walked towards Henry''s room but before she could enter, Henry stopped her, "As you don''t have any of your clothes here. So use mine.." Nodding at him, Lucinda said, "I think I''ve to keep some spare clothes here too as I''ll spend much more time here than before." "What do you mean?" Henry couldn''t understand what she had said but still had a vague idea of her words which he couldn''t able to believe at all. Lucinda just shook her head and said, "Nothing.." Then she just run to his room while Henry just stood there dumbfounded... --- Willa''s Apartment.. Neil parked the car in the parking lot as both of them looked at each other. Like Lucinda, Willa was also sad about today''s matter. Neil clasped her hand and squeezed it a little bit. "Willa, I know you are worrying about Vero. But listen to me. You don''t have to.. Reuben is with her." Neil assured her. Willa smiled and said, "I know that. That''s why I''m not tensed about her. It''s just, I can''t get over all of the truths yet. By the way, won''t you come inside?" Neil smiled and said, "No.. You need to sleep. It''s already late. I don''t want to be a disturbance in your beauty sleep." "You never bother me Neil. Keep it clearly in your mind." Willa said. "Oh, really? Then who was that person who used to get irritated just by my presence?" Neil teased. "Uff! That was a past tense Mr. Neil Wilson. Don''t you know that we should focus more on our present and future?" Willa said. Neil chuckled and asked, "Then baby, what about our present and future? What do you think about it?" Willa stared at his deep orbs and replied with a smile, "Now I see as a couple who are trying to fall in love with each other and giving their best to their relationship.. And about future, I''m seeing this couple to be madly in love with each other and spending the rest of lives together." Neil looked at her dreamy eyes and softly smiled at her. He was extremely happy that Willa was seeing them being into a next level which he also badly wanted to happen in his life.. "That time will come soon. I have full believe in our bond that we soon will be into each other so much that no one could be able to separate us." Neil whispered and placed a kiss on her forehead. Willa didn''t reply just lean towards him with an expectant eyes... Neil stared at her beautiful face and leaned forward towards her with a loving gaze.. Soon their lips met into a heart melting kiss as they poured all their new founding emotions in that sweet kiss.. They left each other''s lips when they finally felt satisfied with their kiss. After parting their face a little, Willa blushed in shyness while Neil just smiled... Caressing her cheeks, Neil said, "Go back to your room honey. It''s late. And good night." Willa nodded and said, "Good night." Before getting out of the car. Waving towards Neil for the last time, Willa went inside as Neil also drove back to his home.. ---- Henry''s Penthouse... After few minutes, Henry walked into his room to find Lucinda still in the washroom. He had already taken a shower and was wearing his casual sweatpants while his upper portion was bare without any clothes as his hair was dripping with water. Soon Lucinda also came out of the bathroom and Henry''s eyes widened seeing his girlfriend looking all s.e.xy wearing only his white t-shirt.. Lucinda kept drying her wet hair with the towel but didn''t notice Henry who was slowly walking towards her in a tippy toes.. Chapter 218 - Carrying my girl to our home... Lucinda kept drying her wet hair with the towel but didn''t notice Henry who was slowly walking towards her in a tippy toes.. She flinched when she felt a warm pair of arms wrapped around her waist but got relaxed when she felt the familiar sensation winding through them... Henry removed her hair from her shoulder and kissed her neck sensuously, making her m.o.a.n in pleasure. He sucked her neck area and bit it a little to soothe it later with his tongue by licking it simultaneously. His hand wavered up a little and cupped her b.r.e.a.s.t over her t-shirt. He fondled it with his right hand while his other hand hold her waist to keep her attached to him... Lucinda m.o.a.ned as she felt Henry removing the t-shirt from her shoulder area. He then trailed kisses on her bare shoulder and gave her butterfly kisses. Feeling the extreme closeness between them and with the work of Henry''s magical hand on her b.r.e.a.s.t which was fondling it like a dough, Lucinda m.o.a.ned and her cheeks got red in shyness. Though they made love for few times but she still was shy about being intimate with him. But she never felt any kind of regret for being one with Henry.. Whenever they would made love together, Lucinda would feel that she was living in pure bliss. Henry noticed her red cheeks and chuckled lightly, feeling extremely proud of seeing his effect on her.. He kissed her cheeks and whispered in her ears, "Baby.. You don''t need to be shy. You have the same effect on me. Look here.." As soon as these words escaped from Henry''s mouth, he pressed himself more to Lucinda which made her feel the bulging intensity of Henry''s little brother.. This made Lucinda blush more. Henry groaned and turned her around as he abruptly placed his lips on her. They continued to kiss passionately as their tongue got entangled with each other. They were savouring their warmth in each other''s mouth with that single kiss.. Lucinda couldn''t take it anymore and started roaming her hands over Henry''s perfect abs which soon reached at his pants. Both of them broke the kiss as both of them looked at each other''s intense eyes. Seeing the love and l.u.s.t in Lucinda''s eyes, Henry couldn''t control himself anymore and pushed her on the bed. One after another, their clothes got removed from their bodies as Henry hovered over her. He started kissing all over her body which made Lucinda m.o.a.n out louder.. "Uhh.. Henry.." This little m.o.a.n took Henry''s hunger for her in another level, as he quickly put on a condom and entered himself inside her.. Soon, their bodies danced with a syncing rhythm and they went into another world of utter pleasure with their loud m.o.a.ns and groans.. ---- Love-Paradise¡­ The car had stopped outside the main door of the beautiful bungalow and a pair of long legs stepped down on the cemented pathway. Those were the legs of a man in his expensive suit who was none other than Reuben Smith.. Reuben walked towards Veronica''s side with long strides. And before she could open the door, Reuben did it for her which made Veronica stare at him with furrowed eyebrows. Usually, Veronica would always like to do her things by her own when she was at her home...even if it was opening the car door herself. However, it was a completely different matter if there was some special occasion when they were planning to have some romantic time. Though the situation they had spent an hour ago on the cliff, was extremely romantic but she hadn''t thought that Reuben would have the same effect of their small yet lovely make out session on him till yet.. She wanted to ask what was the reason behind it when he seemed to be so much tired at the end of the day. After all, he had to roam around different city to find out the truth about the twin brother''s matter. But before she could open her mouth, she felt one strong arm was put under the thigh of hers whereas another one was kept behind her back.. Soon she was flying in the air without her knowledge which made her yelp a little in fear.. Reuben had lifted her in his arm in a one swift movement without bothering her questioning gaze that she was throwing at him and started walking towards the big wooden door of their sweet home.. "What the hell are you doing Bennie?" Veronica asked with a stunned expression. In response to her question, Reuben just chuckled and said, "What am I doing honey? Nothing much.. Just carrying my girl to our home. Is this something big to complain about?" Veronica shook her heads and said, "There is nothing wrong with that but aren''t you tired after such a hectic day? You already had to go through so much today and then even you took me to our favourite place where we spent our lovely moments. And it''s already past 1 am now.." Hearing her concern filled voice, Reuben smiled but ignore it to answer. Instead he asked her, "Ica.. Open the door honey. I''m already carrying you so can''t do it by myself." Though Veronica felt frustrated because of Reuben''s avoidance to her statement but still she obliged to him and opened the door for them to enter. As soon as they walked into the living room, Reuben made her sit on the sofa and went directly inside the kitchen. Veronica was stupified with his sudden demeanor but still she didn''t say anything... Soon she smelt the mouth wavering smell of Hot Chocolate and understood exactly what her super attentive boyfriend was doing.. And true to her expectations, Reuben came out of the kitchen holding two cups of coffee in his hands.. Slowly walking towards her, he gave one to Veronica and said, "Take it babe.." Veronica took the hot chocolate filled mug from him and sniffed the amazing smell of her all time favourite drink which could calm her mind just by one sip of it.. Smiling at Reuben, Veronica asked to Reuben, "You made this for me honey?" Reuben rolled his eyes at her and mocked in a very sarcastic way, "No.. I made it for my neighbor and handed it to you so that you can deliver it to them." Chapter 219 - Catch me if you can... Reuben rolled his eyes at her and mocked in a very sarcastic way, "No.. I made it for my neighbor and handed it to you so that you can deliver it to them." Veronica pouted and said cutely, "Come on Bennie. Don''t mock me by lying. I know it''s for me." "Obviously, it''s for you stupid! I don''t have either any energy or any interest to make a cup of your favourite sizzling hot chocolate for some other people at 1 am.." Reuben snickered. Veronica took hold of one particular word which escaped from Reuben''s mouth and immediately got into her dangerous zone which Reuben never wanted to visualise.. "Did you just call me stupid, Mr. Smith?" Veronica glared at him while throwing angry daggers at him. "Uhmm.. Did i? I can''t remember exactly.." Reuben pretended to be unknown to the past event. "Yes.. You definitely did. Now don''t act like you''re the most innocent soul of the world." Veronica snapped at him. Reuben looked at her adorably and said, "But honey.. I''m not acting, I''m really the most innocent soul of the planet.. And if you are complaining about calling you an idiot, then baby.. it''s true.. You are idiot but only My Idiot.." Veronica felt like giggling at his comment when she heard him call her as ''His Idiot'' but she suppressed it and pretended to be angry as she shouted on him, "Dare you call me idiot again and I''ll kill you.." "Really would you dare to?? Hmm¡­ I don''t think you have so much guts to do so.." Reuben said teasingly. "You are now really going overboard, Mr. Smith.. Let me show you my power on you.." Veronica threatened him in a deadly tone. As soon as she said these, she got up from the couch and kept the mug of hot chocolate on the table. She then turned behind to give a good beating to Reuben but couldn''t able to find him anywhere.. She was confused by the fact where had suddenly Reuben gone.. Did he become invisible suddenly?? But her confusion got cleared soon when a sudden shiver ran through her spine as she heard a whisper behind her ear, "I''m right here baby.. Now let''s see your true power.." Veronica abruptly turned hearing him and fisted her fingers to give him a tight punch but Reuben ran from there like a bullet train while yelling, "Catch me if you can, babe.." Seeing his childish behavior, Veronica also got her childish self back in her and ran behind him in a rocket speed.. "Wait you Idiot.. Let me catch you once and I''ll show you what I can do.." Veronica yelled back as the couple ran around the whole living room, fighting like a Tom and Jerry.. Fits of laughter erupted from the whole bungalow as the two a.d.u.l.t people played like some little kids.. But soon after few minutes, Reuben got tripped by a chair and was about to fell down when Veronica took the chance and held him by his collar.. "Now you are under arrest, Mr. Smith.. You don''t have anywhere to escape again from me." Veronica grinned widely. Reuben gulped noticing the little smirk on her face because he knew that his Ica wasn''t a person to handle him by some good beating.. She knew better way to make him suffer and the best weapon of her... was to make him s.e.x.u.a.lly frustrated.. He just now hoped that she didn''t imply something like this cause he didn''t want to take cold showers so late at the night.. But to his dismay, Veronica pushed him towards the sofa and hovered over him.. She sat on his stomach and tilted her body down so she could come face to face with Reuben.. She stared at his deep eyes and kissed the side of his lips.. After that, she trailed a few kisses on his jawline which made him close his eyes at the touch of her soft lips.. Soon her lips stopped near his lips as both of them looked at each other with desire in their eyes. Noticing Reuben''s hungry look, Veronica smirked and descended her lips on him. This was a soft kiss between them , no tongue or biting were included which made Reuben sigh in relief that he was at least safe from her torture. But that dream soon got broken when Veronica started grinding her waist on Reuben''s private part... Still kissing him on the lips, Veronica moved herself on him in a slow yet s.e.xy pace which resulted his little brother down there to get hardened by each passing second. When Veronica felt the hardened thing inside Reuben''s pant poking her, she smiled in between the kiss and parted herself from him. She then trailed her index finger from his forehead to his cheeks and at last his neck, before whispering in a seductive voice, "This is what you get for teasing me." Saying this, she didn''t wait for Reuben to get over the shock and stood up on the floor.. Giving him a naughty wink, she pointed towards the stiffening part inside his pants and mocked, "Now spend the night with this bulge, darling.." and ran away.. Reuben was flabbergasted at first by the sudden incident but when he got his sense back, she saw a running figure of Veronica.. Without wasting a single moment, he just jumped down from the couch and ran behind her. As he had longer legs than Veronica, it took mere seconds for him to catch her.. Getting a grip on her wrist, Reuben pushed her directly to the nearby wall and pressed his body on her.. Veronica was shocked with the sudden turn of events but it got broken when she felt something soft moving on her lips. Reuben kissed her soft plump lips hungrily and sucked it like a piece of candy.. When Veronica didn''t make any movement, he bit on her lower lip which made her gasp and using it at his advantage, Reuben pushed his tongue inside her mouth.. Getting the pleasure from the kiss, Veronica soon reciprocated and kissed him back with sane hunger. They both fought for dominance and soon they started biting and nibbling each other while exchanging their saliva.. Reuben''s left hand held her waist whereas his right hand slowly got under her blouse that she was wearing and roamed over her bare stomach.. As soon as the cold skin of Veronica''s body came in touch with Reuben''s hands, he totally lost it. Breaking the kiss quickly, he didn''t gave Veronica any chance to breath again and pulled her blouse over her head in a quickening speed.. Veronica was about to calm her heavy breath down when Reuben again pressed her lips on him.. Feeling his lips again on her, Veronica clutched his shoulder in a tight grip, pulling him more towards her to get a better access of his h.i.p.s.. Reuben smiled in the kiss as his hand roamed around the bare part of her body. Very soon, his hand moved behind her back and stopped right on her bra strap.. Circling his hand on her shoulder area to make it more warmer, he finally put his fingers on the hooks of her s.e.xy bra and unclasped it.. Chapter 220 - Make love to me...** [WARNING!! MATURE CONTENT AHEAD... READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...] Circling his hand on her shoulder area to make it more warmer, he finally put his fingers on the hooks of her s.e.xy bra and unclasped it.. Moving his hand from her back to her shoulder, he slowly yet steadily pull the straps down one by one and removed the bra completely from her body.. As soon as the bra got unattached from Veronica''s full b.r.e.a.s.ts, the cold air hit her body, making her shiver in the sensation.. Whereas Reuben glided down his palm from her shoulder to her arm which slowly slipped onto her stomach. He gave her tingling sensation by his long fingers and stopped right under her left boob.. He felt the heaviness of her plump b.r.e.a.s.t while his lips trailed down from her lips to her chin, her jaw.. When his lips met the part of her neck area, he gave a wet kiss there and nibbled it with his teeth.. Veronica m.o.a.ned lightly at his sweet torture and clutched his hair tightly in her fist. Reuben licked the area of her neck where he bit to soothe the pain and then peppered her collarbone area with more wet kisses.. Meanwhile Veronica''s hand also slid down from his hair as she started to unbutton his shirt from top to bottom. When she was finally done with it, she helped him to get out of the shirt and threw it on the floor. Reuben''s mouth was about to reach her cleavage area when Veronica pushed his face away which made him stare at her in utter puzzlement.. Veronica smirked at his sour expression and holding both of his elbows , she twirled both of them around like a whirlwind as now Reuben was pressed against the wall by Veronica hovering over him. Again Reuben was stupified with her sudden action but smiled when he saw the l.u.s.t in her eyes which was mixed with the purity of love.. Cupping his face with both hands, Veronica kissed his lips passionately while Reuben caught hold of her waist tightly. After the kiss, she copied Reuben''s action and trailed kisses from her chin to jaw, then towards neck... Biting at her neck and then licking the portion with her tongue, Veronica got very much happy as she had successfully created a hickey on him which was Reuben''s everyday routine.. Her hands touched his warm chest and rested on the side where his heart was beating erratically declaring his love for her. She then placed a soft kiss on his heart and went further down. She traced the stoned tight, perfectly sculpted abs with her hands which got soon replaced by her pink lips. She bent down a little while kissing his abs and then his navel.. Satisfied with her kissing on his stomach, Veronica moved her lips more down and stopped right at the upper portion of his suit pants. She looked up at Reuben from below and saw him smirking at her. She also smirked back and unbuckled his belt before pulling his pants out of his legs. Now Reuben was standing just in his boxers while Veronica still had her skirt and panty on.. Veronica then rubbed her hand on his member which was already hardened, making Reuben groan as he held her hair tightly in his grip. Getting already excited with the bulge, Veronica glided down his boxer also and threw it at another side as the proud member of Reuben stood long and stiffened.. Couldn''t able to hold herself more, Veronica grabbed his little brother and rub the tip of its head with her forefinger and then put her lips there to kiss it softly. After that, she just lick the side of it and put the d.i.c.k inside her mouth slowly gliding it up and down in her mouth in a s.e.xy way.. This ignited the fire inside of Reuben as he pushed Veronica more towards his member. Veronica increased her speed of her mouth and sucked it more hardly.. Reuben''s arousal grew more and he felt a rush of hormone coming out. Soon his white lava erupted from his huge pipe and Veronica''s mouth filled with his c.u.m. She swallowed it in one go as she kept squeezing his balls.. Feeling extremely relieved, Reuben pulled Veronica up and slammed his lips onto her... Holding her waist strongly, he lifted her up which made Veronica voluntarily wrapped her legs around his waist while her hand encircled around his neck.. Reuben pressed her again to the wall while still lifting her up in air and broke the kiss after few minutes. Both of them stared at each other while panting heavily as their eyes melted with love and passion.. Reuben gave her a quick peck on her lips and said, "You really are awesome honey. No one can give me any better blowjob than you.." Veronica narrowed her eyes at him and said, "You said that no one can give you better blowjob other than me...that I agree. But why did you compare me with others? Do you want any other girl to give you blowjob?" Hearing this, Reuben''s eyes widened in shock. He was baffled with the sudden daring question of his flaming girlfriend.. But before he could deny her, Veronica squinted her eyes more and threatened him, "Don''t even dare to think about being intimate with another girl otherwise I''ll kill her along with you.." "Whoa!! Whoa!! Woman!! Calm down first. From where are you getting this stupid ideas? Do you think, this cute boyfriend of yours will go to another irritating girl when he has the world''s most gorgeous woman who is beautiful from both inside and out.?? And about the second part of your statement, why are you so fiery today? Why are you talking about only killing today? Seems like, Mr. Brown''s killer mode had corrupted your head.." Reuben stated astonishingly. Veronica hit Reuben''s head and snapped, "Don''t take that monster''s name in front of me. It''ll spoil my mood. And it''s good that you know that you have the most beautiful woman for yourself. So now don''t talk rubbish and make love to me.." Reuben chuckled at her bluntness and said, "Well, it was you who started to speak rubbish first.. But I''ll let it pass this time as I have more interesting thing to do with you¡­ which is to have a very hot love making session... And when my queen herself is demanding who am I to disagree her. So today, there will be no stopwatch to stop me at any cost.. Now, let''s get back to the work.." Completing the last sentence hurriedly with a smirk on his face, Reuben attacked her lips again and sucked it hungrily.. Veronica smiled and wrapped her hands around Reuben''s neck while still clinging on his waist.. Reuben then hastily left her lips and went straight down to her cleavage area to leave sloppy kisses there.. And like everytime, Reuben''s magical mouth made Veronica feel the deep ecstasy of passion as his teeth again worked on her skin, leaving numerous hickeys here and there.. Satisfied with the result of colorful hickeys on her whole chest area, his eyes finally fell on the two inviting peaks on Veronica''s mouthwatering body.. His eyes darkened at the sight of them as his face inched closer towards her left b.r.e.a.s.t¡­ Chapter 221 - Whole House S.e.x...** [ WARNING.!! MATURE CONTENT AHEAD... READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...] Satisfied with the design of colorful hickeys on her whole chest area, his eyes finally fell on the two inviting peaks on Veronica''s body.. His eyes darkened at the sigh of them as his face inched closer towards her left b.r.e.a.s.t and covered it with his lips.. Taking the pink n.i.p.p.l.e in his mouth, he started to suck it sensuously while his hand moved towards her other b.r.e.a.s.t.. Cupping the other one in his hand, Reuben squeezed it hard, making her m.o.a.n loudly. At one side, Reuben''s sweet mouth was torturing her n.i.p.p.l.e with his wet tongue and lips and on the other side, his hand was groping her other b.r.e.a.s.t while pinching the n.i.p.p.l.e from time to time.. "Ahhh.. Bennieee¡­" Veronica m.o.a.ned when she felt Reuben''s sharp teeth nipping on her soft bud.. She ran her fingers through his hair and threw her head behind so that the back of her head was now pressed against the wall while her upper body was completely arched towards Reuben completely, giving him more access to dive himself into the pleasure of her soft and plump b.o.o.b.s.. When Reuben finally became satisfied with sucking her left b.r.e.a.s.t, his focus now went on her right one. He slowly kissed the beneath portion of her plump melon and gave many wet kisses there, leaving his saliva as a symbol of his amazing mouth work... Reuben then moved his lips a little upside, so that he could catch her right n.i.p.p.l.e also in his mouth and nibbled it lightly, getting another m.o.a.n from her.. He applied the same process on her this b.r.e.a.s.t too like the first one by sucking, nibbling, biting and licking sensitively.. Few minutes later, his lips traveled down between the pathway of her b.r.e.a.s.t and stopped right on her small yet cute navel.. Letting his tongue out, he twirled it around her s.e.xy navel and occasionally left kisses on her whole stomach area... In between, he never forgot to leave few love bites on her whole body which soon turned into dark hickeys.. Pleased with his exceptional work, Reuben then moved more southwards where the waistband of Veronica''s skirt was put on.. Veronica looked at him intensely and feeling her deep stare, Reuben also glanced back at her. Both of their eyes locked and a sensuous smile crept on their faces.. Still looking at her, Reuben pulled open the skirt from her waist and put Veronica down from his body so that that the skirt could drop down on the floor.. Now, Veronica was only on her panties, no other clothes were covering her body.. Veronica rubbed her legs against Reuben''s and when he felt it, his eyes fluttered with desire as he moved his hands in the middle of her thighs. As expected, Reuben''s magic touches worked positively on Veronica as the thin fabric between her thighs was already drenched wet with her juices.. Reuben very skillfully rubbed her private part over her panties making her m.o.a.n his name again and again.. He tried to get his fingers into the fabric but Veronica grabbed his hand and shook her head at him in refusal, making him confused at her unexpected behavior. But before he could contemplate on it, Veronica closed the gap between them and whispered seductively in his ears, "Let''s have our special one today.. You know the ''Whole House S.e.x''.. We haven''t tried it for months and I miss it badly.." Reuben''s eyes twinkled in excitement because this ''Whole House S.e.x'' was their special invention together, where they would make love in each and every corner of their home.. As Veronica mentioned previously, they hadn''t really done it for months because of their shortage of time but the next day was Sunday, so there was no obstacles which could stop them.. In a blink of an eye, Reuben picked her up as again Veronica wrapped her legs around Reuben''s waist as he mumbled devilishly, "So from where we are going to start today?" Veronica smirked at his question and pointed behind him with her chin as she muttered, "From the stairs¡­" Reuben''s smile brightened as he didn''t waste anymore time and carried her towards the stairs directly.. Making her sit on the railing, he gently pulled her panties from her leg, making Veronica completely n.a.k.e.d. Veronica encircled her arms around Reuben''s neck for balance whereas he just dipped his head between her legs.. He parted her v.a.g.i.n.a and started licking her nub with his tongue.. As he started nibbling on her v.a.g.i.n.a, he pushed his index and middle finger in her heated core. The moment, Reuben''s fingers confronted with her aching core, Veronica m.o.a.ned out loudly, "Oh¡­ Honey.." Reuben didn''t stop there and pushed another finger inside her while still sucking her nub hungrily. Few minutes later, Veronica''s wall tightened and a rush of wetness flowed from her core which Reuben happily gulped down.. "You always taste heavenly, my love.." Reuben said with a smile. Veronica smiled back at him when she got picked up by him in the same style again. Reuben held her tightly in his arms and kissed her passionately while walking upstairs, towards their bedroom.. Entering their room, Reuben threw her on the bed, but not too harshly. He then pulled out a packet of condom and hovered over her immediately. Parting Veronica''s legs wider, Reuben positioned himself properly and wore the condom around his shaft before entering her.. As Veronica felt him inside her, she felt complete as a woman and clutched his shoulders firmly. Reuben pushed himself in and again pulled out.. Then he thrusted his c.o.c.k inside her with full force as another m.o.a.n escaped from Veronica''s mouth. "Ah¡­ Honey.. Faster.." "Yes baby.. M.o.a.n for me.." Reuben said, panting while his thrusts became more faster.. Reuben groaned when he realised her wall to get tightened around his manhood.. "I...I''m c.u.m.m.i.n.g.." Veronica stammered, breathing heavily. "Yeah honey¡­ C.u.m for me¡­" Reuben couldn''t finish his sentence when a pool of orgasm drowned his c.o.c.k with Veronica''s white juices.. After a few more thrust, Reuben also felt his d.i.c.k getting more hardened as he also shoot his army gun, filling the condom with his milky seeds.. "Oh.. Darling.." Reuben mumbled as he fell on Veronica''s n.a.k.e.d body and buried his face in her neck.. Veronica planted a kiss on his hair and hugged him tightly before saying, "Let''s sleep now.. It''s near dawn.." Reuben rolled over beside her and pulled her into his embrace before covering themselves with the comforter as he said, "Good night love.. Sleep well.." Veronica didn''t say anything as her eyes were already getting heavier by each passing second.. She just snuggled more into Reuben and kissing his bare chest for last time, she glued her body onto him like fevicol and went into her dreamland.. Their bodies were literally dripping with sweat as an aftermath of their amazing love making but both of them could care less about it as they were already very tired.. Reuben kept staring at his girlfriend''s beautiful face and smiled with pure affection.. Pecking her lips for the last time, Reuben also wrapped her fragile yet curvy figure into his sturdy and strong one.. He sniffed the smell of her hair and closed his eyes with a smile on his face as he too drifted into his sleep¡­ Chapter 222 - Relationship is a mutual bonding... The next morning¡­ Veronica woke up from her sleep from her sleep and rubbed her eyes innocently.. She wanted to move a little to feel a bit more comfortable but realised that a heavy weight was pressing on her like a blocking wall so that she couldn''t be able to move.. Without even turning, she knew that the weight was not anything else but the hands and legs of the monster Reuben who had eaten her completely dry the last night but still didn''t get satisfied enough with it. So he again had his good fill of passionste love making session this morning.. Yeah.. You guys all heard it right... They again had made love early in the morning.. The previous night after they had made love and finally drifted into sleep, it was already past 3 am.. In spite of this, as soon as the first morning light entered in their lovely bedroom through the small gap of curtain, Reuben tried to cover his head with the comforter. But then his plan changed when Veronica shifted herself a little in her sleep which resulted her lower part to rub against his manhood and this aroused him more.. He looked at the beautiful girl in his arms whose n.a.k.e.d b.r.e.a.s.ts were pressed against his bare chest as the comforter slid down till her waist because of her movement.. So without waiting, he kissed her smoothly, making Veronica''s sleep go in haywire as she opened her eyes to look at him questioningly.. Pressing her on the bed, Reuben was kissing her whole face and slowly went more down as he started placing soft butterfly kisses on her neck, quietly nibbling it with his teeth while biting it and later sucking it to sooth the pain.. Then he proceeded to remove the comforter when Veronica held his hand to stop him and pouted, "Bennie, it''s so early in morning and I''m feeling very sleepy.." Reuben stopped but pouted back, "Its okay if you''re feeling tired. But honey let me remind you today is Sunday. So we''ve enough time.. Even if we sleep till late tomorrow, it''ll not matter much.." then he gave her a seductive wink. Veronica rolled her eyes at his convincing skills but still grinned as she also wanted to feel his touch.. So she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him for a kiss before muttering in his lips, "Then you have to meake me breakfast this morning." "Whatever my girl say.." Reuben smirked before pulling off the comforter off completely and what follows the next, went on for the another hour as the couple didn''t stop until the break of the dawn.. ---- Remembering the last night and today morning, Veronica''s face turned red as she looked down a little to notice their entangled bodies as a small smile crept on her lips. Veronica very carefully lifted Reuben''s arm and legs up from her body and sat up on the bed before looking at the sun-kissed face of Reuben.. The brightness of the sun was so much that it was able to peak through the curtain as it fell on the n.a.k.e.d figures of the couple, making it glistened like water.. Staring at the calm face of the sleeping Reuben, Veronica felt immense happiness in her heart as she bent down a little and kissed on his forehead, nose then both of his cheeks and finally on his lips.. Reuben was so dead in sleep as he was very much busy in hunting proofs for the past few days, so Veronica didn''t disturb him and slipped down from the bed after covering Reuben properly and tucking one pillow under his leg.. Taking a nice bath and completing her morning routine, Veronica changed in a set of comfortable t-shirt pairing with a comfortable shorts. Drying her hair and applying some moisturizer on her face, she checked the time and it was just 9:30 am.. So she gave a last peck on Reuben''s forehead before heading towards the kitchen.. Though Reuben promised her this morning to make her a delicious breakfast but it doesn''t matter to Veronica, if this kind of small promise got broken because they were not any random couples to fight for such a simple matter and turn it into a havoc world war.. One of the biggest advantage of their relationship was the understanding and the friendship between them.. Without these two things, a relationship couldn''t work at all even if both of the person love each other with all of their hearts.. Understanding between a couple helps them to know each other well whereas the friendship between them makes the bond of their lives more stronger so that they could express any types of feelings without any obstacles.. Relationship is a mutual bonding.. If only one person keep attempting to make the relationship stable and the other one just stay mum then one day or another, it''ll definitely gonna break off one way or another.. But REUNIC couple has all the qualities to keep their relationship stable¡­ Not only stable but they were capable to make it more stronger and brighter day by day.. After making some vanilla pancakes, scrambled eggs and coffee, Veronica brought the tray to their room and kept it on the side table before gently shaking Reuben... "Honey, get up. It''s already 10:30 am right now. Look, I already made our breakfast... So now wake up quickly if you want to have your favourite pancakes.." Veronica cooed in Reuben''s ears like a mother woke a child up.. Reuben jerked off a little and placed his head on Veronica''s lap voluntarily before burying his face in her stomach. This made Veronica smiled at him as she ran her fingers in Reuben''s hair.. After two minutes of pampering and cooing, Reuben finally got up with a big smile on his face and wished in a hoarse voice, "Good morning, my love.." "Morning my baby. Now go and brush your teeth fast. Otherwise the food will get cold." Veronica said as Reuben nodded like an obedient child and rushed towards the washroom.. Chapter 223 - Running like a wildfire... "Morning my baby. Now go and brush your teeth fast. Otherwise the food will get cold." Veronica said as Reuben nodded like an obedient child and rushed towards the washroom.. Quickly washing his face, Reuben sat on the bed again as the couple had their breakfast with peace while talking and laughing together about random stuffs.. When they were almost done with the breakfast, Reuben asked, "Honey.. I know I shouldn''t start with this topic right now.. But still I want you to know that whenever you decide on taking revenge over Mr. Porter Brown, I''ll be by your side on your every steps. Just keep your mind calm and have trust on me.." Veronica chuckled and said, "I know baby.. The amount of trust I have for you, can''t even be compared to the trust I have on myself.. And about punishing Mr. Brown, I''ll decide about him later as I don''t want to make my mood worse right now. Moreover, how much I try to ignore the fact, I still somehow feel that Alonzo is still in fault in all these matter... I know I also had hidden my identity but I never betrayed anyone. But both of the brothers specially Alonzo just played with my friendship brutally...Though I feel pity for him, but still I can''t forget his betrayal as it kept me reminding the past which is leading me to hate him very very much.." Reuben understood her sorrow and tried to diverse the conversation, "Honey, I don''t care how much you hate others but I know that you love me the most and I love you too with everything of my life." Veronica laughed at him and said after giving him a wink, "Of course I love you the most. Want me to show it to you?" She then pecked his lips lightly which soon turned into another morning make out session for them.. ----- Alonzo''s Apartment¡­ Sunlight peeped through the windows, falling on Alonzo''s eyes as it started to disturb him in his sleep... He got awakened soon by the ray of sun and when he tried to move a little, he felt massive pain on his back. He tried to settle himself in a more comfortable position but his head hit something really hard.. He finally noticed that he was sitting on the bed of Myra''s room with his head placed on the headboard as Myra was sleeping with her head resting on his outstretched legs as his hand caressed her hairs.. He remembered the last night events which made his all previous beliefs scattered down into very tiny parts, like a piece of broken glass.. Alonzo let his heart free to feel the pain for not saving his brother and blaming an innocent person like Veronica for the past five years whom he loved so much.. ---- Last night, after coming back from Fusion, both of the brother and sister didn''t talk much. Myra straightly went to her room while Alonzo just sat on the sofa pressing his forehead on his palm to get rid of the headache he was having.. One hour had already passed but Alonzo hadn''t noticed it till then and kept thinking about his brother Alex. Finally when he felt extremely thirsty because of all the past events, he fetched a glass of water to drink from the kitchen. But right then, he heard the low sound of someone''s weeping from Myra''s bedroom.. Walking towards her room, Alonzo knocked the door for two times but didn''t earn any reply from her. So he just opened the door without making any sound and entered the room to see his sister crying badly, burrying her face inside the pillow to prevent her weeping sound from letting out if the room.. But it was of no use cause Alonzo had already sitten beside her lying figure as he stroked her hair gently. "Myra.. Sleep sister. It''s already so late at night." Alonzo said as he patted her shoulder like a protective big brother. Myra didn''t reply anything but just placed her head on his legs and sobbed continuously. "Stop crying baby sis. Your brother can''t see you like this." Alonzo tried to console her but only in vain.. Wiping her tears away, Myra pleaded, "Bro can you please stay here with me tonight? I really can''t sleep alone here as all the memories of today''s events kept coming on my mind, running like a wildfire.." Alonzo agreed with her and decided to stay with Myra in her room for the night so that he could protect her from all the evils. After sitting there for a while to calm their minds, the siblings were now boaring themselves into wholly different type of emotions.. Soon Alonzo started patting Myra''s head so that she could fall asleep and soon to his expectations, she really dozed off into her deep slumber but he stayed awake till late.. ---- Tears started to pool in Alonzo''s eyes, contemplating about everything but he wiped it off from his face when he felt Myra to shudder in her sleep a little.. Slowly opening her eyes to adjust with the sunlight of the morning, Myra turned her face towards her brother who was now watching her with a calm expression. "Good morning, sis." Alonzo wished as soon as Myra opened her eyes and looked at him.. "Morning brother." Myra wished back after sitting up on the bed. Alonzo gave her a brotherly kiss on her forehead before stepping down from the bed and said, "You get freshened up quickly. I''ll order food from outside for today''s breakfast." Myra just nodded and Alonzo smiled a little at his sister before taking his phone from the bedside table and placing an order from the nearby restaurant. "I''ve ordered your favorite food. It''ll arrive in half an hour. So go now and take a nice bath." Alonzo said heading towards the door. But before Alonzo could turn the doorknob, Myra caught his wrist and asked, "Did our dad really kill his own son? Did I really have another brother without you who was also your twin, with the name Alex?" Chapter 224 - Professional Otolaryngologist... But before Alonzo could turn the doorknob, Myra caught his wrist and asked, "Did our dad really kill his own son? Did I really have another brother without you who was also your twin, with the name Alex?" Alonzo sighed and turned around to his sister before holding her shoulders and said, "Yes.. It''s real that Alex was my twin and the truth is that our dad is the one who indirectly murdered him. But you don''t have to worry much about it. I''ll handle everything. So don''t get tensed and let me make the decisions.." Myra nodded before muttering with tears in her eyes, "How could Dad be so cruel? Though he never showed me much love which a daughter yearn from a father, but still I always loved him. Then.... Why did he have to crush my respect for him all of sudden?" Alonzo hugged his sister tightly and took an oath, "Everything will be fine. Today, I promise you to take revenge on Dad for all of his cruel sins.." ---- If there is a start then there will also be an end.. Like this, Sunday had gone and Monday said hi to the people of country K.. But there was a couple who were ready to have some time out from the busy traffic so that they could meet each other. Neil waited downside of Willa''s apartment and when she finally came down Neil''s face immediately brightened up with a big smile. Willa entered the car and gave Neil a smile.. "Only a smile? Not a kiss?" Neil demanded while pouting cutely.. Willa couldn''t believe her eyes when she the always rough and tough Neil to act like a child.. But when she remembered his words, she blushed red at him and gave him a quick peck on his cheek before asking, ""Happy??" "No not happy.. By kiss, I mean to say a kiss on my lips.." Neil said and pointed towards his lips with his index finger.. Noticing where Neil was pointing, Willa blushed profusely as her cheeks became beetroot in colour. She looked outside of the window and said, "If you don''t start driving now, then we''re going to be late.." Neil stretched his hand and moved her chin with his fingers towards him so that he could see the red face of Willa and murmured, "Babe.. Why are you getting all shy now?? You were very much brave few days ago to pounce on me by kissing me on my lips when we weren''t even a couple. And now you were feeling all shy?" "Shut up Neil and drive." Willa said before punching his arm playfully.. Neil burst out in laughter and started the engine while Willa kept looking at his laughing stature. Without thinking anything, she suddenly blurted out, "I love your laughter, Neil. You should smile more.." Pressing his leg on the break, Neil abruptly stopped the car by the roadside and asked, "Did you just say that you love my smile?" Willa''s eyes widened as she realised what she had just blurted out unconsciously and avoided his stare before replying, "No.. I never had said that.." "Then is my ear buzzing?" Neil asked with a big smirk on his face. "Yeah.. may be.. check your ears to a professional otolaryngologist.." Willa blankly said but inside her mind, she was smiling widely. Neil chuckled without replying and drove off to Creation and this time without any interruption on their way.. --- Creation¡­ Half an hour later¡­ As soon as the couple arrived at the parking lot, Willa removed her seatbelt before saying, "Goodbye Neil." And opened the door. But before she could leave the car, Neil pulled her towards him holding her wrist and wrapped his hands around her waist before saying, "How can just leave like that without giving me a goodbye kiss? And this time, I need a proper one.." Willa looked intensely at Neil''s eyes and Neil did the same. Both of their faces inched more closure and slowly their lips met. They moved in a sync and Neil tried to be as slow as possible because though it was their second time to kiss properly but Willa was still new to this whereas Neil was famous for being a playboy of City S.. But now that he had got Willa as his girlfriend, Neil had promised to never cheat on her or hurt her in anyways.. Well he had already started, maintaining his distance from those s.l.u.tty girls from the past two months.. He had never touched any other woman in these months and he would never even again try to do so.. Previously he didn''t have any stability or belief for love in his heart as all those women he bedded were either gold digger or drooled over his handsome body. But he never met anyone who would love him from the bottom of her heart for nothing but his true personality... Though he knew that Willa still hadn''t started loving him, but he was ready to try his best to make her fall in love with him. And now that she was giving him a chance to work on their relationship, he would never even think of betraying her... Not everyone knew but Neil had started to love Willa from two years ago when she had helped him solving a serious problem, regarding a case of Secret 7... But he never let it known to anyone as he was sure that Willa would never reciprocate his feelings like the way he did. So he kept his feelings neutral in front of her and tried to maintain a little distance between both of them so that he couldn''t list his sense and do something wrong which would break Willa''s trust.. But he didn''t know what happened to him from the past few months that he couldn''t be able to think about any other girl other than Willa.!! He had already fallen deep in love with her and he would make sure that in few days, she would also responded towards him with the same amount of love he had for her¡­ Chapter 225 - Well made plan... Neil had already fallen deep in love with her and he would make sure that in few days, she would also responded towards him with the same amount of love he had for her¡­ Still it was not the biggest thing that Neil was hiding from the past few years cause his friends had already noticed it for few times before... Moreover, the truth he was hiding from everyone was related to the sake of Secret 7 or more like related to one of the leader of Secret 7 which involved everyone''s emotions and feelings among them, especially Reuben''s¡­ Letting go of Willa after two minutes of kissing, Neil caressed her hair and said, "Now you can say goodbye to me lo.. I mean Willa." Neil very quickly changed his wordings from ''love'' to ''Willa'' to avoid any kind of suspicions.. Willa also said a goodbye to him and turned her body over to get out of the car when she saw something really unexpected... She paused there like someone had presed the stop button on a video player... When Neil saw her not moving he also looked at the direction she was looking at and like her, his eyes also bulged out of its socket.. There were standing the cutest couple gawking at them with teasing eyes while giggling with each other... And they were none other than Reuben and Veronica.. But what Willa and Neil had noticed the first was that the door of the car on Willa''s side was completely opened.. Then reality hit them hard when they realised that the door was opened from the moment Neil had pulled Willa to him and as her hand was already on the door, it got unlocked by the sudden force.. However the shock which was triggering them the most was the fact that Reuben and Veronica had seen everything there.. Like everything...even their kiss as their doubt was cleared by the wide grin on the couple''s faces.. Nervously, Willa and Neil stepped out of the car with an awkward smile on their lips and greeted the REUNIC couple. "Hey guys.. Good morning.." Neil said at first. Reuben smirked and replied, "Yeah.. the morning seems to be really good for both of you as it started with a lovely kiss.." Willa bowed her head to hide her embarrassment whereas Neil just looked everywhere but them.. Veronica chuckled at them and said, "So Willa, how was the good morning kiss?" Willa blushed and said, "Vero.. Don''t you think we''re being late for office?" "But were not thinking of being late while kissing my brother." Veronica teased. When the couple didn''t reply to their teasings and kept staring at the ground like a kid as if they were caught red handed while stealing some candies, then Reuben said, "So our plan did work perfectly.." Hearing the question, Veronica nodded her head in affirmation... This caught Neil''s complete attention asche asked, "What plan?" "Well the plan of making both of you a couple." Veronica replied while grinning widely. "Can you make it more clear sis? We can''t understand anything that you were saying." Neil said getting frustrated. Reuben chuckled and said, "The day of our family dinner, both of us along with Henry and Lucinda deliberately took out the topic of you having a girlfriend, so that directly or indirectly you could say your feelings to Willa. And it worked very fine as now both of you are standing here together, kissing and hugging each other.." "So it was all of yours well made plan?" Willa''s eyes widened in shock. "Yup. Wasn''t it an amazing plan?" Veronica asked, getting excited. Neil grinned and said, "Thank you guys for the help. I''ll personally thank Lucy and Henry too.." ----- Lopez Industries.. Four people were sitting in the interview room and among them three were interviewers who were asking questions to the one candidate sitting in front of them right now.. "Okay Miss Adams.. It''s nice to interview you. We''ll inform you later if you are selected or not." One interviewer said. The girl with the surname Adams, left the room after saying a short ''thank you'' to them.. Three of the interviewers sighed as one of them said, "Though all the four of them are good but they were not up to the level of our demand. Now what will we do Sir?" Mr. Lopez who for the first time got some of his busy time free for this particular interview, said, "We shouldn''t lose our hope so soon, as one last candidate is still left. And I do feel that she will have the potential that we are searching for.." ---- Outside of the interview room, a girl in her mid twenties was sitting on the waiting area nervously, biting her nails.. She was wearing a simple black and white office attire as her hair was tied back in a high ponytail. She saw that one after another interviewees were coming out of the room with not so gloomy expression which conveyed that their interview went well. She was panicking more at the thought that she might not pass the interview as the other candidates had wore very stylish clothes whlire plastering a confident expression on their faces.. Whereas she was there with a normal dress as she was hell nervous in the morning to think anything about the interview. Moreover, her confidence was nowhere to be seen at that moment and she felt like she was going to faint at any moment because of the pending tension.. This job was badly anticipated by her as this job only could prove her so called parents that she could live alone well without their support and also could make a name for herself in the fashion world... And to prove he capabilities, there was no other company better than Lopez Industries.. The girl was clutching her portfolio files in her hand so tightly that the sweat formed in her hand, made a wet handprint on the files.. She wiped the sweat with a beautifully stitched handkerchief when her name was finally being called by one of the secretaries.. "Diana Miller.. You''re next on call.." Chapter 226 - Motivational quotes... She wiped the sweat with a beautifully stitched handkerchief when her name was finally being called by one of the secretaries.. "Diana Miller.. You''re next on call.." Diana got up abruptly from her seat walked to the interview room with a nervous expression painted on her beautiful face. She took few deep breaths to calm herself down from her paranoid mode and chanted the name of Jesus Christ in her mind fir three times. Feeling encouraged with the blessings of God, Diana finally extended her hand a little and knocked on the door with her right hand knuckles while clutching the files tight to her chest with her left hand.. She heard a faint ''come in'' voice from inside which was probably to give her permission to enter the room.. So after inhaling another deep breath, she finally opened the door to approach the interviewers present there. But at the moment, she came face to face to the interviewers, Diana was surprised or more like shocked to see the CEO of Lopez Industries himself sitting in the middle of the other two persons, for taking the interviews and her nervous pot again broke down.. Another panick rocketed up in her brain as she felt sweat started to form on her forehead and behind the neck area.. Gosh!! Sha was hell nervous!!! Calming herself by praying to Jesus Christ for nth time in the day, she sat on the chair and greeted all of them, "Hello sir. I''m Diana Miller." One of the interviewers nodded at her and said, "Hello Ms. Miller... We have already checked your CV and came to know that you have a good job experience of three years in a famous multinational company of City Z.. But still as you know that our company is not like any other simple one, so we value more on practical things than theoretical. So we need to see your portfolio first before processing the meeting further..." Diana nodded her head and said with a smile, "Sure sir. Here is all of my previous works in this files... Though I know that I''m not still the best at this, but I''m confident that my creativity is something which is different from others.." She handed them the portfolio and sat there with a smiling face though internally she was suffering from earthquake, tornado, firing, tsunami and everything else¡­ All of the interviewers checked her portfolio and became impressed with her designs when the other interviewer said, "We really like your designs.. But as you know that we don''t have much time to open our showroom, so we need to find a perfectly capable designer who can cope up with the pace of any situations. That''s why we''re giving all the interviewers an extra task here... You need to design a summer casual dress for the woman catagory in just 15 minutes.. So if you are ready, we''ll start with the time. Here is the paper, pencil and other necessities which you need for designing..." Taking a deep breath, Diana took those and said, "I''m absolutely ready sir. You can start your time.." The interviewers were happy to get a quick response as they made an eyelock with their CEO who was just gazing at Diana contentedly.. Even Diana didn''t knew herself from where she got the sudden confidence in her but she was sure that it must be because of her dreams to become one of the best designers of the world.. After thirteen minutes, Diana put the final touch on her design and stated, "Sir, it''s done." The three of them verified the designs but didn''t say anything which made Diana to have a negative feeling in her mind that she had already lost the job even before she could get assigned.. Sadness pooled over her mind and heart, but it was short-lived when Mr. James Lopez announced, "You are hired Ms. Miller. Join our company from tomorrow morning..." Diana was astonished at first as she couldn''t process the words that Mr. Lopez had just pronounced. She still couldn''t believe if she had heard the right thing or not... But when she noticed the smile on the interviewers'' faces along with the CEO himself, she came clear to the point that her ears didn''t play with her and she indeed got appointed for the job... Diana stood up quickly with a big smile on her lips and said, "Thank you sir. Thank you so so much.." Mr. Lopez smiled at her as Diana made him remember about his precious daughter Veronica and said, "You don''t have to thank us Ms. Miller.. You got this job with your own potential and good capabilities. You can take the appointment letter from the HR department.." He then moved his head towards the other interviewers who were also his subordinates and said, "Inform the other candidates that we already got our head designer. So they had been rejected by us but don''t forget to wish them good luck for the future.." This was one of the best element about Mr. Lopez''s personality that he never degrade those people who couldn''t be successful in their interviews. His company''s one of the most important rules was to leave some motivational quotes in their refusal emails so that they eouldn''t lost hope in themselves and try harder for their future.. Totally impressed with her soon to be Boss, Diana thanked them once again and left the room where the same secretary was waiting for her. Noticing Diana, she gave her a smile and said, "Ms. Miller, come with me to the HR department, please. I already informed them to prepare your appointment letter." Diana smiled back at her before muttering a small "Thank You.." After one hour, she had finally the letter in her hand as she beamed happily with the thought that she finally reached the first step of her goal by becoming an employee of a big company like Lopez Industries¡­ Actually not just any simple employee but she got the post of the head designer which was quite unbelievable to her... Chapter 227 - Rather pretend to know nothing... Actually not just any simple employee but she got the post of the head designer which was quite unbelievable to her... "You can join from tomorrow at sharp 9 am. As it''ll be your first day, you have a little bit more task tomorrow... As example, you have to know about every department and meet with your subordinates who will help you in this project and also in the future." The secretary informed her about everything. "Thanks Ms. Brooks for your help." Diana said reading her name on the i-card.. "It''s my job Ms. Miller.. And it''s Mrs. Brooks as I already have a husband with two beautiful children." The lady who was in her early thirties said with a smile on her face. ----- Creation.. Veronica just came out of a meeting with her employees. She took a seat on her chair and rubbed her forehead to feel a little bit of relief.. Nowadays, many projects are coming for Creation and they already have a lot in their plates. Moreover the project of her dear boyfriend was really taking a toll on her. The modelling was completely done and now only the texturing, lighting and other few works are left which will be over in few more weeks.. The graphics department had already prepared all the banners and posters for the promotion and advertis.e.m.e.nt of Smith''s hotel in city M. Those would be delivered the day after tomorrow. So one big job of her was finally done.. She drank some water from her glass and right then her phone beeped with a message and it was from one of the most special man in her life... No.. It was not the greatest Reuben Smith but Veronica''s lovely father, Mr. James Lopez.. The message said, "Princess, if you''re free then call me. It''s a little bit urgent." Veronica read it and immediately dialed her father''s number after gulping down some more water. She was already aware of the matter that the head designer of her father''s company had got into an accident and today was the day they had called for an interview as the replacement of the head designer position... So, she just prayed that everything was fine and the problem had been already solved. She already suggested her father to help him in resolving the matter related to their new fashion showroom, but her father strictly denied by informing her that someone had already suggested five best designers to him.. But internally, she knew that her father didn''t want her to take anymore stress as she had already many things in her ''To Do'' list.. Most importantly, Creation was the one who handled all kinds of multimedia projects for Lopez Industries and she also knew the fact that this time would also be the same.. After two rings, Mr. Lopez picked up the call and greeted, "Hi, my princess." Veronica chuckled hearing her father''s cheery voice as she already guessed that this had to be some good news and said, "Hey, my handsome yet cute dad. So tell me you got the perfect candidate for the post right?" "Well, you are right my princess but you again snatch the chance from me to give you surprise." Mr. Lopez pouted like a child. Though Veronica couldn''t able to see her father at the moment but she could already imagine his expression.. So she just grinned widely on the phone and said, "Okay Dad.. Then I promise you that from the next time, I''ll rather pretend to know nothing... So now tell me, who is the person? A woman or a man?" "Well, it''s a girl, one year younger than you. Do you know she even had studied from the University of City B at the same year you went there?? I just saw it on her CV. You should come at office and meet her. However you already hadn''t come over her for many days. Your subordinates here miss you." "Hehehe.. Dad.. Inform my subordinates that I''ll soon visit them after I finish your soon to be son-in-law''s project.. And you know that I can''t visit all the time because I don''t want anyone to doubt on me that I have been secretly handling many of your projects from past four years alongside with your shadow partner, about whom you never told me anything." Veronica huffed, faking an act of disappointment. "I''ll let you meet her soon princess. She called me few days ago and informed me that she will be coming here soon with her husband. And she was the one who helped us to find the perfect designer " Mr. Lopez informed her daughter. Though he didn''t tell the identity of Lisa to her daughter and wife but they were aware of her as a person who helped their husband or father from behind.. "That''s cool then. I''ll love to catch up with her. By the way, what is the main reason you called me for?" Veronica asked. "Well Princess, you already know that we already got the designer for our showroom and she will start working from tomorrow. Moreover the date of our showroom''s inauguration is already near, so I want you to send someone capable to handle our advertising and promotion part... I can''t pressure you this time as I know your hands are already full. So send someone trusted though I know everybody in your company is equally talented." Mr. Lopez said. Veronica thought for a while to think about a perfect person who could help with the designs for advertising and only one name came in her mind... "Dad.. I''ll send Louis for this. He however doesn''t have much work nowadays as he always waste his time playing some stupid games on his pc... So I''ll send my most capable and trustable Vice President of my company who is supposedly my friend also.." "Okay.. Then talk to him first and later inform me the time and date he''ll be visiting." Mr. Lopez said laughing hard at his daughter''s description about Louis. "Okay Dad. Then I''m going to hang up the call. Bye.." "Bye princess.." Chapter 228 - Buffy Duffy Comments... Alonzo''s Apartment¡­ The siblings were having their lunch together silently without anyone speaking anything. They were living in their own thoughts from the past two days... They hadn''t even talked to each other from the morning, Alonzo had promised her about giving their the punishment that he deserved for all of his past crimes which brought only miseries in everyone''s lives... specially Alex''s.. Well, Alex''s life was not in misery anymore because he was now freed from all the evils.. However, while having their food, Myra was looking at her brother from time to time who hadn''t opened his mouth till previous day morning. She was certain that the hurt Myra was feeling right now wasn''t even comparable to the pain Alonzo was suffering from... After all, Myra was completely oblivious to all the realities and truths about Alonzo''s twin Alex. She even hadn''t any idea that she had another brother but was still feeling a lot of pain just remembering the death of Alex, whereas Alonzo had been born with him, had played with him, spent many brotherly moments together so it was very much obvious that he would feel hurt the most... Staying silent for almost two days, Myra couldn''t take it anymore and said, "Bro.. Can we please cut the ''No Talk'' zone? I really am feeling disheartened with this silence atmosphere which is creating an awkward situation. But we can''t always mourn over him, right?? Do you remember even the last few lines of the letter where Alex had told you to be happy? So won''t you fulfil his last wish??" When Alonzo didn''t open his mouth yet, Myra sighed and tried to make him understand, Come on brother, I know that you are very hurt but that doesn''t mean that you have to close the outside world for you and stay away from all the lively people and stop having the joy of your life.." Alonzo looked up at his sister and said, "What do you mean Myra?" Myra left a deep breath and said, "Bro.. I don''t mean anything. I just want you to come out of your guilt and sadness. I just want you to be the same Alonzo Brown who was very much confident, skillful and professional towards his work... Just let out the real Alonzo to the world bro. Stay happy. You deserve all the happiness of this world. You can do it and I''ll be always with you.." Hearing those supporting and motivating words, Alonzo smiled a little and thought about everything for a few minutes in his mind. At last he came to a conclusion that his sister was absolutely right. He couldn''t mourn over Alex for his whole life. His twin would never like to see him like this... Smiling broadly, Alonzo said, "You are right little sis.. I will not be sad about it anymore cause if I go weak how can I take revenge on behalf of my brother? I''ll be again strong like before and punish all of them who is the reason behind my brother''s death, even if the person is my own father.." Though Myra was feeling a little bit unsure after the mention of their father but she suppressed it because she knew that if a person could kill his own son then he was not a human but rather a big monster¡­ The remaining lunch went on by the small talks between the siblings and after that both of them retired to their own rooms.. ---- Creation... Veronica knocked on the closed door not too loudly and waited for the other person to response.. Finally, when she heard a faint ''come in'', she entered the cabin and saw the great Vice President of Creation was playing games on his computer like a kid without noticing who had barged into his office right now.. Rolling her eyes at him, Veronica took a seat in front of him and exclaimed, "Won''t you even look at who had just come into your office? Don''t you care anymore about your big image that you always love to portray?? What if it was not me but any other business delegates or one of our employeey who had come here and witnessed their so called Boss acting like a ten year old child..!!!" Louis did not returned her gaze and kept playing on his computer before spouting proudly with a smirk on his face, "Who would dare to enter my cabin without my permission? Everyone knows in this whole office that, only you and Willa are allowed to come here without any kind of appointment with me. And if anyone would have even come to meet me, my assistant would inform me first before letting them enter the premises of my area.." Veronica again rolled her eyes at him and said, "Yeah.. You and your Buffy Duffy comments!! Completely irritating with a perk of egoistic attitude.." Louis at first just chuckled at her before protesting, "Hey!! How can you say that I''m egoistic? I''m the most perfect male specimen of the world with a super handsome face and a worth of drooling body.." Hearing him boosting all over himself again and again, Veronica sarcastically laughed before mocking him, "What? Perfect specimen with the most handsome face and s.e.xy body? What a funny joke!! Go check yourself on the mirror first before exaggerating about yourself. How can you even become so much narcissist when my dear boyfriend is present here? Stupid Louis!! Humph!!" "Hey Vero.. I agree that my bro is really incomparable to anyone but still you have to admit the fact that I''m very much handsome.. Maybe not more handsome and hotter than your dear boyfriend but still I''m at least capable of some of your appreciation. And don''t forget about our college life. I was the most popular guy in our campus. So many hot and s.e.xy chicks were dying on me to become my girlfriend! Remember?" Louis continued blabbering about himself with his eyes still focused on the desktop screen. Chapter 229 - Powerful magical wings... Veronica clicked her tongue and said, "Only in your dreams.!! By the way, let me directly come to the point. Let me tell you for what I''m here right now.. I have something important to inform you.." "Yeah.. What is it?" Louis didn''t even glance at Veronica when she clearly announced that she had something important to discuss. Getting angry by his frustrating behavior, Veronica took the crystal ball from Louis''s table and threw it towards him, making it hit him right on his head really hard.. "Ah!! Woman.. Why did you hit me now? It really hurts.." Louis complained like a child. Veronica stuck out her tongue like a child and said, "You were not listening to me so I thought it as the best idea to gain your attention. Now come to the main point... *sigh* So what I was talking about that Dad called me few hours ago.." Louis rubbed his head where the ball had hit him hard and paused the game to focus on Veronica so that she couldn''t get another chance to hit him with some other objects. After all, Louis was really afraid of Veronica specially when she became angry.. He looked at her and whined, "So what can I do if Uncle called you? I don''t want to hear any father-daughter talks. My game is more important and precious than it." "If you don''t shut your f.u.c.k.i.n.g mouth then I''m going to beat the shit out of you. And I''m right now talking about something really serious so don''t even think about joking again.." Veronica scolded Louis in a stern voice. Getting afraid of the furious Veronica, Louis gulped and said, "Okay. I''ll not joke anymore. Tell me what do you have to say?" Veronica sighed and said, "Okay.. So dad called me to inform that they finally found the head designer for their new fashion showroom which is going to open in two months. So he wanted me to send one of my best employees there for the planning of the advertising ideas of the new showroom, so that their promotional event could gain more popularity which would definitely help them to create a good marketing strategy.. And who can be better in this department other than you? That''s why I''ve suggested dad that you would handle the project as I''m already supervising Reuben''s project. I hope that you don''t have any problems as you waste most of your time playing games. " Louis nodded before replying, "Hey don''t need to mock me. It''s okay I''ll take this project under my powerful magical wings and will make fly high in the sky..." "The new designer will join tomorrow so you can discuss everything with her without any delay... Now tell me when will you visit there? Is tomorrow okay for you? However, I know one thing for sure..." "What do you know?" Louis asked in a questioning gaze. "I know the fact that, if any other company would have a vice President like you, it would surely go bankrupt till now.." Veronica mocked. "Will you stop mocking me now? Otherwise I''ll complain to uncle tomorrow about your rude behaviour. And inform Uncle that I''ll go there after lunchtime is over." Louis said. Veronica chuckled and said, "Okay. Then it''s fixed then that you''ll be the one to supervise the project and if you need anything just tell me, I''ll help you." Louis smiled at her and said, "Deal then.." Veronica smiled back and left his cabin.. ---- Alonzo''s Apartment.. In the afternoon, Alonzo was searching for the letter that Alex had left for him before his death. He kept it inside the Locker of his study room very protectively... Finally finding it, Alonzo read it over and over again when suddenly he remembered the words of Bryce as he murmured to himself, "Bryce said that Alex had written the last few lines of the letter after the nurse had gone out of his room which means it was his last wish from me which includes the fact that he wanted me and Veronica to stay together happily for the remaining of our life.." A bright smile appeared on his lips after reading it as he rushed out of the room in a hurry and called for his sister desperately, "Myra.. Myra.." "Yes brother.. I''m coming.." Myra shouted back from her bedroom. Myra entered the living room and asked, "What happened bro? Why are you shouting?" Alonzo hugged his sister immediately and said, "Do you remember the letter of Alex, Bryce had talked about?" When Myra nodded, he continued before handing her the letter, "Look at the last few lines where he wished me to have a happy life with Vero.." Myra read the letter and asked confusedly, "So what brother?" "So I''ll fulfil his last wish by being with Veronica.." Alonzo said with a beaming face. "But brother.. She is already committed to Reuben... I know that I had told you in the past that you should fight for Vero but after seeing the pure love and affection in Vero and Reuben''s eyes for each other, I''m taking back my words. They are perfectly made for each other.." Alonzo frowned and said, "Myra, how can you back off from your words now? You wanted her to be your sister-in-law, right? Most importantly, I love her and I have to fight for her which I''ll definitely do. I had already lost so many things in my life, now I can''t afford to lost Vero too.. You have to trust me sis.." Myra sighed seeing a contrasting possessive side of her brother and said, "Brother. I trust you completely and I''ll support you in everything you''ll do. But I just want you to think over everything again clear mindedly before taking any abrupt decision so that you won''t regret in the near future." Alonzo smiled and kissed his sister''s forehead before comforting her, "I''ll not regret it sis. Believe me.." "I hope so..." Myra whispered lowly though she unmistakably knew in her heart that it''d be only her brother Alonzo whose heart would get broken as she herself observed the unending love in the famous REUNIC couple''s eyes.. Chapter 230 - ANGRY BIRD... Love-Paradise¡­ Veronica was sitting on the kitchen cabinet, moving her legs to and fro while munching some French fries alongside a bottle of Coke while Reuben was cooking dinner for themselves.. Both of them drove back together to their home after their tiring day at office, around an hour ago.. As Veronica''s mood was not at all in cooking today so she told Reuben to do it.. And being the best boyfriend ever, how could he miss the chance to make tasty food for his precious girlfriend. So without wasting any further time he obliged to Veronica''s wish and started to prepare the dinner.. "You know what that devil brother of yours is always playing games on his desktop nowadays.. I mean it''s okay if he plays but when I entered his office, he ignored me completely and even became all narcissistic saying that he is very much handsome.. Duhh!! Not at all.. I already told him that no one is more handsome than my honey, my Bennie.. Nerve of that boy.. Humph.!!" Veronica huffed being annoyed. Reuben chuckled listening to her non-stop blabbering and said, "Honey are you angry that my brother ignored you or because he compared himself with me.?" Tapping her index finger on her chin, Veronica thought for a moment and huffed, "For both.. I mean no one had ignored me ever till the date. But little Louis Morgan didn''t even lift his eyes from his pc even after I started talking about my dad''s phone call.. He can''t avoid me like that especially when I''m his would be sister-in-law. And how dare he has to say that he has s.e.xy body when you have the s.e.xiest abs with drool worthy biceps, triceps and everything.. What I mean is that you have the most s.e.xiest body of the world among all the men for what not only girls but every men will drool for.." Lowering the flame of gas oven, Reuben pressed both of his hands on the cabinet by each side of Veronica to capture her as he inched his face closure to her ear and whispered in a seductive voice, "I don''t care if other people drool over my body or not as it is enough for me to see the hunger in my girlfriend''s eyes when she see my n.a.k.e.d body.." Veronica blushed at Reuben''s comment and wrapped her hands around Reuben''s neck before muttering possessively, "I''ll not give any other girl the pleasure to see my boyfriend''s hot body. Before that I''ll pull their eyes out from their sockets and scratch their make-up covered fakely beautiful faces... Don''t forget Mr. Smith that I''m very much overprotective and possessive about my boyfriend.. I don''t even share my favorite chocolates with anyone...not even with you, then how can I share my man with some stupid girls??" Reuben tried very heard to hide his smile but miserably failed when Veronica kept talking about how big of a possessive and overprotective girlfriend she was that she even would not think twice to hurt those s.l.u.tty girls who would try to lay their dirty eyes on him.. But his smile turned into a smirk when he heard the next few sentences that escaped from Veronica''s pretty mouth.. "Naahhh.. Not possible...My man is only mine. No one has any right over you. You know what when we haven''t committed our relationship yet but still we had to attend the same parties with our families, pretending to be the worst enemies of each other, I felt the most frustrated those times.." Veronica muttered, feeling highly offended.. Though Reuben had already guessed the reason but he still asked her by pretending to be undoubtedly innocent while raising his eyebrows, "And why did you feel frustrated those times, darling?" Veronica''s facial expression turned sour, remembering the hawk like eyes of those pretty bitches as she said, "Don''t you remember those eagle like eyes of those overly dressed woman''s faces as if they were eye raping you.. Those perverted and shameless women. Humph!! I badly wanted to scratch those artificial colorful faces with my sharp long beautifully manicured nails but I had to control very hard as we had to hide our relationship from everyone. But now I don''t have anything to stop me from doing so. After all, we''re now confirmed couple and whoever will try to ogle on my man, she has to face my wrath.." Veronica gritted her teeth in anger as her eyes was reflecting the fire in her which was poured in jealousy.. Reuben watched her face calmly for whole one minute and tried to analyse each and every single emotions on her face and then... "Hahahaha¡­.." Finally Reuben burst into a fit of huge laughter and distanced himself from Veronica so he wouldn''t fall over her while laughing like a maniac.. He punched the refrigerator lightly to control his laughter from getting louder more but what he missed was the furious gaze in Veronica''s dark brown eyes... "What the hell is this Reuben? Did I say something very funny that you have to laugh like a total idiot? You know what.!! I''m not going to talk to you anymore. Just leave from here.." Veronica turned her face towards her left side to avoid Reuben and so that he could detect her anger before pouting her rosy lips.. Reuben finally slowed down his laughter and his eyes soften the moment his eyes fell on her puffed face which was now all red in absolute rage.. She was looking too much cute and adorable to his eyes.. Walking towards her, he engulfed her in a tight hug before leaving a soft kiss on her forehead. But Veronica still didn''t look happy with his efforts and was avoiding his gaze till his maximum level.. How could he leave her like that?? Encircling his arms around her waist, Reuben rubbed his both with hers and said, "Aww My ANGRY BIRD.. Cool down a little bit first so that I can explain everything to you..." Chapter 231 - Eyes, Mind and Heart... Encircling his arms around her waist, Reuben rubbed his both with hers and said, "Aww My ANGRY BIRD.. Cool down a little bit first so that I can explain everything to you..." "As you know baby that, I have my EYES only to see your beautiful face, MIND only to think about you and most importantly, HEART only to love you...so there is no further possibilities of any woman in my life other than you.. Though I would like to see my queen getting all jealous over me but still let me tell you a secret.. If you feel like you want to make any of the girl''s face scratched with their body disfigured, then don''t worry.. I''ll personally give my awesome helping hand to you.." Reuben joked at the last part of his statement but he was extremely serious about the fact that on one could took his Ica''s position in his life.. Like EVER... Veronica''s anger vanished as soon as Reuben said those sweet yet satisfying words and again she wrapped her hands around his neck before mumbling near his lips, "No.. I''ll not allow you to touch any other woman.. I''m alone enough to handle hundred of bad witches.. Don''t forget that I''m the ICE QUEEN of HURL.." "Being feisty.. aren''t we?" Reuben smirked, joining their foreheads together as he whispered on her lips.. "But you still love the Feisty me.." Veronica pulled Reuben more to her by his neck.. "Naah.. A small correction.. I love the Feisty side most on you.." Reuben said before joining their lips making Veronica chuckle in his lips. Reuben also smiled in between kissing which later turned into a fierce and passionate one¡­ ---- Wilson Mansion¡­ Outside the main gate¡­ A car was parked at the entrance of the mansion and two people were kissing each other passionately with the windows closed up, forgetting the whole world.. After a long kiss, both Lucinda and Henry broke apart from each other and breathed heavily.. "Will you not come inside?" Lucinda asked after calming her nerves down from their heavy yet wetty kiss.. Henry shook his head and replied as he caressed her cheeks, "No honey.. not today. I''ve to work on some important files so I''ve to go back home as early as possible.." Lucinda nodded her head in understanding and said, "Okay.. Drive safe and call me once you have arrived at your home.." "I will. Now go to your home." Henry said with a smile and Lucinda got out of the car after bidding goodbye to him. ---- Inside the mansion.. Lucinda entered the living room when she noticed her parents were having a conversation with each other which seemed to be like a suspense story to her as they were talking so quietly that even a passing fly wouldn''t be able to hear them.. They even hadn''t noticed her presence yet which was quite abnormal for them and it made Lucinda very much suspicious.. "Dad.. Mom.. What are you talking about so secretively?" Lucinda asked, coming behind them. Both Mr. and Mrs. Wilson jumped in fear from their seats but calmed themselves when they noticed that it was none other than Lucinda, their precious daughter.. "Oh Lucy.. When you came back darling?" Mrs. Wilson asked and patted the vacant place beside her as a gesture to ask Lucinda to sit beside her.. Lucinda looked at the place where her mother patted and took a seat there, right beside her mother and asked with narrowed eyes, "Never in my life I''ve ever faced this, when my dear Mom won''t notice her own daughter returning back to her home... Moreover, you were talking in a faint voice so that even if one leaf would flock with a mellow noise, still anyone would hear it clearly without facing any difficulties. And here I''m a whole human being walked like a zombie towards you but you guys still couldn''t feel my presence. What were both of you whispering? Exactly what is cooking up in your minds??" "Nothing, my princess. It''s just some random stuffs we were discussing about.." Mr. Wilson said trying to divert the question. Lucinda scrutinized their expression and said, "I still don''t believe you both.." "Come on, my darling. You just came from work and you''re blabbering non-stop without a pause. At first get freshened up till then I''ll serve dinner." Mrs. Wilson said. Lucinda nodded and went to her room to take a comforting bath.. After their daughter left, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson glanced at each other with a relief filled face. "We have to be more careful from the next time. We almost spill everything out, in front of our daughter.." Mr. Wilson said. "Yeah.. We must be otherwise we''ll really ruin our well made plan.." Mrs. Wilson agreed with her husband.. ---- Henry''s Penthouse.. Henry just had some dinner after informing Lucinda that he had reached his home safely so that se wouldn''t get freak out with tension.. Now he was working on some important data for their upcoming project in his laptop when his phone suddenly buzzed with an upcoming call.. Without noticing who the caller was, he picked up the phone and said, "Hello¡­" The other side of the line was completely silent, making Henry hell confused if the call got cut by chance or not.. So he checked his phone screen again and found out that he was still on the call but the other one was not responding.. But what his eyes captured the first was.. the caller ID.. It was unknown number which seemed to be an international number, making him confused of this sudden call from a stranger, that even so late at night... Feeling that something was really wrong, Henry said with an unnatural voice, "Hello??" Again silence.. When the person on the phone didn''t say anything, Henry again asked, "Hello who is this? If you''re not going to speak then I''m cutting the call.." "Henry¡­" A sweet voice of a girl rang through his ears, making Henry widened his eyes in ultimate shock.. Chapter 232 - Stole the reason of staying alive... "Henry¡­" A sweet voice of a girl rang through his ears, making Henry widened his eyes in ultimate shock.. The voice was too much familiar to Henry.. Actually not only Henry but to each members of their friends group... Cause the owner of this sweet angelic voice was also once a friend to them.. Using past tense to detect their friendship would also be wrong here because they were still friends with the girl.. But it was her who had become distant from their amazing group for some reasons about which no one except God and the girl herself were aware.. "Amy..???" Henry asked still being not sure that she was really the friend of them, he was thinking about.. "Yes.. this is Amy, Henry.. You still remember my voice?" The girl asked Henry feeling kind of happy that Henry still remembered her even after so many years. Henry furrowed his eyebrows in uncertainty and said, "Why would I forget you?? You were once a friend of ours. Not only me, even any of our friends would know in a click of their fingers that it is you.." Amy flared her nose in anger and said through gritted teeth, "I''m not talking about others Henry. I''m only talking about you." "Why are you getting all hyper suddenly? Firstly, you are calling me for the first time after you left the country and now you''re blabbering anything whatever is coming in our mind. However, leave it now and tell me how are you doing far away from your country and friends? Most importantly, why did you feel the necessity to suddenly call me?" Henry asked. "I''m good Henry. It''s just that I miss you all..." Amy said after giving a sigh.. Henry smiled hearing that their friend had missed them all and said, "We miss you too. And if you really miss us all then why didn''t you call any of us for even a single time? Even not a single message.. In fact you have changed your number too. That''s not fair. You know that we all had tried to contact you but when you blocked us all to connect you, we decided that we should give you some time and space to think about everything and calm yourself. So we gave you the privacy you needed and didn''t try to find you again but who knew that it would take you so many years to remember us and to give us a phone call." Amy felt sorry after hearing Henry''s words but she knew whatever he said was completely true, so without arguing, she just apologized, "I''m sorry. I know that I took a lot of time but from now on, I''ll talk to you all more often. I promise.." "That''s good to hear." Henry said. "Hmm.. By the way, I just saw the news of Reuben and Veronica committing their relationship. I''m so happy for them... They are looking so pretty and compatible in all those photographs that they posted." Amy said beaming brightly. Henry also smiled thinking about his best friend and cute sister before saying, "Yup they are really the best couple. And they also helped me a lot to change my relationship status." This caught Amy''s attention as she asked with her furrowed eyebrows, "Your relationship status? Wha.. what do you mean by that?" As she asked the question, Amy''s smile turned into a frown and her heart was only praying one thing to God, ''Please God, whatever I''m thinking, don''t let it turn out to be true..'' On the other side, remembering about his precious girlfriend, Henry''s smile turned into a wide grin as he said, "Yup.. My relationship status had changed from single to mingle... Though I loved that girl from so many years but never had the guts to confess my love to her. So seeing my cowardly behavior, Reuben forced me to propose her whereas Vero gave me confidence. You would be extremely happy to know, who that girl is who have the audacity to make my heart all fluttered.." Amy was shocked to hear this that Henry was already in a relationship but she still kept herself sober to know about the girl whom not only Henry loved, but also Veronica and Reuben supported to their best... That''s mean she was really very special... "So who is the girl Henry?" Amy asked though she was feeling uncomfortable in ger heart. "Oh.. You know her very well. It''s Lucy.. Our Lucinda whom I love more than anything in the world.." Henry said excitedly.. "Lucinda?" Amy asked being utterly shocked. "Yes.. It''s Lucy. We love each other very much.." Henry proudly confessed. Whereas Amy couldn''t hold the pain anymore in her heart and said with a choking voice, "Henry... I have an important call to attend. I''ll call you later.." Henry found something different with Amy''s tone but still didn''t mention it as he said, "Okay bye. Talk to you later. Don''t forget to call other friends.." "Yes.. I''ll call them too. However, congratulations on your new relationship." Amy said with tears brimming in her eyes.. "Thanks a lot, Amy..." Henry said. Hanging up the call, Amy''s eyes filled with tears but she wiped it out of her face before it could land on her cheeks as she muttered to herself angrily, "Lucinda Wilson... You already ruined my life once.. Now you also stole the reason of staying alive from me.. I won''t ever forgive you. I''ll make sure, you don''t get any happiness that you had snatched away from me.." ---- Love-Paradise... Both Reuben and Veronica had finished their dinner after all their naughty drama and small bickering.. Reuben was now playing some games in his gaming room while Veronica was reading a novel, lying on the big comfy couch.. But even after staring at the same page for over half an hour, she hadn''t even registered a whole paragraph till yet.. Her mind was giving her some raw signal which was disturbing her concentration level.. "Bennie.. I feel like something bad is going to happen.." Chapter 233 - New journey of life... "Bennie.. I feel like something bad is going to happen.." Veronica suddenly said out while keeping the book in her hand on her chest and looked at Reuben with her furrowed eyebrows. When the words entered Reuben''s ear, he was stupified at first like why the hell his Ica suddenly thought of something like this.. He turned his head towards the couch where Veronica was lying down and asked with a frown on his face, "Why had something like this peeked into your head suddenly?" Veronica sighed and sat up straight on the couch with her legs crossed and mumbled, "I really don''t know the reason honey.. It''s just certainly I got a hunch like some trouble is going to brew in our life very soon. As if like my mind is indicating me about some upcoming storm beforehand.." Looking at the tensed face if his lovely girlfriend, Reuben stopped playing his games and switched off the gaming PC before walking towards Veronica.. Sitting beside her on the couch, he took the book from her hand that she was still holding and kept it on the side table.. Then he pulled her towards himself by her waist which made her land in his lap and he started saying, "Babe.. I don''t know what kind of problems are coming for us but what I know is.... Whatever happens in the future, if we''re together then we can cross each and every hurdles of our lives by smashing it with each other''s support.." Hearing the confident words from Reuben, Veronica smiled and said, "I have full trust in our love, honey.." "Me too.. Now let''s get back to our bed as it''s already so late." Reuben said and carried Veronica in his arms towards their bedroom. Veronica chuckled and rested her head in Reuben''s chest before kissing it lightly... --- Creation.. The next day, Veronica was working on texturing the models when Louis had entered her office after knocking. "So why Mr. Louis Morgan is here at this early in the morning that even in my cabin?" Veronica asked sarcastically. "Yeah.. yeah.. you would now say this obviously.. However I''m not in a good mood today. So let''s not talk about some silly jokes and come to the serious point.." Louis said taking a seat in front of Veronica. Veronica frowned when he saw the always funny Louis to not have a great mood which was quite new to her.. So she just asked, "Yeah.. We''ll definitely go to the serious part but tell me first what''s actually bugging you.." "Nothing much dude. I don''t want to talk about it right now. Let''s just focus on the main reason I had come here for." Louis said while running his hands through his hair, being frustrated. "Fine.. If you don''t want to talk about it, I''ll not pressurise you. But if you anytime feel to reveal your problems then I''m always here.. And more than me, your cousin is always with you. You know that, right?" Veronica said with an understanding gaze. Louis smiled and replied, "Yes. I know that I have a whole group of awesome friends and a loving cousin brother like Reuben who loves me more than any of my family members though he doesn''t show it on my face.." Veronica smiled back at him and asked, " So what''s the natter that the great Louis is here?". "Actually, I want to ask you something.. Do you know who is the new designer of Lopez Industries? If you know then it''ll be more helpful for me so that I can search about her on the internet a little bit and also could be aware of her working style beforehand.." Louis said while shrugging his shoulders.. Veronica face-palmed herself and cursed, "Shit!! I forgot to ask about her name from Dad. If you want, I can just call dad now and ask about her.." Louis chuckled seeing Veronica''s helpless expression and said, "No. It''s okay. Uncle may be busy right now. I''ll see her when I go for a visit today. No hurry." Veronica smiled and conversed with Louis a little bit more about their other projects.. ---- Lopez Industries.. A cab parked just outside of the big building of Lopez Industries. A girl in a fine cream colour suit, walked out of the cab and paid the bill.. Diana then headed towards the entrance and stopped at the front of the gate... Taking a deep breath and praying to Jesus, she entered the office with a smile on her face which was filled with confidence.. She went to the receptionist and said, "Hello. I''m Diana Miller. I have been appointed as the new head fashion designer of this office." The receptionist looked at her and smiled before saying, "Yes ma''am. I''m aware about your work. I was informed beforehand by the HR department about your joining today. You have to go to the 28th floor of the office where Mrs. Brooks will be waiting for your arrival. Now please come with me, I''ll show you the way.." Diana smiled before nodding as she followed the receptionist. Upon reaching the 28th floor, she saw Mrs. Brooks waiting for her outside the elevator. Noticing her, Diana greeted her, "Good morning, Mrs. Brooks." "Good morning Ms. Miller. I''m happy that you''re very much punctual. Now let''s go to our boss and pay him a visit. Then I''ll show you around the office and introduce you to your colleagues.." Nodding at her, Diana smiled and said, "Okay. Mrs. Brooks.." They reached Mr. Lopez''s office and knocked on the door and entered when they heard a faint ''come in''. "Good morning Sir.." Diana said. "Morning Ms. Miller. So you''re ready to start your new journey of life from today?" Mr. Lopez asked. "Yes sir. Absolutely ready." Diana said with utter confidence. "Good then. All the best for all of your future battles. The road towards your success will not be always easy.. There will be many obstacles and difficulties but you have to block them in order to fulfil your dreams..." Chapter 234 - Young Lady... "Good then.. All the best for all of your future battles. The road towards your success will not be always easy.. There will be many obstacles and difficulties but you have to block them in order to fulfil your dreams... So never lose your confidence in yourself and always keep smiling. Because, smile is the best weapon of winning a deadly war with your enemies.. Mr. Lopez motivated Diana with his inspirational words.. "Thanks sir. I''ll definitely remember all of your suggestions with my whole heart. I''ll also try my best to stand on all of your expectations." Diana said, giving him a bright smile.. Mr. Lopez nodded his head, returning her a smile and looked at Mrs. Brooks before saying, "Show her around the building and let her know about our all of the employees along with her team members and others.." Mrs. Brooks said, "Yes sir. I''m about to give her a tour of this office after leaving from here." "Okay then. Oh! I forgot to tell you that Louis would be coming today after lunchtime to discuss about the advertising stuffs... So welcome him properly and fetch him to me. Then let Ms. Miller have a meeting with him so that they both could talk about their respective ideas and planning." Mr. Lopez informed. "Sure Boss." Mrs. Brooks said before leaving his cabin with Diana. ---- Both of the ladies exit Mr. Lopez''s office when Diana remembered their conversation in Mr. Lopez''s cabin and suddenly something struck in her mind.. She then asked Mrs. Brooks, "I heard Boss giving you instructions about welcoming some Louis guy.. Now who is he? Is he someone very important that Boss asked you to treat him in a special way." Mrs. Brooks'' mouth got opened wide in shock when she heard Diana''s queries as she asked back, "You don''t know who Mr. Louis Morgan is? I mean...like seriously??" Diana thought that she had heard the name somewhere but couldn''t remember it clearly, so she just shook her head in denial.. Now, Mrs. Brooks'' shock turned into astonishment as she replied, "Mr. Louis Morgan is the Vice President of Creation...which is the biggest and most renowned multimedia company of country K. Even Mr. Lopez''s daughter works in Creation as the head VFX Artist from the past few years.. Now please don''t ask me who our Boss''s daughter is..." Awkwardly smiling at Mrs. Brooks, Diana sheepishly said, "Though I know about Creation but I''m not aware of either Louis or Mr. Lopez''s daughter as I''m new to this country, so never mind about this city... Actually I have studied in city B for few years but had to leave for some family problems. So I''m not too much familiar with the country or the famous people who resides here.." "Oh.. That''s the matter.. Let me inform you then, that our Boss''s daughter is very much beautiful with good education and behaviour. She is very much talented and ambitious with many other brilliant skills which could impress anyone in just a blink of an eye... Her soft spoken personality along with her friendly attitude made her the most favourite person to everyone. She is naturally very much pretty and gorgeous with her intimidated aura, whereas she is the apple of the eyes of Mr. and Mrs. Lopez..." Hearing the description that Mrs. Brooks were giving to her, Diana knew that the daughter of Mr. Lopez must be really very beautiful but one question was still poking in her mind like a irritating piercing pin.. "You mentioned that she has a friendly attitude and good personality. But aren''t all the daughters of rich families have some rotten attitude with rude personalities?" Diana pressed her palm on her mouth guiltily when she understood what she had just blurted out without thinking too much.. "Uhmm... I''m sorry..." Diana tried to apologise but before that Mrs. Brooks stopped her by her laughter.. Controlling her laugh, Mrs. Brooks stated, "I know why you had asked this question to me and this is actually quite a common thought, a person should have in her mind about the rich heiresses. So let me make you clear about it... Though she was born in one of the most richest families of this country and brought up with all the luxuries and an upgrading lifestyle but she is not at all a spoiled brat like most of the other heiresses... She is very much considerate and polite to everyone. She is like a delicate flower with a pure heart, who respects everyone with equality. She doesn''t judge people with money or status like others... She used to come here often but we couldn''t be able to see her from the past two months as she was extremely busy with her work. Truthfully, we all miss her very much..." A layer of sorrow was clearly visible on Mrs. Brooks'' face so Diana thought she must be very special to them so she asked, "She seems to be a lot famous among all of you.." Mrs. Brooks'' lips broke into a big smile as she said, "Yes. Everyone loves her here. And her name is¡­." Before she could pronounce the name completely, someone had interrupted them.. "Who is this young lady now? She seems to be absolutely new here.." A man in his late twenties suddenly asked and the heads of the two ladies spinned towards the source of the voice so that they could see the person''s face.. "Hi Jack.. It''s good that you''re already here. Meet with our new head designer, Diana Miller.." Mrs. Brooks introduced Diana to the person whose name supposed to be Jack by the way Mrs. Brooks had called him. Turning towards Diana, she said, "Diana, he is one of your team members...Jack Evans who will help you in designing and other stuffs.." Diana looked at the man in front of her. He was quite smart, handsome and had a well builded body. He was surely very attractive but not at all her type... Chapter 235 - Use their capacity into your advantage... Diana looked at the man in front of her. He was quite smart, handsome and had a well builded body. He was surely very attractive but not at all her type... Whereas Jack was continuosly checking her out as if he had never seen a beauty like her before, obviously except their boss''s daughter and her friends who were out of his league completely... Stretching his hands a little bit towards Diana for a handshake, Jack introduced himself, "Hello Ms. Miller.. As Mrs. Brooks said, I''m Jack Evans. You can call me by my first name Jack like others do. And last But not the least, it would be great to work with you." Diana shook his hand said, "Pleasure is all mine Mr. Evans.." "Okay Jack. You go ahead and inform other teammates that that their head designer is here and she''ll meet them after few minutes." Mrs. Brooks said. Jack nodded his head and left to inform his teammates. Mrs. Brooks took Diana here and there and showed her around the whole office while introducing her to each and every colleagues and employees with whom she needed to associate for her work purposes.. After forty five minutes of wandering and introductions, Mrs. Brooks finally fetched Diana to her last destination.. Stopping the elevator at 27th floor, she said, "This is the designing floor for garments and accessories. You are the sole Boss here of everybody on this particular floor. Whatever you say they have to obey.... without any complains and argument.. But first rememeber that, being a team leader is still easy but being the head of one full department is quite tough enough. Not only you have to maintain unity between all of your subordinates but also you have watch over themselves if they are doing there work properly or slacking here and there... And for that you have to appoint team leaders, analysing their capabilities and potentiality. You are the one who will decide whom to choose for designing ethnic dresses and whom for Western attire..." Mrs. Brooks gave her a thorough details if her duty here. Diana just listened to her attentively and captured all of the suggestions in her mind while Mrs. Brooks again started telling her more about her job... "It doesn''t end here because here comes the toughest thing for your first day of work as you''ll be the one who will make sure of each and every worker must be the best for being creative in their own department and how to use their capacity into your advantage... First decide on who would be your two team leaders then divide the employees according to your preferences to different teams. If you need any help, ask me but remember one thing, YOU are the Boss here so you have to know how to control everyone.. Things will not go easy for everything but you have to stay determined on your own beliefs. Understand Miss Miller?" Diana was scared a little at first hearing that she had to handle so many responsibilities on her own shoulder but when she remembered the only purpose for coming here which was to prove to her so called parents that she could be self-reliant without anyone''s help, she got her self confidence back. With faith in herself, Diana beautifully smiled at Mrs. Brooks before saying, "Don''t worry Mrs. Brooks. I''ll not let your hopes down from me. And please call me Diana." "Okay. Now let me introduce you to your team.." Mrs. Brooks took her inside the big hall like room where different types of cabins with an extraordinary interior designs were set professionally. There were different types of mannequins present there with different types of clothing being kept here and there... Around ten to twelve people were there working on their own computers but when they heard the sound of door opening, they all turned their heads to the source of the noise. "Everyone, welcome your new Boss of Fashion Designing department, Diana Miller. I hope that you all will listen to her properly and help her in work with all of your heart." Mrs. Brooks said in an authoritative voice. The sweet tone of her voice that she showed to Diana, was no more present there. Instead a firm tone had replaced in her vocal cord... Everyone was shocked to see a beautiful young lady who seemed to be in her mid twenties to be their new boss. But the only exception was Jack as he was the one who had informed them beforehand about the arrival of Diana... However after five minutes of their great shock, they broke into a big smile before greeting her.. Diana also introduced her by telling her name, college, job experiences etc... But it was still quite fornal. The employees also introduced themselves and Diana observed each and everyone''s behavior, work ethics very scrutinizingly as she had to choose the team leaders perfectly who would ensure the success of making a great team... "Okay so guys. As it''s my first day of working here and as I don''t know about your pattern of works, I''d request you all to send me some of your designs to my office so that I can observe it and assemble you to the perfect teams." Diana said. Everyone said okay and left to choose their designs and handed them to Diana. Observing all of the designs, Diana got the clue that whom should she made the team leaders and who were going to be their respective team members.. After taking a deep breath, Diana turned towards Mrs. Brooks and asked, "Can I made some changes in the team leader thing?" "Yeah.. Definitely. You can do whatever you want after all it''s your department now. And if you need any assistant, just inform me I''ll find one for you " Mrs. Brooks said. "Well, Mrs. Brooks.. Thanks for giving me the liberty to change decisions but about the matter of my assistant, I think I had already found one." Diana said looking at certain someone who was trying very hard to hide a little bit away from Diana''s eyes... Chapter 236 - Strange kind of determination... "Well, Mrs. Brooks.. Thanks for giving me the liberty to change decisions but about the matter of my assistant, I think I had already found one." Diana said looking at certain someone who was trying very hard to hide a little bit away from Diana''s eyes. Mrs. Brooks nodded whereas Diana said, "I already made a judgement about it but I need to be a little bit more time to be sure. But at least I''m not worried anymore as I already got Mr. Brooks'' permission or rather I''ll mention it as her confirmation... So give me few more hours to think over everything and I''ll tell all of you my decision before the lunch break starts. Thank you everybody.." "Okay ma''am. That''s not a big problem so we can really wait." Everyone said as both Diana left with Mrs. Brooks after glancing at particularly one person for the last time... ---- Brown Corporation.. Alonzo had come to the office after almost one week of leave which was quite surprising for the directors and other managers of his company as they never had seen their boss to take a leave for so long from the time they were working for him at city B... They were all settled in an important meeting which was mainly helfd for the discussion about the growth of the Brown Corporation in city S.. Alonzo called all of them to know what had happened in the past few days in his absence in the office. He also asked if there was any new project for them and how was the progress of the old projects going.. Alonzo was discussing all of this matters with his employees.. Though he was as cold as before but there was some strange kind of determination in his eyes which no one could express clearly. It was kind of hidden by his stern gaze and cold attitude.. Bill also noticed it and though he could already guess the actual reason behind his Boss''s behaviour but still he was not ready to disclose them to other employees as he was not completely sure about the actuality of those assumptions... So he did the thing which he thought to be the best for the present moment, which was to shut his mouth up for the sake of both his job and life as he focused on the meeting more.. "Boss, so these were all the informations for the last week. Is there anything more you want to ask us?" One of the managers asked while showing him the PPT of a presentation.. Alonzo looked at him seriously before saying, "Everything is going well. But I want to know about the latest progress of Smith''s Hotel Project..." The head of the engineer department who was handling the project looked at Alonzo before narrating, "Boss, the progress is going very good till yet as like our presumptions. But there is a matter which is quite confusing to our engineers who are handling this Hotel Project.." "And what is it?" Alonzo asked being confused with a frown plastered on his face.. "According to the blueprint of the hotel that was given to us by the architectures of Smith Enterprise, the fountain should be in the middle of the garden. But we are finding it a little more difficult to place on the exact position as it may shorten the area of the garden which can also create some problems in the future for the parking." The head engineer said in a polite way. Alonzo listened to him very carefully before nodding his head understandingly as he said,, "Okay, I got it. You continue with the other things. I''ll ask Mr. Smith about this problem myself and will try to solve it as soon as possible.." "Okay boss. Thanks for the help." The head of engineering department said. "The meeting is adjourned for now. Bill will inform you if there is another meeting for you after lunchtime." Alonzo said before leaving the room while his assistant Bill followed after him.. ---- As soon as he entered his office, Alonzo asked for a black tea from Bill as he sat on his chair rubbing his forehead to suppress the severe headache he was getting from drinking too much alcohol last night. As it was his first day after his long absence with the new determination in his heart of making Veronica fall in love with him, so he wanted to bury himself in sorrow through alcohol for the last time before saying a goodbye to it.. Soon Bill entered his office with a cup of lack tea and gave it to his boss.. Taking a sip from his tea, Alonzo said, "Plan a meeting with Mr. Smith and ask his assistant if Reuben would have some time for tomorrow for us as it is really a very important matter." Bill nodded and left his cabin quickly to process with his Boss''s order. He called Reuben''s assistant Tom to ask for an appointment and he was told to wait for an hour to get their reply... ---- Smith Enterprise.. Reuben just ended a call with one of his important client from abroad when Tom entered with some files in his hand.. "Boss, these files required your signs." Tom informed. Reuben nodded and took the files from his hand before starting to read those files with total concentration and signed it off one after another when he found there was nothing wrong with those papers.. After signing all those files, he handed back them to Tom but instead of leaving, Tom just kept standing there silently without moving even an inch.. Seeing this, Reuben asked Tom with his raised eyebrows, "Do you have something more to tell me Tom?" Tom did not beat around the bush and nodded his head quickly in affirmation as a response as he informed Reuben, "Yes Boss.. Actually Mr. Alonzo''s assistant had just called me few minutes before and asked me if it would be possible for you to have a meeting tomorrow with Mr. Alonzo Brown.." Chapter 237 - Nasty Games... Tom did not beat around the bush and nodded his head quickly in affirmation as a response as he informed Reuben, "Yes Boss.. Actually Mr. Alonzo''s assistant had just called me few minutes before and asked me if it would be possible for you to have a meeting tomorrow with Mr. Alonzo Brown.." Reuben looked up at his assistant and asked, "And why is that? What is the exact reason of Alonzo demanding to have a sudden meeting with me and that too soon?" "Boss they informed us that their engineering department is facing few problems with the designing of entrance part of the hotel. So they want to hold a meeting with us as soon as possible.." Tom replied politely. "Okay. Tell them to meet me tomorrow at 12 pm at my office." Reuben said rubbing his nose with his index finger if left hand. Tom left with the files which Reuben had just signed and informed Bill about the meeting to be settled on the next day at noon. And as expected, they also agreed with the time, making the meeting finalize on tomorrow.. After Tom left, Reuben was in deep thought while narrowing his eyes to nothing special... "What kind of new plans are you brewing in your head now Alonzo? I''m sure that it''s not just for only the hotel project purpose that you want to meet me... Seems like you have something more to say or rather should I say something more to discuss with me. Well, if you want to play some nasty games again, then I''ll show you how exactly the game is being played.." Reuben said ruthlessly with void of anger blaring in his eyes. --- Lopez Industries.. After contemplating for sometime, Diana finally made her final decision and walked outside of her cabin towards the big hall where her teammates were working together on their respective designs.. She was impressed with their dedication towards their work and a small smile slipped from her lips.. "Everyone.. Be attentive to whatever I''m going to announce now." After clearing her throat a little, Diana said a little loudly to get everyone''s attention back to her.. As predicted, all of her teammates turned around to see her and stood up for greetings. "As you guys know there supposed to be two team leaders. But I think instead of two leaders, I should appoint only one person as a team leader for the purpose of work convenience.." Diana said and everyone just stood there calmly waiting for her to say more. Taking a deep breath, Diana continued at the same time, looking at all of them in their eyes, "The chosen team leader will be Jack Evans as I like the fact that his interactions with his colleagues are really good and his work also spouts about his extraordinary ideas with lots of creativity." Everyone clapped for Jack and he smiled before thanking Diana, "Thanks Ms. Miller for giving me such a big opportunity." Diana just nodded before starting again, "Now all of you would think that if I appoint only one team leader then how could the work pressure and the load of duties be handled by just one single person? Moreover, it''ll also lead you to another mishap and more problems will occure in this way.. But don''t worry. I already had think over everything. There will be two sub leaders under Jack who will handle the matters as per Jack''s decisions. He would himself choose who would be the best for the position to be his sub leaders? And one more thing..." Everyone listened to Diana''s ideas but when she stopped they stared at her with more expectant eyes as if they were very much curious about what she was going to announce next... Taking a deep breath, Diana said, "As all of you know that we''re short of designers so few more designers will join our department for betterment purposes from tomorrow. I already talked with the supervisor about it and he gave me some candidates'' CV to select among them. All were good but I selected five among them who are not very much well experienced but a lot more creative with interesting ideas. They will join tomorrow with you guys. So be well prepare to welcome them. I expect good behaviour and friendliness from all of you.." All the members of designing department were completely shocked to see Diana being so intelligent to work like an experienced professional on the first day of her work... Her ideas were indeed really good and no one had any objections about her decisions. So all of them just nodded and said in a synchronised voice, "Yes ma''am. We understand." Getting the positive response from her colleagues, Diana became very happy and said, "Then it''s fixed. But I have one last thing to tell you guys.". Again, everyone stopped speaking and looked at Diana without any voice getting out of their throat. "As I''m now the head designer of this company so I need one reliable assistant who will handle my work and schedules.. After discussing thoroughly with Mrs. Brooks, I''ve chosen one person among all of you to be my personal assistant¡­" Diana said and her eyes then fell on another pair of eyes who were looking at her with nervousness but bowed down her head as soon as she noticed Diana was looking back at her... Diana chuckled internally before starting to say, "The person who is going to be my assistant and handle my work and other stuffs is¡­ Rachel." Rachel who was hiding from Diana till then became shocked when her name was pronounced as the assistant of Diana. She stared at Diana with widened eyes and thought in her mind if Diana had recognised her or it was just a coincidence that she found her sweetable for the position of Diana''s own personal assistant.. When everyone congratulated her, she just smiled meekly at them before looking at Diana who was gazing back at her with a smirk on her face.. Chapter 238 - Something Positive... When everyone congratulated Rachel, she just smiled meekly at them before looking at Diana who was gazing back at her with a smirk on her face.. "Okay guys. That''s all for today. We''ll not start with anything new today. Just finish every incomplete work before going back home so that when the new employees join us we could start with our designs... And tomorrow first in the morning, we''ll have a meeting altogether. So if you have already planned any ideas for our new showroom just explain it to me tomorrow.." Diana said before leaving them there. ---- Creation... Lunch break had just started and Willa was going out with Veronica to have lunch when Louis came out of the elevator, looking all dashing in his black suit.. Noticing the two girls heading out of Creation, Louis stopped them by calling their name. "So going for lunch?" Louis asked. "Yup. Want to join us?" Willa asked back. "Nah.. I''m already done with my lunch. You guys go." Louis said. "Done with lunch so soon?? But the lunch break had just started few minutes ago.." Veronica asked looking at the time on her watch. "Geez..!! Did both of you forget the fact that I''m the Vice President of Creation, I don''t need any specific time for lunch, breakfast or dinner. I can eat and play anytime and anywhere I want. Who will dare to scold or complain about me? Simple employees like you two?" Louis joked as he pointed his finger at both of the girls.. Veronica just rolled her eyes while Willa clicked her tongue at annoyance before saying, "Yeah.. How could we, some low like employees have the audacity to complain about our lord like Vice President, Louis Morgan?" Louis chuckled hearing Willa''s mocking statement whereas Veronica just smacked on his head before spatting, "I''ll complain about you directly to the CEO.. The CEO is a very good friend of mine so she will definitely listen to me.. Humph!!!" "No.. Please don''t do this. Our CEO is really scary, specially when she becomes angry." Louis requested, pretending to be scared. The girls laughed at him when Willa asked, "By the way, where are you going now?" "Lopez Industries." Louis replied simply. "Oh. Then go fast. My Dad doesn''t like late people like you." Veronica joked. "Yeah. Yeah leaving right now, girls. Bye..." Louis said before entering his car which his assistant had parked in front of their office''s entrance.. After Louis left, Veronica suddenly muttered, "Why am I feeling like something good is going to happen today?" "Why the sudden feeling?" Willa asked being confused. "Don''t know.. It''s just my heart is saying that, our great Louis is going to get something which would be very precious for his whole life as if like Louis''s luck is going to change completely from today.." Veronica narrated her thoughts.. "Though I''m not feeling anything like you but still my mind is saying that something positive is surrounding us.." Willa said as the both girls giggled... ---- Lopez Industries... As soon as Louis'' car parked in front of the entrance gate of Lopez Industries, the receptionist informed Mrs. Brooks about him. "Hello Mr. Morgan. Welcome to Lopez Industries." Mrs. Brooks greeted Louis as soon as he exited from the elevator. Louis smiled as he knew Mrs. Brooks from before as he sometimes came at Creation along with Veronica and greeted back, "Hello Mrs. Brooks. You seems to become more beautiful day by day.." Mrs. Brooks blushed and said, "Thanks for the complement. Come, I''ll take you to the cabin of Mr. Lopez." "Yeah... Sure." Louis said and followed behind her. Entering Mr. Lopez''s office, Louis smiled brightly and said, "Uncle.. This super handsome man is finally at your door.." Mr. Lopez looked at him and laughed loudly at his self praise as he said, "Yeah.. Yeah.. You are the most handsome one. Now come, give me a hug." Giving him a hug, Louis said, "You also agree nah that I''m more handsome than others.. But your daughter never agreed with me. For her, only my brother is the most good looking man of the world." "Well, isn''t it right also? And if you need someone to praise you as the most handsome man, then find a beautiful girlfriend like your brother Reuben had found my princess." Mr. Lopez teased. Sitting on the couch with Mr. Lopez, Louis complained, "It''s all your fault that I''m still single." Mr. Lopez frowned and asked, "Now how is this my fault?" "Because you don''t have any other daughter than Veronica. If you would have a younger daughter, I could date her, nah?" Louis pouted like a child. Hearing it, Mr. Lopez burst out in laughter and said, "What can I do when my princess is enough to fulfil our life with happiness and contentment, that your aunty and me had never thought of having another child after her. And who knew that you''re going to complain to me like that about this.. Moreover, we''re not even sure if the ideal girl for you is nearby you but you hadn''t met her still...or may be going to meet her soon.. No one can predict anything beforehand without God himself. So just wait a little more to get your perfect match who will love you with her everything. So don''t be sad and be positive.." Louis smiled when he got the motivated words from Mr. Lopez before saying, "You are right Uncle. I should wait a little bit more." Mr. Lopez smiled and was about to say something when someone knocked at the door. And it was Mrs. Brooks who brought some coffees and cookies for Louis which were his favourites. Saying a ''thank you'' to her, Louis jumped on his favourite cookies while Mr. Lopez said, "Call Ms. Miller here..." "Yes sir." Ms. Brooks said before leaving his cabin.. Few minutes later, another knock interrupted the funny conversation between Louis and Mr. Lopez and a sweet voice bloomed into their ears, "Sir, you have called for me??" Chapter 239 - Hide and Seek... Few minutes later, another knock interrupted the funny conversation between Louis and Mr. Lopez and a sweet voice bloomed into their ears, "Sir, you have called for me??" The moment the voice reached to the ears of Louis, he thought that the voice was quite familiar so without wasting any time, he looked at his back to clear his doubt... Finally his eyes met the mesmerizing black doe like eyes of one of the most beautiful girl and his face bloomed into a big smile to see the person who was none other than the girl whom he saw at Fusion before leaving... The girl who was continuously coming in his dream, doing a ''Hello.. Hi.. Bye Bye..'' thing to him.. She was the one for whom Louis was being disturbed in his work and his mood was getting worsen day by day. He would always visualise those adorable big doe like eyes that he fell in love into from the first time he saw them. Her angel like voice would always echo in his mind though she had said only few words to him... Actually not even few words, she just only disclosed her name to him... nothing more than that.. "Oh Ms. Miller... Please come in and sit here." Mr. Lopez said and pointed towards the opposite seat of them on the couch, breaking Louis from his wonderland about his dream girl... Diana gently took the seat in front of the two people and smiled meekly at them.. Then her eyes fell on the pair of deep and dark eyes which were staring at her intensely from the time she had entered. She glanced at the handsome face of the man and took a closure look at it, which made her feel that she had already met him before today cause his face seemed to be a lot familiar to her.. "Okay. So Louis, she is Ms. Diana Miller who is the new head designer of our fashion department. And Ms. Miller, he is the great Louis Morgan, the Vice President of Creation." Mr. Lopez introduced the two youngsters to each other without knowing the secret of their earlier confrontation. "Good afternoon Mr. Morgan." Diana greeted Louis with a polite and professional voice, remembering his surname from both Mrs. Brooks and Mr. Lopez''s mentions. Her voice was dripping with sweetness but was not at all seductive. She stretched her right hand towards him with a small smile on her face.. "Hello, Ms. Miller... We''ve met again." Louis said while shaking her hand with his whereas a playful smirk was plastering on his lips.. Diana''s face was now totally a confused one as she asked, "Had we met somewhere?" "Woah!! Uncle look at this... This beautiful leady here forget the face of the handsome Louis Morgan after we met at Fusion, just a week ago when we mistakenly collided with each other." Louis exaggerated in a humorous way. Though Mr. Lopez was extremely curious after knowing that these two young fellows had already met each other before but still he couldn''t help himself but laughing out loud when he heard Louis''s sarcastic remark... He then looked at Diana whose eyes was wide opened in shock because of his remarks which was thrown indirectly to her. "You are really something Louis. Look, you make this girl so much shocked on the first day of her work that she even forgot to blink her eyes." Mr. Lopez said jokingly. Diana got out of her shock and bowed her head down, smiling lightly feeling completely embarassed. Louis noticed her every single action and grinned ear to ear to himself before diverting the situation into the main topic as he asked, "So uncle, what are your thoughts about the advertis.e.m.e.nt planning?" "Oh.!! About that both you and Ms. Miller go to her office and discuss about it. I''ve a meeting to attend to, so I''m leaving this matter on both of your shoulder." Mr. Lopez said and patted Louis on his shoulder. Louis nodded and got up from his seat before saying, "Okay Uncle. I''ll then take my leave from your amazing cabin now. Bye... Will see you later." Turning his face towards Diana, he asked, "Ms. Miller are you planning to stay here forever or have any urge to show me your office so that we can plan about the concepts of ads??" Again, Diana''s cheeks turned red in extreme embarrassment as she also stood up after Louis, feeling like if there was a possibility for her then she would love to dig a hole and hide herself in that but.... Alas!! There was no chance of having any hole on the very richly built marbled floor of this big multi billionaire company... So she couldn''t do anything except walking out of the door with her head still bowed down. Louis chuckled seeing her cute behavior and followed her into her cabin.. ---- Diana''s cabin... Entering there, Diana said meekly while pointing towards a chair which was right in front of her wooden desk, "Please take a seat, Mr. Morgan." Sitting on the chair, Louis made a face and complained, "Come on, I''m not that much old that you have to direct me as Mr. Morgan.. Louis would be fine for me." Diana smiled and said in a low voice which was hardly audible, "Ah.. Okay. You can also call me Diana then." Giving a wide smile to her, Louis said, "So Diana, let''s start the meeting and we''ll start with your abstractions regarding your designs for this project." Both of them started to discuss about how they would like to design the hoardings, what would be their tagline etc.. But in the middle, Louis didn''t forget to steal few glances at Diana from time to time.. Unbeknownst to him, Diana also stole some glances at him. She didn''t know why she implemented such kind of action as it was completely her first time to do so but she still felt content to see his side profile while playing their little hide and seek game... Chapter 240 - Eye Candies... Shopping Mall... Reuben parked his car right outside the gate of the big shopping mall. He got out of the car after pulling it on the parking lot and kept the key of his car in his right part of suit pocket... Veronica also came out of the car, followed by Reuben as both of them intertwined their hands before heading inwards the mall. Their groceries in their home had been already emptied from their refrigerator. So no more groceries in the home and the couple decided to full their fridge once more while shopping together... Previously, whenever they needed to buy some groceries or other essential things for their home, they would go there alone, respectively taking their turns.. Like if the previous week, Veronica had gone for shopping, the next week would be Reuben''s turn while the other one would wait for their partner in the car so that no one could notice them together and doubt on their relationship. But now...things had completely changed in different way. Now they were officially certified couple by their parents, friends and even the whole world approved their love... So what could now stop them from going for a sweet thing like grocery shopping together hand in hand?? There was nothing more to hide. They were now like a open book to people, from where people could easily read the gravity of their strong love for each other and the sweetness of their relationship... Every single eyes were on them as the couple passed by the people who were also present there. They all were looking at them like they had found some eye candies for themselves. Though it was partly true cause the REUNIC couple''s visuals were nothing less than some extremely good looking and tasty candies... Many people were clicking their pictures also but the couple completely ignored them and focused on their shopping. Actually the attention they were now getting from the public, was one of the main reason for which they didn''t want to reveal their relationship as it would hamper their privacy. But still somewhere both in their mind and heart, they were extremely happy that the whole world know that they were together. Now they could flaunt their love to them without any barrier... "Honey, I want those chocolate cookies." Veronica said to Reuben as she couldn''t reach the top rack where her favourite cookies had been placed though she was already very tall compared to any other normal girls. Reuben swiftly took few packets of those cookies out of the shelf and put it into their shopping cart as he said, "Here you go my darling." Veronica smiled and went towards the next part of the shopping mall where all the vegetables and fruits were beautifully arranged there.. She took some carrots, bell peppers, beans, broccolis in the cart whereas Reuben filled it with healthy fruits like apple, bananas, pomegranates, watermelons etc.. Reuben peeked at Veronica secretly to see that she was extremely busy with choosing vegetables when he silently and quickly took out an avocado packet and put it into the cart and hid it well with other things. But as soon as he was about to move, his eyes landed on a pair of angry eyes who was glaring at him like an eagle looking for its prey. Getting scared of her furious gaze, Reuben awkwardly smiled at her before stammering, "Ah.. Hon.. Honey.. Why are you looking at me like that? I''m getting scared of you.." "Why did you put that tasteless fruit in our cart?" without answering Reuben, Veronica questioned back while glaring at her boyfriend. "What are you saying honey? Which fruit?" Reuben faked his innocence. Smirking at him devilishly, Veronica dug between the items that they were going to buy and pulled a bag of avocado from there. Pointing her fingers on the packet of fruit, Veronica asked with raised eyebrows, "Why avocado was there? You know nah I hate avocado to the depth of my heart?" Being caught red handed, Reuben gulped a mouthful of saliva before replying sheepishly, "Babe... I know that you hate avocado but it''s good for health. So I bought it. If you eat a little daily, your skin will glow more." "I''m not going to eat. It''s yuck.." Veronica refused while making a face of vomiting. Reuben chuckled at that and pinched her cheeks before saying, "Aww Baby..!! You are looking so sweet. But if you agree to buy avocado then I promise I''ll buy five buckets of your favourite ice-cream on the way back home." Hearing the word ice-cream, Veronica''s lips broadened into a big smile as happiness tingled in her stomach as she opened both her hands and raised her fingers in front of Reuben as she demanded, "Make it ten buckets.. Then only I''ll listen." Watching her cute child like act, Reuben grinned and agreed, "Okay.. Ten buckets then." Both of the couple''s again became busy with their shopping while the other customers looked at them with awe whereas some were feeling very jealous of them to have such kind of sweet boyfriend or girlfriend... One of the customers present there exclaimed, "Awww!! They are so sweet together." "Yes. As if like God had made them for each other with a lot of time in heaven." Another one said. A young girl also joined, "I wish I would also have a boyfriend like Reuben." "And I wish I would have such a cute girlfriend like Veronica." This time a young boy had said. As everyone was busy admiring the couple, a pair of dark eyes were throwing cold daggers at them while his jaw was clenched tightly in anger.. Alonzo had come here because Myra had asked him to buy some spices for cooking but he never thought that he would face with his most terrifying scene here where his love was showing their public display of affection so openly.. He fisted the shopping bag in his head in rage and ran out of the shopping mall furiously after gazing at the couple for the last time.. Chapter 241 - Roomless... Love-Paradise... It was next day already when Veronica and Reuben was preparing to leave for their work.. They were checking for the last time if they had dropped any important files or not. Veronica was searching for her charger but she couldn''t find it anywhere so she asked, "Honey, have you seen my charger. It''s not anywhere in the room." Shaking his head, Reuben said, "No baby. I have not seen your charger. Maybe you left it in your office yesterday. Go and check there." "No Bennie. I''m very much sure that I kept it in my bag before leaving office yesterday. Even I also charged my phone before going for a bath an hour ago. But now it has just disappeared." Veronica sighed. "Oh.. Leave it hon.. You already have your power bank with you. So what''s there to worry?" Reuben said as he wore his suit jacket. Afyer a hard try of searching, Veronica finally lost her patience and said, "You are right. Let''s go now. We''re already being late today." Reuben nodded as he buttoned up his jacket but before they could leave, Veronica stated, "Wait a minute¡­" "Why? Now what happened?" Reuben asked confusedly. Pointing towards the couch, Veronica showed Reuben the wet towel that was lying on it as she glared at him before scolding, "How many times do I have to say to you Mr. Smith, not to keep your wet towel on the sofa?? But you never listened, you idiot. One more time and I''ll throw your towel out of my room along with you." Reuben gulped in fear of being roomless as he pleaded, "Honey.. I''m really really sorry. It''ll not happen again. I promise. Don''t throw me out of the room please." Huffing at him, Veronica walked towards the couch to discard the towel in wash bin but she stopped in her pose as soon as she picked up the towel in her hand from the couch. Reuben was unsure why suddenly the big change in Veronica''s behavior. Few seconds ago, she was scolding like an angry mother and now she was silent like an obedient child.. Seemed to be something fishy... Or more like the silence before a raging storm¡­ And his intuition turned out to be absolutely correct the next second.. "Reuben. Smith¡­ You and your towel both are useless." Veronica shouted on the top of her lungs, becoming extremely angry. "Aye honey.. why are you shouting? Now what did your innocent boyfriend have done that you have call me useless. You know right how much useful I am specially at night.." Reuben said the last sentence with a naughty smirk plastering on his face. "Stop smirking like a fool. Here I''m being serious now." Veronica yelled again as she picked up the her lost charger from the sofa which was hidden underneath Reuben''s towel. Taking the charger, she walked towards Reuben and asked, "What is this? I was searching for it like a crazy girl for about half an hour and where it was?? It was lying under the great Mr. Smith''s used wet towel.. Like seriously??" Giving her a sheepishly smile, Reuben pouted as he said, "Ah.. Honey.. why don''t we leave now and you can shout on me later when we come back from work. Now we are getting late." Sighing deeply, Veronica left the matter as she was being late and said, "Let''s go.." Reuben happily exited the door whistling whereas Veronica also picked her bag along with the charger before leaving with a smile on her lips cause only she knew that she left her anger not because they were being late but she got melted by her boyfriend''s cute pout... ---- Smith Enterprise¡­ Reuben entered the building with a broad smile on his face as he got the best kiss from Veronica before dropping her off. Each and every employee specially the girls were smitten by his mesmerizing smile as they guessed the reason of it to be their future lady boss Veronica... After Reuben and Veronica''s relationship has came out the world, Reuben''s smile never stopped. He was always smiley and his mood was also better than before... Reuben entered his cabin and Tom followed him with a cup of coffee. Opening the button of his suit, Reuben sat on his chair and sipped on his coffee before signaling him to say about his schedule that day. "Boss, today you have to sign few files, then you have a meeting with Mr. Alonzo Brown at 12 pm... After lunch, you have another meeting with Mr. Joseph about the shopping mall project. After that,you have nothing more to do." Tom informed. Carefully listening to everything from Tom, Reuben nodded his head as he said, "Understood." "Anything else you want to order sir?" Tom asked. "No. Not now. Just hand me the files and then you can leave." Reuben said. Checking all the files intently with his full attention, Reuben signed those files. He then surfed through his social media page and saw that his followers had increased a lot but he was not at all a bit of interest in this. Cause his eyes landed first on the image of his and Veronica that he posted to confirm their relationship which got millions of likes and thousands of comments filled with congratulatory wishes.. After checking some business petals, he got bored and saw that it was only 11 am and he was completely free till next one hour. So he walked towards the big glass window in his cabin which gave you the view of almost whole city. Though it was day time, the weather was extremely pleasant. The sun was bright but warm. The wind was blowing slowly making the leaves of the tree also move with it. Thrusting his one hand into his pocket and the other pressing on the glass of the window, Reuben gazed at the outer scenery and thought about his future with Veronica. Finally collecting all his thoughts about their good times, Reuben''s lips stretched into a big smile while his eyes showed love as he thought of something interesting which would gonna be another big step towards their bright and lovely future¡­ Chapter 242 - Biggest Task... Finally collecting all his thoughts about their good times, Reuben''s lips stretched into a big smile while his eyes showed love as he thought of a something interesting which will gonna be another big step towards their bright and lovely future¡­ Settling his mind on the things he had to do, Reuben went to his table and called for Tom through his intercom. "Ah boss!! You called me..?" Tom asked, entering Reuben''s cabin. "Yes.. I want to give you a task. Actually one of the biggest task of your life which is very much important to me." Reuben said. Tom furrowed his eyebrows when he heard this from Reuben and asked, "I understand Boss.. What is the task though?" Reuben looked up at Tom and said, "I would tell you everything but you have to keep it as a big secret... No one is allowed to know about it. Specially your lady boss and my sweetheart Veronica." "I have to be secretive specially from the lady boss? But why Boss? You never hid anything from her... She''ll be very upset when she comes to know about everything.." Tom was being skeptical about Whatever Reuben was saying as he was very much confused about the whole thing. Reuben had never hidden anything from Veronica ever in his life and same goes for Veronica too... But this would be the first time when Reuben himself was suggesting to keep all their plans and information as a secret between themselves. This only meant one thing, something big was going to happen... Seeing the tensed face of his assistant Tom, Reuben smirked and later he assured, "Don''t worry Tom. This secret will not make your lady boss upset... Instead it will definitely bring tears in her eyes out of happiness.. Trust me." Still the confusion from Tom''s eyes hadn''t vanished. So Reuben smiled and said, "Come here and sit first. I''ll explain my plans to you and you''ll be the one who will hold all those responsibilities cause there is no one more than you whom I can trust over handling the tasks I''m about to say... So I''ll start from here. Your fast task is you have to free¡­" Reuben started describing everything to Tom and after whole forty minutes, he had finally finished explaining everything to Tom. Tom sat there dumbfounded without speaking anything and second by second his eyes widened and widened along with his mouth.. And when Reuben told him about the surprise he was going to plan, Tom just sat there with astonishment painted over his face as he kept staring at Reuben.. Reuben chuckled seeing his dazed gaze as he clicked his fingers in front of him before saying, "Wake up Tom from your daydreaming. It''s still not noon yet.." Coming out of his gaze Tom looked at Reuben as an energetic smile bloomed in his lips when he exclaimed in joy, "I can''t still believe you have planned all of these, so detailed without even missing a single thing¡­" "So will your lady boss be upset anymore?" Reuben arched his eyebrows as he asked the question. Smiling brightly, Tom shook his head and said, "No more doubts. And I''m sure our lady boss will feel herself as the luckiest girl of the world..." ---- After few minutes, Tom and Reuben were still discussing about the pro and cons of their plan which would be a surprise for Veronica and the whole world when a knock interrupted them in between their conversation. "Come in." Reuben shouted from inside. One of his secretary came in and informed, "Sir, Mr. Alonzo Brown is here with his assistant. Should I let them come in?" "Yes. Escort them here and also prepare some snacks for them." Reuben said. The secretary bowed her head and left Reuben''s office room. Few minutes later another knock came which instigated that it was none other than Alonzo.. And truth to their thoughts, Alonzo came in being followed by Bill. Tom got up from his seat to greet them but Reuben kept sitting there after all, who could say anything to him when he himself was the Boss here.. "Hello Mr. Brown. Please sit here." Tom greeted. Alonzo nodded and sat on the guest chair opposite to Reuben whereas he just kept looking at him. "Good afternoon Reuben." Alonzo said directly staring at Reuben''s eyes who smirked in return. "So why you had come here Alonzo? What do you have so much important do discuss with me?" Reuben asked. Alonzo took a deep breath and said, "Well, it''s about the entrance area... The fountain we decided to place in the middle of the entrance path is making the garden area shortened. So our engineering team is asking for advice." Reuben thought for some while and then said to Tom, "Find our head architect here who is handling the project." "Yes boss." Tom said and went to call for the architect head. Till the architect came, the two men sat there silently without saying anything giving an intimidated aura to the only left out person, Bill... Tom soon came with the architect after greetings, Bill again described the whole situation to him. After their small discussion, when none of them couldn''t get any good idea to solve the problem, then Reuben suddenly asked the architect, "Is their any possibility if we change the foyer design and make it this horizontally?" Everyone looked at him with amazement in their eyes even Alonzo was greatly surprised to find out such idea so easily cause after thinking for the whole night, he wasn''t still able to find any back up plan whereas for Reuben, it didn''t take more than few minutes to decide over such things.. After all who was Reuben Smith?? Not just any other businessman but the King of Business World.. "Yes Sir... This can solve the problem easily." The architect said. Reuben dismissed him and said to Alonzo, "So the problem had been solved now. Any more queries?" Alonzo stared back at him with his pursed lips and asked, "Why the sudden question Reuben?" Reuben smirked and said, " Because I don''t think that the CEO of Brown Corporation would come here himself, wasting his precious time just for this small matter.." Chapter 243 - Warning and Challenges... Reuben smirked and said, " Because I don''t think that the CEO of Brown Corporation would come here himself, wasting his precious time just for this small matter.." Alonzo''s smile faltered as soon as he heard this but he again came back to his normal cold expression before saying, "You really have a clever brain Reuben." "Well, that I''m very much proud of Alonzo. But more than me, my intelligence is being praised by my beautiful girlfriend Ica... She loves the fact about me very much that I always thought of a solution of any problem in a click of my fingers.." Reuben showed-off with a pleasant smile on his face. Whereas, Alonzo''s fingers curled up into a tight fist and his teeth shuttered together in anger. He closed his eyes for a few seconds to calm down his anger which made Reuben smirk more. Though Reuben was not that kind of man who loved to play such kind of dirty games but still he decided to apply it today on Alonzo to see him in pain. The pain he had given to his precious Veronica for the past month for some false accusations, was bothering him so much that he didn''t want anything other than to make Alonzo pay for his every wrong deeds... Opening his eyes, Alonzo looked straight into Reuben''s expressionless yet cold eyes as he said, "You are indeed right Reuben. I have another reason to come here. And the reason is once my best friend whom I love with my everything, Veronica Lopez.." Reuben''s expression didn''t change at all but internally he was burning in anger. His anger was not because of jealousy because he didn''t have any reasons for doing so. After all, he never wanted to lower his values, being possessive over his Ica for a person like Alonzo who was not even capable of staying as her friend. He just did not failed to protect the purity and morality of the meaning of friendship but also brutally insulted the friend who had helped him with everything even when he lied about his complete existence.. "For your kind of information, the person you''re calling your friend is my girlfriend. And whatever you had done with her doesn''t have any forgiveness. Still you dared to come in front of me and talk about my one and only love. You really got some guts Alonzo." Reuben said through his gritted teeth. Alonzo clenched his jaw when he heard the brutal truth of his life. Though he didn''t want to hear it from Reuben but still he also couldn''t stop him from saying those things as all those words were completely truth.. But still Alonzo was not agree to listen to any of them from the person who had snatched his love from him.. But the question was, could a person be snatched from anyone without her or his own wish? Actually No.. The word ''snatch'' was a big bully cause it didn''t go with the courtesy of Veronica as she never had loved Alonzo and treated him as a friend. "Lets not beat around the bush anymore Reuben because I have come here to give you a challenge. A warning that I''ll get the love of my Veronica.." Alonzo said. "What? Your Veronica? She was never yours Alonzo. Why don''t your stupid brain couldn''t take the fact that no one can possess a person forcefully. And warning? You''re talking about warning and challenges. Then let me also warn you Mr. Alonzo Brown that don''t ever take my Ica as a bet. And I''m not accepting any of your challenge cause my Ica is everything but not an object which anyone can present as a gift of any stupid bet. So just get lost right now... And one more thing, say thanks to God that both you and your company is still alive because I''m right now busy on other cases which need my full attention and guidance." Reuben shouted at him out of extreme anger when he heard Alonzo challenging over the love of his life. Alonzo stood up angrily and left Smith Enterprise with Bill while Tom just looked at the blaring Reuben who was looking like as he was going to kill someone... --- Parking Lot of Creation¡­ At evening... Veronica entered the car and saw Reuben smiling at her with a loving expression. But amongst it, she didn''t missed the glooming expression. Closing the gap between both of them, Veronica kissed Reuben''s lips and and parted after few seconds... Cupping his face in her hands, Veronica asked, "What happened love? Why are you seemed to be a little angry?" Reuben smiled at her observation power over him and said, "Nothing honey. It''s just some business matters." Veronica narrowed her eyes at him and asked, "From when did you start lying to me, Mr. Smith? You know nah you can''t hide anything from me.." Seeing the beautiful face of Veronica, Reuben kissed her forehead and said, "I really can''t hide anything from you, right?" "Absolutely right. So now tell me what is bothering you." Veronica said. "Well, let''s talk about it after a yummy dinner at our home." Reuben said and started the car as Veronica nodded smilingly. --- Love- Paradise... "Now tell me what happened?" Veronica asked sitting in front him on the bed. "Nothing much it''s just that Alonzo came today at my office today." Reuben said closing the laptop he was working on. Veronica frowned and ask, "Now why did he come to your office?" "For a small problem of our hotel project which got solved very easily. But.." Reuben stopped. "But what Bennie?" Veronica asked while raising her eyebrows up questioningly. Reuben sighed before saying, "But, he said that he will get your love one way or another.." Hearing it, Veronica burst out laughing and when she finally stopped, she asked, "You were acting weird because of this? Hahaha... You know nah that I love you the most in the world alongside my parents and no one can ever take your place in my heart¡­" Chapter 244 - Baby Shooting Gun... Reuben made an unsure kind of face which made the smile that Veronica was holding till now, totally evaporated from her face... Looking at his eyes, Veronica said with an unknown fear in her eyes, "Bennie.. you trust me, nah? You know right...that I can never love anyone else other than you." Reuben also stared back at her with a guilty conscience on his face which made Veronica more tensed that Reuben might be thinking something wrong but she failed to notice the outstretched line on his lips which he was trying very hard to subside to not burst out laughing in front of her... Reuben observed her face, grinning internally as he noticed that her eyes was turning glossy slowly and tears were ready to pour out from them anytime soon which he never wanted. He was about to hold her in his arms to console her telling the truth that he was only joking and he would never have any doubt over her love for him, when the unexpected thing happened which he had not expected at all¡­ Instead of shedding tears for him, Veronica jumped upon him which made him fall on the soft mattress of the bed as she sat on his stomach, stretched her both legs at either side of his body... Everyone would think that she might pounce on him because she wanted to kiss him but instead of that anticipated action, Veronica did something which no others girls would ever think of doing at that current moment. She started to beat Reuben with thirty percent of her actual force which was still very tough for any normal person to bear.. She landed few hard punches on Reuben''s stomach as she shouted, "You bastard!! How dare you think like that about me to love any other man without you.. I''ll kill you today you freaking asshole..." Again few punches fell on Reuben''s body but this time it was not on his chest but on his stomach. "Ouch! My wild cat...slow down a little." Reuben managed to mumble in between her punches. But without stopping, Veronica punched him more getting painful groan from him. Raising her hands up in the air, Veronica was about to give a tight slap on Reuben''s cheek when he hold her hands tightly in his and said while pouting, "Come on Ica. Not on my face... If you now slap on my face then it''ll leave a scar on my skin. Then do you think the beautiful girlfriend of mine would still like to stay with me? She will leave me immediately seeing my ugly face." Hearing this, the heater in Veronica''s head got heated more as she turned into a burning coal.. She then positioned her body in an angle that her waist could be exactly in the middle of his legs... Reuben thought that she might be going to straddle him as a punishment. But again who was Veronica Lopez?? She always do the things which were always unanticipated.. Veronica raised her right leg a little and kick Reuben on his shin without any mercy and shouted, "What did you say? That I''ll leave you when you get ugly? You freaking douchebag.!! I''ll murder you today." Reuben now couldn''t take anymore of Veronica''s attacks and holding her waist she swiped their position in a swift action which made Veronica now lie on the bed whereas Reuben was on top of her supporting his weight with his arm pressing on the mattress. Pecking her on the lips, Reuben said, "My angry bird!! Out of anger, you are going to harm my babymaker...my dear little brother? How can we make babies then if you kick on my baby shooting gun?" Veronica''s eyes widened when he heard Reuben''s very unique nicknames for his shaft but when she contemplated everything in her mind, she instantly burst out laughing... *Hahaha* "From where the hell did you find those name?" Veronica asked still laughing hard. Reuben chuckled at her and said, "Don''t know. Just come out spontaneously as you know I''m very much creative." Veronica grinned at his comment and pulled him closer by his neck and muttered in a sultry voice, "Remember it Mr. Smith that you are not getting free of my clutch for you whole life." Smiling widely at her, Reuben said, "Being possessive. Aren''t we?" "Well, I''m very much possessive and I''m proud of it." Veronica said with utter pride. As soon as she muttered it, both of their eyes locked with each other as slowly their lips met with an heartwarming kiss... Breathing the kiss after few minutes, Veronica said, "Now tell me the exact reason of your moodiness." Sighing deeply, Reuben narrated everything Alonzo had said as he exasperated, "How can he take you as a challenge. I wanted to punch his face at that moment but I stopped myself thinking over the fact that he was your friend once." Veronica frowned and said nonchalantly, "You should punch him honey? Why did you wait for it? Let me clear one thing, from the day we met at the hotel sight, my friendship with him got broken. Moreover, he was never my friend cause I saw him as Alex everytime. And most importantly, now I hate him. Even if you of killing him after what he had done, I''ll not object even for once..." Though Reuben was shocked at first at this confession but later he grinned widely and said, "Saved it as an important note in my mind, honey. Will use it when the right time comes.." "Aww!! My brilliant baby.. That''s why I love you so much." Veronica said ruffling his hair. "Small correction baby.. You love me for everything.." Reuben winked at her. Veronica arched her brows with a smirk on her face and muttered playfully, "Really? But I was not aware of the fact at all.." Reuben also smirked back and said, "Ah.!! That''s the matter. It''s okay. I''ll prove it to you by actions then.." "And how will you do that?" Veronica asked seductively pulling him towards her more. Reuben touched his nose with hers and said, "Like this.." As he placed his lips on hers which later turned into a hunger filled passionate night... Chapter 245 - Big Head Woman... Alonzo''s Apartment... Alonzo came back from his office late at night being tired as today''s events were not that much fateful for him. Though he got to sign a brilliant contract with a famous company of city S but the meeting with Reuben didn''t go well. According to his plans, his first step towards Veronica was through making Reuben jealous. He wanted to provoke Reuben by saying those nasty words but his plan completely backfired cause he never thought that Reuben would be so much matured to handle such a serious matter so cool mindedly... Although Alonzo preferred Reuben as his strong love rival, but he must have to agree with the fact that Reuben was really a great businessman. If it was to be another person who had to face such a difficult situation like the hotel entrance problem in the middle of half completed project, then he would never find a solution so fast. Whereas Reuben just took few minutes to think over the whole situation and immediately gave a brilliant idea which no one could ever expected. Even Alonzo himself could not think of anything so fine like this. Indeed Reuben was named as ''King of Business World''¡­ "Brother, you are already back?" Myra asked coming out of her room. Alonzo turned to his sister and said, "Yeah. But why haven''t you slept yet? It''s already very late." Myra came towards him and said, "Uhm.. I''m not feel like sleeping. Moreover, this is still early for me to go to bed. Why don''t you freshen up and I serve you the food..." Nodding his head, Alonzo went to his room for a nice bath while Myra became busy with heating up the food for Alonzo. Alonzo had already informed her before that he would be late so Myra should have her dinner and she obliged to it as she knew late night dinner was not good for her health as she has problem of severe gastritis.. "How is your planning going over your new restaurant.?" Alonzo asked as he took a bite of his dinner. Myra fell silent but still said, "Actually, brother. After that day in Fusion I never talked to Lucy or Vero... I couldn''t find the courage to have a conversation with them. What if they now started to think that I''m not qualified to be their friend.." Alonzo sighed and kept the spoon on his plate before saying, "I know Myra that it''s my fault that I told a lie to them. But trust me... After knowing them even for a little bit, I''m sure they would not blame you for anything which was caused by me.They will never stop befriending you for my own faults. So just buck up and call them first in the morning tomorrow. Clear all the misunderstandings if you have any among yourselves." Myra finally found some confidence in her as she nodded before saying, "Thanks brother. I''ll then call tomorrow and talk to them." ---- Wilson Mansion... Both Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were sitting in their living room along with Lucinda as she kept looking at them with a scrutinizing gaze as if she was trying to find any clue about their sudden change of behaviour from the past few days.. "Can you please tell me what''s going on in both of your heads?" Lucinda asked, wiggling her eyebrows. Mrs. Wilson looked at her daughter and said, "Nothing Lucy. It''s just we''re planning on some dinner party at our home." "Dinner party? What kind of dinner party?" Lucinda questioned being totally confused. "Ah!! It''s nothing big... Just to celebrate our daughter having a boyfriend now. So princess, take a day off on this upcoming Friday as few guests will come over our place." Mr. Wilson informed. Lucinda furrowed her eyebrows and asked, "Which guests are coming? Do I know them?" "Yeah... You know them very well so don''t have to panic. Just get ready as simple as possible." Mrs. Wilson said. "Okay.." Lucinda said shrugging and went upstairs to her room. ---- Inside Lucinda''s room... "What happened? Why are you sounding so low?" Henry asked over the phone. "No...not low. But thinking over the past few days...my parents have totally changed as if they seemed to be making a conspiracy against me which I''m not able to understand clearly." Lucinda replied, lying on her stomach on the bed. Henry knitted his eyebrows and said, "Don''t think over too much about it. Maybe they''re not hiding anything and you are overthinking too much." "Yeah... Maybe." Lucinda replied. "We haven''t spent a night together for so many days Lucy. I miss you." Henry pouted though Lucinda can''t see him. "Aww!! I miss you too. How about I spend tomorrow night with my dear boyfriend?" Lucinda said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Henry laughed and said, "That would be the best then. I''ll be waiting." --- Alonzo''s bedroom.. "Hello?" Alonzo picked up his phone which was ringing for few minutes as he was busy in studying some contract ideas. "Hey Alonzo. Thank God you hadn''t slept yet." Cole said. Alonzo smiled and said, "You know that I''m not a fast sleeper.." "Hmmm... I know about that. That''s why I called you so late at night." Cole said. Alonzo nodded his head and said, "So what''s the matter? Why you called me now when you should have been busy in some club?" Cole chuckled and said, "Though I badly want to go clubbing but couldn''t get any free time for it as I have been very busy for the past few days. However I''ve called you today to inform you about something." Scrunching up his eyebrows together, Alonzo asked, "What is it?" "I already told you that I''m coming to City S soon. And finally, the date is the day after tomorrow." Cole informed his best friend. Though Alonzo felt extremely happy to meet his best friend after months but his face hardened when he remembered about his always touchy sister who was nothing but a big head woman which he didn''t like at all¡­ Chapter 246 - Pick me up... Still he wanted to confirm it from Cole so he asked, "Are you coming alone or bringing Regina with you?" Cole knew that Alonzo didn''t like Regina at all but still their parents were forcing them to get engaged which Cole himself didn''t want because he thought that his sister Regina was not good enough for Alonzo... Though Regina was his own sister but Alonzo was his brother too. And he could never deny the truth that Regina was nothing but an egoistic spoiled brat who didn''t know how to respect other people. According to him, his friend Alonzo deserved someone better who would cherish his love and take care of him whole heartedly which Regina certainly could not do.. Sighing deeply, Cole replied, "Yeah.. She will also be coming with me. But you don''t need to give her any attention... She will definitely nag to me about you but rest assured, I''ll handle her. I don''t want her to create trouble for you." "Thanks Cole. It means a lot." Alonzo said. "Come on Buddy. We''re friends. You don''t have to say thanks for these small things." Cole said. Alonzo smiled and asked, "By the way, when are you coming and where you will stay?" "My flight will land around 9 am and about staying, I''ll be checking in a hotel." Cole said. "That''s not needed. Just come to my apartment." Alonzo suggested. Cole smiled at his friend and said, "I know you want my wellbeing. But I can''t stay with you bro... You know that my sister will also be there. And her presence means brewing trouble over your head intentionally which I don''t want." Alonzo understand what he was saying and that''s why, he didn''t force on Cole''s decision anymore, as he also would be uncomfortable around that Regina whom he despised with all of his heart... So he agreed and said, "Okay. I''ll then send either my driver or Bill to pick you up." "Yeah... That will be great." Cole replied. ---- Next morning... Love-Paradise¡­ Veronica was still sleeping when her phone rang. She ignored it at first as she wanted to sleep more because Reuben didn''t allow her to sleep till dawn and continued their love making which left her all exhausted.. But the stupid phone was not listening to her prayers at all and kept ringing over and over... Getting irritated, Veronica finally picked up her phone and without checking who was the caller, she just answered the call, "Hello.." Veronica''s voice was still groggy because her sleep wasn''t enough for her yet and she wanted to sleep more which made the other person misunderstood her tone of voice as if it was filled with a little bit annoyance.. "Good morning Vero. Sorry that I disturbed you in your sleep. I didn''t expect that you hadn''t wake up yet." Myra''s beautiful morning voice rang in Veronica''s ears as she thought why she had suddenly called her. Giving a big yawn, she sat up on the bed resting her head on the headrest and said after clearing her throat to make it sound more presentable, "No no.. You didn''t disturb me. Though I was sleeping but thanks to you that I woke up at time otherwise I''d be late for office." She said the last sentence checking the time on Reuben''s phone which was on the bedside table... Myra felt relieved after hearing that she at least didn''t made her angry and said, "Actually Vero...I was thinking if we could meet one day when you and others get time. I need to clear some things between us." Veronica furrowed her brows and was about to answer back when Reuben stirred a little in his sleep which made Veronica a little bit conscious so she patted his head to get him back to sleep which had gladly worked as always.. As Veronica was busy with Reuben, she couldn''t talk which made Myra think that Veronica might not want to meet her after her confrontation with Alonzo. So she quickly apologized, "I''m sorry Vero for whatever happened. I didn''t know¡­" Her sentence was cut off midway by Veronica when she got the idea that Myra was misunderstanding her silence as something else. "Oh Myra!! You''re misinterpreting things. You don''t have to be sorry for anything which happened between your brother and me. It''s not your fault. You weren''t even aware of anything. So for your happiness, let''s meet on Saturday morning at Lucy''s coffee shop at 10.. We''ll talk there properly." Veronica said. Myra heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Thanks Vero." "No.. it''s completely okay. I don''t judge people on other''s behavior. However, do I have to inform Lucy and Willa about it?" Veronica asked, suppressing a yawn. "It would be helpful if you inform Willa and I''ll talk to Lucy personally." Myra said smilingly. "Okay then... Bye... I have office." Veronica said with a smile. "Yeah bye. Let''s gang up on Saturday." Myra joked making both of the girls giggle hard. As soon as Veronica hang up the call, a hoarse manly voice asked, "Who was it?" Veronica looked down at Reuben who was staring back at her with sleepy eyes and said, "It was Myra. She wants to meet with us, girls.. Maybe because she thought that we''ll blame her for the past." Reuben encircled his hands around Veronica''s waist and placed his head on her lap before saying, "She is good by heart. Not at all like that idiot brother of hers." Veronica chuckled and said while running her fingers through his hair, "Well... That I have to agree with you about Alonzo being a complete idiot." Reuben also laughed with her and got up from the bed before saying, "Lets take a shower together." Smirking at him, Veronica stretched both of her hands towards Reuben and said, "Pick me up then." Shaking his head at his naughty girlfriend, Reuben picked Veronica up in his arms and headed inside the washroom with a smile plastering on both of their lips... Chapter 247 - Billion dollars question... Creation¡­ Willa entered Veronica''s cabin with a cup of coffee and handed it to her before greeting, "Good morning.." Veronica smiled at her and said, "Morning." Willa took a seat in front of her as both of the friends drank their coffee silently while Veronica kept staring at Willa with a teasing smile on her face. Noticing the weird gaze on her which was directly coming from Veronica, Willa asked with her raised eyebrows, "What?" Veronica grinned sheepishly and said, "You are glowing Willa. Seems like the magic of love is heaving on you slowly slowly. And I''m really happy for you." Willa''s face turned red because of blushing hard as she argued, "What are you saying Vero? Nothing like this. Maybe it''s the work of the new facial mask I''ve been using.." "Ah.. So it''s the new facial mask..!! So Willa now that we''re best friends, you should also tell me the name of the facial mask that you are using... I also want to glow so that I can seduce my Bennie more.." Veronica teased. Turning more red, Willa tried to hide the smile on her face and said, "I forgot the name of the mask.." "Oh.. Really? But I know the name of the mask." Veronica said making Willa looked at her in pure confusion. Veronica grinned evilly and winked at Willa before saying, "The name of the face mask is, ''The Power of Neil Mask'', Isn''t it?" Willa threw the file that was near her on Veronica which made both of them laugh really loudly as they continued their teasing each other when someone knocked on their door. "Who is it?" Veronica asked after suppressing her laughter and Willa also did the same. Louis peeked through the door opening it a little which was enough to show his face and asked smilingly, "Am I disturbing you girls?" Both Willa and Veronica shook their head at him in denial as Veronica said, "No. We''re just joking about random stuffs. Don''t stand there and come in... Also stop behaving like you have never barged in my cabin without knocking ever.." Louis rolled his eyes at Veronica''s sarcastic comment and said, "Very funny.." "No.. You are funny." Veronica retorted while Willa laughed. Ignoring the girls, Louis entered and took a seat beside Willa before snatching the coffee mug from her hand and took a sip from it which let him earn a tight slap on his shoulder from Willa. "Don''t drink from my mug. If you need coffee, then make one for yourself." Willa shouted at him. Veronica shook her head at Louis and asked sarcastically, "So what is the reason of your VIP like presence here, Mr. Vice President?" Louis cleared his throat and sat with a straight posture on the chair and kept the fingers of both his hands intertwined on the table before saying, "Actually, I have something to discuss with you about your father''s company''s new project." Hearing the mention of Lopez Industries, Veronica''s eyes perked up and three of them became serious when Veronica asked, "What happened? Is anything serious there?" Seeing the Veronica''s face was becoming tensed, Louis said, "Don''t worry. Nothing is wrong there. Actually, it''s not about the project but the head designer who is designing everything." Both Willa and Veronica shared a look with each other as Willa asked, "The head designer? What about her?" Sighing deeply, Louis looked at both of the girls and said, "You remember Veronica, you asked me few days ago if I was alright or not." When Veronica nodded her head, Louis continued, "Actually, the night we met at Fusion, everyone left the restaurant while I was busy with a phone call when I got collided with a girl.." As soon as Louis mentioned the word ''girl'', the excitement in the girls'' hearts raised at the top and both of them gaped at him with rounded eyes to signal him to continue more... Watching the exited gaze of the girls, Louis chuckled and continued, "She was really really beautiful. Seeing her for the first time, made me feel like I had seen the most beautiful woman of the world... I feel like there was an unknown spark between us. And when she said her name before leaving, her voice was so melodic that I kept on thinking about her... But after that, I never found her again. I even asked the manager of Fusion if he knew about her but he didn''t have any idea about who she is. So I became sad about the fact that maybe I would not be able to see the angelic face of her again.." "Then? Did you find her?" Willa asked. Veronica also nodded with her and waited for Louis'' answer. Whereas Louis sighed before giving a big smile to them as he said, "Yup.. I saw her again. And I couldn''t believe that luck would be with me so much that I''d find her at the most unexpected place.." "Now please don''t tell me that she is the head designer of my father''s company.." Veronica chided in. Louis made a face of annoyance and said grumpily, "Can''t you be a little less intelligent, Vero? You ruined my surprise." "Well, it''s not my fault that I''m very much clever." Veronica shrugged her shoulders in pride whereas Willa giggled. "So what are you gonna do now?" Willa asked. "I''m going to approach her as a friend first...then I''ll try to progress our friendship in the next level. I have to also know right, if she feels the same for me." Louis narrated. "So what do you feel for her?" Veronica asked the billion dollars question this time. Louis became dumbfounded when Veronica suddenly asked the question but pondering over some while to think about his exact feelings for Diana, he said, "I''m sure about the fact that I don''t love her yet but there is something in her which attracts me towards her. So I want to befriend her first to know about her more.." "That''s a good idea indeed. Just don''t take any step in hurry which will make you regret later.." Veronica suggested. Louis nodded before replying, "I know.." ---- Lopez Industries... "Ma''am you had call for me?" Diana was busy in her work in her cabin when her supposed to be assistant came in.. "Yes, please take a seat." Diana said. The assistant sat in front of Diana and bowed her head down. Diana observed her carefully and asked after a minute, "Why are you hiding yourself from me, Rachel?" Chapter 248 - Actual scenario... Diana observed her carefully and asked after a minute, "Why are you hiding yourself from me, Rachel?" Rachel Foster whom Diana selected to be her assistant, was shocked to the core when she heard Diana''s question.. "What? What do you mean by that Ma''am? Why should I hide myself from you?" Rachel asked while stuttering. Diana smiled at her and said, "How can I give you the answer Rachel? It should be you to tell me the reason.." Rachel gulped and said meekly, "Ma''am...I don''t know anything which you''re talking about. You must be mixing up something with me." Chuckling at her stupid excuse, Diana said, "Did you think I forgot about my own friend Rachel?" Hearing that, Rachel looked up at her shockingly as she asked, "You...you remember me.." "I never forgot you to make me remember again.." Diana said smilingly, walking towards her. Rachel''s lips quivered as tears started to fall from her eyes as she stuttered, "I.. I''m sorry.." Diana stood in front of her and hold her shoulder before asking, "Sorry for what?" "That I tried to ignore you.." Rachel said in a low voice. Smiling at her, Rachel hugged her tightly, and said, "Come on stupid. Don''t say sorry to your friend. And I missed you very much." Rachel smiled and said, "I missed you too Diana. I''m happy that you''re here." Diana just beamed in joy after meeting her friends after so many years and said, "Okay.. Now back to work now. Go and quickly inform the other team members to come for the meeting.." "Right now ma''am." Rachel said and left her cabin. ---- Rachel was once Diana''s friends when she studied fashion designing in city B few years ago. They were in the same class and also under the guidance of same professor... So most of the time, they had to submit a joint project which made them good friends. They started to hang out with each other, eat lunch together and everything which changed their friendship status from good friends to best friends.. Rachel belonged from a middle class family who was studying her dream course fashion designing, depending on her scholarship. Whereas Diana was a heiress of a wealthy family of country Z. She was a brilliant student and her designs were all time best so all the professors had loved her. Though her marks were great and she was nominated for a scholarship, she didn''t take it cause she thought more needy people like Rachel would be helpful of the scholarship. Her family could always afford her course fee so why not give chances to other deserving people..!! Although both of them belonged from different types of families but they never let their family status clashed between their friendship. But everything had an end written to it and same happened to them.. Diana had to leave her study in midway for some family problems but she came to give her final exam when both of the girls met for the last time and later from then they had never seen or talked with each other as Diana left for country Z and Rachel lived in city B.. It''s just two years ago, Rachel got selected to work with a company in city S which later gave her a chance to get appointed by the big company like Lopez Industries few months ago.. ---- Brown Corporation... "Tomorrow , you don''t have to pick me up from my office." Alonzo declared. "But why sir? Everyday I drive you to your office." Bill asked, being confused. Alonzo looked up from the file that he was reading and said, "Cole is visiting city S for some of his business purpose along with his sister. So I want you to pick them up from the airport in the morning." Bill was shocked when he heard that his boss''s friends was coming... Actually he was not at all tensed about Cole coming there as he knew both of the young masters were best friends from their childhood and shared a special bond. But the matter he was been perplexed about the most, was the visit of Regina Parker who was supposed to be Alonzo''s fiance whom not only Alonzo and Myra but also Bill himself detested from the bottom of his hearts... Still, he was bound to agree with Alonzo''s every words as he replied, "Okay Boss. But did you inform young miss Myra about it?" Alonzo cursed himself in his breath when he remembered that he didn''t inform his sister about their visit tomorrow when he clearly knew how much Myra loathed that dirty witch Regina. "I forgot. But it''s okay, I''ll call her immediately to come in my office." Alonzo said and Bill left. ----- Myra was outside of her home to buy some beautiful table lamps when her phone rang and it was her brother. "Hey bro." Myra greeted. "Myra, can you come to my office now? I have something to tell you." Alonzo said. Myra was not far from Alonzo''s office so she agreed, "Okay. Coming in fifteen minutes." She then chose two lampshades which caught her eyes and bought it from the store before leaving for their company. ---- Brown Corporation¡­ Myra walked in the office as Bill escorted her towards Alonzo''s cabin. Everyone greeted her as they knew that she was the sister of Alonzo. "Hi brother. What happened?" Myra asked as soon as she entered. Alonzo smiled at her before saying, "Yesterday Cole called me to inform that he and Regina are coming here tomorrow morning. I forgot to tell you yesterday so called for you now. I know that you can''t tolerate Regina at all so thought you could prepare yourself beforehand if I tell you about their visits." Shock was an underrated word to describe Myra''s expression as she was more scared than being shocked after knowing it. "Don''t worry. I''ll not let that Regina come near you or harm you. After all you''re my little sister and very much precious to me." Alonzo assured, thinking that his sister was terrified hearing Regina''s name but the actual scenario was absolutely different.. Chapter 249 - Disrupt step... "Don''t worry. I''ll not let that Regina come near you or harm you. After all you''re my little sister and very much precious to me." Alonzo said thinking that his sister was terrified hearing Regina''s name but the actual scenario was absolutely different.. Myra stared back at her brother when he promised to protect her and smiled because of his care for her. But internally...she knew that the fear inside her was not for Regina, it''s for the feeling she was harboring in her heart for Cole.. It was true that once Myra tried to be friendly with Regina because of her love for Cole though she knew that Regina was no good.. But after what she had done to her, Myra hadn''t any least interest to act like a good friend. She would never forgive Regina for breaking her heart intentionally by forcing Cole to disbelief her. Still, more than Regina, her anger was larger for Cole who hadn''t even for once tried to confront her for the truth. But just made his own presumptions over his dear sister''s lies.. She was scared of her heart right now. She knew still somewhere in her heart, Cole had a bigger place than anyone else and if she met him again, her heart could get triggered again and she might not control the lonely desires for Cole that was suppressed inside her from long...which she never wanted... Smiling at Alonzo, Myra said, "You don''t have to protect me from Regina brother. I''m alone capable to handle her. I was just shocked to hear their sudden visit, nothing more.." Alonzo smiled and said, "I know, you are a fighter sis. However, did you talk with Vero and her friends?" Myra nodded and said, "Yeah. We''re going to meet on this Saturday. They''re really nice brother, specially Vero. I would request you not to take any decision out of anger. It might hurt many people." Alonzo just looked at his sister and nodded without saying anything. As Myra didn''t get any response from her brother, she just left from the office after bidding goodbye. ---- Country Z¡­ Andrew was sitting in the living room with his laptop when he noticed the certain news of city S.. "The Power couple had been seen to go for grocery shopping together¡­" "REUNIC couple seemed to again make every single people envious over their PDA.." He smiled seeing the two person who were once the most closest to him, being all happy in their own love...though he knew from the start there was a spark like something between them. But he never knew that Veronica and Reuben would be so much in love from the past four and half years which was just after few months of his disappearance. Though he was sad about the fact that he couldn''t witness their love from the start like others did but he was still very much happy for them.. "Are you going to just look at their picture or ever get some courage to meet them?" Lisa''s voice interrupted Andrew''s thought. Andrew looked at her and showed her a sad smile before saying, "Look how much both of them are happy together. I don''t want to ruin it with my presence before them." "It''s not like whatever you imagine in your brain, would always be right. You can compare it with your self-presumption five years ago and see yourself where it has brought you today." Lisa snapped at him, couldn''t able to take anymore of her husband''s stupidity. "Where my stupidity take me? Well, it took me towards you and look now you''re my beloved wife who is pregnant with my child." Andrew tried to joke but miserably failed as the pain in his voice was clearly visible. Though Lisa was happy that she could have him as her husband and could carry his child in her w.o.m.b, but seeing the pain in her husband''s eyes made her also hurt. Slowly walking towards him, she sat on his lap and said, "You can''t just assume everything on your own basis Andrew... You have to learn that first. And about Reuben and Veronica, I think they''d be in cloud nine after seeing you." "But after whatever I did.." Andrew was about to say something when Lisa cut him off in middle as she flared up in anger, "It''s not completely your fault Andrew. It was your sister Amelia who made you distrust your friends.." Seeing the anger in the eyes of his wife, Andrew sighed and hugged her tightly.. Keeping his head on her chest, he said, "I know that Amy was the one who manipulated my thought but I am also guilty for taking such a disrupt step.." Sighing deeply, Lisa patted his head and said, "I just want you to be happy. No one know the fact better than me that though you''re here alive but still you''re living like a dead body." ---- Creation.. Veronica just decided to take a quick afternoon break after working hard on the hotel project as Reuben had emailed her new design of the fountain which was changed unexpectedly at the click moment. She let out a yawn and stretched her hands little to let the tiredness go away when her phone buzzed. It was an unknown number so Veronica thought not to answer it as she was already tired and didn''t want to be more tired after receiving the call of a stranger. But the phone again started ringing, making Veronica groan in frustration. She picked up the phone and asked, "Hello... Who is this?" The other line was silent for some time but few seconds later the person spoke, "Vero.. It''s me Amy.." Veronica was shocked to hear the voice of her friend who went abroad few years ago because of sudden circ.u.mstances... But she was still not sure about the person who was talking to her though she already recognised the voice. To clear her confusion, Veronica asked, "Amy? As if Andrew brother''s sister Amy? Our friend?" Chapter 250 - Piece of my heart... To clear her confusion, Veronica asked, "Amy? As if Andrew brother''s sister Amy? Our friend?" Amelia who was being called by her friends with the name Amy chuckled and said, "Yes. That Amy who loves shopping the most in her life which you certainly hate the most." Veronica laughed heartily after she heard Amy and asked, "How are you girl? We thought you forgot about us... No calls from past six months and as if it was not enough, you even had changed your number." "Yeah. I needed a little space that''s why thought to be alone for quite sometime. I''m sorry for making you all tensed for my sudden isolation from you guys." Amelia apologized sincerely. Smiling at her, Veronica said, "No. It''s okay. We understand your problems so we also thought to give you some space." Both the girls were silent for few minutes when Veronica broke it again, "So when will you come back here again Amy? We miss you." Amelia smiled and said, "I miss you all too. But I really don''t find any reason for my return there... After brother''s sudden death, I really don''t feel any bound to that place. It''ll make me sadder." Veronica sighed before saying, "Amy, I know whatever happened to Andrew bro is quite a big grief for us... But you had to also learn not to escape from any difficulties. We all are here to support you. Just think a little and come back." Controlling the tears that were going to fall from her eyes anytime, Amelia said, "I''ll try." "Good. You don''t know how many things had changed here in your absence." Veronica said with a sigh. "Well, I know a little bit about those. Your and Reuben''s relationship got confirmed but most shockingly Henry and Lucinda are now in a relationship." Amelia said the last line with sadness filled in her voice. Veronica guessed something wrong with the tone she said it, but she ignored those things and asked, "How did you know about them?" "I called Henry few days ago when he informed me about his relationship with Lucy." Amelia said with a shivering voice. Veronica hummed and said, "Not only this, but there are many more things that had happened here which are more shocking than this. We''ll need more than one day to feel your tummy with all of these stories." "Really? There are more to know? Come on Vero... Tell me now." Amelia said. "No.. I''ll not tell anything to you now. You have to come back first to have a gossipy night with us girls." Veronica said firmly. Understanding that her friend was determined with her decision, Amelia said, "Fine... I''ll think over again about coming back." Veronica smiled cutely as she knew that her plan had worked on her as she said, "Good girl.." Both of the girls chatted a bit more about their personal to professional lives before hanging up... ---- Henry''s apartment... At night... Henry and Lucinda were having their dinner as they planned to spend the night together at Henry''s place.. While eating, Henry suddenly remembered something and looked at Lucinda before saying, "Honey... I forgot to tell you something." Lucinda took a spoonful of her food in her mouth and asked in an unclear voice, "What is it?" Henry chuckled looking at her face which was filled with food and said, "No one is going to snatch your food away from you. So finish the food in your mouth first." Glaring at him, Lucinda gulped everything in one go and said, "Firstly, I don''t trust anyone with food. And secondly, now tell me what you have in your mind..." Grinning at her comment, Henry said imitating Lucinda, "Firstly, I don''t want food cause I have more tasty thing to eat." He eyed her body which made her blush. "And secondly, Amy called me few days ago." Henry said. The spoon in Lucinda''s hand fell on her plate making a noise and her eyes widened in shock as she asked, "Who.. who called you?" Henry sipped the wine and said, "Amy...our Amelia." Now all the colours from Lucinda''s face had worn out as she asked once again, "Why did she call and what had she told you?" "Nothing much. We just talked randomly about our current lives. But why are you reacting like this babe?" Henry asked when he saw Lucinda''s weird behavior. Lucinda kept the spoon on her plate and got up from the chair before sitting on Henry''s lap, making him perplexed of her sudden change in behavior but he still encircled her in his arms. She cupped Henry''s face in her hand and said, "Henry... Promise me one thing. Whatever may happen in future, you''ll not break up with me. I love you very much Henry and I can''t bear being away from you. If you leave me one day, I''ll be completely devastated and my soul will be gone out of my body." As she muttered all those words, pools of tears started dropping from her eyes like a flowing river. Shock was an understatement to describe Henry''s expression after seeing Lucinda''s this kind of vulnerable side... Cause, whenever he had seen her, she was with all smiles everytime. But this was the first time when he had seen Lucinda as a broken girl who was hiding many of her lone emotions in her heart from everyone. Without thinking anything, Henry just hugged her tightly and console her with his sweet words, "Sshhh baby.. Don''t cry please. And why are you saying about me leaving you. I''ll never do this in my life... You have become my everything from the past two months honey. I find solace in your arms. I can never think of breaking up with you... I love you so so much that I can fight for you with everyone but never let anyone to hurt you. You are the piece of my heart which I was missing from so many years and finally I had found it. So...how can I live without the most precious gem of my life. Don''t you dare to ever think like that... Okay?" Chapter 251 - Good fiance... Lucinda nodded with a small smile on her lips as she kept staring at Henry while he wiped the tear strains from her eyes. Kissing her on the forehead, Henry said, "Remember it for your whole life Lucy... My life only depends on you. The day we''ll not be with each other, my heart will stop racing... I''ll not be alive anymore cause I love you very very much that I can''t just describe it by words.." "I love you too Henry. I love you more than you can imagine. The thought of staying alone without you scare me the most." Lucinda said and hugged Henry tightly. Henry kissed her on her forehead and whispered in her ears seductively, "Seems like you still can''t believe what I''m saying. So let me prove it to you." Lucinda leaned back a little to look into his eyes and asked with a confused face, "How will you do it?" Smirking at her naivety, Henry didn''t bother to reply but just crashed his lips to her kissing her passionately before picking her up and heading towards the bedroom.. So the full clothed bodies unwrapped each other from their clothes like some gift wrappers and soon the passionate m.o.a.ns and groans resonated from the bedroom, proving their love for each other.. ---- At the airport of city S¡­ A handsome man in his late twenties exited the airport with his assistant lunging behind him. There was also a woman in her mid twenties whose figure was very much model type. Though she was beautiful but the thick makeup on her face hid her natural beauty from everyone.. "Where is the freaking driver? For how many more hours I have to wait here under that burning sun? I don''t know why Alonzo had appointed such a low class employee for himself?" Regina cursed. Cole tried to ignore her at first but when her blabbering become more nonsensical, he snapped at her, "Will you please shut up Regina? It''s not been even five minutes we''ve reached here and you''re already shouting? Moreover, it''s not Alonzo''s driver who is coming to pick up but his assistant Bill." Regina stopped yelling as she got scolded by her brother when Bill rushed towards them, "Sorry Mr. Parker. I had to handle some matters before coming here so became a little late." Cole nodded his head and said, "It''s okay. Let''s leave." Bill helped Cole''s assistant in carrying their luggage while Regina just huffed before following Cole... ---- Paradise Hotel.. Bill dropped them at the hotel and said, "Mr. Parker, I''ve arranged a car for you which is now in the hotel parking lot. Boss had told me to inform you that he will call you later and if you need anything just dial my number. I''ll be present here in your service." Cole nodded and went towards his room along with Regina. It was a presidential suite which had 3 bedrooms along with a big living room and a kitchen. Regina instantly liked it after she entered the suite. The siblings would stay here for the time period whereas Cole''s assistant would be staying in the same hotel but another floor. "I like this hotel. It''s so pretty. I heard it''s the hotel of the wealthiest business person, the Smiths.." Regina said looking here and there. "Yes. It''s under Smith Enterprise which is being handled by the most famous and youngest businessman of country K, Reuben Smith." Cole informed before heading towards his room. Regina entered her room and sat on the bed before browsing through the internet searching the name Reuben Smith... She was never interested in business so she never tried to know about its whereabouts. But when she heard about Reuben being the wealthiest one among country K, she got some interest on him and decided to see how he looked. As soon as the images of Reuben started to pop on the internet, Regina''s jaw dropped at his handsomeness. She never saw a male specimen who was as good looking as him. Although her brother was very much handsome, but compared to Reuben, he stood nowhere near his place.. "So hot and s.e.xy." Regina muttered seeing his pictures. She also saw that she was friends with Neil Wilson and Henry Johnson who were also equally handsome like him. But still Reuben has a special kind of charm which other didn''t have. She smiled maniacally and muttered to herself, "You are really handsome Reuben darling. Now I''ve sudden urge to get you in my bed. Who knows I might be lucky and get to be your wife instead... And Alonzo...well he is also very rich and handsome. But of course he couldn''t compare with you neither in looks or wealth and I even never loved him without his money. But you''re the best so why should wait for the lesser wealthy one. I should seduce you soon.." She tried to find more information about him when a piece of headline snatched her attention.. "Netizens had started calling the power couple with the cute nickname, REUNIC.." In utter interest, she read the article and found that Reuben was committed with the goddess like beauty Veronica Lopez who was also a heiress of the greatest Lopez Industries.. She saw their photographs together and jealousy crept inside her. She searched about Veronica''s whereabouts and found out that she was the VFX head of Creation. "Huh! A mere employee like you are dating my Reuben. Don''t worry I''ll snatch him from you. Though you''re beautiful but I''m a supermodel and you''re just some regular worker. You don''t deserve him Ms. Lopez cause I''m the right person who deserves Reuben." Regina said with a devilish chuckle. "But I also can''t risk my life with Alonzo. Till the time I get Reuben in my hands, I''ve to pretend to be a good fiance to Alonzo. And after that I can say, ''Goodbye Alonzo. We should never met again.'' Hahaha..." Saying this, Regina laughed evilly and started to think of a plan, not knowing the true colours of the so called mere employee, Veronica Lopez... Chapter 252 - Unreasonable... Smith Enterprise¡­ Tom entered in a hurry in Reuben''s office and said, "Boss, I''ve prepared the thing you have told me to. Now, you just have to choose the design of the invitation card and we''ll then proceed with it." Reuben looked at the five designs which had been shortlisted by Tom but none of them peaked his interest as if there was something missing in them. When suddenly an awesome idea clicked in his mind, "Tom, do one thing. Combined the designs of these two cards together but changed the colour pattern from peac.o.c.k blue to prusian blue and replace the white with cream colour." Tom took the two cards that Reuben handed him and he was impressed with the idea. If he made the card as per Reuben''s suggestion, then he was sure it''d look very much unique and extra beautiful... With a smile on his face, Tom said, "Sure Boss. It''s a really good idea." Reuben smiled back and said, "Don''t forget to decorate the whole place with Ica''s favourite flowers." "Okay sir." Tom said before leaving his office for the further work. After Tom left, Reuben called someone and a sweet voice of a middle aged woman resonated in his air. "Yes, son." Mrs. Lopez said. "Mom, I''ve something to tell both you and dad. I''ll also call my parents for it. But don''t inform it to Ica as we have to keep it a secret." Reuben said. Mrs. Lopez furrowed both of her eyebrows in confusion and asked, "But why son? Why do we have to keep it a secret?" "Mom, I''ll tell you everything later. But at first, I need to inform my parents too." Reuben said. "Okay. No problem. Then do one thing, come tonight at our home for dinner along with your parents." Mrs. Lopez gave him a good suggestion. But Reuben denied the idea, "That''ll be great mom. But I can''t meet you today because Ica will definitely doubt me if I do so Why don''t we do one thing?? Ica will be out with her friends this Saturday morning and will not be back home till late afternoon. So let''s meet on Saturday at your place. I''ll bring my parents with me too. You please inform Dad about our plan and tell him to keep it as a secret also." Mrs. Lopez smiled knowing that something is cooking in his future son-in-law''s head as she said, "Okay. Planning final then." Reuben chuckled and said, "Bye Mom. Talk to you later." After that, he called his own mother and shouted, "Mooooooommmmmmm¡­" Mrs. Smith almost dropped the phone from her hand when she heard the shrilling voice of her son... "Yaaaaa.. Are you planning to make your mom deaf in this early age?" Mrs. Smith shouted back. "Sorry Mom. Actually...I''ve a great news to tell you. Please meet me at Lopez mansion, this Saturday morning with dad. And keep it a secret specially from your future daughter-in-law." Reuben said. "Wait...wait...wait... Why I''m feeling like you''re planning something big?" Mrs. Smith said with raised eyebrows. Reuben chuckled and said with a same teasing voice, "Because I''m indeed planning something big." "Ah.. Now I''m getting excited. Tell me what''s the surprise." Mrs. Smith said excitedly. "Mom... You yourself said that it''s a surprise then how can I reveal it now. Wait for few days. You''ll come to know about it soon." Reuben was not at all ready to reveal anything. "At least give me some kind of clue or hint." Mrs. Smith pouted like a child. Reuben laughed out loud and said, "Mom, you''re being unreasonable now. I''m not going to disclose anything so soon." "One clue please." Mrs. Lopez demanded or more like pleaded in a childlike voice. "Nothing." Reuben immediately denied. "You are being a bad son now." "But you''ll tell me that I''m the best son of the world after I reveal my plan to you on this Saturday." Reuben said. "Okay... I lost." Mrs. Smith sighed in a defeat. "And I won." Reuben grinned. Both of the mother son duo bickered a little bit more before finally hanging up... ---- Alonzo''s Apartment... Myra was being restless now as Alonzo called her earlier this afternoon that Cole and Regina would be visiting them at the evening and they altogether would have some dinner. Alonzo told her to order some food and she did so cause she was in no mood to cook any dishes. She was praying to God not to make her heart weak again after seeing Cole''s face so that she could stay strong and protect herself from another heartbreak and at that right moment...the doorbell rang. Taking a few deep breaths, hoping it''s just Alonzo, she opened the door and relaxed "Welcome home brother." Myra said. "Thanks Myra. Let me freshen up a bit. Cole will be here anytime." Alonzo informed before entering his room. Myra nodded and started to heat the foods. She was about to serve them on the table when the doorbell rang again, making her heart leapt in a mixture of fear and excitement... Taking few deep breaths, Myra tried to calm herself but failed miserably. She placed her hand on the kitchen cabinet to balance herself so that she didn''t fall on the floor out of nervousness. The doorbell rang again, making Myra more stressed but she knew that she had to open the door either way and face them.. She already escaped from him by coming here in city S but she couldn''t always do this. She remembered Veronica, how much strong she was even when she came to knew about both of her brothers'' betrayal as she tried to be like her... Finding the strength in herself finally, Myra slowly walked towards the door and kept her right hand on the doorknob. But this was also the truth that Veronica had Reuben with her to give her all support in that difficult time. And here was the exact opposite situation... where Myra was trying hard not to face her boyfriend or rather ex-boyfriend Cole¡­ Closing her eyes for the last time, she took a long deep breath and with her shivering hand, she turned the doorknob to finally open it wide... Chapter 253 - Giving you full encouragement... Closing her eyes for the last time, she took a long deep breath and with her shivering hand, she turned the doorknob to finally open it wide.. As soon as the door got opened, Myra''s eyes fell on the two figures who had hurt her the most in her life.. Regina was wearing a wine colored skimpy revealing knee length dress which was designed in mermaid shape with a low V cut sleeveless pattern.. Her face was painted with thick makeup like always. She was looking at Myra with a smirk on her face which Myra returned it with a roll of her eyes.. On the other side, Cole was looking as handsome as ever with a navy blue suit with his hair gelled up. His eyes was only gaping at the perfect face of Myra who had not even looked at Cole''s face for even once till now, which made him feel really hurt.. Without looking at them, Myra just uttered two words at them, "Come in.." "Huh!! Don''t you even know how to welcome a guest?" Regina mocked. Myra just glared at her and said, "I''m letting you enter in my house, it''s enough for you to have a good luck.. Don''t expect more from me.." Regina''s anger built up high in her head as she shouted, "What do you think of yourself? How can you insult your would be sister-in-law like this? It seems like I have to complain about you to your brother." Hearing it, Myra just gave a low chuckle and snorted back, "First of all, I think myself as the only heiress of the Brown family. Secondly, as you said that you are my ''would be sister-in-law'', that means.. it''s still a future tense and there is no guarantee that you are ultimately going to by sister-in-law. So just back off.. And last but not least, Go and complain to my brother. I''m giving you full encouragement. Then let''s see whose side my brother will take and certainly it''s not gonna be yours.." Regina huffed in anger and pointed a finger towards her before yelling, "You.." "Yeah.. It''s me who is saying all this. So if you don''t want me to shut the door on your face then just enter without anymore words." Myra smirked and said. Before Regina could say anything, Cole just held her wrist and pulled her into the apartment whereas Myra just locked the door and slowly entered the living room behind them.. ---- On the same night... Love-Paradise¡­ "Yes Dad, I''ll come and visit your office soon. I''ll be almost free in the end of this week. So I''ll be able to come on next week probably." Veronica said to her father on the phone. "Okay... Then I''ll be waiting for you. Inform me before you come so that I could prepare your favorite pastries." Mr. Lopez said with a smile on his face. Veronica grinned and replied, "For my favorite pastries, I can do everything. Pack a full box for me dad because I''m gonna eat all of those.." Mr. Lopez heartily smiled before saying, "Anything for my little princess." Smiling at him, Veronica asked suddenly, "So dad... How is the new designer? Is she coping up with everything well?" "Yes.. She is doing really great. Though she had joined our company for few days, yet she already managed to assemble her group properly... She even distributed everyone''s work and position according to their capabilities.." Mr. Lopez said. Veronica was happy that the girl Louis started to like slowly, was also good at work when she remembered her friend Diana who was also a fashion designer... She pondered where was she right now and what was she exactly doing..?? --- Five years ago... After Veronica came back to City S, she called Diana many times but she never picked up. But she never stopped calling her. She also thought of searching for her but she knew nothing about her. She only knew the name of her friend was Diana Miller. So she talked to Reuben if he could find her and he agreed to do this but before he could process, Veronica''s call had been received by Diana after three long months.. "Hello??" Diana''s voice bloomed up in Veronica''s ear. "Hey Diana, how are you? I was calling you for so many days but you never picked up.. What happened to you? Is there any problem?" Veronica asked. Diana''s voice seemed to crook when she said, "I''m fine Vero. Nothing happened to me. How are you?" Veronica felt relieved hearing that her friend is okay so she said, "I''m also good. I have many things to tell you. Do you have time?" She expected Diana to agree with her but what she says shocked her the most, "Vero.. I''m sorry, I can''t talk to you. Please don''t call me ever. I don''t want to be your friend anymore." Veronica was shocked to hear it but she still composed herself and asked, "Why Diana?" "There is no particular reason for everything. Just don''t call me ever. I want to focus on my career right now... So I don''t want any disruption. If you ever thought of me as your friend then please don''t contact me ever." Diana said in a stern voice. Veronica felt like another thunderbolt fell on her but she still smiled and said, "Okay.. I''ll not bother you anymore. Take care of yourself and good luck with your future." After that day, Veronica never called her and also told Reuben to not launch his search mission. From that day onwards, Veronica promised to herself that she would never let any of her new friends come close to her heart... She would be happy with her only friends who loved her and treated her with their best who were none other than ¨C Neil, Willa, Henry, Lucinda, Louis and Reuben... ---- Back to present... "Princess, are you listening?" Mr. Lopez asked when he didn''t get answer from Veronica. Veronica came out of her past and said, "Yes. Dad I''m listening. I''ll call you later as it''s already late at night. Take your medicine timely and sleep well. And I love you Dad..." Mr. Lopez smiled and said, "I love you too Princess. Now you too sleep. Good night." "Good night Dad." Veronica hung up the call and took a big sigh.. "Is everything alright honey?" Reuben''s voice entered Veronica''s eardrum and she saw him standing at the door of their bedroom... Chapter 254 - Out of her options... "Is everything alright honey?" Reuben''s voice entered Veronica''s eardrum as she saw him standing at the door of their bedroom... Reuben was standing at the door leaning his left shoulder on the wall and was waiting for Veronica to end her call with her father. But when he saw that she was lost somewhere in her own thoughts at the middle of their conversation, he knew that she was thinking about something or someone. But still he waited for her to finish talking and when she was finally done, he asked her about if everything was okay... Veronica gave him a slight smile which didn''t reach till her eyes and said, "Yeah... Everyone is fine." Reuben slowly walked towards Veronica and sat on the bed beside her. Taking her in his arms, he let her head rest on his shoulder whereas he kept his chin on her head. Running his fingers in her hair strands, he said, "Tell me baby what happened. You know that you can''t hide anything from me like I can''t hide anything from you." Veronica smiled hearing it and snuggled more into his embrace before replying, "It''s just...when Dad was talking about his company''s new head designer, it suddenly reminded me of my friend, Diana." Reuben kissed her forehead while giving her assurance, "Don''t worry about her. I believe wherever she is, must be happy with her life. Now let''s go and watch a movie." Instantly, Veronica tilted her head at him as she knew that Reuben was trying to diverse her attention from Diana to something else so that she didn''t have to stay awful with the bitter memories... So she just smiled broadly before exclaiming excitedly, "Yayyy!! Then I''ll choose the movie this time." Reuben chuckled and said, "Whatever my queen says." And ruffled her hair, making her pout cutely at him... ---- Alonzo''s Apartment... After Cole and Regina took their seats on the couch of the living room, Myra directly went to the kitchen to get some refreshments when Alonzo came out of his room in his home attire after a nice bath. The moment Cole saw him, he got up and hugged him tightly. Alonzo also smiled and returned his hug. He also felt very happy after seeing his friend after a really long time. "Finally we met again." Cole said smilingly. "Yeah... Finally..." Alonzo said. Regina also got up and walked towards them. Giving a wide smile to Alonzo, she said, "You forgot to greet your own fiance Alonzo. This is not fair..." Alonzo just gave her a not so interested look and curtly said, "Hello.." Regina''s face fell at Alonzo''s response as she thought he would at least say something sweet if he even didn''t give her a hug. She cursed him in her mind and made her mind more determined to get the wealthiest businessman Reuben Smith for herself.. Myra silently looked at her from the kitchen with a smirk on her face when she came to call everyone for dinner. Hiding her smile, she announced, "Brother, dinner is already served." Alonzo nodded and took them towards the dining table. Regina tried to sit beside Alonzo but Myra swiftly took the seat and said coolly, "I sit here everyday." Huffing at her, Regina sat beside Cole who was sitting on the other side of Alonzo. Everyone started with their dinner but Cole''s eyes stayed on Myra but she had never even for once looked at his face... He was feeling pain in his heart at her direct ignorance but he knew that he deserved this treatment from her. Though Myra felt Cole''s strong gaze on her, but she totally ignored it as she knew the moment she would look at his eyes, she would immediately melt like an ice which was definitely our of her options.. In the middle of the dinner, Regina tried to start a conversation but sadly no one gave her any importance and totally dismissed her which made her curse at them in her heart. "So how is everything going here?" Cole asked. Alonzo looked at him from his plate and said, "Everything is fine. The business is also doing well and gaining much more profits than before." Cole just nodded but something caught in Alonzo''s mind as he asked, "Why don''t you also shift your business here?" This question made everyone stopped their eating. Regina was all smiling because if her brother would decide to settle here then it would be also easy for her to meet both Alonzo and Reuben.. Whereas Myra''s face fell and she looked at her brother with wide eyes. Because if Cole would shift here permanently then she had to see him often which would be more difficult for her to protect her heart... Cole thought for a while and said, "You are right. But I''ve to think over little about this matter." "Okay... Take your own time." Alonzo replied. After dinner, they sat on the living room and chatted for few moments. Few minutes later, Alonzo got a call from Bill which he went to receive before asking Myra to show their apartment to Cole and Regina which Myra reluctantly agreed. Myra made a round of their beautiful apartment whereas Regina just gawked at it while Cole''s eyes never left Myra, making her more uncomfortable... "This is our beautiful balcony from where we can see the most beautiful sunset." Myra said before taking a lungful of fresh air. Regina felt bored to feel the cold wind and pretended to receive a call before leaving Cole and Myra alone there, making them feel mire awkward... They both stared at the beautiful stars in the sky silently without any words being spoken between them. Cole didn''t know what to say to her whereas Myra didn''t want to speak up.. What seemed like few hours when it was just ten minutes passed by, Cole asked in whispering voice, "How are you?" Myra didn''t look at him and replied, "I''m fine. Cause here at least I don''t have to see the cruel face of the person who had hurt me the most. But the peace also seemed to get ruined very soon." As Myra said this, they again fell into a bunch of silence but it got broken when Cole suddenly asked the most unexpected question.. "Why didn''t you cook the dinner today and ordered take out instead?" Chapter 255 - Cruelest evil queens of this century... "Why didn''t you cook the dinner today and ordered take out instead?" Myra furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Cole with narrowed eyes as she snapped out at him, "I don''t think it should matter to you if I had cooked the dinner personally for you guys or just ordered a takeout.." Cole sighed and said softly, "You know right...how much I love the food that is cooked by you. So I thought you must also have cooked today for which I was eagerly waiting... But after tasting the first bite, I instantly understood that it was not made by the love of my life which made my mood extremely sour." Hearing it, Myra just gave out a sarcastic chuckle and said, "You don''t love me Cole. If you ever did, then you wouldn''t ever mistreat me... And about eating my cooked foods, you had lost that chance the day you chose to believe your bitchy sister instead of me. So it''ll be better if we don''t talk about it." Signing deeply again, Cole looked at the side profile of beautiful Myra which would always mesmerize him and whispered in almost an inaudible voice, "I missed you very much..." Myra gave a mocking smile and replied shortly, "But I didn''t miss you." Pain was evident in Cole''s eyes as he muttered, "Myra.. I''m sorry. Please forgive me for the last time.." Myra looked into his eyes which was showing hurt, sorrow and pain but she overlooked it because her heart hurt the mire than Cole''s self-guilt and replied curtly, "Apologies not accepted.." Cole knew that he messed it a big time and it would be hard for him to get Myra''s forgiveness...so he just left the topic for now as Myra also left him alone at the balcony to let him think over the current turmoil in his mind... He thought over the suggestion which Alonzo gave that if he should settle down in City S. But he also had his family there in city B.!!! He was about to disagree with Alonzo when the face of Myra bloomed in his mind. He knew he had made a big mistake in the past which he had to resolve himself... Finally remembering the sweet smile on the face of Myra when they were together, he took the final decision as he now knew what to do next.. Fifteen minutes later, Cole entered the living room where everyone was present and sat beside Alonzo before declaring, "I''ve finally decided about the shifting thing." Everyone looked at him with different types of emotions as he said, "I''m going to settle the main base of Parker Textiles here." It took all of them few seconds to print his answer inside if their minds but when they finally did... different types of expressions surged on their faces... Alonzo became happy and hugged him tightly before saying, "Thanks for accepting my suggestion. But for starting the new base successfully, you first have to get a business deal with one of the best company here." Cole nodded and said, "I know.. Let me ask my assistant for a potential investor." Myra''s face paled like a white sheet as she heard Cole talking about his decision and for the first time today, she looked directly into his eyes which were staring back at her. But it soon got broken when suddenly her phone vibrated signaling a message and she thanked internally to the sense who was none other than Veronica... She smiled reading the message and quickly texted back a reply. Both Cole and Alonzo looked at her with confused eyes while Regina completely ignored her. "Who messaged you?" Alonzo asked. Myra smiled and replied to her brother, "It''s Veronica. She informed me that we''ll be going for shopping after our meet ups." Alonzo just nodded at her and Cole looked at both of them with perplexing eyes.. Regina''s eyes snapped at her as she found the name somewhere familiar when suddenly it clicked in her mind and she asked excitedly, "Is this Veronica you are talking about, the Veronica Lopez? The heiress of Lopez Industries??" Myra just nodded as confirmation while Cole just whispered into Alonzo''s ears, "Lopez Industry''s heiress Veronica means...the one I''m thinking about right now??" Alonzo looked at him and replied, "Yes.." Everyone was silent for few minutes as they were occupied in their own thoughts when suddenly Regina''s unexpected question brought them out of their imaginary world.. "Myra, if you don''t mind.. Can I also come with you? You know I''m here for the first time and don''t know anyone. I''ll be bored alone here as brother would also be busy. Please take me with you." Myra didn''t even think for a second and straightly denied, "No...You''re not allowed there." "But why?" Regina argued. Before Myra could say anything, Cole scolded her, "If you''re feeling lonely then go back to city B. No one had forced you to tag along with me here. Don''t disturb her..." Regina shot him a glare and smirked before saying, "Okay. If you don''t want me to go there then I''ll call uncle Brown and complain to him against the three of you." Alonzo''s temper increased as he muttered through his gritted teeth, "Don''t try to blackmail us." "You very well know Alonzo what can I do or not." Regina said with a evil smirk. Cole was about to scold her when Myra said, "Fine.. But I have to ask for the girls'' permission about it. Then only I can agree." Alonzo looked at her with questioning eyes bur she just gave him an assured smile. She didn''t agree with Regina...not because she was scared of her but she was worried about her brother because she knew as soon as Regina would complain about them, their father would immediately set up an engagement date for both of them which was certainly unfavorable.. And about Regina, she knew that she could handle her well. Even if she needed help she would ask the girls for it. She very well knew that other three girls were very much strong and powerful unlike her, specially Veronica.. As much as Veronica was talented, her brain was also equally sharp and she never was a coward who loved to fight back with bitches like Regina.. Regina internally smiled for her first victory without knowing that she was going to meet the cruelest evil queens of this century... Chapter 256 - New relations on the way... Sip and Drip¡­ Friday morning... "I have to go back home early in the evening today. You guys have to manage everything in my absence." Lucinda said to her employees. The employees nodded and said, "Okay ma''am." Lucinda went upstairs to her private room and took a comic book to read when suddenly her phone rang and it was none other than her best friend Veronica. "Hey Niccy.." Lucinda greeted. "Yo my bestie... Seems like from the day you became the girlfriend of Mr. Henry Johnson, you completely forgot about me." Veronica feinged a weeping noise... Lucinda smiled at her best friend''s trick and played along with her, "What can I do when my boyfriend is extremely handsome.!" At this comment, both of the girls laughed out loud.. Veronica was the first one to stop laughing and said, "Okay... Let me come to the straight point. As you asked for shopping tomorrow, I informed both Willa and Myra about it though I hate shopping. And to your good luck, they had agreed." Lucinda shrieked in excitement and said, "Oh.. I''m so happy because of this. Finally after so many days or more like a month, I''m going for shopping." Chuckling at her, Veronica said, "Yes.. Our shopping goddess is really excited for tomorrow. By the way, what''s your plan today?" "Uhm.. Nothing much. Mom and Dad told me to get ready tonight as some guest will come for dinner. So I''ll be leaving for home early." Lucinda informed her. Veronica just nodded and said, "Okay. Let''s see each other tomorrow then." "Yep.. Bye. This shopping goddess also has to make a big list for tomorrow." Lucinda grinned. Shaking her head, Veronica hung up the call and instead called her cutie boyfriend.. ---- Smith Enterprise¡­ "Sir this is the final output of the invitation card. How is this?" Tom asked as he handed the card to Reuben. Reuben gently took the card in his hand and he became very happy after seeing the designs and calligraphy as he praised, "It''s really good Tom...just like what I expected.." Tom smiled and said, "I already booked few florists who will delivered our future lady boss''s favorite flowers." "That''s good. You may leave now. If I need anything I''ll call you back." Reuben said. As soon as Tom left Reuben''s office cabin, his phone buzzed and just by seeing the caller ID, his face bloomed into a big smile. "Hey babe." Reuben said. Veronica also smiled and said, "Hi honey. What are you doing?" Reuben fiddled with the invitation card and said, "Nothing... Just looking through some files. What about you?" "Ah.. Nothing much. Just talked with Lucy and then called you." Veronica replied. "Oh... Henry also called me today morning, saying that he had to go somewhere tonight with his family but they had not told him exactly where they''ll be going... When he asked about it, Uncle and Aunty just said that it''s going to be a surprise for him." Reuben told her. Veronica felt something was wrong in this as Henry''s parents were never so much hideous about anything to him... Then something clicked on her mind as she tried to clear her doubts to Reuben by saying, "Bennie, do you know what Lucinda told me now?" Reuben was confused with the sudden question and said, "How could I know what Lucy talked with you??" Veronica simpered and said, "Lucinda told me that her parents had asked her to get back home soon as they are going to have some guests in their house but who are these so called guests, Lucy doesn''t know..." "Are you getting what I''m trying to say?" Veronica asked after filling Reuben''s ear with too much information. Reuben proceeded all the info that Veronica had said to him when everything hit in his mind as he finally grinned evilly. "So it''s going to be a well planned family gathering.." Reuben said. Veronica also smiled wickedly and replied, "Yes.. And maybe we are going to hear some good news tomorrow." Reuben chuckled with her and said, "New relations on the way.." And then both of hem burst into a huge round of laughter.. ---- Wilson Mansion... At evening... Lucinda got ready in a very pretty gown which was sap green in colour with black embroidery. It was a round neck gown which was looking very elegant on Lucinda''s perfect shaped body. She wore a pair of matching black earrings with a bracelet on her hand and kept her hair opened. She was applying the maroon lipstick on her lips when someone knocked on her door. She thought it must be some maid so she said, "Come in." Lucinda didn''t notice who was behind her and continued with her makeup before asking, "Do you have anything to say?" When she didn''t get any response in return, she turned around to see it was not any maid, but her own brother was standing there with his hands in his pocket staring at her... "Bro... When did you come?" Lucinda asked slowly walking towards Neil. Neil hugged his sister and replied, "Just now. But after coming here, I thought to meet my sister first. And when I saw you doing your makeup, I sensed something else which I had never detected before today.." Lucinda pulled herself a little from her brother and asked while arching her brows up, "What did you sense?" Sighing at her, Neil smiled slightly as a different kind of emotion drove into his eyes as he confessed, "I came to know that, you really became big in a span of few years.." Lucinda couldn''t understand anything what her brother was saying so she just uttered her confusion into words, "I can''t make out clearly what you are saying. Please be more specific brother.." Neil smiled at her and took her towards the couch of her room before sitting on it.. Hugging her tightly by her shoulders, Neil looked into Lucinda''s eyes and said, "The sister who was too much little when I took her in my arms for the first time...had grown up into a beautiful lady..." Chapter 257 - Shopping and Hopping... Stopping for few seconds, Neil again continued as his eyes turned a little bit gloomy, "The little one who always used to tag behind me with her two pigtails and called me with her baby like voice, is now so much matured that she has her own boyfriend now... She is now so much big that whenever any guy tried to gawk at her, I would always threaten him to stay away from my little sister on behalf of our parents. But now... From now on, there is gonna be someone special in your life who''ll always protect you from others and love you more than I do. I''m happy that you chose Henry for you as he is the only one who could make my little sister happy.." Now, tears were evident in both of the siblings'' eyes. Neil who had never cried before also had tears in his eyes remembering the childhood days of him with his sister Lucinda. He remembered those days when Neil would play with Reuben, Henry and sometimes Louis would join them too whereas his two little sisters, Lucinda and Veronica would follow them everywhere wherever they went... Both of these little girls would wear a beautiful frock with their hair tied in ponytails with colourful ribbons and hair bands.. They would look so much cute with their pink chubby cheeks and small plump figures that his eyes would soften everytime seeing them. Whenever Reuben, Henry or Louis would pull their legs...he along with their another close friend would protect them and scold the three boys on behalf of their cute little sisters.. Now, seeing one of his sister already going to be in a new kind of relationship, made his heart feel like it had been so long from the day his cute sisters were born as the replica of tiny buds and now they had already converted into beautiful flowers.. Both the brother and sister shed their tears of their beautiful memories while hugging each other. Few minutes later, Neil came back to his sense and wiped his own tears before wiping Lucinda''s too... Kissing her on the forehead, Neil said, "Look, I have ruined all of your make-up on your special day. You''re looking ugly now... Go and cover your ugly face with those creams otherwise the guests will run away after seeing you like this." Hearing his jokes, Lucinda pushed him playfully making Neil laugh hard as he said, "Come on... Get ready. Otherwise you''ll be left from enjoying one of the happiest day of your life.." Lucinda furrowed her brows in confusion when she heard her brother''s words and asked, "What do you mean by ''one of my happiest day''? What is going to happen today?" Neil smirked at Lucinda and shook his head in refusal to spill anything more to her... But when Lucinda glared at him, he stated, "This glaring will not work for me today. You have to wait and see what is coming for you tonight." "But brother..." Lucinda was about to argue when a car honk pulled their attention towards it. "Go and get ready first. They have already arrived. I''ll be waiting for you outside." Neil said before going out of the room. Lucinda did few last minute touch ups and five minutes later went out of her room to see her brother waiting for her near the staircase. "Are you ready?" Neil hold her hands and asked with excitement. "Why are you behaving like this all suddenly?" Lucinda now was feeling really irritated with his behavior so she snapped at him. Neil didn''t reply but just pulled her downwards with him. Lucinda tried to protest by slapping him on his arms angrily but stopped when Neil left her hands and turned her towards the sofas where the supposed guests were sitting with a smile on their faces and talking with her parents gleefully. But what caught her attention the most and made her surprised, was the handsome man sitting in the middle looking at her with love filled in his eyes. "Henry, what are you doing here?" Lucinda asked being shocked. --- Love-Paradise... Veronica called Willa and talked with her for few minutes regarding tomorrow''s plans. They decided to directly meet at Lucinda''s caf¨¦ and from there, they would start the journey of their girls'' day out.. "So it''s final now.. right?" Veronica asked. "Absolutely final." Willa replied excitedly while drinking orange juice. "Then we''re gonna rock tomorrow." Veronica yelled in excitement. "Yes.. Will break the stage with our shopping and hopping." Willa also joined her as both of them laughed together. After talking for a little more, Veronica hung up and decided to call Myra for the final confirmation... "Hi Vero." Myra picked up in few rings. "Hey, you remember about tomorrow''s plan, right?" Veronica asked. Myra smiled and replied, "How can I forget when I myself asked for you guys to meet me?" Veronica chuckled and said, "Yeah.. you''re right. If you would forget about tomorrow, I would directly go to your place and kidnap you from there.." Again a fist of laughter erupted between the girls, making Reuben who was working on his laptop sitting beside Veronica, narrowed his eyes at her.. Veronica punched his shoulder playfully and signaled him with her eyes to focus on his work before continuing to talk with Myra. "Ah!! Vero...I have something to ask you if you don''t mind.." Myra said hesitantly. "Don''t hesitate Myra and tell me what you want to say." Veronica stated. Pondering for quite a while, Myra finally asked, "Actually, one of my friend had come here in city S to visit me with her brother. Her brother is always busy with his work so she is alone. Can I also bring her with me tomorrow?" "What is there to ask? If she is your friend and can mingle with us without any hesitation, then I don''t have any problem and I don''t think others will also have." Veronica insisted her. "Okay.. Then let''s meet tomorrow morning." Myra said. "Yeah...bye..." Veronica said and cuddled into Reuben''s arms as he also wrapped his hand around her and kissed on her head before continuing his work on his laptop... Chapter 258 - Keep quite, save energy... An hour earlier... Johnson Mansion¡­ Henry sat on the front passenger seat while his parents took the back seat. Henry had come home this evening as his parents told him that they would go together to the place. Now they were driving towards Wilson Mansion which was completely unknown to Henry.. "Mom, Dad.. Will you please tell me where are we going?" Henry asked impatiently for the hundredth time but again he got the same response from his parents.. "Why are you being so restless Henry? The time we''ll reach the place, you''ll get to know where we are going. So now just shut up and let our driver focus on his driving." Mrs. Johnson scolded him which made him pout whereas Mr. Johnson silently laughed. Around fifteen minutes later, the car took a left turn which was the way to the Wilson Mansion.. Henry frowned observing this and asked, "Why the car suddenly turned this way?" Mr. Johnson smiled and said, "Because we are going on this way." Henry knew that fighting with his parents, would not work out at all because they would not give him any answer even how after much he would try.. So better stay silent... Keep quite, save energy... WOW!! What a great motto of life?? Isn''t it?? But it got broken when the car took the last turn and entered through the gate of Wilson Mansion and stopped right in front of their huge door. Henry was completely shocked when he saw that they had arrived at his girlfriend''s house rather people should say that he was being kidnapped here by his parents... "Why are we here now?" Henry asked in total astonishment. "Because this is our destination. Now get out of the car otherwise we''ll leave you here alone." Henry''s father, Mr. Johnson said while chuckling. Coming out of the shock, Henry stepped out of the car and went inside the mansion with his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were already present at the door to greet them. Both of the parents hugged each other and Louis also greeted them with a ''Hello'' as he was still confused about everything. They were escorted towards the living room but he didn''t see Lucinda there. Their parents starting chatting with each other and he sat there silently. His waiting didn''t last long when he heard the bickering voice of Lucinda coming from upstairs. He looked up there and his eyes widened seeing his beloved.. Lucinda was looking extremely pretty in that full length gown with minimal makeup. She was looking extremely gorgeous that he couldn''t take his eyes off her. She still hadn''t noticed Henry as she was busy beating Neil but when Neil turned her towards them, her face was in a ''O'' shape like she couldn''t believe what she was witnessing... "Henry, what are you doing here?" It was Lucinda''s first question after coming out of her shock. Henry just shrugged his shoulders and motioned towards his parents before saying, "I don''t know. They kidnapped me here without telling me anything." Lucinda just nodded her head absentmindedly as Neil took her towards the couch and she sat beside Henry. Giving all of them a sweet yet confused smile, Lucinda whispered in Henry''s ears, "What is happening here?" "I don''t know. I''m as much oblivious as you." Henry whispered back in her ear. Few minutes later, everyone got silent and looked at the couple with a serious face, making them more awkward. "Why are you guys looking at us like that?" Lucinda asked. Neil cleared his throat when his parents signaled him to start first as he said, "Actually sis.. We''re here today to discuss something with you guys." "And what is that exactly?" This time, it was Henry who questioned. Mr. Wilson sighed and said with a heavy heart, "We elders are planning to get you both engaged as soon as possible." As soon as the words sunk in both Lucinda and Henry''s brains, they both shouted together, "What??" "Actually, as you both are already in a loving relationship. So we thought why not let you guys engaged and then get married? After all you both are already in a marriageable age." Mr. Johnson, Henry''s father said. "But...but how could you take such a big decision so suddenly without even asking us?" Henry asked. Mrs. Johnson sighed before saying, "We are not forcing you into this. It''s totally your choice if you would like to get engaged or not. Take your own time." "Yeah right.. Whatever your decision might be, we''ll accept it without arguing. We are just asking you to think over for once at least." Mrs. Wilson, Lucinda''s mother suggested. Henry saw that Lucinda''s face got paled and her lips were shivering a little. He was also very nervous but he was more worried about Lucinda''s welfare right then. He hold her hand and came to know that her palms were completely wet out of perspiration. Squeezing her hand a little to give her motivation, Henry smiled weakly which she reciprocated... Neil saw the tension surfing between the couple...so he had thought to take this matter in his hand and said, "I think they both need some alone time to think over it... So let them converse with each other personally before coming into any decision." Their parents agreed as Mrs. Wilson said, "Lucy.. Take Henry with you upstairs." Lucinda nodded and got up before pulling Henry with her. As soon as they entered Lucinda''s room, she asked exasperatedly, "What was that?" Henry shrugged his shoulders as he was also surprised with all those sudden incident and said, "I don''t have any idea." Taking a deep breath, Lucinda asked, "Do you want to get married so suddenly?" Henry looked at Lucinda''s eyes with confusion in his eyes and said, "I''m really not sure about this." "Me too.. I think we should think of our mind in peace. Why not I go to the balcony and you clear your mind here?" Lucinda suggested. Henry shook his head and said, "No... Let me go to the balcony and you stay here." Lucinda nodded and sat on the bed while biting her nails nervously as Henry walked towards the balcony and closed the glass door to give each other some privacy... Chapter 259 - Wrong choice of words... Lucinda nodded and sat on the bed while biting her nails nervously as Henry walked towards the balcony and closed the glass door to give each other some privacy... Five minutes passed, but still none of them had reached into any conclusion... Lucinda felt to bang her head on the wall out of frustration. But then she remembered her saviour and called her phone and soon a very sweet voice bloomed up. "Hey Lucy." Veronica said. "Niccccyyyy¡­ I''m in trouble." Lucinda shouted. "Why? What happened?" Veronica asked being tensed. "Ask me what had not happened!! Because everything had happened but my mind doesn''t happen to work." Lucinda blabbered without knowing what she was actually saying. Veronica laughed at her and said, "Oh Lucy.. What are you saying?? I think you had gone completely crazy. " "Shut up, you idiot!! Here your bestie is dying out of nervousness and you are laughing there with your ass off. Let me meet you tomorrow and I''ll kick those perky butt of yours." Lucinda yelled at her bestie. Veronica finally stopped laughing, getting scolded badly by her best friend and asked, "Fine... I''ll not laugh. But you have to tell me your problem first so that I can solve it right?" "Yeah... So what happened is that, the guest who my parents had been talking about are none other than Henry and his parents." Lucinda said. "Okay.. Then?" Veronica asked. "Then they dropped a bomb on both me and Henry. They told us to get engaged and then married as soon as possible. Like seriously?" Lucinda snapped in irritation. Veronica already knew that something like this was going to happen today, so she said, "If you love Henry, then what''s wrong in that? I won''t pressurize you in anything. I''ll just suggest you to listen to your heart... What your heart wants or feels for Henry...you have to decided it on your own. Just keep calm and take deep breath to clear your mind. Then let your heart take the biggest decision of your life on your behalf." Though Lucinda was very nervous but still decided to listen to Veronica and cut the call before taking few deep breaths. She closed her eyes and remembered the day when Henry had proposed her, the day when they made love and became one, and last but not the least the day when she broke in tears in fear of Henry breaking up with her but later his consoling words while promising that he would never leave her ever as she was his life¡­ She remembered everything... Opening her eyes, she looked straight to the balcony where she could see the back of Henry and she finally came to a decision.. ----- On the other hand, Henry was also nothing less nervous than Lucinda though his reasons were completely different. To let all of his complex thoughts out of his mind, he decided to call the one person who gave the best advices in this love related matters. Few rings later, a male husky voice said, "Hello." "Reuben.. Help me bro. I''m stuck in deep turmoil." Henry said loudly. Reuben knitted his brows and kept the phone away from his ear as he said, "Stop shouting first and tell me what happened." "My parents brought me in Wilson Mansion today and they want me to get engaged with her." Henry said briefly. "So.. Don''t you want to get engaged with her?" Reuben asked quirking his eyebrows up. Henry shook his head vigorously though Reuben couldn''t see him and said, "That''s not the matter bro. Obviously, I want make her my fiance. No... Wrong choice of words.. I want to make her my wife as soon as possible and want to get married fast. But¡­" "But what?" Reuben asked. "But I''m not sure about Lucy''s feelings. What if she is still not ready to get married so soon. I don''t want to force her on anything." Henry said running his fingers through his hair out of frustration. Reuben smiled at his reply and said, "How would you know if she is ready or not without asking her about this??" "What do you mean?" Henry asked confusedly. "You are big enough to understand what I mean as you are at least not dumb like Louis. I can''t tell you everything for your next steps... You have to decide it on your own too as it''s the most important decision of your life.." Reuben stated before hanging up the call. Henry stood there dumbfounded after hearing Reuben''s advice. He then remembered his happy days with Lucinda and decided that whatever her answer might be, he was going to listen to his mind and at least try for once. Rest are completely her decisions and he would respect that. Taking a deep breath he opened the balcony door and entered Lucinda''s room and noticed that Lucinda was looking at him with love filled eyes... He walked towards her and kneeled in front of her in the floor making her utterly shocked. Taking her hands in his, Henry kissed it and said, "Lucy.. You are the love of my life. I don''t know what will I do without you... I can''t promise you that I''ll not let tears fall from your eyes. But I promise you one thing that those tears will be only because of happiness... I promise to love you, cherish you from the bottom of my heart. I want to start my day seeing your beautiful face and end my night after making love to you for my whole life." Lucinda was already in tears as she didn''t know what to say. She just continued staring at him to let him finish his words. Closing his eyes for few seconds, Henry opened it again and directly looked at her eyes before asking, "Ms. Lucinda Wilson, Will you marry me?" Lucinda didn''t reply just continued crying. Henry thought that she didn''t want to marry him and got very much panicked so he added hurriedly, "I know that I don''t have any ring right now to give you a proper proposal but trust me¡­." Before Henry could continue further with his blabbering, a pair of soft lips smashed on his lips to shut his mouth off... Chapter 260 - Winner to rule everyones life... Before Henry could continue further with his blabbering, a pair of soft lips smashed on his lips to shut his mouth off... Henry was shocked at first with Lucinda''s sudden kiss but when he felt the soft lips of hers nibbling his own lips trying to enter his mouth to get access of his tongue, he instantly reciprocated and kissed her back with same passion.. When both of them were out of breath after a long heartwarming and satisfying kiss, they finally pulled back from each other... Still breathing heavily, Lucinda looked at his eyes and muttered, "Yes.." "Huh?" Henry asked being puzzled as he couldn''t still come out of the essence of their strong steamy kiss. Lucinda slapped him heard on his head and when he made a pout, she pecked him on the lips and said, "Stupid!! Yes means that I''m ready to marry you." Henry sat there for few minutes totally confused and when he finally understood what Lucinda had expressed, his face immediately lit up in an extending smile as he stood up from the floor in a tornado speed and hold Lucinda''s waist tightly in his firm grip... Encircling her in his arms, he twirled her around lifting her up in the air, making her laugh like crazy. "I''m so happy...so so happy that I can''t even describe Lucy.." Henry said finally putting her down. Lucinda laughed at him and said, "I''m also very much happy Henry." "So are you ready to inform our parents about the good news?" Henry asked while smiling. Grinning widely, Lucinda nodded her head and said, "Let''s go.." ---- The couple stepped down to the living room as all the eyes glued on them with expectancy whereas Neil''s eyes only caught the scene of their hands being intertwined together... He smirked as he already became aware about their answer and sat there patiently waiting for them to reveal their decision. "So have you guys decided ?" Mr. Johnson asked, already losing his patience.. Both Lucinda and Henry looked at each other grinning ear to ear as they confessed together, "It''s a ''YES'' for both of us.." As soon as the parents heard this, they jumped in joy as they all came one after another to hug and congratulate the couple. "So let''s decide a date for their engagement." Mr. Wilson said happily. "No Dad. Not now." Lucinda said. "Why not? You already agreed with it." Mrs. Wilson asked. "Mom.. Dad.. Actually we want to tell our friends about this happy news first. Then you can decide whichever day you want." Henry announced. The parents understood that how much close those fellows were so they agreed with a beautiful smile on their faces. Neil walked towards the couple and hugged them tightly together before saying, "Congratulations to both of you." The couple also smiled and hugged him back with a "Thank You". ---- Love-Paradise¡­ Reuben came back to the room from the balcony with a wide grin on his face. Veronica looked at him with her raised eyebrows, "So Henry too called you like Lucy had called me?" Reuben chuckled and said, "Yup... He was confused at first but I''m sure that he is going to accept the engagement proposal." Beaming at the news, Veronica said, "Yeah. I also think that Lucy will get agreed with the engagement plan...after all, both of them love each other very much." Nodding his head, Reuben said, "So we are going to get an engaged couple really soon.." Veronica smiled brightly and said, "Yup.. The very first engaged couple in our group." Reuben smiled and kissed her on the forehead but he didn''t fail to notice the little sadness covered in her eyes. He very well knew what was roaming in her mind but he didn''t console her this time like always. He just hugged her to sleep and thought in his mind that this little sorrow in her face would immediately vanish away right at the moment, she would get the special surprise from Reuben... ---- Paradise Hotel¡­ Regina''s room... Regina was reading a magazine lying on her soft bed when her phone rang. Seeing the person who had called her, Regina''s lips curved up in a sarcastic smile. Picking up the call, she said, "Hello, Myra.." Myra rolled her eyes at Regina hearing her sweet faking voice and said in a cold voice, "I have talked with my friends today and they told me it is okay if you come with me. So get ready before 9 am... We are going to meet Vero and others at 10 at another friend''s caf¨¦. So I''ll pick you up at sharp 9:15. If I don''t see you at the gate of the hotel after I reach there, then I''ll go alone leaving you there." "Don''t worry. I''ll get ready before time and wait for you outside." Regina said in a sweet tone. Myra knew her pretending act so without any reply she just cut the call.. The moment, Myra disconnected the call, Regina laughed out evilly and clutched her stomach in pain for laughing so hard. She then looked up at the ceiling and muttered to herself, "You don''t know Myra that you are taking your friend''s love rival with you. I would destroy that Veronica and Reuben''s relationship in a click of my finger." Pausing for a while, imagining about her happy life in future when she would become the young mistress of the Smith Family, Regina chuckled again... "After I throw out that Veronica from Reuben''s life, I''ll break your egoistic attitude first Myra and then will show you your true place.. And even if I don''t get any chance to be with Reuben, still your brother Alonzo is there for me. In every way, I''ll be the winner to rule everyone''s life, specially yours. Like I had already ruined your relationship with my brother, I would also not let you live happily ever in your life." Unbeknownst to the not so na?ve Regina, there was waiting big troubles for her in the near future as she was going to face the hungry lioness soon... Chapter 261 - Mr. Driver... Love-Paradise... Saturday Morning.. Reuben was all ready in his casual white and black checkers t-shirt with a pair of black jeans. He gelled his brown hair and wore the latest Tissot watch along with a black square shaped sunglass which was hanging on his collar right now. He paired his attire with black sneakers which had two small white stripes in each shoes. He was looking extremely handsome with his well toned muscular body. Veronica just came out of her walk-in closet, wearing a beautiful black round necked t-shirt which had the word "BADASS" written on bold letters with white colored fabric.. She paired it up with a white shorts which were looking extremely s.e.xy on her. She wore a white sneakers with four small dots of black on the corner which matched really well with her dress. She walked towards the dressing table in their big room but her eyes fell on the ''all ready to go'' Reuben who was fidgeting with his phone sitting in the bed. As much she remembered, Reuben had no plans for today like her. Then why was he suddenly all dressed up?? Big Question!! "Bennie.. Are you going somewhere else?" Veronica asked picking up the hairbrush and started combing her hair. She left her light brown hair open and straightened it a little. Reuben looked at her and said casually, "Nothing babe.. As you girls planned a day out, so we boys also thought of hanging out today. It was just decided early in the morning, so couldn''t tell you as you were also busy in your own preparations." Veronica nodded her head in understanding without having a doubt in her mind as it was not the first time the boys were having sudden plan. "I''ll drive you to Lucinda''s caf¨¦ and after you are done with your shopping and everything, just give me a call. I''ll come to pick you up with other boys." Reuben offered. "Okay. I''ll call you half an your ago till we finish so that you reach at the correct time and we don''t have to wait as you know I hate waiting." Veronica pouted but gave him a naughty wink. Reuben laughed at her actions and joked, "Yes ma''am. Your driver will be present at the right time." Veronica gave him a flying kiss while wearing a pair of star shaped silver earrings and said, "Good driver. I appreciate your sincerity." Shaking his head at her funny comment, Reuben got up and pecked her on the cheek and said before leaving the room, "I''m waiting for you downstairs. Come down after you''re done." Veronica nodded her head and started applying eyeliner on her eyelids.. ---- Reuben walked downstairs and sat on the couch before dialing Henry''s number. "So what happened last night?" Reuben asked as soon as Henry picked up the call. Henry smiled before replying, "You won''t believe what happened. I need to tell you this face to face in the presence of Neil and Louis." "Hmm.. That''s good then. Cause I called you for some personal reasons." Reuben said. "What is it?" Henry asked. "Will tell you. First you take Neil in a conference call whereas I''ll call Louis." Reuben said. With an ''okay'' both of them called Louis and Neil respectively. "What the hell bro? Why did you wake me up so early in the morning?" Louis shouted in the phone as soon as he received the call. "You call this a morning? It''s already past 9. So get your ass up and listen to me." Reuben said while Henry and Neil laughed. When Louis heard other''s voices too, he checked his phone and saw it was a joint call. So he asked, "Why the sudden conference call?" Neil also asked the same question, "Is there something important?" Reuben sighed and said, "Its indeed very much important. But if you want to know what is the reason, then just come to Lopez Mansion before lunchtime." "Why should we visit Lopez Mansion suddenly? Vero is going out with our girls right?" Henry asked. "That''s the thing. I want you to tell something secret which the girls shouldn''t know as you know that they all have really big belly to spill everything out.." Reuben joked. "Will there be Jessica Aunt''s handmade tasty food?" Louis asked excitedly. Everyone chuckled and replied, "Well, I at least informed Mom today morning that you guys will also join us... Now if she is cooking for you or not..its completely depends on her. But yeah, we''re going to eat her food." "Bro.. That''s not fair." Louis protested. Neil chuckled and said, "Stupid, don''t you know how much aunt pampers you whenever you visit them? So how can she not cook food for you, idiot!!" Louis grinned widely and said, "Then count me in too." After chatting for a while about some boys stuffs, they hung up.. Right then Reuben heard the sound of footsteps from the stairs and when he turned around, he was awestruck by her beauty. She was looking drop dead gorgeous yet s.e.xy in her casual attire. She also wore a white Omega watch on her left wrist and an light purple shade sunglasses paired with a beautiful white Gucci handbag. Veronica walked towards Reuben and wrapped her arms around him before muttering in a seductive voice, "Done with checking me out?" Reuben also placed his hand on Veronica''s waist and embraced her tightly before saying, "Not yet.. I feel like not letting you go and continue eating you up for the whole day.." Veronica flicked his forehead and said, "Pervert!!" "Yes, I''m a pervert but only yours." Reuben too whispered seductively. Giggling, Veronica pushed him aside and headed towards the door before calling out, "Come outside soon Mr. Driver otherwise we''ll be late." Reuben also grinned at her and shouted back, "Coming Ma''am." Quickly picking up his phone from the table, he ran after Veronica and locked the door. Veronica was already waiting inside the car so he also hopped in as both of them drove off towards Lucinda''s caf¨¦ while teasing each other.. Chapter 262 - Top of the moon... Sip and Drip¡­ Reuben stopped his car right before Lucinda''s caf¨¦ where they noticed another familiar car to be parked right in front of them. Henry stepped out of the black car being followed by Lucinda as they both hugged each other while Henry gave Lucinda a peck on her lips making her all blushy blushy.. Now that they were also going to get engaged, they too didn''t care about being caught by the paparazzi. As they were thinking to confirm their relationship after talking with their friends.. The REUNIC couple saw them and also got out from their car. "So how are the soon to be engaged couple doing?" Veronica asked as soon as she reached near them along with Reuben. Both Henry and Lucinda looked at them and smiled before Henry decided to speak, "Well, we''re on top of the moon right now. Tell me about you guys." "We are super happy like always." Reuben said and put his hand at Veronica''s shoulder pulling her towards him. "What about Willa? When is she coming?" Lucinda asked. Veronica giggled and said, "She is on the way. Our dear brother is driving her here." "Woah!! Seems like things are going well between them too." Henry exclaimed and others chuckled. "Oh I also called Myra. She is coming with one of her friends." Lucinda informed and Veronica nodded. Just then, another car parked in front of them and Neil came out of it from the driver seat, being followed by Willa who descended from the front passenger seat. Everyone turned their focused at the exclusive couple who didn''t still professed their love to each other yet...but still tried to give their relationship a chance. Both of the couples gave them a teasing smile, making Willa blush hard whereas Neil just scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Welcome to the committed people''s batch bro." Henry joked as he gave Neil a playful punch on the back of his shoulder. "Wow!! Look out...our Willa is blushing.." Lucinda teased as she had a high five session with Veronica. Willa shot them a glare and said, "Stop it both of you." Others chuckled at them as Reuben signaled the boys with his eyes that it was time for them to leave whereas Neil and Henry also nodded as an affirmation. Reuben caressed Veronica''s head and said, "You enjoy with the girls. It''s time for us boys to leave." Veronica smiled in understanding but Lucinda complained, "Wait!! Are you guys not going to wait for a little bit till Myra come here. We would like to introduce her to alk of you." "But we already know her, honey." Henry said, squeezing Lucinda''s should a little. The girls rolled their eyes at his stupidity as Willa said, "You guys don''t know her but only saw her once at the party. So Lucy means to befriend you guys with her." Neil chimed in between them and said, "That''s not necessary. We are being already late." The beautiful faces of the girls fell which Reuben noticed very well so he tried to lift up their mood by saying, "We guys are coming to pick you up all. So let''s meet Myra that time. Now as we are being late, we have to leave soon." Immediately, three of the girls became happy as Lucinda commented, "Look, this is what called a perfect boyfriend. Reuben is really the best at taking care of Niccy. Learn something from him." Lucinda said the last sentence glaring at Henry whereas he glared back at Reuben for being always the best while Reuben just raised his eyebrows mockingly at him making Veronica giggle. After bidding goodbye, three of the boys left for Lopez Mansion with their own cars... Before their cars could disappear from everyone''s eyes another car approached them and Myra along with another girl got out from the backseat. Seeing Myra, the girls became very happy but when their eyes fell on the other girl they shared a glance at each other as they tried to understand her actual motto.. Regina was wearing a hefty amount of makeup with a very revealing dress which was looking very awkward for shopping purpose. Myra walked towards them and greeted, "Good morning girls." Lucinda smiled and said, "Morning. You should come here a few minutes ago then you could meet our boyfriends also. They just left right now." "Boyfriends? I know about Vero and Reuben from the recent news outlet. But what about yours? I never heard about this before." Myra asked with a doubt. "Oh Myra!! You don''t know many things had happened in these two months...specially in the past few weeks.." Veronica teases eyeing Willa which made Lucinda laugh hard. Myra furrowed her eyebrows and asked, "I can''t understand anything whatever you''re saying. Can you please explain me?" "We''ll definitely tell you everything. But first... let''s get inside the caf¨¦ and have a late coffee." This time Willa suggested. As they were about to enter the caf¨¦, an intentional cough interrupted them. Everyone looked at the source of the noise and found out it was the same girl who came with Myra and whom they were forgetting now completely. "Uhmm.. Myra, won''t you introduce me with your friends?" Myra narrowed her eyes at her angrily and said, "Girls.. She is Regina Parker. One of our family friends." Turning towards Regina, Myra introduced, "And Regina, they are Veronica, Lucinda and Willa...my friends." Regina looked at them from head to toe specially Veronica and said with a fake sugarcoated voice, "Hello guys. I''m Regina. The only heiress of Parker Textiles and also a very famous professional model of city B.." Willa and Lucinda just said a curt ''Hi'' to her as they didn''t like her attitude from the first time they saw her, whereas Veronica just kept mum observing her with scrutinized gaze. "Hi Veronica... I saw the news about you and Mr. Reuben Smith. Congratulations to you. I must have to say that your boyfriend is really handsome." Regina said with an awestruck expression. Veronica''s face turned cold at the mention of Reuben as the tone Regina used to address Reuben was not at all some innocent type, it was more like a seductive type which she didn''t like at all. So Veronica just gave her a sweet smile which was not actually really sweet but dangerous and mocked with the most innocent look on her face, "So you are a model of city B? But I never had heard of you nor the other girls... Maybe you''re not really that much popular in city S¡­" Chapter 263 - Walking makeup box set... "So you are a model of city B? But I never had heard of you nor the other girls... Maybe you''re not really that much popular in city S¡­" As soon as those mocking words reached to Regina''s ears, she became extreme furious while other girls suppressed their chuckles.. However Regina still suppressed her anger as she wanted to be friends with Veronica so that she could also get close to Reuben easily... Regina just faked a smile and said, "What do you mean by it, Vero? I''m really quite famous in city B. You may don''t read magazines or watch news that much." Everyone''s eyebrows perked up as soon as they heard Regina''s blunt comment but Veronica smiled more sweetly at her. She was not the type to just jump on the person angrily who would try to mock her by sweet talks.. Veronica was more famous for giving face slaps based on the other person''s behavior. If the person was trying to defame her by sweet talks then she would show her what was the actual meaning of sweet talking.. She would ill.u.s.trate them immaculately, how to use all the sugar coated words properly at the right places for such a remarkable art like Taunting... And if anyone wants to force her then she could also describe the true definition of physical as well as mental power very calmly... Veronica gave one of her best sweet smile which didn''t reach till her eyes, indicating her friends that there was going to come another sarcastic remark from the great Veronica Lopez.. "Oh Regina.!! You are taking me absolutely wrongly. I''m not saying that you''re not famous in city B. You might be really famous there but sadly this is not your city nah?? The place you''re standing right now is the land of city S, the one and only capital of country K, from where all the famous celebrities rise to their topmost fame... I do check entertainment news and tabloids everyday but never saw you being mentioned there. Maybe you are talking about magazines which were published based on their own city news.. You might be only shown on state level magazines or news, not the national or international one, as for getting featured in the famous magazines like Vogue and others...you need to have good potential and huge fanbase to showcase your popularity which certainly you might not have and that''s the reason maybe people here don''t know about you..." Regina''s anger went up very high right now but before she could comment anything in response, Veronica added with a mock smile, "But you don''t have to worry. If you also want to get on the cover page of any famous magazines...then you can definitely ask for my help. You know, I just have to use one of my simplest trick or connection to get you an amazing job... Don''t worry... I believe that one day or another, you''ll definitely get renowned if you work hard a little bit more. I''ll always be there for you to boost up your career, sweetheart as you have the advantage of being Myra''s friend..." After giving a full blown up sarcastic speech, Veronica patted on Regina''s shoulder and walked inside the caf¨¦ being followed by Lucinda and Willa... Whereas Myra just looked at the back of Veronica and tried really hard not to laugh. Turning towards Regina, Myra said, "Come inside fast. We have to go for shopping after this." Regina stomped her feet on the road angrily and followed Myra to the caf¨¦ with a grumpy face... ---- As soon as they all seated themselves on the special place which was especially made for Lucinda''s friends, Lucinda called for one of her employees and told everyone "Guys order whatever you want." Almost everyone ordered something for them when Regina said, "Excuse me, I just want one black coffee without sugar." The others girls rolled their eyes at her but stopped when Regina suddenly said, "You know nah that I''ve to maintain my figure so can''t afford those creamy coffees like you which have lots of calories pored in them. However I''ve to go for washroom. Where is it?" Lucinda pointed towards the washroom and Myra got up from her chair with a fake ''Thank you''. As soon as Regina''s figure disappeared from the girls'' eyesight, they all burst out laughing hard which they were suppressing from the time Veronica started insulting her with her honey words... In the middle of laughing, Willa said, "I still can''t believe that she is your friend Myra. Where did you find the ''walking makeup box set'' itself?" Myra laughed at Willa''s comment and said, "Don''t mind her and I''m sorry for bringing her here as I didn''t have any other options.." "Why are you saying sorry? Isn''t she your friend?" Lucinda asked. Myra looked down at her fingers and said, "Actually, she is not my friend, she is my one worst enemy and she had blackmailed me with my brother to bring her here." The girls were confused so they furrowed their eyebrows before Willa asked, "What do you mean my she is your enemy and what is the blackmailing thing?" Myra sighted deeply and started her story from the start, "Regina has an elder brother and his name is Cole Parker. My brother Alonzo and he was childhood friends so we used to meet each other often.. When we grew up, the feelings between me and Cole started to escalate towards each other. Soon we fell in love with each other very hard and started dating secretly. But.." "But what?" Lucinda asked raising her eyebrows.. --- In the washroom.. Regina looked at the mirror furiously and gritted her teeth before shouting, "How that bitch had the guts to insult me in front of everyone?" Breathing heavily, she huffed in anger, "I will take revenge on you Veronica. I promise... You don''t know what kind of devil I am. I''ll show your right place by snatching your Reuben from you." "But for now, I have to pretend to be a good friend to you. Like this...only I''ll be able to come close to your precious boyfriend. After all, which man can''t get attracted by a beautiful woman like me?" Regina laughed maniacally as she said those things. Taking out a box of face powder and lipstick from her bag, she murmured to herself, "Before everything, I have to gain my confidence back which lies on my makeup. So let me touch up a little." Smiling evilly, Regina started applying lipstick on her lips... Chapter 264 - Poisonous snake... "But what?" Lucinda asked raising her eyebrows.. Myra closed her eyes to take a deep breath before narrating, "But we broke up few months ago and the person who created hurdles in our relationship is none other than Regina herself." "What? But how could she?" This time Veronica asked. Looking at the girls, Myra gave a bitter smile to them and started recounting the past memories, "Both Cole and I were very much in love with each other. Though Cole was a playboy before we started our relationship but it changed when both of us started dating... He never went out with another girl nor he even glance at them for the second time. Everything was going very smooth between us but Regina made an evil strategy to separate us and it so worked out well right according to her plan." "What did she exactly do?" Willa asked with all seriousness showing on her face. Myra looked at the washroom door to see if Regina was coming or not and when she noticed that the door was still closed, she again started telling them with every details, "Regina photoshopped my photo with a guy in a pose like we were kissing and then having s.e.x together. She even took me to a club where Cole often visits saying that he wanted to meet me... But she actually planned the whole set up when the same guy in the photo came towards me, she showed it to Cole and forced him to believe that I''m cheating on him with that guy. She then showed all those tampered photos and videos to Cole which he gladly believed." Now Myra was already in tears as she told them about one of her worst memories as both Lucinda and Veronica hugged her from either side while Willa hold her hands. "Then what did he do to you?" Veronica asked. Myra smiled with sadness filled in her eyes and said, "He did everything which I never thought of. When I visited him the next day, he just opened the door of his home and went inside without hugging me or greeting me. I thought that he must have some work pressure so I made a cup of coffee from him... But what he did next would be always the most shocking moment of my whole life. He...he threw the coffee mug and started shouting on me like a madman. And when I asked what did I do get his harsh scolding, he called me with dirty names like I was some whore, s.l.u.t who could f.u.c.k anyone without any shame." Now Myra was crying very much heavily while her friends tried to console her. She hiccuped before continuing, "After hearing those dirty words from the person whom I loved the most, I couldn''t handle my anger anymore and slapped him hard on his cheek which took both him and myself by a shock... And the next thing I know, he pushed me to the wall and started kissing me roughly while muttering...if that stranger could give me the same pleasure that Cole was able to give me... He was insulting with his brutal words. When I couldn''t suppress my anger anymore, I pushed him hard and tried to go away from his home when he declared the saddest truth of my life that he.. He wanted to break up with me.." "I was shocked at first but thought he needed time to cool down so that I could talk to him later properly as I loved him more than myself. Few days later, I went to meet him and he again insulted me and these continued and one day finally I lost all of my hope. I felt very much disgusted with myself that how could I love a person who distrust his own girlfriend based on some fake photos... So I took an oath to myself that I''m never going back to him even someday he started pleading to me. And that day wasn''t far too. One month later, Cole came face to face with the stranger whom Regina hired and he couldn''t hold his anger anymore as he started beating him angrily with his full force. Couldn''t able handle thise beatings, he spilled all the truth to Cole which made him shock to his core... He couldn''t believe that it was his own sister who did all of this plotting but still he didn''t take any step against her which made me sadder. Though he came the very next day to apologise, I didn''t forgive him. This went for everyday which hurt me more. I knew that if he continued his pleading like this, I''ll go weak on my willpower and go running back to his arms." Taking a deep breath while choking with her own saliva, Myra added, "So when my brother decided to shift in this city, I requested him to take me here with him and now I''m all here in front of you... But again few days ago, Cole had come here for some business purpose, Regina tagging along with him. My brother proposed him to shift his company here permanently which Cole agreed to very quickly. While chatting Vero messaged me to go for shopping and I agreed which got noticed by my brother and when he asked me, I told him about the message... Regina asked me to bring her with me but I clearly denied. However, she threatened my brother with our dad as we knew if she complained to him, my brother have to get engaged with her immediately which none of us want... Actually, she is my brother''s supposed to be fiance who was being chosen by my parents or more like by my Dad. But neither me nor Alonzo bro had liked her ever. She was like a poisonous snake to us." After Myra finished with her story, the girls stayed rooted to their seat as they couldn''t believe that...this quite girl who always had a smile plastered on her lips, had gone through so much... "A big bitch!!" It was Willa''s first response after hearing about Regina''s hypocrisy. Lucinda rubbed Myra''s shoulder and said, "Don''t cry anymore. If you want then we could handle that bitch for you. She doesn''t know our bitchiness that how much we can be dangerous to those people who tried to hurt our colse ones specially Veronica had done her PhD over it. She would definitely help you.. Right Niccy??" Chapter 265 - Leftover Sons... Veronica chose to be mute for somewhile to think hard before looking direct in Myra''s eyes and took her hands in her own before saying, "Myra, as you know that we think of you as our own friend, so we''ll definitely help you in everything. If you need to get revenge on that ugly witch Regina, we''ll give our hand to you. But remember one thing... We can only help you but you have to take your revenge on your own. You have to show her that you''re not a weak woman who could easily be played with. You have to show your true worth to all those person who insulted you and bullied you. You have to do it not only to get revenge on Cole and Regina but also for yourself." Myra nodded her head and said, "Thank you guys. You guys are really the best." Willa smiled and said, "Now stop crying cause it''s now our time to show that bitch Regina her true place." Veronica thought to cheer up everyone''s mood so she hooted, "Let the showtime begin, girls.." Lucinda also cheered up and said, "Let''s count the dooms day of Ms. Parker." Myra laughed seeing her new friends being so cool and supportive and she also joined them with fun.. Their hooting stopped when they noticed Regina coming out of the washroom with a fresh layer of makeup over her face as she smiled at them faking it which the four girls returned with the same fakeness. They then drank their coffee while talking about everything, ignoring Regina completely. "So who are both of your boyfriends?" Myra asked to Willa and Lucinda, making them blush which made Veronica grin widely. Lucinda took a big sip of coffee and said, "You know Henry Johnson right? Well he is my boyfriend and very soon we''re going to get engaged too." Then she described everything which happened yesterday including her phone call to Veronica and others.. Myra yelped in joy and said, "Oh my god!! Congratulations Lucy. I''m so happy for you." "I want a treat." Willa pouted. "And I want double treat Lucy as I helped you yesterday." Veronica also shamelessly demanded. Lucinda laughed at them and said, "Fine.. Today''s lunch treat is on me." "Yayyyyyy!!" Both Willa and Veronica shared a high five. "Now why don''t you tell everyone about your boyfriend Willa?" Veronica teased before winking at her. It was now Willa''s turn to become beet root while blushing as she said in a small voice, "Its Lucy''s brother Neil whom I''m dating.." "Woahh!! So both of you are going to be sister-in-laws soon." Myra commented making Willa blush more. But Veronica interfered between their discussion and said protectively, "No.. I''m also going to be Willa''s sister-in-law as Neil is also my big brother." Lucinda smiled and replied, "Yeah.. if we don''t take your in our sister-in-law team then Neil bro would kill me as he loves you more than me." "Yeah.. I''m the best sister anyone can ever get even Henry also treats me like his own little sister from our childhood." Veronica proudly announced while everyone laughed except Regina. Whereas Myra just looked at their bond and hoped if she would also have these kind of brothers and sisters relationship with others who were not even blood related to her. Though Alonzo was a very good brother to her but their relationship was not ever this much of entertaining and funny. In spite of the fact that Myra hadn''t seen the bonding between them from her own eyes...still she knew through their talks that they all were super awesome and chilled out unlike her and Alonzo... While Regina got extremely bored and asked, "Can we go shopping now?" "Yeah... Let''s go. It''s already late." Willa said curtly as the other girls also nodded and moved towards the seven seater latest car that Reuben had arranged for them along with a driver... ---- Lopez Mansion¡­ The boys arrived to their location around 11 am. They all got out from their respective cars and went inside. As soon as they entered the living room, they were greeted by the Lopez and Smith parents.. The elders took them into a big hug which they returned happily. The boys were really fond of these four parents as they always were friendly with them and liked to try silly jokes on everyone making all laugh. Both Smith and Lopez parents were the ideal couples for the youngsters who always flirted with each other, fought together but their love were inseparable.. Maybe that''s why their children, Reuben and Veronica were so romantic and understanding towards each other¡­ "Where is Louis?" Reuben asked while they ate the snacks that both the mothers had prepared for them. "As usual he is late." Henry commented as others laughed. Right then Louis entered and complained, "Look my dear aunts..Just because I''m a little bit late, they already started badmouthing about me on my back." Neil rolled his eyes and said, "Always a brat!!" Louis was about to fire back when Mrs. Lopez took Louis in a hug and said, "Ignore them Louis as they are nothing but jealous as we love you the most among them. You will always be the best son for us." "Yeah... Everyone should stop bullying our Louis otherwise I''ll give you all a hard slap." Mrs. Smith threatened glaring at the three boys jealously. Whereas Mr. Lopez and Mr. Smith just laughed and commented, "You guys are now their leftover sons.. Pity on you boys " The three boys pouted cutely but got ignored by the mothers brutally as they fed Louis with tasty brownies while Louis just enjoyed their pampering while giving his big brothers a big smirk. "Hello everyone.. Do you guys forget that I''ve called you all here for a special reason?" Mrs. Smith didn''t focus on Reuben and asked, "Yeah. What is it?" But what Reuben said next made everyone leave their movement in a pause button as their mouth widened in shock.. Reuben grunted for getting the lack of attention and announced in a grumpy way, "I want to plant a surprise engagement party for Ica.." Chapter 266 - God of Love... Reuben grunted for not getting the lack of attention and announced in a grumpy way, "I want to plant a surprise engagement party for Ica.." The room fell in pin drop silence that only the breathing of people could be hard. Everyone was looking at Reuben with a mortified expression.. They didn''t know if Reuben was just diverting their focus or he really intended to do so which he had just mentioned to them.. Everyone felt like a super cyclone blew over their heads as they still couldn''t gulp down the words Reuben had muttered in a straight line. Without being able to hold their grips over their emotions anymore, both Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Lopez shouted at the same time, "What??" As the earth-shivering scream of the mothers erupted in the big living room, everyone came out of their respective trances and gaped at Reuben with their mouth wide opened... "You are seriously serious, right?" Mr. Smith asked. Reuben rolled her eyes and said, "Come on Dad.. Why would I joke about such an important thing of my life!! I seriously want to propose my girl for marriage." "WOW, Bro!! Finally you are going to propose Vero after so many years?" Louis asked. Henry slapped Louis on his head and said, "You idiot! You are talking about this nonsense first without congratulating him for this awesome news.." "Yeah right.. I should congratulate him first." Louis said before walking towards Reuben. But before he could go for a hug, he was pushed aside by two pair of strong hands as Reuben got engulfed in a tight bro hug by Neil and Henry at the same time as they wished together, "Congratulations bro." "Thanks Bro." Reuben hugged them back with a smile on his face. Louis punched them on the shoulders and argued, "What the hell! I was going to hug brother first." "But you are late as we had to remind you about congratulating him. So just back off." Henry retorted back. Reuben chuckled seeing his little cousin brother being helpless as he untangled himself from Neil and Henry''s hug and pulled Louis into his embrace before saying, "My brother will always get a special hug from me." Louis smiled brightly and hugged Reuben with all his brotherly love before muttering, "Congratulations brother. I''m really happy for you." "If you boys are done then let us congratulate our son too." Mr. Smith said before patting Reuben''s head, "I''m proud of you my son." Mr. Lopez also wished him, "I can''t believe that you''re going to plan a surprise for my princess." Both of the mothers engulfed him in another round of sweet embrace from each side and said together, "Congrats son." Reuben smiled at everyone and said, "Thanks everyone. But please now sit down cause we have to discuss the full planning for that special day." Everyone became silent instantly and took their own seats when Reuben started, "I''ll start with Louis. Bro, you have the most difficult duty among everyone else... You will try to defocus Ica from all our planning so that she couldn''t guess anything beforehand." Louis nodded and said, "Rest assured that the job is done." Reuben smiled and then turned towards both of the parents and said, "Mom, Dad.. You don''t have much work except inviting the guests and getting the rings ready for our engagement... I''ll send you the designs of the rings and then you just have to find the perfect jeweler to make the ring as per to the designs. I want it to be perfect." "Don''t worry.. It will be done." Mr. Lopez assured Reuben confidently. "Now tell us about our jobs." Henry said. "Yeah.. We can''t wait to participate in the arrangements for our little sister''s significant day." Neil stated cheerfully. Chuckling, Reuben now stared at his two best friends and said, "Your job will be the most important one. You have to help me in preparing the surprises. But keep it in your mind that you can''t reveal anything to your girlfriends." Both of them nodded their head but suddenly Henry asked, "However, what are you planning for the surprise?" Everyone''s interest piqued up as they heard Henry''s question because they also wanted to know about Reuben''s exclusive ideas which would always be extraordinary everytime... specially if it was planned for Veronica. Reuben mischievously smiled at them and started to narrate his ideas, "We have to make a¡­" After he finished speaking, everyone''s jaw dropped to the floor as they never thought that an Idea like this could ever exist... It was not only creative but it was something that anyone had never heard of...nor could be able to imagine in their lifetimes.. If everything went smoothly, then this would be the bestest proposal ever in the history.. "How could you think of such an amazing and exceptional plan, Reuben?" Neil asked totally surprised. "Yeah bro... From where did you get the idea?" Louis asked. Reuben just grinned ear to ear before boosting his self-confidence, "Well, I got the idea from the power of love for my Ica. I want the best way to propose her so after thinking hard, it just clicked in my mind and I gave it an okay sign." "Shit!! Why can''t I have such amazing ideas to impress Lucy? She would again start scolding me by praising you all over that Reuben is the best at giving Veronica surprises which I lack the most.." Henry huffed in frustration and envied over Reuben''s spectacular brain. *Hahaha* As soon as everyone heard Henry''s irritation filled words, they burst out laughing and started making jokes of him. But Reuben who was already praising himself in his head, suddenly patted himself on the shoulder and mocked Henry, "Your mind is nothing but filled with animal poops. It can''t ever draft a remarkable strategy like me... I''m always the best at pampering my girlfriend who is soon going to be my fiance. So just don''t put pressure on your stupid brain and start worshipping me as the ''God of Love''.. You can also applaud for my wonderful idea so that if you need any help to impress your girl, I can give you a helping hand..." Hearing his self boosting words, again the room filled into a fit of huge laughter and later they decided to have lunch after some more specific planning... Chapter 267 - Beg for mercy... Shopping Mall¡­ The girls were going from one to another shop, literally searching for everything and buying all those dresses, jewelleries and other accessories which was making Veronica very much irritated specially the attitude of this bitch Regina who was having problems with everything and loved every fine dresses that other girls were thinking to buy.. Such an irritating person!! She had just come for shopping because of Lucinda. But right now, Veronica didn''t want anything but just to go back home and sleep peacefully on her softy bed while cuddling her boyfriend, Reuben... Though Veronica wanted to spend some time with her friends, but this was actually not the way she wished.. She would prefer more if she along with her friends could go to amus.e.m.e.nt park having fun on the rides or go to some multiplex to watch some movie while eating tasty popcorn. However, she had to spend her time on some boring shopping. She couldn''t understand one fact how could girls do so much shopping without feeling even a little bit of tiredness?? Wait!! She is also a girl, right? No, not all girl liked shopping and Veronica would be stand on top position on the race of the crown, ''Girls who hate shopping the most''.. Just internally thinking about the fact, Veronica couldn''t help but chuckle at herself.. But her own imaginable thoughts got ruined when she felt a tight punch on her shoulder.. Ouch!! Veronica felt pain with the sudden hit and when she looked at the person who had the audacity to hit her so bad but she directly made contact with a fuming Lucinda who was glaring at her like she had committed some kind of big crime.. "Niccy¡­ Where the hell did you doze off suddenly? I was calling you for so long but you hadn''t even for once gave me any response... And when I noticed your strange behaviour, you were busy in daydreaming?" Lucinda shouted in Veronica''s ear. Veronica awkwardly smiled at her best friend and said, "Aye.. My dear Lucy.. Why are you being so angry suddenly? Look, I''m here right in front of you. Tell me what kind of help do you need from me?? I''m always here for treating my bestie well by giving her an amazing helping hand. And don''t shout too much. Did you forget that you are the great heiress of the famous Wilson Family? Yelling in public is a bad manners Lucy. You shouldn''t do it from next time.." Veronica shook her head while moving her index finger from left to right to give some more pressure on her words whereas Lucinda just fumed at her angrily making Willa and Myra giggle at her. Inhaling few deep breaths, Lucinda calmed her raging mind down and said, "Fine... I''ll not shout anymore. But if I see you again dozing off in some stupid thoughts, then I''m warning you...I''m going to beat you till you beg for mercy." Grinning widely, Veronica replied, "Okay. I''ll not continue the same mistake again. Now let''s hurry otherwise you''ll not get your favourite dresses.." Lucinda smiled and showed her two dresses...one was black off shoulder dress and another one was yellow one shoulder blouse with beautiful blue skirt. "I can''t choose between these two. Help me finding which one is more beautiful.." Lucinda said. Veronica smiled and said, "It doesn''t matter which one is more beautiful but you have to choose the one that''ll suit you the best... Though everything will look awesome on you, but the yellow one would match your complexion more perfectly.." "Okay. Then I''m keeping this." Lucinda happily agreed but suddenly her phone started to ring and it was her mother who was calling. "Yes Mom. Do you need something?" Lucinda asked picking up the call. "No I don''t want anything, I just wanted to tell you that we''re going to Henry''s parents home to decide an auspicious day for both of your engagement. So if you don''t find us after coming back, don''t create any trouble " Mrs. Wilson said. "Okay Mom. I''m a good girl. I don''t create much trouble." Lucinda said blushingly. The girls saw the blush on Lucinda''s cheeks and raised their eyebrows questioningly.. "What happened? Why are you cheeks so red after talking to aunty?" Willa asked suspiciously. "Actually, Mom and Dad are going to Henry''s parents to decide our engagement date." Lucinda said shyly. Everyone broke into a big smile when Veronica teased, "Uh huh!! Seems like we''re getting a big invitation to witness the day of our dear Lucy''s life changing moment.." Myra also teased and said, "So will I also get an invitation?" "Of course, you will.. Like I said, you have also became a part of our friends zone Myra. You are all same to us like I, Niccy and Lucy are for each other." "Wow!! You really got some good friends here Myra. I can''t even believe that you''re so good at scheming so that good and rich heiresses like them would make you their friends." Regina commented making all of the girls look at her with a disgusted expression. Veronica looked at Regina and said mockingly, "Now what can Myra do when she herself has such a good and pure heart which is at least not like someone who only had a bitchy mouth and evil heart." Myra looked at Veronica with grateful eyes and mouthed a ''Thank You''. Willa saw the time and it was already past their lunch time so she said, "Guys enough of talking. Let''s have some lunch first. I''m hungry." Everyone nodded and went to the food court.. Lucinda ordered a burger with ch.i.p.s, Willa and Veronica ordered a big chicken pizza which they were going to share, Myra ordered some pasta while Regina just stuck with some veg sandwich without any cheese or mayonnaise, making the girls look at her with yucked expression. But then then they just ignored it and also ordered some coke for themselves while Regina again outdid them and placed an order for just lemonade.. As there was still time for food to come and their shopping was already done, Veronica decided to call their boyfriends, "Guys, I''m going to call Reuben now. He is already with Neil and Henry, so they will come together. Myra I''ll tell my driver to send you back first." Chapter 268 - Mute Monkeys... "Guys, I''m going to call Reuben now. He is already with Neil and Henry, so they will come together. Myra I''ll tell my driver to send you back first." Hearing that Reuben was coming to pick Veronica up, Regina felt her mood lifted up suddenly... She didn''t want to miss the chance to meet Reuben so she said immediately, "Ah! You don''t have to tell your driver to drop us. I''m calling my brother Cole to pick us up as he had already told me before that he had not much work at afternoon. Like this, you all will also be able to meet him..." Myra was about to protest not to call Cole, but Lucinda just caught her hand and squeezed it under the table to stop her from doing so as they also really wanted meet that Cole Parker who broke their new friend''s heart for some stupid misunderstandings.. Veronica dialed Reuben''s number and two rings later, he picked up the call, "Yes babe.." "Honey.. We''re done with our shopping and right now waiting for our order at the food court... You along with Neil and Henry come here to pick us up. Till then we''ll be done with our yummy lunch." Veronica said in the phone. Reuben chuckled and said, "Okay. Coming in half an hour babe. Till then, fill your stomach with tasty foods." Veronica smiled and said, "Okay bye... Our lunch has already arrived." Regina was already done with informing Cole and watching Veronica talking with Reuben so sweetly which made her very envious. "So what did your brother say? Is he coming to pick you both up?" Willa asked, raising her brows up. "He said he will be coming here in thirty minutes." Regina said, making Myra''s palm to sweat profusely. The girls nodded and started eating their lunch... --- On the other side, when Regina called Cole, he just finished one meeting with an investor of him along with Alonzo. "Can you come to the mall to pick us up?" Regina asked. "Okay. Send me the address." Cole said. Alonzo looked at Cole when he just ended the call for which Cole asked him, "I''m going to pick up Regina from the shopping mall. Are you coming with me?" "No... I have some other dealings to handle. Can you please also drop Myra on the way to your hotel?" Alonzo asked. Cole''s eyes brightened when he heard such an amazing offer which he didn''t want to refuse at all. Though Myra was not talking to him but at least he would be able to see her face... That''s why agree at once, "Of course. That''s not a big thing to ask. But yeah... Please find a nice apartment for me. You know...budget is not a matter for me." Alonzo nodded his head and replied, "Don''t worry. I already asked Bill for it and he already started searching for a good place." Cole nodded and left the place after bidding goodbye to Alonzo... --- Lopez Mansion... After hanging up the call, Reuben informed everyone, "We have to leave now. Ica called me to inform that they are already done with their shopping and now having their late lunch." The elders agreed with him and said, "Okay. You guys drive safe. And don''t worry we''ll handle everything about the guests. And you just send the designs of the rings." Reuben smiled at them before looking at his cousin brother as he asked, "Are you coming with us to the mall or going back home?" Louis stared at his brother for few seconds and snorted, "You want me to go with you guys so that I can eat free dogfood? Nahh... Not possible.!!! I''m not going anywhere from here...not even to my home. I''m going to stay here till night so that I can eat Aunt''s tasty homemade dinner if my dear aunties doesn''t have any problem with it." Mrs. Lopez immediately said, "What problem I can have with you staying here? Even I''ll be more than happy if you have dinner here for tonight. Why don''t you there boys do one thing?? Bring your girls here along with you from the mall. We all can have dinner together today. And don''t forget to fetch Willa too as she doesn''t have any boyfriend still." "Who said Willa doesn''t have a boyfriend?" Henry said all of a sudden. "What!! She has one?" Mrs. Smith asked. "Ask Neil about it Mom." Reuben replied playfully whereas Neil just glared at him. "Wait! I can''t understand anything." Louis suddenly asked. "We will tell everything to you later. At first, let us bring the girls back." Henry said. Reuben also agreed and said before leaving, "Don''t forget that you have to keep your mouth shut about the surprise." "Don''t worry son. We''re all like the mute monkeys from now on." Mr. Smith assured his son. Mr. Lopez also agreed and said, "Yeah.. we''ll not say anything." Then father Lopez turned towards his wife and said, "Honey, why don''t you call Henry and Neil''s parents here as well?" Mrs. Lopez agreed and said, "Yeah... You are right. It would be better if we all have a small feast together." The boys just shook their heads and said, "We are leaving then." After they left, Mrs. Smith said to her best friend, "Come Jessica. Let''s prepare for dinner. I''ll help you." As both Mrs. Lopez and Mrs. Smith were also besties, there were no formalities between them. So Mrs. Lopez agreed with her and said, "Yeah... Let''s go. We have lots of things to prepare." Louis then suddenly spoke out, "Wait for me, dear aunties. This handsome man is there for you to give you guys an awesome helping hand " "Do you even know how to cook?" Mr. Smith mocked him. "No uncle. I don''t. But I''ll learn eventually by helping these two beautiful ladies." Louis replied proudly, making the mothers laugh. "Come on. Don''t waste your time talking with these old man. Let them enjoy their boring business talk while we will teach you cooking." Mrs. Smith said to Louis as she dragged him to the kitchen along with Mrs. Lopez, making the fathers huffed in anger on being called as old men.. Chapter 269 - Expressively intimate... Shopping Mall.. The girls were already done with their lunch and waiting for their respective boyfriends outside to pick them up with shopping bags in their hands while talking between themselves and laughing, completely ignoring Regina. While they were waiting a white car parked right in front of them and a handsome man in his late twenties came out of the car with a great body language. It was none other than Cole Parker who saw the five girls were waiting with lots of shopping bags in their hands. As soon as Regina saw her brother, she called for him, "Brother. Come here." Cole looked at his sister and then at Myra whose face was completely expressionless after seeing him which hurt him a lot. He walked towards the girls and looked at the other three beautiful ladies who were standing their with pure elegance. He recognised Veronica by just a glance at her as she was already famous for being the most beautiful heiress of country K and also because of his friend Alonzo who was head over heels for her... Then he saw Lucinda Wilson who was also a true beauty and the only sister of the great Neil Wilson. He also knew Willa as she had attended many parties along with her friends where her beauty was well appreciated by everyone. He also knew that Veronica was a VFX head of Creation and Willa was her assistant whereas Lucinda had a bunch of cafes named ''Sip And Drip'' all over the country which were very much famous. "Brother, meet them. They are my new friends here...Willa, Lucinda and Veronica." Regina said, breaking the silence. Cole nodded at the girls and said, "Hello to all of you. I''m Cole Parker, brother of Regina and also the family friend of Myra." He said the last sentence looking at Myra who just rolled her eyes. The girls nodded at him and gave him a polite smile which didn''t reach to their eyes at all because of the past story they hard from Myra about her and this particular man, Cole Parker. At the same moment, three other expensive cars stopped right in front of them one after another which kind of looked like some royalty show.. Slowly, the doors of the driver seats of every car, opened at the same time and there came out the top three handsome men of whole Asia.. Reuben, Neil and Henry were all wearing casual t-shirt and jeans with sunglasses covering their eyes which gave their handsomeness a more charming look... Everyone outside the mall specially the girls were gawking at them with widened eyes whereas their girlfriends were throwing daggers to all the girls. The men slowly walked towards their girls but their face tightened when they saw an unknown man close to them.. Perks of being a jealous and overprotective boyfriend..!! *phew* They came near their girlfriends and held their waists protectively by pulling them towards their chest more which made the girls roll their eyes as they knew exactly what was roaming in their boyfriends'' mind but still they couldn''t stop the smile on their faces from blooming.. Perks of being the sweetest girlfriends of those over possessive men..!! Regina''s eyes fell on the three handsome men who just came here and hugged their girlfriends in a protective embrace but her eyes still lured on the most dashing man among all which was none other than Reuben. Feeling satisfied after taking their own girls in their arms, Reuben and Henry pecked on Veronica and Lucinda''s lips whereas Neil just kissed on Willa''s forehead as they were still not much expressively intimate like others. The girls blushed but gave their own man a sweet smile before hugging them tightly, making Myra stare at them lovingly, feeling sad that she might never experience the same attention like them in her whole life... Whereas Cole just stared at Myra''s expectant face after witnessing the open PDA show of the couples... Truthfully, he was little shocked at first when he saw that without the REUNIC couple, the other famous businessmen Neil and Henry were also committed with the two beautiful women, Willa and Lucinda. But it didn''t matter to him much as he was busy looking at Myra. "Honey, who is he?" Reuben asked taking everyone''s attention towards him.. "Oh.. He is Regina''s brother, Cole Parker and this is Regina, Myra''s friend." Veronica said in a monotone. Reuben noticed her cold expression while introducing them and understood that she didn''t like them much. Well, he also didn''t like the girl Regina who was wearing nothing but some awkward dress with lots of makeup and looking at him like she was going to jump on him at any moment. Cole stretched his hand out and said, "Hello, Mr. Smith... I''m Cole Parker, the CEO of Parker Textiles from city B. Though I''m going to shift it here in city S soon." Reuben shook his hand said, "All the best for your successful shifting." Cole smiled and also shook hands with Neil and Henry who just gave them a curt nod. Regina who was watching Reuben closely hugging Veronica, felt immense jealousy rushing through her body but suppress it before saying sweetly, "Hello.. I''m Regina. Nice to meet you all." Neil and Henry nodded at her with an expressionless face while Reuben just ignored her before saying, "We have to leave now Ica. We''re directly going to Lopez Mansion from here." "Why suddenly?" Veronica asked being confused. Mom called me for having a small feast kind of dinner along with Neil, Henry, Lucinda and Willa. Even all of our parents would also be there while Louis had already arrived.. Veronica didn''t question much and looked at Myra and said, "Oh.. Bennie. I forgot to introduce you with our new friend... She is Myra, you saw her in the business party and also that evening when everything got revealed, but didn''t get to meet her properly. So I thought to introduce you both today..." Chapter 270 - Rude Idiot... Veronica didn''t question much and looked at Myra and said, "Oh.. Bennie. I forgot to introduce with our new friend.... She is Myra, you saw her in the business party and also that evening when everything got revealed, but didn''t get to meet her properly. So I thought to introduce you both today..." "Yeah.. yeah¡­ Henry.. You also meet her. She is very sweet and lovely unlike someone." Lucinda said, directing the mocking words to Regina. Henry and Reuben had already heard many thing about Myra from their girlfriends so they smiled at her gently.. "Finally, we met you properly after months. You don''t know how much my girlfriend had talked about you from the time she met you and already filled my ear with your stories.." Reuben joked before stretching his hand for a handshake which Myra gladly accepted with a bright smile. "I second that Bro. I have to go to the doctor to check if my ear is still alright or not after hearing so much about this pretty lady from Lucy." Henry also joked while giving Myra a handshake. But Neil just stood there silently without saying much as he knew nothing about her as his relationship with Willa had just started few days ago and Willa couldn''t be able to say anything about Myra to him. Willa hit lightly on Neil''s arm and said, "Are you not going to introduce yourself? Look how Reuben and Henry is greeting her like a gentleman." Neil showed her puppy eyes while Reuben teased, "How could you expect this from Neil, Willa?? Because he can''t be ever a gentleman like us. We are the best..." Henry also joined him and said, "Yeah... He is a rude idiot while we are the romantic one." Both Veronica and Lucinda narrowed their eyes at their boyfriends before scolding them at the same time, "Don''t you dare say anything bad about our brother." The boys gulped, making Neil laugh before saying, "Aww!! I love you both my dear sisters. I promise to give you both a treat of your favorite ice-creams." Lucinda and Veronica squealed in joy and said with wide smiles, "You are the best Bro." "No I am the best." Reuben pouted. "Shut up Bennie. If you don''t then I''ll send you to doghouse today." Veronica threatened, making Reuben gulp in fear as others only chuckled. Regina made a face like she wanted chop Veronica into pieces whereas Myra fell in awe after witnessing the beautiful bond between the six people. She never had experienced such a warm sensation in her life yet... Cole was really shocked to see the biggest tycoons acting like a love sick puppy towards their girlfriends. He never had ever thought that the wealthiest CEOs of the biggest companies who always masked their faces with a cold expression and whom everyone feared, would be acting all cute and sweet in love... Though he was very much in love with Myra but he never had behaved like them. He would always draw a margin between him and Myra which he regretted now... Moreover, after seeing these couples he realized the fact that from the first, it was only his faults which led them to break their relationship while Myra was always a sweet and supportive kind of girlfriend to him... "Come on Neil. Now I''m telling you that she is a very kind hearted girl and also my good friend." Willa said addressing to Myra. Neil looked at Myra and felt she was truly a good girl, so he smiled genuinely at her before saying, "Hey, Myra... Nice to meet you. Sorry for my earlier behavior." Myra shook her head in denial and said, "Its okay. I didn''t mind at all. Even I''m very much happy that you''re so protective towards Willa unlike someone." Though the boys didn''t hit the correct button but they understood that there was some more meaning to her words whereas the girls easily understood that she mocked Cole in her speech. "Okay now. We have to leave otherwise there would be a third world war in Lopez mansion if we didn''t arrive there at time." Henry joked and others laughed. Veronica, Willa and Lucinda hugged Myra simultaneously, ignoring Regina completely which didn''t go unnoticed by Cole at all.. After that the couples left the mall in their own cars one after another. Cole then turned to Myra and said, "Your brother is busy in some work so he wouldn''t be able to pick you up. That''s why he requested me to drop you at your home." Myra just nodded silently and followed the siblings to the car. Before Regina could take the from passenger seat, Cole said, "Regina, you sit in the backseat as our hotel will come first from here. I''ll drop you first then drove Myra to her apartment." Regina thought to argue with her brother but stopped when he gave her a murderous glare. Moreover she was also damn tired and very much pissed because she was completely ignored by Reuben today, whom she wanted to badly impressed. But instead her plan turned into a big failure.. Quietly she entered the backseat while Myra reluctantly took the seat beside Cole. Cole felt pain in his heart seeing her being so hesitant but still a smile crept up on his lips when he saw that Myra finally chose to sit beside him.. He started the car and drive towards their hotel first which was mere ten minutes away from the mall.. --- Ten minutes later¡­ Cole stopped his car in front of Paradise Hotel and said, "Regina, get up and go to our suite. It''ll be night when I''ll get back. So have dinner on your own and go to sleep." Regina nodded her head and left with her shopping bags without saying much. After Regina left, Cole started the car again and drove towards Myra''s apartment.. Meanwhile, Myra''s palms were covered in sweat though the car was air conditioned properly... Her mind was juggling through the past memories of them where she and Cole would go for a long drive hiding from everyone''s eyes... Chapter 271 - Horrendous memories... Cole was also silent while driving but time to time he would give Myra a side glance about which she was clearly oblivious. He missed those long drives with her where she would not stop from talking and kept on chirping about each and every silly things which Cole would listen with a smile on his face. Whereas this Myra was completely new to him who was keeping quite all the time without even uttering a single syllable from her mouth.. Myra just kept looking outside the window, gazing at the scenery while her mind was occupied with lots of things.. Around ten minutes later... Cole stopped his car in front of the big building and said, "Your destination is here." Myra got startled when suddenly Cole''s voice resonated in the car and she jumped up a little.. Looking here and there, she finally noticed that they had reached finally at her apartment building. Without looking at Cole she mumbled in a small voice, "Thanks for dropping me here." Cole just gave her a nod but kept staring at her with different kind of emotions. He wanted to hold her in his arms and kiss her senselessly so that he could find the warmth of her body even it was little but he stopped himself thinking about his past actions. Myra took the bag from the backseat and moved her few hair strands behind her ear. She wetted her lips a little with her tongue...totally unconscious about the fact that Cole was watching her every move and his self resistance were sliding down slowly slowly by her each and every actions.. Taking the shopping bags in her hand, Myra was about to open the door of the front passenger seat to get out, when suddenly she got pulled back inside by a strong force.. Cole tried to suppress his urge to hug her very much but when he saw her getting out of the car, he thought that she was leaving him for forever. So couldn''t able to control his emergency for her, he just caught her arm and pulled her towards him. In a swift movement he moved her towards him and engulfed her in a tight hug. Myra tried to protest at his advances but Cole just hugged her more tightly and whispered in her ears, "Five minutes, please... I promise, I''ll leave you after that. I just missed you so much." Myra heard the pleading tone in his voice which always stood firm and thought to let him hug for a few minutes. Because from the deepest core of her heart, she knew that she also missed the warmth of him... They just kept mum in each other''s embrace, trying to feel the calmness of their minds. What it seems like days, they finally broke the hug. Cole made a small distance between their bodies and kept looking at Myra''s beautiful face which he had missed for so many months. He raised one of his hands and caressed her left cheek gently, making Myra close her eyes.. Taking his own time to stare at each and every corner of her face, when Cole finally felt satisfied...his eyes then fell on the rosy lips of Myra. He gulped down his saliva which was forming in his throat and moved his lips towards hers very carefully... He knew that it was wrong to kiss Myra at this moment like this when she hadn''t even overcome the horrendous memories of his insulting words but his heart was adamant not to agree with his mind. Slowly, Cole''s lips touched Myra''s and he felt a different type of electricity ran through his veins and he couldn''t help but pressed his lips more on her. When Myra felt his lips brushed on hers, she instantly opened her eyes to look at him but saw him closing his eyes to feel her more. Her eyes went soft and she didn''t know when the unknown sensation surged through her body but she again closed her eyes and kissed him deeper. Both of them kissed each other for quite few seconds as Cole''s hand rested on her waist and other went to her neck pressing her more to him whereas Myra was holding onto Neil''s neck tightly. The urgency in both of them grew as Cole pinched Myra''s waist a little to make her gasp and taking the right chance, Cole pushed his tongue inside her mouth as both of them started kissing each other passionately. Finally when they were out of breath, they broke the kiss and rested their foreheads together. They both were breathing heavily but suddenly the last action got stuck in Myra''s mind which made her eyes widened in shock.. What had she done right now?? Did she just gave herself to Cole after all of his mistreats towards her?? Just thinking about it, Myra pushed Cole by all her leftover force, making him shuddered while her heart just started racing again by their close proximity... Without saying anything, Myra just took her bags and ran to the building while leaving Cole with sorrow... ---- Lopez Mansion... It was already 4 pm when they reached there. The three couples got out of their cars and saw that another four cars were already parked there which belonged from Smith, Wilson and Johnson parents while the other one was of Louis.. They entered the living room and saw the men were chatting happily whereas there was no sign of the women but there was only single guy not present and that was of course Louis.. The fathers saw their children entering and smiled at them with brightening eyes.. Veronica ran to her father and hugged him tightly and said, "Oh Dad.. I missed you so much.." Mr. Lopez hugged her back and said, "I missed you too my princess." Veronica chuckled at him and gave him a kiss on his cheek when suddenly a voice intervened in their father daughter''s sweet moment.. "Seems like my little princess has already forgotten that she has another father who was craving for her attention here..." Chapter 272 - Faint out of stupefaction... "Seems like my little princess has already forgotten that she has another father who was craving for her attention here.." Mr. Smith said in a pouty yet cute voice.. Veronica turned her face towards father Smith and saw him sulking at her. Veronica laughed at his childish behavior and went towards him and wrapped her hands around his shoulder to give hem a big hug... "I didn''t forget you Dad. Don''t worry, I love you more than I love your son." Veronica muttered, making Mr. Smith smiled in triumph as he wiggled his eyebrows at Reuben playfully. "Heard that son? She loves me more than you." Mr. Smith teased making Reuben roll his eyes at him. "Don''t overjoy yourself. She just said so to keep this old man''s heart. Nothing more cause everyone present here knows that she loves me the most." Reuben retorted back as he took a seat on the couch along with Neil and Henry. Lucinda also walked towards her father and sat beside him.. But after hugging him, when she noticed her would be father-in-law was also sulking like Father Smith, she laughed and gave him a hug too which made father Johnson instantly happy. Seeing this, Willa felt a little emotional as she was missing her father who was not here with her which didn''t go unnoticed by Mr. Lopez. He got up from his seat and hugged Willa quickly before saying, "Why are having tears in your eyes darling? Am I not your dad too?" Willa felt happy and hugged him back, "No Uncle. It''s just I missed my Dad but I didn''t want to hurt you. You are more than a real father to me." "That''s good to hear. Now come sit with me. As you see my daughter has completely forgotten me after getting her father-in-law." Mr. Lopez sighed exasperatedly, making both father Smith and Veronica chuckle. "Dad where is Mom and other aunties?" Lucinda asked. "Oh.!! They are in the kitchen, preparing for dinner or more like gossiping together." Mr. Wilson joked. Everyone nodded their heads but Lucinda asked, "Where is Louis then?" Mr. Johnson looked at Willa and replied, "Well, he also decided to turn into a gossipy queen like all of your mothers, though he gave a excuse of wanting to help them in cooking." "What? Louis and cooking? Is that even possible?" Veronica was beyond shocked, making everyone laugh at her reaction. Right then the ladies along with Louis entered as he complained, "Look my beautiful aunts. I just had wanted to help you and they are here making fun of me." "Oh my poor boy!! Don''t worry... I''ll scold all of them on your behalf." Mrs. Johnson, Henry''s mother said glaring at her husband.. "Okay everyone.. You can fight later but first have some evening snacks." Mrs. Lopez said keeping two big trays on the center table being followed my Mrs. Smith. The younger clan''s mouth watered as they saw the yummy appetizers in front of their eyes and jumped on them while fighting with Louis for the best snacks, making the elders chuckle... "What? I had helped them so much in the kitchen. So I deserved the big piece of the chicken wings." Louis demanded. "Shut up, you idiot!! We worked hard more than you by driving our girlfriends to and fro from our house, cafe, shopping mall and then here." Reuben retorted back as Henry and Neil agreed. "Enough!! Listen now all of you...we have a lot to fill everyone''s tummy. So stop fighting like a kid and start behaving like some a.d.u.l.ts." Mrs. Wilson scolded their kids with a strict tone. After everyone was seated properly with a fist of snacks in their hand, Mrs. Smith asked, "So what''s the date of our Lucinda and Henry''s engagement?" Lucinda blushed as soon as the topic got up while Henry just grinned widely, praying that the date was not that much far away. Mrs. Johnson patted Lucinda''s head and said, "We discussed a lot about it but finally found that the auspicious day is to be on this upcoming Thursday." Henry widened his eyes when he heard that there was only five days left from their engagement and his smile got even bigger whereas Lucinda was in complete shock. "This Thursday? But how can that be possible? I don''t even have a proper dress for that day. I don''t want to look bad on my own engagement day." Lucinda said becoming terrified. "If you are worrying about the dresses, jewelleries and make-up, then don''t worry about that. I and Vero will handle it together." Willa said and Veronica nodded, showing her approval in this matter.. "And about decorations and other things, we are ready to help you sis." Neil said. "So, tell me now.. Do you have anymore problem with this engagement?" Veronica asked, arching her brows up. Lucinda smiled shyly and shook her head before saying, "No.." "Then that''s called for a super celebration." Reuben cheered, making everyone chuckle. Everyone hugged and congratulated the couple whereas Henry held Lucinda''s hand before whispering in her ears, "If you still feel uncomfortable then I''ll tell them not to fix the engagement date so soon." Lucinda glared at him before saying, "Don''t you even dare to think about it Mr...if you don''t want to die by my hands." Henry smiled and kissed her on the head before announcing to everyone, "I''ll then inform the media about our engagement tomorrow." Everyone nodded their head as Mrs. Smith said, "I can''t believe all the happiness is coming towards us altogether now." "Well, Mom.. There is one more happy news which will surprise all of you to the extent that you guys will surely faint out if stupefaction.." Reuben said before giving a teasing smile to Neil and Willa. "What do you mean Reuben?" Mrs. Wilson asked being super excited. "Well, there is two other persons who are dating now." Reuben broke the pot in the most cracked way. The elders yet to penetrate the words into their skull completely when Mr. Wilson started his interrogation session, "Who is the new couple then? Because I don''t think that Louis will be dating so early or rather could find a girlfriend because of bad looks." "Uncle.. What did you just say that I''m bad looking?? Don''t forget that I''ve chosen as one of the most....." Louis was about to define about his glorified looks when Lucinda put a full stop in his blabbering by interrupting him, "You are right about that. Louis is not the person Reuben is talking about, it''s your son who is dating?" Lucinda declared nonchalantly. "What? Neil is dating? Who is the unlucky girl who thought of choosing him as her boyfriend??" Mr. Wilson was beyond shocked but also very much excited to know about the truth that his son had finally started dating but he was internally hoping it was not some random girl.. When Veronica saw that Neil was still mum about his relationship and Willa was blushing profusely while looking at the floor downwards, she didn''t waste anymore time to threaten her not so nervous brother Neil by saying, "Bro, are you going to reveal the name of the girl yourself or are you leaving this big matter also on us??" Chapter 273 - Certified gold digger... "Bro, are you going to reveal the name of the girl yourself or are you leaving this big matter also on us??" Neil looked at Veronica with baffled expression but later took a deep breath. He then quickly got up from his seat and went towards Willa who was sitting to the opposite side of him.. He held out his left hand forward to Willa which made her eyes widened at him in amazement. Neil gave her a gentle nod with an assuring smile which conveyed the feelings of his heart without even muttering loudly which made Willa''s trust grew on him more than before.. Feeling assured with him, Willa put her right hand on his already outstretched one and also stood up from her seat being pulled by him. Willa looked at Neil questioningly as if to know what was Neil going to do next. Noticing the tensed and nervous expression on Willa''s face, Neil gave her palm a light squeeze to tell her that everything was going to be okay. Willa smiled at him slightly when Neil take her towards her parents which made both Mr. and Mrs. Wilson looked at him with confusion along with other elders whereas the younger one''s kept smiling at them mischievously except one who was obviously Louis Morgan.. Louis had a completely bewildered expression on his face as he couldn''t understand anything what was happening in front of him and why the hell suddenly Neil held Willa''s hand when the elders asked about his girlfriend... Moreover, from when did Neil start dating a girl?? Was he even serious about his relationship?? And he if really started dating then why was he oblivious about it?? By seeing the expression on the other couple''s faces he knew that they knew everything about Neil and his secret girlfriend and he was the only one who was unaware about Neil''s personal life.. So Louis just sighed internally and waited for Neil to tell about his so called girlfriend and then he would start with his bantering against his friends for hiding such a big thing¡­ Neil took a deep breath and put his left hand around Willa''s shoulder and announced proudly, "Dad.. Mom... The girl I am dating is none other than Willa herself." The elders were totally shocked with the sudden revelation as they couldn''t believe what they were hearing right now as the news was quite a big thing to digest like this.. all suddenly... They never in their dreams had ever thought in their life the great playboy would finally start to be serious and get into a relationship and to whom he was committed with?? Veronica and Lucinda''s best friend, Willa.. Mother Wilson was elated with the news as she immediately rose up from her seat and hugged Willa tightly before saying, "Oh My God! I can''t believe that my son would ever date a girl but I am more glad that the girl he was dating is such a good and kind hearted girl like you. I am so happy for both of you." She then looked at Neil and caressed his cheeks before saying, "Actually I''m feeling happier for you Neil...cause you would never find a better girl than her." Willa felt her eyes stingy when she saw mother Wilson to be very much happy with their relationship and more than this she was extremely elated with the fact that Neil didn''t even hesitate a little bit to introduce her to his parents as his girlfriend though she belonged from a middle class family while Neil was from one of the most wealthiest families of country K.. "Wow!!! I can''t believe that my another daughter would also be dating. I''m so happy for you Willa." Mr. Lopez said and patted her head. Willa smiled at him with teary eyes and hugged him before saying, "Thanks Uncle for your support." Soon one after one, elders started coming towards them and congratulated with giving them their blessings. But there was one elder who was sitting there silently with a cold expression on his face which showed his unhappiness in his attitude. Neither did he smile a little nor did he got up from his place to congratulate the couple. He was just looking at Neil with cold murderous eyes. It was none other than Neil and Lucinda''s father, Mr. Wilson who was not showing any joyous expression on his face. Reuben and Veronica noticed him and shared the quick glance with each other which showed their worried expression about him not agreeing with his son''s love life. Neil also sensed the glare that his father was giving him so he looked at him and asked, "Dad, are you not happy for your son that he finally found a beautiful and sweet girlfriend like Willa?" Mr. Wilson made an angry face at Neil and scowled at him, "You want me to be happy, Neil? How could I be happy when you introduce me a random middle class girl as your girlfriend?" "Dad.. You can''t say like this about Willa. So what she is from a middle class family bit she has a lovely heart.." Neil tried to make his father understand while Willa just looked down at the floor feeling scared that Neil''s father might not like her. Mrs. Wilson went to her husband and placed her hand on his shoulder, "Honey, what are you saying? You also liked Willa nah? You always told me how much Willa is a lovely girl who was looking after her family so strongly all alone." Mr. Wilson looked at his wife with red eyes and spatted, "Yes.. I told you that because I thought she was really good at her work but that doesn''t mean I would accept her as my future daughter-in-law... Just look at Reuben and Henry. They are also dating but their girls'' are from those families which were as same level as us. And I won''t allow any poor girl to be a part of our family. Now I even stated to think that...this girl, Willa is nothing but a certified gold digger.." Chapter 274 - Only One... "Just look at Reuben and Henry. They are also dating but their girls'' are from those families which were as same level as us. And I won''t allow any poor girl to be a part of our family. Now I even stated to think that...this girl, Willa is nothing but a certified gold digger.." As soon as Willa heard those cruel and insulting words from Neil''s father, Mr. Wilson, her tears started to fall from her eyes like waterfall as she could never thought in her whole life that someday she also had to be named as a gold digger... For her whole life, she was always been a confident and independent girl who hadn''t ever wanted some help for her education or anything else. She always stood firm on her feet and fulfilled her dreams with morality. The others were also very much shocked as they didn''t expect the sudden outburst from Mr. Wilson about such a silly matter. He was always famous for his good heart who never differentiated people comparing them with their money, power and status specifics... Then, suddenly why now?? When Mr. Wilson saw that Neil was saying nothing and just kept staring at him with his surprised eyes, he added more to his insulting words, "Cant you say anything right now Neil? Huh.!!! I''m sure you also come to finally understand that Willa is nothing but all after your money... As by seeing her face, I can tell you that she is still not in love with you. She was running for your status and pretending to be a kind hearted girl.. She is noth¡­" "Stop it Dad¡­ Just. Stop. It.." Neil shouted in anger as his eyes turned red in complete rage. He was silent for the whole time because he couldn''t believe that it was his father who was saying those dirty things about a girl like Willa... Because he was the one who always taught him to respect other girls. But when his father crossed the limit of his patience, he couldn''t take it more and snapped at him. Neil hugged Willa by her side and saw her weeping like a baby. Her cheeks and nose had turned crimson in colour because of her crying. He felt a sudden pang in his heart, seeing her lije this so he kissed her forehead to calm her for the time being... Turning towards his father, Neil spoke out his mind, "Dad, first of all, you can''t say anything rubbish about my girlfriend. I would not bear any insulting words against her from anyone even if it is coming out from your mouth... Secondly, Yes... Willa haven''t yet started loving me because of some of her personal issues but that doesn''t mean that she is after my money... We thought to give our relationship a chance as we know that we both like each other. And about Love, I''m sure it''ll come eventually between us one day. So you don''t have any right to interfere in our relationship." Taking a deep breath to control his raging heart, Neil hugged Willa more tightly and caressed her back to soothe her before starting again, "I don''t give a damn about your family status or power. The only thing I care about is that...the girl in my arm has become my everything now and I won''t tolerate anyone to defame her... She is the ONLY ONE for me and will always be. She is the person who made me understand the meaning of true love. And I, in this life, will never leave her alone even if God himself tries to apart us from each other." Everyone was shocked with the sudden confession of Neil as the Neil they knew was never so protective towards any girl without his little sisters... Reuben, Veronica, Henry and Lucinda all were looking at him with widened eyes but there was a small smile that were playing on their lips whereas Louis was just gawking at him like he had seen him some ghost... The elders were trying to pacify Mr. Wilson who just gave them a big glare before getting up from the couch. Mrs. Wilson got scared thinking that her husband might be going to slap their son so she tried to stop him but what they witnessed later shook them all from the ground that they''d almost fall off if they were not being seated on the sofa... Instead of slapping Neil, Mr. Wilson went towards the couple who just revealed about their relationship to them and pull them into his strong yet affirming embrace. Everyone present there became completely dumbfounded but the two persons whose faces were the most hilarious to watch, were of Neil and Willa... "Dad.. What..." Before Neil could say any further, Mr. Wilson laughed out loud and patted his son''s shoulder before saying, "What did you think? That I''ll not agree with your relationship with Willa? I can''t ever think of going against your relationship when the girl is someone like Willa... I was just testing you, my son that if you could stand for your girl in future if she faced any kind of problems like this and let me inform you that you had passed the exam with flying colours... But I''ll like to remind you one thing that you are very lucky to get a girl like her. So don''t ever dare to hurt her otherwise I''ll myself beat the crap out of you." He then turned towards Willa and kissed her on the forehead before saying, "I''m really sorry sweetheart to use such harsh words to you. I felt really hurt to pronounce those cruel words but I had to do this to examine if my son is really capable for you... You are like a daughter to me and I''m really happy that you selected my stupid son as your boyfriend. But still, I have a question in my mind, how could a beautiful girl like you, found this ugly boy as attractive??" Willa was surprised with the sudden turn of events but she smiled when she got to grab the true meaning of everything in her mind... She hugged Mr. Wilson back and said, "It''s true uncle that I felt sad when you pointed me as a gold digger but I''m now very much happy that you were just acting over everything because you were just very much concerned for me. I''m very much thankful to you for trusting me so heartfully..." Chapter 275 - Playboy to Loverboy... Mr. Wilson smiled at her and then turned towards Neil before threatening him, "Though you are my son but I''ll be more supportive towards Willa, remember it always.. As I have always a special soft corner towards daughters so I''ll always be more protective towards her than you... So you better not hurt her otherwise I''ll be the one who is going to beat you into a pulp. Don''t you dare to hurt my precious daughter Willa... Understand?" Neil smiled joyfully and promised, "I swear on my life Dad that I''ll not even let a single tear fall from her eyes. She is my responsibility from now on. Though she still hadn''t fallen in love with me but I''ll make sure that the day will not be far long away. She''ll be mine with her whole heart very soon." Willa''s eyes breamed with tears as she heard Neil''s truthful emotional words. Never in her life had anyone specially a man had stood up for her... She was crying in joy that she got the chance to be in a relationship with such an amazing man like Neil. When she was with Sam, she never felt this kind of overflowing emotions in her heart that she was feeling to be close with Neil. Not only Neil went against his dad for her but also supported her into every steps. She was feeling overwhelmed as she came to a certain point in her life when she thought that she would not ever feel love towards any other person after Sam''s betrayal... But here she is, confirming her relationship to all the elders confidently with the person whom she least thought to be her boyfriend one day. She thanked God in her heart to send Neil in her life. Although she knew that she was still not in love with this amazing man yet but her heart was shouting that it would not be too late when she would be head over heels for Neil. Her respect towards Neil had grown ten level up after witnessing his protectiveness over her when he didn''t even budge a little to put a fight with his own father just because of her virtue... She knew that she was now in the most safest hand in the world. She could now proudly call out to the people that Neil was her boyfriend¡­ At this moment, Lucinda pouted, "Humph!! Seems like my parents had already forgotten about me after getting their would be daughter-in-law." Hearing the word ''daughter-in-law'' Willa''s cheeks burnt in embarrassment as she couldn''t look up to anyone''s eyes which made Veronica giggle who was noticing every gesture of her best friend from the start. Neil then joked with his sister, "Of course, they would forget about you when they have their only son standing in front of them... And more specifically now that you are going to leave us soon. Uff!!! I''m so happy that finally this monkey will be out of our house." "Dad¡­ Look how is your idiot son is insulting me.." Lucinda complained, making everyone laugh at her antics. "Neil, you dare not to say anything bad about my daughter. Otherwise you''ll face the consequences." It was not Lucinda''s father who scolded Neil but it was Mr. Johnson, Henry''s father who had defended his future daughter-in-law. Everyone laughed but then Reuben pointed out, "So now we all are committed. Right?" Henry nodded his head and said, "Yup... We are. I can''t still believe that the great playboy Neil had turned into a perfect lover boy suddenly. The change from playboy to loverboy is really drastic.." Neil glared at him whereas others just chuckled at him. But then suddenly Veronica reminded them, "Guys, you are forgetting that there is still one person who is as single like a potato." Now everyone''s gaze shifted to where Veronica was indicating with her eyes and finally their eyes fell on the only single person who was sulking like a kid... So how could others miss such a great chance to tease the great Louis Morgan who always brag about his handsomeness?? "Ah! Really Louis!! You are still here? I thought you had already run out of here in shame after getting to know that everyone of us are now committed except you.." Reuben mocked him. "Even Neil has now a beautiful girlfriend like Willa and there...this idiot is still not in a relationship. Actually what can I say when a person have a ugly face like a bitter gourd?" Henry also joined Reuben in teasing him. Louis fumed in anger and threw raging daggers at them through his eyes before snapping at them, "You guys, don''t even dare to talk with me. You all knew about Neil and Willa''s relationship and didn''t even think for once to inform me. You guys just kept me in hiding for all these days. I hate you all. Humphh!" "Now what can we do when you are such an idiot when you didn''t notice anything between them from the night of last family gathering. They were clearly giving signal about their relationship. And here you are like a Dumbo couldn''t understand anything. Idiot!!" Lucinda showed him her tongue. "You.. Go.. I''ll not talk to any of you guys. You guys all are bad." Louis huffed in anger, feeling that he had been deceived by his friends. The young ones started teasing him more and bickered with Louis while the elders just shook their heads seeing their children''s childishness. "You guys just see one day, I''ll be the best boyfriend of the world." Louis challenged. "In your dreams.!!" Reuben, Henry and Neil retorted sarcastically at Louis at the same time. "Okay.. Okay.. Enough of your fighting. Now let''s have dinner as it is already very late." Mrs. Lopez interrupted them from having another fight. Everyone nodded and started having the tasty meal that the mothers had cooked for them. Before they could sip the wine, Mr. Smith hold the glass of fine in the air before cheering, "To the name of today''s double celebration." Everyone also clanked their glass together as the night ended with a happy smile on everyone''s face... Chapter 276 - Sparkles in the dark night sky... Next day... It was a Sunday morning and the REUNIC couple were having their alone sweet time with each other in the gym room.. Reuben was doing push ups on the floor whereas Veronica was sitting on his back while reading some novels on her Phone. So basically Reuben was carrying Veronica on his back while doing push-ups. He was wearing just a track pant whereas Veronica was wearing shorts with a sports bra. After he was done with his pushups he lied down on the floor still carrying Veronica on his back. When Veronica felt that Reuben had finally stopped she noticed sweat was dripping down from his handsome back like some fountain water making him look more s.e.xy... She kept her mobile aside and took the towel from the carpet before wiping his sweat on his back slowly. After she was done with his back, she crawled down from his waist and told Reuben, "Bennie, roll over. Let me wipe the sweat on your front." Behaving like a good boy, Reuben rolled over so his front side was in front of Veronica while a playful smirk was playing on his lips. Veronica slowly wiped the hot drop of perspiration off his muscular chest and then she glided the towel more down to his six pack abs which were glistening like some sparkles in the dark night sky... As soon as she was done with his front side, she was about to move back when Reuben caught her hand and pulled her towards him, making her fall over his bare upper body. Veronica kept her hands on his n.a.k.e.d chest and unknowingly caressed it with her soft palms, making Reuben groan hard... Couldn''t able to hold himself with the torture of a very s.e.xy Veronica in her gym outfit looking at his eyes while blushingly profusely, he held her head with his right hand and other went to her waist as he pulled her down more towards him before smacking his lips on her plump ones. Veronica immediately reciprocated his kiss with same passion as both of their tongues met with each other. Their teeth bit each other''s lips while nibbling it before licking it with their tongues. They covered each and every part of their mouth with hunger filled desire.. In the meantime, Reuben already slid his hand inside her sports bra and started caressing her back making Veronica m.o.a.n under his sensual touch. Veronica closed her eyes as she felt Reuben''s hand tugging her bra edge as he slowly yet steadily pull it over her head with his expert hands... They broke the kiss when they were out of breath as Reuben kept looking at Veronica with his hungry eyes because now both of them were n.a.k.e.d from their upper bodies. In a swift movement, Reuben rolled both of them over, making Veronica yelp in surprise as she widened her eyes with the sudden change of position.. Reuben smiled at her but started kissing her neck and shoulder with his torturing lips. Veronica roamed her hands from his perfect chest to his well defined abs as a groan escaped from Reuben''s mouth. Veronica felt immense happiness in her heart from the effect she had on him. Reuben quickly moved his hand downwards and groped her right b.r.e.a.s.t as he bit her collarbone playfully. He then slowly glided down his mouth and stared at the beautiful cherry colored small ball which was resting on her big peak. Opening his mouth a little, he licked the top of it and then put the n.i.p.p.l.e in his mouth and started sucking it like his life depended on it. "Uhmm....." Veronica m.o.a.ned in please when she felt Reuben''s wet lips and tongue on her erected n.i.p.p.l.es. She pushed her hands down on his back and slowly caressed it with same passion. They were both lying on the small carpet on the floor as Veronica opened the small elastic band of Reuben''s pants and entered her hand inside it. Reuben was not wearing any boxers today as he came to gym room just after waking up and moreover it was in their own home so he had not to worry about someone barging in here.. Veronica touched the tip of his little brother and caressed it slowly. She then hold it more firmly and massaged it with a little force which made Reuben groan in ecstasy. He then placed his mouth to her other b.r.e.a.s.t which was waiting for his attention and sucked it before biting it which earned a m.o.a.n from Veronica. He then licked the portion of her n.i.p.p.l.e and a little part of her b.r.e.a.s.t where he had bitten hard to soothe the pain. Veronica fastened her speed and ran her hand on his d.i.c.k faster which instantly started to harden more by each passing strokes... Reuben then slided his tongue more down and kissed her stomach before licking it. He looked up at Veronica and saw her looking back at him with both love and l.u.s.t visible in her eyes... He smirked and pulled her pants down with his own before looking at the amazing beauty present in front of him. "I don''t know Ica how...but whenever I just look at your n.a.k.e.d figure, I feel hot all over my body. We do it every day but still everytime I feel something different and more special... You made me feel like this honey. I love you so much." Reuben whispered in a husky voice. Veronica smiled at him and whispered back, "I love you too Bennie. It''s not me but you who always made me feel very special." Reuben smiled and hovered over her. He kept kissing on her lips and positioned his little brother over her entrance properly. He was all ready to enter her when suddenly their hot moment got disturbed by the doorbell... "Shit¡­!!!!!" Reuben cursed and Veronica chuckled at him. The bell again rang when Veronica said, "Lets dress up first and see who had come." Reuben made a grumpy face and got up from her before helping Veronica to stood up too... "It better be something important otherwise I''m going to kill the person who tried to disturb us in our romantic moment." Reuben muttered as he wore his track pant grudgingly. Chapter 277 - Special exercise... "It better be something important otherwise I''m going to kill the person who tried to disturb us in our romantic moment." Reuben muttered as he wore his track pant grudgingly. Veronica laughed out land at his statement and wore her top that she kept on the chair over her bra, before punching his chest playfully.. "Go and take a bath. I''m going to see who is there at the door." Veronica said. Reuben nodded while sulking and went to their bedroom for a bath but didn''t forget to comment, "If you see any unimportant person there ringing the bell for some stupid reason, then don''t forget to kick his ass for me to ruin our s.e.xy moment." Shaking her head, Veronica chuckled and went to see who was the person to visit them so early in the morning. Though it was already 9 am but still it was a Sunday which means that everyone must be taking rest today. As soon as she opened the door, a shrill voice entered her ear, "What took you so long, Niccy? I was waiting for you to open the door for so long.." Yeah... It was Lucinda who was shouting at Veronica after she got to see her best friend''s face. But she was not alone. Her dear boyfriend and soon to be fiance Henry was also standing beside her at the doorway. Veronica rolled her eyes at her bestie and said, "Don''t shout and just come inside. I was busy in gym so it took some time for me to open the door." Lucinda entered their house and Henry gave Veronica a side hug before greeting her, "Good morning sis." "Morning bro. Let''s go inside otherwise your girlfriend will kill me for holding her boyfriend up at the door." Veronica joked whereas Henry chuckled. Henry and Veronica went inside after locking the door properly as Henry sat beside Lucinda who was puffing her cheeks in anger. Veronica smiled and took the seat opposite them before asking, "So what bring you both here and what is in your hand Henry?" Henry looked at the plastic bags in his hand said, "Oh!! I just bought some breakfast for everyone as I knew that you wouldn''t have your breakfast still as it is Sunday. I actually thought you both hadn''t woke up yet but seems like there is a change of plans for you guys..." Veronica looked inside the carry bag and squealed in joy, "Oh my god! You bought my favourite sandwich and pastries along with coffee. Thank you so much bro. And about your assumption, we forgot to switch off the alarm today so when it rang we thought let''s just wake up today and have an early gym session." Henry nodded and asked, "By the way where is Reuben?" "Oh! He just went to take a shower. Would be coming soon." Before she could finish saying, she saw Reuben''s figure descending from the stairs as he said, "I am already here." Henry looked at him and got up as both of them had a bro hug before Reuben kissed the top of Lucinda''s head and she smiled at him. "What are you both doing here so early in the morning? Aren''t you supposed to be spending your quality time on the bed right now?" Reuben said in a teasing tone which made Lucinda blush hard. Henry laughed and said, "You are right bro. We should have spent some time on our bed doing a hefty amount of special exercise but your sister Lucy had some other plans." "And what is the plan? I agree with everything except the shopping plan.." Veronica interrupted, feeling exhausted after reminiscing the previous day''s shopping memory where she got extremely bored. Lucinda smiled sheepishly and gave Veronica a pleading look, "Actually Niccy... As you know that my engagement is in four days and I don''t have any beautiful dress to wear on that day, so I thought of asking you for going on a shopping today with me." Veronica''s eyes widened in horror as she heard the words ''shopping'' from Lucinda''s mouth and shrieked, "No way Lucy... You already had bought loads of dresses yesterday. Choose something from there for your engagement." The boys laughed at Veronica''s terrified expression as Henry said, "You are really the first girl Vero who doesn''t like shopping. And Reuben is very lucky about it." "Well, that I am.." Reuben said with utter pride. Lucinda ignored the boys and made a puppy eyes before requesting, "Please, my cute bestie... Just think about me. It is going to be one big day of my life and I don''t want to look ugly on that particular day for which I need a beautiful dress." Veronica sighed at Lucinda as she was also right that engagement day comes only for once in every girl''s life so it need to be very special... But she didn''t like the idea of shopping at all as it was also a big torturing thing for her. She mourned over the fact that today was going to ruin but she had no option other than helping her friend for one of her most important day. But her thought took a break when suddenly an awesome idea hit her mind. She looked excitedly with her brown eyes and said, "How about I ask my dad to help us in this..??" Each and everyone were now confused by Veronica''s words when Reuben asked, "Honey.. What do you mean? How can Dad help you in selecting dresses?" Veronica slapped on his head lightly before exclaiming, "Did you guys forget that Dad had appointed a new fashion designer for his upcoming new project?? So now it''s time to see here designing skills... I would ask Dad today itself to see if she could be available for designing your dress. As she is also the head of the designing department, she might have some important work. So let''s ask her first before taking any decision." Lucinda jumped in joy and hugged Veronica immediately as she said, "You are really the best Niccy. That''s why I loved you the most as you could solve any problem of mine like a true magician..." Chapter 278 - Amazing conversational skills... Lucinda jumped in joy and hugged Veronica immediately as she said, "You are really the best Niccy. That''s why I love yout he most as you could solve any problem of mine like a true magician." Veronica smiled at her crazy friend before hugging her back and called her father. Few rings later, Mr. Lopez finally picked her call up... "Good morning, my little princess.." Mr. Lopez greeted as soon as he received the call. Smiling at her father, Veronica said, "Hey dad, Good morning.." Mr. Lopez was reading newspaper in the lawn at the moment Veronica called him so he folded the newspaper and kept it on the table that was set in the beautiful garden of his house to talk to his daughter more attentively. "So my little princess, we already met yesterday evening and had dinner together. And now you are calling me early in the morning when you supposed to be asleep till now. So anything important, my darling?" Mr. Lopez asked, clearly familiar with the habits of his precious daughter. Veronica sheepishly chuckled before pouting whereas the other three present in the room looked at her and smiled at her cute antics when she said, "Dad, I don''t sleep always. You are being irrational now." Father Lopez chuckled and said, "Okay, I won''t joke anymore and tell me why my daughter had called me so suddenly?" Before answering him, Veronica gave a glance to Lucinda and saw her excited expression. She smiled and then said, "Dad, as you know that Lucy and Henry is going to get engaged this Thursday so they hadn''t prepared any dress yet. Whereas as per Lucinda''s all time shopping love, she is freaking right now because she had no proper dress to wear on that day... So she is begging me to go on shopping and you very well know that I even hate the idea of shopping. However, I don''t want my best friend to wear any random dress on her special day. So I want a favour from you on behalf of my bestie.." Mr. Lopez listened to everything and chuckled before saying, "Tell me what kind of favour do you want.. I''m ready to help both of my princesses gladly." "Dad.. actually, I was thinking if you could ask your head designer if she got any time in her hand to prepare Lucy''s dress." Veronica said. "Though I''m not sure if she has time for it or not as she is very busy nowadays because of our work. But I''ll surely ask her about this... If needed, I''ll tell her to drop her work to her other subordinates and help you guys in preparing Lucinda''s engagement dress." Mr. Lopez said. Veronica squealed in joy and said, "Thank you so much dad. I love you." "I love you too my darling. I''ll tell you tomorrow morning about her decision. Okay?" Mr. Lopez said with a smile on his face. "Perfect Dad." Veronica said and hung up the call. Lucinda stared at her anxiously, waiting for her response regarding the dress purpose. Veronica noticed it and beamed brightly at her. "What did uncle say?" Lucinda asked her with a hint of expectations in her eyes. Veronica hugged her and said, "Don''t worry, my darling.. Dad said that he will ask the designer tomorrow and inform me after that. I''m sure that dad will manage to make her agree with his amazing conversational skills. So you just get ready to go to Lopez Industries for your dress designing." Lucinda jumped in joy and hugged her back before saying, "Ah! I''m so much happy. Finally the biggest tension of my life had vanished away..." Everyone chuckled at her when Henry teased her, "God!! She is already like this before our engagement. How am I going to manage this shopping obsessed Lucy after our marriage.!!" Lucinda slapped him on his cheek and glared at him angrily before threatening, "You still have chance to reject the proposal with me. After you leave, I''ll get engaged to a more handsome man who would love my shopping lover personality and make you jealous to the hell.." At the time, Reuben mocked Henry by supporting Lucinda, "Yeah.. Lucy... You should do that. I''m sure there will be some other man who would love to shop with you. Not like Henry who would be sarcastic with you for your love for shopping." Both Lucinda and Reuben had a big high five whereas Henry''s face paled when Veronica thought to support her brother, "Both of you shut up. Agree or not, there is no other man who can love our Lucy the way my bro does." Henry nodded vigorously at Veronica and proudly said, "Yes.. No one can love Lucy more than me. Because she is both my heart and life.." Lucinda felt emotional with the heartfelt confession and gave him a kiss on his cheek before saying, "I love you too my love. I was just kidding cause I know that you love me the most in this world." Veronica and Reuben looked at the couple and smiled before Veronica whispered in Reuben''s ear, "They are looking so cute, nah?" Reuben smiled and whispered back in her ear before biting her earlobe, "Yes.. They are cute but not cuter than us..." Veronica closed her eyes when she felt Reuben''s tongue licking the portion of her ear where he had bitten her earlier and said, "Of course... They can''t be more cuter as we are the cutest among all." After few minutes of their own couple time, Veronica announced, "Guys, let''s have our breakfast right now. It''s already so late." The other three nodded and followed Veronica to the dining room as they served themselves with the food when Lucinda suddenly said to Veronica, "Niccy.. Thank you so much for your help. I can''t even imagine what would I do if you were not here with me." Veronica glared at Lucinda before threatening her, "If you dare to say thanks one more time, then I''m going to call my Dad right now and inform him to cancel the plan with the designer..." Seeing the cute interaction between their own girls, both Reuben and Henry smiled as the breakfast ended with a happy atmosphere.. Chapter 279 - Memory Lane... Next day morning... Creation... Veronica walked in the big building with a big smile on her face and greeted back the employees who wished her a ''good morning''. Confidence was plastered on her face as she entered her cabin and soon Willa walked inside with a cup of coffee in her hand. "Good morning Ma''am." Willa politely greeted Veronica. Veronica looked up at her as she kept her bag on the work table and said, "Morning Willa.." "So what''s my schedule today?" Veronica asked before taking a sip of her coffee.. Willa watched Veronica''s schedule in her notepad and said, "You have a very important meeting after lunch with one of our important client which you can''t miss at all. And you also have some projects done for final checking... You also had another meeting with your subordinates today at the evening regarding the Smith''s Hotel Project.." After Veronica got all the information she said to Willa, "Okay, I understand. But I''ve a problem here. Actually yesterday Lucy came to our home, requesting to go for a shopping for her engagement dress... I think that it would be great if the new designer of my dad''s company agreed to made one dress for her. Dad told me to confirm about it today so he could call me anytime. But the problem is, I already promised Lucy that I''ll be going with her at Lopez Industries." Willa listened to everything and then asked, "So what is the problem here?" Sighing deeply, Veronica said, "The problem is that we have decided to visit my dad''s office today. But as you said that I have completely packed up for today... So it''s not possible for me to leave and you know Lucy very well. She would be damn angry with me for breaking the promise." "Hmm.. That''s a very big problem indeed.." Willa said pondering over any solution to solve the serious matter. Veronica also sighed and started thinking of any idea that could fulfil her job and Lucinda would also not get upset. But there was nothing that she could think off to support both of her parts as a boss and a best friend simultaneously. But finally after a while thinking of few minutes, an idea struck on her mind when she said, "Willa..You don''t have much work right today? Then why don''t you accompany Lucy today while I''ll manage the work here. You can even take Louis with you as he is now handling the advertising part there." Willa felt that the idea was indeed good so she asked, "Are you really sure you can manage everything here alone?" "Yeah. I definitely can. Just do one thing. Set an alarm for minutes prior to every meeting in my phone. So that I can get ready for it beforehand." Veronica said. "That''s cool then." Willa said and set the alarms in Veronica''s phone as per her schedule time for today''s meetings. ---- Lopez Industries... Mr. James Lopez had just arrived in his office when his assistant brought him a coffee. It was a common habit of the father daughter duo to have coffee first after reaching at their office. Veronica had come to her father''s office many times from childhood with her father. So she noticed him asking for coffee as soon as he entered his cabin and she slowly got accustomed to it, thinking that she would also do the same in the near future when she became big like her father. And truthful to her wishes, Veronica was now the CEO of biggest multimedia company, Creation and she didn''t forget to follow the custom of Mr. Lopez... How could she even forget that?? After all, whenever she would play in her childhood, she would act to be a CEO like her father and follow his routine in her play everytime which made both Mr. and Mrs. Lopez believe from the start that their daughter was going to be a great person and an amazing boss to her employees.. Mr. Lopez came out of the memory lane when her assistant started telling him about his today''s schedule when he intervened, "Do one thing first. Ask Mrs. Brooks to call for Ms. Miller here. I want to meet her right now as it is something very important." The assistant nodded his head and left the office to complete his work for his boss. ---- Diana''s cabin... Diana was already emerged in her work when a knock interrupted her concentration on the designs she was making for the upcoming store launch. "Come in." She shouted and soon a smiling Mrs. Brooks entered. "Hey, Diana. How are you doing?" Mrs. Brooks asked. "Everything is fine. It''s just that I was working on the templates of the new designs." Diana replied smilingly. Mrs. Brooks looked at Diana and said, "Well, I have come here to inform that Boss wants to meet you in his office. So you have to go there now. He said that it''s something very important." Diana nodded her head but her heart was filled with nervousness thinking about the reason she had been called by the Boss so suddenly. Had she done anything wrong?? Removing the negative thoughts from her head she smiled at Mrs. Brooks and said, "Okay. I''ll be going after I switch off the computer." Mrs. Brooks saw the tensed expression on here face and said, "You don''t have to worry too much. You hadn''t done any mistake. Maybe it''s something important related to other things so Boss had called for you." Diana felt a relief in her heart after hearing Mrs. Brooks and left for Mr. Lopez''s office after shutting her computer down. --- James Lopez''s cabin... Mr. Lopez was checking some files and waiting for Diana to come for the past fifteen minutes when someone knocked his door. He immediately know that it was Diana bit still asked for confirmation as he didn''t want any disruption in his work, "Who is this?" "Sir.... It''s me, Diana Miller. You asked for me from Mrs. Brooks. May I come in sir?" Diana asked from the outside of the door.. Chapter 280 - Negative response... "Sir.... It''s me, Diana Miller. You asked for me from Mrs. Brooks. May I come in sir?" Diana asked from the outside of the door.. "Yeah...come in." Mr. Lopez said. As soon as Diana entered, she bowed a little to show her respect towards him and asked, "Sir, is something important that you have to call me just after you have reached here?" Mr. Lopez looked at her and said, "Yeah. I have something to ask you for. Sit down first." When Diana sat on the chair, Mr. Lopez continued, "Actually, this Thursday is the engagement of my daughter''s best friend, Lucinda. She is also like a daughter to me as she grew up with my princess from their childhood... But her engagement had been fixed very suddenly, so she hadn''t prepared any dress. So my daughter requested me to ask you if you can design Lucy''s engagement dress. You don''t have to worry about anything. You just have to ask my assistant whatever you want, he will send all those things to you... Just make the dress please. It''s my daughter''s request for my another daughter''s special day. You don''t need to worry about the upcoming project, you can give your work to your teammates. You just focus on this.." Diana just stared at Mr. Lopez for few minutes without saying anything like she was thinking over something really hard which led Mr. Lopez to think that it must be a negative response from her side which would make everyone sad which he didn''t want. So he said, "Diana... Think over about this once. I know that you already have many things on your shoulder but if the occasion is not so much important I would not pressurise you this much." Hearing this, Diana came out of her trance and smiled at Mr. Lopez before saying, "No sir... I''m not going to decline the offer. I don''t have much work at my home so I can leisurely design something really good for your daughter''s friend... It''s actually that I was watching your love for your daughter. I can see the happiness in your eyes when you talk about her." Mr. Lopez smiled and said, "Yes, I love my daughter very much. She is my pride, my little princess. She is the perfect daughter anyone could ever get. I''m so blessed to have this little angel as my daughter who brightened our lives like some shining star." Diana felt extremely emotional remembering her father who also loved her very much but was no more, so she said, "Your daughter is also very lucky to get you as her father. However, I need tge proportion to make a dress." "Oh.. You don''t have to worry about that. I''ll call my princess to bring Lucinda here. Is after lunchtime okay for you?" Mr. Lopez asked. "Perfectly okay, Sir. Then I''m going to take my leave as I have to hand my works to others for these four days." Diana said. Mr. Lopez nodded and said, "Thanks Diana for your help. Oh, I called you by your name. Is it okay to call you Diana instead of Ms. Miller as you are my daughter''s age?" "Sure sir. I would be glad if you call me Diana as you are also same like my father." Diana said and left the office... ---- Creation.. "Hi Dad.. What are you doing?" Veronica asked as soon as she received her father''s call. Mr. Lopez smiled and said, "I''m just checking some files and thought to call you to give you a good news which would make you instantly happy." Veronica squealed in joy and asked, "That''s mean your designer had decided to make Lucy''s dress?" "Yes, my princess. Just bring Lucy with you after lunch here." Mr. Lopez said feeling elated that his daughter would be coming here today evening in his office after so long. Veronica''s face fell when she heard the expectant tone in her father''s voice and said in a disappointed voice, "I''m sorry Dad. I won''t be able to come today as I have an important meeting. But I promise to visit you tomorrow as I already cleared my schedule for the next day." Though Mr. Lopez felt a little sad but then he smiled and said, "Its okay princess. I know that it must be important. But you have to surely come tomorrow." "Promise Dad and I love you." Veronica said which made her father laugh loudly... ---- Sip and Drip¡­ Lucinda was busy looking after everything in her caf¨¦ as she also had some doc.u.ments to sign for passing some bills when her phone rang and it was her best friend Veronica. "Hey Niccy.." She greeted excitedly. "Hi Lucy. Guess what, you are going to wear a designer dress on your engagement day." Veronica informed her happily. Lucinda became instantly happy and exclaimed in joy, "Oh my God! I''m so happy. So are you going to pick me up or I am going to your office?" Veronica took a deep breath to handle the upcoming storm and muttered in a low voice, "Actually Lucy.. Some work had come in my way. So I won''t be able to accompany you today but Louis and Willa will definitely go with you." "What? Are you mad Niccy? How can you do this with me? You promised me to accompany me there.." Lucinda yelled at her. "I know sweetheart. But it''s something important otherwise I would not decline the offer to have a gossipy chat with you. But I promise I''ll be there with you tomorrow. Please don''t be angry on me anymore." Veronica pleaded in a childish voice. Lucinda huffed but said, "Okay. I''ll not be angry on you as work is also important. But tomorrow''s plan is fixed okay? No cancellation.." "Okay promise. And I''ll ask Louis and Willa to pick you up from your caf¨¦ before going there." Veronica said. "Cool then. I''ll be ready." Lucinda said. After hanging up the call, Lucinda immediately called Henry and informed him about her visiting Veronica''s father''s office. Henry became happy with the news and both of them talked a little before again becoming busy with their own work... Chapter 281 - Burning Iron Rod... Creation... Willa and Louis came to say goodbye to Veronica before leaving to Lopez Industries.. "We''re leaving, Vero." Louis said. Veronica looked up at them and said, "Yeah. Go and inform me immediately if there is some problem regarding anything." "Of course. We''ll tell you. By the way, did you inform Lucy about you not accompanying her??" Willa asked. "Yeah. I informed her already. By the way, Louis.. What is the name of the head designer who is working under dad and who had stolen your sleep?? I thought to ask you and dad many times but forgot everytime as something came up always." Veronica said. Louis looked at Veronica as if she was some crazy girl and exclaimed in high tone, "Woah!! Girl, you are are appointing everyone to work with her and you don''t know the name of the girl!! However, you got a good friend like me so I''ll help you in this. He name is.. Diana...Diana Miller..." As soon as the name entered into Veronica''s ear, all the colour from her face wiped away in a second as her face turned into a white sheet of a paper. Willa noticed it and asked, "Vero.. You are okay, right?" Veronica got back from her trance and stuttered, "Yeah.. I''m perfectly okay. You guys leave now otherwise you''ll be late and Lucy will be angry like a burning iron rod. By the way, don''t forget to pick her up from her caf¨¦ before going there." Louis and Willa nodded and left the office together.. After their figure disappeared from Veronica''s cabin, her thought travelled to the past when she had met her friend Diana in city B around five and half years ago... Now listening the same name from Louis''s mouth, Veronica remembered her friend and thought to herself, ''Is she the same Diana who was once my friend or someone else?'' But before she could proceed with her thoughts, her alarm rang on, informing her about the meeting with her important clients. Shaking her head, Veronica got ready with the doc.u.ments and straightened her dress and hair a little before leaving for her meeting... --- Lopez Industries... A white car stopped at the entrance of the big building and Louis got out from the driver seat, followed by the two other beautiful ladies, Lucinda and Willa... The three of them entered the building when everyone''s eyes just remained on them as the people started greeting those three as they very well knew about their identities. Louis took the girls to the top floor where Mr. Lopez''s office was located and the girls gave him a bright smile. "Hello Uncle." Willa and Lucinda said together. Mr. Lopez smiled at them and said, "Hey girls. Hope this Louis hadn''t bothered you much on the way." "No Uncle. If he would dare to do so, I would kill him right at the moment." Lucinda said, making Willa and Mr. Lopez laugh whereas Louis just rolled his eyes as he knew that there is no one to support him. Mr. Lopez and other male elders always supported the girls whereas the elderly women supported the boys, specially Louis as he was the younger one among them while Veronica was the youngest among everyone... After Mrs. Brooks brought some refreshments for them, they talked with Mr. Lopez for awhile before deciding to meet Diana finally. Louis''s anxiety level grew up as they were ushered to Diana''s floor by Mrs. Brooks. His face became all smiley as soon as they stood outside Diana''s cabin. Lucinda noticed it and asked Willa in a mere whisper, "What''s with him? Louis was all grumpy till now. Then how his mood changed so suddenly?" Willa smiled and whispered back in Lucinda''s ear, "Our Louis got interested in the girl Diana. He had met her at Fusion on the day of our family gathering. Then he left the hope of not seeing her again but luck took him here today." Surprise was an understatement to describe Lucinda''s facial expression... With her widened eyes and mouth gaped open as she asked, "Are you really serious?" Nodding her head, Willa gave Lucinda her confirmation but before they could continue more, the door got opened and a beautiful lady of their age welcomed them with a great smile on her face. Louis became all happy seeing her while Willa and Lucinda praised her beauty and got the answer of their question in their mind that why the great Louis Morgan had suddenly got attracted to a girl.. "Hello everyone.. Please come in." Diana said in a sweet voice. The girls smiled and said a ''Thank You'' before entering her cabin and Louis also followed them inside. After they got seated, Lucinda started the conversation, "Hey Diana.. First of all, let me tell you one thing that I can''t be very much formal with you like calling you Ms. Miller because we are almost of same age as per my bestie''s description. So I''ll call by your name if you don''t have any problem." "Yeah sure. That''ll be great if you call me by my name." Diana said smilingly. Lucinda laughed and said, "So let me introduce myself first. I''m the girl whose engagement dress you are going to prepare, Lucinda Wilson. You can call me Lucy as my other friends also call me." Willa then said, "Hi, I''m Willa. The assistant of Uncle Lopez''s daughter Vero.. Also I''m both Vero and Lucy''s best friend. Nice to meet you." Diana smiled at them and said, "As you know I''m Diana Miller. You can call me Diana and I''m new in this city. Though I studied in city B for few years but still I''m not to much familiar with country K." "Wow! You went to city B for your studies? Our bestie also went their for some project of hers and stayed there for around six months." Lucinda said remembering the exact time. "Really? Your bestie, means Mr. Lopez''s daughter?" Diana asked in amazement. Though she heard her calling Vero but couldn''t think too much about this as there could be other Vero also. It was definitely not her friend whom she met five years ago... Willa then cleared her thought, "Yes.. Don''t tell me you don''t know her name cause everyone in country K is well aware about her because of both her talent and beauty." When Diana shook her head in denial, Louis face-palmed himself and exclaimed in stupefaction, "Gosh! What''s with these two girls not knowing each other''s names.. Her name is Veronica Lopez.. We call her by her nickname Vero.." Chapter 282 - Dampened mood... "Her name is Veronica Lopez.. We call her by her nickname Vero.." As soon as Diana heard the name, her expression became terrified and she asked while stammering, "Vero.. As if Veronica Lopez?" "Yes.. why are you stammering suddenly?" Lucinda asked being confused. Diana blinked few times to get our of her emotion and plastered a smile on her face, "Uhm.. Nothing. It''s just that I remembered someone with the name Vero. Lucy, can you please tell me what kind of dress do you prefer the most?" The trio instantly understood that Diana wanted to change the topic so they also didn''t pressurise her and Lucinda started describing about her style statements which both Willa and Diana just listened to her carefully whereas Louis just ignored their girly conversation and busied herself in playing games on his phone... But he didn''t forget to steal some glances at Diana in between and smiled internally just by seeing her focused gaze. After around one hour, everything got settled and the meeting got over. Lucinda exclaimed happily before saying, "You really have a great fashion sense Diana. Now I understand that why uncle chose you be to the head fashion designer of such a big company while you are so younger in age." Diana smiled at them and said, "Thanks for appreciating my work." Willa then said, "Your work is really good. By the way, we are coming again tomorrow, at the same time, right?" "Yeah.. I''ll prepare the design till then. So you guys could confirm it tomorrow and then I can start stitching it. The measurements are already done so there will be not many problems." Diana informed. "Okay then. We will meet tomorrow again." Lucinda said and hugged Diana being followed by Willa. Louis looked at Diana and said, "We''ll discuss about the advertis.e.m.e.nt thing later after you finish making this crazy girl''s dress." "Who are you calling crazy? You are a crazy bastard.." Lucinda growled immediately at Louis. Before situation could go out of the hand, Willa interrupted them and said, "Guys, you can fight later. Don''t forget that we have work. So let''s just leave now." Saying goodbye to each other, the trio left while still bickering and Diana kept staring at them with an amazed face and then chuckled, forgetting the fact that she was thinking of searching about Veronica Lopez on the internet to see if she was really her friend. But that couldn''t be possible because her friend, Veronica belonged from a middle class family whereas the Vero, the trio was talking about was the daughter of Mr. James Lopez....one of the most wealthiest man of country K... So shaking off the thought she busied herself in her work again... ---- Johnson Estates¡­ Henry just ended a meeting when his assistant came inside his office. "Boss, when are we going to release the statement about you and Ms. Wilson''s engagement?" Henry''s assistant asked. Henry looked at his watch and said, "You can release it now. Also give a statement that we''re in a relationship from the past two months." Henry''s assistant nodded and called the H. R. Department to release the announcement. Soon the official page of Johnson Estates showed a post which says.. "Mr. Henry Johnson and Ms. Lucinda Wilson had been dating from the past two months. With the family''s blessings and love, the couple decided to get engaged on the auspicious day which is this Thursday... We thank all of you for your support till now and hope that you''ll continue supporting this beautiful yet new couple. Please bless them with your love and support.. Thank you all..." Soon the news spread like a wild fire among the whole city. The reporters were completely shocked with another big revelation on the same month after REUNIC couple''s commitment news... They couldn''t believe that another popular bachelorette man was hitched now with another beautiful heiress Lucinda Wilson. Two relationship revelations from the same group one after another on the same month, made not only the reporters but also the netizens crazy like hell but all of them started cheering and congratulating the soon to be engaged couple with their blessings and love.. Now they started to think who was the next in the group who was going to leave another bomb on them the next time.. And Neil topped in the expecting list among all of them but the thought of him being a well known playboy forced forced the netizens to take a back step... ---- On the other side, as soon as the friends group saw the post, they congratulated the couple by leaving them a message.. "Congratulations to both of you for joining our group of ''Showing off Couple'' guys..." Reuben joked. Currently they all were chatting in the online group that they have in their social media account which consisted, Reuben, Veronica, Henry, Lucinda, Neil, Willa and Louis.. Everyone gave the couple a teasing emoji and Reuben laughed at them.. Reuben was presently waiting for Veronica at the parking lot of Creation. When he finally saw the figure of his girlfriend getting closure to his car, he immediately opened the front passenger door for her and gave Veronica a charming smile. Veronica smiled back at him showing her white pearly teeth as she was being pulled into a heart warming kiss... They kissed each other passionately involving their tongues in them. They sucked each other''s lips and quietly nibbled on it before licking it again. It continued for a minute before it ended, making them pant heavily. When they pulled apart from each other, Reuben saw something was amiss in Veronica''s eyes as if it was not shining as brightly as other time. But instead of saying something at that moment, Reuben drove off to their home while holding Veronica''s hand in his secured palms... --- Love-Paradise... As soon as they entered their home Veronica entered the kitchen to drink some water and Reuben followed her. After drinking water, Veronica noticed Reuben''s presence behind her and gave him a faint smile which was very much unusual of her.. So Reuben immediately went towards her and cupped her face in his hands before asking, "Babe, Did something happen in the office today? Why are your mood so dampened now?" Chapter 283 - Sudden Commotion... So Reuben immediately went towards her and cupped her face in his hands before asking, "Babe, Did something happen in the office today? Why are your mood so dampened now?" Veronica kept the glass on the kitchen slab and held Reuben''s hand. She dragged him towards the living room and made him sit on the couch before she herself settled herself on his lap. By the action of hers, Reuben clearly knew the fact that Veronica''s mind was wandering around something. So he just placed his hand on her waist and pulled her more towards him before hugging her tightly. Reuben started to caress her hair and asked, "What''s running in your mind honey? If you don''t tell me how could I solve your problems.." Veronica tilted her head up to stare at him and said, "Its not a problem Bennie. It''s just that I heard a familiar name today who was once my friend." "What do you mean by it, Ica? Whose name have you heard?" Reuben asked. "It''s Diana Miller. Today when I asked Louis about the name of the head designer that my Dad had appointed for his company, he told me that her name is Diana Miller.." Veronica said and took a deep sigh. "But there can be other person with the same name, right?" Reuben said though internally he felt that having the same name and surname together must not be just a coincidence. Veronica shook her head and said, "You are right in one way. But how can her name, surname along with her occupation be same with my friend Diana who went missing all suddenly?? Moreover, she also had been doing a course in fashion designing in city B. So I think the chance is very low of them being different person." Reuben stayed silent for few minutes and after pondering over some while, he suggested, "Ica.. Why don''t you ask Dad to send you her CV? Then everything would be clear if she is really your friend or not." Hearing this, Veronica immediately shook her head in denial and refused that idea, "No Bennie, I don''t want this to happen. Moreover I''m going to dad''s office tomorrow for selecting the design of Lucy''s dress. So I''ll see her there if she is really my friend Diana or not." Reuben nodded his head and said, "As you wish my darling. Now wipe off that furrowing expression from your gorgeous face." Veronica immediately smiled at him and suddenly she remembered something which made her give him a naughty look which Reuben noticed very clearly as he asked, "Now what?" Smirking at him, Veronica said, "Do you know that the little cousin of yours has been dreaming about some girl right now?" "What? You mean Louis?" Reuben was astonished to hear it. Slowly nodding her head, Veronica replied, "Yes.. Louis liked the girl from the first time he met her at Fusion and the girl is now working at Lopez Industries who is none other than Diana herself... I don''t know if she is the Diana from city B, but whoever she is, if she could make our friend fall in love with her and could take care of him wholeheartedly by loving him back the same way then I''m okay with everything... Even I''ll be more than happy for them." "Woah!! That''s quite a big news to digest.. I hope he soon fell in love with her like us." Reuben said grinning ear to ear as both of them hugged each other tightly. ---- Next day... At Creation... "So you are not cancelling our plan for today, right?" Lucinda asked on the phone. "Nope my bestie. I know that, even if I think of cancelling today''s plan then I''d not be able to go back my home without any scratch on my face." Veronica joked. Lucinda chuckled and said, "I''m happy that you are scared of me. So is Louis coming to pick me up like yesterday?" "Naaahhh.. Today three of us including me, Willa and Louis are going to drive our soon to be engaged girl to the designer''s office." Veronica said and both of them laughed at each other. As the laughter ended, Veronica added, "We will be leaving exactly in one hour." "Okay, I''ll be ready by then.." Lucinda said before hanging up... --- Lopez Industries... Everyone was running here to there because their favourite person was going to visit the office today and the person was...the daughter of their Boss, Ms. Veronica Lopez... While going downstairs, Diana saw the bustling atmosphere in their office which was the first for her after working here in the office for almost one week. She saw Mrs. Brooks on the way and asked, "What is the reason of the sudden commotion here?" Mrs. Brooks looked at her and replied smilingly, "Oh.. It''s just that Ms. Veronica is coming here after nearly two months. So everyone is too much excited to meet her again." Diana nodded her head and saw everyone''s face to have a smile. Just by hearing the name Veronica, some kind of uneasy feeling surged up in her heart but she shook it away and went downstairs... --- One hour later... Veronica was sitting in the backseat while Willa took the front passenger seat.. "So are you guys ready for the drive?" Louis asked from the driving seat. "Yup.. we are." Both of the girls shouted and Louis started the car. Around fifteen minutes later, they reached at ''Sip and Drip'' where they saw Lucinda already waiting for them with a smile on her face. Seeing the car got stopped in front of her,. Lucinda immediately hopped inside the backseat and threw herself in Veronica''s extended arms as both of them hugged. "Just because of I''m sitting at the front, both of you girls completely forgot about me?" Willa huffed at them. Lucinda and Veronica chuckled before glancing at each other when Lucinda said, "Aww!! Getting jealous, Aren''t we? Now take my back-hug my friend.." As soon as the words left from Lucinda''s mouth, she hugged Willa from behind as everyone giggled and again started talking about random things the whole way while chuckling and laughing.. Soon, they reached in front of Lopez Industries and one after another and the four friends got out of the car. Veronica''s lips rose up like a bow in happiness as she finally arrived at her another home. But uncertain to her, this one smile would turn into different kind of expressions today when she would come face to face with one of her past... Chapter 284 - Huge battle... Veronica''s lips rose up like a bow in happiness as she finally arrived at her another home. But uncertain to her, this one smile would turn into different kind of expressions today when she would come face to face with one of her past... Soon, they reached in front of Lopez Industries and one after another, the four friends got out of the car.. They entered the building and saw the employees were extremely excited and happy to see them.. "They were not this much happy yesterday when we came here?" Louis muttered lowly so that only the three girls could heard him. The girls chuckled as Lucinda said, "Its because their all time princess had visited them finally after long time. So they couldn''t help but getting excited." Veronica then smiled evilly and mocked Louis, "Are you now getting jealous Louis about the fact that I''m the one who always get the attention from the people and you are not?" The girls laughed out loud and Louis made a scowling face. Everyone greeted them happily but the special treatment were given to Veronica a little bit more and she reciprocated it by giving them all a huge smile. This went on till they reached Mr. Lopez''s office where they noticed him to be in a happy mood. As soon as they entered his cabin, he greeted then all with a smile whereas Veronica just hugged him tightly. Mr. Lopez hugged his daughter back and said, "Finally my daughter got some free time to come to her father''s office. I should say thanks to Lucy for this." Lucinda chuckled and said, "Its okay uncle. You are already helping me with the dress." "Oh!! By the way, congratulations on yesterday''s revelation. And one more thing, I forgot to tell you that the engagement dress of yours will be a gift from me and your aunty as I know that your best friend Vero already have something special in her mind." Mr. Lopez said. Veronica pouted and said, "Dad, don''t spoil my plan.." Beaming brightly, Lucinda went towards Mr. Lopez and hugged him tight before saying, "Thanks a lot Uncle. You really gave me the best gift.." "Yaa.. Don''t already predict dad''s gift as the best one. We all are here too. You should first see all of our gifts on your engagement day then claim the gift to be the best one." Veronica said as Willa and Louis nodded. ---- Brown Corporation... Alonzo was sitting in his office room with Cole in front of him. "So have you decided anything?" Alonzo asked. "Yeah.. I have thought about it for the past few days and searched about the best companies which could help us in settling my business here." Cole informed Alonzo. Alonzo nodded and said, "That''s good. Then what is your final resolve?" Leaving a sigh, Cole said, "I already talked with one of the companies and they agreed to be partner with us. But what I am right now focused on, is the new showroom that is going to open soon." "New showroom? Who is launching it?" Alonzo asked it as he was not aware of any new shop to get opened recently. Cole narrated everything to Alonzo, "Actually Lopez Industries is planning to open their own designer brand soon and their first showroom is all ready to inaugurate in the next two months... As you know that the company is already on the top at launching the biggest shopping malls with awesome facilities, so the upcoming showroom is also going to be a big hit... And I''m exactly planning to have an appointment with Mr. Lopez for a merger between both of our companies. We could distribute them various types of well stitched clothes for their designer dresses and then it will be win-win situation for both." "Well, that''s a great idea, I must say. So when are you going to meet him?" Alonzo asked. "I already told my assistant to send a request for an urgent appointment to Mr. Lopez''s secretary team. Let''s see when will he approve it?" come said. "Hmm.. By the way, I forgot to tell you , I already selected few convenient apartments for you. So now you just have to select one among them." Alonzo informed. Cole smiled and said, "Thanks for the help buddy. However, Veronica is really pretty.." Hearing the name of Veronica, Alonzo raised his eyebrows and said, "Veronica as if the Veronica I have talked to you about?" "Yeah... The same Veronica Lopez. I met her the day I went to fetch Myra and Regina from the shopping mall. She is really beautiful.." Alonzo smiled and said, "I know that very well.." ---- Lopez Industries¡­ The four persons were busy in their chatting with Mr. Lopez when he said, "Sorry kids. I have to leave now as I have a very important meeting to attend. You guys meet with Diana after you finish with your snacks. And don''t forget to meet me before leaving." All of them nodded and Mr. Lopez left with his assistant for the meeting when Mr. Brooks came with few of other employees. "Ms. Veronica?" Mrs. Brooks called for her. "Oh, Mrs. Brooks¡­ How are you and how are your little kids?" Veronica asked with a smile on her face. "They are all good. We just came here to give you these." Mrs. Brooks said as the employees handed her a basket. "What is in it?" Veronica asked taking the basket from her hand but when she opened it, her face bloomed into a beautiful smile. The employees smiled at her and one of them said, "We know that you love chocolates. So we''ve prepared this as a gift for you." Veronica beamed at them and said, "Thank you so much. Today''s dinner is from me." After few more talking the employees left and the four also decided to visit Diana. As they stood in front of Diana''s cabin, Louis knocked the door and Veronica felt nervousness all over her body as if she was going for a huge battle but when the door finally opened, Veronica''s eyes turned wide in utter shock¡­ Chapter 285 - Once very good friends... As they stood in front of Diana''s cabin, Louis knocked the door and Veronica felt nervousness all over her body as if she was going for a huge battle but when the door finally opened, Veronica''s eyes turned wide in utter shock¡­ Same expression was printed on Diana''s face who just opened the door thinking that Lucinda along with her friends, Louis and Willa had come here to get the design but she could never imagine the person she tried to avoid the most in her life after a particular day, would be standing right in front of her.. "Diana.." "Vero..." Both of the girls said at the same time making the other three look at them with confused gaze.. "You both know each other?" Willa asked when she saw that both Diana and Veronica hadn''t come out of the shock yet.. Veronica was the first one to break her trance as she looked at Willa and nodded before affirming her question, "Ye.. Yes. We know each other very well." "But how? We hadn''t known about Diana till few days ago, then how do you know her?" This time Louis asked. After Louis'' question entered in Diana''s ear, she also came out of her shock and said while stuttering, "Let.. Let''s talk about it later. Please come inside everyone." Everyone nodded their head and went inside when Lucinda noticed that Veronica still had not moved from that place so she just held her hand and dragged her inside while Veronica just followed her best friend without any emotion on her face... As they all took their respective seats on the couch that was newly set on one of the corner of Diana''s room, Lucinda asked, "Now tell us how both of you know each other." Veronica turned towards Diana who was sitting right opposite of her and noticed the tenseness on her face before saying, "We were once very good friends. Both Diana and I had met each other at city B five and half years ago when I went their for my compulsory project.." "Oh.. But why didn''t we hear anything about her? Moreover, why you both acted to be shocked after seeing each other. And Diana...you told us that you are not from country K then where are you from?" Willa asked one after another questions which stucked to Diana''s heart very piercingly. Before Diana could answer anything, Veronica said, "Because Diana had left city B before I came back to city S. She promised to meet me before I leave for my home as her studies were not completed yet... But she broke the promise and never came back. In spite of all those, I tried to call her many times even after coming back here but either her phone was always switched off or she rejected my call everytime." Taking a big sigh, Veronica continued while watching Diana who was fumbling with her fingers, "But one day she finally received my call when I decided to search for her by taking Reuben''s help. But she told me that she didn''t want to be friends with me anymore and our friendship was a big mistake of her life. So I should not call or ask for her anymore. So that was the last time when we talked around five years ago.." As Veronica said all this, Louis then suddenly asked, "But how both of you met and what happened that Diana suddenly had to leave country K?" Leaving a breath of frustration, Veronica started telling them their story from the start¡­ ---- Smith Enterprise¡­ "So why suddenly I''m seeing your presence in my office?" Reuben asked the man who was sitting in front of him.. Neil ran his hand through his hair and spoke out, "Bro.. I need your help.." "My help? But for what? I mean how can I help the great Neil Wilson suddenly?" Reuben teased him who earned a glare in return from Neil instantly. "I need your help to give me some ideas about how to make your girl fall in love with you?" Neil blabbered in a single breath. As soon as Reuben heard this, he busted into a fit of huge laughter by clutching his stomach which was now paining because of his tremendous laughing. "What...what did you say?" Reuben asked while still laughing. "Will you now shut up and let me describe what I mean?" Neil snapped at Reuben which made him stop laughing immediately. "Okay fine. Tell me what you exactly want to learn from me.." Reuben said trying his best to be serious but still a small smile escaped from his lips. Neil shook his head at him and said, "Actually, the thing is that.. Though both I and Willa are in a relationship but still Willa is not in love with me. So I want to ask you if there is any way to make her fall for me." Reuben felt happy after hearing this and thought internally that his ex playboy friend had now become all serious about his relationship. So smiling at him, Reuben asked, "Before I can give you any tips to win your girl''s heart who is surprisingly Willa, I want ask you a question and you have to give me an honest answer about it... No lie should be involved among this cause this will be the key to my next most important suggestion about your love life." Neil nodded his head vigorously when he heard Reuben. He knew that if Reuben was warning him beforehand about his upcoming question then it must be something really important. But now he didn''t care about all those things if his answer would cost him the best or worst in his future. He just knew about one thing only that whatever happened, he would not tell even a single lie to Reuben for the sake of his future with Willa.. "Yes... Ask me whatever you want. I promise to give you an honest answer." Neil said confidently. Reuben kept his hands on his table and leaned a little forward to Neil as he asked with a serious face, "Do you really love Willa or is it just some kind of infatuation you are feeling for her?" Chapter 286 - Tips to win Willas heart... Reuben kept his hands on his table and leaned a little forward to Neil as he asked with a serious face, "Do you really love Willa or is it just some kind of infatuation you are feeling for her?" Neil visibly gulped as the question suddenly got thrown at him. He exactly knew that Reuben''s questions were always to the point but he hadn''t expected that it would right away hit the emergency button of his heart.. However he didn''t feel a little bit of fright because he was well aware of the abnormal beatings of his heart whenever Willa stood beside him, was nothing but definition of his true feelings. So without pondering over much, Neil directly stared at Reuben''s eyes and confidently said, "It''s not just a simple infatuation, Reuben. I guarantee you that if it was some kind of simple crush then I would not even try to be in a relationship with a good girl like Willa. I would definitely not introduce her to my parents." Pausing for a while, he took another deep breath and said, "I genuinely love Willa. I thought that the word ''LOVE'' would never be present in my dictionary but I was proved wrong when Willa entered my life... As if like the Neil Wilson who was once a playboy had finally found his mate. I was living my life but it had no directions. But after Willa entered my life, its not only got a new direction but also a destination... Right now, I know what my life wants from me or what I want from my life.. And it''s the only thing or person which is my Willa. I want to make Willa mine for my whole life. I want to make her Mrs. Wilson soon." Neil poured out every little emotions which he had contained in his heart in front of Reuben. Now every hidden feelings of Neil was disclosed to Reuben like a open book which could be read clearly without any hesitancy or disturbance. Hearing Neil''s heartfelt confession, Reuben understood one thing that this friend of his had also reached into a point of his life, from where no one could be able to bring him back... He was infected by the most intolerable disease which had the superpower of making a person change his personality into a different level. It would also turn one sensible person into the slave of your own heart.. The disease didn''t have a long and difficult name like others but it could be described in only four letters which are very simple alphabets L, O, V, E¡­ Yes, it''s the ''LOVE Disease'' that had infected the handsome hunk Neil so brutally that now there was no way for him to come out. But there was obviously a treatment to cure his heart which was the love of his life Willa who had conquered every dots of his heart so tightly that it couldn''t be unattached from the strings of Neil''s vein even after trying all kind of medical surgery... It was very easy for Reuben to acknowledge Neil''s feelings as he had also gone through this phase of life where he was in big turmoil what to do to make Veronica love him back like the way he loved her. But sadly, he didn''t have any person at that time who could help him by giving him suggestions about his love life.. Thankfully, Neil wouldn''t have to suffer like him in this matter because Reuben was right beside him to solve all of his problems regarding love and relationship like a true best friend and brother.. "After hearing you, I only came into one conclusion.." Reuben finally broke the silence that was illuminating in his cabin till now after Neil''s sweet declaration of love towards Willa. Neil''s trance broke from Reuben''s words and he confusedly looked at Reuben as if trying to understand the meaning of his statement. "What conclusion you have reached into?" Neil asked arching one of his eyebrows as he leaned back on his chair with his arms folded under his head. Reuben gave him a c.o.c.ky smile and muttered mischievously, "Bro¡­. You''re completely whipped.." "What??" Neil reacted immediately like a bullet train as soon as Reuben''s words travelled into his ears. Grinning widely from ear to ear, Reuben made a funny face as he said, "What do you mean by what? It''s very simple to understand... I meant to say that you''re already whipped by Willa''s charm that you''ve started talking like me and Henry who are already under the spell of both of your sweet little sisters." Neil''s cheeks burnt red in embarrassment or might everyone name it as shyness. He knew that boys were not supposed to blush but he couldn''t help it at all from coloring his cheeks... "Woah!!! Are you now blushing? Is the great Neil Wilson really shy just because I said that his heart is totally under Willa''s control??" Reuben asked excitedly with a coy smile plastering on his face. Immediately, Neil''s expression changed as he tried to hide his blush and said, "If you''re done with your teasing then come to the actual point now. Did you forget the reason I''ve come here for? If not then give me some tips to win Willa''s heart.." Reuben busted in laughter as soon as he understood that Neil was trying to divert the attention from himself to escape from Reuben''s teasing, but decided to not play with this poor boy anymore. He would get plenty of times to take revenge on Neil for today but now his biggest responsibility was to start the engine of his best friend''s loveride... "It''s nothing difficult to win your girl''s heart if you truly love her. You just have to show your real feelings through your action without behaving like a dumbass¡­ I know that you never portrayed your real self to anyone expect your family members and close friends. But bro, now it''s the time to change. In love, there is no way to become successful if you don''t know how to exhibit your affection. So just only listen to your heart and forget about the world¡­" Chapter 287 - Melodrama... Neil was partially surprised to hear the suggestion that Reuben gave him but when he played Reuben''s words in his mind again and again¡­he became conscious about the fact that whatever Reuben had advised him was not just a simple suggestion but he just made a pathway for him to not decipher himself more so that he could bring his true self out to his loved one.. Today he understood one thing that why Reuben was so much successful in his love life with Veronica even after passing through so many difficult storms and hurdles.. And the reason was that Reuben never hid his actual feelings from Veronica and showered her with all his love and care. Though both of them kept their relationship secret from the netizens but there was some specific reasons behind it which he was well aware about.. But every secret was bound to disclose so they also broke the news about their love affair to all the people without any fear of other people''s reaction.. Now that they were called as the famous REUNIC couple by everyone, they never showed any reluctance to display their affection to the public.. It was completely their choice and wish which mattered the most to them and that''s why Reuben and Veronica were renowned as the most amazing couple whom every single person envied. Thinking about this very deeply, Neil finally settled on his thought of his next step. He looked at Reuben''s eyes with a pure new determination showcasing in his dark orbs. Thumping his fist on the table to show his courage, Neil announced proudly, "Right now, I know what to do in my life and Willa comes top at the list. Now that you''ve given a well justified description of love, I''m ready to go to any extent to get my Willa''s heart.." Reuben smiled observing the strong resolution and confidence in Neil''s face and advised lastly, "You''ll surely succeed in this Neil. But just remember one thing, our girls are not like other money hunger women. For them Love matters more than anything¡­ They prefer sweet gestures, strong affection and respect from their partners the most. So now it''s completely on you to decide about your next step. However, keep that in your mind that I''ll be always with you whenever you need some help." Neil''s face broke into a big smile getting his best buddy''s assurance as he said, "I know that Reuben. Get ready to call Willa as your sister-in-law soon.." ----- Lopez Industries¡­ Diana''s cabin¡­ Veronica finished telling about her past memories with Diana to her friends. How she and Diana bonded as friends and how their beautiful friendship got broken just by a mere phone call. Everyone was shocked to hear this from Veronica as she had never mentioned anything to them about Diana before. They didn''t know that their sweet friend Vero had to go through so much in just six months of her stay in city B. But the most amused person here was Louis who still couldn''t believe his ears that the person he thought to grow a liking on, could broke his sister like best friend Veronica''s trust so badly. Though he had a crush on Diana but nothing mattered to him more than his friends and family who supported him in every dire situation of his life. His eyes fell on Diana whose eyes were red and puffy as tears were running down on her rosy cheeks. She was sobbing silently as if she was scared to show her tears to them.. Whereas Veronica didn''t show any kind of emotion on her face as she masked it with a blank expression. But deep down inside her heart, she was feeling the pain of betrayal and sorrow. Lucinda and Willa didn''t know what to say at that exact moment, so they just decided to keep silence but here Louis was seething in anger for the pain his friend had been through in the past. But somewhere in his heart, he knew that the situation was not exactly like what it was being portrayed. He was working on the business industry from a long time so it was easy for him to acknowledge a person''s true personality. However, whenever he looked at Diana, he seemed not to find any kind of facade on her face. Especially now when her cheeks were wet with pools of tears. It looked like she was bearing more pain than Veronica did... He wanted to bark on Diana for her misbehavior but he wasn''t able to do so. But he wanted to know the truth of her acting like a cruel friend in the past. But before a word could escape from his mouth, Veronica''s voice stopped him¡­ "What was your exact reason of ending our friendship? Had you never thought of me as your true friend?" Veronica asked feeling hurt. Diana looked up at her ex-friend and tried to say in between her hiccups, "No.. I had never thought of you as a friend. I just tried to take advantage of you as you were¡­.." "Don''t you dare tell any lie Diana. Though we were friends for only few days but I''m not so blind to not recognise a person''s true self¡­ So stop your melodrama of being a bad girl and tell me the truth. I want justification of your every single actions, specially the lies which you''re trying to feed me now." Veronica barked at Diana out of immense anger. Diana shivered at the high tone of Veronica as she had never witnessed an angry Veronica which was nothing but very much scary for her. Soon Diana recovered from her shock and composed herself before saying, "I''m not lying at all. You''re just not trying to believe the truth. Moreover, how can you trust on a person like me who had ruined the purity of the word friendship and insulted you with all kinds of harsh words when you just wanted to know about my welfare??" Chapter 288 - Untying the folds of secrets... "I''m not lying at all. You''re just not trying to believe the truth. Moreover, how can you trust on a person like me who had ruined the purity of the word friendship and insulted you with all kinds of harsh words when you just wanted to know about my welfare??" This triggered the file alarm inside Willa and Lucinda''s head as they couldn''t control their fury anymore over Diana''s hypocrisy who dared to shout on their best friend. "Just because we''re sitting here quietly, that doesn''t mean that we''re invisible. We thought to stay quiet because of Veronica as we know that she doesn''t like anyone to interfere in such kind of matters... But here you''re throwing your venom filled words towards the person who was nothing but worried about you. We can''t tolerate everything but not a single insulting words about our friend." The always calm Willa warned Diana in a stern voice. "Exactly.. Just because you''re going to prepare my dress that doesn''t give you any right to shout on Niccy.. Neither one of us will tolerate your rude behaviour." Lucinda also spat on her. Diana stared at the two girls who were trying to protect their best friend and her eyes stung with more tears, understanding that she was a big failure in the name of friendship. Both Veronica and Louis noticed her tearful eyes and their heart shuttered because of it. Louis moved his eyes from Diana to not feel pity over her after what she had done with Veronica and said, "You shouldn''t have done this Diana. It was completely your fault. But still if you want to repent on your wrongdoings then at least apologize to Vero." Veronica''s eyes travelled to Louis and she noticed his hurtful expression while he was saying these words. She was internally very happy that she got so much supportive friends who didn''t even think twice before trying to shelter her from all the evil eyes. But here the situation was heading towards a completely wrong side. She couldn''t allow to let this happen. She needed to stop all this drama before it took a 180¡ã turn¡­ "Stop it guys¡­ I know that you guys love me very much but you all misinterpreted the meaning of Diana''s sudden outburst. She is demanding me to not trust her anymore after what she had done." Veronica yelled to shut her friends up. When her statements went into everyone''s brain, they understood that Diana really was not trying to berate Veronica but was stopping her from befriending with her again. After everyone calmed down, Veronica went towards Diana and sat beside her. She hold her palms into her firm grip and muttered slowly, "Diana¡­I never blamed you for anything nor I''ll ever. I''ll not deny the fact that when you told me to not continue our friendship, I got very much sad... But when I thought over it carefully, I knew that something was amiss about you. I never again tried to find you because I wanted to give you space and also there is another reason for which I wasn''t able to concentrate on your matter which was one of my biggest mistake... But trust me, I came to realise the very next moment that my sweet friend Diana can never hurt me intentionally. There must be some reasons behind her behavior." Diana was completely undertaken by Veronica''s sudden confession as well as the three persons who were present there too.. "What¡­what do you mean? I hurt you in the most brutal way a true friend could ever do. But here you''re consoling me.. No¡­ I''m not worthy of your forgiveness. You should stay away from me, Vero. I''m not a good omen for anyone. I''ll destroy your life." Diana said while crying. "What the hell are you talking about good omen and bad omen? Who feed you this kind of rubbish stuffs?" This time it was not Veronica but Louis who questioned her with a hint of anger. Diana didn''t say anything but just continue weeping whereas the girls sat their stupified observing a totally different Diana who was broken and unconfident about herself. Veronica caressed Diana''s back while something popped in her mind suddenly and her eyes widened when she caught the glitch in Diana''s changing behaviors from five years ago to now¡­ Gripping Diana''s chin lightly, Veronica made Diana look at her eyes and expressed all her confusion to her in form of a question, "One minute¡­ I remember that you told me your Mom was dating her business partner but he was a horrendous person and you didn''t like him at all... I suggested you to tell your Mom about this and you obeyed it. Your Mom also agreed with you but she asked you to visit her. You also promised me to come back from country Z before I leave city B... But after few days of your visit to your mother, you started to distance yourself from me and stopped talking to me properly. Then you switched off your phone so that I couldn''t be able to contact you....right?" Diana got scared when she understood that Veronica was slowly untying all the folds of her secrets but she still nodded at her in response as Diana knew that one day or another, the truth was supposed to reveal¡­ Veronica left Diana''s hand and palmed her mouth when realisation dawned upon her as she muttered in pure shock, "Your mother was lying. She never stopped dating that man. That''s mean your disappearance was surely related to that man¡­" "What?? What are you guys talking about? You meant to say the man who was Diana''s mother''s lover that time.." Lucinda said astonishingly. "The same man who had his dirty eyes on Diana.." Willa mumbled another piece of truth. At the mention of that devil kind of man, Diana''s face became pale and her eyes turned gloomy like black clouds before a heavy rain pour¡­ The four friends became certain that Veronica hit the correct cord as they shared a horrified yet tensed glance at each other... "What did he exactly do to you?" Chapter 289 - Episodes of nightmare... Smith Enterprise¡­ "Anything more that I have to sign for today or any other meeting to attend?" Reuben asked signing the last doc.u.ment that Tom had handed him. "No Boss, nothing is left for today. Everything has been handled by the secretary team and other managers. But there is a personal matter which has been waiting for your approval.." Tom informed Reuben. Reuben closed the file and looked up at Tom with his raised eyebrows before asking him, "And what is that?" "Sir, we''ve finally got a trace of Mr. Andrew Jones.." Tom revealed. Reuben''s eyes widened in mortification as soon as he heard about Andrew from his assistant. He couldn''t believe his ears as if he had heard Tom right or not. He became stiffed for few seconds as this sudden disclosure of news about his soul big brother Andrew but when he came out of the trance, he asked in a hopeful voice, "What!! Are you saying the truth?" "Yes Boss. We''re sure. Our search mission from the past five years has finally seen the face of a light. Though it''s still a dim light but we''re sure that very soon we''ll be able to perceive the sunlight on this matter.." Tom said with a smile on his face as he knew how much of importance Andrew had in both his Boss and Lady Boss'' life. From the day Reuben had earned the position of CEO of Smith Enterprise, he took an oath to find Andrew even if he had to spend his whole lifetime for it. Though the world believed that Andrew was dead but both he and Veronica somewhere believed that this was not the truth. Their big brother Andrew couldn''t die so soon leaving them like that... Their belief got stronger when the police or their own Secret 7 team couldn''t find his deadbody. Because he knew that their team was best at digging out any kind of secrets even if it was buried deep inside the layer of earth. But only one person could camouflage his existence except the other six members of Secret 7 who was the Andrew Jones¡­the eldest founder of Secret 7.. "So¡­where is he now? Do you get any idea about the place or country he is living in now?" Reuben asked. "Yes boss. We came to know that he had been living in country Z from the past 4 years.. But where he was before that, we didn''t get any clue about that.." Tom said before showing some doc.u.ments related to Andrew. At last the door of a new hope to find out about his brother had opened to Reuben as he started to read the file carefully¡­ ---- Lopez Industries¡­ Diana''s cabin¡­ The four friends became certain that Veronica hit the correct cord as they shared a horrified yet tensed glance at each other... "What did he exactly do to you?" Louis asked in an angry voice which he tried to suppress very much due to the presence of Diana. Despite of Louis controlling his anger, Veronica, Willa and Lucinda were still able to decipher his inner rage because it was very much unlikely to him as per their knowledge about knowing him for so many years. Louis was a guy who was always cool and funny. He never loved to take stress over any matter even if it was really difficult to handle. He was a ''happy to go'' guy who loved to enjoy every moment of his life without bothering about anything. Whatever the situation might be, a small smile would always be painted on his lips no matter what... Now seeing Louis getting angry over a man whom he didn''t have any idea about, the girls realized one thing that the boy sitting beside them had turned into a contrasting person. And the reason of his sudden change of behaviour was Diana whom he had met just few days ago and had already took a liking on her. But today''s incident verified the truth that the small liking Louis had for Diana had turned into something more. Might be it still couldn''t be considered as Love yet but it was more than simple liking from Louis'' side. When none of them uttered any word still, Louis said through his gritted teeth, "Diana¡­I''m asking you something. Tell me what did that man have done to you which made you take such a drastic step where you have to hurt the friend who was so much loyal to you." Diana''s sob turned into wailing when she heard Louis'' tough voice as her past danced in front of his eyes which was not at all good. "Shut up Louis. You''re scaring her. Diana, please tell us what happened to you which made you change so much. We promise, we won''t judge you based on your past but we can help you to come out of a horrible memory." Veronica assured her. "Yes... I agree with Vero. Sometimes sharing your past helps you to remove the burden from your heart." Willa said while Lucinda just nodded her head. Getting the comfort from those persons who didn''t even know anything about her, made Diana extremely grateful to them. Controlling her emotions, Diana wiped the tears from her eyes and stared at everyone before saying, "My Mom lied to me that she would stop dating her business partner¡­but she never broke up with him¡­ Actually it was all a plan of my Mom and that bastard of a man to bring me back to country Z. Truthfully, it was more that person''s plan which my mother obliged to, without questioning him anything. She didn''t even think of her daughter before agreeing to help that man.." Lucinda passed her a tissue and after dabbing her face with it, Diana continued to explain, "Like a fool, I trusted my Mom blindly and went to meet her in the middle of my studies¡­ For the first few days, everything was good for me as she treated me like a princess as usual. But some days later, everything changed and the episodes of my nightmare started¡­" Chapter 290 - Dianas past... "For the first few days, everything was good for me as she treated me like a princess as usual. But some days later, everything changed and the episodes of my nightmare started¡­" Veronica clutched Diana''s hand tightly and reassured her, "Don''t get panicked by overthinking too much. We are all here with you. So just be strong and slowly tell us about your side of story." Diana nodded and narrated them, "One day when I was in my room, listening to some music, that man had come to our home with all of his belongings.. I was confused at first that why he suddenly had packed all of his things and came here. But later my Mom told me that he was going to live with us from that day onwards. I was very much skeptical about the thought of him living with us as I knew that what kind of vile man he was. But slowly and steadily, my thoughts about him changed because of his lovely behavior towards me and my Mom. I started to become happy that my Mom really found someone good for her.. That time I remembered about your departure from city B. So wanted to go back to visit you for the last time but my Mom and her so called lover insisted me to stay for a few days more and I agreed." Pausing for a while, Diana again started, "You called me many times Vero but I avoided it purposely because I had another plan settled in my mind. Few days before your leave, I tried to call you but it fell from my hands and got broken.. As I''m not good with remembering numbers, I wasn''t able to call you but I had your number written in my diary which I had kept in my dorm of my university. So I decided that after I reach there, the first thing I''ll do is to call you. But that never happened¡­" Again Diana broke into tears and started choking on her own saliva. Louis got scared because of this and rushed to her work table to find a glass of water. He brought the water near her mouth and kneeled down in front of her before making her drink the water from his hand which didn''t go unnoticed by the three girls excluding Diana. After Diana drank half of the water, Louis kept it on the center table and asked softly, "What happened next? And what is the name of the man?" Sniffling a little, Diana answered, "His name is Frank Howard. He''s the CEO of the famous company of country Z, ''Howard and Co.''.. He is actually a devil in gentleman''s disguise¡­ His actual cruelty came out in front of my eyes after one month. I was alone in our home that day as my Mom had a kitty party with her friends. I was reading books that time when Frank showed himself in my room. He was drunk and the strong smell of alcohol was spreading in my whole room from his body.. He came¡­near me walking unsteadily and sat beside me. I became scared of his presence and told him to get out of my room. But he didn''t and instead he¡­.." Diana looked at Louis getting tensed as she had never disclosed her past to anyone specially to a man whom she had known from past few days.. Louis understood her reluctance and got up from the floor before announcing, "I''m waiting outside. Now you can talk in complete privacy with the girls Diana. So relax..." Saying this, he was about to walk out of her cabin when Diana stopped him, "Don''t...I think, if you stay here then I''ll get more support so I really don''t have any problem with you being present here.." Not only Louis and the three girls, but also Diana herself was very much shocked with her sudden confession. She didn''t know from where she got the courage but just observing Louis from few days, she came to know that he would not bring her any harm¡­even she felt protected around him... The reason of her this particular feeling was completely unknown to her but she knew that something has started bubbling inside her heart for Louis which she had never experienced before. Louis sighed and glanced at Veronica asking what should he do now¡­and when she blinked her eyes to give him assurance, he came back to Diana and took a seat beside her.. After Diana saw him being seated at her right side, she faintly smiled at him and said, "Frank¡­he tried to kiss me forcefully by hovering over me. But I turned my head to another side so his kiss fell on my cheek... This triggered his anger more and he tried to touch me on here and there but before he could grab me by anywhere, I kicked him on his guts and he fell from the bed... I took the chance and ran outside of my room but soon he followed me. He again tried to force himself on me but thankfully we heard the sound my Mom''s car honk and I got saved from that bastard''s dirty clutch.." Hearing this, Louis'' palm fisted in a tight ball in fury as he wanted nothing at that moment more than killing that piece of shit by his own hand for trying to molest his Diana.. But he again controlled it as he knew that this was not the perfect time to show his anger but right now he needed to pacify Diana the most.. So without his knowledge, his hand travelled around Diana''s shoulder and he pulled her into a warm side hug before patting her on the back to console her that everything was fine now. Getting the warmth from his body, Diana also involuntarily wrapped her hand around his body and rested her head on his shoulder... Louis was happy to know that she was at least feeling secured around him but he was also aware about the fact that there was still more to hear from her but he decided that it could wait for a while. So he tried to make her feel better by stopping her to say further, "You don''t need to tell us anymore if you''re feeling uncomfortable¡­Okay?" Chapter 291 - Dianas past II... Louis tried to make her feel better by stopping her to say further, "You don''t need to tell us anymore if you''re feeling uncomfortable¡­Okay?" Diana stared directly at Louis'' eyes and when she found sincerity in his dark orbs, her heart melted like butter.. She felt as if she had been engulfed in the most protective arms where she could only find relief and peace.. Tilting her head up a little, she sat up properly. While still being in Louis'' arms and muttered, "It''s okay. I''ve already said half of my story. So I''m now already comfortable all around you guys. I can tell the rest of the story to you too." "Are you sure about that? We won''t pressurise you if you don''t feel well." Lucinda said with worry filled in her eyes. Diana smiled at her a little, seeing Lucinda''s concern for her and said, "Yes¡­ I''m sure. Let me tell you what happened next." "Before you start, I want to ask you one thing, if that Frank was trying to molest you then did you tell about this to your Mom?? I think she must have helped you from getting out of that tremendous torture by breaking up with that vile man.." Veronica said or rather asked her queries. Listening to Veronica''s question, Diana laughed mockingly at her own situation and said, "Hahaha¡­ If my Mom would''ve taken the step of breaking her relationship with that man then I''d not be sitting here in front of you, trying to prove myself to her.." "What!! Are you serious? How can a mother not break up with the man who tried to force himself on her own daughter." Willa was now completely exasperated. Smiling at her own bad luck, Diana said, "You can expect such a big thing from your mother only if she could believe you. In my matter, it was exactly opposite. As soon as she returned from her kitty party, I took her to my room ignoring the glares of Frank... Locking the door, I told her everything about Frank but instead of believing me, she gave me a tight slap on my cheek saying that I was making up lies about her so called boyfriend. She trusted the man whom she had known for just few months over her own blood. Her daughter was nothing for her in front of an evil man... Frank knocked the door right then and when my mother opened it, he started with his so called acting and again my Mom believed him, leaving her own child in despair. The next day, they announced that they were getting married in upcoming week and I was not allowed to go back to city B except my exam time as my syllabus had already ended.." Stopping for a second to take a mouthful of breath, Diana continued, "Days passed by like this and Frank''s torture on me increased but luckily everytime I got spared at the right moment. From that time, I tried to distant myself from everyone, feeling extremely unsecured. I started waiting for the day to go back to city B and the day of my exams finally arrived. I became expectant to call you and ask for your help. But unluckily, I couldn''t find my diary at all so couldn''t able to inform you. After exams, I was forced to go back to country Z when Frank threatened me to kill my mother if I don''t show my face there. And I obliged and there started another round of new torture. He started to beat me roughly with his belt like a inhuman person. At least I was happy that he wasn''t trying to physically abuse me in an evil way.." A gasp escaped from Willa and Lucinda''s mouth whereas Louis and Veronica''s eyes burned in anger. They wanted to kill that bastard right at that moment. Louis calmed his rage when he noticed Diana was shivering and patted her shoulder to encourage her before asking, "If he had eyes on you then he would not beat you. So that''s mean there are different reasons for his actions if I''m not too much wrong. What are those?" "You are actually right. Frank married my Mom because of our property but he didn''t know that my Dad had already named everything of his property on my name before his death. Even I had 60% shares of my father''s company whereas my mother only has 20% and rest 20% were of other shareholders¡­ Frank tried to take my mom''s signature to transfer the whole property for him when I was in city B for exams. That time, he came to know about all the property distribution and that was the reason of him beating me. But I was adamant to not transfer my father''s hard earned money to an asshole like him." Looking towards Veronica, Diana said, "Few months later, I got a chance to talk to you but I behaved like I didn''t care for you ever... Whereas the truth was that I was very much self-conscious about myself as my body was covered with several scars of Frank''s beating.. This continued and one year later, I got to know that Frank was planning to kill my mother and this snatched the last bit of my patience and all the pent up anger took over me. I threatened him that if he harm a little bit of my mother, then I''ll never hand over my property to him. But my Dad had another plan¡­ He had written in his will that I would only be the owner of all of his patrimony after I turn 26.. If anyone tried to harm me or my mother till I turned into the perfect age, then all of his property will go to the orphanage and oldage home.." "Woah!! Luckily Uncle had decided this otherwise you''d be looted from every side.." Lucinda exclaimed. "So¡­You meant to say that after you guys came to know about the twist made by your father regarding his properties, Frank stopped abusing you from then on as he had feared to loss the result of his long hard work by illuding your mom in his love trap... Right?" Veronica''s clever mind immediately got the idea of the circ.u.mstances.. Chapter 292 - Winning and losing is a far fetched story... "So¡­You meant to say that after you guys came to know about the twist made by your father regarding his properties, Frank stopped abusing you from then on as he had feared to loss the result of his long hard work by illuding your mom in his love trap... Right?" Veronica''s clever mind immediately got the idea of the circ.u.mstances.. Diana slowly nodded her head agreeing with whatever Veronica presumed and clarified the whole situation, "You are right again. As soon as he came to know about my father''s condition, he became angrier. But I took the chance to blackmail him and it worked. In the fear of losing the property to the orphanage, he stopped beating me, instead brainwashed my mother by lieing about me on my character... My Mom trusted him again over me and started bashing on me. I can tolerate everything but not any questions about my character... My dignity is the biggest thing which mattered the most to me. So that time, I decided that I won''t tolerate this anymore. I confronted them and gave them a challenge that I''d set my own name in the fashion industry without their help... I knew that Frank wouldn''t dare to plan anything dangerous about my Mom, so I packed my luggage and left the home. I worked in country Z and made my name there. But it was still not enough to fulfil my actual dream, so I thought to come to city S as it was the city of every dreams and luckily I got the job in this company. So I''m right now here in front of you guys, telling you the sad story of my life¡­" Finally Diana was done with her past when she noticed the silence erupted in the room. She got confused suddenly and also a little bit conscious...if like her mother, her new found friends would also blame her or not. But it soon got cleared by the next scene being played in front of her¡­ She was pulled into a bear hug by the three girls Veronica, Lucinda and Willa. They hugged her so tightly that it became difficult for her to breath but she still didn''t break the group hug as she needed the confirmation from them that they didn''t blame her for anything, instead was supporting her for her bravery. But their hug got disturbed when they hear a shrill voice near them. They jolted up from their seat to see who was the culprit of this sudden disruption in their friendly moment and it was none other than Louis who was sitting on floor with an irritating expression on his face. "What are you doing on the floor? Is the floor better than the couch that you''re sitting there?" Lucinda asked being puzzled at him. "Woah! At first you guys push me from the couch so that you could hug Diana and made me fall on the floor which hurt my elbow and back¡­ And now you are asking me about this?? What a big joke!!" Louis mocked Lucinda who didn''t notice that, by her sudden energy to embrace Diana, she pushed Louis so hard that he slumped down on the floor being uncertain about the sudden upcoming force.. Lucinda smiled sheepishly and mocked him back, "Oh!! I didn''t know the so called manly Louis doesn''t even have a little bit strength to handle a cute girl like me.. Hahahaha... That''s why I tell you not be a narcissist idiot. Gosh! You can''t even handle my strength, I don''t know why you go to gym everyday." Louis flared in anger and about to counterattack when Willa stopped them, "Guys.. You just should stop behaving like kids. Here we''re discussing about a serious matter and you all are acting childishly.?" Veronica just shook her head at them whereas Diana giggled at their sweet fight. Hearing her giggles, everyone turned towards her and they too smiled. "Okay.. So jokes apart, now let''s talk about serious things. Diana, what''s your next plan? Are you going to leave that bastard of Frank let wander so freely or are you going to fight against him?" Veronica asked. "I¡­I''m not sure. He is a well known businessman and he has a lot of power in his hand but I''m just a simple fashion designer. Though I also belong from a reputable family but not everyone knows about me. So there is no chance that I''m going to win against him." Diana told her doubt to them. Sighing at her, Veronica said, "Look.. Winning and losing is a far fetched story. But if we don''t try ever, then we may live our whole life in regrets. So we should at least fight back against the evils not thinking about the result." "Yeah... Niccy is right. You don''t have to be tensed about the result, just do your work. Moreover, now that we''re your friends, we will help you in everything." Lucinda assured her. Diana smiled at Lucinda and said, "I''ll think over it leisurely. But first, let me show you the design of your engagement dress. After you all came, you guys got busy with my story, forgetting about the soon to be engaged girl." "Yeah.. You''re right. Let''s see my bestie''s dress first." Veronica said and Diana showed them the designs. "Oh My God! It''s so beautiful.." Willa exclaimed in aww.. "Yes.. It''s so amazing Diana. Thanks a lot for this." Lucinda said before hugging her tightly. Diana smiled at her and said, "I''m happy that you liked it." Veronica observed her friend and saw the drastic change in her. Though Diana was smiling but there was still pain in her heart. Veronica promised to herself that she''d bring back the old Diana again. "Okay. Let''s come to the most important thing. Diana, you''ve to attend my engagement party this Thursday." Lucinda said. "But¡­How can I¡­" Before Diana could complete, Louis joked, "Diana.. You must attend her party otherwise she will eat your head like a wild cat." "Louis Morgan¡­ I''m going to kill you¡­" Lucinda shouted and this continued for a few more minutes while Diana felt lucky for the first time after five long years of having friends... Chapter 293 - Fine illusion... "Louis Morgan¡­ I''m going to kill you¡­" Lucinda shouted and this continued for a few more minutes while Diana felt lucky for the first time after five long years to have friends like them. "Are these guys always like this?" Diana asked being surprised. Veronica said, "Not Lucinda.. but this idiot is definitely like this." Before anyone could say anything, Louis turned his head in a jolt and said, "What the hell do you mean by that? Did you forget how much you fight with me?? Actually Diana, more than Lucinda and Willa, this friend of yours always find a chance to quarrel with me but every time she got escaped from punishment because of my cousin brother whereas I always get scolded." "Your cousin brother? But why would he defend Veronica and scold you instead?" Diana asked being more confused. Veronica laughed out loudly at her question and answered in between her laughter, "Because¡­because his cousin is none other than my sweet and loving boyfriend Reuben Smith. And obviously as people know, girlfriend comes first before a stupid brother like him.." "Well, not only Reuben but both Neil and Henry are same with Louis because of their girlfriends Willa and Lucinda.. So he is being ''Off Mode'' most of the time by his brothers." Veronica added still laughing on him. Louis pouted when the girls made jokes of him while Diana just felt amused. But when she understood everything she squealed in joy, "Oh My God, Vero!!!! Did you just say that you now have a boyfriend?? Oh Gosh!! I so wanna meet him.." The girls grinned at her excitement whereas Louis saw only butterflies flying in front of his eyes whenever he gazed at Diana''s pretty laughing face which was nothing more than a fine illusion to him.. "Well, if you want to meet our dear boyfriends then you have to come to Lucinda''s engagement party... Everyone will be present there including all of our family members so we''ll let you introduce to everyone." Willa spoke. "Yes.. Willa is absolutely correct. We want to introduce you to our parents, isn''t it Louis? Uncle and Aunt along with your brother and sister-in-law will be there also, right Mr. Morgan?" Veronica teased Louis while wiggling her eyebrows up and down. "Uhmmm¡­Yeah.. They will also attend the ceremony so you also should join us, Diana." Louis said scratching the back of his neck. "Okay.. Okay..Fine.. I''ll definitely join you guys on Lucy''s special day." Diana said which instantly made everyone happy. After that, they continued chit-chatting when suddenly a knock interrupted them and after getting permission from Diana, a girl of their same age entered the cabin with some files in her mind. "Yes Rachel??" Diana asked. "Ma''am these are the correction of Team B designs which you had adviced before. They had already submitted these to me so I thought to brought this." Rachel said. "Okay.. You keep it on the table. I''ll recheck them again later." Diana said. On the other side, from the moment Rachel had entered Diana''s cabin, Veronica was quietly observing her with her hawk like eyes. "You can leave now Rachel. I''ll call you once I''m done with those designs." Diana said. But before Rachel could leave the cabin, she was stopped by Veronica''s next words, "Have we met before?" Rachel instantly turned her body towards Veronica and politely denied, "No Ma''am. We haven''t ever met as I had joined just a month ago." "But you seemed to be quite familiar." Veronica pointed out. Rachel was completely confused about this as she really hadn''t met Veronica anywhere. Though she had seen her many times in different magazines and news but she hadn''t come face to face with her ever until now. However, somewhere in her mind whenever she would saw Veronica''s picture, Rachel would find her a little familiar. Especially now when Veronica was sitting right in front of her. As she was not sure if she really had met Vero before today, so she chose to deny it straightly. "No ma''am, I''m sure that it is the first time I''m seeing you physically." Rachel answered smilingly. Veronica nodded and smiled back but the doubt from her heart and mind, hadn''t vanished yet. Her conscience never got wrong till now so she was still skeptical about it. After a friendly discussion, the four friends decided to say goodbye to Diana and after having another round of talk with Mr. Lopez, everyone left... ----- Smith''s Enterprise¡­ After checking and reading thoroughly through the file that had all the informations that Tom had gathered till now about Andrew, Reuben''s face lit up into a smile.. "You made me really happy today Tom by giving me such a great news. I can''t be enough grateful to you for this." Reuben said beaming like a kid. Tom smiled and said, "It''s my duty Boss. We have been trying to get his location from so many years but finally we''re able to get a trace about him... But I''ll get relaxed only when we''d get each and every details about him and present him in front of you." Hearing this, Reuben smirked and said, "Well, about presenting Andrew in front of me, you don''t have to do that. Because he will come back to city S himself willingly and I''ll force him to do so. Just get his actual address and inform me." "I understand Boss. But if you don''t mind then can you please tell me how are you gonna do this?? I mean he hadn''t even stepped inside country K in past six years then how will he get into city S with his willingness." Tom asked about his queries. "Do you know Tom, why I hadn''t attempted anything to bring him back till now?" Reuben asked. When Tom shook his head Reuben replied, "Because till now we hadn''t known anything about him as he kept his informations hidden from us very carefully... Do you really think, if you guys couldn''t get any tracks of him in the past six years then you can suddenly get a grip on his informations when you''re almost very busy on arranging my proposal for Ica??" Chapter 294 - Comfortable silence... "Do you really think, if you guys couldn''t get any tracks of him in the past six years then you can suddenly get a grip on his informations when you''re almost very busy on arranging my proposal for Ica??" "Boss, What are you exactly trying to say? I can''t really understand anything." Tom asked being puzzled over Reuben''s undefined talk. Reuben put on a cynical smirk on his face before describing, "Tom, you were so much busy in preparing the proposal, you haven''t even got the time to take a good rest and taking care of Andrew''s matter was totally out of your hand in these past few days¡­ When you couldn''t find about him after your full focus buried in Andrew''s matter then how could you think you''d to getting the information about his residence country without putting any toil on the work?? It''s Andrew himself who left a trace about country Z because he knew that even if everyone believe that he''s dead, I''d never believe that. I really don''t know what is the exact reason to give us some loops but I''m certain about one thing¡­.. Now that we already came to know about a little part of his whereabouts, I''d not let go of this chance so easily. By hook or crook, I''m going to bring him back to country K before I could marry your Lady Boss.." Tom was accustomed to Reuben''s tricky plans so he was sure that Reuben had already planned something strong and there was no doubt in it. "Then what I''ve to do for now?" Tom asked. Reuben''s smirk grew into a smile as he said, "Previously, I told you not to allow any press media inside the event hall. But I''ve changed my mind now¡­ Call each and every media channel and invite them in the party. I want full coverage of my proposal to telecast on every news channel. And make sure that the full proposal video would be live telecasted in every corner of country Z.. I don''t want any resident of country Z to be unaware about my surprise proposal.." ---- Country Z¡­. "Are you sure that Reuben would get the evidence of you being alive that you leave behind for them?" Lisa asked sitting on a chair while watching Andrew making fruit juice for her. Andrew handed her the juice which she took while making faces, bringing a smile on Andrew''s lips as he said, "I''m full confident about this Lisa. You haven''t met my brothers and sisters till now, that''s why you may think if it''s even possible to love a person so much who was not even blood related to them when my own blood had deceived me... But trust me¡­ All of them are so much attached to me that I always feel lucky to have siblings like them. After you get to know them, I''m sure you''ll also fall in love with them.... Especially the two haters come lovers, Reuben and Veronica¡­they had some magical power in themselves which always make them closure to everybody. Actually, Veronica is the most favourite one among everyone¡­ Not only we friends but all of the elders love her like she is their own daughter. Even my parents too. They loved Vero and Lucy more than they loved me or my sister Amy. And maybe, the jealousy was one of the reason which made Amy implant such a horrible plan." "Wow!! You really are making me more eager to meet them day by day. So¡­when are we leaving for city S?" Lisa asked excitedly after finishing the juice. Andrew ruffled her hair lovingly and said, "We just gave them an idea of me being alive, I still have not planned on meeting them yet." "But that''s not fair. You always make me envious of your relationship with your siblings but never allow me to visit them. Even whenever I talk with uncle Lopez, I feel so fatherly vibe from him though I''m not related to him at all. So I can already imagine how lovely others could be¡­" Lisa said with a small smile playing on her lips. Andrew smiled and said, "I know.. I''m sure they''ll love you more than they ever loved me." ---- Veronica got out of Louis'' car when she noticed Reuben''s car waiting for her at the corner of the street. It was already late when they dropped Lucinda at her caf¨¦ so the three of them decided that a round to office would be really tiresome. So Reuben would pick up Veronica on the way and then Louis would drive Willa to her apartment as both of their home were on the same direction. After saying bye to her friends, Veronica entered Reuben''s car and after their small kissing routine, they left for their home. Today what both of them noticed in each other was that they both had different kind of glow on their faces, a different kind of happiness was showing in their eyes. But none of them said anything about it. Reuben hold Veronica''s palm whereas Veronica placed her head on Reuben''s shoulder as they continued driving towards their home with a comfortable silence... ---- Love-Paradise¡­ After they had their dinner, it was their personal time where the couple talked about their everyday happenings. This time was only for them and no one could intervene them at this moment. "Why are you so happy today, Ica?" Reuben asked lying on her lap. Veronica just grinned widely while running her fingers in his hair and teased him, "Try to guess yourself..." Reuben tried to think for a while and said, "It can''t be any new deal or project nor that you won a lottery...so what''s it?" Veronica flicked his forehead when she heard his stupid joke and said, "I met one of my old friend today whom I was trying to find for so many years.." "An old friend whom you were searching for many years?? Hmm..who could that person be...!!!" Reuben muttered to himself while Veronica just nodded her head. Few seconds later, suddenly realisation dawned upon him and he yelled unbelievably, "You mean¡­Diana???" Chapter 295 - Luck on finding their friends... Few seconds later, suddenly realisation dawned upon him and he yelled unbelievably, "You mean¡­Diana???" Veronica gave him a lopsided grin and said, "Yes.. It''s Diana¡­my long lost friend from city B." As soon as Reuben got confirmation from her, he sat up like a bolt of lightning speed and looked at Veronica quizzically. He couldn''t believe on the compatibility between them. They were very much in love with each other and their heart always beats for each other but that didn''t mean that even their luck on finding their friends would also work together. Veronica saw his puzzled face and asked, "Are you not happy because of this?" Reuben got out of his own trance and smiled broadly before speaking, "Obviously.. I''m very much happy but I just got lost out for some seconds. But I''ve a confusion, how have you met her after so many years and why she behaved so badly with you before?" Chuckling at his question, Veronica laid his head again on her lap and caressed his hair and started telling him everything, "You won''t believe where I had found her. Without my knowledge, Diana is the new designer of my dad''s company¡­. And her rude behavior in the past, there was a big and horrible reason behind it. Actually Diana''s mother¡­" After narrating the whole story, she noticed Reuben''s facial expression had completely changed from softer to harder. He was clenching his jaw so tightly that the pulse on his neck was clearly visible to her bare eyes.. "That bastard Frank. I always had an hunch like thing that he is not a good man but I haven''t ever checked on him as he was not so much of an important person. But now after hearing this... I just want to kill him. I can''t believe that he dared to abuse a girl of his daughter''s age both mentally and physically. How dare he??" Reuben leashed out his anger. But more than his furious action, Veronica''s mind caught something else and she asked, "Bennie¡­ Do you know this man, Frank? If yes then how?" Reuben left a deep breath and looked in Veronica''s eyes directly before saying, "We had met a year or two ago in a business venture. He was always giving a wicked look to each and every female companions whom the other businessmen had brought with them... But I didn''t say anything that time because those girls were not objecting it¡­even they were feeling happy to get his and other rich men''s attention. But now it''s just too much.." "I know right. I also want to make him suffer in hell till he beg for his own death but Diana wanted some time for herself to decide on this." Veronica informed Reuben who just nodded. Veronica noticed that Reuben''s anger hadn''t yet subsided so she just tried to divert his attention to other things as she knew that Reuben could handle everything but not the idea of forcing on a woman... "Baby¡­Did you arrange the gift for Lucinda and Henry like how I told you??" Veronica asked. Reuben gave her a smile and said, "Yes love.. I already handed out the gift to the shop and they assured me that it''d be delivered at the right time of the party." "That''s cool then. I can''t wait for the day to come." Veronica''s excitedly said. "Me too.." Reuben whispered before pulling Veronica down for a kiss. Reuben chose to not say anything about Andrew at that moment. As he wanted to collect few more informations to be sure before telling Veronica so that she couldn''t get hurt if his plan failed... --- Next day¡­ Lopez Industries¡­ Mr. Wilson had come to talk with Mr. Lopez about the arrangement of the engagement party. As both of them were the fathers of a daughter so they believed that their ideas would also be mutual on planning for the special day. "So I already invited most of the guests including Alonzo Brown. I''m really impressed with his work in these two months.. Even Lucinda said that she along with Willa and Vero had become really good friends with his sister. So they also invited her in the party.." Mr. Wilson said. Father Lopez nodded and said, "Yeah.. Vero also told me about her. She seems to be a good girl if our daughters befriended with her." At that moment, a knock interrupted them and Mr. Lopez''s assistant entered his cabin and informed him, "Sir, the CEO of Parker Textiles has already arrived as I scheduled his appointment with you for today." "Oh! That''s good. Just send him in. I don''t think there will be any problem for him if we discuss his issues in front of my friend. Even it''d be an advantage for him to meet another famous businessman of city S." Mr. Lopez said while his assistant went out to do his work. "I think I heard the name of Parker Textiles somewhere before." Mr. Wilson said. "Yeah.. It''s really a famous textile company of city B. It has really beautiful pieces of clothes. I had thought of a merger between both of our companies after the inauguration of our exclusive showroom... But seems like God is already on our favour that the CEO himself wanted a meeting with us." Mr. Lopez said. "Then the CEO must be really an elderly one like us or maybe older than us." Lucinda''s father joked which made father Lopez laugh at his friend''s comment. In between his laughter, Mr. Lopez said, "Actually.. It''s quite opposite to your imagination. The CEO is nothing like a elder person but a young man of his late twenties like Reuben, Neil and Henry. I read about him in the internet while checking on the best textile companies." "Well, then let''s see how much capable of a man he is." Mr. Wilson said. Before the two friends could continue more, another knock interrupted them and soon a fine looking gentleman in his dark brown suit approached them.. "Hello Mr. Lopez and Mr. Wilson.." Chapter 296 - Specific reasons... Before the two friends could continue more, another knock interrupted them and soon a fine looking gentleman in his dark brown suit approached them.. "Hello Mr. Lopez and Mr. Wilson. It''s nice to meet both of you together. I think I should thank my luck for letting me meet not only one but two respecting business persons together. However, I''m Cole Parker¡­the CEO of Parker Textiles." When Cole entered the cabin, he was surprised to see another man same age of Mr. Lopez sitting across him. But as he had already made a overall checking on every famous businessmen of city S, he recognized him immediately and greeted him politely along with Mr. Lopez. "Hello, Mr. Parker. It''s nice to meet you too. Please take a seat." Mr. Lopez said. Sitting across Mr. Lopez, Cole said, "Thank for accepting my request for this meeting with you." Mr. Lopez nodded and said, "So what can I do for you young man?" "Sir.. I''ve heard that you''re opening your first ever fashion line soon. So I''ve come here to request you to give our company a chance to produce raw materials to your company." Cole said confidently. "You''re quite straightforward Mr. Parker and I like that about you. But getting a business deal with us about such a big reason, would be quite difficult for you... You must know that I never played with my company''s image in my whole life so I wouldn''t do that too just because you requested me to give you a chance. So if you really want to be a partner of us then...on what basis should I choose you? What speciality does your company have that other doesn''t?" Mr. Lopez asked him very professionally. Though he was well aware of the good reputation of Parker Textiles but still he would not judge anyone just by his name. He would examine the true potential of the person or company first before involving his company with anyone. Cole very well knew that if he wanted a merger between his company and Lopez Industries then he had to put all of his conversation skill on this. So without getting nervous, he smiled confidently and said, "Yes sir, I understand your situation. So I''d like to show you few different types of materials to you which would help you to take a decision." Cole indicated his assistant to show few raw materials which were the special edition of Parker Textiles. Both Mr. Lopez and Mr. Wilson was satisfied with it but needed the confirmation from a specialist in this matter... So Mr. Lopez asked his assistant to call for Jack as Diana was busy in preparing Lucinda''s dress. Few minutes later, Jack entered and said, "Sir you''ve called me?" "Yes Jack. I need you to help me in inspecting the quality of these raw clothes materials. However Jack, he is Mr. Cole Parker, the CEO of Parker Textiles and Mr. Parker, he is the team head of our fashion department. He is right now working under our Head designer." Mr. Lopez introduced both guys. Cole smiled at Jack and shook his hand with him without knowing that he was going to be the biggest enemy of his life soon... After checking the threads of the samples, Jack said, "Sir, the quality of the material is really good. Even it''d be the best for our collection of summer dresses." "Fine Jack, you can leave then." Father Lopez said. After Jack left, Mr. Lopez smiled before saying, "Then the deal is sealed. I''ll inform my lawyer to make a contract so that we could sign it off as soon as possible. But before that, tell me about your demands." Coming into a mutual agreement and some talks about their companies, they decided to sign the deal on the next day which made both of them happy. "I''m really impressed seeing your working ethics. However, as you''ve told that you''re shifting your company here so any specific reason for it?" Mr. Lopez asked. "Actually sir, I wanted to grow my company''s reputation bigger by bringing it on a national level. Though there is another reason of shifting which is my best friend Alonzo Brown." Cole said. "Oh! So you''re Alonzo''s friend?" Mr. Wilson asked who was sitting there all quietly till now. "Yes.. Both I and Alonzo are childhood friends." Cole confirmed. Mr. Wilson nodded his head and said, "Okay then. This Thursday is my daughter''s engagement so do come as I also invited your friend there." "Sure sir. I''ll definitely come." Cole said feeling proud of himself. ---- The very same day, evening time... Diana''s cabin... Diana welcomed her friends Veronica and Lucinda but what caught her attention was a new face which she wasn''t familiar with at all. "Hey guys. Take a seat please. Where is Willa and Louis? And who is she?" Diana asked. "Well, both Louis and Willa are busy with some projects. And she is Myra Brown..our new friend. You know what she is from city B.." Lucinda introduced. Diana was flabbergasted with the new information but anyways smiled at Myra, "Hello Myra. I''m Diana." "Hey Diana¡­ It''s nice to meet you. I heard a lot of things about you from Vero and Lucy. while coming here.." Myra replied with a smile. "I hope all you''ve heard from them are good things about me." Diana joked while everyone laughed. "Nah.. We only told her about how bad you are.." Veronica joked after sitting on the couch beside Diana. Diana pouted at this and whined, "Come on Vero. You know that you can never say anything bad about me." Veronica chuckled at her and asked, "So all prepared?" "Yes... The initial part is done. And the rest will be completed by tomorrow night. I''ll bring the dress on Thursday morning to check the fittings." Diana said putting on a smile. "Can I see the dress for once?" Lucinda asked, getting excited. "Of course Lucy. After all, it''s your dress so you don''t have to ask." Diana said and called Jack to bring the dress... Chapter 297 - Expectations mark... "Of course Lucy. After all, it''s your dress so you don''t have to ask." Diana said and called Jack to bring the dress.. "Hey Diana.. Here is the dress." Jack said showing the incomplete gown to Diana. Seeing it, Lucinda was already in aww with it. Though it had only been stitched in the actual shape and a few ruffles was added in it but still it was looking very pretty. "Oh My God! Without the real work still undone, the gown is already looking so beautiful. I don''t know how majestic it will look after you add those beautiful designs of yours." Lucinda complimented. Diana smiled and said, "Don''t worry Lucy. I''ll make the best dress for you." "Okay then.." Lucinda said. "I''m happy that you like that. Actually it''s a relief for you Diana that Lucy loved it.. Otherwise you don''t know about her tantrums in choosing dresses." Veronica teased while Lucinda just glared at her. "Yeah.. I also witnessed Lucy''s shopping spree recently and let me tell you Diana, it''s up to my expectations mark." Myra also joked, bringing attention on her from a certain someone. Lucinda scowled at them when she saw that Myra also joined Veronica in making fun of her. "Diana... Leave these two women and let''s decide on my accessories." Lucinda said. Diana smiled and suddenly remembered that she forgot to introduce Jack to the girls.. "Hey guys.. I forgot to introduce him to you. He is Jack Evans, the team head. He''s also helping me in preparing this awesome engagement dress of our cute Lucinda." Diana said. "Ah!! Don''t worry about the introduction Diana. Both me and Lucinda had known Jack from before. Only Myra is the one here who hadn''t met him till now." Veronica said. Lucinda smiled and said, "So how are you Jack? All good?" "Yeah everything is good. Tell me about you both." Jack asked. "Well, we''re fine. And as you can see Lucy is on cloud nine right now." Veronica again pulled her bestie''s leg. Jack laughed and said, "You both can''t ever change. However who is this beautiful lady here?" Veronica looked at her left side where Myra was sitting and said, "Oh!!! She is Myra Brown¡­our friend." "Hey Myra. It''s nice to meet you and I must say you''re very beautiful." Jack flirted with her before giving her his hand for a handshake. Myra blushed at his flirting and shook her hand with his shyly before saying, "It''s nice to meet you too." Jack was clean bowled as soon as he heard Myra''s voice as he kept looking at her with heart in his eyes. He was not only mesmerized by her beauty but also by her voice along with her elegance. Yeah¡­. He dated many girls before but never been in an actual relationship as no girls could attract him towards them in a special way. All of them were just his flings and nothing more than that. But here the case was completely different. As soon as his gaze landed on Myra, he was captivated by her beauty. She looked like a girl with whom any man could think of having a stable relationship where no offsprings were allowed. Veronica, Lucinda and Diana noticed the glitter in Jack''s eyes for Myra when they had an eye contact with each other and the little spark between them also didn''t go unavoided by them. "Ahem.. Ahem.. Sorry to break your dreamland Jack but you''re coming to my engagement party, right?" Lucinda asked, showing an expression of ''don''t you dare to deny'' on her face. Jack visibly gulped, noticing Lucinda''s threatening gaze and said, "No.. I''ll not be an absent student there as my teacher here is very strict." This made the girls laughed senselessly where Jack just kept looking at Myra whose laughter was not less melodious than a sweet chirping bird... Veronica broke his bubble of imagination in a fraction of second and said, "Obviously.. Jack has to come there otherwise I''ll tell my Dad to not give him this month''s bonus. Moreover, he has to attend the party as Myra is also coming." Though Myra couldn''t able to understand why Veronica was saying stuffs like this but Jack got a clear idea of Veronica''s meaning when he noticed the teasing smile on her face. "Guys¡­ You just told me that you knew Jack from before but I never knew that you guys are this much close to joke around. Is there something that I''m missing?" Diana asked in her confused state as she couldn''t decipher about the relationship that her friends had with her team head. "Let me answer this for you. Actually Jack is Veronica''s dear cousin brother from her mother''s side. They are actually siblings if you want to be more specific." Lucinda said. "What?? You are Veronica''s cousin? Like really?" Diana asked being completely shocked. Veronica laughed at Diana''s shocked face and said, "Yeah.. He''s my lovely cousin. Actually he''s a far relative of mine but we share a very good bond. My Mom has a cousin sister and and is her son. So practically he''s the son of my maternal aunt... I know the verbal relationship between me and Jack is really complicated. But trust me, emotionally we''re very much attached to each other." Diana was totally dumbfounded with so much revealation in a single day and Myra was nothing less shocked than her. She never knew that Veronica had a cousin who was as handsome like a Hollywood actor... "If you are really Vero''s cousin, then why are you working in this company just as a team head?" Diana asked. Jack gave her a twisted grin and said, "Well, that''s a quite long story to tell. It''d take a lot of time to reveal everything as time is precious and it doesn''t stop for anyone.. After the fiasco of Lucy''s engagement ends, I''ll tell you everything elaborately. Then you have to listen to my full story without losing your patience and any complain. Now I''ve work to do." Chapter 298 - Bow down to his manly ego... "After the fiasco of Lucy''s engagement ends, I''ll tell you everything elaborately. Then you have to listen to my full story without losing your patience and any complain. Now I''ve work to do." "Okay fine.." Diana said. Jack hugged Veronica and Lucinda before leaving when Veronica reminded him, "You have to come in the morning first. We have a lot of arrangements to do. I don''t want anymore arguments regarding this. Do you get it, bro??" Lucinda also agreed with her bestie and said, "Yeah.. Niccy is right, Jack. You already missed so many gatherings and meet ups. But this time, I''ll not allow you to miss it. After all, it''s one of the most special day of my life. Even the boys miss you." "Fine.. Fine.. I''ll come early morning. I really won''t give you any chance to complain." Jack said. "Good boy." Veronica said and ruffled his hair. "For god''s sake Vero. Don''t waste my ten minutes of hard work by ruffling my hair. You don''t know how much time I spend everyday to set my hair stylishly. Moreover, don''t forget that I''m the elder one between us...not you.." Jack glared at her but it was as fake as the idea of Sun moving around the earth.. Veronica chuckled at him and said, "Okay.. I''m letting you go for today. But you''ll not be able to get out of my hand this Thursday. I''ll gang up against you with my whole team." Jack laughed at her and said, "Let''s see then. Now bye guys." Turning towards Myra for the last time, Jack said, "Bye Myra. We''ll meet again on the day after tomorrow." "Yeah bye.. See you soon." Myra said to him with a small smile which was enough to take Jack''s breath away from his lungs. After Jack left with the dress, Diana looked at Veronica and asked hesitatingly, "Vero.. Don''t think that I''m blaming you but I''m just curious about something. I was not in my right sense to ask you yesterday... But now that my mind is clear, a question is disturbing me very much. Why did you hide your true identity from me while studying in city B?" Veronica knew that this question was about to throw on her anytime so she was already prepared to reply. But she was uncertain about the fact that why Diana hadn''t asked it the moment they had entered her cabin today. Still she smiled and held her hands before saying, "The one thing I regret the most in my life, is to hide the truth about my identity. It was not only you from whom I''ve hid everything but I didn''t disclose about myself to anyone while living in city B. And that was my biggest mistake¡­" "I know that you hid your identity from us but why would it be your biggest mistake? I''m sure there was some reason behind it." Diana said. "Yeah.. You''re right that there were some reasons. Actually I wanted to live my life freely as a normal girl¡­not like some rich heiress. I wanted to taste the life of a normal college student. However, my one decision led me to many unwanted things¡­ If I wasn''t so much selfish that time then I''d be able to protect you from that Frank and his torture. I could also save Alex from dying.." Veronica sighed at the memory of her dead friend. Diana couldn''t understand the last part and asked, "First if all, it''s not your fault about me bearing those tortures. Secondly, who is this Alex now?" "Well, that''s another long story to¡­" But before Lucinda could complete her sentence, Myra said, "Alex was my big brother whose existence was totally unknown to me till few weeks ago." "What do you mean?" Diana questioned. Veronica then narrated the whole story of Alex and Alonzo to Diana while Lucinda and Myra helped Vero in middle by pointing out those things she missed to tell... After hearing the whole story, Diana was perplexed about the thought...if this kind of thing was really possible or not. "I''m sorry to say Myra.. But whatever your brother Alonzo did was extremely wrong. Actually it was a big sin. Though his twin Alex was at fault too but I don''t want to comment on a dead person." Diana uttered. Myra took a long breath and said, "I know... And my brother is repenting on his past actions right now." Listening to Alonzo repenting on his acts, Veronica just rolled her eyes as she believed that he was not a man to change his personality, at least in this lifetime... According to Veronica, Alonzo was not a guy who would bow down to his manly ego, specially after learning that he tried to challenge Reuben regarding her.. "Guys.. Let''s not talk about these again. It''ll just lower our mood." Veronica said to divert them from the topic and as per her plan, the girls started talking about random things... ---- Love-Paradise¡­ The same night¡­ Veronica was putting on her night cream when her phone rang. Seeing that it was Lucinda, her brows furrowed together as she didn''t expect her to call her at that time because of their afternoon meet up at Lopez Industries. "Hey Lucy.. What''s up?" Veronica asked sitting beside Reuben who was busy in playing games on his phone. "Niccy¡­ I''ve a bad news to tell you." Lucinda said from the other side of the phone. Veronica''s eyebrows arched up and a confusion took over her face as she asked to confirm about what Lucinda just had said, "Bad news??" Reuben''s ear perked up when he heard it and he looked at Veronica questioningly while she just shook her head telling Reuben not to worry and to continue playing his game... Knowing that, it was nothing bigger as Veronica wasn''t that much tensed, Reuben continued with his game. Veronica heard a exasperated sigh from Lucinda before she said, "Dad had invited Cole Parker to my engagement party.." Chapter 299 - Jokers hilarious acts... Veronica heard a exasperated sigh from Lucinda before she said, "Dad had invited Cole Parker to my engagement party.." "What?? Are you serious?" Veronica asked, being irked with the sudden revelation. Reuben again turned his face towards Veronica mouthing to her, ''What happened?'' Veronica read his lips and mouthed back, ''I will tell you later.'' Nodding his head at her, Reuben busied himself in his phone again while Veronica became confused about few things. "Yes. I''m deadly serious. Why would I joke about a man whom I don''t even know or more like I hate?" Lucinda asked. Sighing at the news, Veronica said, "Yeah.. That''s also right. But the question is why did Uncle suddenly invite Cole Parker in your engagement party? Most importantly, how did they get to know each other?" Lucinda heard the question and immediately replied, "Dad visited uncle Lopez today at his office and at the same moment Cole had arrived with a proposal idea regarding the fashion showroom and it seemed to be a great idea.. Both Dad and Uncle got very much impressed by him and as a result, uncle accepted the proposal and my Dad invited him to the party." "Hmmm¡­. So this is what had happened. If both of our fathers were really impressed by him, that''s mean Cole is indeed a good communicator and businessman." Veronica said. "Seems like so... But the problem is how Myra would feel in the presence of Cole. Oh! I forgot to tell you one more thing. Dad even invited that Alonzo also. I don''t know what suddenly happened to Dad that he is choosing all the wrong guys¡­ Thankfully, I already have a boyfriend who is soon going to be my fiance, my Henry. Otherwise, I don''t know if Dad would bring another stupid guy as a candidate of my future husband." Lucinda joked in between her serious talks. *Hahaha* As Lucinda half joked, Veronica busted in laughter on the other side. She never imagined that Lucinda would pick out such kind of topic on a fun basis.. "Gosh Lucy!! You''re so savage. Don''t worry about your future husband as the place had already gotten booked by Henry. Moreover, he wouldn''t ever allow anyone to even touch the position of your boyfriend...so husband is totally out of the option." Veronica joked back. "Yeah¡­ right." Lucinda said smilingly, remembering her boyfriend. "By the way¡­ On a serious note, you told me that Alonzo will also attend the party but you don''t have to worry about him. I don''t give him a single damn shit so there is nothing to become tensed. It''s true that he was once my friend but not anymore. Now, I hate him with all my guts... But the question is about Myra. Really I don''t know how she will react when she''d see him. But somehow I think it''s a good thing that Cole will also be attending the party." Veronica said thinking about something in her head. Lucinda became bemused with the thought of something good about Cole''s presence but couldn''t find any answer about it. So she directly asked, "How can it be good with Cole taking part in the party?" "Well¡­about that I''m not completely sure if Myra could handle him properly and be neutral with his presence without showing any kind of feelings like hurt and betrayal on her face¡­ But we all, including Myra herself know that she has to move on one day or another. She can''t ruin her life just being conscious about Cole. So it''s a good chance for her to recover from her past when we all will be with her... At least, it''s better than facing Cole alone without anyone''s presence. It would be more difficult for her to handle the matter without our support, being all lonely.." Veronica described Lucinda about the good and bad consequences of Cole joining them on Thursday. Lucinda couldn''t believe that Veronica could come out with something positive about this matter... She was well aware about Veronica''s sharp brain which worked in a rocket like speed but she never thought of bringing out such an amazing idea out of this serious matter. "Actually, you''re very much accurate on whatever you said. Now that you made such a good suggestion, I think it''d not be any big problem for Myra too after she got to know about this... After all, we are always with her to support and protect her from evil bitches like Regina and bastards like Cole.." Lucinda muttered. "I know that, right? But let''s not inform Myra about Cole right now...otherwise she will be worried without any particular reasons. We can tell her about this on the morning of your engagement." Veronica said. "I was about to say the same.." Lucinda laughed, making Veronica giggle at her best friend. After hanging up the call, Veronica looked at Reuben who was looking at her with so much admiration in his eyes that she could feel the overflow of her emotions in her heart. "I''m so much proud of you, Ica..." Reuben said embracing her into a tight yet comforting hug. "Proud about what?" Veronica asked. "Proud about everything you do. I heard your conversation with Lucy and the advice you had given, is really worthy of a good praise." Reuben mumbled as he kissed on her forehead. Veronica smiled in his embrace and said, "That''s because you''re always there to love and cherish me.." "So Alonzo is also coming. But what about that fiance of his? I mean the lady who had painted her face with all kind of colours on the shopping day.." Reuben said scrunching his nose remembering her. "Her name is Regina and I think she''d also come as Cole is her brother." Veronica said. "Yeah.. whatever. I don''t know how that Cole handles her. If I had a sister like that I''d surely give her a piece of taste of my angry mind." Reuben scowled in distaste at the mention of Regina. Veronica laughed at Reuben''s expression which was nothing less funnier than a joker''s hilarious acts which was shown only in circus and said, "Now that you bring up this, I suddenly remembered something funny..." Chapter 300 - Stress reliever... Veronica laughed at Reuben''s expression which was nothing less funnier than a joker''s hilarious acts which was shown only in circus and said, "Now that you bring up this, I suddenly remembered something really funny..." "Really? What''s that? Come on tell me as I also want to laugh along with you.. I''m getting all excited and hyper.." Reuben poked on Veronica''s tummy urging her to tell him a funny story that she had just mentioned. Veronica chuckled when she felt tickling effect on her stomach where Reuben was poking her softly. Tapping on his nose, Veronica said, "Fine.. I''ll tell you. But stop poking." After Reuben stopped his finger moving around Veronica''s tummy and sat up properly, Veronica started describing, "You know when we went for shopping that day.. we were very much hungry so went to the food plaza as I had told you earlier.." "Yeah.. what''s funny in this?" Reuben asked pulling her on his lap. Veronica made herself comfortable properly on Reuben''s lap and then pinched his cheek before saying, "Will you let me complete? If you continue talking in middle then I''m not going to tell you anything." "Okay. Fine, tell me." Reuben said and pulled Veronica more towards him so that both of their bodies completely entangled with each other. Smirking at his excited face, Veronica narrated, "When we were ordering for our food, the four of us, ordered something more cheesy and heavy food like pizzas and burgers... But can you guess what that Regina had ordered for herself?" When Reuben shook his head saying ''No'', Veronica almost shouted at him, "She ordered a veg sandwich. I mean veg sandwich is also tasty.. but didn''t order any simple one which is¡­. A freaking veg sandwich without any cheese and mayonnaise¡­only made with some veggies and black sault. She didn''t even let them sprinkle some black paper in it.. How can someone eat that bland thing and specially for lunch?" Making an yuck face while remembering the veg sandwich, Veronica shook her head and said, "Not only that, when we sat at Lucy''s caf¨¦¡­then also she drank black coffee without any sugar. Eeeewww!!!! Maybe realising our weird glances at her, she clarified that she is a supermodel and very much famous. So she doesn''t want to ruin her figure. She must control her diet plan. Like seriously??" More than listening to Veronica''s complain against Regina''s food habits, Reuben was more focused on analysing each and every expressions which she was making while describing the thinks she didn''t like... Couldn''t able to control his laughter, Reuben burst out in a fraction of second, making Veronica also laugh with him. Reuben placed his head on Veronica''s shoulder and continued laughing while hugging her tightly when Veronica suddenly said, "See.. I told you nah that you''d also find it funny. Now look at your laughing face.." Tilting his head up, Reuben observed Veronica more and finally couldn''t able to handle her cuteness anymore, he smashed her lips on her which accelerated to another level... ----- Wilson Mansion¡­ Two days passed hurriedly and it was finally Lucinda and Henry''s engagement day. The party was supposed to happen in Smith''s Paradise Hotel but Lucinda insisted to plan it in her home as she wanted to step into her new relationship with Henry right at that place where she had spent her twenty six years of life... Everyone agreed with her request as it was not something big deal for them¡­even it made Mr. and Mrs. Wilson happier... Veronica and Willa had already arrived early morning to help Lucinda in her beauty treatments and also get chilled up themselves. The party was to take place in the evening so everyone would come at evening. Only the friends of the soon to be engaged couples were present in the morning as they had many stuffs to handle to make the party more amazing and extravagant. Girls were already with Lucinda whereas the boys were helping Henry to look after the decoration and other things. Jack was driving Diana here as the gown for Lucinda was at Diana''s apartment. So Jack was helping her out. They were already on the way and could arrive there at any moment. Myra also called to inform that she had also left her home so it would take her hardly twenty minutes to reach... ---- Inside Lucinda''s room¡­ Lucinda was pacing around the room from past half an hour as if she had planted a wheel under her legs. She was murmuring something continuously and cracking her knuckles while moving from here to there.. Nervousness was evident on her face and she was covered with sweat even though the temperature of the air conditioner was extremely low.. Both Veronica and Willa was observing her pacing act quietly without uttering a single thing so that they won''t disturb Lucinda in her own nervous moment. Truthfully, they were enjoying their best friend''s anxious state while making a video of her secretly in their phone to show her later and make fun of it... The girls were giggling lightly when Lucinda suddenly snapped at them like a tigress, "You two girls¡­ Aren''t you guys my friends?" Both of them looked at Lucinda, pretending to be extremely innocent and said, "Obviously, we''re your friends. Are you doubting our friendship now?" "Actually, you guys are right. I''m now doubting both of you thinking that if you''re really my friends or not.." Lucinda retorted back. "Uh¡­Huh!! Our cute Lucy Darling.. You shouldn''t doubt your friends in your life. They are your all time stress reliever and well wisher.." Veronica muttered while battling her eyelashes at Lucinda to make her innocence look more obvious to her, making Willa chuckle at her. Lucinda glared at her bestie and threw loads of daggers at her with her raging eyes. If a single glare could kill any person, then Veronica would have died hundreds of times till now. "Is that so? If you guys are really stress reliever then why are you guys sitting there silently? Aren''t you guys supposed to help me to calm my nerves but here¡­." Chapter 301 - Torturous skill... "Is that so? If you guys are really stress reliever then why are you guys sitting there silently? Aren''t you guys supposed to help me to calm my nerves but here¡­." Lucinda was about to say something when Willa cut her in midway and completed her sentence¡­ "Here we are laughing at you...right?" "Hell right!! Now come on give me some motivational speech like the other friends do. Come on, hurry up.." Lucinda literally ordered them. Veronica and Willa shared a glance at each other and then turned their faces towards Lucinda before again bursting out in a pool of laughter. Looking at the laughing faces of the girls, Lucinda yelled on them, "You guys are gone now. Both of you''re dying by my hand today." As soon as the words left from Lucinda''s mouth, she jumped on the bed and started hitting them with a pillow. Though Willa and Veronica hadn''t expected the sudden fiery attack of Lucinda but still they gained their energy back and picking up two others pillows in their hands, they started hitting Lucinda back... Soon it turned into a pillow fight between the three girls and the room erupted in huge laughter. The three besties kept fighting with each other but in a harmless manner without caring about anything.. At this moment, the door got opened and a yelp came out of the intruder''s mouth. The girls were so much indulged into their sweet yet naughty moment that they didn''t hear the sound but they got into a completely silent mode when they heard the anger filled voice of an elderly lady... "What are you girls doing? Look what have you done to the room. Everything is upside down here... You girls are already so grown up that two of you have boyfriends and another one is going to get engaged today. But if someone look at you guys, then they will stamp you as some children.." Lucinda''s mother, Mrs. Wilson shouted. "Hehehe Aunt.. don''t get angry on us please. We''re just trying to make your nervous daughter get relieved. Right now her system is full of tension, anxiety and worries... That''s why we are just having some pillow fight to make her forget all of these stupid thoughts so that she can relax a bit." Veronica pouted sweetly as she described the whole thing. Mrs. Wilson smiled at Veronica as her cuteness level was on it''s peak and said, "Alright.. Do whatever you guys want to. I just came to ask if you guys need some snacks or anything else." "I want choco-ch.i.p.s pastry." Veronica announced raising her right hand in air like a child, making Mrs. Wilson laugh. "Me too." Willa said. "But I want to eat.." Again before Lucinda could say something, Veronica interrupted.. "You''re on a fast today. Girls shouldn''t eat on their engagement day. So you''re not going to eat anything." Veronica joked, winking at Willa and Mrs. Wilson who just laughed it off. Lucinda slapped Veronica on her shoulder and said, "You just shut up. If anyone should eat the most today...then it should be me. And Mom I want butterscotch ice-cream." Chuckling at the cute and childish behavior of those three girls, Mrs. Wilson said, "Fine.. I''m sending these in a few minutes by someone." The girls excitedly nodded their heads as an approval. After Mrs. Wilson left the room by shutting the door close, three of them fell on the bed together, lying on the soft mattress on their back as they kept looking at the white ceiling.. "Time passes so fast, nah? It''s like just yesterday we born then we become friends without knowing anything about friendship in our toddler age. Then our friendship grew more at school and the bond grew stronger... For higher studies, we chose different courses but still our friendship hadn''t weakened. Then Willa entered in our life and our friend zone got more stronger and powerful... And now we''re already committed with our new life and own lovers who love us more than their own lives.." Veronica said while remembering the memories of her childhood and then a.d.u.l.thood. Lucinda smiled when she heard this and spoke in a low voice, "Yeah.. Who would''ve thought before that today the three of us would be in love with those three boys...with whom we fought for every single thing in the past.." This made Willa broke into a big smile as she thought about Neil and said, "Exactly.. Specially in my case, I''ve never thought that I''d date a guy like Neil one day. But look where fate has brought us today.." Silence passed through the room as the three best friends chose to not say anything and savour the peacefulness of the pleasant atmosphere by gazing at the ceiling. But few minutes later, Veronica broke the silence when she remembered something in her wonderful mind and asked, "Even we''ve changed so much in these years¡­but one thing still hadn''t changed yet nor will change even in future.. Do you guys have any idea about it?" Lucinda turned her face at her left side to look at Veronica with puzzled expression whereas Willa turned to her right as Veronica was lying between both of them. "No.. I don''t have idea about what are you talking.. It can''t be our friendship because it gets stronger each passing day. Then what is it?" Willa couldn''t guess it even after trying for few minutes. "Ditto.. I also can''t think of anything." Lucinda too replied. Veronica gave them both a mischievous smile and muttered slyly, "The thing which hadn''t changed is our torturous skill over the boys. In the past also , we disturbed them like some evil witches and now too... Even the amount of torment on them had only increased day by day. Our poor boyfriends!! Sometimes I really want to salute them for tolerating our tantrums regularly.." This made the walls of the room resonated with another fits of laughter... "Well, I have to agree on that." Willa said while laughing. "Actually... It''s one of a hell like truth.." Lucinda said while trying to inhale some air as she was out of breath because of laughing too hard but stopped when a knock interrupted them... Chapter 302 - Fill his tummy with our love stories... "Actually... It''s one of a hell like truth.." Lucinda said while trying to inhale some air as she was out of breath because of laughing too hard but stopped when a knock interrupted them... Lucinda thought it must me some maid who had come to deliver their snacks so she just said, "Yes¡­ Come in please.." "Woah!! What''s with you guys?" As soon as the door opened, an amus.e.m.e.nt filled voice of Diana came out. The three girls looked at the door and found Diana and Willa standing at the door with a stupefied expression. "Hey guys.. Come in.." Lucinda greeted them. Both Lucinda and Willa entered, followed by a maid who kept a tray filled with snacks for the five of them. As they sat on the bed along with Veronica, Willa and Lucinda, Myra commented, "Your house is really beautiful." Lucinda smiled and said, "Thank you." Veronica looked that there was five bowls on the tray which was consisted with three bowls having pastries and other two were filled with butterscotch ice-cream. "So aunty had already met you two downstairs?" Veronica asked taking two pastry bowls in her hands and passing one to Willa while keeping the other for herself. "Yeah.. We already met Aunt downstairs. She is so jovial. There she asked us what would we liked to have...pastries or ice-cream, so I chose pastry and Myra chose ice-cream." Diana said placing the big package on the chair that was kept beside the bed. "Oh!! That''s good. Now don''t waste your time and eat up." Lucinda said having a spoonful of her ice-cream. Willa chuckled and asked, "By the way, how had both of you arrived here together and where is Jack?" Myra kept the spoon inside the bowl and said, "When my driver dropped me here, I noticed Diana and Jack entering too. So we came here together." Diana gulped the tasty pastry and said, "Jack said that he''ll meet you guys later as he wants to have a chat with the boys first. But I don''t know where did he go.." "Oh.!! Leave it then. They must be in back garden." Lucinda said. ---- Backwards¡­ "What''s up guys?" A voice made the four boys look at it''s source and seeing the person, all of their faces bloomed up into a smile. Jack went towards them and all the men jumped on him, engulfing him a group hug. "You asshole.. Finally you got the time to meet us?" Reuben punched Jack on his shoulder. "Yeah.. Just look at this bastard. He couldn''t even take out some time to hang out with us and now he''s showing his face so proudly." Neil mocked. "Not only that, we even had to fill his tummy with our love stories on phone.. Humph!!" Henry showed his displeasure. Louis grinned at them and said, "Well, I''ve already met him whenever I went to Lopez Industries. So I don''t have any complain against him." Jack just laughed at them as he saw that both Reuben and Neil were giving Louis a sharp glare whereas Henry just gave him a hard slap on his head. "Guys.. I''m really sorry. I was too much busy for past few days. But now that I''m here, I promise to attend all the gatherings from now on." Jack said. "Good for you.." Reuben, Henry and Neil said together and pulled Jack in another round of hug. "Hey...take me in too¡­" Louis pouted but the boys ignored them so he just pounced on them.. ---- Lucinda''s room... After they were done with their snacks, Willa excitedly said, "Hey Diana.. Show us the gown first. I can''t wait anymore to see your marvelous work." Diana giggled at them and opened the package to show them her beautiful creation which would be worn by Lucinda. As soon as they saw the beautiful gown, all of them were in complete aww. It was so much unique yet pretty that their eyes just bulged out in appreciation... "WOW!!!!" Only this single word came out of everyone''s mouth. "So¡­how is it?" Diana asked expectantly to the four girls, waiting for an appraisal. Without saying anything, Lucinda just hugged Diana tightly and whispered, "It''s so much beautiful that I don''t have any words to describe my feelings by mere words. Thank You so much Diana." "I too agree." The girls said altogether. Diana smiled and everyone felt happy that the original dress came out two times more prettier than the sketches... Veronica was also smiling but when she remembered Lucinda''s phone call two days ago, her facial expression changed immediately. She knew that it was the time to tell Myra everything. "Uhmmm¡­Myra¡­ I''ve something to tell you or rather inform you." Veronica said gaining everyone''s attention whereas Lucinda understood instantly what her bestie wanted to inform right now, just by seeing her face. Myra smiled at Veronica softly and said, "Yeah Vero.. Tell me what happened?" Lucinda decided to spoke up this time, "Actually Myra. My Dad had also invited Cole Parker along with your brother Alonzo. So we were just thinking if you''d be comfortable around him." At the mention of Cole, Myra''s face paled as she still hadn''t gotten over the fear of meeting Cole face to face after their break up over months. But still she smiled and replied, "Don''t worry guys. I''ll handle it in my way. I won''t let him give the chance to overpower my emotions anymore." "It''s good then.. But keep it in your mind that we''re always with you. So don''t think yourself as alone." Willa said. Myra just nodded at them and gave them all a thankful smile which expressed how much she was feeling fortunate to be friends with them. "Guys.. Who is this Cole now?" Diana asked Diana sighed and said, "He is my ex boyfriend. We both knew each other from childhood and eventually fell in love. But.." As Myra narrated everything to Diana again, Diana felt extremely angry. "What a big jerk he is.. How can he cheat on such a good girl like you?" Diana huffed. But suddenly some noise from outside snatched their attention and they noticed someone''s presence there. Myra was shocked to see him there at the moment and soon tears pricked up in her eyes¡­ Chapter 303 - Truthfulness amidst his joke... Myra was shocked to see him there at the moment and soon tears pricked up in her eyes as she hadn''t imagined that her past would get revealed to another man whom she had met only for once... "Uhmm¡­ I''m sorry. I didn''t want to eavesdrop. It''s just that I came to meet you guys but accidentally heard whatever you guys discussed... And Myra I''m really sorry for it. If you want then I can just pretend that I never heard anything." Jack sincerely apologised. Myra looked directly into his eyes and found only honesty in them which she had failed to see in Cole''s eyes every time. Might be because Cole was always dishonest to her... She gave him a faint smile and said, "You don''t have to say sorry. Actually I was just shocked to see you here all suddenly... I don''t mind about you hearing everything. It was just an ugly past of mine which I''m trying to overcome currently. So no need to apologise. It''s completely fine." Jack gave her a warm smile and joked, "Thankfully, you''re not angry on me. Otherwise, I''d die in heartache." Everyone laughed at his comment but it was only Veronica who saw the truthfulness in his words amidst his joke... She knew that though Jack said this to make the situation a bit lighter but his eyes conveyed something else which was kind of a promise to never make Myra cry again¡­the same she always observed in Reuben''s eyes for her. "Where are others by the way?" Willa asked Jack. "Oh ho!! Our Willa seemed to be more excited on others or rather like on someone special more than me? Are you asking about everyone or just signalling about your Neil only?" Jack teased her which made her cheeks flushed in red. "Stop teasing my girl otherwise I''ll show you the true example of bullying." Neil''s threatening voice entered into everyone''s ear as all of them looked behind Jack, only to find the four handsome men standing at the door. Jack snickered at him and said, "Huh?? Was Reuben and Henry less that you also joined into the Over possessive boyfriend team?" "What will you understand when you don''t have a girlfriend.." Reuben mocked Jack and came inside Lucinda''s room passing by him. Diana just kept ogling at the godlike men who were not less good looking than a Greek God. Hell!! they could be some cover page models of any big fashion magazine... Even if they would wear the worst dress, people would still go crazy over them. Jack roared, "Are you right now mocking me?" Reuben swiftly moved towards Veronica and laid his half body part on the bed before placing his head on Veronica''s lap. Veronica automatically started running her hands in his hair while Reuben replied, "Yeah.. I''m mocking you openly. What will you do?" "Hahaha.. Jack bro.. It''s good that you''ve come here. Now I don''t have to listen to their insults alone for being single.." Louis laughed while saying this. "Still we will insult you.." Henry said as both he and Neil went towards their partners and pulled them in a side hug before kissing on their foreheads. Myra had already seen their lovey dobey moments before, so it was less shocking for her but Diana''s expression was telling a completely different story... Her jaw had dropped down so much as if it could touch the floor any moment whereas her eyes were widened tremendously in shock that the eyeballs could pop out of the socket at any time. Veronica noticed the amused expression of Diana and she face-palmed herself mentally for forgetting to introduce these three men to her. However, Veronica was at least a little bit relaxed knowing that Diana had already met Louis before whereas Jack was her colleague. Louis huffed at his big brothers and sat beside Diana which broke Diana from her wonderland while Jack asked Myra if he could sit beside her on the chair and in return, he got a shy nod from her... "Uhmm¡­.. So Diana, let me introduce you to them. This handsome man who is right now half lying on me with his eyes closed, is none other than my cute and sweet boyfriend, Reuben." Veronica introduced. Whereas hearing the name Diana, Reuben opened his eyes and looked at her. He found her really beautiful as like Veronica described but not more than his girlfriend... His Ica was the best in every aspect and no one could change the fact... "Hey Diana. Nice to meet you. I''ve been hearing about you from the past five years from your friend. So I was kinda waiting eagerly to meet you but now the wait is finally over.." Reuben smiled and sat up a little balancing on his elbow before stretching his other hand out for a handshake. Diana smiled back at him and shook his hand before saying, "As you already said that Vero has filled your ears about me, so there is nothing to tell. But I''m surely surprised to meet you. So are you a couple from past five years?" Veronica beamed and said, "Actually we''re childhood friends and then became lovers around five years ago.." "Oh!" Diana said as she didn''t know what to say. "Well, the story is same for me and Henry. But the only difference is that we became a couple two months ago though both of us loved each other from years... Ah!! I forgot.. Meet my dear boyfie and my soon to be fiance Henry Johnson. And Henry, she''s Diana. I told you about her remember?" Lucinda said. Henry chuckled at Lucinda''s excitement and shook Diana''s hand while greeting her. Neil then urged Willa, "Babe.. Will you not introduce me to your new friend?" Willa shyly nodded before saying, "Diana.. He is Neil Wilson¡­my lovely boyfriend and also Lucinda''s elder brother." Neil felt elated hearing Willa using an endearment while introducing him and happily talked with Diana.. "Woah!! One couple was enough to feed us dogfood. Now two others joined them. Louis, I''m telling you, we''re now doomed." Chapter 304 - Lost her belief from humanity... "Woah!! One couple was enough to feed us dogfood. Now two others joined them. Louis, I''m telling you, we''re now doomed." Jack sneered at the couples in irritation. Louis also made faces with him and sniggered, "Humph!! You''re here for just only few minutes and already getting annoyed by their sickening romantic behavior. Whereas here I''m handling them from past few months all alone¡­ Just think about my situation bro.. I''m going to get crazy very soon if I don''t get a girlfriend for myself. I really can''t tolerate their mocking remarks anymore." "Well, didn''t you have already chosen a girl for yourself? It''s just that you''re a scared cat who had a fear of rejection that''s why you still hadn''t propose her yet.. Am I right or not, Louis? Please tell me.." Veronica wiggled her eyebrows at Louis with a smirk playing on her face while Willa and Lucinda just shuffled their laughter. Reuben, Neil and Henry were also aware about it so they just stared at their respective partners to confirm about their suspicion and when the girls nodded their head confirming, they all gave Louis a lopsided grin.. Jack and Myra understood that there was something going on between these people so they just chose to stay quiet for the time being so that they could ask them later. They knew that the truth of their suspicious eye locks would eventually come out as the couples couldn''t keep it in their stomach for too long.. But for Diana, it was a different case. As soon as she heard that Louis already had a girl in his heart, she didn''t know why but her mood got off. Though she had talked with Louis for few times and met him for few days but she still was comfortable in his presence. She didn''t even think twice before letting him know about her past.. And now she didn''t want him to have any girl in his mind. She just wanted to speak to him whole day without any worries and have fun like others were having.. The question which was stuck in her throat till now finally slipped out of her mouth as Diana asked, "You already love someone, Louis?" Everyone specially Louis was amused to hear the direct question from her as they didn''t expect this much boldness from her.. Willa thought to relieve the tension between Louis and Diana by clarifying, "Not that he had already fallen in love but yeah¡­he definitely like her very much. We can tell it just by eyeing his expressions." Though Diana was a little bit relieved but still thinking about the girl whom Louis liked, Diana felt a pinch of jealousy somewhere in her heart but she soon covered it up with a fake smile. Veronica and Reuben shared a glance with each other after observing Diana from the moment the topic of Louis having a crush on someone came on and noticed a series of emotions overflowed in Diana''s eyes although she tried her best to conceal it. They nodded at each other as they knew what to do the next when a maid entered and asked them to come for lunch as Mr. Wilson was waiting in the dining room along with Mrs. Wilson. All of them started descending downstairs but before Louis could leave, Reuben caught his arm and indicated him to stay for a little long there. After everyone vanished away, Reuben made him sit on the couch and said, "Louis¡­ I know that you have a liking on Diana. And Veronica also told me everything about Diana''s past which was one of the worst scenario that we can ever imagine¡­" Louis'' fist balled up into a tight fist as he banged the center table forcefully with his right hand and snapped, "Yeah.. I know that bro.. and that''s why I just want to kill that Frank with my own bare hands. I want to give him the most torturous death." Reuben patted on his shoulder to calm him down and muttered, "Relax bro... This is not the time to get angry. You can have all of your sweet time to torture Frank till he beg for mercy as you''re one of the strongest members of ''Secret 7''.. But I''ve stopped you to discuss something more important with you¡­ I just wanted to warn you that Diana had already gone through so much which made her lost her belief from humanity. So it might take some time to trust you completely. So as an elder brother, I''m advising you to take every step towards her very carefully¡­ At first, make her believe in love and took the chance to appreciate her hard work. Then only she can be a lot more comfortable around you to return back your feelings. Don''t rush, okay? Take your sweet time to impress her ." "I know bro.. Don''t worry about me being an immature person in this matter. I promise you that I''d not put any unnecessary pressure on Diana and let her accustomed to us. But yeah.. I''d still continue my flirting lesson on Diana as she is the only girl in my life now whom I want to be my girlfriend.." Louis described his feelings to his cousin with confidence flowing over his body and decided to go downstairs. As they had already done the introductory part, they all joined for lunch and later decided to take a rest for few hours before the party. ---- One and half hour later¡­ The girls had sent the boys in the other room as they needed there own gossipy time before sleeping. But after reaching Lucinda''s room, they were so much tired that all of them dozed off as soon as their body touched the bed. Suddenly Veronica''s sleep got broken when she heard a knock from the door. Lazily getting up from the bed, Veronica walked towards the door while tip-toeing as she didn''t want to disturb her friends.. As soon as she opened the door, Veronica''s mouth opened wide in shock after looking at the people standing there with a big smile plastered on their faces¡­ Chapter 305 - Familiar love of parents... As soon as she opened the door, Veronica''s mouth opened wide in shock after looking at the people standing there with a big smile plastered on their faces¡­ There stood a line of five total well dressed beauticians with lots of bags in their hands. The person who knocked on the door might be the head beautician as she wasn''t wearing the same uniform like others. "Hello Ma''am... Mrs. Wilson send me here to do all of your makeup. So I brought my team here along with me." The main beautiful said. "Oh, yeah... Please come inside." Veronica took them in. Meanwhile, all the girls had already woken up by their conversation and their eyes were widened seeing the total number of beauticians. "Woah! So many on just the engagement day. I wonder how many more will be present there on your wedding day, Lucy." Willa exclaimed in astonishment making others laugh. Lucinda shook her head and said, "I really didn''t have any idea about them. It''s my mom who appointed them. Well, my mom and her way of preparing everything¡­" As the girls busied themselves in the facials, manicure, pedicure and hair spa, the boys were still sleeping without any care about the world. --- After two long hours, the initial treatment was done. Now it was time for their make up and dressing... The girls had brought their own dresses with them in the morning as per Lucy''s wish that they would become ready altogether and the men were also started getting ready in the guest rooms. So another one and half hour later, the girls were finally ready to rock the party. They were looking so beautiful that the boys would definitely go fainted after getting just a single glimpse of them. As they were having their finishing touch, all the mothers entered the room and they were literally trying to control their tears after seeing their daughters. Diana and Myra hadn''t met any of the women before except Mrs. Wilson so they were trying to relate the facial features between the elderly women and their friends to recognise who were whose parents... But the three girls'' eyes were fixed only on one person and soon she was being engulfed in a tight hug by the girls. "Oh Aunty!! We missed you so much. You were so much busy in these months that you didn''t visit us at all." Lucinda said after breaking the hug. "Yes, Mrs. Morgan. That was not at all fair. You need to get a punishment for such big sin." Veronica said, trying to look serious but miserably failed as the mothers knew her tactics really well. Yes.. It was Mrs. Morgan, Louis'' mother whom the girls were complaining while she just smiled at them before asking, "So what my beautiful daughters want to give me as a punishment?" The girls shared a look with each other and getting the same response from themselves, Willa demanded, "We want your special butter chicken." Mrs. Morgan along with others laughed and said, "Done.. Now let me compliment you all. I must say you guys are looking very much beautiful." "Thank you so much aunty." The girls said while Myra and Diana just smiled. Before they could say something, the fathers also came inside and Mr. Johnson said, "Let me see how all my daughters and soon to be daughter-in-law are looking.." "Woah! You guys are really looking nothing less than angels." Mr. Morgan complimented as he was pulled into another round of hug again by the girls. Mr. Lopez noticed Diana and greeted her, "You really made a beautiful dress, Diana. I must appreciate you for your hard work." "Hello sir... Thank you for trusting me." Diana politely said. "Hey Diana, why are you calling my dad as sir? He would be your uncle as we''re both friends from past five years." Veronica said. Mr. Lopez was shocked to hear this as he asked again for confirmation, "Five years? But how?" "Dad we met at city B while we were studying there. And yeah... The girl beside her is Myra. You may already know her as Alonzo Brown''s sister but she is also now a great friend of us." Veronica excitedly introduced them. All the parents were happy to see the two girls and engulfed them in a fatherly and motherly hug as they started talking about stuffs. The parents had already started liking Myra and Diana for their polite behavior and good ethics. Whereas both Myra and Diana were trying to control their tears as they felt themselves as an actual family members with them. Their love had brought a unknown feelings inside of them... "Okay girls.. Now it''s time for us to leave.. Your men will be coming here soon to take you to the stage." Mr. Wilson announced before the elderly couples left. "Thanks guys." A small whisper left from Myra''s lips. "Thanks for what?" Lucinda asked confusedly. Diana wiped the tear that had fallen on her cheek and said, "Because you guys gave us a chance to feel the familiar love of parents." They were about to say something when the door got opened after a low knock and there stood the five most handsome men of the world.. Reuben was wearing a sky blue suit with a white colour shirt with his hair gelled up and a blue watch with black shoes. Neil dawned himself in dark red suit with brown shoes whereas the star of the party, Henry had worn a light purple three piece suit with a white shirt. Jack was wearing a peach colour suit while Louis was looking handsome with his white tux which had a silver lining on the collar part. Each one of them were looking so dashing that the girls had already started drooling on their own men... Like the boys, the five princesses were also looking extremely beautiful in their attires. Veronica was wearing a beautiful sky blue sleeveless gown which had work of frills and few glitters. It had a long slit at the left leg. The neck area had a deep V cut from where a little bit of cleavage could be visible... Chapter 306 - Nervous... Veronica was wearing a beautiful sky blue sleeveless gown which had work of frills and few glitters. It had a long slit at the left leg. The neck area had a deep V cut from where a little bit of cleavage could be visible... Willa was wearing a dark red colour off shoulder gown which was made in an A line shape. The material was of pure satin with a little touch of velvet. The queen of the evening, Lucinda had dolled herself up with a light purple colour gown. The thin straps of sleeves were adorned with beautiful frails whereas the upper part was beaded with beautiful perarls and purple stones which ended at the waist part... Myra was wearing beautiful peach colour frock dress which had flowers made by net planted on the skirt parts... Whereas Diana was all ready with a boat neck silver dress which had shining silver belt rounded around her waist. The girls were looking so much beautiful and gorgeous that anyone would think that the real goddesses had just stepped down on the earth directly from the heaven. Their beauty was beyond imaginable as the boys were clean bowled by their one look... Actually, it was Lucinda''s idea that all the couples should wear matching dresses but it was Veronica who had called Diana and Myra two days ago, to know what colour gowns they were going to wear, so that she could pass the message to Jack and Louis secretly. As soon as they came out of the dreamland, Reuben didn''t waste a single second by rushing towards Veronica and pulling her into a big hug... Veronica knew that...the moment Reuben would see her all dolled up in this beautiful gown with a light makeup applied on her face looking all eternal, something like this would happen and right now she was in the arms of her man, engulfed in a lovely embrace.. Reuben smelled her fragrant and pulled himself a little away from her before dipping his face a little lower so that he could kiss her. Connecting both of their lips, Reuben kissed her passionately before joining their foreheads together, breathing heavily. On the other hand, Henry had already pecked Lucinda''s pink lips and now kissing her jaw while Neil just pressed a soft kiss on Willa''s forehead and stayed there hugging her without moving his lips from her skin. Diana and Myra were completely shocked with the open display of affection that the couple were showing as they couldn''t believe that they would be this much bold to kiss each other in front of other people. Whereas Jack and Louis just snorted before informing the two oblivious girls, "This was just the start of their shameless acts. Now they will make us eat a whole bag of dog foods every passing moment. So get habituated with them... As now you guys are also their friends, you have to handle their PDA act every now and then¡­specially this Veronica and Reuben are the principal of being in the shameless category." The girls just nodded their head as if they understand everything and blushed in beetroot colour, witnessing the sweet moments between these three couples. "You look gorgeous babe that I''ll have a really hard time to control my urge of devouring you full." Reuben whispered s.e.xily in Veronica''s ears. "Well, you can devour me later at night and you too are looking extremely hot, darling.." Veronica whispered back in a seductive voice. "Okay guys¡­ If your lovey dobey act has ended then let''s leave now." Louis said feeling frustrated but his eyes never left Diana. All of them nodded their head while Reuben said, "We''ll go at first and only then Henry will come with Lucy after five minutes." Saying this, Reuben and Veronica along with Neil and Willa left for the backward where the party was arranged. Louis gave his hand to Diana asking, "May I?" Diana gave him a sweet smile before replying sweetly, "Sure.." After they left, Jack cleared his throat awkwardly before asking too much politely, "Ah¡­if you don''t mind can you be my date for tonight?" Myra chuckled lightly at him before giving him her hand which made Jack smile widely as they also left the room, leaving Lucinda and Henry alone there. "So..... Nervous?" Henry asked. Lucinda looked at him and said after taking a deep breath, "Very much." "Me too. But don''t worry as I''m here with you." Henry said pecking her forehead. "I know." Lucinda muttered staring at his eyes. ----- Garden area of Wilson Mansion¡­ As soon as the couples arrived at the backward, the crowd got silent as everyone was mesmerized with the eternal beauty of every pairs. But like always, their main focus was on the REUNIC couple obviously but as soon as they moved a little giving the space to other couples, all were amused to see Neil holding the waist of Willa very much protectively which was enough to warn everyone to keep their eyes off as the girl in his arms was only his... Next came Diana and Louis with their arms entangled which fell in everyone''s eyes and helped them to doubt more on their relationship. But when the last couple arrived which were none other than Myra and Jack, one person''s eyes surely dilated towards them as he kept on glaring at Myra''s hand which was gripping Jack''s palm firmly. Cole had already arrived at Wilson Mansion with his sister Regina. He came to know from Alonzo who had arrived just after him that Myra was there from morning. So his excitement level had increased into a multilevel... He was waiting for her to come down but he hadn''t expected her to arrive here with a handsome man. But what triggered him the most was Myra holding the hand of that man. He thought that he had seen the man somewhere before but couldn''t remember where... His eyes burned in jealousy just by looking at the smile on her face. She was never comfortable with any guy other than him so now seeing her with another man was making him seethe in anger.. However, when Myra entered the garden, she felt someone''s heated gaze penetrating through her body and when she finally met with the pair of eyes, her body shivered a little¡­ Chapter 307 - Alonzo is adorable?... However, when Myra entered the garden, she felt someone''s heated gaze penetrating through her body and when she finally met with the pair of eyes, her body shivered a little¡­ Jack felt her uneasiness and asked in her ear whispering in a low voice, "Are you okay?" Myra immediately moved her eyes from Cole to Jack after hearing his voice. But when she saw the worry in his eyes which was ready to give her comfort any moment, she smiled and said, "Yes.. I''m okay." Smiling back at her, Jack took her towards the place where others were already standing. Myra glanced at Cole for one last time before taking back her eyes from him. Soon the main couple had come holding each other as they made everyone swoon over their beauty. Soon each and everyone came to congratulate them but Cole was still waiting for Alonzo to go with him. Alonzo returned after talking with few businessmen with Regina tagging behind him and the three of them walked towards the couple... "Congratulations Mr. Henry and Ms. Lucinda for your engagement." Alonzo said but soon his eyes landed on the girl of his dreams who was cozily wrapped in the arms of her love. Reuben smirked at Alonzo seeing the jealousy in his eyes after seeing Veronica embracing him but Veronica completely ignored the presence of Alonzo. She didn''t even give him a look at least for once... Cole too congratulated them before admiring Myra, "You look beautiful today, Myra. Seems like you''ve changed yourself really well." Myra scoffed at him before saying, "Obviously.. You can''t expect me to stay innocent for my whole life so that I can only face the betrayal and get cheated on multiple times. Time changes Cole and so do I..." Cole was surprised to hear Myra retort him for the first time in a mocking way but covered his expression soon. Whereas Jack''s eyes flickered at the mention of his name being Cole as he realised that he was the ex boyfriend of Myra who had betrayed her so brutally and also the same person who was going to seal a deal with Lopez Industries. Veronica was observing the silent conversation between the three of them but her head snappped at her right side when she heard an irritating voice which made her extremely angry.... "Oh Reuben!! You''re looking so much handsome today. Veronica, you should be careful that no other girls will snatch him away from you." Regina tried to say sweetly hiding her evil thoughts but failed at it. Reuben was about to give her a sharp answer but Veronica held his hands shopping him before saying, "Well, no other girls except some idiots will try to eye on my honey. And if they try to pry on him, I know how to break their wings so they can''t fly again..." Hearing it, everyone chuckled whereas Reuben just felt proud of his girl but Alonzo just kept looking at her, seeing her being so overprotective about Reuben. Soon the elders called the couple for the engagement and soon after exchanging their rings with the huge round of applause from the crowd, they finally promoted into their relationship from boyfriend-girlfriend to fiances.. As the engaged couple, Henry and Lucinda started dancing first...soon other couples also joined them. Regina also dragged Alonzo on the stage forcefully and to save from the eyes of others, he was obliged to dance with her. Now, it was only Myra, Jack and Cole left alone there. Taking the chance Cole asked, "Would you like to have a dance with me, Myra?" But before Myra could respond, Jack butted in, "I''m sorry to say Mr. Parker but Myra is my date for tonight. So she would only dance with me." Then looking at Myra, he asked with a sweet smile on his face, "Do you want to blast the stage by having a rocking dance with me?" Cole tried to protest him in his anger, "No.. She will not.." but stopped when he heard Myra''s voice. "Of course. It''ll be a pleasure for me to have a dance with someone so much handsome like you, Jack..." Myra said sweetly. Myra didn''t know what made her accept a dance with Jack...but just by seeing his expectant face and hearing his sweet yet funny proposal for a dance, she couldn''t help but agree with him... She was even more confused with the fact that she became so much comfortable with Jack just in a day which was quite unbelievable for her. More surprising thing for her was that, now she was able to avoid Cole successfully without stuttering or any fear which was also quite new to her. Jack beamed and took her towards the dance floor which made Cole grit his teeth in anger as he glared at Jack. Whereas Diana and Louis were on the other zone of their bonding relationship. They were dancing together in a perfect sync which was comfortable for both of them. "Did I tell you how beautiful you look?" Louis asked looking in her eyes. Diana smiled at him and said, "No...but thanks for the compliment. And yeah...don''t say it too loud otherwise the girl whom you have a liking on, would get upset." "She wouldn''t." Louis whispered. "And why so?" Diana asked, anticipating his answer eagerly. Louis chuckled before tilting down his head a little so that he could whisper in her ear, "What if I say the girl I like is none other than you..." The moment Diana heard this, her eyes widened in shock and she stared at Louis with an unbelievable kind of expression as she asked, "What do you mean by this?" "Nothing.. We''ll talk about this later in some spare time." Louis said, to which Diana just nodded. Veronica gazed at Alonzo and Regina dancing together and said to Reuben, "They are looking so much adorable while dancing. Aren''t they??" Reuben thought she was addressing any of their friends but when she looked at the direction where Veronica had her eyes glued on, he asked with uncertainty, "What? How can you say Alonzo is adorable?" Veronica gave him a look like he had said the world''s biggest joke and said, "I''m not talking about Alonzo. I''m talking about his partnership with Regina." "Well no way, they are looking cute.." Reuben made a distasteful face while describing them. Veronica gave him a wicked grin before saying, "Well, one is a certified bitch and other is a freaking bastard¡­ Now tell me, don''t they make a good couple together??" Chapter 308 - Short drama... Veronica gave him a wicked grin before saying, "Well, one is a certified bitch and other is a freaking bastard¡­ Now tell me, don''t they make a good couple together??" Reuben took his own time to arrange her words in his head and when he finally did, he broke into a fit of laughter. Tightening his arms around her, Reuben replied, "You''re actually quite right about that. They are indeed a great couple in bitchiness." ---- After the dance, everyone stepped down of the stage while Myra excused herself from everyone so that she could go to the washroom. Unbeknownst to her another person kept following her all the way. Myra entered the washroom and was about to close the door when someone kept a foot in middle, blocking her from locking the door.. Myra raised her head up to see the face of the person who tried to stop her but then her face changed its colour immediately, making it pale. He entered the washroom along with Myra and locked the door behind them, making Myra shriek in fear, "What the hell Cole!! Why did you lock the door? I''m telling you to just get out of here otherwise I''ll shout.." Cole didn''t flinch even a little bit at her threats and pushed her to the nearest wall, trapping her petite frame under his strong one. "Why did you do that?" Cole asked, fire was evident in his eyes. Though Myra knew about what Cole was talking about but still she decided to play the game and asked back, "What are you talking about? I can''t understand anything..." "Don''t you dare to play these games with me Myra. You very well know what I''m talking about. But still for your satisfaction, let me ask you directly line by line...word by word¡­ Why were you sticking to that Jack? Why were you holding his hand and dancing with him with a big smile on your face? Most of the all, why were you ignoring me continuously as we''ve never met each other before. For God''s sake, we are a couple." Cole burst out in rage. Without replying anything, Myra just started laughing hard, making Cole more confused at her sudden change of behaviour. After controlling her laughter, Myra shot a deep glare in his eyes and said, "First of all, we are not anymore a couple but some ex lovers. Past is past and everyone has to move on. I''ve already moved on from you, now it''s your time also to move on from me and have a happy life... And about my personal matters...like whom I''m sticking to or holding hands¡­it''s completely my decision. No one has the right to interfere in between my matters, specially you. I''ll not allow you to push your decisions on me as you''re nothing but a horrible past of mine." Her flaring words were like a pricking stone for Cole which was piercing his heart like a sharp needle and giving him immense pain internally by making his heart bleed continuously... Taking a deep and long breath, Cole asked softly, "Why are you doing this to me? You know this very well that how much I love you. Don''t do this to me please. Don''t break my heart so brutally by pushing me out of your life. I''m already repenting on my actions and dying everyday without you. Now if you also leave me, I won''t be alive anymore.." Each words that come uttered truly surprised Myra as she never had expected Cole to behave so vulnerably. Pain and hurt were evident in his voice but the betrayal she had felt for him in the past overshadowed the tranquility of his words. Myra looked at Cole''s eyes deeply before saying, "Just like how are you begging me now, I also begged you like this one day to believe me but you never did. And here you''re talking about me leaving you..??? Well let me remind you Mr. Cole Parker that it was you who broke me with your insulting words, you left me by distrusting me. And you''re also the one who cheated on me¡­" "No¡­. I never cheated on you. I can never even think of cheating on you for my whole life." Cole shouted on the top of his lungs while shaking his head vigorously while a small drop of rear fell from his left eye. Myra jerked behind a little getting scared with his sudden roar and asked while stuttering, "Wha¡­what do you mean? You haven''t cheated on me? But¡­but I saw you and that girl with my own eyes¡­on your bed wrapped in a blanket na..n.a.k.e.d¡­" The last word came like almost a whisper from her mouth. Cole closed his eyes to calm his breath and said in a low pitch voice, "What you had witnessed that day was a short drama which I had implemented for you. I was not n.a.k.e.d that day nor I was having s.e.x with that girl... I was so much angry with your betrayal that I thought of making you taste your own medicine, completely oblivious to the fact that you were completely innocent... I hired that girl and told her to act like we were having s.e.x. She was fully clothed in a shoulderless tube top to make it look like she was n.a.k.e.d whereas I just pulled off my shirt from my body but my pants were on... When I heard the honk of your car, we started the acting and behaved like m.o.a.ning and groaning so that you could misjudge our situation and it was a huge success on you. But I didn''t know that my one impulsive decision would make you hate me so much that it''d be the biggest mistake of my life.." Myra covered her eyes as tears started to pour out from her eyes. She still couldn''t place all the words in her mind that Cole had just now stated. Cole''s sudden confession had fallen on her like a nuclear bomb which made her heart shattered into pieces once more.. However, suddenly another thought hit her mind like a bolt of lightning as she asked, "Then what about Regina? Why didn''t you punish her for her vicious plans?" Chapter 309 - Explicit feeling... However, suddenly another thought hit her mind like a bolt of lightning as she asked, "Then...what about Regina? Why didn''t you punish her for her vicious plans?" Cole had already guessed it before that the moment he would tell about the truth to Myra, she would ask for Regina''s punishment as he didn''t even have scolded her for once after coming to know that it was his sister who had wronged his girlfriend and manipulated with the pictures... Leaving a big sigh, Cole said, "I hadn''t done anything with Regina because I''ve already have something in my mind for her. That doesn''t mean that I forgave her¡­I never can actually... Truthfully, I was very much angry on Regina when I learned about her hypocrisy but I didn''t want to treat her bad because of that at first. But when I remember my wrongdoings to you even though you were purely innocent, I got determined with the motivation that if I could hurt the love of my life then why can''t I show Regina the hell that she had given to us... If she can be this much selfish to even plan against her only brother then why should I think about her wellbeings? Obviously, I would still take care of her as she''s my family member but not before taking my revenge on her.." "Re..revenge? What are you talking about? And how can you take revenge against her? Do you have any plans regarding that?" Myra asked hopefully. Cole sighed again and hold both of her shoulders tightly before saying, "I can''t tell you about my plan right now. But I promise, I would stay straight on my word. But before that, I just want to ask you a question... Do you trust me? Do have faith in me that I''ll never let you down again? Most importantly, will you give me another chance after I prove it to you that...how much I love you??" Analysing Cole''s expectant voice and the determination in his eyes Myra was a little bit discomposed but she knew what her answer would be. "Honestly No¡­ I really don''t have anymore trust or faith in you. I don''t even know if I could believe you on this matter again... I really am not that much fool anymore to fall in both brother and sister''s trap again.." Myra said honestly while staring at his face. Cole was flabbergasted for a moment but he knew that he deserved her distrust on him after what he had done to her. But still for him, for both of them¡­he tried to consume the pain and asked with a lots if hope in his eyes, "I''m telling you to be mine again right now. I just want a promise from you, Myra... If I give Regina a proper punishment for her evil deeds, then will you trust me? Will you come back to me again and love me the same way like before?" Myra shut her eyes for a few seconds to think over every time they spent together then she remembered Veronica''s strong personality and how she carried herself in every situation without any fear covering her face which helped her to make a decision... She rested both of her arms on Cole''s chest and muttered lowly, "Well, about being with you again and loving you back¡­I really don''t know if I ever be able to do the same. But I promise you one thing, I''ll try to my best level to forgive you and accept you as a friend with all of your faults... But there is no assurance in that also. If I feel that there is still something in the corner of my heart for you after you prove yourself, then only I can come to you but don''t take me as granted because I''m no more the same Myra.." Saying this she pushed Cole away from herself and was about to leave when Cole announced, "I''d try my best to win you over. And one more thing that I forget to tell you¡­. From the day we''ve confessed our love for each other till today¡­I had never became intimate with other girls except you nor did I ever looked at them... So rest assured, this Cole Parker only belongs to you. He was yours only in the past and will be in the future too. Now it''s completely on you if you should love me back again or not.." A lone tear escaped from both Cole and Myra''s eyes as Myra felt her heart was drumming against her body. But completely ignoring it, she wiped the tear and hurried towards the garden after a quick touch up... ---- Back Garden¡­ Myra found her friends talking and laughing so she also joined them. Few minutes later, Cole also came back to the party which didn''t go unnoticed by her. Everyone was enjoying the party making fun of each other when suddenly the lights went off¡­ Before everyone could get panicked, a voice stopped them all from their frights... "Hello everyone.. A very good evening to all of you. Please don''t go on a panicky mode thinking that any ghost will pounce upon you because of the sudden lights off.." Everyone present in the room laughed hard at this silly kind of joke whereas few people just stood there trying to pursue the situation with a puzzled face... "Now you guys are thinking who the person might be who is blabbering on the mic continuously without giving a break even in this dark atmosphere. But trust me¡­I won''t take much time of yours... I just want to confess something to a very special person of my life after whose entry, my routeless life had finally got it''s destination and everything around me had changed into a more beautiful way... The things on which I wasn''t interested at all...now has become my most favourite things. The smile which was rare to bloom on my face¡­is approaching me every single seconds of my life nowadays just by remembering her beautiful smiling face.. Maybe this is the true effect of a explicit feeling which I''m going to reveal now¡­" The moment the unknown person stopped talking, the light came on and as soon as everyone adjusted their sight, all of their mouth hung open in total disbelief¡­ Chapter 310 - Undiagnosable heart disease... The moment the unknown person stopped talking, the light came on and as soon as everyone adjusted their sight, all of their mouth hung open in total disbelief¡­ "Neil¡­." Willa whispered inaudibly. Yes¡­!!! It was Neil who was standing at the middle of the stage with a mic in his hand looking all dashing and handsome under the spotlight. His eyes were looking at only one girl who was completely astonished with the scene that was playing in front of her.. No one could believe that the person who was saying all those sweet things while expressing his feelings, was no other person but the great Neil Wilson who had never committed into a relationship with any girls... Whereas his friends had a different kind of expressions on their faces. The boys were looking all happy and grinning from ear to ear. While the girls were just equally shocked like others including Willa and were staring at Neil as if they had witnessed the most unexpected scene of their life.. Truthfully, the scenario was really something like astonishing and surprising... However, when the girls noticed their partners were smiling at Neil so widely that any moment their teeth could fell from their mouth, they came to analyse something. Lucinda narrowed her eyes at the boys and asked, "You guys were all aware about Neil''s plan from before, right?" When they all sheepishly chuckled and nodded at the girls, Veronica gave them all a death glare and said, "And you guys hid this from us? Even you didn''t bother to tell us before the party started? Like really?" Veronica''s angry glare made their spine shiver in coldness, specially Reuben''s expression was the worst among all of them as he knew every details about his girlfriend''s wrath. To save themselves from the angry girls'' clutch, Louis suddenly spouted out, "Uhmm¡­ Yeah, we knew about the plan from earlier but the idea was of Reuben.." Veronica threw daggers at Reuben whereas he glared back at Louis to spill out all the beans but Louis clearly avoided him in fear of losing his life. "You meant to say that the whole plan of whatever Neil is doing right now was Reuben''s?" Diana asked. "Yeah.. He was the mastermind behind this." Jack replied. Myra looked at them chuckling and asked, "By the way, what is this all about? Why Neil is confessing these things in front of everyone?" Reuben gulped his saliva being scared of Veronica''s intense angry gaze and replied, "Well, you''ll know about it as the time process. So just focus on Neil for now. You will get your answer from him only.." Everyone focused on the stage again whereas Cole, Alonzo and Regina just heard their bickering from behind and tried to understand what was actually happening there but they also hadn''t any clue about it. On the other part, Willa who was just standing beside her group, didn''t even hear a single word of them as she was busy in looking at Neil or more like ogling at him. She was also oblivious about Neil''s sudden confession but she tried to stay calm till everything got revealed.. Taking a deep breath, Neil stared directly at Willa''s eyes and said, "So as I was saying that I''ve been infected by an undiagnosable heart disease which has no cure expect one¡­ Even the world''s best doctors can''t make me recover from it but only one person has the medicine for it and the person is standing right here in front of me looking at me with so many emotions¡­. It''s Willa¡­" Another spotlight fell on Willa and everybody gasped at the sudden revelation bit Willa stood their steel without moving, just watching Neil''s every action. Neil stepped down of the stage and slowly walked towards Willa and held her hands before confessing, "Willa¡­ I really don''t know how to say this and even if it''s the right time for whatever I''m going to do but¡­but I only know one thing¡­ If I don''t confess my true feelings to you right now then I may not ever. And I don''t want this to happen in the fear of losing you. I can''t think of you being with another guy... Call me possessive but that''s what I''m like but I can promise one thing that this possessiveness over you will never turn into an obsession to create obstacles in your life or career. I''ll be with you to support you always and motivate you¡­not to suppress your dreams.." Willa was already in brink of tears hearing Neil''s heartfelt confession as she could also decipher the truthfulness and sincerity in his eyes. His eyes were enough to express every bit of his feelings without even conveying through words and she already could guess what was about to come.. Maybe a proposal of Love..??? But what she didn''t know was that Neil was not in any mood to just stop at confessing his love for her but he had already planned way more than that which could give birth to a new relationship or even could break it in one touch of finger... Neil was very much nervous for his next step as he didn''t know if Willa would accept his proposal or deny him. But as Reuben advised him that ''If you don''t try then you can''t ask for the result. So better try than regretting for the rest of your life..'' Observing the love in Neil''s eyes, Willa''s heart came to a sudden realisation that she had already fallen deep into the pool of love for him... Yes¡­ She had already started loving Neil without her own knowledge... We She didn''t proximate exactly when she had fallen in love with him but she knew one thing that her heart was now only beating for Neil and she could never imagine her life without him. Neil kneeled down in front of her, still holding her hands and looked deep into her eyes before muttering, "Willa¡­ I was always attracted to you from the moment I''ve met you for the first time but never got the guts to confess. But today I want to end all of my obligations by professing my love to you. I love you, Willa¡­" Chapter 311 - Try again and again till last breath... "Willa¡­ I was always attracted to you from the moment I''ve met you for the first time but never got the guts to confess. But today I want to end all of my obligations by professing my love to you. I love you, Willa¡­" Willa''s eyes brimmed with tears as soon as Neil muttered those three magical words for her. She was so much happy that she didn''t know what to do except professing her true feelings to him... Before she could give any response to him, Neil gripped her hand more tightly and fondled it before saying, "I''m not yet finished honey. Say whatever you want after I''m done with expressing myself." When Willa nodded her head, Neil continued, "I love you so much Willa that I can''t imagine my life without you. So I''m going to take a big step of my life. Though I''m not sure if you will accept it or not as it can be still too early for you. But I''m extremely sure about myself.." Closing his eyes, Neil took a deep breath and then reopened his bright orbs. Taking out some kind of velvety box from his pocket he presented it in front of Willa unopened before asking nervously, "Will you marry me Willa and be my wife for the rest of our life?" Loud gasps resonated in the whole room as everyone was shocked to the core as they never expected something unexpected like this to come so suddenly... Especially, the four girls were so mush shell shocked that they couldn''t able to move from their positions. Veronica and Lucinda were staring at Neil with their eyes and mouth opened widely. Professing of love was one thing but directly proposing for marriage was totally unexpected from Neil as per Veronica and Lucinda''s expression... They never thought that this much big kind of a bomb would fall upon them that they would be totally out of words.. However, the boys were grinning so widely as if like it was them who made the proposal and got accepted by their own girls. They were giving Neil a secret thumbs up for his bravery. On the other side, the family members specially Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were completely dumbfounded with their son''s sudden change of personality but they were really happy because of it. Actually all the elders were now internally praying for Willa to accept Neil''s proposal without any delay. Willa hadn''t uttered even a single letter till now as shock was completely evident on her face. Tears were running over her red cheeks and those seemed to be really unstoppable at that certain moment. Seeing her crying like this, Neil got panicked and immediately rose up on his feet before holding her shoulder. He wiped her tears and said quickly, "It''s okay Willa. You don''t have to say yes at this moment. I just told you what I feel. You can reject me now as there is no such pressure like that.. You can take your own time to decide and I promise you that I''d not force on this matter anymore. But if you reject me today, I''ll try for the next time... And if I get rejected again next time¡­I''ll still try again and again till my last breath.¡­" Neil continued to blabber like this on and on for few more seconds and Willa just continued to observe him with her tear strained eyes. Finally couldn''t able to control herself anymore, she hugged him tight and whispered in his ears, "Yes¡­" "Oh!! You said No.. It''s okay¡­ Though it hurts like hell in my heart by your rejection but I understand.. So I''ll try again¡­.." Neil continued to blabber, however when his pea sized brain registered the answer of Willa, he abruptly stopped. "Wait¡­What???!!!" Neil asked loudly as he was not able to believe his own ears... Willa laughed at his weird behavior and pulled herself a little away from him. Still holding his waist tightly, Willa looked into his dark blue orbs where she could find only love for her. Cupping his left cheek with her right hand while still embracing him with her other hand, she confessed, "Yes Neil. I will marry you. And I love you too.." The moment Neil heard those tickling words of her, he immediately took her into his comfortable embrace and smashed his lips on hers. Again, the guests present there got another shock of their life, seeing Neil kissing Willa in the presence of so many people, not caring about them at all... Finally, when they were out of breath then only Neil stopped the kiss and joined their foreheads together, breathing heavily. The silence broke when Veronica, Lucinda along with Diana and Myra smiled widely and started clapping their hands like little kids. Soon others also joined them. "Okay guys.. If you''re done with your crying then let''s exchange the rings now." Reuben said. Neil nodded his head and took Willa towards the stage. Opening the velvety box, he took out the diamond ring. Then capturing Willa''s hand, he slipped the diamond ring into her finger which made Willa shed some happy tears... Louis took out another box from his pocket and handed it to Willa before saying, "Now, put this ring on Neil''s finger. He had already arranged it from before." Willa smiled at him and placed the beautiful ring on Neil''s finger which promoted them to an officially engaged couple.. Everyone clapped for them and took as many pictures as they could. The celebration of the party had been doubled as now there was not only engaged couple but two... Mr. Wilson side hugged Willa and said, "Welcome to our family princess." "Thanks Dad.." Willa said, feeling emotional. Mrs. Wilson kissed her on the forehead and wished her, "From now on, you''re my another daughter. I''ll love you as much I love my Lucinda." Willa hugged her tightly and said, "I''ll try to fulfil all my duty as a daughter, Mom.." As all of them were busy in congratulating the couple and laughing with each other while enjoying the teasings, a voice stopped them, "Sir... Here is your parcel..." Chapter 312 - Extraordinary gift... As all of them were busy in congratulating the couple and laughing with each other while enjoying the teasings, a voice stopped them, "Sir... Here is your parcel.." Reuben looked at the source of the voice and found the manager of the shop had come there himself along with another employee with a big parcel in their hands. Veronica gestured Reuben with her eyes if it was the gift they were planning to give and when he nodded, Veronica''s face bloomed into a beautiful smile. "Aunty, can you tell someone to let them show the living room so that they could keep the parcel?" Veronica asked Mrs. Wilson while she just smiled and told one of the maids to show them the living room. "You guys follow him." Reuben said to the two men who brought the parcel. Lucinda looked confused and asked, "What is that?" Veronica chuckled and replied, "A surprise.." "What kind of surprise?" Myra asked, getting extremely excited. Reuben grinned at her and said, "You guys will come to know after the party ends.." ---- After dinner, everyone started to leave. Even the elders also decided to go back to their respective homes, leaving the children alone. "Myra.. Come on.. Let''s leave." Alonzo said. "Brother please wait for a few moments. I badly want to see what is in the parcel." Myra requested. Alonzo was about to deny when Mr. Wilson interrupted him, "Come on young man.. Let her stay here.. I even suggest to all of you to stay for some more time here so that you guys can enjoy with your friends including Cole and his sister.." Looking at Myra''s expectant eyes, Alonzo finally agreed, "Fine.. We''ll stay here for few more hours." "Bro.. Even I want to stay here." Regina pleaded in her fake sweet accent. Cole looked at her and then Myra who was standing beside Jack and talking with him animatedly. Another pinch of jealousy revolted inside his heart and he said, "Okay.. we''ll also stay here." Veronica as usual ignored them as she really didn''t want to waste her excitement by getting angry on these three. Instead she turned towards Myra to see if she was anywhere uncomfortable. Surprisingly, Myra was busy talking with Jack as they kept laughing on some jokes while looking at each other. Veronica felt happy seeing her cousin with Myra, all happy and elated. All of them seated on the couch with their respective partners, leaving Cole alone as Regina also chose to be seated beside Alonzo but her eyes never left Reuben. "Now tell us, what''s in that box?" Lucinda asked, couldn''t able to hold her excitement anymore. Veronica chuckled and told Reuben to open the box. But she was surprised to see not one but two boxes present there fully packed. She looked at Reuben quizzically and asked, "Why two boxes?" "Did you forget that there are two engaged couples instead of one now?" Reuben reminded her. "Oh come on Bennie.. You know that I don''t have any kind of amnesia so obviously I remember. Now answer me why is there two parcels. I only made one right?" Veronica asked hitting him softly on his chest. Reuben chuckled at her and hold her hand before kissing her palm softly as he muttered in her ear, "You made two, my darling. It''s just one for Lucinda and Henry¡­whereas the other for Willa and Neil. You decided to gift the gifts on their engagement day... You only knew about Henry and Lucinda''s engagement so you told me to prepare their gift. But as I gave the idea of proposal to Neil, so I knew about them beforehand. That''s why I had also send their gifts to frame them.." Veronica was totally impressed at Reuben''s consideration so she kissed him on the lips and said, "Thanks babe. You are really the best." Reuben grinned and pecked her nose before getting up from the couch so that he could hand the gifts to them. "As I and Veronica already told you guys that you''ll get your gift at the correct moment so here is it." Reuben handed the red box to Henry and Lucinda and said, "This one is for you guys." Veronica handed the orange box to Neil and Willa before stating, "This one is for you." "Now open them together. I can''t wait to see what''s in those boxes that these two were being so secretive from the morning." Jack said. "Yeah... I too want to see if their gifts are better than mine?" Louis said who got a smack on the back of his head by Reuben as he said, "Obviously.. it''s hundred percent better than your stupid flower vase set." "Ah bro!! You shouldn''t say that.. Those are the antique ones which you can''t get from some simple Shop¡­" Louis whined like a kid. Willa interrupted them and said, "Okay guys.. Now stop. I really want to see the gift now." Both of the couples started opening the covers and when the last piece of wrappers was also removed, they got extremely surprised by the extraordinary gift... It was a big rectangular frame which was made of wood and designed with black crafts. It was looking extremely beautiful. But the attraction of the gift was not the frame here but the couple portrait inside it. Yes.. It was a beautifully painting of both of the couples. The portraits were so much accurate that it was looking very much alive. Every curves and tints were so perfect that it seemed to be a mirror image of the couples.. "Thank you.. Thank you so much Niccy. I just loved it." Lucinda said before hugging her tightly. Willa also got up and hugged the two girls before saying, "Yes Vero. It''s the best gift I can ever get. Thanks a lot.." "Oh!! Hello.. Stop thanking her only. I''m the one who send it for framing and parceling. So leave some thank you for me also." Reuben said while pouting lightly. Both Neil and Henry laughed at him and engulfed him in a bro hug before muttering, "Thank you so much bro. It was really very heartwarming.." Diana and Myra were also looking at the portraits and became mesmerized by its artwork but then suddenly Myra noticed something which made her eyes broadened out like an elephant.. "You know the artist Nicope??" Chapter 313 - Talk about relationsh.i.p.s... Diana and Myra were also looking at the portraits and became mesmerized by its artwork but then suddenly Myra noticed something which made her eyes broadened out like an elephant.. "You know the artist Nicope??" "What?? This is an art by Nicope?" Diana asked when she realised what Myra had said and started finding the signature of the artist. After finding the signature at the right corner of the portrait''s bottom part, Diana shrieked in disbelief, "It really is made by Nicope.. Oh my God!! I can''t believe it. She is really a famous artist. She only exhibits her paintings for once or twice in a year. Ironically, she never sells her paintings.." "Exactly my point. I''m really a fan of her paintings. I asked my brother so many times to buy a painting of her but everytime he approached the show planner they always rejected us saying that the artist had strictly prohibited them to sell her paintings to anyone." Myra said. "I know right?? I''m also a big fan of hers. I also tried to get her artworks but never got succeed in it. But how do you get it?? Do you know the artist by any way?" Diana asked. The gang was listening to the surprised comments of these two girls till now without saying anything while Cole and Alonzo trying to remember the artist, leaving Regina roll her eyes at their excitement. Except Veronica, everyone started chuckling at their curious gaze as not only Veronica but each and everyone present in the living room knew the artist very well.. Henry laughed and said, "Why does Vero needs to know the artist to get a painting from her?" "Ah!! What do you mean? Of course she needs to know her.. Wait a minute!! Did you just say ''her''? That means the artist is a girl and you are also known to her.." Myra muttered in utter confusion. Neil chuckled before saying, "Of course we know about her. Not only us but both of you girls are also well acquainted with her." Diana scrunched up her eyebrows and asked, "But how can that be possible? I had never met her¡­ I didn''t even know about her gender till you guys informed me about it.." Lucinda laughed at her loudly and said, "Gosh!! Diana and Myra, you both are really so innocent and dumb that after giving so many clues, you still didn''t get any answer... Okay, let me give you one last hint. The beautiful artist is present among us right now." Myra and Diana tried to get the answer through Lucinda''s mischievous smile then they looked at each other for a few seconds with their furrowed eyebrows. Pondering over a while when they made a flashback of all the past series, their eyes widened and they turned their face towards Veronica with a shocked expression before mumbling together, "It''s Vero.." Reuben grinned ear to ear and pulled Veronica more to him by clutching her waist and proudly announced, "Yes.. It''s my Ica and your friend Vero who is the amazing artist of this two portraits and many other beautiful paintings." Not only Diana and Myra¡­even Cole, Alonzo and Regina were shocked with this sudden revelation. They couldn''t ever imagine that Veronica was not only beautiful by her looks but also she had an amazing talent in painting... Coming out of the shock, Alonzo asked, "But what does the name Nicope signify?" Reuben glared at Alonzo for asking this question regarding Veronica but before he could reply, Willa answered for him, "The name is a joint name of Vero''s real name and surname... ''Nic'' comes from Veronica and ''Ope'' Comes from Lopez.. Like this Veronica Lopez had been shortened to the pseudonym Nicope who is a great artist.." "Woah!! That''s great.." Both Diana and Myra said. "Okay guys.. enough of your praising. Now let''s talk about something else." Veronica said. "But what kind of conversation shall we start?" Louis asked. "Something interesting.." Jack said. "And what that interesting topic can be?" As soon as Louis said this, everyone closed their mouth. Few minutes later, suddenly Diana spoke out, "Hey guys.. I was wondering if we can talk about all of your relationsh.i.p.s. I mean how did you guys fall in love with each other." Myra also agreed with this and said in excitement, "Though I knew a little bit about Willa and Lucinda¡­but I''ve never heard anything about how Vero fell in love with Reuben... Seriously guys¡­ Just by looking at both of your fondness towards each other, I just become excited to think how you guys turned to be so much in love with each other." Alonzo threw a glare at Myra who asked about Reuben and Veronica''s relationship without her knowledge that it might be painful for Alonzo to hear about them. When Myra''s eyes fell on her brother, she understood what she had just said but what could she do... She really wanted to know them as per her, they were the best and most loving couple of the world. According to Myra, past should be kept in past. No need to bring it out under the light again. She knew that her brother Alonzo loved her best friend Veronica but that didn''t mean he should not overcome from his love. He also needed to change and Myra obtained to help her brother from getting out of his love for Veronica which was more like an obsession. Myra decided that she should make Alonzo learn that another synonym for LOVE was SACRIFICE¡­ "I think that''s an extremely good idea. So from whom should we start first?" Jack asked. Louis thought for a while and said, "Lets go from newest to oldest couple.. Like first Neil and Willa, secondly Henry and Lucy and last but not the least our most popular couple Veronica and Reuben will tell them about their love stories..." "Okay.. Let''s start then.." Diana said excitedly as she again took her sit beside Louis. Myra also sat beside Jack who gave her a charming smile which Myra returned with her own cute smile and obviously it also didn''t go unnoticed by Cole who fisted his hand tightly in rage¡­ Chapter 314 - Actual Matchmaker... Myra also sat beside Jack who gave her a charming smile which Myra returned with her own cute smile and obviously it also didn''t go unnoticed by Cole who fisted his hand tightly in rage¡­ Neil looked at Willa who bowed her head down a little while blushing. He smiled at her and circled his hands around her shoulder before saying, "We met each other via my sister Vero approximately eight years ago¡­ Initially, we didn''t like each other at all but still were forced to meet each other because of few friendly gatherings and some other personal stuffs.." Neil continued this story while Willa also joined him in middle telling them how they became friends, how she got betrayed by Sam.. At that moment Neil was the one who supported her the most and later their friendship turned into something more with the help of their friends. And now they were an engaged couple who professed their love in the most uncertain way... Everyone listened to them quietly and felt really impressed by their love story but inside of Cole''s head something else was cooking. He was thinking, ''If a beautiful girl like Willa can accept a well known ex playboy like Neil, then why can''t Myra accept him?'' But suddenly an alarm of consciousness rang in his head which told him, ''But Neil never distrust the love of his life, Willa. He even supported her in the most vital time of her life whereas I not only distrust my Myra but also behaved with her inhumanly. I''m a total failure in the name of both love and trust. I''m really a horrible boyfriend." "That was really a heartwarming love story of yours. I''m really impressed. So now it''s time for the next couple." Myra said. Lucinda got excited when their turn came and she said, "Okay.. I''ll start with our story first and later Henry can continue with it. So we both have known each other from childhood. I, Niccy, Reuben, Neil, Henry, Louis and our another brother Andrew along with his sister Amy used to play with each other. Even Jack would also join us sometimes¡­" "One minute¡­one minute.. Now who are these Andrew and Amy?" Diana asked confusedly. "Well that''s another story to tell.. Just know that they were also our childhood friends. So like Lucinda said we grew up with each other and always had been a protective bodyguard towards the girls..." Henry continued their part of story. They told them how he was always protective towards Lucinda from childhood. Even when she stepped into her teenage years, he would always save her from other boys'' proposals. He would even threatened the boys along with Reuben, Andrew and Neil who would try to come near Veronica and Lucinda.. So basically both he and Reuben would behave like some jealous boyfriend from the start...even when they hadn''t think of dating each other whereas Neil and Andrew were just very much protective towards their sisters. Henry and Willa also informed them that they were in love with each other for more than four and half years but never had the guts to confess to each other. But later, by the encouragement of Veronica and Reuben, Henry decided to finally propose Lucinda and she happily accepted it. Even they agreed to their engagement after getting the support from REUNIC couple. By the end of the conversation, everyone was clear about the fact that Reuben and Veronica were the ''actual matchmaker'' who had made both of the couples realise the true meaning of the word ''Love'' and encouraged them to listen to their hearts.. "Wow!! That''s really great to see you guys so much in love.." Myra said. Jack then said to her, "You are already in aww with the love story of these two couples. I wonder what you will do when you come to know about Reuben and Veronica''s thrilling yet most romantic love story." "Well, then you are making me more excited now. So our last couple, the world famous REUNIC couple¡­ Tell us how you guys fell so deeply in love with each other and what is the mantra behind your well maintained successful relationship?" Diana asked clapping her hands, feeling totally excited. Reuben looked at Veronica who stared back at him. Both of their eyes met as they had a lovely eyelock with each other which was enough to convey all of their sentiments and feelings for each other... They shared a beautiful smile which was an unconventional gesture of their strong bond and understanding whereas their heart skipped a beat as they felt the love for each other in their eyes.. Within a fraction of second, Reuben caught hold of Veronica''s waist and pulled her on his lap. Veronica let out a gasp with his sudden movement but then settled herself properly on his lap to become more comfortable... Wrapping his one hand around her waist, Reuben cupped one of her cheeks and placed a soft kiss on her lips. It was not a rough or passionate one but it was that kind of kiss which could flatter anyone''s heart just by a single touch. The gentle kiss was really soothing which was not only successful in warming both Veronica and Reuben''s heart but the viewers also got mesmerized by their romantic moment which was not less than a perfect scene which had been played in the movies.. The girls were in awe with them and the boys were looking at them fondly. But there were only two people who were not at all happy at their romance. Obviously, they were none other than Alonzo and Regina who were seething in anger and jealousy by witnessing them being do intimate in front of them. Reuben pulled away from Veronica''s lips when he felt her being out of breath and rested his forehead on her to normal their breathing. Caressing the red cheeks of Veronica which were looking nothing less than a ripe apple, he started narrating the journey of their most amazing and heartwarming love story, "It had started exactly twenty six years and nine months ago¡­" Chapter 315 - Little Reuben met the baby Veronica... Caressing the red cheeks of Veronica which were looking nothing less than a ripe apple, he started their journey of the most amazing and heartwarming love story, "It had started exactly twenty six years and nine months ago¡­" ---- Around twenty six years ago¡­ A small boy of two years age was playing in the garden of their beautifully decorated mansion. His full body was covered with mud and water as he was sitting on the ground stretching both of his legs out on the green grass.. His eyes were dark grey and his light brown hair was falling on his forehead continuously and his small lips kept pouting from time to time as he was trying to plant the little tree in the garden area where many other beautiful flower plants were placed. He had a round face with perfect eyebrows, long ears and sharp nose. His hands were small like his legs. The little boy was puffing his soft spongy cheeks time to time which was making him look the most innocent and cutest child of the world.. "Reuben.. My dear baby.. Where are you?" A sweet voice of a woman in her mid twenties reached to the boy''s ears as he lifted his face to look at his front. Seeing her mother walking towards him, he gave a very sweet smile to her and said in the softest baby voice, "I''m here Mamma.." "Oh!! So you naughty boy is here and I was searching for you from nearly half an hour. And what is this baby? Why are you covered in mud? You''ll catch cold nah, my baby¡­" Victoria Smith, Reuben''s mother said as she picked up her son from the ground. Small Reuben gave her a cute toothy smile and said, "Sorry Mamma.. Ben.. no more.. naughty.." Victoria laughed at her cute son who was speaking in monosyllable words as he was still so much small that he could not speak properly. So instead of talking in a full sentence, he used to express his feelings in broken words. "Aww!! My baby¡­ Why are you so sweet?? Now come on. Let me get you freshen up. We have to visit Jessica aunt''s house.." Victoria said and took Reuben to his washroom. Hearing that he was going to visit Lopez Mansion after almost one month, he became really excited and exclaimed in joy, "Yayyyyy!! Ben going Aunt''s home.." Victoria chuckled and asked him, "My baby is getting excited to meet aunt Jessica? Did he miss her?" Reuben nodded his head with a smile and said, "Yeshhhh¡­" Laughing at his cuteness, Victoria washed him completely and wiped his little body with a towel before taking him into his bedroom and placing him on his small cradle like bed.. While dressing Reuben into a pair of t-shirt and short pants, she said, "You know what baby¡­ Today you''ll not only meet aunt Jessica but also a little baby too.." "Baby??" Reuben asked in confusion with his big eyes widened. "Yes.. A baby. Aunt Jessica''s and uncle Jame''s daughter. She is very small like a teddy bear and beautiful like a doll." Victoria said. "Really? Can Ben play her?" Reuben asked in amazement. "Hmm¡­Really.. And yes. Ben can play with her. Now let''s get ready fast." Victoria replied with a smile. ---- After forty five minutes¡­ Lopez Mansion¡­ It was Reuben''s first time there after the little princess'' birth. Jessica Lopez had given birth to their daughter one month ago. Though Victoria had visited many times after her birth to see the little angel but she never brought Reuben with her. She was well aware that her son was very much careful about everything but still she still couldn''t take risk with kids.. Moreover the first few days were the most important days for a child after his or her birth. Any kind of carelessness and baby could get infected by different kinds of viruses which she didn''t want... Although, Jessica asked Victoria to bring Reuben with her as she also missed that cute little boy very much but everytime she got rejected by Victoria as she used to say, "No¡­ I''ll bring him after our angel completed one month. Ensuring a child''s safety is the most important for now.." So finally the day had arrived and Victoria entered Jessica''s room with Reuben in her arms, only to witness Jessica cradling the little angle in her arms while she was softly smiling at her mother. The scene was so beautiful that it brought back a beautiful smile on Victoria''s face whereas Reuben had his eyebrows furrowed seeing it... "Aunty¡­" Reuben called in a very soft voice. Jessica looked up and her face brightened with a smile the moment her eyes fell on the small figure of Reuben who was calling her with his hands raised in the air as if asking her to carry him.. Victoria placed Reuben on the bed and took the little angel in her arms. Reuben immediately crawled into Jessica''s lap and she wrapped him into her motherly arms and kissed his whole face adoringly... Reuben giggled at the love he was getting from his aunt who was also a mother figure for him. He also pecked Jessica on both of her cheeks which made her smile at him lovingly. "Aww!! I missed my baby so much. Did my little champ miss me too?" Jessica asked as she pinched his cheeks. Giggling at her, Reuben answered, "Yeshhhhhh¡­ Ben missed aunt too¡­" He then turned his face towards the small girl in his mother''s arms who was wrapped in a light pink baby blanket and asked Jessica pointing his index finger towards the little angel, "Baby??" "Yes.. She is a small baby. Your new friend.." Jessica said smilingly. Reuben quietly observed the baby''s face with his big doe like eyes. His lips parted in amazement seeing the small figure who was looking at his mother''s face with her dark brown eyes... Her cheeks were chubby and red with a small pointed nose. Her small lips were dark pink in colour and her head was filled with soft light brown hair... She was truly looking like an angel made in heaven... Reuben kept staring at her, being mesmerized by her beauty and asked Jessica, "Baby''s name?" Jessica softly smiled at him and ruffled his hair before pronouncing, "Veronica¡­ Her name is Veronica Lopez." Chapter 316 - From children to beautiful teenagers... Jessica softly smiled at him and ruffled his hair before pronouncing, "Veronica¡­ Her name is Veronica Lopez." Hearing the beautiful name, a different kind of tingling sensation erupted in his little heart and he felt immense happiness just by recalling her name... He looked at her angelic face and muttered in his soft baby voice, "Veyonica.." Both of the mothers laughed out loud at his wrong pronunciation which was really cute while Reuben just frowned at them, not understanding the reason of their laughter... Reuben sat properly on the bed and asked sweetly, "Can Ben hold Veyonica?" Looking at his expectant face, the two women smiled and Victoria placed Veronica on his lap before saying, "Hold her carefully. She is very small. So be aware that she doesn''t get hurt." Reuben cutely nodded his head and hold her small hand which made Veronica immediately wrap her little fingers around Reuben''s index finger in a reflex... Scrutinizing her face very thoroughly as if he was trying to remember every single details of her small face, Reuben smiled and touched her right cheek very much tenderly with his free hand... Feeling Reuben''s small hand caressing her bubbly and chubby cheeks, Veronica''s lips curled up and soon she broke into a toothless smile which earned a low chuckle from Reuben in return. After that Reuben used to visit Veronica from time to time with his mother as he loved to play with her. Veronica also got used to Reuben and whenever he would come to their home to visit her, she would show him the most innocent and cutest smile and like this...time started to pass very fast... ---- Five years later¡­ Smith''s Mansion¡­ A huge round of laughter could be heard from the garden area. Small pair of legs were running here and there in the garden while playing. Five women were sitting on the small yet comfortable benches drinking tea and watching their children playing with each other while laughing and giggling. "They are looking so happy altogether. Isn''t it?" Mrs. Wilson asked sipping her tea. "Yeah.. They are. By the way, why didn''t Jack''s mom came today?" Mrs. Johnson asked. "She was a little busy today. That''s why she couldn''t come, instead she sent Jack with me.." Mrs. Lopez replied. "Wahhhhhhhhhh¡­." Suddenly a loud cry broke the mothers from having their pleasant conversation and they ran towards the children with a panicky heart. Amelia was sitting on the ground, crying loudly while holding her knees tightly with her hands which had a small scratch on it. "What happened Amy? Why are you crying baby?" Mrs. Smith aske getting scared. Amy hiccupped in between crying and complained pointing her little index finger towards Lucinda, "Aunty¡­ Lucy pushed me hard, making me fall on the ground. And now it''s hurting." Mrs. Wilson glared at Lucinda who was also in the brink of tears and scolded her, "Lucy.. Why did you push her? Isn''t she your friend?" Getting scolded by her mother, tears started to fall on Lucinda''s cheeks which made her already red cheeks more redder. Veronica immediately rescued her friend from getting scolded and said in her sweet voice, "No Aunty.. Lucy didn''t push Amy. She was with me all the time. It was Amy who tripped on the stone and fell off. Don''t scold Lucy please..." A seven year old Henry also joined Veronica before saying, "Yes Aunt. Vero is right. Lucy never pushed Amy." Reuben also supported Lucinda and said, "Yes.. Vero never tells lie." Mrs. Jones who was both Andrew and Amy''s mother, picked Amelia up from the ground and inspected her scratch and said, "Amy.. It''s not even a big scratch then why are you crying so much? And you shouldn''t blame others unnecessarily baby.." But Amelia was not ready to accept her defeat and said, "No.. I''m not lying. Lucy really push¡­" "Stop pushing your own fault on others, Amy. I had seen with my own eyes that you got tripped yourself... Moreover, stop behaving like a crybaby for such a small matter and try to be a little strong like Vero and Lucy.." Andrew scolded Amelia which stopped her from saying anything more. Neil and Jack just observed the whole fiasco and shook their heads like some elder people while Louis just ignored her and continued playing with a stick.. Years passed by and the children became more close to each other... ----- Ten more years later¡­ Elite National School¡­ Now the children had already grown up into beautiful teenagers. Andrew was the eldest among them as his age was eighteen that time and he had already started his college. Reuben, Neil, Jack and Henry were seventeen years now whereas Veronica, Lucinda, Amelia and Louis were fifteen years old. The girls were sitting in the canteen, talking about some new movies that had recently released... At that moment, the five boys just came back from the basketball court, finishing their practice session. As soon as they reached near the girls, Reuben pulled Veronica''s hair which made her glare at him as she snapped in irritation, "Why do you always do this, Ben? Didn''t I tell you not to pull my hair?" "Yeah¡­ You told me but I chose to not grant your wish. So I''ll continue pulling your hair as much I want.." Reuben said casually, shrugging his shoulders as he took a vacant chair from the nearest table and placed it beside Veronica before sitting on it. Amelia''s eyes travelled to Henry who was sipping water. He was looking really s.e.xy with his sweat filled body and hair. She quietly pulled a chair out beside her so that Henry could sit there. Instead Henry make a round of the table and sat beside Lucinda who was smiling at him. Jack took the vacant chair beside Amy while Louis and Neil also followed him. "So where were we? Yeah...we were talking about the movie." Lucinda started their previous conversation again. "Yeah¡­ The lead actor is so much handsome. Whenever I just see his videos or pictures, I fell in love with him again and again.." Veronica said dreamily. This arced Reuben''s interest and he threw daggers at Veronica who was going on blabbering about that so called handsome actor. His jealousy increased and he freaked out really loud, "Stop saying other man''s name in front of me. I''m much more handsome than your so called hollywood actor.." Chapter 317 - Crying for their lost friends... This arced Reuben''s interest and he threw daggers at Veronica who was going on blabbering about that so called handsome actor. His jealousy increased and he freaked out, "Stop saying other man''s name in front of me. I''m much more handsome than your so called hollywood actor.." Veronica looked at Reuben like she had seen some alien and asked, "What do you mean by we can''t discuss about any other man in front of you guys? We definitely can.." Neil leaned back on the chair and said leisurely, "He didn''t mean all of us. Reuben meant to say that only you can not speak about other men in front of him but Lucy or Amy can.." Reuben threw daggers at him by his eyes but before he could retort back at him, Henry growled at him, "Even Lucy also can''t praise other men¡­ Yeah, but Amy can.." Neil and Jack''s smile turned into a smirk as they shared an understanding look with each other while Amy burnt in anger and jealousy, seeing Henry being so overprotective about Lucinda... Veronica and Lucinda just stared at them being puzzled with the sudden change of conversations but ignored it later completely... Reuben and Veronica started bickering with each other more and more by each passing day while Henry and Lucinda''s closeness also grew stronger, making Amelia more insecure while Neil, Jack, Louis and Andrew remained same¡­all protective about the girls... ---- After another five years¡­ Two people left from the group which was a huge shock for everyone. Andrew''s sudden death was a big shock to everyone, specially for Reuben and Veronica who were the most close to him. After Andrew''s death, both Mr. and Mrs. Jones also shifted to another country with Amelia as city S was filled with Andrew''s memory which was really unbearable for them.. First few months were really difficult for everyone as Jack also left the country for his higher studies. Lucinda also tried to distant herself from everyone and no one knew the actual reason behind it... Reuben, Neil and Henry became busy with their work as the new responsibilities of being the CEOs of their own companies had been a lot for them to handle¡­ Whereas Lucinda and Veronica were busy in their own courses and Willa also had came into the picture till then. This was not which they had expected at all. So Reuben thought to bring everything back to it''s place as he really couldn''t see his friends in grief, crying for their lost friends... He was also very much hurt but his heart ached more whenever he would see his happy pill, the always smiling Vero was becoming silent day by day.. So he decided to talk with Lucinda and Veronica for the betterment of their whole group... ----- "Lucy.. Tell me what had happened that you''re distancing yourself from us?" Reuben asked as he had called Lucinda to meet him in his office and now they were sitting alone in Reuben''s cabin. "Nothing bro. You are just thinking too much.." Lucinda replied. Sighing deeply, Reuben said "Fine.. I''ll not pressurise you too much. But whenever you think of sharing anything, just call me...okay?" Lucinda gave him a faint smile and said, "Sure Reuben." Reuben held her hand and said, "You''re my little sis. So it hurts me to see you like this. Can''t we be like before? All happy happy...smiling and laughing together.." Lucinda thought for a while and then looked back at Reuben, "You''re right Reuben. Whatever happened in the past shouldn''t matter anymore to us. We should only think about our present and future... I promise you today Bro that your this little sis will never cry again and always be happy like she was before." Hearing it Reuben gave her a big smile and hugged her. Lucinda chuckled at him and pouted, "Now.. I want to eat my favorite pastry." Reuben became happy to see his sister coming back to her old self again as he ordered Tom to bring her favourite pastry. He was now only hoping in his heart that he could also be successful in bringing Veronica to her actual self¡­ ----- Lopez Mansion¡­ "Hey Aunt.. how are you?" Reuben asked seeing Mrs. Lopez sitting in the living room, reading a magazine. Mrs. Lopez smiled at him and replied, "I''m fine my child.. You tell me, how are you?" Reuben smiled back and replied, "I''m as usual good. Where is Vero by the way? I have something important to tell her." "Oh!! She is in upstairs. Go and meet her. I''ll make some snacks for both of you meanwhile." Mrs. Lopez said. Reuben nodded his head and ran upstairs. As he came near Veronica''s room, he knocked on the door but getting no response, he entered only to find Veronica sleeping cutely on her bed hugging a teddy bear.. Suddenly, Reuben started to feel jealous over the soft toy which Veronica was hugging at that moment. He badly wanted to be at the place where that lifeless creature was¡­ He slowly walked inside on his tiptoes so that he wouldn''t disturb Vero and sat beside her on the bed. Reuben quietly removed the hair strands which were falling on her face, hiding her beautiful face from his view and tucked it behind her ear. He then started caressing her soft cheeks very smoothly like he was touching some porcelain doll. His touch was as tender as the first time he had taken her in his arms after her one month birthday... His gaze was soft on her and a silly smile was playing on his lips as he was caressing her jawline right now with the back of his hand. Veronica thought that it was her mother who was stroking her face so she involuntarily leaned on to the touch. But when she felt something wrong like the hand was a little bigger than her mother, she abruptly opened her eyes to look at the person... As soon as her eyes fell on the intruder who was none other than Reuben, she shrieked in an almost loud voice, "You..... What are you doing here???" Chapter 318 - Hidden secret... As soon as her eyes fell on the intruder who was none other than Reuben, she shrieked in an almost loud voice, "You.... What are you doing here?? Most specifically, why are you here??" Reuben smirked looking at her horrified face and said, "First of all, I can come here any time I want. Secondly, the reason I came here is¡­" He stopped and looked at Veronica with a serious face and put his hand on her head, slowly caressing her hair. Veronica also stared back at him with a amazed expression as she felt the soothing touch of Reuben''s fingers in her hair which was giving her a kind of comfortable feeling as she closed her eyes to feel it more eternally. Reuben stopped the movement of his fingers, making Veronica open her eyes as he whispered in a low voice, "I came here to.....pull your hair..." Saying that he pulled her hair strands with a little force which made Veronica yell in utter pain, "Ahhhhhh...." "Hahaha.. It was so fun to torture you.." Reuben almost fell off the bed while laughing. Veronica rubbed her scalp while giving him deadly glares as she growled at him, "You idiot!! You came here to make fun of me.. Get lost right now before I kill you." "Vero...very bad habit. Didn''t I always warn you not to behave this rudely with my son Reuben? But you never listen to me." Before Reuben could retort back at Veronica, Mrs. Lopez entered Veronica''s room with a tray in her hand and scolded her daughter for the bad behaviour. "Come on Mom. Now you don''t start please. You don''t know what had this idiot done with me. He pulled¡­." Veronica tried to complain but was stopped by Mrs. Lopez as she glared at her daughter, daring her to say anything more. Veronica puffed her cheeks in anger and folded her hand while Reuben just grinned at her slyly. Mrs. Lopez kept the tray on the table and told Reuben, "Come on dear. Don''t waste your time fighting with her and eat these tasty snacks. I made your favourite french fry and chicken lollipop for you.." Reuben drooled, smelling the yummy fragrance of his favourite snacks. Rubbing his hands together excitedly like a kid, he pounced on the food and started crunching the French fries and chicken lollipops. Veronica gawked at him and then posted towards her mother, "You only bought these for him? Where is mine?" "Obviously, she won''t bring anything for you as she loves me the most." Reuben teased Veronica as he dipped the fries into the sauce before munching it happily. "Mom¡­." Veronica whined making both Reuben and Mrs. Lopez laugh at her. "You go wash your face first. I''ve also brought snacks for you." Mrs. Lopez said showing her another plate. Veronica stuck her tongue out at Reuben before heading towards the washroom while Reuben just felt joy in his heart seeing her naughty side again. Mrs. Lopez sighed at her daughter and said, "Okay Reuben. You talk with Vero. I''m going downstairs. And you are leaving after dinner. I won''t hear no from you. Understand?" Reuben nodded his head accepting the amazing proposal of having Mrs. Lopez''s handmade tasty food and said, "No problem Aunt.." After Mrs. Lopez left, Veronica also walked out of the washroom and sat beside Reuben before eating her own snacks while Reuben just kept looking at her with a smile. Veronica noticed it and asked, "What?" Shaking his head in a negative way, Reuben said, "Nothing¡­" After they were done with eating, Reuben started, "Vero... I want to tell you something." Veronica looked at him with a puzzled expression and nodded her head, signaling him to continue whatever he want to say. Taking a deep breath, Reuben said, "I know Andrew brother''s death was a big shock for you. But we can''t just grief over that for our whole life. We need to be normal again...right?" Hearing about Andrew, Veronica''s eyes filled with tears but she still nodded her head when she understood that Reuben was indeed right. She really had to forget the dreadful day of their lives and had to move on with positivity... Reuben saw her tears and hugged her tightly in his soothing embrace. He wiped the tears which were wetting her fair cheeks and kissed her forehead. "Do you think Andrew bro would be happy if he see all of us grimacing over his death, losing our happiness on the way?? The answer is No.. He would never like to see his sister mourning over him for her whole life. So please smile at least to respect him." Reuben said very softly to her. Veronica smiled at him and wiped the lone tear from Reuben''s cheek which had betrayed him and fell from his eyes, totally unbeknownst to him... "You also miss him, right? I know that he was your favourite also. You loved him as your own brother and his death was also shocking for you... I also know that, you''re getting immense pain in your heart but you''re trying to suppress it. But let me tell you one thing Ben¡­ You don''t have to hide your tears from me¡­ You can cry as much you want. I promise I''ll not tell anyone anything about you being a crybaby for once. This secret will be kept hidden between just both of us till our last breath.." Veronica said, cupping his left cheek in her palm and looking into his eyes. The pain, hurt, remorse and guilty feeling that Reuben was feeling from all these months finally came out into tears after hearing Veronica''s soothing words. Reuben broke into tears as he pulled Veronica into a tight hug , keeping his hands around her waist and placing his head onto her shoulder sobbing loudly. Veronica also joined him as she too accompany him in crying. Both of them kept hugging each other in their protective embraces as if their life depended on it... Few minutes later when finally they poured out all of their emotions towards each other, they finally pulled themselves out but their gazes were locked to each other. Both of them leaned forward towards each other unconsciously as their noses slowly touched. Their lips also came forward more to each other and few seconds later, their lips were just few inches apart¡­ Chapter 319 - Full fledged romantic story... Both of them leaned forward towards each other unconsciously as their noses slowly touched. Their lips also came forward more to each other and few seconds later, their lips were just few inches apart¡­ Their lips were about to meet when a sudden ringing brought them out of their trance. They jumped out from their positions as it was extremely close where Veronica was almost sitting on Reuben''s lap. Reuben quickly took out his phone which disturbed their sweet moment and cut it off. Both of them sat there awkwardly looking here and there, not knowing what to do.. This silence continued for few more minutes. Then finally Veronica decided to break it when she remembered something very important. "Uhmm.. Reuben.." Veronica called his name in an extremely low voice. "Yeah?" Reuben asked glancing at her. "I have something really important to inform you which I absolutely forgot to tell you before because of all this fiasco.." Veronica said. "Okay.. What is it?" Reuben asked patiently. Veronica fidgeted with her fingers and narrated, "Actually, there is a mandatory project for the top students of our college. They have to visit different branches of our college to promote our multimedia work and to teach our fellow friends about new softwares and their techniques.. As you know I''m the topper in our batch so I''ve to be a part of this project also. So I''m leaving for city B two weeks later as my campaign has been scheduled there. Willa and Louis are also a part of it but they are visiting different cities.." Like this Veronica told him about everything like she was going to leave there alone like a normal middle class girl in an small apartment without any security.. Reuben was trying to gulp all the informations at first very calmly but when each and every words penetrated in his mind properly he freaked out.. "What!! You''re leaving for city B two weeks later and you''re telling me now? Most importantly, you''re going to leave there alone without your parents or any familiar person... Vero.. Don''t forget that City B is going to be completely new for you. You just can''t stay there alone like that. I mean if you want to stay like normal girl in a small apartment...that''s completely okay¡­ I approve your wish but that doesn''t mean that I''ll allow you to stay there without any bodyguards following you. Your safety is the most important matter for me and I won''t let you play with it.." Reuben told her or more like ordered her. "Oh!! Come on Reuben.. I''m not a kid anymore. I can take care of myself properly. You don''t have to worry about me as you know that I''m already a member of Secret 7 and I had learnt different kind of martial arts, boxing and many other fighting techniques.." Veronica said while pouting. Her cuteness again worked on Reuben as he ran his hand through his hair frustratingly and said, "Fine.. Do whatever you want. But I want you back here safe and sound.." "Okay promise.." Veronica giggled and jumped on Reuben in excitement. Reuben balanced themselves from falling on the floor because of the sudden force and hugged her back tightly but in his mind, another plan was brewing on... ''I know that you can take care of yourself properly. But still I can''t take any risk with your safety. You''re my life, Ica. And if something happens to you, I''ll be dead too. So I''ll send my personal bodyguards behind you to safeguard you from any kind of mishaps..'' Reuben thought to himself. Veronica broke the hug but didn''t got out of his embrace yet. She looked at his face and whispered softly, "I''ll miss you in these upcoming six months.." Reuben caressed her cheek and muttered tenderly, "I''ll miss you too Vero. I don''t know how I''ll spend these six months without pulling your hair and teasing you.." Veronica punched his arm playfully but Reuben caught it and said, "Come back soon, okay? If any kind of problems occurs, just give me a call. And most importantly, I''ll miss you like hell.." Veronica nodded her head while Reuben placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Unbeknownst them, this day had changed their equation of friendship to another special kind of bond which seemed to have only four letters but defined a great meaning¡­which was being called as LOVE... This was going to be the start of their budding romance which would soon turn into a full fledged romantic story of their own... ---- Two weeks passed by soon. Lucinda had already sorted out everything with her friends and brothers. Veronica also came back to her happy self.. Everyone had returned to their old selves and all had enjoyed the last two weeks to their full before Veronica, Willa and Louis could leave for different cities.. As per their schedule dates, the three left city S. Veronica started adjusting herself in city B where she had made new friends like Alex and Alonzo, thinking both of them were same person. She also got a new friend in Diana.. Months passed by and Reuben came to visit her once, giving excuses over his business which was another short story of them. Veronica literally had tried to kill him thinking him as a thief but thankfully Reuben''s reflexes were quick as he was able to take his little lioness down.. After one day of his stay, he left for city S again while Veronica started her normal life again. Among all of these, Veronica had to face many hardsh.i.p.s which only led her to immense pain and hurt because of the betrayal of her new friends.. ---- Six months later¡­ Veronica finally returned to city S with a foul mood. But she immediately removed those saddened expressions from her face as soon as she saw the smiling face of her parents. She gave them their gifts which she had bought from city B for them. She also met Smith, Wilson, Johnson and Morgan elders to hand them their presents along with all of her friends except one person¡­ Chapter 320 - Force of Love... She gave them their gifts which she had bought from city B for them. She also visited Smith, Wilson, Johnson and Morgan elders to hand them their presents along with all of her friends except one person¡­ That person was Mr. Reuben Smith who had already placed a secured position in her heart from their childhood. But now that position has accelerated to another level which defined her melting heart¡­ It had been two days since Veronica had returned from city B but she still hadn''t gone to visit Reuben for once because she was waiting for a perfect moment. She wanted to give everyone their gifts first before meeting him as Reuben''s gift was very much special and completely different from others. But what was shocking for her was that Reuben hadn''t ever tried to meet her after she came back which was completely unexpected from him. He even didn''t have called her for once.. Even whenever Veronica tried to call him, he would always reject the call or wouldn''t pick it up. This was making Veronica really frustrated. Didn''t he say he would miss her before she left for city B?? Not only that, Reuben even went to city B just for a simple project just to meet Veronica¡­ Then why he is ignoring her now? Were all of his ''miss you'' messages that he had sent to her fake?? Didn''t he mean it at all or was he just trying to play with her feelings?? No...!!!!!! That couldn''t ever happen as Reuben was not like other guys who would play with a girl''s feeling¡­specially when the person was Veronica herself, for whom Reuben had always been so overprotective that he had never given any other boys even a single chance to become close to her more than a friend... He would always threaten those guys along with her brothers who would initiate a proposal kind of thing to her¡­ Then why he was avoiding her calls after making her fall deep in love with him? Yes¡­!!! It''s true that Veronica had started falling in love with Reuben and she was absolutely ready to accept her love for him. Actually that was also a wrong statement¡­ Because Veronica had started loving Reuben from past few years but she never understood this... But as people said, distance made people understand the real worth of a person... So like this, Veronica also realised her true feelings about Reuben which was no more prohibited inside the boundary of friendship but it had crossed all those insecurities and bounds, turning it into a pure force of love.. While Veronica was staying in city B, he really had made a lots of new friends but she never forgot to miss Reuben. She was thinking about him so much in all those six months as if her mind was revolved only around him. Now the distance between them even when they were in same city, was making Veronica''s mood so much pissed off that she wanted nothing but to bang Reuben''s head with the wall.. So without waiting anymore, she decided to call Tom as she knew that Tom would not dare to reject her call in fear of her foul mood later... Tom was giving orders to few of the workers when his phone rang. He saw that it was Veronica''s call and his inner veins suddenly shuddered in fear. He knew exactly why Veronica was calling him and the reason was his boss who was not answering her call intentionally as he was busy in planning a big surprise for someone special.. Calming his nerves down, Tom wiped the sweat in his palms on his pants and picked up the call, "Hello ma''am?" "Hello Tom.. Where is your Boss? And why is he not accepting my calls?" Veronica asked. Tom gulped his saliva and stuttered while saying, "Uhmm¡­Ma''am Boss is in an important meeting. Maybe that''s why he isn''t receiving your call." "Oh really? Your boss is having a meeting and you''re not accompanying him? Instead you''re talking with me here without getting scared of losing your job... Do you think me as a fool?" Veronica raised her voice high in the last sentence as she very expertly caught Tom''s big white lie.. Tom was now sweating vigorously and his forehead had completely covered with perspiration. He was at loss of his words and was praying to God to save his life from her. "Are you going to keep mum or tell me the truth? Okay fine¡­you don''t need to tell me anything. Just do one thing for me¡­ Go to your boss and tell him that I''m waiting for his call. And if he doesn''t call me back in next five minutes, then I''m coming to his office to thrash him out of his cabin and kick him in his guts.." Veronica lashed out angrily. Hearing the scary order from Veronica, Tom nodded his head like an obedient child and ran to Reuben''s room as Veronica had already cut the call without waiting for his answer. Tom knocked Reuben''s door hurriedly. After getting a positive response from him, Tom just rushed into his cabin and stood in front of him and started taking deep breaths.. Reuben looked up at him with his raised eyebrows as he asked, "What happened to you? Why are you inhaling and exhaling so deeply?" Tom stared at his face and said quickly, "Boss¡­ Ms. Veronica has called me just now and threatened me telling that...if you don''t give her a call in five minutes then she''d come here to beat you up.." As soon as the words left from Tom''s mouth, Reuben''s eyes widened in shock as he muttered exasperatedly, "No.. She can''t come here all of a sudden. If she visit me in the office then all of our secrets will be revealed to her and our plan will get failed." "Yes.. Boss.. You''re right. That''s why I''m telling you to call Ms. Veronica and have a talk with her, so that you could stop her from coming here¡­" Tom suggested. Chapter 321 - Cracking voice... "Yes.. Boss.. You''re right. That''s why I''m telling you to call Ms. Veronica and have a talk with her, so that you could stop her from coming here¡­" Tom suggested. Reuben agreed with him as he knew, no one was able to prohibit Veronica if she had already fixed her mind on something.. So he decided to call her immediately to escape out from the lion''s den as he said, "Tom¡­ Thanks for informing me. Now I''m going to call her. You can go and check the preparations of the surprise thoroughly.. Tom nodded his head and left the cabin to give his boss some privacy. Reuben picked up his phone and took a large deep breath to survive the upcoming storm. He finally dialed the number after numerous times of prayers to Jesus Christ and few rings later he heard the angry voice of Veronica.. "You bastard! Now you have gotten some time to talk to me after I threatened you with your life. What the hell were you doing in these pass two days? I called you so many times but you rejected my calls everytime.. You know what, I just want to kill you so much that I''m hardly controlling my anger now. What was so important for you to cut my call each and every single time? Were you trying to hide something from me?" Veronica growled from the other side of the phone as she kept him asking questions after questions. Reuben pinched the end of his nose, getting tensed when he heard her pointing out the fact of him hiding something from her. Trying not to show his nervousness in front of her, Reuben said in an extremely soft tone, "Vero¡­ You are misunderstanding everything. I''m not hiding anything from you. And why should I when I know that you''ll kill me the moment you find out about my secrets.. And I was not receiving your calls because I was truly busy in few important business meetings and other stuffs. Otherwise I''d definitely pick up your calls like I always do. I''m really sorry¡­Okay??" Hearing him apologizing to her, Veronica''s anger subsided a little bit but she was still upset with him so she asked in an almost disappointed voice, "Is your work more important to you more than talking to me or meeting me after I came back to city S around six months later?" Reuben analysed the pain in her voice and his heart clenched feeling her hurt as he said softly, "But Vero.. I went to visit you in the middle right? And I was really busy you know.. Moreover, don''t you hate me with all of your heart? Then why are you so much upset not being able to meet me?" This triggered the bottom line of Veronica as she glared up like a fire alarm, "Yeah¡­ Now you''d tell me that I hate you so why should I think of meeting you?? Actually, I really hate you so much to remind you that you went to visit me in city S a couple of months ago.." A tear escaped from her eyes as she whispered in a very low voice which was hardly audible to anyone, "I just wanted to meet you. Is it my fault than I can''t except even a single call from you?? I even bought a gift for you thinking that you''d like it. But seems like, I expected too much from someone. You don''t even have a single freaking minute for me¡­" Reuben heard Veronica''s voice cracking at the last part and he rubbed his face with his left hand, feeling extremely helpless at the moment. "Fine¡­ Do one thing. Let''s meet at tomorrow evening. I''ll pick you up from your home. And don''t forget to bring my gift with you. Otherwise, I''ll not allow you to eat your favourite pizza." Reuben said the last sentence jokingly to make her laugh.. Little did he know that those cracking voice and crying was nothing but a show to blackmail Reuben emotionally to make him agree to meet her. Veronica very well knew that Reuben must be really busy to not accept her call but she was getting frustrated on herself unable to meet him. She wanted to proclfess her love to him but was not sure if he would have also loved her like the way she did... So she decided that it would be best if she started to meet him more and then she can slowly confess about her true feelings to him through her actions... She did a happy dance when Reuben agreed to meet her next day and said excitedly, "Okay.. Then I''ll be ready for you. Come on time, otherwise I''m not going to give you, your gift. Also you''re giving me a pizza treat tomorrow to get my forgiveness." Reuben chuckled and said, "Deal then.." After hanging up the call, Reuben left a deep sigh and murmured to himself, "This girl will be the death of me one day. I really can''t hold myself anymore from agreeing to her request through I know it very clearly that she was just making an act of crying to make me get agreed to her request¡­ But one thing I know is...she was truly upset with me not receiving her call. But how I''m going to arrange everything in such a short time??" Looking up at the ceiling he muttered, "Oh God! Give some strength to me for getting success in the most difficult task of my life without any commotion... Okay Reuben!! Enough of your self talking. Now let''s call Tom and tell him about my plan of meeting my Ica tomorrow." Tom entered Reuben''s cabin few minutes later and asked, "You''re done talking with Ms. Veronica, boss?" "Yeah.. Just ended the call with her. However Tom, I''ve something serious to discuss with you." Reuben said leaning forward and keeping both of his hands on the table. Tom observed the serious expression on Reuben''s face and he said, "Sure Boss. Tell me whatever you want. I''m hear to listen to you and help you in everything." Reuben gave him a small smile before throwing the bomb on him, "I''m going to meet my Ica tomorrow. So we''ve to prepone all of our plans from this next week to tomorrow.." Chapter 322 - Shell shocked... Reuben gave him a small smile before throwing the bomb on him, "I''m going to meet my Ica tomorrow. So we''ve to prepone all of our plans from the next week to tomorrow.." "What??" Tom almost shouted in shock when he heard Reuben telling him to finish such an important task just in a day. Next day was Saturday and they had planned to execute their all ideas to set the surprise on next week Friday which meant that they were going to prepone their whole task six days prior and it was quite impossible for them.. Tom swiped off his shocked expression and asked, "But boss.. How can we finish it so soon?" Reuben looked towards Tom and said, "I know it''s really difficult but not impossible. Do one thing, till now you were handling both office and the surprises... right?? So now don''t think anything about all the office works. And focus on just the surprise. And don''t worry, I''ll help you in everything. You just decorate the place as I have described before. Rest I''ll handle myself." Tom nodded and went to do his work while Reuben made a few call to confirm about some things so that his plan would go without any flaws and he could smoothly proceed with his surprise for Veronica... ---- Lopez Mansion¡­ The day passed by and finally the moment of their meeting had come... Veronica was roaming around her room restlessly. She was making a continuous round of her walk in closet and bedroom. Her bed was covered with different kinds of dresses as she didn''t know what to wear. She was confused for the first time in her life to choose a drees for herself. She had never wasted her time in this kind of silly things before, like other girls but now she was getting more picky than them because of Reuben. She wanted to look all pretty and dolled up so that Reuben would notice her more than a friend. Her eyes finally landed on a dark blue colour short dress which was very much simple yet elegant. It had turtle neck and made with pure lenin. The dress end few inches before her knees. It was a frock kind of dress with a belt at the back of her waist portion... The area between her back and her waist was exposed by a four inches cut which was showing her luscious milky white skin.. She kept her long hair opened and curled the bottom parts of her hairs and wore beautiful blue heels whose ribbon was tied around her ankle part. Veronica wanted to keep her look normal so she wore a pair of matching blue studs which had a bow kind of design on the upper portion and a dark blue cube shaped stone was attached to the down part of it. She chose to have a light shade of pink eyeshadow with black eyeliner, mascara. She didn''t use any blush on her cheeks but used a little bit of golden highlighter on her cheekbones after applying a very small amount of foundation and compact. Then she coloured her lips with a nude pink lipstick. She also wore a simple watch which had a bracelet along with it. So she was now completely ready. Taking her handbag, she put his gift and waited for Reuben to arrive... Soon she heard a car honk and she rushed downwards as fast as she could. She bid goodbye to her mother and went outside to see Reuben standing there looking all handsome¡­ Reuben was wearing a black t-shirt with a burgundy jacket as he paired it with blue denims. He was wearing a pair of same colour sneakers of his jacket.. His watch was of light brown colour which had a black dial in it.. His hair was gelled up backwards but few strands were falling on his forehead giving him a more attractive look. Reuben was looking extremely macho kind of handsome with his own charm added to it. Both were equally surprised to see each other and they practically were ogling over both of their looks with so much intensity that no one mattered to them anymore at that moment.. Few minutes later, their staring competition ended and Reuben opened the passenger door for her as Veronica enterd.. After Reuben sat himself in the driver seat, he held Veronica''s hand and went near her ear before whispering s.e.xily, "You are looking damn hot and beautiful.." Veronica felt his breath near her neck and she also looked back towards Reuben with adoration in her eyes as she whispered back seductively, "And you are looking hell s.e.xy and handsome.." Reuben chuckled at her compliment and started the car for their destination. In middle of their drive to the place, Reuben gave a call to Tom and asked, "Is everything ready?" Tom answered the call and replied, "Yes Boss. Everything is ready...exactly mirroring your description and imagination." Reuben smiled and said, "Thank you. We''ll be there in another thirty minutes." After Reuben hung up the call, Veronica kept looking at her with a frown on her face. Reuben noticed it and asked, "What happened? Why are you looking at me like that?" Veronica couldn''t suppress her curiosity anymore and asked, "Where are we going exactly? And why did you tell Tom that we would need another thirty minutes?? We''ve been already driving for fifteen minutes. I thought that we''re going to some Italian restaurant as you promised to treat me pizza.." Reuben chuckled at her excitement and said, "We''re not going to any kind of restaurant. I''m taking to a place where you''ve never visited before and I''m sure that you''ll love that place just after looking at it for once. So now, no more talks. Just enjoy the drive." Veronica nodded her head and waited patiently in the car while he drove... Few minutes later, the car stopped near a deserted place when Reuben announced, "We''re here.." Reuben quickly got out and went towards Veronica''s side before opening the door for her. He gave her his hand and Veronica accepted it with a shy smile on the face... Veronica was thinking what was so much special about a secluded place but when her eyes fell on the beautiful scenery in front of her, she stood there shell shocked¡­ Chapter 323 - A beautiful swing... Veronica was thinking what was so much special about a secluded place but when her eyes fell on the beautiful scenery in front of her, she stood there shell shocked¡­ It was a cliff where Reuben had taken her but it was not the main attraction of the place. The fact that one could see the whole city from the cliff was the most mesmerizing thing for Veronica... Reuben held her waist with one hand and with his right hand he held Veronica''s right palm and walked her forward. She again got shocked with the amazing beauty being created by Reuben in front of her.. Each side of the pathway was covered with beautiful scented candles while lamps were hanging from the branches of trees. Rose petals were scattered everywhere and ended right in front of the dining place where a beautifully decorated table with two chairs were placed. The table was covered with a white tablecloth and another pair of red cloth was being placed on the white sheet. Candles of different shapes and colours were kept in the middle of the table. Two plates, a wine bottle and few covered dishes were also present there... Reuben pulled out a chair for Veronica to sit and after she had been seated there, Reuben also took his chair. Uncovering the first dish which was pizza, Reuben cut her a slice and opened two other dishes which were fried noodles with chilli chicken... Veronica took a bite of pizza and as soon as it hit her taste buds, she m.o.a.ned in pleasure. She felt something familiar with the taste but didn''t thought too much of it. Taking some noodles and chicken she also ate it when reality hit her hard. Reuben was just staring at her beautiful face while taking few bites in between when suddenly he noticed a sudden change of expression on her face... "Don''t tell me you had cooked it all." Veronica said looking at Reuben with wide eyes. Reuben just smiled and nodded his head while Veronica felt so much emotional at the moment. She said a small ''thank you'' to him and continued eating while sipping the wine. After they were done with food, Reuben suddenly asked, "Now where is my gift?" Veronica gave him a cheeky smile and said, "I forgot to bring it." Reuben made a pout but then smirked before saying, "Fine.. If you really forget to bring my gift, then I''ll also forget that there are many other surprises for you." Veronica''s eyes immediately lit up like a bulb and she asked, "You had arranged more surprises for me?" When Reuben nodded at her, Veronica immediately pulled out a gift box from her bag and gave it to him. Reuben took it from her and read the note which was attached on the gift wrapper which said, "To, The rotten face bastard, Reuben¡­ From, The prettiest angel, Veronica¡­" The moment Reuben read those words, he laughed out loud making Veronica chuckle at him. "Like seriously?" Reuben asked. Veronica nodded her head and said, "Yes.. It''s the truth." "Are you just calling me a bastard now?" Reuben said in fake anger. "Yeah...you are one and I''m the prettiest girl here." Veronica said shrugging her shoulders. "Who is pretty? You?? Huh!! Don''t live in your own Wonderland." Reuben mocked jokingly. Veronica narrowed her eyes at him and was about to say something when Reuben said, "Let''s not fight now. Let me check the gift first." Reuben opened the gift after he saw that Veronica had zipped up her mouth. He opened the gift and got happy to see a beautiful photo frame. But he was more captivated with the photo placed inside it. It was a picture of him and Veronica in their teenage days. Reuben gave her a breathtaking smile and said, "Thanks for the amazing gift. It''s really special for me. I''ll keep it in my office." Veronica smiled back at him and gave him a band which had ''Best Friends Forever'' written on it. "I bought it for all of our friends and also for you. I hope you liked it." Veronica said hoping that Reuben would like this gift of hers also. Reuben answered her with the brightest smile on his face and muttered, "I loved it. Now come on. We''ve another surprise for you waiting." Veronica nodded and took Reuben''s hand which he had stretched out for Reuben to hold as they walked towards another part of the cliff. As they walked holding each other''s hand, they felt a tingling sensation in their stomach like they had just ate butterflies instead of food. Soon they reached their and what Veronica noticed was really breathtaking.. A coconut tree were bent horizontally on the cliff area and it was surrounded with small 3d yellow lights. The land was again covered with several candles and rose petals. But the most amazing part was¡­a beautiful swing decorated with same 3d lights was hanging from the tree. "WOW! It''s so beautiful." Veronica whispered in a faint voice so that only Reuben could hear. Reuben beamed seeing her surprised expression and took her near the tree. He made her sit on the swing and walked behind her slowly. Veronica made her comfortable on the swing and caught the sides of it. Reuben grabbed the swing in his hand and pushed it forward slowly, making Veronica giggle. "Woah!! I feel so much like a kid. As if I had gotten back to my childhood. Do you remember Ben?? When we were kids...you''d swing me like the same way like now." Veronica asked turning her face a little back to see Reuben. "I can''t never forget anything which concludes you in it, Ica.." Reuben said smilingly. Veronica caught the last word cautiously in her mind and asked him confusedly, "Ica? Did you just call me Ica? But you never called me with this name before, did you?" Reuben grinned at her pouted lips which had just now asked for a clarification. He walked around the tree and stood right in front of Veronica.. Both of them had a quick eye lock which were glistening brightly with the lights illuminating from the candles. Still looking at her beautiful face, Reuben slowly kneeled down in front of her before taking her hands in her¡­ Chapter 324 - Be my girlfriend, Love... Both of them had a quick eye lock which were glistening brightly with the lights illuminating from the candles. Still looking at her beautiful face, Reuben slowly kneeled down in front of her before taking her hands in her¡­ Veronica was momentarily stupefied with Reuben''s sudden action. Her beautiful doe like dark brown eyes which were expressing her excitement till now, had widened like a big saucer.. However her trance got broken when she felt a light squeeze under her palm. Reuben fondled her palm a little to bring her back to the world when he noticed that...even though her body was there but her mind had been flying to somewhere else... After she gave her attention back to Reuben, he smiled at her and said, "Yeah.. I''m calling you Ica now. And I never called you with this name because I wasn''t sure if you''d like me to call you by this name. And one more reason was¡­ I thought that giving you different name from others would be not much acceptable as we were nothing more than simple friends. I really tried to suppress my true feelings for you but now I can''t anymore¡­" "What are you talking about?" Veronica asked in almost a whisper. Reuben immediately placed his index finger on her lips to stop her from talking more and said, "Shhhh!! No more questions. Let me finish first and then you can decide if I deserve to call you Ica or not¡­" Veronica didn''t say anything but just kept looking at his eyes which was a signal for Reuben to continue with his confession. Taking a deep breath while closing his eyes, Reuben finally calmed all his nervous veins and stared directly into Veronica''s confused yet curious eyes... Still kneeling on the ground, he started speaking out all of his pending emotions in his heart, "Ica¡­ Do you know when I first saw you twenty years ago¡­you were only one month old that time and so much little like a doll¡­ When I lightly pinched your cheeks, instead of crying like other child, you gave me a cute toothless smile. And my little two years self decided to protect you right from that moment onwards. Though I don''t know from where I got the confidence in that small age." Veronica chuckled remembering the moment when she gave him her first smile. Yes..!!! She remembered that special day... But not from her childhood memories. She saw the video clip which her father had recorded secretly. Not only that single moment but each and every little things like her first word, her crawl, her walk, her playing with friends¡­everything was recorded by her father as for Nr. Lopez, his daughter was his everything... Reuben grinned seeing her smile and continued, "After that, years passed by. Our bond got stronger with our small bickering and funny fights. But still I didn''t forget the promise that I did to myself about protecting you¡­ Now I''m requesting you to give me the right to protect you from all the evilness in the world for our whole lifetime¡­not as a friend but something more.." Veronica''s lips dried with anticipation as she already started guessing about what to come next.. Reuben saw her nervous state and caressed her arms before proposing her with all of his heart, soul and body filled with only love for her and confessed, "Ms. Veronica Lopez.. Give me the permission to care for you, to call you with a special name ''Ica''.. Give me the chance of being your boyfriend¡­" "I love you, Ica... Be my girlfriend, Love.." Finally the most beautiful words slipped out from Reuben''s mouth. Veronica''s heartbeat quickened in an abnormal speed and she forgot to take her breath. Her face lost all of her emotions and only a shock stricken expression covered it... She expected Reuben to say that he liked her. But she never imagined him to profess his love for her so soon.. Most of all, she wasn''t able to comprehend with the truth that Reuben also loved her like the way she did. She thought that she would take her own time to make him fall in love with her but he was already so much in love with her from the first.. Tears started to run down on her eyes making Reuben panic as he quickly wiped it off before covering it with his babbling, "Ica.. Please don''t cry. Your tears really heart me. I truly don''t know when I''ve started falling for you, but I know that my love for you is the most purest emotion of my life... You don''t have to answer me right at this moment. You can take your own time to decide over the matter. I really can wait for you. But remember one thing¡­ Whatever your decision might be¡­our friendship would remain the same. I would not allow you to¡­" Before he could finish, a strong force attacked him, making him stumble a little but he balanced himself and sat on the ground with a undesirable look. Veronica pounced on him without letting Reuben complete and hugged him as tightly as possible and started sobbing on his chest.. Wrapping her hands around him, he whispered in his ears while sniffling, "I love you too Reuben. I love you so so much that I can''t express my love to you just by words." Reuben was dumbfounded with her confession of love for him that he just chose to sit there lifelessly for a few minutes... But when finally the actual meaning of her words got into his head, he detached her from his body and asked with hope filled eyes, "Really? You love me back? This is not a dream¡­is it??" Veronica laughed at him and said cupping his face, "Yes.. Mr. Reuben Smith. I''m also deeply in love with you. I love you very very much." Reuben had no bounds for his happiness as he didn''t waste his time anymore and engulfed Veronica in a tight hug before muttering sensuously in her ears, "I love you too Ica. Wait! I can call you Ica from now on, right?" Chapter 325 - Warm touch of his cold lips... Reuben had no bounds for his happiness as he didn''t waste his time anymore and engulfed Veronica in a tight hug before muttering sensuously in her ears, "I love you too Ica. Wait! I can call you Ica from now on, right?" Veronica chuckled seeing his curiosity filled eyes and pretended to be thinking something, "Uhmmmm¡­ Yeah, you can call me Ica but I have one condition.." Reuben scrunched his eyebrows together and asked, "What kind of condition? I''m ready to fulfil your every wish." Veronica arched her eyebrows playfully at him and asked, "Really?" "Yup.. Really.." Reuben affirmed. Giving him one of her brightest smile, Veronica replied, "Then¡­ You have to let me call you by a nickname also." Reuben sighed in relief and smiled at her before saying, "If you give me a nickname too¡­then I''ll be the happiest person of the world. Now tell me what kind of nickname you have in your mind for me??" Veronica observed his face very closely and said, "You know what? Just like you, I also had the urge to call you by a different name from others but never found the confidence to do so. Now that we''re a couple, I don''t have to think about anything... So, I''ll call you with the nickname ''Bennie'' from now on.." Reuben''s face lit up in a beautiful smile when he heard his new name which was only available for his Ica and said, "I just loved it." He then slipped his hand into his pocket and took out a long velvet box and handed it to Veronica, saying, "It''s a gift for you. Open it.." Veronica took the box in confusion from his hand. But the moment she opened it¡­she was awestruck with the beauty of the gift. It was a simple gold plated pendant which had a beautiful design in the middle part of it. Small leaves made with diamonds were carved through gold branches. It was really simple but beautiful. "This is so beautiful.." Veronica whispered eyeing the pendant. Reuben smiled and said, "Not more beautiful than you, my love. But can you guess, what is the reason of me giving you such a simple pendant, leaving other extravagant ones¡­" Veronica shook her head in denial, so Reuben narrated, "The leaves are the evidence of our pure love and the branches are our heart which is binding us together... I want our love to travel through different kinds of emotions while experiencing all kind of burning feelings...so that it can always stay together like the leaves are bound with each other with the help of these thin brunches.." The meaningful description of Reuben, made Veronica teared up again. She was really pleased with the thoughtfulness he had showed for her. She didn''t say anything but just handed the pendant back to Reuben making him confused as he thought that she wasn''t accepting his gift... But his confusion got cleared and a bright smile lit on his lips when Veronica said, "As you''re the one who had gifted me such a lovely pendant¡­then you''ll be also the one who''ll make me wear it.." Reuben happily took the pendant from her hand while Veronica turned her back to him. He slowly with shivering hands placed the pendant around her neck, giving a soft kiss on her nape which made Veronica shiver a little with the warm touch of his cold lips.. After they sat there like this for a few more minutes, Reuben stood up from the ground and extended his hands to Veronica and said, "Get up.. I have another surprise planned for you.." Keeping her right hand on his, Veronica got up and asked excitedly, "Another surprise??" Reuben beamed at her and replied, "Yes.. The last one for tonight.." Soon they reached another part of the cliff. Again Veronica got entranced with the beauty of the place... There was big rounded couch placed there with white colour cushions coating them. A small round table was placed in the exact middle where few candles were lying on. A big bowl kind of thing was kept on the table covering something and like before the whole place was decorated with candles and roses.. Reuben made her sit on the couch as he also took a place just beside her. He slowly removed the platter which revealed a extremely pretty cake... The cake was of white colour on the most of the part with a tintvif pink. It was decorated with pink, orange and purple colour edible flower icing which were made by whipped cream. It was looking really beautiful. Reuben handed Veronica a knife and gestured her to cut the cake. Veronica smiled and put his hand over her as she mumbled, "We''re going to cut the cake together in the name of the celebration of our new born relation." Reuben gave her a smile and both of them cut the cake and fed each other. As soon as she took the first bite, she was enthralled with the taste as she never thought it would be a chocolate cake. As the coating was of white colour with a little touch of pink, Veronica thought it to be a vanilla cake but she forgot that Reuben was well aware of her likes and dislikes.. So how could he not brought her a chocolate cake which would be always a weak point of her?? After they were done with eating, Veronica enwrapped her hand around Reuben''s and laid her head on his shoulder as they kept watching the night life of the lit city from there... "Thank You Bennie¡­for everything. It was the best day of my life." Veronica suddenly said. Reuben held her chin and made her look up at him before saying, "Don''t say like that, Ica. Because now that we''re together, I''d try to make everyday of your life better than this.." Veronica sweetly smiled at him and Reuben returned it back with a gentle one. Soon their eyes locked with each other in an intense battle.. Without any knowledge, their faces got really closed to each other, making Reuben cup her left cheek while placing his other hand on her waist... Chapter 326 - Categorical Love... Without any knowledge, their faces got closed to each other, making Reuben cup her left cheek while placing his other hand on her waist... Veronica''s hand reached upto his shoulder and her right one rested on his chest while their faces were just few inches away from each other. Reuben tried to find any kind of hesitance or uncomfortableness on her face but saw none of them. Instead a tint of excitement with lots of love and affection could be detected in those enchanting eyes of hers.. As soon as both of their nose touched, their eyes got mote intensified with desire to taste each other''s lips... Reuben''s eyes travelled to Veronica''s soft pink petals which were quite plump and waiting for his attention.. Whereas, Veronica also kept staring at Reuben''s lips which were looking nothing but divine to her.. Reuben directed his eyes again at her dark brown orbs and asked in a whisper, "May I?" This made Veronica''s heart swelled with happiness and respect for him as he thought to ask for her permission before taking any further step though he could clearly decipher that she was already prepared for the kiss. Veronica thought not to give him a reply through words, insteead she jumped into action when she inched her face closure to him, indicating her willingness. Reuben took this as a positive response and placed his own lips on her soft ones with the utmost desire of his heart.. The moment their lips met, both of them felt out of the world as if they had reached the door of the heaven where only peace and serenity existed.. It was not a tongue to tongue kiss but it was kiss of pouring out all of their pent up emotions to each other.. Reuben nibbled her cherry lips softly and sucked it more tenderly. Veronica also followed his action and reciprocated with him. Their joined lips moved together in a synchronized rhythm as they sealed their vow of being the most loving and supporting couple for their whole life, making the stars and moons above witnessed their new found love story under the vast sky¡­ ---- Back to present... The whole living room were completely silent as the couple finished telling their beautiful tale of love story to them. Their way to find love really touched everyone''s heart and they felt it to be the most enchanting fairytale of their lives. They couldn''t even imagine that the cold CEO Reuben Smith could be this much romantic to plan such an amazing and extraordinary proposal for Veronica. Whereas the confidence in Veronica to make Reuben love her back and depth of her love for him, made all of them really admire her. Though their group members like Henry, Neil, Jack, Louis, Lucinda and Willa had heard about it many times¡­still whenever they would listen to them again, they would fell in awe every single time... On the other hand Diana and Myra''s mouths were wide opened in amazement while their eyes were glistening with tears, feeling the love illuminating from the couple... They were now really envying Veronica to have such a thoughtful boyfriend who had done everything to make her happy. Although both of the girls envied Veronica for getting a boyfriend who was as sweet as Reuben and who cared for her so much but it was not a bad one. They were just thinking that if they could also be this much lucky to get a boyfriend like him... Even Cole was also shocked to observe the unconditional love between the couple who were clearly very much fond of each other and there was no doubt about that.. But there was two person who were not at all happy with all of this... Regina was fuming in jealousy, hearing about all of their sweet moments. At first, she thought of going behind Reuben because of his money but now that she got to know about Reuben''s amazing pampering self where he would show all of his romantic side to his loved one, she became more determined to get him by hook or crook. After all she was also a girl and one part of her heart still ached for our love. But she didn''t know that this wish of her would never be fulfilled because Reuben''s heart was made only for Veronica to rule over.. Whereas Alonzo had his jaw clenched tightly when he listened to them. He was also one of them who couldn''t believe that Reuben could be this much romantic to plan all these things which he himself could never have imagined of doing for Veronica.. His mind was only wandering around one thing¡­ ''Maybe.. Reuben is really the best for Veronica. His love is more purer than mine as it is not categorical like me¡­ But I also love Veronica then why Reuben would be the one to always get the best out of everything for Vero?? Uff! I just can''t think anything clearly more. My mind is not at all working correctly right now¡­'' Veronica was still on Reuben''s lap as their eyes were locked with each other with utmost care and love for themselves... But after even waiting for few minutes when they didn''t see anyone speaking but just staring at them with different kind of expressions, both of them shared a skeptical glance. "Guys.. We''re already done with our story as you wanted. Now will you guys please stop gawking at us like some crazy people and start speaking?" Reuben broke the silence between the almost muted people. Veronica also looked at each one of them and said, "Yeah guys.. Please say something. All of you are making me scared with your silence as it is really new for me to witness you guys like this. It''s kind of awkward.." Hearing the couple''s words, they finally broke out of their own dreamland and sat properly on their place. "You know what Vero? I met many couples in my professional career till now.. I also had the chance to design many wedding or engagement dresses for many of the couples who were really romantic and very much into love. But trust me on one thing Vero¡­" Chapter 327 - I too want to kiss you... "You know what Vero? I met many couples in my professional career till now.. I also had the chance to design many wedding or engagement dresses for many of the couples who were really romantic and very much into love. But trust me on one thing Vero¡­ I never saw any couple to love each other so much. Both of your love are really pure which set an example to everyone of us that there is a kind of love exists where only true feelings matter¡­nothing more.." Diana said with a hint of pride in her eyes for her best friend and her boyfriend. "I too agree with Diana. You guys are really the best couple I have ever seen. You guys really make me understand the true meaning of love... And now I know what to do with my life in the future." Myra said, making Cole look at her surprised as he couldn''t decipher exactly what she had meant by her words. Veronica smiled at her friends, "Thanks for your supportive words. It really means a lot to us... And if we really were able to teach you something through our love story then we''re really grateful for that." She said the last sentence glancing at Cole.. Reuben caressed Veronica''s back while smiling at her but he didn''t fail to notice the tiredness in her eyes. Especially when she left a small yawn, Reuben immediately said, "Guys.. I think it''s quite late. We should leave now and Ica is also very tired. And I know that all the girls also don''t want more than sleeping now." Everyone nodded and decided to call it a night. They all shared a friendly hug and left for their own homes... ----- Willa''s Apartment... Neil helped Willa to carry the bag which was filled with her dress that she had worn in the morning. "Where should I keep it?" Neil asked. Willa looked at him and said, "Uhmm¡­ Keep it on the couch. I''ll wash it tomorrow." Neil nodded and did whatever she told before taking a seat on the couch. Willa saw it and arched one of her eyebrows questioningly as she asked, "Are you not going to leave?" "Oh come on!! Just few hours ago, we got engaged to each other. Now can''t I spend some quality time with my fiance at least?" Neil asked while pouting at her to make his complain more obvious. But for Willa¡­it was completely a different scene. As soon as she heard Neil acknowledge her as his fiance, her cheeks turned red in colour as she started blushing profusely. This didn''t go unnoticed by Neil as he extended his arms towards Willa and said, "Come here.." Like an obedient child, Willa followed his instruction and walked towards him slowly before placing her hands on his. When she was going to sit beside Neil on the couch, Neil pulled her forward which resulted her to fall on his lap. Neil made both himself and Willa comfortable on his lap by positioning her properly which made Willa blush more. Staring at the ripe tomato like face of Willa, Neil wanted nothing more than to bite those red cheeks and he did so. "Ahhh!!" A soft whimper of protest came out of Willa''s mouth as she glared at him. "What was that?" Willa asked angrily at him Neil chuckled at her furious Avatar and said, "What can I do when you are looking so much tempting in this beautiful gown with bright red cheeks? It''s not actually my fault that I''m itching to kiss those plum lips of yours.." Willa stared at Neil with her broadened eyes, making Neil chuckle at her innocence as he ruffled her hair playfully. Few seconds later, Willa glanced at Neil and whispered in a soft voice, "Neil¡­.." "Yeah?" Neil asked in a monosyllable as he was busy in playing with her hair strands. "I too want to kiss you." Willa muttered in a single breath. Neil immediately sprinted his eyes towards the direction of her face and when he noticed the shyness on her face, a smile bloomed into his lips in an instant.. Cupping her face with one hand he inched closer to her and smashed his lips onto her. Willa also responded to his kiss with same passion and both of them soon indulged themselves in a passionate moment. Neil left her lips when he felt her being breathless but continued kissing on her jaw. His lips then descended on her neck area where he nibbled for few seconds. Willa let out a m.o.a.n from the pleasure she was getting from the touch of Neil''s lips on her neck and clutched his hair tightly... Neil''s hands started to move from here and there without a stoppage and finally it rested just under her bosom. His lips were now torturing Willa''s collarbone portion and as she was wearing an off shoulder dress it was easier for him to kiss her without facing any boundaries of fine piece of cloth.. His hands slowly moved up a little and cupped her b.r.e.a.s.t under his palm. But this was not enough for Neil as he really wanted to feel the softness of her round bosom.. So without waiting, Neil squeezed her b.r.e.a.s.t a little and kept fondling it with his hand. Willa had already lost all of her senses as she was enjoying the feeling of Neil''s lips on her. Now when Neil was fondling her b.r.e.a.s.t, she was feeling a different kind of pleasure which she had never felt before. She urgently pulled Neil into a kiss as she needed it the most right now to not let out her m.o.a.ns out of her mouth... Neil kissed her back hungrily while Willa''s hand travelled towards the jacket of his suit. She slowly pulled it out of his body and started to unbutton his shirt.. Whereas, Neil also couldn''t hold himself back and his hand moved from her waist to her back. Roaming his hands on her bare back for a while, Neil finally found the zipper of her dress but when he was about to open the dress, his trance got broken and his eyes widened in shock¡­ Chapter 328 - Your s.e.xiness is beyond my control... Roaming his hands on her bare back for a while, Neil finally found the zipper of her dress but when he was about to open the dress, his trance got broken and his eyes widened in shock¡­ Willa stopped unbuttoning his shirt and looked at Neil confusedly when he stopped his hand movements and she asked breathlessly, "What happened?" Neil tilted his head and stared at her before muttering, "We don''t need to rush anything, babe. It''s enough for me that we''re engaged right now. I can really wait for the right moment.." Willa''s face fell hearing his comment and she asked, "What is the right moment for you?" "The moment when you''ll be comfortable with me and become ready completely for the further step in our relationship without any regret." Neil replied taking his hand back from her zipper. Willa tried hard to stop a smile from lifting on her lips and thankfully she succeeded... Holding his face in her soft palms, Willa asked, "And about you? Are you ready to take the further step? Will you regret the next morning for your action?" Neil snapped his head at her and cupped her face in his hands firmly, forcing her to look into his eyes before he said, "I won''t ever regret any moments of my life with you. Holy f.u.c.k!!! I just want to push you into bed and make love to you for the whole night without any mercy so that you''d not even think of getting out of the bed for the whole day... You''re a whole package of a true seductress, Love. Your s.e.xiness is beyond my control. You really don''t know Willa...what kind of a magic you''ve applied over me that I want nothing much but just to engulf you whole like some tasty meat..." Willa was astonished with the uncertain and mostly unimaginable explanation of Neil about her s.e.xiness and a blush crept up on her cheeks right after hearing him calling her a ''seductress'' while Neil just went on with his rambling... "But the problem is...I don''t want to make you uncomfortable with¡­" Before Neil could complete, Willa pecked his lips to stop him from talking anymore and said, "Tell me the name of that idiot who fed you this much of rubbish. Who told you that I''m not comfortable in being intimate with you?" "Huh???" Neil didn''t understand what she said and made a questioning sound. Willa chuckled at him and uttered, "I''m way more comfortable with you than you think. I love you so much that I''m ready to give myself to you without a second thought. And one more reason behind it is that I see the same love in your eyes for me too¡­" Neil felt light hearted after hearing Willa''s confession but he still asked for a confirmation, "Are you sure about that?" Willa gave him a longing smile and instead of replying him, she took his hand towards her back and placed it on her zipper before whispering seductively in his ear, "Make love to me Neil. I want to be yours completely by all means¡­" This broke the last sanity of Neil as he started kissing Willa passionately while pulling down her zipper. After he was done with the zipper, he picked up Willa in his arms and took her into the bedroom. Placing her on the bed, he hovered over her and started pulling off her gown, still kissing her fervently. Slowly, their dresses got removed from their bodies one after another and soon passionate m.o.a.ns and groans resonated in the whole room as the engaged couple made love to each other, breaking all their walls of insecurity and anxiety¡­ ---- The next morning¡­ Neil woke up from his sleep first but felt something soft was pressing against his body. He looked a little down and found Willa half lying over him, placing her head on the chest while her hair were spread all over her shoulder. Some strands had also fallen on her face which made her look more beautiful as the sunray was peeping through the curtains of her room and falling on her face leisurely, making her face glisten brightly.. She was looking like a pure angel whose beauty was absolutely flawless and innocent. Neil looked at the wall clock and saw that it was already 9 am. They had slept really late or more like at the rise of the dawn after numerous times of passionate love making... As Willa was a v.i.r.g.i.n and it was her first time last night so Neil knew that she would be in pain and wouldn''t able to walk properly. So he picked up his phone and dialed Veronica''s number. "Hey bro. Good morning" Veronica said cheerfully, receiving his call just after one ring. A smile crept up on Neil''s face as he wished back, "Morning to you too sis.." Veronica felt her brother''s voice was a little bit more excited than the previous night and asked, "What happened bro? Why you seem to be exited today?" "Well, I''m not only excited but super happy today. However, I have called you for something important. Where are you now by the way?" Neil asked. Veronica frowned but still replied, "I''m on the way to office with Bennie. But why do you ask and what important thing you''re talking about?" "Uhmmm¡­. Actually, I want you give Willa an off today." Neil said. "That''s not a big problem. But why she needs an off suddenly? Is she okay or did she fall ill somehow?" Veronica asked getting panicked. Neil immediately denied as he said, "No.. No.. She''s not ill. It''s just that last night¡­" "Last night what?" Veronica asked confusedly. Neil rubbed his forehead with frustration as he didn''t know how to tell this to his sister. He was always open before about his s.e.x life but now that it was Willa¡­the love of his life, he really couldn''t find any proper words to describe the situation. When Neil didn''t say anything, Veronica raked her super fantastic brain and when she realised what could the reason be behind Neil''s unexpected quite behavior and happy mood, she became bewildered.. "Don''t tell me bro that last night both you and Willa had finally consummated.." Chapter 329 - Completely against nepotism… "Don''t tell me bro that last night both you and Willa had finally consummated in your relationship..!!" As soon as the words came out of Veronica''s mouth, Reuben abruptly stopped his car and looked at Veronica with a shocked expression. Veronica jerked in her seat and glared at Reuben but he just kept looking at her with an unbelievable way. Neil pinched his nose out of shyness which was completely new to him and said, "Uhmm.. Actually¡­we did it yesterday night.." "Woahhhhh!!! Broooooooo¡­.. I''m so happy for you both¡­ Lot''s of congratulations. I want a party from you." Veronica yelled excitedly, making both Reuben and Neil flinch with her overexcited loud voice. Neil chuckled and said, "I''ll definitely give you one. But now bye. Willa seems to wake up any moment now." Veronica giggled at her brother and said, "Okay then. Bye bro¡­" After Veronica cut the call, Reuben asked her, "What was that? Had they really done the deed finally?" Looking at his super curious face, Veronica beamed brightly in joy like a school kid and replied, "Yes.. They did it. And Neil bro called me to inform that Willa will not be able to come to the office today." Reuben also became happy with the good news and said, "That''s really good. I''m really happy for them." Veronica cheekily smiled at him and said, "Me too. Now start driving again Mr. Smith. Otherwise I''ll be late for my office. Don''t forget that I''m not a CEO like you who could go to office anytime. I''m just a simple employee who will get scolded if she doesn''t arrive at right time.." Hearing Veronica''s joke, Reuben chuckled before making a serious face while asking, "Who have the guts to shout on my girl? Just tell me the person''s name and I''ll make sure that he or she never even tries to raise voice in front of you.." Veronica laughed out loud with Reuben''s hilarious acts and said, "It''s your cousin Louis who will scold me as he is my boss there. But I don''t want you to fight with him as I''m completely against nepotism¡­" Reuben smiled at her and started driving when Veronica added, "However, even if Louis want...he can''t even think of pretending to be angry on me now." This made Reuben confused more thus he asked looking straight to the road, "And why so?" Veronica gave him a devilish smirk before replying wickedly, "Because the key to open his love story is in my hand as Diana is my friend first before him." When Reuben understood what had his girl just said, he couldn''t stop anymore but just burst out in laughing. Veronica winked at him evilly before joining him in his laughter... ---- Willa''s Apartment¡­ After ending the phone call with Veronica, Neil stared at the beautiful face of his fiance and ran his fingers on her bare back. Willa''s smooth and long spine attracted him more as he peppered few kisses there, making Willa wiggle a little by his touch. As he continued with his kisses on her n.a.k.e.d back for few more minutes, Willa stirred a little and finally woke up with the shivering sensation of Neil''s soft lips. "Uhmmmm¡­" She m.o.a.ned when Neil bit on the nape of her neck which made Neil lick the sweet spot. After few minutes of torture, Willa came to realise that the sun was already shining brightly and her mind got back to her senses as she remembered that today was Friday which means she had to go for work. She immediately turned towards Neil and asked, "What is the time now?" Neil looked at her and replied while caressing her cheeks, "It''s almost 10:05 am now.." Willa''s eyes widened in shock when she got to know that it was already past her office time. She was going to be super late today which would be the first time in her life for being late in office. She tried to get up quickly and asked, "Why didn''t you wake me up before? You know nah, that today is not a holiday? Then how I''ll¡­" Before Willa could finish her sentence Neil pressed his lips on her and kissed her passionately... Breaking the kiss, he replied, "Don''t worry about your work. I had already told Vero that you''re not going for work today and she said that it''s completely fine." Willa nodded her head cluelessly but then something hit right into her brain and she asked, "Wait!! What excuse did you gave her about my absence?" Neil just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Why should I give her any excuse? I just told her the truth.." "What? Are you serious? Did you just tell her that we had s.e.x yesterday night?" Willa asked exasperatedly. Neil chuckled seeing her embarrassment filled face and said, "First of all babe¡­we didn''t have s.e.x last night but we made love with each other¡­ And secondly, even if I tell her the truth then what''s wrong in it? They are also not some saint. In fact, none of Reuben and Veronica even come close to be called as saints as you can see them always being so lovey dobey with each other... So don''t think too much and enjoy our alone moment, Ms. Fiance. You should not think about other things when I''m right before you and trying to show all of my love to you. It''s kind of a big crime.." Willa turned red in shyness but kissed the tip of Neil''s nose before saying, "I understand, Mr. Fiance.." And here started the morning course of their delicious love making¡­ ---- Creation¡­ It was already lunch time and Veronica need to have her food in some nearby restaurant today as she didn''t get any time to prepare any breakfast in the morning as both she and Reuben had woken up late because of their tiredness.. She thought of going to the nearest restaurant which was right across of her company as she also didn''t have any mood to eat from her office canteen.. Veronica just walked out of her office building when a voice suddenly called her from behind, "So the great Ms. Veronica Lopez works right here??" Chapter 330 - Money hunger... Veronica just walked out of her office building when suddenly a voice called her from behind, "So the great Ms. Veronica Lopez works right here??" The voice was of a female and Veronica really didn''t need to turn around to acknowledge the person, whose voice this belonged to.. She was a very good listener and because of this particular reason, she could recognise a voice which she had heard in the past, specially when it was of a bitch... Veronica didn''t reply anything but just stood there quietly, waiting for the person to come in front of her. Regina walked towards Veronica and said, "We seemed to meet again. I was just passing by here and noticed you coming out of the building so thought to have a nice chat with you." It was not difficult for Veronica to know about her white lies so she just kept a cool face and replied, "You have met me? Now you can leave." Regina''s smile faded when she heard Veronica''s rude words but she still tried to give her the most fake smile before saying, "Come on, Veronica.. I just came here to meet you and you''re sending me off. Let''s have a chat together. You know a girl''s talk.." Veronica just rolled her eyes at her nonsense and replied uninterestedly, "Listen.. I''m not here to hang out with you. I work here and this is my lunch time. So I don''t have anytime to talk rubbish with you." Saying this, Veronica was about to walk off when the next sentence of Regina halted her in the place. "What if I''m here to talk about your sweet boyfriend Reuben?" Regina asked trying to stop Veronica from leaving. And to her luck, Veronica stopped in her steps and turned towards Regina with a frown showing on her face. Regina mentally clapped herself thinking that she had now got Veronica but she didn''t know that the frown on Veronica''s face was the start of Regina''s dooming life.. Without wasting a second, Veronica walked towards her and ordered, "Come with me to the nearby restaurant." Regina nodded her head with a wicked smile and followed Veronica to the restaurant... ---- Inside the restaurant¡­ Veronica and Regina had just ordered for themselves and waiting for their food to come. Regina was clicking some pictures of herself in the restaurant to show off to her friends and little sum of fans she had whereas Veronica was just getting irritated with her behavior. Definitely, she had seen many Selfie obsessed girl but she never met a irritating piece like Regina in her twenty six years of lifetime.. Meanwhile, their lunch arrived and Veronica just rolled her eyes noticing that Regina had ordered a bland soup for herself. "So tell me, what do you want to talk about My Boyfriend?" Veronica gave more pressure on the words ''My Boyfriend'' after taking a mouthful of her creamy chicken pasta.. Regina sipped a spoonful of her soup and sat properly facing Veronica. She gathered all of her courage that she had and stared straightly into Veronica''s cold eyes... In her whole life time, Regina was never scared of anything because of her family status. But seeing the confident and cold expression of Veronica, she got really intimidated by her tough aura which gave birth to a strange kind of fear in her heart.. However, thinking about the luxurious life she could get being with Reuben, an unknown confidence erupted in her heart and she said, "Well, I called you here not to have a really sweet talk with you but to warn you.." Veronica immediately arched her left eyebrow when she heard the word, ''warning'' from Regina but chose to not express her devil side to her yet.. She calmly chewed her pasta and asked, "What is your exact reason of warning me?" Regina smirked and stated, "I want you to back out of Reuben''s life. He is only mine and I''ll snatch him out of your life.." Veronica was playing with her phone from the time she started her interrogation session with Regina but when she heard the challenging tone in Regina''s voice, she looked up at her. Taking a long breath, Veronica asked with her furrowed eyebrows, "But the information I got from Myra, I came to know that you''re the supposed to be fiance of Alonzo. Both of your families are going to arrange your engagement really soon.." This statement of Veronica didn''t pressurise Regina at all. In fact, she showed Veronica one of her best wicked smile in return.. "You heard right. I really wanted to marry Alonzo from the start as he was the most handsome and richest man of city B¡­ But after I came here, I got the chance to meet the most handsome and richest man of the world Reuben Smith. Alonzo is not even a little bit comparable to Reuben... Reuben had a different kind of charisma which no other man has. So why should I not go after him? He has everything¡­money, fame, good looks and power. What a girl can want more than this?" Regina described her intention proudly. Veronica''s jaw tightened hearing her dear boyfriend''s name from Regina''s filthy mouth. She wanted nothing more than to punch her face and show Regina her true place. Veronica was burning in so much anger that she desired nothing more but to cut Regina''s cruel tongue which was pronouncing Reuben''s name with the money hunger intension... She clearly understood, why Myra didn''t like her at all. That''s because Regina was not only a gold digger but also had a shithead which could only think about her own profits.. However, Veronica was really not like other girls who would jump on the person like some stray dogs to fight for her boyfriend. Because she had way more better ideas to execute on the evil bitch sitting in front of her. Keeping both of her palms on the table, Veronica leaned forward towards Regina and spoke in a way too dominant voice, "I will give you all the right to flirt with my boyfriend. You''ll get all my support to flirt with Reuben. But I have one condition... As the result of your flirting, if he flirts back with you, then he''s completely yours. But if he doesn''t...then he''s completely mine and you''ll never show your face in front of us.." Chapter 331 - Good luck to turn your fate into bad luck... "But....as the result of your flirting, if he flirts back with you, then he''s completely yours. But if he doesn''t...then he''s completely mine and you''ll never show your face in front of us.." As soon as the confident words reached in Regina''s ears, she was a little bit baffled by Veronica but was dancing in the joy to get her first success.. But the next words from Veronica took back all the colour from her face, making it as pale as a white sheet.. Veronica observed the twinkle in Regina''s eyes and then it changed into a form of joy. These changing emotions of Regina really made Veronica enjoy to the fullest but she thought that now it was enough of letting her swim in her happy bubbles. She now needed to show Regina her true self and for that if she needed to use her trump card then it was completely fine for her.. "Did you really think, I''d say those words to you? I''d really give my permission to you to flirt with my Reuben?" Veronica asked with a mocking tone. "What?" Regina asked as she wasn''t able to understand what Veronica was exactly saying. Veronica let out a witchy smirk as an evil kind of glint was tracing in her eyes as she said, "I''d at least think of giving you a chance to show your flirting skill. But only if you were some girl who would have loved my Bennie with all of your heart... But Alas!! That''s not going to happen. As I can''t even tolerate a filthy bitch who only cares about money and luxuries. In spite of this, I have another reason behind it. Do you want to know what kind of reason is it?" Hearing Veronica''s question, an unknown kind of fear had pierced into Regina''s heart as she asked while stuttering, "What reason are you taking about?" Veronica was happy with the anticipated expression she was getting from Regina and muttered in one of her most threatening tone, "My reason is Reuben. You should be thankful to the God that you decided to confront me first in spite of blocking my Bennie''s path... If you would have confronted him before or if I would''ve given you a chance to flirt with him, then it''ll bring only miseries in your life... I''m just now threatening you to get out of our lives...but if it would been Bennie then he would directly through you out of the country like a sack of trash and made you feel the life of living in a hell.." The cold voice that Veronica used to warn Regina was enough to make her knees tremble in fear and she stuttered, "I..I don''t know what you''re saying. I think that¡­you''re just sca¡­scared about the fact that I can snatch Reu¡­Reuben from you, so you''re trying to scare me¡­" As if understanding the real reason of Veronica''s threat, Regina nodded her head and said with her little bit of left out confidence, "Now that I understood your plan¡­I''ll try my best to make Reuben mine. You just wait and watch." Veronica just gave Regina a pathetic look as if she had already visualised her future and said, "Good luck to turn your fate into bad luck.." Saying the last sentence, Veronica asked for the waiter and paid the bill for both of them before telling Regina, "Treat is from me as you gave me another chance to play a great show soon. Because I''m going to make your life a football where you would only get bumped from every possible way... I''ll show you exactly how cruel Veronica Lopez can be when it comes to her beloved Bennie. I''ll make you taste the bitterest medicine of the world for your cruel mind. And mind it...that it''s not a warning or challenge for you. I''m stating your future.." With a last cruel smile on her face, Veronica left the restaurant, keeping a bewildered Regina sitting there with her clenched hands, seething in anger.. ----- Creation¡­ Veronica''s cabin.. Veronica left a sigh as she rubbed her eyebrows thinking that...now she had to waste her precious time on playing a game with that f.u.c.k.i.n.g Regina. But a wicked smile crept into her lips when she checked her phone. She open the recorder and clicked on the ''Play'' button and soon all the conversation between her and Regina started playing. Yes..!!! The moment Regina spoke of giving a warning to Veronica, she had already started recording her as she thought it could lead her to have two advantages for her in future... First she gave her boyfriend and other friends a chance to laugh in Regina''s not so innocent naivety... Secondly, she could use it as an evidence against Regina to break her completely without any mercy... ---- Lopez Industries¡­ Louis had come to meet Diana to plan about the advertis.e.m.e.nt. As they both were busy with Lucinda''s engagement for the past few days, none of them were able to work on other matters. Louis was sitting with Diana on the couch in Diana''s cabin as they both were planning the theme and colour coordination between the dresses and the templates. "I think lemon yellow will be fine for this section and beige would be perfect for the next one.." Louis said creating a quick draft in his laptop. Diana also agreed with Louis'' suggestion and praised him smilingly, "You really have a good taste of choosing colours.." Louis smiled back at her and replied, "Thanks for the compliment. But let me tell you one thing that, not just me but each and every graphic designers need to have a good sense of colours... If you don''t know about the colour wheel in multimedia department, then you can''t be a successful graphic designing artist anymore.." Diana was totally impressed with Louis'' conversational skills. How he talked, how he behaved totally impressed her from the bottom parts of her heart. Specially the past few days had really brought her close to Louis and other friends. She came to know that Louis was truly a gentleman and not a rich brat like most of other young heirs she had met in the past... Suddenly Diana thought about a certain moment of the party of last night and asked with an expectant gaze, "Louis... I want to ask you something..." When Louis just nodded his head as a response, still busy in his computer, Diana hesitantly asked, "What did you mean yesterday by telling me that what would I do if the girl you have a liking on is none other than me??" Chapter 332 - Sympathy game... When Louis just nodded his head as a response, still busy in his computer, Diana hesitantly asked, "What did you mean yesterday by telling me that what would I do if the girl you have a liking on is none other than me??" Louis'' head jerked up towards her, hearing her question. He saw the hopefulness in her eyes and said, "What if whatever I had said yesterday is all true? What if you are really the person whom I really like?" As soon as the words escaped from Louis'' mouth, Diana looked at him with pure shock. She never imagined that he''d be so blunt to say this without even blinking for once. She thought of him to change the topic or to say that he was just cracking a joke last night but he had just other plans... More like his own plans..!!!!! Actually, she was not sad about the fact that Louis had accepted his feelings. Instead she was really happy but there was a ''what if'' in his statement which was really scaring her now. In the past few weeks, Diana had already been habituated with Louis'' different kinds of jokes. That''s why she was thinking what if he had cracked a joke about it too... But deep inside her heart, she didn''t want this to be a joke as somewhere inside her heart, she had also started to plant a little seed of feeling which had already grew into a liking for Louis.. Now she was just waiting for it to bloom into a flower of love. However, she was still scared because of her past as she was unsure about the fact that, if there was really any guy who could accept her with all of her flaws. Diana knew that Louis was a great guy. She even met his parents in Lucy''s engagement party and they were equally good. They gave her a protective feeling of parents'' Love.. But still her mind was not ready to accept the matter that she could be able to ever find true love in this life as she had already been lost the belief from the word Love... However, after seeing the three couples, her heart again started to have trust on the God and his beautiful creation of love.. And now she was feeling the initial sensation of falling in love in the very depth of her heart which was getting bigger for Louis everyday. Louis noticed that Diana was already drowning in her own dreamland as she was just looking at a distance where was hardly anything particular to observe... He slowly shook her and asked, "Diana¡­are you there??" Diana finally came out of her trance and blinked her eyes few times before licking her lips lightly and replied, "Yeah¡­ I''m here.." This single action looked both cute alluring to Louis as he just kept staring at her with a soft smile on his face. Sighing deeply, he held her palm, making Diana more shocked with the sudden touch but she didn''t protest anything. Louis squeezed her hand said, "Diana¡­whatever I''m going to say now, you''re going to listen to it carefully. If you want to make any remark then please do it after I''m done with my talking... Because if you by chance interrupt me in the middle, I may not gain the courage again about what I''m going to say right now." Diana nodded her head meekly and said, "I promise.." Louis smiled at her a little and finally taking a last deep breath he started, "Diana.. It may look like some kind of cliche romantic movie but trust me it''s absolutely real. The day I first met you at Fusion¡­I already started having some tickling effect in my stomach and heart... I really didn''t know that time what exactly it was called. But the more time I started to spend with you, the effects continued to grow more on me. Then one day, I came to know that you''re Vero''s friend and the one who betrayed her five years ago.." Diana was about to say something, when Louis interrupted her, "Let me complete first.. But later, I came to know that you were equally a victim also. The torture you had to go through in the past was really making my blood boil in anger. I just wanted to kill that bastard Frank¡­ And then I questioned myself why I''m behaving like a maniac after hearing your part of story. If it was another girl in place of you, I''d definitely help her to fight for her right but instead of that¡­I''m getting extreme pain as if my heart was getting beaten by some large hammer. Then I realised what I exactly feel for you... Trust me Diana¡­ It is not some kind of sympathy game for you. I really like you and this liking has started to go deeper and deeper by each passing day that I fear that it won''t be long when I''ll be completely in the pool of love with you.." Diana''s eyes had started to get wet in tears as she was successful to obtain the sincerity in his words. His truthful and most heartfelt confession had really melted her heart and her inner turmoil of getting a true love be in future had finally vanished away... She just kept looking at Louis who started to get anxious after noticing Diana''s tears which had already started falling on her cheeks. Whereas Diana actually wanted to say many things to Louis. She also wanted to confess her feelings for him but she wasn''t able to¡­ The resistance she had made in her heart for every person had already been broken by Louis in a mere second and she started to chock with her tears... Louis hurriedly brought the glass from her table and placed it front of Diana''s mouth so that she could drink some water. Sipping the water with the help of Louis, Diana took a deep breath and looked directly into his eyes but what she had said next, had successfully shattered the tiny hope in his heart like some broken glasses.. "I don''t love you Louis¡­" Chapter 333 - Dreams would turn into reveries ... Sipping the water with the help of Louis, Diana took a deep breath and looked directly into his eyes but what she had said next, had successfully shattered the tiny hope in his heart like some broken glasses... "I don''t love you Louis¡­" Louis felt that his world had stopped for a second but it was because of the pain he was feeling in his heart. He couldn''t express how much it was hurting him to hear the rejection from the girl who was the first one to lit a hope of love in his life.. He tried to cover his sadness with a fake mask of smile but it turned into a confusion when Diana uttered her next word¡­ "Yet¡­" Diana added just this single word. Louis took some time to understand what she had muttered and when he finally did, he looked at her hopefully before asking, "What? What do you mean by ''yet''? Is there any chance for us in future?" Diana smiled at him as she clearly noticed his expectations in his eyes and said, "No we don''t have any chance in future too¡­" Hearing this, again Louis'' face fell but before he could express his sorrow anymore, Diana said, "Because I''m giving this chance right now¡­" The one statement brought a smile on Louis'' lips as he tilted up his head to look at her with happy eyes and asked, "That''s mean you''ll try to.." "Sssshhhh!! How much you talk. I gave you full freedom to tell me whatever you wanted and I myself kept quiet. So this time you''ll give me the time to speak whatever I want.." Diana spoke with a soft smile hanging on her lips. Louis nodded his head vigorously as if he was getting a command from his mother and kept mum. Diana chuckled at his behaviour and said, "It''s true that I''m not in love with you yet. But I already like you very much. And now my this liking is slowly turning into love. So like you¡­I''m also falling in your love. And it''ll be not much time left when I''ll completely be in love with you like Vero, Willa and Lucy love their own partners." This small yet very much sweet confession was enough to clear all the restrictions in their hearts and both of them felt that a big burden had been removed from their shoulders. They gave each other a loving smile when Louis suddenly asked, "So¡­are we a couple now?" Diana giggled and replied, "Seems like so¡­" Louis didn''t waste anymore time after hearing her confirmation and pulled her towards him, engulfing her in a tight hug. "From today onwards¡­I''m going to protect you from all the demons. I''m going to take the revenge on all those people who had tried to hurt you in the past. I promise you that.." Louis said with determination present in his voice. Diana''s eyes welled up in happy tears but she still smiled and replied, "And I promise you to fall in love with you as soon as possible." Louis smiled, smelling her hair as he caressed her back to soothe her from all sadness... ---- Paradise Hotel... Regina''s room... As soon as Regina entered in her room she threw her bag on the couch angrily and gulped down a full glass of water in urgency. She was seething in anger from the moment Veronica started discriminating her. She went to meet Veronica to warn her to stay away from Reuben.. And here...she was the one who got a death warning from Veronica which was enough to scare her. She needed to find some distraction to calm her mind and what could be better than s.e.x..?? But her s.e.x buddy was not here to give her the pleasure she needed which made her grit her teeth in absolute anger. Right at that moment her cell phone rang. She tried to ignore it as she didn''t want anyone''s disturbance now. She wanted to find some peace so that she could plan something against Veronica.. After ringing for a while, it stopped which made Regina relax a little but her patience broke when it started ringing again. Regina cursed the caller and picked up the call without checking the number and shouted, "Who the hell is this?" "Woah!! Ms. Regina Parker is angry today? Why suddenly? Isn''t she having some good time with her would be fiance?" A male voice asked her from the other side. Regina''s rage filled mind immediately calmed down as she said with a sigh of relief, "Mike¡­ I really miss you.." Mike chuckled and questioned back, "Are you really missing me or our awesome f.u.c.k times?" "That''s why I prefer you more than other boys. Because you know me very well to tell what exactly I want." Regina smirked while replying. Mike laughed at her reply and said, "Then you don''t have to worry about that because we''re going to have an awesome s.e.x night really soon.." "But how? We both are in different cities right now.." Regina was completely confused. "That''s why I''m calling you. I''m going to city S tomorrow for a project of mine. I''ll stay there for few days there before coming to City B again... Meanwhile, we can have many hot and steamy moment of ours as much as we want." Mike replied, l.u.s.t already covering his eyes and mind. The moment Regina heard about Mike''s upcoming visit to city S tomorrow, she jumped in excitement as she really needed him the most right now. "That''s super cool. I''ll be waiting for you then." Regina said before hanging up the call. "Now I can finally have some peaceful sleep." Regina muttered to herself without knowing that the sleep, she was talking about will soon be gone from her eyes and her dreams would turn into reveries in a fit of moment.. And the sleep hunter would be none other than Veronica Lopez herself. Regina''s soon to be nightmare who would not only take her sleep but also every piece of her happiness, joy and desire.. After all Veronica Lopez was not someone to just sit behind and do nothing. She was not being called the ''Ice Queen'' without any specific reason. She had enough power to freeze anyone just by her single glance¡­ Chapter 334 - Corrupting someones evilness... After all Veronica Lopez was not someone to just sit behind and do nothing. She was not being called the ''Ice Queen'' without any specific reason. She had enough power to freeze anyone just by her single glance¡­ As Regina was trying to thought of a plan to win her bet with Veronica, it was not the same situation for Reuben''s Ica... Instead, she was cooking in the kitchen happily while humming a song with a happy mood. She was making dinner for both of them while Reuben was doing some important office work sitting in the living room. After giving replies to some important emails, he decided to go to the kitchen to help his beloved in cooking. As he stepped inside, he got to witness the most alluring scene playing in front of him which was Veronica moving her hip s.e.xily syncing with the melody that was playing in the music system.. Reuben very carefully went towards Veronica and wrapped his hands around her waist before placing his chin on her shoulder. Veronica felt the presence of him and stopped cutting the vegetables for a second before starting again with a soft smile on her lips. "Did something special happen today?" Reuben asked. Veronica smiled and asked back, "Why is the sudden question?" Reuben shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Because I can see you being all jolly polly from the time you got out of Creation.." Veronica put the vegetables in the pan and spread some salt to stir fry and turned towards Reuben. Encircling her hand around his torso, Veronica looked into his eyes and replied, "Because someone came to meet me today and I got my next target in her." "Next target? But for what?" Reuben asked confusedly. Veronica pulled out her phone and played the recording of Regina and her conversation while Reuben just listened to it very calmly. But his anger rose up when he heard Regina to warn his Ica which later turned into a smile as he listened to Veronica''s counter attack. After it ended, Reuben tightened his hold around Veronica''s waist and said through gritted teeth, "How dare she? Did she forget her actual place? And what kind of person she had thought of me who can get lured by just anyone? She really needs to face my wrath.." Veronica understood his anger as it was quite obvious. She also behaved the same when Alonzo confronted Reuben with a same threat regarding her. "I know your anger is quite reasonable. But honey¡­let me handle this matter myself. After all I really need some fun in my life and Regina herself brought it to me like a degraded fool... You know right that I couldn''t get any chance to torture anyone after Sam''s case as the rests are being handled by you, Neil and Henry... So I want Regina for me as my new game player.." Veronica smirked which later turned into a plead which she had covered with a cute pout on her face. Obviously...how could Reuben not agree with this cutie face of his love?? So without thinking anything, he agreed with her after pecking her pout as he said, "Do whatever you want my love. Though Regina has a cunning mind but she stands nowhere near you in corrupting someone''s evilness.." Veronica gave him a bright smile and joked, "I know¡­ I know that I''m the best. You don''t need to praise me so much.." Reuben laughed at her antics as both of them made dinner together, enjoying each other''s company... ---- Country Z¡­ "Andrew¡­.." Lisa shouted from her bedroom. Andrew who was talking with one of his client on the phone from balcony of their room, got scared with his wife''s sudden scream and ran to the bedroom after hanging up the call as fast as he could. As soon as he went towards Lisa, he inspected her whole body carefully and asked in panic, "What happened? Are you feeling pain somewhere? Tell me baby.. Should we go to the hospital?" Andrew continued to blabber on when Lisa yelled in frustration, "Shut up Andrew! Nothing happened to me. I''m completely fine." Signing deeply feeling the relief, Andrew asked, "Then why did you shout Lisa? You frightened me like hell.!!" Lisa gave him a sheepish smile and apologized immediately, "Ehhh¡­ Sorry for that. But I''ve found something interesting to show you. That''s why, I called you so urgently." "What kind of interesting thing?" Andrew asked, furrowing both of his eyebrows together. Lisa showed him her phone and said, "Just look at it.." Andrew gave a confusing look to Lisa but still accepted the phone and checked what she was showing to him. His eyes instantly widened as he read the article and saw the video that had been attached to the article and shouted in disbelief, "How?" Lisa gave him an accusing glare and snapped at him, "How could I know about it? It''s you whose friends they are...not mine.." Blinking his eyes for a few times to clear his eyesight, Andrew asked, "But how could this possible? I mean I knew about Henry and Lucy''s engagement and I''m extremely happy for them. But Neil?? This is quite unbelievable. I had never imagined in my life that Neil to propose a girl for marriage that even so romantically... Especially, when the girl is Willa.!! Both of them are poles apart from each other in everything. They don''t have anything in common between them, not even their choice if foods.." Lisa rolled her eyes at her husband as he was talking only nonsense which was not at all helping her pregnancy hormones and igniting her typical mood swings... So she scowled at him, "Have you never heard of this phrase that opposite poles attract each other more? If not¡­then I must admit that my husband is the stupidest person of the world." Andrew gave her a stupefied look and asked, "And where is this coming from? I know about that opposite poles theory but I''m not stupid¡­ If I''d have been stupid then I won''t choose you as my life partner.." Though Andrew said it in a teasing manner but it intensified the fire in Lisa''s head like some combustible flame... After all, pregnancy hormones were not any kind of simple hormones as it could took out the worst from the most soberest person who was carrying a little baby in her stomach... Chapter 335 - Emotional Blackmailing Card... After all, pregnancy hormones were not any kind of simple hormones as it could took out the worst from the most soberest person who was carrying a little baby in her stomach... "Did you just mean to say that I''m not capable of being your wife? Are you really serious?" Lisa shouted. Andrew stayed quite, standing there being dumfounded as he couldn''t able to perceive where had he exactly gone wrong. To his knowledge, he hadn''t said anything offensive which could really offend his pregnant wife. Then why his wife was getting angry on him without any reason?? Whomever fault it might be¡­what he needed to do the most right now was to cool down his pregnant wife. Otherwise if her tear tank started to leak then it would not stop again till few hours.. So it was better to take precautions from beforehand.!! "Uhmm.. Baby¡­ How can you think that I say something like that? I can''t ever commit such a big sin like calling my wife incapable. It''s completely unforgivable. But please forgive me.." Andrew said making puppy eyes which was enough to melt Lisa. Lisa cheekily smiled and demanded, "I will forgive you only if you bring me my favorite ice-cream." Andrew gave her a smile and said, "Fine. As my lady says.." ----- Country M¡­ *thrash* A flower vase fell on the floor and broke into different kind of pieces like the other materials which were already lying on the floor. Amelia sat on her bed while panting heavily as she was really agitated with the sudden news she got from one of her friend. Amy was busy for the past few days in organising her all work so that she could complete her next mission which she had planned for next month so she wasn''t able to check the news of country K. It was one of her friends of country M who informed her about the hottest news which was enough to scatter her dreams... "Why Henry? Why? Why did you get engaged with that bitch Lucinda?" Amelia shouted pulling her hair. She just saw the news of both of the couples'' engagement. She was happy about Neil and Willa. But the pictures of Lucinda smiling brightly in her beautifully engagement dress, made her angry to the fullest. Especially when she noticed the sparkling glint in Henry''s eyes while staring at Lucinda, his loving smile towards her, him holding her waist protectively in a firm grip¡­everything was making Amelia extremely infuriated. Amelia was behaving like a crazy woman as she yelled loudly, "Why can''t you see my love Henry? Or more like you never tried to see? From childhood to our teenage years¡­you always cared for Lucinda more than me. You always prioritize her in everything as if I was completely invisible to you.." Sobbing her heart out, Amelia continued with her rambling. She threw lamp shed mercilessly, making it crush onto the floor.. After crying for half an hour more, she wiped the tears off her face and said while sniffling, "No... I can''t cry like this. I need to be strong if I want gain Henry''s love. I''ll see that Lucinda''s end who tried to snatch my Henry from me... Yeah.. It was all her fault that Henry is engaged today with her when the right person of being his fiance is me." Picking up her phone, she called her father and said, "Dad... I want to go back to city S. Please book a ticket for me." Mr. Jones who received his daughter''s call in the middle of a meeting got surprised with the sudden demand of his daughter and excused himself from there.. "What do you mean Amy? Are you really sure about going back to city S now?" He asked. "Yes Dad.. I''m sure. I''m missing my friends very much. Please let me go there." Amy requested. Mr. Jones sighed and replied, "Fine.. But you have to take your mother with you. I don''t want you to create anymore trouble in their lives.." "Don''t you trust your own daughter, dad?" Amelia asked getting irritated with the lack if trust her father showing to her. She very well knew that if her mother come with her to city S, then it would be really difficult for her to execute her plan. Her mother was not like her father. She was not at all soft like Mr. Jones. Mrs. Jones was a strict mother who knew how to tackle her daughter if she got out of her hand. But she wasn''t able to do much to Amy as her husband didn''t allow her to. But this time, it would be different. Though Amelia had many faults in herself, still she got saved by her mother''s scolding everytime because of her father. However this time, if she was going to city S with her mother and Mrs. Jones won''t tolerate any of her nuisance there. So she tried to play her emotional blackmailing card on her father which worked every single time on him. But to her dismay, Mr. Jones also didn''t want to take any risk with his rebellious daughter. "Truthfully Amy¡­ After whatever you did in the past, I really don''t trust you anymore. So it would be better if you don''t continue arguing with me... I''d rather suggest to stop your childish acts as I''ll be not there to save you from your Mom this time." Mr. Jones warned his daughter and without waiting for her reply, he cut the call before ordering his assistant to book two flight tickets to city S. "Shit!!" Amelia cursed loudly. But few minutes later, a wicked smile played onto her lips as she muttered to herself, "I''m coming back Lucinda. Be aware of me.." ---- Love-Paradise¡­ "Okay then... I''m leaving now honey." Veronica said to Reuben who was sulking like a kid sitting on the couch of their living room. Veronica sighed at his childish act and said, "Don''t sulk now, baby. I promise, I''ll come back home as soon as possible. It''s just the matter of few hours honey. After that both my time and attention will be all yours¡­" Chapter 336 - Future demise of cruelty... Veronica sighed at his childish act and said, "Don''t sulk now, baby. I promise, I''ll come back home as soon as possible. It''s just the matter of few hours honey. After that both my time and attention will be all yours¡­" Though Reuben was acting like a kid but still he agreed with her and said, "Fine.. But you have to come back soon. I need your cuddle." Veronica chuckled at him and said, "Sure.. I''ll tell the girls to rush things after all my baby will be waiting for me." This made Reuben smile hugely and after giving him a long kiss, Veronica finally left, bidding him goodbye... Actually, it was Saturday.. So Myra and Lucinda wanted to give a visit to their restaurant which was almost ready to lauch in the market.. As Veronica had a great taste in everything so they wanted her to come with them. They wanted to take Willa with them also but Veronica rejected it saying that Willa needed to spend some time with Neil.. They also called Diana asking if she would also liked to come with them and she agreed gleefully. So it was only four of them who were going out... ---- The girls entered the building which was soon going to be launched by the two young ladies¡­Myra and Lucinda... The interior designer was also present there as she had to show them the details of their progressing work. "So ma''am.. The colouring of the walls are already done as per your choice. The kitchen had also been prepared after discussing the convenience with the chefs you''ve appointed... The lights are also been settled. We just have one thing left which is setting the chairs and tables as the utensils and other items are also been purchased." The interior designer narrated them about minor details. The four girls were impressed with her professional work. Everything is just perfect like the way they wanted.. However, as the great business woman she was, Veronica had a sharp nose and great taste for everything. She eyed each and every corner of the building and found nothing wrong. But still she thought of an idea to make the restaurant look more beautiful as she suggested, "How about having some indoor plants? If you arrange some beautiful indoor plants in some specific corner of the restaurant, then not only the beauty will increase but it would also have a natural and homely vibe which will attract more of the customers.." Hearing it everyone present there including the interior designer herself looked at Veronica with lots of appreciation in their eyes as something so great of an idea never came to their minds.. "It''s an amazing idea Ma''am. I''ll tell my employees to buy some good plants as soon as possible so that they could also arrange someone for the planting process.." The interior designer said with her eyes full of praise for Veronica. She had worked for her Mr. Lopez''s company before. Even the interiors of Creation had also been handled by their company. But she never got the chance to knew the young heiress Veronica personally. But right now, she understood that why the most eligible bachelor of country K had chosen her¡­ It was not only because of her beauty but also her intelligence which personified her nobility... After discussing few more things, the girls left when suddenly Myra remembered, "Oh No! I forgot to buy the medicines for my allergy." "It''s okay. We are going to have some ice-cream and there is a Pharmacy near the parlor. You can buy it from there." Lucinda said. Myra relaxed and drove off to their next destination along with other girls.. ---- Outside the ice-cream parlor... "Guys.. You enter and order some ice-cream for us too. I''ll bring Myra''s medicine as I also need to buy some paracetamol... And Diana you also come with me so that I can show you the pharmacy as you''re completely new here.." Veronica said as both of them went to the nearby pharmacy whereas Lucinda and Myra entered the ice-cream parlor.. As they reached near there, Veronica''s eyes went towards a particular girl who was buying something from the same medicine Shop where they were going. As Veronica stopped in midway, Diana asked her confusedly, "Aren''t we going there?" Veronica came out of her thoughts and said, "Yeah.. I''m going but you''re not.." Diana furrowed her eyebrows and asked, "Why so?" "I''m really very thirsty and want to drink water. So can you please buy it from that shop?" Veronica requested, indicating towards a shop as she didn''t want Diana to go with her. After Diana nodded and left with a smile, Veronica walked very cautiously towards the pharmacy but didn''t go too much close to see what the girl was actually buying from there.. When finally her eyes fell on the medicine, her facial expression changed and a wicked grin took over her face.. "So¡­ Regina is buying contraceptive pills now.. But how much I know from my observation, Alonzo really hates her. That''s mean¡­some other man?? Hmmm¡­ Interesting!!!" Veronica muttered to herself with a devilish smirk. Veronica was absolutely sure that the pills were contraceptive ones because she had herself bought it few times before but she never thought that Regina would mistakenly give Veronica a clue for the future demise of her own cruelty.. After Regina left from there, Veronica bought the medicines from the shop while Diana was also back from buying water. After the four girls had ice-cream together, Veronica dropped them and went to her home where her cute boyfie was eagerly waiting for her... ---- Love-Paradise¡­ While Veronica was busy with her friends Reuben was also planning for something. "I sent you the size and design. Now make sure that it comes out like the exact way I want.." Reuben said on the phone. "Don''t worry my son.. The ring will come more beautiful than the actual design. That I promise you." Mr. Smith said while laughing at his son''s eagerness. "Yeah.. Whatever!! By the way don''t you guys think that you''re spending a lot of time together than before? If Mom catches you with your secret love...then you''re going to taste the bitterness of a wife''s actual temper!!" Reuben warned in a chilled voice. Chapter 337 - Innocent face is just a facade... "If Mom catches you with your secret love...then you''re going to taste the bitterness of a wife''s actual temper!!" Reuben warned in a chilled voice. "You little fellow.!!! Are you trying to threaten your own dad? How could you? Don''t forget that I''m your father and I''m enough capable to punch your face if anything goes wrong." Mr. Smith scolded on the phone. Reuben laughed at his father''s change of temperament from sweet to sour and teased, "Dad.. I''m not threatening you. I''m just stating the fact. Moreover, even if you are my father...don''t forget that I''ll always have the upper hand because my mom loves me more than you... And if you are successful in punching ne, then I''ll just go to my dearest Mom and complain her about my dear father, untying all of his preserved secrets. Specially the one which you attend every week and try your very best to not let my Mom know¡­ And you know the after result¡­right?? If Mom comes to know that you''re visiting your free time girlfriend every week secretly along with your best friend then I''m sorry to say Dad¡­you''re doomed.." Mr. Smith cursed under his breath, knowing that whatever his son had said to him was absolutely right. He even remembered the last time when he got caught my Mrs. Smith and the scolding he had to go through after that. Just by remembering it, he shivered a little but soon he snapped back at Reuben, "You ungrateful brat. Don''t forget that your mom is my wife first. And what girlfriend you''re talking about? It''s just a golf match. Yeah¡­I know your mother doesn''t like me to play golf after my health issues and reckons my dear golf stick as her rival but you tell me... What can I do? After my retirement, it''s the only thing to keep me happy. And the best friend of mine you''re talking about is also your father-in-law and he had also come here with me secretly. So we''re both on the same page.. Humph!!" "Hey, what are you talking about me with my son-in-law? Don''t talk bad about me in front of my daughter''s future husband, Logan.." Mr. Lopez couldn''t control himself but speak out loud when he heard his friend gossiping about him. Reuben burst into laughter as he heard both of the old friends'' banter. He was about to say something when he heard the honk of the car and he understood his girl had come back. So he quickly said, "Okay, both of my lovely dads¡­I need to hang up the call as Ica is already back. Bye now.." Cutting the call, he ran towards the door and opened it to find Veronica walking towards him with a beautiful smile on her face. After entering, she just hugged him tightly and said, "Look I promised to come back soon and I did. So any more complains?" Reuben caressed her hair lovingly and said, "No more complains. Go freshen up. I''ve cooked your favourite lunch today. So quickly wash up and change into comfy clothes.." Nodding her head and after giving him a peck on the cheek, Veronica went upstairs to their bedroom while Reuben busied himself in serving the lunch... ---- After their lunch with lots of chatting and laughing, they decided to take an afternoon nap when Veronica remembered about Regina buying contraceptive pills and her face turned from jovial to a devilish smirk. Reuben noticed it and nudged her shoulder while asking, "Why are the evil aura again resonating from your body all of a sudden?" Veronica batted her eyelashes at him with too much innocence while Reuben just narrowed his eyes at her, knowing very well that her innocent face right now is just a facade which was hiding some evil trap... Noticing that Reuben didn''t buy her innocence filled mask, she huffed before scowling at him, "Fine you''re right that something happened." "And what is that something?" Reuben asked, arching his brows at her questioningly. Veronica sheepishly smiled at him and gave him a naughty wink before saying, "Today I saw Regina buying contraceptive pills. But the question is...if Alonzo doesn''t like her then with whom she is going to have a wild night??" Reuben smirked after learning the new found information and asked, "So what are you planning now?" "Nothing much. Just give me your phone." Veronica said nonchalantly. Although Reuben made a puzzled face at her, he still handed his phone to her and kept watching her as she dialed someone''s number. As soon as the other person picked up the call, Veronica chirped, "Hey Tom.. Sorry for disturbing on your weekend. But I need a help from you and it''s urgent. So couldn''t hold myself from robbing your holiday fun.." Tom on the other side was a little shocked to hear his lady Boss'' voice from the other side but quickly hid it well with his professionalism and said, "Its okay Ma''am. Tell me how can I help you?" Veronica smiled at him and said, "I''m sending you a picture of a lady and her present residential address. You''ve to send few of our men from Secret 7 to follow her.... I want each and every single details of her without any missing elements. Tell them to spy on her from right at this moment." "Sure ma''am.. Think that the work is already done." Tom said. "Thanks for your help Tom." Saying that, Veronica hung up and soon her gaze fell on Reuben who was just going all awe over her. "Awesome plan? Isn''t it?" Reuben queried. Veronica wiggled her brows funnily and said, "That''s because the person sitting in front of you is awesome.. So plans are also as great as your intelligent girlfriend. Don''t you agree??" Reuben laughed out loud at her self praise and nodded his head as if approving that his girlfriend was really the best.. Whereas Veronica too grinned and sent one of Regina''s pics to Tom which she had cropped from one of their group pictures which she had captured when they went for shopping. "Can''t wait to see your losing face, Ms. Regina Parker. It''ll sure be great fun to watch." Veronica muttered as her eyes showed not even a hint of sympathy for her. Chapter 338 - Special Guest... "Can''t wait to see your losing face, Ms. Regina Parker. It''ll sure be great fun to watch." Veronica muttered as her eyes showed not even a tiny bit of sympathy for her. "Well honey.. More than you, I''m waiting for Regina to get her dose of punishment. I''m more interested to see her painted face to get unmasked by you.." Reuben popped himself up on the bed and laid down balancing on his elbow as he spoke about the fun he''d be getting to enjoy soon. Veronica just shook her head at him and replied, "Don''t worry, my darling. I''ll make sure that you''d have a great time enjoying the show." ---- In a Hotel room¡­ A man in his late twenties had just came out of the washroom after having a nice bath. He was just wrapped in a towel and water drops were dropping from his hair, traveling through his muscular body. He was wiping his hair when he heard a knock and instantly his smile broadened. Keeping away the towel on the nearby couch, he walked towards the door and opened it wide to find Regina standing there in a s.e.xy bodycon outfit which was barely covering her body parts... "Won''t you welcome me, Mike baby?" Regina said seductively. "Gladly babe. I was only waiting for you patiently so that I can ravish you for whole night.." Saying this Mike pulled Regina inside with a force and started kissing her fiercely. Regina was also not less than a wolf who was latching into Mike''s lips hungrily. To satisfy their needs, both of them didn''t even waste a single moment and started undressing themselves. Soon they were busy in their own world unbeknownst to the fact that they were soon going to be standing at the gunpoint of an angry lioness who was keeping every track of their actions... ---- Next day¡­ Love-Paradise... Tom had just sent Veronica the details of Regina''s wild night with a guy whose face was not being clearly shown on the picture. But Veronica was not someone to play with easily. So without caring about anything, she opened her laptop and started scrolling through every informations that Tom had gotten for her. Reuben was just quietly watching her going through the pictures and when his eyes fell on Regina''s skimpy dress, his lips twitched in disgust. He was not against any woman wearing extremely short dresses but he was against them who threw themselves at random guys without any shame. Whereas for Veronica¡­a smirk was always playing on her lips as she saw Regina entering the hotel but when she saw the next picture along with the CCTV footage, her eyes opened wide in shock and her mouth turned into a large ''O'' shape.. "What the hell!!" Veronica shrieked loudly, making Reuben jolted up on his seat. "Why did you shout suddenly? What happened Ica?" Reuben asked in panic. Veronica glanced at Reuben and muttered, "Everything happened there as I had imagined but the person with whom Regina made this happen is the most shocking element of the report." Reuben couldn''t understand anything whatever Veronica was blabbering as she had a habit of talking stupid stuffs by mentioning a word many times in a single sentence whenever she got over excited about something... Understanding his puzzled expression, Veronica quickly pointed towards her laptop with her index finger, "Mike.. The boy in towel who had opened the door for Regina is none other than Mike from city B who took a part in Alonzo and Alex''s misunderstanding fiasco... He was also the one who told me that Alex had left the country. And he''s also the one who always tried to be a big flirt around me." Reuben now gave all of his attention towards the laptop screen as he saw a half n.a.k.e.d man standing at the door. He narrowed his eyes and asked, "The same Mike who always bothered you in city B??" When Veronica nodded her head, Reuben''s jaw tightened and he clenched his fist tightly as anger clotted in his mind. "You''re going to handle Regina, I''ve no problem about the fact. But leave this Mike for me.." Reuben stated through his gritted teeth. Veronica sighed and held his fist in hers and said, "Fine...whatever you want. But before that we need a special guest to welcome here who also will be the biggest witness of the show." "And mai know, who is the special guest?" Reuben asked calming his anger. "Mr. Brown¡­both elder and younger one." Veronica said with a smirk. Reuben smirked back as they made a devilish eye contact with each other... ------ Country M¡­ Amelia was packing her bag for her trip to country K when an elderly woman in her fifties opened her bedroom door with a ''bang'' sound and entered inside with a furious gaze. "What are you planning in your mind, Amy? Answer me truthfully.." The woman asked. The sudden loud noise of the door banging against the wall, made Amelia jerk on her place as a cold sweat ran down on her spine, making her shiver in fear after witnessing the ferocious woman. Quickly putting the leggings in the luggage bag, Amelia turned towards the woman and asked in a low voice, "Mom, what are you talking about? I''m not planning anything in my mind." "Oh really? Then why the sudden urge of yours to go back to city S? You haven''t asked about visiting the country from the past few years.. Then why suddenly?" Mrs. Jones, Amelia''s Mom asked angrily to her daughter. Amelia gulped her saliva and tried to calm her mother down, "Mom.. You''re misunderstanding me. I just asked dad to book a flight ticket for me to city S so that I can meet my friends back there. I''m really missing all of them a lot Mom¡­" Mrs. Jones just kept looking at her daughter angrily and asked mockingly, "Do you think of me as a fool? You can make your father believe in your stupid sweet-talk but I''m not the person who you can butter up with your sugarcoated words." "Mom I really¡­" "Don''t even try to spout anymore nonsense and tell me the actual truth. What''s the selfish reason of yours behind this sudden request of our sudden visit to city S this time?" Chapter 339 - Right lesson... "Don''t even try to spout anymore nonsense and tell me the actual truth. What is the selfish reason of yours behind this sudden request to your dad about our sudden visit to city S?? I''m sure it''s not because of your friends because I know that my daughter is not that much selfless who would think of others before herself without gaining anything in return¡­ So don''t waste any of our time and just spill it.." Mrs. Jones flared up at Amelia while wrapping her hands under her chest. Amelia visibly gulped but she wasn''t ready to tell the truth to her mother as she knew if Mrs. Jones came to know about the real reason¡­then it''d be impossible for her to plan her revenge. Mrs. Jones won''t allow her at any cost to break the relationship between Henry and Lucinda. She''d put up a red flag in front of Amelia to stop her even from going outside of their home. "Mom, trust me¡­I just miss my friends. Nothing more. After brother Andrew''s death¡­" "Don''t you dare to take my son''s name in your mouth." Before Amelia could speak more, Mrs. Jones yelled on her loudly as if trying to stop her from spilling nonsense. Amelia got scared with her mother''s outburst and tried to justify herself while stammering, "Mom¡­Please.. I didn''t¡­" Mrs. Jones showed Amelia her palm to silence her and barked, "Though your father only know about the a small fact of the past. But I''ve a hunch that your brother''s sudden death was somewhere related to you¡­ I believe that my son just can''t die like this because he is more stronger than that. I sometimes feel like you''re the one who manipulated Andrew about your friends. So you better not talk nonsense anymore." While talking about Andrew, a lone tear betrayed Mrs. Jones and it fell on her cheeks. Amelia didn''t know what to at that moment because her mother''s words were exactly true. She herself had tricked her brother by telling lies about his friends in the peak of jealousy for Lucinda.. Still, she couldn''t let go of this amazing chance to not visit city S. She knew if she didn''t reach there in the meantime then she would regret for her whole life to not separate Henry from her love rival. She walked towards her mother with her shaky legs and held her hands very gently and said, "Mom¡­ Please believe me for just once. I promise that I''ll not create any kind of trouble this time." Mrs. Jones'' eyes softened a little, noticing her daughter''s vulnerable state but she still replied with a stern face, "Don''t you dare to break my trust again, Amy. I''m agreeing to go back to city S with you. But that doesn''t mean that I''ll not have my eyes on you... Just one wrong action of yours and I''ll disown you as my daughter. Don''t think me as other mothers who will cover their children''s mistakes because of their blind love over them. I know how to give right lesson to my children¡­" Amelia meekly nodded while Mrs. Jones left the room after giving a warning glare towards her daughter... ---- Love-Paradise¡­ "Honey, do you have any plan to bring Mr. Brown in city B?" Veronica asked as she sipped coffee, sitting in the garden at the evening. Reuben looked towards her with a smirk and said, "Don''t worry love.. Leave his arrival on me. You just focus on your plan on destroying Regina. I''ll take care of the rest." Veronica sweetly smiled at him and noticed that Reuben had already finished his coffee so she asked, "Do you want me to bring another cup of coffee for you?" "Yes, please darling. I''d love to drink another cup of coffee, exclusively made by my sweet girlfriend." Reuben said in a very adorning voice. "Flirt..!!" Veronica muttered with a slight smile and left for the kitchen. Whereas after Veronica''s figure disappeared from Reuben''s sight, he quickly called his assistant and asked, "Tom did you send the invitation card to Mr. Brown?" "Yes Boss. I sent it personally. He even accepted the invitation and promised to attend it without any denial." Tom said. Reuben''s lips twitched showing an evil smile and he said, "That''s good then. Now focus on the task that your Lady Boss had handed you." "Yes Boss. Our men had already collected almost every information about Ms. Parker. Now we''re just waiting to find out the connection between Mr. Brown and Mike." Tom replied. "Hmmmm¡­Good.. Any new information about Andrew?" Reuben asked. "No sir. But there is a possibility of Andrew living with some other person which seemed to be a lady." Tom described. "Lady??" Reuben asked in amazement. "Yes sir. A lady!! Though we''re not sure about it right now but you''ll get the detailed information on Monday." Tom replied. Reuben didn''t reply but just hummed lightly and hung up the call while praying, "Please God. Let Tom''s assumptions come true and we can find you." ---- Alonzo''s Apartment¡­ Alonzo was busy in his study room, discussing about some business matters with Cole who had arrived earlier in this afternoon. "So we''re going with this. However, have you decided¡­which apartment you''re going to buy?" Alonzo asked. "Yeah.. Talked with the broker and finalized the second one Bill had showed me. It''s not far from my office which I''m inaugurating here. So it''ll be helpful for me." Cole lazily replied. Alonzo was about to say something but his phone rang, indicating a call from his father which was very much unexpected for him. Especially, after knowing the truth about his brother''s death which was caused by his own father, Alonzo never tried to keep a contact with him. But now that, his father had called him personally, he pondered what was the sudden reason behind it. Cole noticed the confused look of Alonzo and thought to give him some space as he also wanted to talk to Myra personally. "I''ll be in the living room." Cole said before leaving the study room. Alonzo picked up the call after Cole left but didn''t say anything as Mr. Brown had already declared nonchalantly, "I''m going to visit city S in the upcoming week." Chapter 340 - Better play safe than getting caught... Alonzo picked up the call after Cole left but didn''t say anything as Mr. Brown had already declared nonchalantly, "I''m going to visit city S in the upcoming week." "What?" Alonzo was really perplexed about what he heard from his father. In the past few months, Mr. Brown had never tried to ask any questions about the business nor did he tried to visit city S. Now suddenly his urge to come here, really made Alonzo ponder over the prospect. But the biggest fear in his mind was of his father''s actual motive.. What if he was coming here to fix his engagement with Regina. He just loathed that girl. Even if there would not be any girl in the whole planet, he would still not marry Regina... This was how much hatred Alonzo had contained in his heart for that two-faced woman Regina who always pretended to be the best girl with most humble behaviour in front of his parents while her true side was totally contrasted from her ''good girl act''.. "Why are you shouting?" Mr. Brown asked in stiffening voice, totally offended with his son''s rude reaction. Instead of replying to him, Alonzo asked, "Why are you suddenly thinking of coming here? If I remember correctly then there is no special reason for this. Then why?" Mr. Brown smiled hearing the question from his son and said, "I have a special reason for that, my son. After all, the great Reuben Smith has invited me to his party. Even Cole''s parents are also invited there." Hearing the reason from his Father, Alonzo scrunched his eyebrows as he wasn''t able to decipher which party his father was talking about. He hadn''t got any invitation till now then how could his father suddenly receive it? Was this because of the stunt his father had pulled on their lives? But suddenly he remembered that he got a call from Bill that Tom had called him to inform that Reuben might visit Brown Corporation this Monday. Now everything was falling in exact places. That''s mean, Reuben was going to invite him too... But what''s the reason for the sudden party?? Emptying all these unimportant stuffs from his mind, Alonzo finally asked the only question which could pacify his mind, "Are Mom and Grandma coming with you?" "Yeah.. They are coming with me as Mr. Reuben Smith''s assistant specifically told me to bring them along with me." Mr. Brown said happily. This made Alonzo more suspicious but thought of not thinking too much for now as he would get the answer himself on Monday. However, he was happier because of the fact that finally he was going to meet his mother after so many months. "I understand. You guys can stay at my place." Alonzo said, although he had already started planning to get revenge on his father for his brother''s well planned murder... ---- Love-Paradise¡­ The romantic couple were roaming around their beautiful garden, intertwining their fingers together as they walked under the sparkling stars and shining moon.. "Babe.. I have something to tell you.." Reuben said. "Hmmmm??" Veronica just hummed, clearly enjoying their walk. "Actually, I''ve planned for a party on Friday in our hotel.." Reuben said as he knew that he couldn''t hide the news of the party from Veronica. As he had already started inviting guests, it''d be not more time for Veronica to know about it from others which would only increase her suspicions. So better that he should tell her himself. Though not full truth but just half truth.. Veronica tilted her head up to look at Reuben and asked, "Party? But for what?" "A party to celebrate our declaration of Love. I want to introduce to the word officially that Veronica Lopez is only Reuben Smith''s." Reuben said, hiding the actual cause of the party. Reuben very well knew that if he gave excuses of some business party then his plan for the surprise engagement would be completely ruined. After all, Veronica was not called ''Beauty with brains'' for no reasons... One look on the invitation card and his secret bomb would be blasted to Veronica as the invitation cards consisted the names of both of the couples with the initials, ''REUNIC'' at the bottom... So better play safe than getting caught beforehand.!!! Veronica felt tears in her eyes, listening to Reuben as she whispered softly, "You don''t need to arrange a party for me Bennie. Your love is enough for me." Reuben kissed her forehead and said, "I know that well, love. It is just one of my wish to hold your hand and walk inside our own party as a couple with full glory." With tearful eyes, Veronica chuckled and said, "I''m ready to fulfill every wish related to you.." The love illuminating from Veronica''s eyes was enough for Reuben to get drowned in her as he dipped his head down and kissed her lips passionately... ----- Country Z¡­ Andrew was hugging his wife, leaning on the headboard of the bed as both of them were talking about random things when Andrew got a call. It was his security team head who was looking over Amelia and her actions from the past few years. Getting his call so late at night, Andrew frowned a little. "Hello.." He said picking up the call. "Boss, we got the news that Young Miss is planning to leave country M with Mrs. Jones. They''re leaving for City S on Monday night.." The other person didn''t waste any moment to reveal every information he got from his men as he knew that his boss didn''t love to beat around the bush. The moment, Andrew''s mind took hold of the big news, his hold body submerged with both fury and rigidity... Why suddenly Amelia had decided to visit County K? Then he remembered about the news of Henry and Lucinda''s engagement and he got the idea about his sister''s cunning plans.. No..!! He won''t let this happen. He would not let Amelia get success in separating Henry and Lucinda because of her obsession. He had to do something but this couldn''t be possible by sitting here, far away from them... Reminiscing about the past incidents which ruined everyone''s lives just because of Amelia, Andrew took a deep breath and finally made the hardest decision of his life, "Book tickets for me and my wife for city S.." Chapter 341 - Confident Angel... Reminiscing about the past incidents which ruined everyone''s lives just because of Amelia, Andrew took a deep breath and finally made the hardest decision of his life, "Book tickets for me and my wife for city S.." Lisa who was busy in editing few of her pictures in her phone after Andrew answered the call, snapped her attention back to her husband as soon as she heard him talking about city S.. But the most shocking news that had caught her attention was Andrew ordering his team to book flight tickets for them to visit city S..!!! It was like a fiery bombshell hitting on her head directly without any compromise and burning her head all in one... She couldn''t believe that the moment she was so eagerly waiting for would be coming to her so unexpectedly¡­. Especially when she had shook away all of her demands of going back to country K.. "When do you want to go back sir?" The security head asked. Andrew thought for a while and replied, "I have few works to cover up. So book our tickets for Thursday afternoon.." "Okay Boss. Will do.." The team head said. Andrew gave him few more instructions before hanging up and turned towards his wife only to see her sitting steel with an oblivious expression on her face.. "Why happened?" Andrew asked slowly. "Are you really serious? Are we finally going to city S?" Lisa asked, trying to suppress her curiosity and hopefulness. But Andrew was not unaware of it. After all, he was the husband of hers!! So with a slight smile on his face, he replied, "Yes darling, we''re finally going back." "Yayyy!!! We''re finally going.. I''m so happy.." Lisa literally started jumping on the bed excitedly which showed the happiness she had revolved in her heart. She started hopping from here to there like a kid which amused Andrew more but suddenly his conscience came back after noticing what she was doing and he immediately tried to stop her.. "Lisa¡­ Stop jumping from here to there. Don''t forget that you''re carrying a child inside your w.o.m.b. For God''s sake, you''re seven months pregnant woman!!" Andrew exasperatedly said. Hearing Andrew''s little scolding, Lisa finally understood exactly what kind of silly behaviour she was attempting. But it was not her fault also... After all, she was finally going to meet Andrew''s friends for the first time along with Uncle Lopez. Her happiness had no bound and she was shimmering with joy.. "Oops!! Sorry.. Actually I was too much excited about the fact of us meeting your friends that I forget that a little human being is living inside my tummy " Lisa replied sheepishly biting her tongue. Andrew just shook his head in disbelief, seeing his wife''s childlike stupidity and rummaged through the past memories of his life where he was so much jovial with his brothers and sisters... ----- Alonzo''s Apartment¡­ After Cole came out of Alonzo''s study room, he quickly walked towards the living hall where Myra was sitting silently while reading a magazine. Cole observed the beauty in front of him for a while and praised her in his mind. Her focused gaze gave him more chance to observe her features properly. After memorising her beauty in his mind once again, he finally chose the break the silence. "Can I talk to you?" Cole asked, making Myra jumped upon the sofa a little in fear. But she sighed when she saw it was Cole only. But the question of him still made her frown as she was not able to decipher, exactly what he was trying to say. Still she nodded her head and said, "Yeah sure.." Cole took a seat exactly opposite to her and spoke, "Myra¡­ First of all, I''m really sorry about what happened in the past between us. Now I just want to rectify my mistakes. I want to mend your heart which I had broken mercilessly. Please Myra, give me one last chance.." For the first time, hearing Cole''s plead, she didn''t feel anything. Even his closeness so hadn''t affected Myra at all. The pain she felt everytime just by getting one glimpse of him, had vanished from her life surprisingly. It was quite unbelievable for her also. So she tried to close her eyes for a moment to decide on her next step. Right at the moment, both of her eyelids attached to themselves, a flashy image of a man came in front of view. She couldn''t decipher who it was but when the darkness evaded, she finally saw the face of the handsome looking young man.. It was none other than Jack whom she had met only for two times but the warmth she had felt around him, had conveyed the new feelings residing inside her heart. Her mind then wondered thorough her hurtful past and finally stopped on Veronica''s words, "If you don''t respect yourself, then you can''t expect the respect from others. Women are not weak, they''re as strong like a rock. You have to show all of them who had degraded and humiliated you that you''re better than them... It''s not only for those worthless people but it''s for you also. You have to stand on your own feet and rock the world with the elegance of your powerful aura." Those words were like the biggest motivation for Myra and she couldn''t help but to smile a little with her eyes still closed. She had found out what she was expecting from her life and if she could see Cole in the future life of her. Getting the answer finally, Myra opened her shining orbs which had no amount of pain and tears holding in them anymore. She had turned into a confident angel, forgetting all the remorse of her horrible life in city B. She was now a new Myra whom no one could acknowledge anymore... Her eyes showed her determination with a hint of strength as she looked directly into Cole''s eyes which were staring back at her with an expectant yet confused gaze as she said, "Fine Cole¡­ I''m ready to give you another chance.." Chapter 342 - Engraved a scar in my heart... Her eyes showed her determination with a hint of strength as she looked directly into Cole''s eyes which were staring back at her with an expectant yet confused gaze as she said, "Fine Cole¡­ I''m ready to give you another chance.." Cole was not breathing properly till now because of his hypertension related to Myra''s answer as he was really scared thinking that Myra might not give him a second chance after her action on the day of Lucinda and Henry''s engagement party... However, he got a big relief after he heard Myra''s positive reply thus he left a big breath which he was holding till now without his own knowledge. His eyes soften a bit as he said, "Thanks a lot Myra. Thanks for giving me a chance to set everything accordingly like before. I promise this time I''ll not break your trust again." As Cole took an oath to protect their relationship, Myra didn''t show any kind of expression on her face. She sported a neutral face while her eyes were just penetrating through his soul... The room again fell in silence as Cole was waiting for her to speak something and finally his wait was over but in a wrong way which broke his last bit if stupor.. "Cole¡­You didn''t understand properly what I tried to mean. You completely got a misconception about my words. I just said that I''ll give you a chance¡­but didn''t say which kind of chance..!!" Myra said. Cole was perplexed about the whole thing that Myra was saying, so he asked, "Myra¡­ You just offered me a second chance which means¡­we are going to stable our relationship more than before¡­right??" "No Cole.. I''m giving you a chance to be my friend again. Because in this life, I can''t accept you as my boyfriend ever. After coming back from the party and hearing the love stories of the three couples, I thought very hard about us. And trust me¡­. I couldn''t find any future of us. Do you know why? Because I can be with a guy who doesn''t love me but I can''t be with the person who insulted me without considering my feelings. I can''t patch up with the man who doesn''t have faith in me." Myra said with a straight face. Whereas Cole was completely shocked at Myra''s statements which were absolutely true but he didn''t want to back off. So he tried his best to reason with her, "But Myra.. That was in past. Now I''ve changed.." "Exactly Cole. Whatever was between us, is just a past now. And we should keep it like that. Honestly Cole, I once thought of getting back to you. But the self-esteem of mine didn''t allow me to do so¡­ A man who can never respect his girlfriend and treat her like a shit, can never be accepted by me. Even if you rectify all your mistakes, still I''ll not be able to show the respect that I once had for you. If there is no respect and trust in a relationship, then it''ll fall down one day or another¡­ And I''m thankful to you that I came to know about it before we could go any further. If it would have been after our marriage then it''d be worse for me as neither could I leave you nor could I accept you that time¡­ So thanks for showing me the right path before I could regret more. We''ll be friends Cole but don''t expect any kind of commitments from me. I won''t be able to give you this peace of my mind ever as you had already engraved a scar in my heart which can''t be erased if I decide to stay with you. So thanks for changing but we can''t be together anymore.." Myra said very calmly with a stern voice which was enough to show Cole that she didn''t want anymore conversation about it. Cole was completely shaken with the piercing words that she had thrown to him and his heart started to break like tiny particles of glasses and he wasn''t able to utter any words. He just silently nodded his head and left from there without bidding goodbye to Alonzo or Myra. But the moment he stepped inside his car, his water tank broke down as he cried his heart out... While Myra just closed the door after he left and sighed heavily. It was tough for her to say all of those mean things to him. But she didn''t felt even a tiny bit of guilt because of it... She realised that she had stopped loving him from the moment he had threw those daggering words to her but it was those pleasant memories they had spent together in the past which was pulling her back.. But now that she was able to convey her each and every hard emotions to him, she was feeling relaxed and extremely calm. She was finally happy that the burden she was carrying in her heart till now, had been finally removed.. Now she was only waiting for a new start of her life¡­ A new journey with her new friends and new business¡­ Maybe a new dream to find her true love in Jack!!! Finally, the weekend had ended and Monday arrives without anyone''s knowledge that many intimidating things were waiting to play a big role in everyone''s life on this significant day¡­ ----- Brown Corporation¡­ Reuben reached Alonzo''s office along with Tom and entered his cabin with a goofy grin on his face. Alonzo welcomed him professionally just like he treated his other business partners but still a kind of jealousy was pooling inside his heart after seeing Reuben''s smile.. "What do you want to have Reuben? Tea or coffee?" Alonzo asked. "Nothing Alonzo. This week I''m very much busy so we''ll think of this refreshment part another time. Let''s just come directly to the point for now." Reuben said crossing his legs, sitting on the swivel chair like a true king. Alonzo had already an idea about the reason of his visit but he still asked, "So why Mr. Reuben Smith thought of meeting me today, wasting his precious time amidst his busy schedule without any special reason?" Chapter 343 - Our Celebration of Love... Alonzo had already an idea about the reason of his visit but he still asked, "So why Mr. Reuben Smith thought of meeting me today, wasting his precious time amidst his busy schedule without any special reason?" "Uh huh huh!! It''s indeed a very special reason. Actually, not only special but the most wanted day of my life." Reuben said before signaling Tom to hand him the invitation card. Reuben extended his hand a little forward and Alonzo took the card from his hand with a confused face. His gaze directed to the blue envelope which had a cursive typography on it which says¡­"Our Celebration of Love.." This four words could already justify the reason of the party but still Reuben explained, "This party is on the upcoming Friday to celebrate our courtship revelation. So please do come. We''ll be grateful." Alonzo just sat there stupefied for few minutes looking through the card and reading it''s initials as he caressed the typos of REUNIC COUPLE with his thumb. "Why are you inviting me in this party Reuben when I''m your rival in love?" Alonzo asked out of curiosity. Reuben smiled a little and replied, "That''s where you''re wrong. You''re not my rival Alonzo. You can''t ever be. Because to be my rival, you need to love my Ica passionately like I do... But you don''t. Maybe at some point, you had loved her truly. But now your love had turned into an obsession. If you''ve truly loved her, you''d never be able to spout nonsense about her. You''d never try to force her to accept you. You''d just be satisfied to see her happy in her life¡­" "No¡­ I love Veronica. I love her very much that I can''t think of her being in arms of anyone else.." Alonzo tried to counter attack. Reuben politely smiled and said, "Another meaning of Love is sacrifice. If you see your loved one to live with someone else happily, then it''s better to let her go. If she can''t find her happiness and peace in you, then she deserves to be away from you¡­ You are not my enemy Alonzo. God!! We don''t even know each other well. I was angry on you just because you hurt my Ica who is my life. I''m not trying to brainwash you but just asking you to think calmly over what I''ve said." Saying this Reuben left with Tom, leaving a dumbfounded Alonzo in his cabin alone.. The words escaped from Reuben''s mouth was enough to stop Alonzo from speaking anymore. He was unable to find any words to retort him back, cause all of this were just true like the holy Bible... ---- Lopez Industries¡­ Diana was busy in discussing with Jack about a particular style statement when her door got knocked by someone. "Hey guys¡­" An excited voice brought their attention towards the door and it was the always cheerful Lucinda. As Lucinda entered, they noticed Veronica and Myra were also behind her. "What a pleasant surprise, girls!!" Diana exclaimed whereas Jack just kept looking at Myra who had a soft smile plastered on her face. "Hey bro.. Care to greet us?" Veronica teased when he noticed her brother''s eyes were dilated towards a particular person. Jack shifted his pupils towards Veronica and gave her a wide smile. He then walked towards her and Lucinda and took both of them in a big hug. "Now happy?" Jack asked at them slyly. Both Lucinda and Veronica nodded her head smilingly. "So guys.. Any special occasion to come here?" Diana asked. "Yeah.. Actually, today we came here for Veronica." Lucinda said. Veronica nodded her head and handed a card to Diana before saying, "Reuben had organised a party for us on this Friday and you''ve to attend it with Louis." "With Louis?" Diana asked to get a confirmation that she had heard right. "Yeah... What did you think? If you won''t tell us then we will not know about both of you." Lucinda teased, making Diana smile shyly. Veronica laughed, noticing the red tint on her cheeks and said, "Louis had called us just after your confession and he was so excited while telling us everything that we could sense his joy very well." "Oh!! Sorry that I didn''t inform you about it as I was too much shy." Diana replied meekly. All of them laughed loudly at Diana whereas Jack just grinned because of his sister. The boys had told him about Reuben''s actual plan on the day of Lucy''s engagement. So he was already aware of everything which made him merrier for his little sister. As they were busy with talking, Veronica''s phone buzzed and she noticed it was a message from Willa to remind her that Veronica had a meeting in an hour. "Okay, my lovely friends.. I need to leave now. Work call.!!! Willa hadn''t come to the office today as she had to settle few stuffs in a film set. So I''m in charge of every meeting today." Veronica said. "Even I''ve to leave now." Lucinda said. Diana nodded and hugged her friends tightly. They were about to leave when Veronica asked Jack, "Bro can you drop Myra off to her place if you''re not busy. Actually I can''t be late to the meeting and my meeting place is close to Lucy''s caf¨¦ so I''ll drop her there. But Myra, here is alone. She even hadn''t brought her car today." Both Myra and Jack looked at her in bewilderment while Lucinda just gave her a smirk but Diana just sat there confused. "No...it''s okay. I can go by alone." Myra tried to oppose. "Nah, Myra. I won''t allow you to go alone as I had asked you myself to accompany me today. So it''s my duty to assure your safety. And I''ll be relieved if Jack is the one to drive you back home. You''ll drop her, right Jack?" Veronica asked in teasing manner while giving him a wink. Jack understood what she was trying to do and mouthed a ''thank you'', smiling internally as he said, "Yes.. Definitely. Come with me Myra." Chapter 344 - Little push towards their destiny... Jack understood what she was trying to do and mouthed a ''thank you'', smiling internally as he said, "Yes.. Definitely. Come with me Myra." Myra silently followed him along with Veronica and Lucinda after bidding goodbye to Diana. Coming to the parking lot, Myra left with Jack while Lucinda asked Veronica with a smile on her face, "You did it on purpose, right?" "Did what, Lucy?" Veronica tried to act innocent as if she didn''t understand what Lucinda was talking about. Lucinda rolled her eyes and said, "At least don''t try to pretend in front of me. I have known you from childhood so your little acting will not fill my stomach. So, tell me¡­ You sent Myra with Jack purposefully, right?? You also feel like me, that there must be something between them which will turn into something magical later..!!" Veronica laughed at the description Lucinda gave and replied while nodding her head, "Yes.. You''re right. I do feel like that they''ll be a good couple some day. They just need some alone time to spend with each other. So I just gave them a little push towards their destiny.." "Awww!! My intelligent bestie..!!!" Lucinda exclaimed in adornment as she hugged Veronica tightly. Veronica hugged her back and soon both of them too left together for their own destinations... ----- Smith Enterprise¡­ After coming back from Brown Corporation, Reuben had busied himself in his office but his mind was not completely focused on his work as he was counting time to get the details about his big brother Andrew.. Perhaps, God had listened to his wish as Tom entered the cabin with a thick file in his hand. "Boss.. We''ve finally found out almost everything about Mr. Andrew. Here are the details." Tom handed him the doc.u.ments. While reading the informations, Reuben''s eyes fell on a particular picture which was added with the doc.u.ments. It was a picture of Andrew embracing a lady in a side hug. Both of them were back facing the camera lens while looking at each other. That''s why, only their side profile were visible into the picture. But It was enough for Reuben to acknowledge his brother as he have known him from childhood. But the face of the lady was not recognisable as some of her hair locks were falling over her face, leaving a very little part of her left cheek, nose and eye to be shown on the photograph. Reuben was feeling extremely emotional after watching his brother''s picture but his memory lane got broken when Tom announced, "Boss, we have a bigger news for you which will surely make you happier." "And what is that?" Reuben asked, still reading the doc.u.ments which was filled with Andrew''s life story in country Z but there was not even a single information about the lady. Tom straightened himself a little and said in a calm voice, "We got an information from our search team that Andrew sir had booked flight tickets to return back to city K on this Thursday¡­ However, even after digging a big hole, we couldn''t able to get any kind of findings of the lady who was living with him from the past few years." Reuben''s interest piqued to the highest level when he heard about Andrew''s comeback that he dismissed all of his thoughts about this mysterious lady... "Are you really sure that Andrew had booked tickets for city S?" Reuben asked hopefully. Tom was enlightened to see the hope in his Boss'' eyes which was quite rare for him as he didn''t show this kind of emotions often if it was not for Veronica. "Yes, Boss. We are sure. Actually the security team of Mr. Andrew tried to hide the informations very hard but somehow we hacked the airport server and got the list of the passengers." Tom notified him. Sighing deeply, Reuben said, "Thanks a lot Tom for the help." "It''s my job, Boss. So you don''t need to thank me." Tom said, smiling politely before leaving his cabin. Being alone in the cabin, Reuben finally was allowed to show his true emotions and one teardrop fell from his right eye as he promised to himself, "This time, I''ll not let you leave us bro..." ---- Alonzo''s Apartment¡­ Myra unlocked the door and entered in her apartment. She turned behind and said, "Come inside, please¡­" Jack smiled at her and followed her inside. Taking a seat on the sofa, he observed the whole living room which was decorated really well and had a classy vibe in it... "Do you like tea or coffee?" Myra asked. "Uhmm.. Coffee." Jack replied shortly. Few minutes later, Myra came out of the kitchen with two cups of coffee and handed one to Jack. Jack smiled faintly and said thanks to her. It was awkward for both of them to be alone for the first time in a whole apartment. Both of them didn''t know how to start a conversation though they had a lot of questions in their minds to ask. Myra was silent because she was shy whereas Jack was quiet as he didn''t want to blabber anything stupid which might offend Myra... However, Myra was feeling a different kind of excitement to be with him without anyone''s presence. She didn''t want to waste the little bit of lonely time to pass by without having a healthy conversation. Therefore, finally taking a deep breath, trying to gain her confidence, Myra finally opened her mouth and asked, "So Jack¡­ Do you have any girlfriend?" Jack was at first a little bit surprised at Myra''s direct query but still he replied, "Nah...no girlfriend. I''m absolutely single." "Why so? I mean you''re both handsome and very good looking. Then why not?" Myra couldn''t keep back her curiosity but inside of her heart, she was somewhat happy with Jack being single that she blurted out whatever came in her mind. Myra bit her tongue right at the moment when she realised, exactly what had slipped out of her mouth while Jack couldn''t suppress his chuckle after seeing her cute expression... Chapter 345 - Ideal Girl... Myra bit her tongue right at the moment when she realised, exactly what had slipped out of her mouth whereas Jack couldn''t suppress his chuckle after seeing her cute expression... "First of all, a big thanks for the compliment." Jack said, making Myra more embarrassed. Noticing her red cheeks, Jack smiled and continued to give a reply to her question, "Well, to have a girlfriend¡­you need to like someone first. I''ll not lie that I never dated.. I had few flings in past but never in my life, I''ve met any girl who could touch my heart. They all were behind my looks and money but no one truly cared about me.." Myra was really impressed with Jack''s honesty who didn''t hide his true feelings from her. She had met many guys who would always try to behave all good boy type just to impress a girl. They would even go to the extent to lie about their past relationsh.i.p.s so that they could get enlisted in the good books of everyone, specially in front of the girls... But here¡­Jack was not at all like those pretentious rich brats with full of dishonesty but he was a sincere man who was extremely truthful to her from the start and it really impressed her a lot. Jack looked at Myra who was smiling at him with stars in her eyes. He already knew about her relationship with Cole but wasn''t sure if she still loved him or not... He just wanted to beat the shit out of that Cole Parker to hurt such an sweet and innocent girl so harshly. But still somewhere in his heart, he was happy that that bastard Cole had left her because he didn''t deserve her at all... But still a question was roaming around his mind which was disturbing him a lot. He really wanted to ask Myra about her feelings towards Cole but couldn''t find proper words for it. Finally, after a lot of debate in his mind, Jack perceived the encouragement which would be needed the most right now and asked very carefully, "If you don''t mind¡­can I ask you about Cole? I mean do you still love him? Or do you still have any kind of soft corner lingering inside your heart for him?" Myra was not that much shocked as she supposed to be. Because she already had an idea in her mind that this question was about to be thrown on her if she asked Jack about his personal life. So without stuttering, she gave him a pointed reply, "No.. I don''t have any kind of feelings harbored inside me right now. I have long accepted the fact that we are not meant to be together in this life. So there are no more reluctance regarding our relationship as I''ve already moved on from him." Jack felt a bubble of relief passed through his stomach and a raw kind of tickle overpowered his body, making him grin ear to ear.. "You said that you couldn''t find any girl of your type. So may I know, what type of girl do you like? What features do you want in a girl for yourself?" Myra chose her words very sensibly, trying not to look desperate in front of him. This ''not so unexpected'' question brought back Jack''s all of suppressed emotions and he stared directly into Myra''s eyes who was looking back at him expectantly. Inhaling a sharp breath, Jack stated, "Truthfully, I don''t have much expectations for my life partner. I just want her to love me wholeheartedly. I don''t mind about her nature or background, I just want her to be extremely sweet and pure from heart. And that''ll be enough for me... Love is what I want from her. No more, no less... I hate gold digging bitch. So I expect her to be not materialistic. If she has this little bit of capabilities inside her, then I promise to love her eternally and shower her with all kind of happiness of the world." Myra fell in awe, hearing his small demands which didn''t go unnoticed by Jack who instantly added with a very sensuous gaze, "Now that I think about it... Actually you fulfill all of my criteria as a life partner. Don''t you think so Myra?" Blush crept in her cheeks as soon as she heard Jack mentioning her as his ideal girl.. She just sat there quietly with a red face like an appropriate shy heroine of some kind of romantic movie. Jack saw the red tint, spreading over her cheeks and asked her almost in a whisper, "What kind of guy do you want as you life partner, Myra? You must have some wish in your heart about your future husband!!" Myra shot a dreamy look to him and expressed her hopes in a very calm yet exciting tone, "Like you, I also don''t have many criteria about my future husband. I just want him to respect me and my work. His motivation will be the strength for me¡­ I just want him to care for me. But most importantly, there should be trust in our relationship. If he can love me, letting go all of my past then I promise to fill his life with all of my love, care and support. I''ll try to be the reason of his happiness, working as an eraser to remove all the sadness from his life.." Both Jack and Myra kept staring at each other with an unknown emotions building in their hearts when Jack suddenly spoke out, "Now that I think about your description for a life partner, I fit in all of your criteria for your future husband." Myra smiled at him sweetly, hearing his comment as she whispered in a very low voice which was only able for Jack to hear, "Now that you''ve mentioned it, I too feel like the same." Jack chuckled at her cute antics while Myra just blushed hard, pondering over her little daring act which she had pulled on him just now... "Honestly, don''t you think that we are very much compatible for each other?" Chapter 346 - Hell of darkness... Jack chuckled at her cute antics while Myra just blushed her, pondering over her little daring act which she had pulled on him just now. "Honestly, don''t you think that we are very much compatible for each other? I mean, even for the little time I know you¡­I already feel like we could be a good couple. Like we are meant to be with each other... I mean, I''m not forcing you in anything. I''m just conveying whatever I think about you¡­about us. I feel like, we should give us a chance." Jack stopped for a while when he sensed Myra not speaking at all and looking at him with widened eyes.. Jack understood that he gave her a mini heart attack already, so without wasting any time, he went towards her. Kneeling on the floor on his right knee, he took her hands in his and said, "I know that you must be thinking of me as some jerk who just goes around and propose any girl. But let me tell you one thing Myra... I''m just a straight forward person who just speaks of his mind without hiding anything. I''m also aware with the fact that it''d be difficult for you to trust me after whatever happened in your past relationship.. But I just want you to give me a chance to prove myself that I''m worthy of you. I don''t know what future holds for ourselves but I''m sure that you''ll not regret being with me." Myra was spell bounded with everything which was happening in front of her. She could clearly recognise the sincerity in Jack''s eyes whereas his truthful words just made her melt like a lit candle... Not knowing what to answer, she just asked, "Why do you think that I can be the girl of your dreams?" Jack smiled softly hearing her and replied, "The innocence in your eyes was enough for me to know that you''re a sweet girl who could even give her life for her beloved ones.. I don''t need you to give your life for me. It''ll be enough for me, if you''ll give me your heart only. And I promise to cherish you like a princess for my whole life. So Myra¡­will you give us a chance?" Hearing the word ''chance'', Myra''s mind wandered around Cole. Just two days ago, Cole also asked her for a chance. But her heart was not ready to give him anything as she was not feeling any kind of emotions towards him, not even hatred... Whereas, when Jack was asking for a chance¡­her heart was leaping in joy. She could feel butterflies dancing in her stomach as Jack was not asking a chance to mend her broken heart¡­but to build a new heart full of love and beautiful memories¡­ Might be, this was what called love at first sight which she had never believed before. But now all those surreal things turn out to be the biggest reality of her life.. With tears brimming from her eyes and a red face, Myra nodded her head and whispered, "Yes Jack... I''m giving is a chance. Because I feel that it''s only you who can fill the void of love in my heart.." Jack had no limit of joy as he hugged her tightly and muttered rapidly in her ears, "Thank you¡­ thank you so so much Myra. I love you.." Myra laughed at his response and hugged him back tightly before mumbling softly with tears in her eyes, "Thanks for coming in my life, Jack. If you wouldn''t have come, I could never come out of that hell of darkness. And I love you too¡­" Jack separated themselves from each other as both of them looked at each other with so much love in their eyes. Slowly Jack closed the distance between their mouth and after getting permission from Myra, he latched their lips together in their first ever kiss and more to come in future¡­ ---- Willa''s Apartment¡­ Willa haven''t went to Creation for the whole day as she was busy with the outdoor work, from where Neil had picked her up and drove her back to the home. They were sitting comfortably in the couch while watching a movie when Neil asked, "How was your day, love?" "Good but very tiring.." Willa replied, snuggling closer to Neil. "What about you, honey?" Willa asked but frowned when she didn''t get any reply. She turned her face towards him from the TV and noticed him to get lost in his own thoughts. Shaking her hands in front of him to gain his attention, Willa asked, "Where have you lost, Neil?" But instead of replying, Neil asked back such an unexpected question which totally took her breath away... "Willa, would you like to move in with me?" Neil asked. Shock would be an understatement for Willa as she couldn''t believe what she had heard just now. "Move in? You want us to be in a live-in relationship?" Willa asked back to confirm. Neil nodded his head like an innocent child and said, "Yes Willa... I''m exactly asking you about this. Even Lucinda had also moved in with Henry right after their engagement. We''re also engaged couple, so what''s wrong with living together in a same house!! In fact, if you''re not comfortable to live in my house, I can move here completely for you. But I just want to be with you. Truthfully, I can''t live without you even for a second. That''s why, I''m so much eager for this.." Seeing the pouting face of Neil, Willa thought it to be cute. So she pondered over it for few moments. What could go wrong with them moving in together?? Nothing..!!! Reuben and Veronica had already been staying together from the past four years. Now even Lucinda was also living with Henry.. So what was the problem with her in moving with Neil? It''s just like shifting from one home to another but the advantage was¡­now they could make their bond stronger by spending more time together... Chapter 347 - The outcome will surely change everything... So what was the problem with her in moving with Neil. It''s just like shifting from one home to another but the advantage was¡­now they could make their bond stronger by spending more time together... Willa closed her eyes to take a firm decision of her life and opened her eyes after a while. Taking in Neil''s each and every single features, she sighed first before opening her mouth to inform him about her decision. "You don''t have to move in here with me Neil. I don''t want that." Neil''s face became dead as soon as he heard Willa rejecting his only wish. His hopeful eyes turned dull, not because Willa rejected him but the reason was more like that he would not be able to spend more time with her like he expected. Noticing him getting sad, Willa smiled and cupped his cheeks before adding with a soft smile on her face, "You don''t have to come here because I''m going to move in with you. We''ll be living together but at your house¡­. I want to redesign each and every corner of your boring house into a more comfortable and romantic one before our marriage. And for that, I need some time. So let''s move in together.." Neil''s face bloomed into the biggest smile ever as he got up from the couch and switched of the TV... Pulling Willa from the couch, he lifted her up in his arms and started walking towards the bedroom while saying, "Let''s start practicing to live like a husband and wife from now on. And for that¡­ We need to indulge ourselves in the most important part of a happy and successful married life¡­our hot love making session.." He winked at the end of the statement, making Willa blush as she hid her face in the crook of his neck while Neil just grinned at her... ---- Creation¡­ Next day¡­ Willa entered Veronica''s cabin with a cup of coffee in her hand. Veronica noticed her and saw the change in her temperament. But the change was a good one though, as if she was glowing ten times more than before. There was even a blush crept on her cheeks, making her look more beautiful. Veronica c.o.c.ked her eyebrows and smiled slyly as she decided to tease her bestie a little bit to have some fun, "Look¡­look¡­look.. Who is here today? Our newly engaged girl¡­huh!!!" Willa''s blush intensified because of Veronica''s teasing and she tried to divert her attention by saying, "Ma''am, you have a meeting at¡­" "Stop talking about meeting now. Tell me how was your love making?" Veronica asked shamelessly, cutting Willa off in the middle of her sentence. The directly thrown question was quite inevitable for Willa as she looked at Veronica with widened eyes while Veronica just smirked before adding, "Come on Willa. Don''t be shy. We are besties... So what''s there to hide from me?" Obviously Willa, Lucinda and Veronica were best friends from years. So there should be nothing to hide from them. Whatsoever, Willa was still a little shy to confess about such an intimate thing so openly. But who could stop Veronica from getting whatever she want.!! If Willa didn''t give Veronica a reply and kept her awaiting like this, then her teasing will increase more and more that there would be no way to stop her... So better tell everything before getting the things more awkward!! "Uhmm¡­ Actually, it was really good. I never felt so much heavenly in my whole life¡­like how I felt in Neil''s arms. And now we''ve even decided to be in a live-in relationship." Willa confessed shyly with her head bowed down. Though Veronica already knew that there was a chance of them moving in together as she was aware of the boys in their circle who couldn''t wait more if they got the taste of the sweet meat.. Still¡­Veronica hadn''t expected it to be too soon in the matter of Willa and Neil as Willa was always a shy girl when it came to talk about relationsh.i.p.s. However, Veronica was really happy at the good progress between this couple as she exclaimed excitingly, "Oh My God! Willa, lots of hearty congratulations from me." Willa smiled at her bestie as Veronica engulfed her in a hug and this teasing saga continued for few more minutes¡­ ---- City S airport¡­ Two women came out of the airport with a big smile on their faces. Though they had a huge age difference between them but their smile was very much similar to each other. The elder one was smiling because she was truly happy to come back to the place where she had beautiful memories of her life.. Whereas the younger one was happy to get to see her friends but specially to snatch someone from his fiance''s life... They saw the driver waiting for them and hopped into the car after settling their luggage. As they drove through the familiar yet a little unfamiliar streets of city S, many old memories juggled up in their mind.. "So much has changed after we left the country, isn''t it Mom?" Amelia asked looking outside of the window. Mrs. Jones smiled before replying, "Yes¡­but still many things are unchanged and same like our unforgotten memories.." "You''re right Mom.. Feelings haven''t changed but the outcome will surely change everything..." Amy muttered to herself while watching the tall buildings¡­ --- Love-Paradise¡­ Another day passed by and Veronica was getting a different kind of vibe in her heart. She was feeling that some kind of good or bad things would gonna happen to them soon.. She didn''t know if it was even possible but her conscience proved out to be always true which was making her more restless. Reuben noticed it and asked, "Ica¡­do you want to share something with me?" Veronica looked at him and said, "I don''t know Bennie but it feels like someone is going to re-enter in our life soon who will change the equation of our peaceful life into something else. I''m getting both positive and negative kind of feeling inside of me. But don''t know why.!!" Chapter 348 - Wicked Planning Mode... Veronica looked at him and said, "I don''t know Bennie but it feels like someone is going to re-enter in our life soon who will change the equation of our peaceful life into something else. I''m getting both positive and negative kind of feeling inside me. But don''t know why.!!" After hearing about her worries, Reuben thought it must be because of Andrew. After all, he was going to come back to city S just two days later, just on the day of their party if he was not too much wrong... Both Andrew and Veronica were really close from their childhood. As Veronica was the youngest one among everybody, Andrew would love to dot on her the most, being the big brother for her. Must be the special bonding between the siblings made Veronica think like this. But the question was¡­ Why she would have negative feelings along with positive?? Andrew could never harm his friends and sisters in his life as he love them too much to even lift a finger on them. Then why Veronica was having negativity surrounded in her mind?? Let''s just forget about that and focus more on the party and Andrew. He would take care of every vileness which would try to approach near them but now his main priority was the surprise engagement for Veronica. Reuben''s parents had already informed that they had custom made the rings for them. He even saw the pictures and it really came out more amazing than the actual design. Now he wanted to include Andrew to surprise Veronica but he knew it won''t be possible right on the day of their engagement as Andrew was very secretive about his matters. He decided that he would let his men follow Andrew and after finding about him, he''d personally talk to him. Not to forget that, they had planned to punish both Regina and Mr. Brown really soon and they chose the date to be the day after their engagement as Reuben didn''t want to ruin such a big and important day of their life to get ruined by some stupid people. However, right now¡­the most important task for Reuben was to pacify Veronica that nothing bad was going to happen because he won''t let this to proceed.. "Babe. Don''t think too much, okay? Right now, just focus on Regina." Reuben tried to divert her attention. One of the corner of Veronica''s lips lifted up in an evil smirk and she said, "Tch¡­tch¡­ I had already made a great plan to unmask her dirty life. But now I got another target for it." Reuben heard her and asked with his arched eyebrows, "Are you talking about that girl Rachel who is Diana''s assistant also?" Veronica nodded at him and thought about the day she went to Lopez Industries to give Diana the invitation for their party... ---- Two days ago... After meeting Diana and dropping Lucinda at her caf¨¦, Veronica was driving towards Creation when she noticed Rachel with a man whose back was faced towards her. She thought to meet Rachel and also invite her in the party as she had helped a lot in designing Lucinda''s dress which made them acquainted to each other really well. Stopping her car at the roadside, Veronica was about to get out of the car when the man suddenly turned his body towards her, making Veronica shocked to the core.. "Mike!!" Veronica whispered lowly, couldn''t able to believe her eyes. As soon as she saw them together, suddenly her memory went back to five years ago when she finally remembered that exactly where did she see Rachel.. She got all the answers of her question that why she had felt to be so much familiar to her when she first met her at Lopez Industries.. Five years ago, when Veronica had decided to meet Alex for the last time before coming back to city S, she had waited for him for hours¡­ But he didn''t come, instead Mike told her that Alonzo was out of country for his higher studies. But Mike was not alone there at that moment... A girl of their same age was also present there with Mike who was standing behind him with an unreadable expression on her face. Veronica didn''t thought much about her at that moment as she was really heartbroken with the betrayal of her friend. But now that she was seeing her with Mike again after five years, she remembered all of them and tried to connect the dots between Mike and Rachel... Although she was oblivious about the relationship status that these two people shared but she was sure that it was not just a mere coincidence but there were more twists to come.. Her gut feeling was telling her that Rachel was somehow related to all this fiasco, specially with the tragedy drama of Diana''s life. Right now, she had to dig out each and every information about this duo and their actual relation with each other. Veronica thought to not meet Rachel at that moment to not make them doubt on her motive. So without wasting her time at them, she left for her office. That night, after going back home, she narrated everything to Reuben at first and then both of them planned to involve their enquiry team of Secret 7 to find out every details about Mike and Rachel.. ---- Back to present¡­ Reuben nudged Veronica at her shoulder when he noticed her drowning into her own thoughts. Veronica came out of her past memories and looked at Reuben quizzically as if asking him¡­why did he disturb her when her wicked planning mode was on.!! Reuben understood the meaning of her gaze and pouted, "Come on babe.. It''s enough of planning and plotting against those little idiots. Now give some time to your handsome boyfriend too. He badly needs your attention." Seeing Reuben whining like a kid, Veronica chuckled and pinched his cheeks before saying, "Who said I''m not giving you attention!! You''re really a big attention seeker, aren''t you? However I''m just thinking about the last phase of my amazing plan.." Chapter 349 - Diaper days to beautiful youngsters… Seeing Reuben whining like a kid, Veronica chuckled and pinched his cheeks before saying, "Who said I''m not giving you attention. You''re really a big attention seeker, aren''t you? However I''m just thinking about the last phase of my amazing plan.!!" "Hmm..hmmm..Now that if you''re done with your thinking, then let''s have some cozy cozy moment." Reuben said inhaling her scent as he pressed himself on her. Veronica just chuckled and ruffled his hair before saying, "Yeah.. I''m now just waiting to end this chapter of those three irritating persons altogether. Whereas about Rachel, we''ll take care of her on the spot itself." Reuben nodded his head, kissing her on the neck as they sank into their own passion of love... ---- Jones Mansion¡­ Amelia was unpacking some of her clothes when Mrs. Jones entered her bedroom and asked, "Amy.. Are you not going to meet your friends for whom you''ve literally begged to your father to book your flight tickets to city S¡­ We have come back to city S the day before yesterday which means it''s already been two days of our stay here. So when are you planning to meet them?" Arranging the final piece of cloth in the wardrobe, Amelia sat beside her mother and said, "I''m planning to visit Vero in her office tomorrow. I want to surprise her first before meeting with others." "Hmm¡­That''s good. After you''re done with your surprises then it''d be my turn. After all, I miss them so much. I watched them growing up from their diaper days to beautiful youngsters¡­ Now I can''t wait to see them turning into a.d.u.l.ts after so many years.." Mrs. Jones said with a small smile playing on her lips as she reminded about the past when all of them were together...when her Andrew was with them. A small tear dropped from her eyes but she wiped it off from her face before Amelia could notice it and said, "Fine then. It''s already been late. So go to sleep." Amelia nodded and laid on her bed. Her mother covered her with the blanket and left her bedroom after switching off the lights. "Tomorrow, I''m going to take the first step of my revenge plan towards you, Lucinda Wilson. Just wait for me to snatch all the happiness which you took away from me in the past.." Amelia mumbled to herself before dozing off to her sleep. ----- Thursday afternoon... Creation¡­ Veronica was busy in her work when her receptionist had called her to inform that some lady had came to visit her who was introducing herself as an old friend of hers. Although Veronica was completely confused with the identity of the lady, but still she asked the receptionist to send her inside. After all, she was not scared of any person as her own slap would be enough for anyone to blow off immediately if they try to harm her. But the reason for which she permit the stranger to come in was Diana. After Diana''s incident, she thought that she''d give everyone a chance to express herself first as she didn''t know if the person was going through some troubles or not.. She looked at her watch and it was showing 3 pm on her clock. Willa had taken a half day off as Neil had asked her to arrange her stuffs as they were planning to move in together on this Sunday. So they were shifting everything slowly. Today even Reuben wouldn''t come to pick her up from Creation as he told her that he would be busy in arranging few things for the party tomorrow. So it was getting bored for Veronica to not have any work for today. Because she had already preponed her meetings and worked her ass off from the past few days to get a day off the next day. Now that someone who called herself to be Veronica''s friend had come to meet her, she thought to do some time pass by talking to her... After few minutes, she heard a knock and knew that the uninvited guest had arrived there already. Without lifting her head up from the computer, she chipped, "Come in.." The lady came inside and walked towards her table. Witnessing Veronica to be busy in her work, she quietly stepped near her and shouted in her ear, "Boooooom!!!" Veronica jolted up from her chair frantically, getting scared by the intruder and turned her head towards her angrily.. She was about to threw venom on her when her words got stuck in her mouth and her facial expression changed immediately from a furious one to the shocked one. "Amy!! Is that really you?" Veronica asked almost in a whisper as she was feeling that her eyes were playing some stupid games with her. Veronica even thought that if she blinked her eyes for once more, then Amelia would be vanished off from her eyes. Amelia grinned at her brightly and said holding Veronica''s shoulders, "Yeah.. It''s me Vero. I''ve finally come back here." Veronica pinched herself to believe that she was not imagining or seeing things and when she finally felt the pain on her arms, her eyes almost popped out of her socket. "Oh My Goodness!! Amy, you''re really here!!" Veronica exclaimed or more like shouted in joy as she stood up and immediately hugged her very tightly. Both of the girls were really happy to see each other after many years so they tried to stand there silently, hugging each other as they absorbed the utmost feelings of their friendship. Veronica finally broke the hug and made her sit on couch and asked, "When did you come back here by the way?" "On Tuesday morning." Amelia replied. "What!! It had been already many days till you come here but you''re thinking about me right now. Almost after a decade. Amy laughed at her comment and said, "I wanted to get settled here properly first before surprising you. And look, now I''m here in front of you in all glory..." Chapter 350 - Dance Practice... Amy laughed at her comment and said, "I wanted to get settled here properly first before surprising you. And look, now I''m here in front of you in all glory..." Veronica smiled and said, "That''s good that you''re finally here and at the correct time. Bennie had arranged a party tomorrow so you will be there with us. I''m so happy right now that all of my friends will be with us on the special day of our life." Amelia too smiled at her and suggested, "Hmmm¡­ Why not we do one thing? We''ll wait for tomorrow to come before giving all of my friends a big surprise together about my return back here¡­specially Lucinda.." As Amelia mentioned Lucinda''s name specifically, Veronica frowned a little bit as she knew that Amelia always had a bitter temperament towards Lucinda and was jealous of her from her childhood... Though Amelia was also Veronica''s friend but it couldn''t be compared with the friendship between her and Lucinda. So Veronica decided to keep an eye on Amelia so that she couldn''t harm her bestie at any cost. "Uhmmm¡­Amy¡­ Why don''t you accompany me to the beauty parlor? Reuben had made an appointment with them for me. I''ll anyways get bore if I go there alone. So you also come with me." Veronica suggested so that she could spend some time with Amelia. But the biggest reason was to know about her whereabouts, specially her reason to come back to city S all of a sudden without even a prior notice to them. This single action of hers was enough to create a big doubt in Veronica''s mind which was quite obvious too..!! "Yeah sure.. Now that you''ve told me about the party, then I''ve to prepare myself to look the best." Amelia chirped as both of them left Creation after a few minutes... ----- Smith''s Mansion¡­ The living room was filled with both youngsters and elders. But for the first time ever, everyone was sitting there in silence which was very much unexpected from them. The youngsters were sitting at one side whereas the elders on the opposite. But the middle seat was occupied by the great Reuben Smith who was carrying a nervous expression on his face... Everyone''s eyes were focused on only him specially the girls who wore a confusing appearance. "For god''s sake¡­ will someone please tell me what''s happening here? Why are we waiting here patiently when we should prepare ourselves for tomorrow''s party?" Lucinda couldn''t control her irritation anymore. "Actually girls.. We have hidden something from you both." Neil said, clearing his throat making both Willa and Lucinda glare at him. "Uhmm..Girls, don''t glare at us. It was all Reuben''s plan to not tell you." Henry safe guarded himself from their murdered glares. It was enough for Willa to control so she just asked impatiently, "Will someone tell us what''s the matter here?" Noticing the frustration in the girls'' behaviour, Reuben finally blurted out, "Tomorrow''s party is not a simple one but a surprise engagement party for Ica and me.." "What!!!" came an exasperated exclamation from the girls which made the boys scared like hell whereas the elders along with Jack and Louis chuckled. Reuben nodded his head as if to confirm their doubt and said, "I''m going to propose Veronica for marriage tomorrow. And for that, I need all of your help." Both Lucinda and Willa couldn''t come out of the shocking news of Reuben''s proposal when he already asked for their help which made them more furious. "Oh!!! So when you need to plan about your engagement, you want to keep it secret from us. And when you need help from us, you just abruptly informed about it. Why don''t ask your so called best friends to help you in this too?" Lucinda said giving a glare to the boys. Reuben shook his head at them and sweet talked in a requesting tone, "Please my lovely sisters...help me out this time. I can only trust you in the dance department, not these idiot friends of mine." "Who are you calling idiots, brother?" Louis felt extremely offended. Reuben showed him his eyes to stop him so that he couldn''t ruin his plan and waited for the girls to reply. "Dance?" Willa asked excitedly. Reuben nodded his head and explained everything to them in details which made the girls wowed on his super duper idea. Their excitement had no boundary as Lucinda exclaimed in joy, "Count me in." Willa also clapped in excitement and said, "Yeah, me too.." Reuben grinned at his another success and asked, "So is everyone ready for this? Shall we start our dance practice then?" Before the youngsters could reply, the elders cheered up merrily, "Yes¡­." Like this, started their hours of practicing for next day... ---- Love-Paradise¡­ It was already 10 pm. But there was no trace of Reuben anywhere which was making Veronica frustrated. She tried to call him many times but every time his phone was coming to be switched off, scaring her from the depth of her heart. "Where is this boy? Not even picking up my phone? I understand that he''s busy in preparation but he should at least call me for once." Veronica was muttering to herself while placing in the living room frantically. Half an hour later, she finally heard the screeching sound of the car tyres and she ran towards the door. Opening it, she came face to face to a very tired Reuben whose hairs were ruffled which were falling on his pale face.. His suit was hanging on his hand with his tie loose around his neck. Exhaustion was clear on his face which stopped Veronica from scolding him for his irresponsibility. "Baby.. Why are you so tired? Do one thing, change up first and take a nice bath. You don''t need to come down anymore as I''ll bring your dinner in our bedroom." Veronica said with worry filled in her eyes, gulping down all of her pent up frustration for him. Chapter 351 - Shopping Hater Veronica Lopez.. "Baby.. Why are you so tired? Do one thing, change up first and take a nice bath. You don''t need to come down anymore as I''ll bring your dinner in our bedroom." Veronica said with worry filled in her eyes, gulping down all of her pent up frustration for him. For now, Reuben''s health was more important to her from her so called anger on him... Reuben knew that she was frustrated with his irresponsible behaviour today but she suppressed it after seeing his disheveled look. This unconditional love of Veronica towards Reuben was the most appreciative quality of hers which made her different from any other girls... She always kept Reuben on the top of her priority list regardless of time and situation which made Reuben fall in love with her more and more by each and every passing second of his blessed life!!! Smiling at her lovingly and after pecking her on the cheek, he left for their bedroom whereas Veronica busied herself in warming the food for him... ----- Reuben and Veronica''s bedroom¡­ After feeding Reuben by her own hand, Veronica asked, "Was there too much of preparation to be done honey that you''re so much tired today? I have seen you arranging numerous of parties before but it''s the first time I''m seeing you so worn out¡­ If there was so much of work then you should at least tell me baby. I''d have helped you in the preparations. Now have a look on yourself in the mirror. Your face says it all that how much you''ve stressed yourself for this.." Veronica''s worry was clearly visible on her beautiful face which made Reuben feel a little bad but he couldn''t tell her the actual truth. Otherwise, all of his surprises would go under the water.. "Babe.. As you know that I have planned this party all of a sudden without a proper planning. That''s why I had to look into the matter personally. And as per you said that I''ve arranged many parties before. It''s true... But you forgot that this party is not like others. It''s the party to celebrate our union. So obviously, I''ve to give more interest and work hard to check if everything is perfect just like us.." Reuben said in a romantic tone, melting Veronica''s heart once again. Veronica smiled through her tears and kept staring at him with so much love that it was enough to waver Reuben''s heart like a pendulum. "You know what Bennie!! I feel so lucky sometimes that I got you as the love of my life. You''re the most precious person of my life." Veronica whispered in a low voice as she placed her head on his chest and kissed it with so many emotions as if she was kissing his heart. Reuben encircled his hand around her midriff and pulled her more towards him so that he could engulfed her in a hug properly. Kissing her head, he muttered fondly, "You won''t believe it honey that how much my life had turned out to be beautiful after your arrival. I too feel the luckiest to have you by my side, in my arms and always in my heart.." Chuckling at Reuben''s comment, Veronica tilted up her head to look at him and brushed her lips on his before mumbling softly, "I love you.." "I love you more.." Reuben too whispered delicately and deepened their kiss, eagerly waiting for the next day to come so that he could tag his beloved Ica as his fiance.. ----- Next day morning¡­ Finally the day had come of the much awaited party which would be renowned as the most unique party of the world with a lots of surprises and unexpected events... Veronica woke up from her slumber but didn''t find Reuben on the bed. She looked towards the washroom and then balcony but he was also not there. Shrugging her shoulders, Veronica got up from the bed and went to freshen up a bit before starting her search mission for her dear boyfriend. After brushing and finishing her morning courses, Veronica came out of the washroom only to find Reuben sitting on the couch with breakfast arranged on the table. "Oh! So you were making breakfast for us? And here I thought that you had run away out of fear that I might irritate you to take me for shopping.." Veronica joked as she sat beside him while Reuben handed her a plate with food. Chuckling at her, Reuben asked, "Why? Doesn''t the shopping hater Veronica Lopez have any perfect dress to wear today evening?" Veronica took a bite of the omlet and said, "No.. I have quite a few dresses but I don''t know which one to wear for today''s party. I mean I don''t know if I have an appropriate dress for such a big event tonight." Reuben chewed his food and after gulping it, said seriously, "On a serious note, you really don''t have any perfect dress for the party? Why don''t you check your wardrobe once more!" Veronica furrowed her eyebrows together and looked at him confusedly, "You want me to check it now! Can''t we wait till we finish our breakfast? I''m feeling really hungry." Seeing her pouting, Reuben chuckled and said, "Fine.. Eat first then." Happily nodding, they continued with their breakfast and finished it soon. Sipping the water, Veronica finally walked inside her walk-in closet, being followed by Reuben. She scrunched up her face while opening the closet without knowing what''s waiting for her in there. She rummaged through her cupboards and her eyes finally fell on a box wrapped in a golden wrapper with a red rose placed on it. Taking the box in her hand, Veronica turned around to see Reuben standing near the entrance with a sly smile on his face. When he noticed Veronica staring at him quizzically he wiggled his brows playfully at her... "What''s in this box, Bennie? It''s you who had kept it here, right?" Veronica asked taking slow steps towards him. Reuben didn''t say anything but just gestured her through his eyes to open the box, making Veronica more curious about the content inside it. Frowning a little, when she finally opened the box, a loud gasp left out of her mouth¡­ Chapter 352 - Gifts... Reuben didn''t say anything but just gestured her through his eyes to open the box, making Veronica more curious about the content inside it. Frowning a little, when she finally opened the box, a loud gasp escaped from her mouth¡­ "It''s so beautiful!!" Veronica exclaimed in amazement seeing whatever was in the gift box. Reuben wrapped his hand around her shoulder and asked looking at her, "Do you like it?" Veronica lifted her head up to look at him and ejaculated in her unbelievably cute voice, "Like it? I''ve just fallen in love with the dress. I have never seen such a beautiful red dress in my whole life. I can''t really describe it''s beauty just by words." The dreamy look in her eyes was enough to convey that she was really mesmerized by the fancy yet elegant red gown which had an intricate design. It was an off shoulder, floor length frock kind of gown. The upper part of the gown was embroidered with very minute details, designed with frails... The lower part was made of a mixture of georgette and satin cloth. It was parted with different steps made with frails. Both of the side had some lace attached to it which were hanging from the waist part that continued till the end as it flowed down on the floor like some natural sea waves... All in one, the princess style ball gown was the bestest among any other gown which could be worn for an engagement though the person who was supposed to wear, hadn''t any idea about it!! Veronica was really happy to see it as she said excitedly, "I can''t wait to wear it at night. For the first time in my life, I''m feeling like flaunting myself." Reuben just chuckled at her and said, "You don''t need to flaunt baby. Your one killer look is enough to burn the girls in jealousy. And about boys, they can just rot in hell¡­ I don''t care." The so called over possessive comment was enough to make Veronica laugh loudly which also brought a smile on Reuben''s face... ----- At Afternoon¡­ The couple had just woke up from their afternoon nap when they heard the doorbell ringing, so Reuben went to open the door. Veronica who was scrolling through her phone still sitting on her bed, looked towards the door when she heard it to get opened. But her facial expression changed to a frown when she saw two girls standing there instead of Reuben but the twist was that she knew both of them very well. "What are you guys doing here?" Veronica asked, getting out of the bed. One of the girl smiled at her before replying, "Ma''am, Mr. Smith has sent us here to do your hair and make-up today." "Oh!" Veronica only let out a gasp as she hadn''t expected it at all. Previously, she had attended many parties but she seldom took help of the make up persons as she herself was good at dolling up!! Even Reuben also preferred her to be simple most of the time; if it was not some big kind of family or business party which would hold a special announcement. So it was quite confusing to Veronica but she shrugged it off and welcomed the ladies into her room with a polite smile on her face. "You guys please make yourself comfortable here. I''ll just go and take a warm bath and will also bring my dress along way." Veronica said, motioning them to sit on the couch placed in their bedroom. The two girls smiled back and started arranging their make-up kits and products on the dressing table... ---- After fifteen minutes, Veronica came out of the bathroom, covering herself in a bathrobe and went inside her lavish walk-in closet where she had kept her gown. She was about to move out of the closet when she noticed few other packages wrapped beautifully in silver wrapper, kept on one of the cupboard.. Confusedly, she picked it up and found a chit stuck on it like a note which was obviously Reuben''s handwriting. "Ica, my babe¡­ It can''t be possible if I only give you a gown but not the other accessories. I want my girl to look heavenly today so there are few more gifts for you which would help your Goddess like beauty to be more charismatic... Your love, Bennie¡­" Veronica smiled at the note and opened the first box which had a beautiful necklace with a pair of earrings inside it. It was a beautiful diamond necklace with a gold plating which was not big but very much sober. The diamonds were designed in the shape of beautiful flowers and leaves and few rose gold pearls were complimenting it like some stars in the dark sky. The earrings were long and beautiful too, resembling the necklace, it too had leaves and flowers made by diamond and pearls. Getting enchanted with it, she opened a comparatively small box which had a thin bracelet inside it which was also designed matching her diamond necklace set. Finally, she opened the last box and found a set of red high heels which had a black sole under it to intensify it''s beauty more. Veronica was again in tears, seeing the effort Reuben had put in to make her happy. She was not crying because of this pricy gifts but she was happy because she knew the love Reuben had poured into selecting all this things just to bring a smile on her face... Wiping her tears off, Veronica smiled brightly and moved out from there and entered her bedroom with her hands full of Reuben''s special gifts. The beauticians stood up immediately seeing her and told her to sit in front of the big dressing table so that they could do make over of her. After one hour of their work, Veronica was all ready with her make-up as it was not at all difficult for the two beauticians to make her already beautiful face look more glamorous because Reuben''s Ica was already a natural beauty with flawless skin and angelic features¡­ Chapter 353 - Conspiring to keep the bitches away from my man... After one hour of their work, Veronica was all ready with her make-up as it was not at all difficult for the two beauticians to make her already beautiful face look more glamorous because Reuben''s Ica was already a natural beauty with flawless skin and angelic features¡­ Veronica wore her dress and jewelleries and put on her heels before turning towards the beauticians who fell in awe after watching her. "Oh My God, Ma''am!! You''re looking so gorgeous and beautiful." One of them exclaimed. "Yes, Ma''am. I''ve never seen someone looking so beautiful like you are." The other one said. Veronica laughed at them and teased, "Stop over exaggerating. You have said this to me every time you did a make over of me." The beauticians also smiled and said, "No, Ma''am. We are not at all exaggerating. You''re seriously looking beyond beautiful." The short one who was still in awe over Veronica, vigorously nodded her head and praised, "Ma''am¡­ Your beauty today is different than other times. As if someone had done magic on you." Veronica chuckled and said, "Maybe it''s your sir Reuben whose magic is working on me. But I must say, you both are really the best at make-up. Thanks a lot for your help. And please have something first before leaving." Both of the ladies smiled at Veronica who had been very much polite to them whenever they meet and never defame them for their status like some other rich heiresses. After having some snacks and drinks, they finally left... ----- Veronica settled herself on the stool and started looking at her reflection in the mirror when she heard a knock. The moment she twirled around, the door also got opened by a very handsome looking Reuben who had dressed up himself in a red suit, similar colour to Veronica''s gown. Reuben was wearing a red custom made tuxedo, looking all dashing. He was wearing a black shirt underneath the vest along with a black tie. He wore a pair of black metal buckle shoes with a minimalistic black steel watch. He was standing at the door looking all dashing and handsome, taking Veronica''s breath away from her lungs. Whereas Veronica was ogling at her dear boyfriend, Reuben was also busy in gaping at his beautiful girlfriend.!! Veronica was ready wearing her beautiful red ball gown which was showing a little bit of her cleavage, along with her jewelleries and shoe. Her hair had been styled in a half up and half down manner. Few locks at the front part of her hair had been tied behind very stylishly with flower as hair accessories, leaving the rest of hair open in soft curls... A small amount of foundation was applied on her face with a touch of compact. She had applied a nude peach coloured eyeshadow on her eyelids alongside mascara and eyeliner. Her cheeks were sparkling because of the golden highlighter while she had put on a red lipstick on her plump lips to compliment her look. Reuben''s breath hitched away seeing her and even he even forgot to blink for few minutes. She was looking so much enchanting and beguiling that Reuben had completely been bewitched by her... After few minutes of their eye lock, Reuben finally came out of her trance as he walked towards her and whispered in a low voice, "You are looking heavenly babe that I can''t take my eyes off you." "You too are looking handsome darling. I''m now only conspiring, how to keep the bitches away from my man." Veronica complimented him but later frowned when she thought of the girls who always drooled over him as if he was some candy. Reuben laughed and thought internally, ''Don''t worry, my baby. From today onwards every girl will know that I''m only yours.'' However, suppressing the smile on his face, Reuben gave her his hand and asked, "Shall we?" Veronica grinned ear to ear and replied, "We shall.." ----- Paradise Hotel¡­ The whole banquet hall were decorated with in an extravagant way. Many guests had already arrived in the party who were being welcomed by the elder Smith''s and Lopez''s. Suddenly four cars stopped at gate of the hotel line by line. From the first car came out Neil and Willa holding each other''s arms, dressing similarly in a blue suit and gown. Next came Henry and Lucinda wearing brown tux and gown respectively... Jack and Louis entered at the same time, together with their partners. Jack was wearing a green checked suit, matching with Myra''s green gown. Louis coordinated his black suit with Diana''s black gown. They two were also holding hands. Reporters encircled them like bees and asked Neil and Henry, "Sir, both of you had been engaged on the same day. Are you planning to get married together too?" Henry laughed and replied, "Now that you have mentioned it, I think it''s really a good idea!" Neil also joked, "I think we should think over your suggestions seriously. If we agree to marry on the same day too, then don''t worry¡­I''ll give you an extra bonus for such an exceptional idea." The reporter smiled at them while the two couples left. Now came the another two couples about whose relationsh.i.p.s none of them had any idea... One of the reporters asked them, "Mr. Louis and Mr. Jack, we can see that you have come here with two beautiful ladies. Are they perhaps your girlfriends?" Jack pulled Myra more to him by her waist and said, "You are mistaking. She''s not my girlfriend but my soon to be wife, Myra Brown." The indirect marriage proposal of Jack made Myra shock to her core as she looked at Jack with widened eyes but he just gave her a charming smile which made her blush more. When the reporters looked at Louis, he smiled and said, "Well, she is Diana Miller, my one and only girlfriend and also the love of my life." Diana was beyond surprise when she heard Louis introduced her as his lover which was also an indirect declaration of his love for her. The answer made the reporter more curious about their relationship and he asked, "Sir, do you also planning to marry Ms. Diana someday in future like your other friends?" Chapter 354 - Sacred bond of marriage... The answer made the reporter more curious about their relationship and he asked, "Sir, do you also planning to marry Ms. Diana someday in future like your other friends?" Both Louis and Diana had never imagined that this kind of question could also be thrown on them so they stood there being stupefied for few seconds. Diana was nervous thinking about Louis'' answer. Though she was not sure about Louis'' feelings of love towards her but she was sure about herself that she had already fallen in love with him in the past few days as she started to spend more time with him... Whereas Louis was clear about the answer in his mind but he was scared if he stated the truth then Diana might excuse herself from him which he didn''t want. After all, who wanted to be apart from the girl whom he had already started loving like his eternity!! But his heart was also like some nostalgic drama character who never wanted to lie about his true emotions just to suppress his actual feelings regarding the girl in his arms. Therefore, without thinking about the pros and cons about the matter, Louis spoke out of his heart, pointing at Diana, "If she is ready to get married with me, then I can also go to the extent to pull her to the marriage registry office the first thing in tomorrow morning and tie her up with me in the sacred bond of marriage for our whole life." Diana was overflowed with the emotions as she lost her words to speak anything. She just smiled at him with her eyes full of love for him Louis returned with his own. After the question session, they also went into the hall where the party was being organised... ----- Few minutes passed away as the reporters had taken interview of many other guests, starting with businessmen to the politicians and lastly the famous celebrities. Now the reporters were only waiting for the most fabulous power couple who were also known as REUNIC Couple among the fans. They couldn''t wait to have few talks with the famous couple who had become hearts and inspiration of many young people. And finally God had listened to them as soon a luxurious car had stopped in front of them, right at the start line of the red carpet... A pair of sturdy legs came out of the car in a red suit pants and the most handsome man of the world stepped out of the car in his all red and black suit. Reuben kept the door open and extended his hand forward to Veronica who gave him a small smile and came out of the car gracefully while holding her gown. Keeping his hand on her waist, Reuben helped her on her heels and both of them walked towards the entrance so sophisticatedly yet stylishly as if they were some ramp walk models!! Both of them posed for the cameras like professionals with a smile on their faces which enchanted each and every reporters present there. Breaking the spell that the reporters were in, one of them asked, "Sir, Ma''am¡­ First of all you guys are looking amazing and very much compatible to each other. But I want to ask you guys if you''re planning to tie the knots really soon." Veronica became a little stiffen after hearing it which didn''t go unnoticed by Reuben. He knew why she was behaving like this as he still hadn''t proposed her for the fairytale marriage they had planned all these years.. Reuben sighed internally and thought, ''Don''t be upset babe. Because today you''ll get whatever you dreamt of. I''ll put down all the happiness around the world on your feet.'' Smiling at the reporter''s question, Reuben replied cheerfully, "Of course we''ll tie the knot soon but we haven''t yet decided on the perfect time or place. But whenever or wherever, we''re going to get wedded, we''ll definitely call for you guys there." Veronica smiled at Reuben''s reply while he gave her an assuring smile and after few more questioning round, the couple were finally released from the clutch of the reporters and they too walked towards the entrance.. The hallway was decorated with lamps hanging on the both sides systematically on the wooden patio. The upper part of the hallway were covered with glass walls triangularly from where many more glass lamps were hanging. As they entered inside of the hall, Veronica''s mouth opened wide in shock as she couldn''t believe what she was seeing... The hall was illuminating with purple and blue lights. A big part of the hall had been vacant to make it look like a stage. Tables and chairs were being placed around that emptied stage and candles were being lit on the white tablecloths.. Veronica was mesmerized by the decoration that Reuben personally provided for the special day of their lives whereas Reuben just kept staring at his soon to be fiance who was totally in love with the preparations.. On the other side, the guests were already present there. Alonzo was sitting along with his family members who had arrived earlier in the morning in city S. Mr. Brown was sitting beside his wife while Alonzo was seated just beside his grandmother who became very happy after seeing Veronica. But her face fell when Grandma Brown noticed that Veronica had reached there holding hands with Reuben. As she was old, she had kept herself busy in sewing and knitting. That''s why, she had no idea about Reuben and Veronica being a couple. Cole was also present with his family as they were too invited while Regina was fuming in anger, cursing Veronica under her breath. Elder Smith''s and Lopez''s came to greet the couple and they could feel the deep staring of greed, jealousy along with blessings and love falling on the couple. "You guys are looking so good together that I can''t describe it with just words." Mrs. Lopez said with tears in her eyes while Mrs. Smith nodded, making the two father''s laugh at them. Veronica gave them a smile and hugged her four parents who kissed her on the forehead and cheeks before she asked, "Where are our friends by the way?" Chapter 355 - Excuse Master Reuben... Veronica gave them a smile and hugged her four parents who kissed her on the forehead and cheeks before she asked, "Where are our friends by the way? I can''t see them anywhere. But Lucy messaged me almost one hour ago that they were already on the way." Hearing Veronica asking about her friends and families, everyone bit their lips to get a good reply for Veronica. Still they couldn''t find out a good reply for her so they just shared glances with each other which made Veronica suspicious about them. But how could everyone forget that the ''excuse master'' Reuben Smith was also present there!! So it was time to rescue the elders from the clutch of Veronica''s cleverly questions!! And who would help them in it? Of course!! The great Reuben Smith!! "Babe!! Where can they be other than here! It''s just too much guests are in the hall, that''s why we can''t find them. You do one thing¡­ get gelled up with these oldies. I''ll just go and bring them here. What''s say?" Reuben said, trying his best to divert her mind. Veronica nodded and replied with a smile, "Fine.. Anyway it''s been a while since I spent some time with these amazing people." Reuben smiled back and left from there signaling his parents to keep her busy... ----- Hotel Room¡­ Reuben entered there and saw the four couples were having some sweet time of theirs, forgetting that they were here on a serious mission. "What the f.u.c.k guys! Here I''m sweating like hell in nervousness and you guys are enjoying your so called quality time together. Like seriously!!" Reuben scoffed at them. Neil who was hugging Willa closely, exclaimed in a sudden reflex, "Oh My God!! Is the great Reuben Smith nervous for the first time?" "Shut up Neil. You''re not the one who is going to propose in such a unique way. So obviously, I should be stress out!" Reuben scowled at him. "Woah! I''m going to sell this news to the news agencies. Will get a lots of money for a honeymoon trip to Switzerland." Henry also mocked. Before Reuben could retort, Lucinda hit Henry on the head, "You are planning to take me to honeymoon on the expense of my brother''s high blood pressure!! You bad Henry! Don''t you dare to pull my brother''s leg. Otherwise I''ll not let you touch me for one month even after our wedding." This single threat was enough to shut Henry which made the others laugh.. "Okay enough of your teasing. Actually we should also get motivated along with Reuben as it''s also our dance performance." Jack said. Diana and Myra were already aware of the plan and their duty was to bring Veronica to the right spot and they were hell excited for this. Louis got up and cheered everyone up, "Guys.. Come on. Let''s buck up together." Willa said, "Yes, let''s do it positively." Reuben felt relieved and a lot of calm than before after getting support from his friends as they shared a hug together. "Yes, let''s do it to get success!" Reuben chirped excitedly while others nodded. "Let me inform Dad that we''re ready. He should start now." Reuben said and messaged Mr. Smith... ----- Banquet Hall... Veronica was busy in chatting with other elders of their friends group when Mr. Smith got the message from Reuben, for which he was waiting till now impatiently. He gestured Mr. Lopez through his eyes who understood his friend''s signal really well and said, "Princess, we have to meet some business associates of ours. You stay here. We''ll come soon after meeting with them." "Okay, Dad." Veronica said while both of the fathers left with their wives. Veronica kept talking with others when she heard a very familiar voice. She instantly turned her head towards the stage where she noticed Mr. Smith and Mr. Lopez standing with a mic in their hands. She focused her attention on them as she thought that they must have something to speak as a welcoming speech as always. "A very grand welcome to all of our guests. I''m very happy that all of you could spare some of precious time from your busy schedule and glorify the importance of our party by your presence¡­ Today, we''ll not talk about any business matters as this party is specially arranged by my son Reuben to celebrate his love with his beautiful girlfriend who is also my dear daughter, Veronica¡­ But is this the only reason of this party? I know it''s a big question but let me hint you a little bit that it''s not the only reason. There is more to come which may surprise you all, specially my daughter Veronica." Mr. Smith started his part of speech and ended it with a glance at Veronica. Whereas Veronica was completely confused after hearing her soon to be father-in-law, specially when she heard Mr. Smith to say that the union of them was not the actual reason of the party. She furrowed her eyebrows to analyze the situation but didn''t get any answer even after wrecking her brain for few minutes. After Mr. Smith, Mr. Lopez started to speak, "I don''t know what to say but I can just be thankful to God that my daughter got Reuben as her life partner. I''m just too much happy for them and I''m leaving the rest of the matter in the kids'' hands now¡­ But my princess, just remember that how much you grow up, you''ll still be the same little girl for me and your mumma." Now Veronica was very much sure that there was something wrong in their behaviour which she was not aware of. At that moment, she noticed that neither Reuben nor her friends were present there. She was about to call them when she saw Diana and Myra happily coming towards her with a wide smile... "Where were you guys? I was¡­" Before Veronica could complete, Myra hushed her and said, "No more talking. Just come with us." They pulled a very confused Veronica to the end of the stage and suddenly the light of the hall went off and only a spotlight fell on her... Chapter 356 - All Of Me... They pulled a very confused Veronica to the end of the stage and suddenly the light of the whole hall went off and only a spotlight fell upon her... Veronica closed her eyes because of the sudden golden light. But her eyes remained shut not for too long when she heard the sound of guitar playing in the hall... Opening her eyes slowly to adjust her eyesight, she gasped as soon as her eyes fell on the view in front of her! The hall room was covered with big LED screens which was playing some videos which she had always summarised in her heart. There were many videos and pictures of her childhood which had been recorded or captured from the day she had seen the light of the world...her small figure wrapped in a pink blanket while her eyes were closed was the first picture that had been shown on the screen. After that, her first smile, her first word, her crawl, her first step everything was being beautifully portrayed on the video.. But it stopped for a second when the picture of Reuben carrying her for the first time in his little arms came in the view. Before she could be able to comprehend the whole situation, she heard a very soothing voice of the person who had stolen her heart five years ago... And soon the melody of guitar reached into her ear again but this time not alone. It got accompanied with the same melodious voice.. Right then another spotlight flashed on the great Reuben Smith who was sitting in the middle of the stage, playing the guitar. A mic was placed in front of him while his soft yet melodious voice had started resonating through the whole room. "What would I do without your smart mouth? Drawing me in and you kicking me out¡­ You''ve got my head spinning, no kidding....." Yes, Reuben was singing Veronica''s all time favourite song ''All of Me'' with his euphonious voice which made Veronica''s eyes pop out of her socket. She just looked at him with wide eyes when suddenly the paused video again started playing and numerous pictures of her growing up along with her friends and families came out on the screen. Starting with her first school to the day she had given her final exams, all were there... "Cause all of me Loves all of you Love your curves and all your edges All your perfect imperfections¡­" As Reuben sang the lines, the images of their first date on the cliff when he proposed Veronica, started displaying on the screen. Then few more pictures with the titles like ''our first kiss'', ''our first date night'', ''our first dance as a couple'' started sliding through the screen one after another. Veronica was already in tears as she had already started reminiscing through her past memories which were equally beautiful and precious. The photo slide continued on as the form of a video. It showed a picture of the couple from the engagement party of their four friends also, where they were looking into each other with so much love in their dark orbs. The collage finally ended with the pictures of the REUNIC couple in their latest look which they have taken in their sweet home just before coming to the party... "You are my end and my beginning Even when I lose I''m winning Cause I give you all of me And you give me all of you, huh ah..." Reuben finally sang the last verses of the song and stared right into Veronica''s eyes who was glancing back at him with her teary eyes while a big smile was blooming on her lips like a fresh blossom.. They kept staring at each other for a few moments, still in a trance of their own which was not less than a dreamland. They were so much into each other that they even forgot about the people who were present there also. The only thing that mattered to them right now was their LOVE.. But their trance got broken as soon as the hall erupted with everyone''s clap. Veronica still hadn''t any idea, exactly what was waiting for her next... So wiping her tears off her face, she was about to run towards Reuben to engulf in a loving hug when both Diana and Myra pulled her back, making her furrow her brows quizzically. "Let me go guys. Why are you stopping me?" Veronica asked, being irritated that she wasn''t able to go to her beloved. Myra chuckled before replying, "Have some patience, girl! The show has just begun." Veronica couldn''t understand even a single word of Myra as she was busy to loose the grip of both of the girls on her arms. She was about to retort at them when the lights again went off and another song started playing. Veronica couldn''t apprehend the name of song at first as her eyes were only focused on the stage where the lights were slowly beginning to lit on again and few familiar figures started to come into the view of everyone''s eyes... Veronica was shocked to see her friends there, giving a goofy smile to her. But what awestruck her the most, was Reuben standing in the middle of them with a big grin plastered on his face. But still she could see the little nervousness he was filling inside in his eyes.. Veronica returned a charming smile and blinked her eyes to assure him that everything was going to be fine as per his planning. Although she didn''t have any idea about the next performance Reuben had planned for her which would turn into the biggest surprise for her whole life in few minutes, still she was ready to support him... Her primary thought after seeing him along with her friends was that...they were going to sing a chorus or something like that to recollect all of their past sweet and sour memories but her damp broken when the lyrics of the song started rolling on¡­ ----- Song Courtesy : ''All Of Me'' by John Legend... Chapter 357 - Marry You... Her primary thought after seeing him along with her friends was that...they were going to sing a chorus or something like that to recollect all of their past sweet and sour memories but her damp broken when the lyrics of the song started rolling on¡­ "It''s a beautiful night, we''re looking for something dumb to do Hey baby, I think I wanna marry you¡­ Is it the look in your eyes or is it this dancing juice Who cares baby, I think I wanna marry you¡­" As soon as the lyrics reached Veronica''s ears, her eyes popped out in surprise and she gasped her mouth in shock. Tears started to form in her eyes as she couldn''t believe what she was seeing. No, this time neither Reuben nor her friends were singing in chorus nor they were acting in a drama but it was way more than that.. Their friends were dancing on the song with a happy smile on their faces. While Reuben was performing his well learned dance, standing in the middle of them but his eyes were only focused on her. Right at the moment, the actual reason of the party became clear to her. She was now sure that it was not just a party to celebrate their love but it was a surprise proposal party which might turn into a engagement party really soon!! The beautiful song ''Marry You'' by Bruno Mars was completely perfect for the proposal of marriage and Reuben being the always innovative boyfriend had used the song in the most fabulous way.. Her tears started falling on her cheeks, making it completely wet. However, a smile was always hanging on her lips. "Oh I''ll go get a ring Let the choir bell sing like ooh So what you wanna do Lets just run girl¡­" As the lyrics passed on, immediately Neil and Henry came running towards her and handed two red roses to her each, making her chuckle at them. Her smile intensified when Willa and Lucinda too came to her while dancing and pecked her cheeks from both sides. "If we wake up and you want to break up That''s cool No I won''t blame you It was fun girl¡­" At that moment, Jack and Louis approached her with another set of red roses and gave it to her. Veronica passed them a teary smile as they went back on the stage, joining with others in dancing.. Whereas when Veronica heard the lyrics, she shook her head vigorously as if denying the meaning and whispered, "Never! I won''t ever break up with you love, nor I''d let you do so." But her smile turned into another round of shock when she witnessed the next scene. It was the part she had never dreamt or imagined to happen in her life. Her parents along with Reuben''s parents also joined the stage and started dancing with the youngsters. They were looking like they were more energetic and excited than the young generations. "Just say I do Tell me right now baby Tell me right now baby, baby¡­" Their parents were looking like they were enjoying more than others, dancing together while clapping their hands, maintaining the choreo in every step.. Veronica laughed at their enthusiasm but didn''t forget to mutter, "I do baby.. I really love you and ready to yell to the world anytime that I love you..." As the lyrics went on, the final verse was about to approach when Myra and Diana who were standing beside Veronica till now, totally enjoying the performance gleefully, pulled her to the middle of the stage.. "Oh It''s a beautiful night, we''re looking for something dumb to do Hey baby, I think I wanna marry you¡­ Is it the look in your eyes, or is it this dancing juice Who cares baby, I think I wanna marry you¡­" Reuben winked at her pointing his index finger towards her while dancing on the lyrics, earning a chuckle from Veronica.. Finally, the song ended and Reuben walked towards Veronica who was trying very best not to break down in her happy tears. As Reuben reached to her, Veronica saw him sweating profusely and breathing heavily because of dancing so hard. Veronica raised her hand and wiped off the drops of perspiration from his forehead which showed her care for him.. Reuben took hold of her hand and kissed her palm softly before grasping both her hands into his. He looked into her eyes expectantly as if asking her to judge his performance.. "You did great baby. I thought you''ve stopped dancing and singing five years ago. But I''m impressed that even without practicing for all these years, you still are the best dancer whom I always loved¡­ Your voice is still as melodious like before but became more matured. I loved it baby.. I really really loved it¡­" Veronica praised him truthfully which brought an instant smile on his face. Reuben grinned like a child and replied beamingly, "Yes.. I had stopped dancing and singing after Andrew''s incident. But to make you happy, I can start everything again." Veronica chuckled at him but before she could say anything, her friends said together, "No praise for us?" "Of course! You guys did awesome and I love you all." Veronica complimented them wholeheartedly. But before this conversation could transfer to any other direction, Reuben squeezed Veronica''s hand lightly and giving her a charming smile, he turned his face towards Lopez couple''s direction who was watching their interactions happily. "Mom, Dad¡­ Before I initiate my next move, I want both of your permission for it. Everyone knows that parents'' love couldn''t be compared to the love of a lover even though he puts all off his efforts on her¡­ So Dad and Mom¡­ Will you give me the permission to make your daughter mine for my whole life? Will you give me the approval to ask for your princess'' hand? I promise that I''ll bring down the stars on her feet and never let her shed a teardrop unless it''s because of happiness. I''ll become the shoulder for her which she''ll rely on when she''s down on her mood. So will you approve me to take the further step in our relationship?" ---- Song Courtesy : ''Marry You'' by Bruno Mars... Chapter 358 - Fairyland with beautiful fairytale characters... "I promise that I''ll bring down the stars on her feet and never let her shed a teardrop unless it''s because of happiness. I''ll become the shoulder for her which she''ll rely on when she''s down on her mood. So will you approve me to take the further step in our relationship?" Mr. Lopez who was listening to Reuben very attentively exclaimed, "Approval? You''re really asking me about the approval! Hadn''t I already given you my permission the day both of you confessed to us that you two love each other very much. Moreover, I can see the love in your eyes for my daughter as clear as the reflection in mirror... And about parents being compared to lover¡­I don''t know about others. But I''m very well accustomed to the fact that your love for my princess is unconditional which is enough for me to trust you blindly... So yeah, my son.. I''m willfully giving you my princess'' hand. I''m sure no one in the world can love my daughter as much you do. You''re the best husband that my daughter can ever have. And I''ve already accepted you as my son-in-law way before today." Both Veronica and Reuben smiled at Mr. Lopez who was hugging Mrs. Lopez by her shoulder as they both were giving them a smile full of blessings. Mr. Smith who was watching the sweet interactions between them, suddenly spoke up, "Oh! Come on, Reuben. Don''t waste your time more now. You already got your approval from your in-laws. So now just exchange the rings and make my daughter Veronica the future madam of our Smith household.. I can''t wait to call her my daughter-in-law anymore. I really want to show off to the whole world that this idiot son of mine had finally done some good work in his life by marrying such a precious angel!" If it was any other time, then the third world war would have started till now between the father and son duo, but the time and situation both were completely different right now. Despite of hearing the mocking comment of his father, Reuben still chuckled foolishly at him as if he heard the biggest joke of the world. While Mrs. Smith just hit her husband on his shoulder to stop teasing their son¡­ Veronica was feeling really blessed to have such adorable friends, family and most of all, the best life partner for herself. Grinning widely, Reuben now turned his face towards Veronica as they shared a deep meaningful eye-lock as he started professing, "Ica, my love¡­ I know that there is nothing specific to say about our relationship. You already know, how much I love and adore you. How much you mean to me¡­ Without you, I''m nothing but a lifeless soul. There was no meaning of my life till you entered in it exactly twenty six years ago as a baby angel.!! Time passed and our relationship status too. I don''t know from where I got the courage five year ago to propose you but surprisingly, you had accepted me as your boyfriend¡­ From then, started the journey of our love. In these years, we have cherished our relationship like our own baby and grew it up with our understanding, trust and patience. We have finally come to a stage where no third person could create any problem between us¡­" As Reuben continued to pour his heart out to her in his simple but most heartwarming and sweet confession, all of the guests who had been invited there, fell in awe!!! The older generation was very much proud of seeing Reuben to have so much encouragement to plan all these things and then execute it so successfully without any fear about the people''s judgmental thoughts.. Whereas the younger generation specially the girls were behaving like they were in some kind of fairyland. Though Veronica was not a damsel in distress like Cinderella but a strong woman who fought with every evil things like a some avengers.. But still they could imagine Reuben as the Prince of the fairytale. Not only his look but also his ways of presenting his love were no less than some fairytale hero¡­ Whereas Veronica was the perfect example of a beautiful princess with her goddess like elegance.. It was as if the whole fairyland with beautiful fairytale characters had showed their presence in the party!!! "You''ve become the sole reason of my living and breathing. Without you, my life has no destination. You''re the raindrops in my dryland. You''re the sun that brightens my dark life. You''re my love, my heart, my everything¡­" A gasp left from every corner of the hall as soon as Reuben kneeled in front of her. None of them had ever imagined that the richest business tycoon Reuben Smith would have been so much romantic to plan such an amazing proposal party for the princess Veronica Lopez. They had witnessed a fair share of their public display of affection but it was beyond their imagination or expectations that the CEO of Smith Enterprise who was always busy in growing his company to the top, could also plan such an unbelievably romantic engagement proposal for his girlfriend... Kneeling on his left knee, Reuben took out a red velvet box from his pocket and opened it before presenting it in front of Veronica who had cupped her mouth with palm and bursted in tears. Holding the ring box in front of her Reuben took a deep breath to calm his nerves and asked her in a confident demeanor, "Honey, will you make me the happiest man of the world by changing your status from Ms. Veronica Lopez to Mrs. Veronica Reuben Smith? Will you bless my life by becoming the mother of my children and carrying my last name for your whole lifetime? Will you marry me, my love?" Veronica couldn''t suppress her sobs anymore and burst into pool of years as she nodded her head vigorously before muttering, "Hell yes!! I want to spend my whole life with you as Mrs. Reuben Smith. I want to be the mother of your children who will call us as Mom and Dad! But I don''t want to marry you because..." Chapter 359 - Besties should always be like this... "I don''t want to marry you because no matter what, I''ll be the only person who will marry you. Even if you don''t agree, I''ll pull you to the aisle and yell loudly¡­Yes, I love you honey and I''m ready to tie the knot with you anywhere and any moment you ask for me.." Reuben smiled brightly at her and got up from the floor but before he could took the ring out of the box, Veronica jumped on to him and engulfed him in a tight hug as she started crying on his chest. Reuben balanced themselves at first and then wrapped his arms around her waist tightly, embracing her in warm hug. Kissing the top of her head, he caressed her back to pacify her as she was sobbing hysterically in his soothing embrace. Her tears were replica of her true emotions which had only love, fondness and infinite amount of trust.. "It''s okay love! You can cry as much as you want. But if we don''t exchange the rings right now, then our mothers will go crazy on me because they had clearly notified me that we need to be done with our engagement before their so called auspicious time ends." Reuben joked to make the mood lighter while others laughed at his poky comments. Veronica too chuckled and hit him on the chest playfully before she moved away a little from him. Reuben wiped off the tear strains from her angelic face and kissed her forehead lightly which brought a smile on her lips instantly. Reuben then held her left hand in his left one and kissed it softly which made everyone present there smile at the couple''s sweetness. Taking the ring out, Reuben slowly slid it into her ring finger which earned a round of applause from the guests. The moment Veronica noticed the design of the ring and her mouth opened wide in shock as she stuttered, "Bennie, it''s the design that I.." Before Veronica could complete, Reuben cut off her and said, "Yes, it''s the same ring that you had designed a year ago, coordinating with the pendant I gifted you on our first date." The ring had a very sophisticated design with simple curving but it was absolutely innovative. It was divided into two parts horizontally.. The first part had a big shining diamond placed in the middle of the golden plate. And the second part had been carved in a design of small leaves which matches the pendant and had the same meaning.. It was really beautiful and precious than any other heavyweight rings.. Veronica was completely impressed with Reuben''s efforts and she guessed rightly that the planning of the party had started way before her known date.. "If this ring is here, then where is yours? If I''d have known about the surprise engagement then I''d have prepared the ring for you which I had designed along with mine.." Veronica complained while pouting cutely. Reuben chuckled and replied, "Don''t worry love! I''ve arranged everything beforehand." Then he motioned to Mrs. Smith to bring the ring and gave it to Veronica. When she noticed it, she was again dumbfounded with all the preparations. It was the same ring with more magnificent details. The ring was made of platinum and a huge diamond in a round shape which was connected the two sides of the ring in a intricate way.. Although this ring was also simple but it was lavish in both price and design. The outstanding shine of the ring could snatch anyone''s attraction to it.. Veronica smiled holding the ring and asked Reuben for his hand. Taking his right hand in hers, she kissed the top of his hand like the way Reuben did which again made the guests go haywire with the lovey dobey moments. After that, she slid the ring in his ring finger which again gained another big round of applause. But the show hadn''t ended yet. With a swift movement, Reuben pulled Veronica towards him, holding her waist and sealed his lips with her. Veronica too reciprocated with his actions by encircling her arms around his neck as they kissed letting go off all their emotions in the single passionate kiss. The elders clapped happily at the newly engaged couple whereas their friends started hooting loudly for them. While the guests also joined them in clapping and cheering.. Few seconds later, both of them pulled away and pecked each other for the last time with a lovely smile on their faces.. As soon as they parted from themselves, they had been pulled into a hug by their friends as they congratulated them.. "Oh My God!! I still can''t believe that my little sister had grown up so much that she is now someone''s fiance.!!" Henry said lovingly to her. Neil also caressed Veronica''s hair and said, "I''m happy that my sister got the bestest proposal of the world." Veronica smiled at both of her brothers and said while hugging them, "It was indeed the best proposal. It''d not be possible without you guys.." "Excuse me! If you''re done with your brother-sister moment, then let us also congratulate our bestie.." Lucinda said, pushing the boys away. "Congratulations girl! The three of us are now all engaged with our loved ones." Willa said excitedly. Lucinda pecked Veronica''s cheeks and replied, "Yes! Besties should always be like this.." Veronica laughed at them and said, "Yes! Of course.." Whereas Louis went to his brother, "Bro, it was seriously a damn proposal. I''m proud of you." Reuben narrowed his eyes at him but before he could retort, Jack interrupted him by saying, "I''m happy for you too bro. I''m very much relieved that my sister is in good hand!" Diana and Myra also congratulated both of the couples but they were more busy to observe Veronica closely as she was weeping in her parents'' embrace being too much happy with the events.. The Lopez elders were consoling their daughter when a girly voice interrupted the parents daughter pair in their sweet moment, "Can I also get the chance to congratulate my sister?" Chapter 360 - Exclusive entry of the two ladies... The Lopez elders were consoling their daughter when a girly voice interrupted the parents daughter pair in their sweet moment, "Can I also get the chance to congratulate my sister?" The voice of the lady was quite unfamiliar to most of them but only two people could recognize it the moment her words entered their ears. Everyone turned their bodies towards the source of the voice...some with confusion lacing on their faces and some with a big smile. "Who is she? Did you invite her?" Veronica asked in a whisper so that only Reuben could hear her. Reuben shrugged his shoulder dismissively and replied, "I don''t know her. However she is calling you as her sister so you should have known her, not me.." Veronica was about to reply back when she was stopped by the scene enfolded in front of her. Mr. James Lopez had walked towards the person and engulfed her in a fatherly hug as he exclaimed in joy, "Lisa! What a great surprise! How come you''re here? Last time I called you two days ago, you were still in country Z.." Yes! It was Lisa, more precise to say Mrs. Lisa Jones, the wife of Andrew Jones who had joined them in the party just right now. "How could I not attend the engagement party of my lovely sister! After all, I knew how much it''d mean to her... Moreover, it was enough of hiding as a shadow so I thought to reveal my actual face on a precious day like this." Lisa indirectly signaled about her identity to them. Veronica who had furrowed her eyebrows as it trying to remember her, couldn''t find any possibility of her meeting the new guest anywhere in the past. So not to put too much pressure on her brain, she directly asked her father, "Dad, by the way of you greeting her, I can clearly get the idea that she is someone special to you. But how do you know her?" Same question was running inside Mrs. Lopez''s head and she too asked, "Yes honey.. Who is she?" Before Mr. Lopez could reply, Diana chirped happily and introduced her to everyone present there happily, "She is Mrs. Lisa Jones. She is one of my best client in city Z. Sister Lisa also helped me to find a job in Lopez Industries." Both Lisa and Mr. Lopez smiled at the excited Diana who hugged Lisa tightly. Then something clicked in Veronica''s mind and she exclaimed in shock, "Wait! Don''t tell me you''re the ''shadow'' who was helping my dad in business from the past few years very secretively." Lisa just smiled at her and Mr. Lopez replied on her behalf, "Yes, my princess. She is the one you were trying to find out about from the past few years." Veronica squealed in joy like a kid and embraced her in a tight hug but was enough careful to not squeeze her baby bump as she said, "Oh My God! Finally I got the chance to meet you. Thank you so much for coming here." Lisa smiled and said, "Congratulations little sis. I''m also very much happy to finally meet you." She then looked towards Reuben who was scrutinizing her from top to bottom and said, "Congratulations to you too Reuben on your engagement." Reuben gave her a faint smile and said, "Thank you very much. I''m happy that you have come to celebrate our important day so far from country Z." He put a little more pressure while mentioning ''Country Z'' as his eyes flickered on to her when she observed her side profile very attentively. Lisa wasn''t able to notice the slight glimmer in Reuben''s eyes as he hid it well in a few seconds. So she just smiled at him and went to hug Mrs. Lopez. "I''ve always heard of you Aunty from uncle but never got the chance to meet you. Now that I''m finally seeing you, I must say you''re more beautiful than Uncle''s description." Lisa said happily. Mrs. Lopez laughed at her compliment kissed her forehead before saying, "You are also very much beautiful." She then put her hand on Lisa''s baby bump and asked, "Which month?" Beamingly Lisa replied, "Seven months right now but will step into eight month next week." Lisa then slowly talked with everyone and mingled up with all of them in just a short span of time. Reuben finally shoved his different kinds of thoughts away and announced loudly, "It''s the time for the next surprise guys. So let''s bring it up." Veronica squinted her eyes and asked and questioned him, "Please don''t give me more surprises. It''d be tough for me to take anymore surprise in just a single day." Reuben laughed at her and pecked her cheek before replying, "It''s the last one, promise." "Woah!! You guys are not even involving me in your surprises. Have I become so much distant from everyone in just few years?" A voice called them out from behind. As soon as the person came into their view, Lucinda''s breath hitched and a cold sweat ran down her spine as she quivered a little in uneasiness. "Amy?" Mrs. Smith was the first one to break the silence. Amelia smiled at everyone along with Mrs. Jones and replied, "Yes aunty. I''m finally back." All of them smiled seeing her leaving only three persons who had adorned different types of expressions on their faces. Lucinda was visibly tensed whereas Lisa just narrowed her eyes at her. But the most formidable expression was being carried by none other than Neil who clenched his jaw and tightened his fist the moment he saw Amelia. While the elders were happy seeing Amelia, the youngsters were happier to see their Aunt Jones here after long time. Even Lucinda and Neil were also delighted to see her after years. While Lisa was just watching her mother-in-law from a corner with tearful eyes. Mrs. Jones'' eyes filled with adoration for her children as they greeted her by a group hug. Her smile had widened when she received numerous pecks from her kids who had turned into a.d.u.l.t now... Chapter 361 - Trigger the last bit of patience... Mrs. Jones'' eyes filled with adoration for her children as they greeted her by a group hug. Her smile had widened when she received numerous pecks from her kids who had turned into a.d.u.l.t now... "How are my lovely babies?" Mrs. Jones asked looking at all of them with a soft smile on her lips. Veronica pouted and huffed, "Now you''ve finally remembered about us! Humph!!" Lucinda also imitated Veronica and puffed her cheeks like a child and said, "We won''t talk to you. You completely forgot about us after going to County M." Though Lucinda had some personal problems with Amelia but she never treated Mrs. Jones badly in basis of her daughter''s cruel behavior. After all, Mrs. Jones had always cared for her and Veronica like her own daughter. Even though Willa had connected with the group at the end of their teenage days, still she got the same love from Mrs. Jones without any differences. So all of them were very much attached to her emotionally, specially Reuben who had spent most of his childhood time with Andrew and her. Mrs. Jones then looked towards Reuben who was standing like a statue which didn''t go unnoticed by Veronica also as she had held his hands in her to console him. "Will my most favourite son not give me a hug like Neil and Henry?" Mrs. Jones asked as she stretched her hands towards Reuben. The last stance of Reuben broke down immediately as he embraced his favourite aunt tightly as he said, "I missed you Aunty." "I too missed you son. But what I never expected that you''d be engaged with my favorite daughter but I''m really happy with this." Mrs. Jones tried to lighten the mood. Reuben smiled and joked, "Now what can my poor heart do when my Ica is so much beautiful and gorgeous!" Veronica blushed at his comment which made everyone burst into fits of laughter... "Come on, let''s now cut the cake." Louis announced as he brought the cake along with Jack. Astonishment would be an understatement to describe Veronica''s state as she was literally jumping in joy after seeing the beautiful cake, specially made on the order of Reuben. It was a two layered white cake. A tree was drawn on the layers of the cake. The black branch was iced on the bottom part of it while the leaves which were designed in red and white coloured heart shape were painted on the side of the top part. Few butterfly in black were also present there. And a beautiful picture of a boy proposing a girl on his knees, holding a ring in his hand was also patterned just beside the tree stem. But the most captivating part of the cake was¡­a heading made with dark chocolate had been placed on the top tier vertically which said, "She said Yes!"¡­ The cake was actually a Patchwork Silhouettes Engagement Cake, specially made for the occasion and obviously the planner was Reuben. Veronica gave Reuben a smile which he returned with his own as both of them cut the cake together while few paper crackers flew on them. All of the guests surrounded them along with family and friends. The couple fed the cake to each other and shared a short kiss. After that, they fed others and clicked lots of pictures with everyone. The guests came to them one by one and congratulated the newly engaged couple. In the happiness of the celebration, Veronica and Reuben had almost forgotten about their most special guests of the party. Yes! They were none other than the Brown and Parker family.. Both of the families came to congratulate the couple when Mr. Brown said, "Congratulations to you both. You are such a lovely couple." Veronica showed him the biggest fake smile of her and replied, "Thank you so much." Reuben suppressed his laugh at her eternally mocking smile but his eyes never left Alonzo who was standing behind his parents with a dark and gloomy face. His face was enough to describe the inner turmoil he was facing. His heart was getting torn in several pieces witnessing such a lovely atmosphere and the most amazing proposal of the decade created by Reuben for Veronica. Only he knew that how much it hurt him to be a spectator of the romantic scene where the love of his life was getting engaged to his love rival Reuben.. But this observation had helped him to reach into a conclusion at last...that now it was high time for him to move on from his one sided love which had no future. Seeing the genuinely happy smile of Veronica when she was with Reuben, Alonzo clearly understood that she didn''t belong to him. Her love for Reuben was very much evident in her eyes.. Whatever Reuben had said was quite right actually. Love means sacrifice too. And Alonzo had finally came to the phase of his life where he was ready to sacrifice his love of five years to help Veronica lead a happy life with her fiance... While Alonzo was letting go all of his emotions for the sake of his dream girl...on the other hand, Regina was burning in jealousy. The way Reuben had proposed her, the amount of money he had invested for the grand party was making her extremely envious of Veronica''s luck. She was fuming in anger and planning for her next step to attack Veronica, unknown to the fact that the very next day would be known in the history of Country K as her ''Dooms Day''! Veronica didn''t missed to observe Regina''s vinegar eating face which was red in rage. And she took the exact moment to give Regina her all time famous mocking smirk which was enough to trigger the last bit of patience in her... Mr. and Mrs. Parker along with Cole also congratulated the couple but Cole''s eyes were stabbing holes on Myra''s back who was laughing in the arms of Jack.. Grandmother Brown whose eyes never left Veronica from the start of the party, slowly walked towards her and asked in a shaky voice, "Do you now remember this old lady, my child?" Chapter 362 - Cry over your false alarms... Grandmother Brown whose eyes never left Veronica from the start of the party, slowly walked towards her and asked in a shaky voice, "Do you now remember this old lady, my child?" Veronica looked at the wrinkled lady who still had an elegance in her posture even in her old age and smiled at her genuinely before saying, "Yes, grandma. Now I remember you. I hope you''re doing well." "Yes, my child. I''m fine." Grandma Brown returned the smile as Alonzo held her shoulder tightly. Myra too came to her family and side-hugged her grandmother when Veronica said, "Wait grandma. Let me introduce you to my fiance." "Honey, she is Myra''s grandmother. Remember, I told you about meeting her in city B. We even met her at Brown Corporation''s inauguration party. " Veronica said as she purposefully omitted to take Alonzo''s name in her mouth. Reuben smiled politely at her and said, "Hello grandmother, I''m Reuben. You still look so beautiful. If you''d been ten or twenty years younger then I''d have proposed you instead of her." He joked pointing towards Veronica who punched his shoulder playfully which earned a chuckle from everyone. Although Elder Brown wanted Veronica to be her granddaughter-in-law by marrying her off to Alonzo. But she was happy to see Veronica glowing under the effect of Reuben''s love. Truthfully, she was shocked at first when she saw them together. But she wasn''t angry on her at all for ditching her grandson because Alonzo had already told her the truth about their misunderstanding, skipping the part of his father being the villain of their lives and as he didn''t want his grandmother to fell sick.. Alonzo also didn''t tell her about Veronica''s relationship with Reuben so she was also unknown about this truth. Grandma Brown was just disheartened with the fact that she was just daydreaming about the relationship of Alonzo and Veronica. Still she had a hope that these two would have somewhere in future turn into a couple. However, that dream got broken miserably when she saw the video of Reuben and Veronica''s sweet moments, then Reuben''s romantic proposal. She could clearly identify the love in their eyes..!! She was not selfish like her son. That''s why, seeing Veronica happy with the love of her life, also made her pray to God to give them all the blessings. Whereas talking about the couple, they had been always taught to respect elders. So though she was Alonzo''s grandmother, they didn''t forget their morality and good teachings. After talking to her, Reuben held Veronica''s waist and told Mr. Brown and Mr. Parker, "I hope you didn''t forget about tomorrow''s meeting. We''ll expect you both along with your whole families." Mr. Brown was happy to get an invitation personally from Reuben as he gloated happily, "Yes, yes.. We do remember it. Don''t worry, we''ll arrive there in time." Reuben nodded his head curtly while Veronica said to the elder lady, "Grandma, please have something you like. We''ve to greet other guests to." "Please excuse us." Reuben said and left with Veronica. At that moment, Jack came towards them when Myra introduced him to her family, "Mom, dad, grandma, brother.. He''s Jack, my boyfriend. We''ve recently started dating. He''s Veronica''s cousin also and works in Lopez Industries." Hearing that Jack was the relatives of Lopez family, Mr. Brown''s smile widened and he shook Jack''s hand while complimenting him, "You''re such a handsome boy. I''m happy that you choose our Myra as your girlfriend." Though Jack didn''t like the way of Mr. Brown addressing Myra but he didn''t want to offend his would be father-in-law in his first meeting. So he said, "No, Mr. Brown. Actually, I''m the lucky one here to get her as my girlfriend." Alonzo who had never liked any boy near his sister, was first time impressed by someone who was capable to treat his sister like a queen. Whereas Cole was raging like a burning lava when he heard Myra introducing Jack as her boyfriend. And right at that moment, he remembered that Jack was the same person who verified the qualities of his company''s materials in Lopez Industries.. "Please come to Alonzo''s home before we leave for city B again." Mrs. Brown said happily. "Sure.." Jack smiled and excused himself from them while Myra followed him. ----- Amelia who was observing Henry being touchy with Lucinda, got jealous and greeted them with a menacing attitude, "Hey guys.. How are you both?" Lucinda gripped Henry''s hand more tightly whereas Henry meekly smiled at Amelia and replied, "We are good, enjoying our couple time together." Amelia seethed in anger but didn''t show it on her face and kept her right hand on Henry''s arm, saying, "If you have some free time, then can we go for lunch sometime?" Henry who was not expecting this, moved away from Amelia''s touch which made her smile faltered and brought a grin on Lucinda''s lips, said, "Of course! We can go whenever Lucy will be free." This was enough of an insult for Amelia as she glared at Lucinda who was chuckling at her and beamed before hugging Lucinda as she whispered in her ears threateningly, "Enjoy this as much as possible for few more days. Because I''ve returned here to take back exactly what is mine." At first, Lucinda was a little scared with Amelia''s threat but when she thought about Henry and how much he meant to her that she couldn''t live her life without him, she got the much needed encourage to face the evil Amelia. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and with a confident tone she whispered back in Amelia''s ears devilishly, "Try as much as you want, Amy! But this time, I won''t let you win. My love for Henry is enough to protect our relationship from your evil clutch¡­ I''m not the same Lucinda anymore who would cry over your false alarms. Time had changed me into a strong woman who will not even think twice to slap you hard to protect my lovelife." Chapter 363 - I hope so too... "I''m not the same Lucinda anymore who would cry over your false alarms. Time had changed me into a strong woman who will not even think twice to slap you hard to protect my lovelife." It was the first time that Lucinda had talked back to Amelia in twenty six years. For what? For guarding her relationship with Henry from the evil games of Amelia!! This might be the power of love which could force any meek girl to turn into a lioness when it came to talk about their own fiance or lover.. Amelia was shocked with Lucinda''s counterattack as she had never imagined in her life that Lucinda would retort back to her with so much power and intimidated aura.. It was completely new to her which was hard to believe¡­ Braking the hug, Lucinda patted Amelia''s shoulder and said with a sweet smile, "We''d definitely have lunch someday with all of our friends. I promise you, Amy.." Henry noticed that something was amiss between them but decided to shove it away back in his head as he thought to ask Lucinda about it later at home. With this, they all joined others in photo session and happy chats when Veronica noticed that Lisa was not there. "Lisa, come here. We''re having so much fun here. What are you doing standing there alone?" Veronica said. Reuben arranged a chair for her to sit as she was pregnant and said, "You should not stand for too long. Baby needs rest." Lisa gave them a grateful smile and remembered about her husband. He''d have been so much happy if he could also be present there as she could feel their care for her though she had met them just few hours ago.. Indeed Veronica and Reuben were the best as per her husband, Andrew had said!! ----- Hours passed by and soon the party came to an end. Guests started leaving and there was only family members and friends who were present there. Brown and Parker family had also left but Myra was still there as Jack was going to drop her off. "Sister Lisa, come with us. We''ll drop you on our way back to home." Diana proposed and Louis nodded. "No Diana. That''s not needed. Lisa will stay with us till the date she''s here." Mrs. Lopez said. Lisa smiled and replied in denial, "No Aunty.. I can''t. Actually my husband is also here. And we have been living in our ancestral home here." "Oh! You''re husband is also here? Then why didn''t he attend the party?" Mr. Smith asked. "Uhm¡­ Actually, he was a little busy with some business stuffs as we had planned this trip all of a sudden." Lisa said. At that moment, her phone vibrated and she saw a message on it. Glancing at the people, she announced, "My driver is already here. I have to leave now. Bye guys!" "Yeah.. Bye.." Everyone said while Mr. Lopez reminded her to call him after she reached her home safely. After bidding goodbye to each other, all of them also left while Reuben made a quick call to Tom, "Follow the car. I want every information about the location tomorrow morning." Tom agreed and Reuben thought internally, "I hope, my assumptions come out to be true." Meanwhile, Veronica tapped on his shoulder and asked, "Shall we leave, honey?" Reuben nodded his head at her smilingly and left with her while intertwining their fingers together... ----- In an ancestral house¡­ Lisa laid beside Andrew, resting her head on his chest and said, "I enjoyed the night too much. You''re right that they are really awesome. I even met your Mom and sister today... Mom is so loving and there is no denial in that. But I must say that Amy had some evil plans running in her mind." Andrew who was running his fingers through Lisa''s hair, said, "So my presumption was right. Seems like I have to do something to keep Amy away from ruining their lives." "Hmm¡­ You should. I don''t want her to create any trouble between the couples. They are so much in love... I just now wish that everything goes right so that you can also meet your friends and families.." Lisa said looking at her husband. Caressing her baby bump, Andrew mumbled in a faint voice, "I hope so too.." ----- Love-Paradise¡­ As soon as the couple entered their bedroom, Reuben pulled Veronica holding her waist and she collided with his chest directly. Before she could regain her senses, Reuben had pulled her into a deepening kiss. Their lips started molding with each other perfectly as they savored the taste of each other''s lips passionately. Reuben nibbled on Veronica''s lips lightly and she gave him the permission to enter his tongue into her mouth willingly. Veronica too latched their tongues together and bit on his lips before licking it away to soothe the little pain. They were so much busy into the kissing as if they were pouring all their love into it to proof their tantalizing emotions... Few minutes later, when they pulled away, it was Veronica who joined their foreheads together as she muttered in a seductive voice, "I''ll not say thanks for whatever you''ve done for me today. As it will only insult your love for me. But I just want to give you something in return, honey¡­ Take me, Love. Make love to me like the way you never did. Let''s make the night more special by being one once again." Reuben gazed at her lovingly and without wasting a moment, he pulled down the zip behind her dress, letting it fall down. Veronica too worked to open his suit and both of them stood their being half-n.a.k.e.d. Thereafter, Reuben lifted her up in his arms in a swift movement and made their way towards the bed. Placing her on the bed gently, he hovered over her and started kissing her hungrily. Soon their remaining dresses went off and they celebrated their engagement night with their passionate love making with s.e.xy m.o.a.ns and groans¡­ Chapter 364 - Responsible netizens... Love-Paradise¡­ The sun had already risen up a long before. But still the two sleeping figures were in their own dreamland because of them sleeping almost in dawn. Reuben blinked for a few times before finally waking up. But the first thing what he did was to check on his love who was completely sprawled upon him... They both were in their birthday suits with only a duvet covering their n.a.k.e.d bodies. Reuben smiled at Veronica and tucked few of her hair strands behind her ear before kissing her forehead which had made her wiggle in her sleep. "Good morning Ms. Fiance." Reuben greeted Veronica who was trying to snuggle more into his arms. Veronica placed a chastise kiss on Reuben''s bare chest and whispered in a hoarse voice, "Morning, Mr. Fiance." Reuben kissed her on the head when Veronica also tilted her head up to look at him as she gave him a lazy morning smile. "Come on, get up now babe. Today is a special day for us. We can''t be late to entertain ourselves, right?" Reuben joked. Veronica gave him a goofy smile and replied, "Yeah. You''re right. After all, it''ll be no fun if I can''t roast all those idiots of city B together." Ruffling Veronica''s hair, Reuben got up from the bed with his all n.a.k.e.d glory while Veronica just drooled over her fiance''s s.e.xy body. Reuben arched an eyebrow playfully at her and said, "Lets be a responsible netizen of the world and save water by bathing together." Veronica laughed out loud while shaking her head at him and said, "Yeah¡­yeah. I exactly know how much responsible of a netizen you are." Removing the blanket off her body, Veronica stretched her hands toward Reuben and said, "Pick me up." Chuckling at her cute behavior, Reuben quickly picked her up and went inside the washroom to have a hot morning make out session... ----- Dining room... Veronica and Reuben were having their brunch on the next day as they both had woken up from their slumber really late. Moreover, they had also wasted a hell lot of time in their bathroom activities.. "Babe.. I got some work to do. Can you please go alone to Fusion today? I promise I''ll be there before the drama gets started." Reuben said while sipping his orange juice. "But babe. What kind of work?" Veronica asked with her brows furrowed. "Nothing much darling. It''s just I''ve to discuss some matters with Tom about a client today." Reuben said smilingly. Though Veronica was a little bit suspicious at first but she shrugged her shoulder, thinking why would Reuben lie to her when the surprise party had already ended. So Veronica nodded her head and replied, "No problem. But you need to reach there without any delay." Reuben grinned at her pointed look and stated, "Sure, Love." ---- After their brunch, Reuben left with Tom who had came there to drive him towards the destination... "So did you find anything?" Reuben asked in a serious mode as he leaned back on the backseat. "Yes Boss. As you have guessed, everything came out to be exactly that way." Tom replied while Reuben faintly smiled. He was somewhere relieved in his heart but at same time anxiety was killing him inside. Till he saw the person by his own eyes, he couldn''t get any rest properly. He was just praying that he got succeeded in whatever he was going to do. This one successful venture of him would not only bring a smile on everyone''s faces but also a lost star of their universe would start shining again... ---- One and half hour later¡­ Reuben stepped out of his car and faced the two storeyed big ancestral house which seemed to be quite old but still was beautiful. Buttoning up his suit jacket, Reuben took a deep breath and walked towards the large door along with Tom. As they reached in front of the door, Reuben finally got the courage which was lacking previously and rang the calling bell. They waited for a few minutes but there was no response from inside which made both Reuben and Tom curious as they shared a glance between them. "Wait Boss! Let me try once more!" Tom said while Reuben just nodded his head. Tom extended his hand and was about to press the bell when they heard the sound of someone''s footsteps inside. Reuben held his breath as he waited for the person to unlock the door and true to his wish, finally the door got opened and came a huge gasp from the other side... "Hi Lisa. It''s nice to meet you again." Reuben greeted her with an obvious smirk on his face. Lisa who had just opened the door, couldn''t believe her eyes to see Reuben right here at her doorstep. The shock was not because of her seeing Reuben here after few hours of their meeting. But it was because she was hiding some secret in this house... Or more like, someone was hiding himself from his family and friends in this house willingly!! Lisa soon covered her shocked expression with a forced smile so that it didn''t look suspicious to Reuben... But who could fool Reuben Smith?? He didn''t become the topmost and wealthiest businessman of the world without no reason! His power of looking through people''s eyes to know if the person was telling truth or lies, being secretive or not and his amazing conversational skills led him to sit on the throne of the most successful youngest businessman of the world.. "Uhmm¡­ Reuben, what are you doing here?" Lisa asked sweating profusely. Reuben gave her a smile and asked trying to be innocent, "Will you not welcome us in your home or planning to make an inquiry about us right here?" Lisa chuckled humorously and said, "Uhmm, no.. Please, come in." Reuben and Tom entered inside the house while Reuben scrutinizing every bit of the architectural design but he didn''t miss to see the anxiousness of Lisa. "Lisa, who was there at the door?" Chapter 365 - Internal battle... Reuben and Tom entered inside the house while Reuben scrutinizing every bit of the architectural design but he didn''t miss to see the anxiousness of Lisa... "Lisa, who was there at the door?" A strong manly voice reached both Reuben and Lisa''s ears and both of their expressions changed. Lisa''s nervousness grew ten time bigger whereas Reuben had an ambiguous expression on his face which was really heard to decipher. When Andrew came down the stairs and entered the living hall where both Reuben was facing his back towards him and Lisa was looking at him with a horrified expression. Andrew noticed Lisa''s unusual behavior and thought that it must be because of the pain that she was suffering from their baby''s kick. "Love, what happened? Are you feeling pain anywhere?" Andrew ran towards his wife and scrutinized him from top to bottom. He was so busy in confirming that Lisa was okay or not that he completely ignored Reuben who was standing there with a helpless attitude as his eyes were forming tiny teardrops. Lisa who was trying to calm down an agitated Andrew, huffed angrily and shouted, "Drew, I''m completely fine." "Then what happened? Why are you looking like this?" Andrew asked as he relaxed. "My visit has happened.!!!" Reuben muttered in a low voice but not too faint so that Andrew can hear him clearly. Andrew whose focus was completely on Lisa till then became completely shocked as he heard the familiar voice. Although the tone of the voice had changed a lot from past few years as it became more heavier and huskier with a s.e.xy manly touch, he still could decipher it.. Andrew looked at Lisa shockingly as if asking if the person he was thinking about, was really there or not. When Lisa didn''t say anything but just kept on looking at him with incredulity in her eyes, Andrew shifted his body a little backside and turned his body slowly after inhaling a deep breath... Reuben was looking at him hypothetically as he was having a mixed feeling after seeing the person who was dead to all of their family members and friends, was standing there in one piece without any harm or cut on his body¡­completely undamaged and most of all¡­.ALIVE.. Andrew too was momentarily stupefied as he also didn''t expect Reuben to be present there. He had thought of Reuben finding him after a few weeks when he will himself start to give hints and about his existence. But his younger brother had really grown up to be really exceptional and powerful..!! Andrew had hidden his information about coming back to city S very well with complete security or at least he tried his best to do so.. However he had miserably failed as twenty two years old Reuben had changed drastically in his twenty eight years self in these past six years of his big brother''s disappearance. He not only became the top business of the world but also ruled the whole underworld with his amazing leadership on the people of Secret 7. So how could Andrew escape from the clutch of Reuben when this one armed man was determined to find out about his brother!! "Reu¡­Reuben!!" Andrew whispered almost in an inaudible voice but enough to reach Reuben''s ears. Tom who was watching the silent emotional transaction between the brother thought to leave his boss there to give the family some privacy and waited outside of the house. "Yes, brother! It''s me your brother Reuben whom you''ve forgotten in all this years along with your family and other friends." Reuben said through gritted teeth. A whirlpool of emotions started rolling in his heart and his head started to throb with all the emotional exhaustion that he was experiencing right now. Andrew was shattered when he heard the distant voice of his brother. It was first time in his life to experience his brother''s rude comment. But he couldn''t also blame him after all, what he had done with them was completely wrong and hurtful. "No Reuben! Don''t say like that.. I can''t never forget you and others. You guys are my life and always will be. You don''t know how much I missed you all. Each and everyday I had thought of you guys crazily..", Andrew said in a shaky voice as he took few step towards Reuben. Reuben threw him an angry glare and moved back far from him so that Andrew wasn''t able to touch him. He was beyond angry, shocked, happy but mostly disheartened..!!! Happy because he finally found his brother and disheartened because Andrew hid himself from them intentionally for all these years. Reuben mockingly laughed at him and stated sarcastically, "Really? Good excuse, Mr. Andrew Jones. However I''m not here to listen to your stupid excuses. I didn''t come here to befriend you again. I''m here because of my love.." Andrew was really hurt with Reuben''s words. He never had thought in his life that the brother who would always tag behind him wherever he''d have gone, would behave show distant towards him.. And now the same brother wasn''t even ready to look at him in eyes. He hated him so much.. "You haven''t come here for me? Then what''s the reason for your arrival here?" Andrew asked trying very hard to not break down. Reuben too was denying his internal battle to not let his tears out of his eyes as he said, "As I told you, I''ve come here for my love. I want to give my Ica the best present for the engagement which is obviously you¡­" Andrew gulped hard and asked, "Reuben, can''t you at least talk to me properly like a normal person?" "The only reason of my visit here is Ica. And I have long forgotten that I had a brother named Andrew in my life so there would be no chance of us being normal like before." Reuben curtly replied which panged Andrew''s heart like a gunshot while Lisa just rubbed his arm to console him. "What do you want me to do then?" Chapter 366 - Guilty Conscience... The only reason of my visit here is Ica. And I have long forgotten that I had a brother named Andrew in my life so there would be no chance of us being normal like before." Reuben curtly replied which panged Andrew''s heart like a gunshot while Lisa just rubbed his arm to console him. "What do you want me to do then?" Andrew asked looking pathetically at Reuben. Whereas Reuben was trying to avoid Andrew completely because he knew that the moment he''d look at Andrew, his all rationality would break down and he''d rush towards him before engulfing him a tight hug. But the pain he had gone through these years was making him adamant not to melt in his brother''s loving gaze. Without looking at him, he chose to face the wall and stated sternly, "Come with me to Fusion right now. All of our friends and family would be waiting there." Andrew was astonished with whatever Reuben had asked him to do. Though he wanted to come out of his hidden self but this was not the correct time for that. So he immediately denied, "I.. I can''t Reuben. I can''t do this. This is not the right time yet." Reuben instantly turned his face towards him and gave a glare before mocking him, "You were selfish six years ago. And you''re still selfish who is only thinking about yourself." This hit Andrew really hard because it was absolutely true..!! He escaped from city S faking his death because he feared that his one particular wrong deed would lead his close people to start hating him. But he forgot the fact that the after effects of his lies would force the people around him to completely break down and when the truth would come out, their hatred towards him would grow even more.. But not because of his past deeds but for him faking his death.! Getting no response from him, Reuben shook his head while chuckling sarcastically as he said, "I think I had asked too much from you. It''s your last chance to show up in front of everyone today. If you don''t reveal the truth about yourself to our closed ones now, then it''ll be never... Because I would not let you enter into their life later so that you could hurt them again. Think over it and make the decision wisely." Lisa who was hearing the conversation between the brothers quietly couldn''t hold herself from speaking up on seeing the devastated look of her husband. "Reuben, can we not delay it for few more days? Look at your brother, he is looking so weak. Think about him also." Lisa tried to convince him. "You are telling me to think about him now? Where was he when we needed him the most? Where was his care towards his little sisters who had loved him as their own brother? What about his parents who had raised him with so much love? Last but not the least, what about we four younger brothers of him who had always looked upon to him in every step? He was not there with us. Never!! But he chose to betray all of our love and fled away from his responsibilities. Now you tell me Lisa¡­should I still give him a chance?" Reuben scoffed at them as his eyes burned with anger. Lisa was completely dumbfounded with whatever she had heard from Reuben. Obviously, it''s not easy for Reuben to give Andrew another chance as his betrayal was the most shocking one. Andrew bowed his head with guilt as his eyes started watering up. He started to remember all of their good moments together when he would save his cute little sisters from the teasing of the boys. The amount of protectiveness he had for his younger siblings who were not even blood related to him, had came flashing into his mind. While Reuben just kept looking at him with his darkening gaze but there was a hint of sadness inside of them to see his brother living in a pool of guilty conscience. Getting no response from him even after a few minutes, Reuben sighed heavily and started walking towards the door in a dismissive attitude. "Wait, Reuben..!!" Right at that moment when Reuben was about to step out of the threshold, Andrew called for him out loudly. An instant smile bloomed into Reuben''s lips which was as much pure as a flower. But he quickly covered it with a knowing smirk. "Yes, Mr. Jones? Do you have something more to say?" Reuben asked, acting to be impatient towards him. Taking a deep breath, Andrew finally made his decision as he said, "Fine, I''m ready to go with you." Lisa looked at him in shock but Andrew just blinked at him, trying to convince her that everything was gonna be alright. Lisa became really happy that her dream to have a big family with lots of friends and her crave for parental love might get fulfilled today after a long time.. She gave him a bright smile and held Andrew''s hand to give it a squeeze in a form of support. Reuben observed the exchange between them and was internally happy that his brother had finally found a true love in Lisa who cared for him from the bottom of her heart. Shaking his thoughts away, Reuben announced, "Go and get ready. I''ll be waiting for you guys here. Then we can leave for our destination where everyone must be waiting for us." Nodding his head, both Andrew and Lisa went upwards to their room to dress themselves up while Reuben just sighed in contentment, thinking about the smile which would bloom up into his dear fiance''s lips when she would come face to face with the surprise... "Your Bennie is coming baby. But this time not alone but with the two people whose existence and real identity would leave you in shock. Just wait for me, my love. Your surprise is on the way." Reuben muttered to himself. Chapter 367 - Climax part of an horror film... "Your Bennie is coming baby. But this time not alone but with the two people whose existence and real identity would leave you in shock. Just wait for me, my love. Your surprise is on the way." Reuben muttered to himself. Few minutes later, both Andrew and Lisa cane downstairs and Reuben left with them in his car with Tom driving it.. Reuben intentionally took the passenger seat and gave the backseat to the couple. They were on their way when Reuben''s phone buzzed and a soft smile replaced his grim mood immediately which didn''t go unnoticed by the couple behind. "Yes babe?" Reuben answered the call with a cheery voice, all his gloominess vanished away immediately. Veronica on the other side grinned hearing him and said, "Honey.. I''m on the way to Fusion. Where are you?" Reuben chuckled as he could already imagine her pouty face while asking him about his whereabouts and he didn''t want anything more than to just cup her beautiful face and kiss those tasty plump lips of hers.. Alas! He had wait for more than half an hour to do so... "Babe.. I''m also coming. You get inside our meeting place and I''ll arrive soon." Reuben said. "Okay fine.. See you there then. Bye babe.." Veronica said. Reuben smiled and said, "Yeah.. Bye love." After they cut the call, Reuben said without looking behind, "You guys will stay in the adjacent room first. I''ve set the camera there so you can also see everything whatever is happening in our room." Reuben had already briefed them about the reason they were meeting in Fusion so they were aware about it.. Andrew nodded his head and asked, "Was that Vero?" Hearing his fiance''s name, Reuben''s lips tilted up automatically and said, "Yup. It was her." Rest of the journey went on silent mode as Tom drove through the busy road... ----- Fusion¡­ Veronica entered the hall room exactly where they had revealed about Alonzo and Alex''s truth and found her friends already present there. They all shared a hug and Louis asked, "Where is Reuben?" "He''ll arrive in few more minutes." Veronica replied. Then she turned towards Diana who was there with Louis as she was the one who had notified Rachel to come here, "When will Rachel come?" Before she could reply, the door got opened after a knock and Rachel herself entered as she asked, "Am I late?" Diana smiled at her and said, "No.. You''re not. Come here and sit." After a few minutes Myra also arrived with Jack while Alonzo, Cole, Regina also followed them with their families. Now they were just waiting for two persons¡­Reuben and Mike.. --- In the adjacent room... "You guys stay here. I''ll call you when the time comes." Reuben said. Andrew took a deep breath to prepare himself and then replied, "Okay.." Reuben curtly nodded and left the room without saying anything. "Honey, are you sure, you are really ready for this huge step?" Lisa asked after keeping her hand on his shoulder. Andrew meekly smiled at her and hugged her by side before kissing on her head as he said, "I wasn''t ready at first. But after Reuben had put out my mistakes by his finger, I finally know where the things had gone wrong¡­ So it''s high time that I can rectify my mistakes. I have to do that for my friends, my families, for us and specially¡­" Andrew stopped for a mini second and caressed Lisa''s pregnant belly lovingly as he added, "Specially for our baby growing inside you. I want her or him to get all the love of this world from our loved ones. I''m sure all of them will love our baby more than us." Lisa smiled and replied leaning her head on his shoulder, "You know what, I''m really happy that it''s finally happening. We''ll finally going to live like a family." Andrew hugged her more tightly and said, "We definitely will." ----- Hallway... Before entering the room where the biggest face-slaps would be done by his beloved Ica, Reuben gave few orders to Tom, "After Mike come, don''t let him enter till I say so. Your lady Boss wants his entry to be a climax part of an horror film." Tom chuckled hearing it and said, "Sure boss. I''ll keep that in my mind." "Good.." Reuben said before entering the hall whereas Tom waited outside so that he could prohibit Mike to enter immediately in the room. After all, who didn''t love a interesting and juicy climax scene!! ---- Hall room¡­ Reuben entered soon and everyone''s eyes fell on to him. Veronica''s mood instantly lifted up seeing him whereas Regina''s eyes glinted with mischief, having no idea about the upcoming storm on her which would destroy her whole life and career. Reuben looked over the whole room and as he wanted, there was no sign of Grandma Brown... He strictly asked Myra to not bring her here as she was too old to handle such a big shock like this which mattered his another grandson''s life who was being brutally killed by her own son.. Without glancing anywhere more than it required, he sprinted towards Veronica and hugged her tightly before pecking her on the lips. After they all were settled, Mr. Brown asked, "Uhmm...Mr. smith, can we please know what''s the exact purpose of this meeting?" Reuben smirked lightly as he replied, "Hmm¡­ You seemed to be really curious about this. But trust me, you would definitely regret it at the end of the meeting." Mr. Brown was completely puzzled with the reply, so he just kept quiet. Right then, Mr. Parker asked, "How are we related to it?" "Oh! You can''t even believe that this whole meeting has only being held because of you¡­.or rather I say because of your daughter." Veronica scoffed eyeing Regina who became utterly confused. "What''s with me? What are you guys talking about?" Regina asked being puzzled. Veronica cynically smiled at her and replied, "Aye!! Aye!! Regina, you shouldn''t be overexcited so much. Who knows when your excitement turn into misery. However, to answer your queries, I''d like to show you all something first¡­" Chapter 368 - Target List... Veronica cynically smiled at her and replied, "Aye!! Aye!! Regina, you shouldn''t be overexcited so much. Who knows when your excitement turn into misery. However, to answer your queries, I''d like to show you something first¡­" Saying that Veronica pulled out a big folder from her bag but didn''t open it immediately. She took out a pen drive first and gave it to Reuben who quickly connected it with the projector. Veronica held the remote in her hand and looked at the Brown and Parker family with a smile on her face. She glanced at Regina for few seconds then again back to everyone. With a confident attitude, Veronica started saying, "So people, I have called you here to scratch the masks of few people who are nothing but goody two shoes... Actually, No!! Let me rephrase it a little bit. Those people are nothing but baddie multiple shoes. Because I can''t find anything good in them but only evilness." Everyone looked at her with different kind of expressions. Some with confusion and some with a little fear in their hearts.. But Regina was not at all tensed as she thought that her life affairs could not be find out by anyone. She was very much sure that Veronica would never be able to know about her secret as she had hidden it quite well for years without anyone''s notice. She was all relaxed and happy till Veronica gave her a sharp look. Her own deadly glare was enough to make Regina feel extremely uncomfortable as she moved her eyes away from her.. Reuben noticed it clearly and gave a low chuckle before whispering in her ears jokingly, "Babe.. She''s already getting affected by your one simple glare. I don''t know what she''d do after seeing your true colours which is nothing less than a raging lioness.." Veronica too chuckled at his exaggerating jokes and muttered to him in a same mocking tone, "Now what can I do when she willingly stepped into the lion''s den!!" "Point! Very big point!" Reuben said while tapping on his chin, pretending to be serious. As the couple were busy in their fun, Henry who was right behind them scowled incredulously, "Come on, guys.. You called us here hurriedly, telling that you have something important to reveal but here you laughing like a fool in this serious situation." Veronica bit her tongue funnily and replied to him, "Sorry sorry.. I''m starting right away." Reuben gave her a nod of approval and Veronica started with her million dollar speech in a firm voice, "So the first person who has been in my target list from past few days is none other than, the so called famous model of city B, Ms. Regina Parker.." Except their friends, the others were completely shocked specially the Parker family. Cole was just thinking that what kind of new drama had his sister implied which made Veronica Lopez so much angry.. Whereas, Alonzo had a different kind of feelings rummaging inside him. He was excited to know what Regina had done to trigger Veronica''s anger. And if it was really something bad, then he might get freedom from marrying her. Regina furrowed her eyebrows at her in confusion and asked while stuttering, "Wha..what are you talking about? Why would I be in your target list?" Veronica wickedly smiled at her and said, "You don''t have any idea about it, right? Then let me play an audio first.." Saying this, Veronica played the recording which she had taken on the day of Regina threatening her to stay aside from Reuben. "You heard right. I really wanted to marry Alonzo from the start as he was the most handsome and richest man of city B¡­ But after I came here, I got the chance to meet the most handsome and richest man of the world, Reuben Smith. Alonzo is not even a little bit comparable to Reuben... Reuben had a different kind of charisma which no other man has. So why should I not go after him? He has everything¡­money, fame, good looks and power. What a girl can want more than this?" Regina''s voice came out of the loud speaker. As soon as people heard it, their faces turned into different shades of colours. Mr. Brown and Mr. Parker looked at Regina being horrified... Cole gave his sister an unbelievable look with his bloodshot eyes whereas Myra''s hate grew for her more when she heard her badmouthing about Alonzo.. But the person about whom Regina was criticizing, was sitting there silently without any trace of anger or shock showing on his face. "You..you recorded it without my permission! How could you?" Regina asked in bewilderment. Veronica glared at her with rage and spatted angrily, "How could I? Hahaha.. Let me remind you Regina that you were talking about my fiance that time and threatened me to leave him... Well...well¡­well..!!! I''m not a little lamb like others who will get scared of your naggy tone. You challenged the wrong person Regina and it''s just the start of your demise. Cause¡­I''ve collected many more things to reveal your white lies.." Before anyone could utter anymore words, Veronica showed a video of Regina where she had been shown in various clubs of city B... She was seen to take drugs and alcohol in a high level along with some of her rotten friends.! This was another blow for Regina. But the most shocked person was Mrs. Parker who couldn''t believe what she was seeing with her own eyes... In anger, she just dashed towards Regina and held her arms tightly before shouting, "How dare you, Regina? We gave you freedom that doesn''t mean that you''ll become so much spoiled that you''d start taking drugs?" Reuben who was watching the drama enfolding in front of him leisurely, didn''t want anyone to destroy the actual plan of Veronica, so he said, " Mrs. Parker¡­ You will have enough time to show your anger later. But now we have more interesting informations to reveal about your precious daughter." --- Author''s note... Guys, my second book is out.. "Superstar Wife : Please Have Some Mercy" Please add the book in your library.. It''s a completely different story from my first book and you guys will surely enjoy it.. So please have a look in it. I''m sure you''ll love this book as it too has lots of twists with romance.. Thank you.. Chapter 369 - Face-slap Event... Reuben who was watching the drama enfolding in front of him leisurely, didn''t want anyone to destroy the actual plan of Veronica, so he said, " Mrs. Parker¡­ You will have enough time to show your anger later. But now we have more interesting informations to reveal about your precious daughter." Cole and Regina''s mother was terrified when she heard Reuben telling her that they had more things to inform them about Regina. Looking shocked at this, she asked Reuben and Veronica, "She had done something worse than this?" Veronica nodded her head and said, "Not worse Mrs. Parker¡­but the worst one among everything." "Now what did you do?" Mrs. Parker asked looking at her daughter with accusations in her eyes. Regina didn''t know what was more there for her as she was already stupefied with the little revelations about her life.. What could be worse than this!! But when she remembered the biggest secret of her life, she became more frightened than before. But got relieved when she remembered that no one here had any idea about it.. She was about to beat around the bush, when Veronica''s daring voice had stopped her from uttering anymore words. "For the final revelation about Regina, I need to call for someone here whose presence will glorify the whole atmosphere of this face-slap event." Veronica said. Reuben had been already informed by Tom few minutes ago that Mike was there and he was keeping him busy outside so that he couldn''t enter the room. Now Tom needed only one signal from Reuben and the main bet of their final plan against Regina would be presented right in front of them. Soon Reuben called Tom to bring their main weapon in a human form there and Tom had stepped into action right away. The door cracked open after a light knock and the person who entered there, horrified not one or two but three person together.. The three people were none other than the bitch Regina Parker, the murderer Mr. Brown and last but not the least Diana''s friend and assistant, Rachel.. Each one of them had different kind of expressions on their faces. Regina was horror stricken after seeing Mike there as she believed that the final bit of her secret would also get revealed right now. Whereas Mr. Brown was getting cold sweat, remembering their past relationship and how he used him for his profit... But Rachel had a completely different kind of story written on her face. Her face was latched with complete guilt and she was looking down in shame. On the other hand, upon entering the hall room, Mike''s eyes first fell on Reuben and Veronica who was on the headlines of every newspaper, news channel and many more tabloids. The trending headlines were, "The power couple had now changed their relationship status from girlfriend-boyfriend to fiance!" "The bestest romantic proposal of REUNIC couple.." Mike had also seen it and was completely envious of Reuben to get such a gorgeous fiance for him. But he didn''t know why, he was feeling that he had seen this Veronica somewhere else... He then remembered about the middle class girl in city B who looked so much alike her but shrugged the thought away as they had huge difference between their family status. "Hello everyone.." Mike greeted the REUNIC couple and their friends with a polite smile as he couldn''t notice the Brown and Parker family who were sitting behind him. As his back was faced towards them, he had no idea that what kind of trouble is waiting next for him!! Veronica completely ignored him while Reuben said, "Mike is your name, right?" When Mike nodded his head like an obedient kid, Reuben said, "I''d like you to turn around for once first to see what a big surprise we''ve planned for you.." Mike frowned for a while and then turned around confusedly only to get the biggest shock of his life.. He could clearly see the three most unavoidable person of his life sitting in front of him. Then his eyes fell on Alonzo whose life he had destroyed five years ago.!! "What are¡­are you guys doing here? And why I''ve been called here specifically?" Mike stammered being horrified. His panic level started to increase when he got the answer of his questions from Veronica.. "Well, we''re here to unveil some dirty secrets of yours. Feeling excited?" Veronica asked in a mocking tone. But before he could reply, she played a CCTV footage of Regina entering a hotel and then she knocked on a specific door. Few minutes later, the door got opened by a half n.a.k.e.d Mike as both of them started making out there. Veronica stopped the video before it began to show the more vulgar parts as she didn''t want to watch free p.o.r.n specially in the presence of four elders. "So how was the video, Regina? I hope you have liked it as I had to waste few minutes of my precious time to arrange this amazing video of yours and your boy toy Mike.." Veronica wiggled her eyebrows at her. Though it seemed extremely cute and playful to Reuben but it left a shudder on the spine of both Mike and Regina.. "You.. you''re just trying to entrap me in your dirty plannings to get revenge on me for trying to hit on your boyfriend, right?" Regina tried to defend herself. Veronica shook her head in disapproval and said, "No.. no.. you are mistaking. First of all, Reuben is not my boyfriend anymore but my lovely fiance... And about me trying to plot against you, then let me clear this misunderstanding of yours Regina. I don''t even think of you as my rival to get revenge in you... Because my Bennie is only mine and no one can snatch him from me. So there was no reason for me to entrap you... It''s you who had tried to cross your limits by looking on my fiance with your dirty eyes. You''re the one who forced me to disclose your s.l.u.tty nature. So it''s just a simple punishment for your deeds." Chapter 370 - Only on one condition... "It''s you who had tried to cross your limit by looking on my fiance with your dirty eyes. You''re the one who forced me to disclose your s.l.u.tty nature. So it''s just a simple punishment for your deeds." As Veronica''s chilling voice entered Regina''s ears, she got freezed for a moment.. The elders of the both families were more than shocked. They thought that Regina could be a spoiled girl but she would never go so low to initiate physical intimacy with other men when she had her own fiance. Not only that, Veronica had showed them the pictures of Regina hooking up with different guys. Cole was more than angry on her as he couldn''t believe his eyes that his sister could do that! Now he couldn''t even blame her even though he badly wanted as he was also the one who loved to f.u.c.k different chicks everyday. But still he was at least loyal to Myra after they started dating. Whereas his sister clearly knew that she was going to get engaged with his best friend but she still chose to behave like a s.l.u.t and had s.e.x with random guys. Not only that, she even started taking drugs which was completely illegal! Alonzo who was seething in anger seeing all of this, was gritting his teeth not to lash out on her. He was not furious because Regina was having her own fun time with her boy toys. According to him, she could just go to hell and f.u.c.k as many boys as she wanted. However, the biggest thing which was piercing his heart like sharp knife was that he had to waste few years of his life because of this bitch. He also had to fight with his father who was adamant to marry him with this s.l.u.t Regina which resulted him to feel mentally depressed... If there was no such pressure of him marrying Regina then Alonzo might have lived a more free life with no tension. But it all got ruined because of his father''s stupidity! Mrs. Parker who was sitting at her place being numb after witnessing the worst side of her daughter, couldn''t able to take in everything for a few minutes. Cole noticed it and nudged his mother on the shoulder so that she could give me some response. And finally when she got out of her trance, she dashed towards Regina and within a second, a hard slap fell on Regina''s cheek... Regina was not able to guess the sudden attack from her mother and because of the force, she fell on the floor while cupping her cheek which had already turned red and sullen. Mr. Parker who was also equally shocked with his wife''s sudden fiery attitude, walked towards her and said, "You shouldn''t hit her like this. Though she had done wrong but she''s still our daughter!" It was really enough for her to lose the last bit of rationality in herself when her husband tried to protect their daughter who was nothing but a trash from both heart and mind. "Don''t you dare! Don''t you dare to take her side right now. It was all because of you, Regina had become like this. If you hadn''t pampered her so much then she wouldn''t have turned into such a disgusting girl... Whenever I tried to scold her in her childhood for her cruel nature, you always prohibited me. Whatever she asked you from her little age, you had always given her without a second thought. And because of this, she forgot to respect other people and became arrogant... If you''d have let me teach her the right lesson from her childhood then she''d become a good person like Myra, Veronica and other girls.." Mrs. Parker spilled out all of her anger in just few minutes which she had pent up from years. Not only, Mr. Parker but Cole and Regina were equally shocked with their mother''s behavior. They had never seen their mother being so angry in their whole life.. Myra who was sitting beside Jack, was smirking at Regina as she believed that she had gotten the taste of her own medicine. She was also happy, because now her brother didn''t need to marry a vile like woman Regina. Mr. Brown whose patience had long broken after seeing what the girl Regina was doing behind their back. He intended to make Regina the future madam of their household.. But what she had done in return? Backstabbing!! So he also busted out in anger while yelling loudly, "You ungrateful brat! You dared to play with us, the Brown family? I''ll not let you enter into our household. This marriage is officially off!" Mr. Parker knew that there was no way to mend their relationship again which got broken because of his stupid daughter, so without saying anything, he picked Regina up from the floor harshly by gripping her wrist. "We are sorry for our daughter. We promise that Regina will not interfere in any of your lives. We''ll lock her up in our house or sent her out of the country to rehab." Mr. Parker apologised on his daughter''s behavior. "Mr. Parker, after whatever she had done, I think she needed to get punishment¡­a hard one. So why don''t you leave her in our hand?" Neil who was watching everything silently from the start, spoke out suddenly. Mrs. Parker who heard it, almost fell on her knees and begged, "Please, don''t do this! I know what she had done is a big sin, but she''s still my daughter... I promise you that I''ll teach her a good lesson from now on and she''ll not get any kind of advantage from us.." Although, Mrs. Parker was ashamed of her daughter and was really angry on her, but she was still a mother. And it was impossible for a mother to see her daughter suffer so she just opted to plead in front of them!! Reuben and Veronica exchanged a glance together and finally getting the consent of each other, Reuben announced, "Only on one condition¡­" Chapter 371 - Old men and their poor brains!... Reuben and Veronica exchanged a glance together and finally getting the consent of each other, Reuben announced, "Only on one condition¡­" Everyone turned their faces towards Reuben in confusion as they didn''t understand what Reuben really wanted to say. Last time looking at Veronica who had blinked her eyes at him in reassurance, Reuben stated, "We will not do anything to Regina as you said. But anything in this world never comes out of free.." As Reuben said that their friends were quite astonished because they couldn''t guess what was running in his mind exactly. So they turned their gazes towards Veronica who was equally calm and was standing there without any trace of angry expression. On the other side, Regina who was sobbing continuously or more like wailing loudly, stopped her tears for a few moments and looked at the couple with a new found hope in her eyes.. But the last bit of hope got eventually broken too when she heard the next statement from Reuben''s mouth.. "We would let Regina go only on one condition. And the condition is that we''ll reveal about your daughter''s hypocrisy towards Brown family... We will share to the media that your daughter was cheating behind Alonzo''s hack so that the marriage got cancelled.. We''ll not disclose about the fact of her having drugs but will definitely reveal about her wild side so that her career gets ruined. But it could only happen if Alonzo is ready as it affects his life the most." Reuben stated the last part staring at Alonzo. Whereas Alonzo who was really happy that he didn''t need to marry Regina anymore, got shocked by Reuben''s statement. He couldn''t believe that Reuben would ask for his permission before taking any step against Regina, specially after how he treated both him and Veronica.. Overcoming the shock, Alonzo glanced at Regina for once and then firmly said, "I don''t have any problem with this. Do whatever you want. It''s none of my business or responsibility to know what is going to happen to her." Hearing it, Regina again burst into tears as she couldn''t believe that she''d be going to get ruined like this. Crying hysterically, she pleaded to Veronica and Reuben, "Please don''t do this. It will ruin my whole career. Everyone will start cursing me. My fans will start to bash me.." Lucinda who was already fed up with Regina''s drama, suddenly spurted out, "It''s none of our business if your career gets ruined or not. You should''ve thought about it before initiating this kind of things." Regina was about to protest when Mrs. Parker blurted out, "Yes.. We''ll do as you say." Both Veronica and Reuben nodded at her and Mrs. Parker left with her husband, pulling a still weeping Regina along with her. Cole was about to leave too when Reuben said, "Cole, you need to stay here for few more minutes. The actual face-slap is about to begin." Though Cole didn''t understand anything but he still nodded his head and took his seat again. But he didn''t know that Reuben had only stopped him because Alonzo and his family would need his support the most few moments later.. "You have more things to say?" Mr. Brown asked. "Yes..we do have.." This time, Veronica replied. "So Mike, you had studied with Alex Brown five years ago, right?" Reuben asked folding his hands under his chest. Not only Mike but also the whole Brown family except Alonzo and Myra got shocked with the mention of the name Alex. No one knew about Alex as Mr. Brown had hidden everything about Alex from the world so well that it was quite impossible for any human being to find about it.. Mr. Brown gulped hard and asked while stammering lightly, "Al¡­Alex.. Who is he? Whom are you talking about?" "Oh! So now you also forgot about Alex! Old men and their poor brains!!" Henry mocked him with a ''duh'' tone. Willa who was also present there looked directly at Mrs. Brown who was sitting there dumbfounded and asked her, "Did you also forget about him or just pretending to be?" Before Mrs. Brown could be able to say something, Mr. Brown quickly covered it up for her and hurriedly said, "We don''t know about any Alex. Whom are you exactly talking about?" Seeing them acting all irrelevant about Alex''s matter, Louis scoffed at them, "It''s my first time to see parents forgetting about their own son¡­especially when he was a twin of Alonzo Brown.." Both Mr. and Mrs. Brown were shell shocked when they heard Louis mentioning Alex as their own son. Mrs. Brown''s eyes welled up in tears at the mention of her dead son as she said, "He¡­he died five years ago. No, actually he attempted suicide." "What if I tell you about the actual truth! What if Alex had never wanted to suicide. Instead he was forced to do so.." Veronica said looking intensely at the two person who had a terrified look on their faces. "What!! What are you speaking? My Alex never attempted suicide but was being forced for it? But how could that be possible! Who could do this to him?" Mrs. Brown said as tears started to fall from her eyes. Myra walked towards her mother and hugged her by shoulder to console her because the upcoming news that she was about to know, would surely shatter her to pieces... Mr. Brown who was already in a cold sweat, tried to deny the truth by shaking his head vigorously as he said, "No...that can''t be the truth. The doctor himself had declared him to be dead because of gulping too many sleeping pills." Veronica completely ignored him and looked towards Mike who was also looking very much shocked as he kept standing on his spot without moving even a little bit. "So Mike¡­ What did you say to the girl in the caf¨¦ five years ago? That Alex had left the country for higher studies...right?" Veronica asked in a innocent filled look which was obviously a fa?ade to cover her rage.. Mike''s head immediately shot up towards Veronica and he stared at Veronica with a horrified expression as he asked in a whisper, "Who are you?" Chapter 372 - Not a girl to get easily trapped... Mike''s head immediately shot up towards Veronica and he stared at Veronica with a horrified expression as he asked in a whisper, "Who are you? Tell me exactly what is your real identity? How do you know about all of these when no one was supposed to know except me and few others. That means you are not the Veronica Lopez you seems to be." Veronica smirked at him and replied, "Oh no, Mike!! I''m the same Veronica Lopez who is the heiress of Lopez family, the same who got engaged to Reuben Smith last night. But the only difference is... My every action differs on the behaviour of the person who is standing in front of me. However, there is a bigger secret which neither you nor your boss Mr. Brown know." "What do you mean? What things we don''t know about you?" Mr. Brown asked with his furrowed eyebrows. Veronica smiled at him devilishly and said, "Do you remember the girl from five years ago who was your son Alex''s friend? The one whom you thought of being a middle class girl. And also the one for whom you decided to play with the lives of your both sons?" By every passing sentences, Veronica''s pitch was going higher and higher. Mr. Brown and Mike who was oblivious about what Veronica was saying and was trying very hard to find out exactly in which direction this this conversation going to end. But when they heard about the girl from five years ago, their facial expression immediately changed into a solemn one. They couldn''t understand how Veronica had come to know about this! After all, they had tried their best to hide this secret from the world very hard! "What do you mean by playing with our two son''s lives? What did he do?" Mrs. Brown who had never pronounced even a single word from the time she had come had finally opened her mouth. She was sitting beside her husband for the whole time timidly. But never had tried to interrupt any of them. Even when the truth about Regina came out, though she was very much shocked and angry but still chose to sit there quietly and kept on watching the whole show. But now that it had cone to talk about her own sons'' lives, her heart started to thump loudly in a bad way, as if it was indicating that something terrible was going to happen today. Veronica looked at her and said, "Yes.. Your husband not only ruined your sons'' lives but also killed one of them brutally." This revelation was completely unexpected to the couple and Mike!! Mrs. Brown couldn''t believe what she was hearing but then she thought that she had misheard something. Whereas both Mr. Brown and Mike were completely stupefied by Veronica''s revelation. " What do you mean by killing one of my sons? I only have one son and that is Alonzo. So there is no way of me killing anyone." Mr. Brown said while beads of sweat started to form on his forehead. "You still have the guts to deny? Woah..! You''re more stubborn that I thought. Fine.!! If you''re both eager to know about how was I able to know it, then let me tell you about the secret." Veronica said with a mischievous smile on her face. Looking at Reuben, she asked for an approval for their next step. When he nodded his head, Veronica smiled at him with content. This was the connection between the couple which had made their bond of love more stronger and steadier.. "Well, the truth is¡­the person whom you thought of having a low family status had a name also. Do any of you remember it?" Veronica asked. Mr. Brown who made the whole plan to break the beautiful friendship between Alex and Veronica, had no idea about her name or face as he only saw her for once in the picture and always chose to call her as ''that girl''... But Mike who had a crush on her always, had kept her name in his mind clearly but couldn''t recognise her face as she had changed completely in these few years. Her body had been developed in a more beautiful way with her womanly curves and luscious figure... Mike pondered over a while and said with a frown, "Her name was Vero... Veronica.." "Yes.. Her name was Veronica. Now tell me, what is my name?" Veronica asked with a smirk playing on her lips. Mr. Brown was feeling really irritated with Veronica going round and round on the topic which he tried to express to her, "Why are you....." But before he could complete, he was cut off by Mike as he whispered exasperatedly, "Your name is Veronica Lopez. That means both of you and the girl five years ago...." Veronica chuckled at his scared expression and said, "Yes.. I''m the same Veronica whom you guys tried to play with. But Alas!! I''m not a girl to get easily trapped and let you leave without any punishment for your crap.." It was enough for Mr. Brown to get the biggest shock of his life and he started sweating profusely as if he was bathing in water. He asked while stuttering, "But how¡­how can this be possible? You¡­you are the heiress of the famous Lopez family but she was just a middle class girl.." "Though we don''t need to clarify anything to you but still we''ll give you a good explanation so that you could regret for your whole life about your wrongdoings. But before that, we need someone here first." Reuben said in a stern voice. Veronica was utterly confused with what Reuben had just said as it was not their primary plan to call someone here... So she asked, "Whose presence you want here, Bennie?" Reuben just smiled at her and replied, "Someone you know and who has a big connection with all of it¡­though not directly but indirectly." Reuben then looked towards the door and called out for the person, "Please come inside, Lisa.." Chapter 373 - I was forced to do so... Reuben then looked towards the door and called out for the person, "Please come inside, Lisa.." Soon Lisa entered the room, holding her huge baby bump which made not only Veronica but everyone who were present in the room confused. Reuben smiled at Lisa and made her sit on the couch comfortably. Lisa too smiled back at him and greeted everyone, "Hi, guys.." "Hey Lisa.. But may I know what are you doing here?" Willa asked hesitatingly. Veronica too wanted to know about the reason of Lisa being here as she couldn''t find any importance of her presence for now. Reuben shared a glance with Lisa as they made a affirmative nod to each other. While coming here, Reuben had already spoken with Andrew and Lisa that there was something big to reveal today which might concern Lisa indirectly. He also asked them if it''d be comfortable for Lisa to face a big mystery reveal as she was in the last trimester of her pregnancy.. Andrew was thinking hard to come into a decision at first but Lisa immediately agreed that she could handle everything. She also made sure that Andrew would agree with her decision too. And of course, Andrew got melted with her sweet talks instantly. "So now that everyone is here, we should start describing everything to these two men in front of us." Reuben stated. He then sat beside Veronica again and encircled his arm around her shoulder before saying, "My Ica was the one who had studied with Alex who was also Alonzo''s brother and whom you had hidden from the world as if he was some criminal... Ica had some of her personal issues, that''s why she chose to behave like a normal girl. She met Alex and befriended him. Later Alonzo came into the picture and started liking her... But you being a shitty businessman, thought that it''d be shame to your so called family name if Alonzo date a middle class girl and it would not bring any profit to your business too." "What do you mean? Alex was friend with Veronica whereas my other son Alonzo was in love with her?" Mrs. Brown was beyond shock after hearing all of these new things. Veronica who sitting idly in Reuben''s embrace said, "Yes. Though I had no idea about Alex and Alonzo being two different person. They literally betrayed me by making me know that both brothers were the same person¡­ I never knew about Alonzo''s existence till a month or two ago. But the biggest game plot was planned by your dear husband who created a big misunderstanding between all of us." Thereafter, Veronica conveyed the whole story to Mrs. Brown with the help of Reuben and sometimes Alonzo too speaking with them, but they purposefully omitted the part of Alex''s death as it was something trivial to discuss.. Mrs. Brown couldn''t believe her ears as she looked at her husband with a shocked expression. She didn''t say anything but just kept quiet to register everything in her mind... Meanwhile, Reuben took the chance to enquire Mike as he asked him, "So...Mike What is your relationship with Rachel?" "What!! Mike has a relationship with Rachel?" Diana asked in bewilderment. "Let Mike and Rachel say it on their own." Veronica said as she eyed Rachel who was literally shivering in fear. Mike quickly shook his head in a form of denial and replied, "We are not in a relationship. We never were." "Then how both of you are related?" Lucinda asked, glaring at him. Mike gulped in fear before stuttering, "I met Rachel on behalf of Mr. Brown. He needed some work to be done with Rachel do I just helped him in it.." "Here I''m going to stop you Mike. You''ve said enough though it was the truth. But before you disclose everything, we have one more important thing to notify Mrs. Brown." Reuben stopped Mike from talking more. He then stared at Mrs. Brown who was now far better than before after Myra assuring her. "Mrs. Brown, I know you''re still in your shocking state. But we have something more important to tell you which might be a big bombshell for you.." Reuben said and Mrs. Brown nodded at him to let him continue. Mr. Brown was already going through a storm but he had a strong instinct that they might not find about the actual truth.. But who he was joking to? It was not someone else but the scary bosses of the biggest underworld group ''Secret 7''.. Nothing could stay hidden from their eyes.. "You may have thought that the death of your younger son Alex was just a suicide¡­right? But it''s not. It was a well planned murdered and the murderer is your husband himself." Reuben said with anger building up in his eyes.. Mrs. Brown''s eyes snapped towards him in a quick movement and she gave them an unbelievable expression as she said, "No¡­ you guys are telling lie.. That can''t ever happen. My husband can''t kill his own son. Never!!" "It''s the truth Mom. Your husband really had killed my brother." Alonzo said with tears in his eyes. "You are lying. All of you''re lying. This can''t be possible at all." She then walked towards her husband and hold his hands before asking with tearful eyes, "Tell them that you''ve done nothing wrong. I know that you could not kill our son." Mr. Brown had bowed his head in shame as an acceptance of his deeds while Mrs. Brown just steeled at the moment. Then she suddenly started hitting him while shouting, "You bastard! How could you! How could you kill your own son!" Mr. Brown too burst into his tears as he took all the beating of his raging wife and said while sobbing hard, "Trust me. I never wanted to kill him but I was forced to do so.." "What do you mean? Who forced you to do so?" This time, Alonzo snapped his head towards his father. "It was Frank Howard..." Chapter 374 - Good news of our lives... "What do you mean? Who forced you to do so?" This time Alonzo snapped his head towards his father. "It was Frank Howard.. He was the one who forced me to do this." Mr. Brown said while crying his heart out. "Frank Howard? The one from country Z?" Lisa asked with a frown on her face. Mr. Brown nodded his head and said, "Yes.. He is the only one who was capable to order me around." Suddenly a gasp left from Lisa''s mouth when she listened to him and her mouth opened slightly to take a few rounds of deep breath. Diana too was shocked to hear it as she said, "That''s mean my mother''s so called husband Frank is way more worse than we thought. He is really the biggest bastard of the world.!!" Reuben nodded and then turned his face towards Rachel and said, "Now it''s your turn to complete the next part of the story. Tell us what Mike had asked you to do and at what expense?" Rachel who was confused with all that was happening around her, came back to her actual state as Reuben asked her about the past relation of her with Mike which too involved her friend Diana. Still shivering a little in fear, she muttered, "Five years ago, when Diana had already left for country Z, Mike came to visit me one day... As Diana knows that I belong from a middle class family and my dad needed to have a heart transplant to stay alive but we didn''t have the required money for this... At that exact time, Mike came with an proposal to save my father but only in one condition. And the condition is...I needed to steal Diana''s diary, in which she used to write her contact." "What!!" Diana was too shocked to say something at this unexpected news. Rachel kept her head bowed down and continued narrating the whole story, "I straight away rejected the proposal. But suddenly my father''s health condition started to deteriorate and we needed money for the surgeries in an emergency... That day when Veronica Ma''am saw me with Mike at the caf¨¦, was the day I had gone to accept his proposal of destroying the diary.. At the time of exam, when Diana came back from country Z, I lied to her about the diary because they had threatened me that, if I opened my mouth to her then they would kill my dad.." As she finished her part of story, Rachel broke down in tears as she knelt down on the floor. Everyone except the REUNIC couple, Mike and Mr. Brown was standing their numb without understanding anything. It was Tom who was standing behind her, gave her a tissue to wipe off the tears which she took with shaking hands. Then she went towards Diana with shaky legs and folded her hands in a pleading manner as she begged to her, "Please, forgive me Diana. I had no other option to save my father." Diana came out of her trance and held her hands while consoling her, "It''s not your fault Diana. If I would have in your place, I might do the same. I know whose fault exactly it is.." She then glared at Mr. Brown and asked, "It was Frank right, who had ordered you to send Mike to Rachel because he was plotting against me?" Mr. Brown nodded his head and said, "Yes, it was him.." Henry who was watching the whole drama, had some queries in his head so he just blurted it out, "But why would Frank only choose you to do all his dirty stuffs? Most importantly, why you need to obey his every order?" This question was actually the main point of the whole incident. Everyone wanted to know the exact reason of this. Seeing that Mr. Brown wasn''t ready to speak, he said, "Because Frank had something in his hand which might destroy his whole business and maybe his relationship with his family members." Now this came as a big shock to Mr. Brown as he thought that no one would have known about the secret he was hiding from the past twenty years. He knew that there was no way out for him anymore so finally opted to reveal all the secrets to them, "Frank had a sister few years younger than him. Her name was Harper. We both studied in the same college and fell in love with each other eventually... I wanted to marry her but Frank didn''t accept our relationship because I was not rich that time. He forcefully married her to one of his business acquaintance... I was completely broken that time as the love of my life was married to another guy and couldn''t be with me in this life anymore." Mrs. Brown was now completely shaken, hearing about her husband''s past relationship with some other girl. Tears started to stream down on her cheeks like a heavy downpour. Mr. Brown knew it''d be a big blow on his wife so he looked at his wife with a content filled eyes and continued, "But then my wife came to my life. Although we had an arrange marriage and I denied any kind of relationship with her at the start, but she slowly had crept into my heart... I started loving her more than anything. Everything was going good but by the passing time, my hunger towards power and money also increased because of the insult I had to go through because of Frank.." Inhaling a sharp breath, Mr. Brown stared at his son with loving eyes which was completely new for Alonzo as this was the first time he was witnessing some love and adoration in his father''s eyes for him.. Sighing again, Mr. Brown said with a smile, "And then we got the good news of our lives. We were going to be parents of twins. Both I and my wife were extremely happy with this news and I started to arrange everything for my children... Chapter 375 - Fragile with her tiny frame... Sighing again, Mr. Brown said with a smile, "And then we got the good news of our lives. We were going to be parents of twins. Both I and my wife were extremely happy with this news and I started to arrange everything for my children... Few months later, we were blessed with two cute baby boys. We were happy but on the day of their check up¡­we were notified about Alex''s brain not being formed completely yet and he might become a little bit abnormal... I was devastated with the news because I already started to love both of my kids. But because of family reputation, I chose to keep his identity secret till he got cured completely." "And later you killed him?" Alonzo accused him with anger in his eyes. "No son.. I never wanted to kill him. Though a little bit mentally abnormal, but he still was my son. And it''s impossible for any father to kill his own son willingly." Mr. Brown said almost pleadingly. Myra who had not said a single word from the moment her father started to speak, asked, "Then what happened dad? Why Alex brother is not with us anymore? And why I didn''t have any idea even about his existence?" Thinking about it, Mr. Brown''s face showed immense pain as he said, "I sent Alex for his treatment so he could get treated properly. He was recovering very fast and I was happy with that... But suddenly one day, I had to leave for country Z for my business. In the middle of my business venture there, I met Harper again." "Don''t tell me you were cheating on our Mom, Mr. Brown." Alonzo shouted at him as soon as he came to know about his father''s meeting with his first lover. Chuckling at her own fate, Mr. Brown looked at his wife''s eyes directly who too was looking at him and said, "Never! I can''t never cheat on your mother because I love her more than me. Though I don''t show it to her, but it is the biggest truth... The day I met Harper for first time after more than eight years, both you and Alex were already seven years old and my princess had already started going to school... You know what, when I picked up Myra for the first time in my arms, I felt that I''m carrying all the happiness of the world in my two palms.." Myra''s eyes filled with tears at the confession of her father and she too felt the love emanating from his eyes. "Then what happened after you met Harper?" Surprisingly, it was Mrs. Brown who asked this question to her husband. Mr. Brown looked at his wife and narrated, "Harper was not the same Harper I knew once. She became so thin like a stick. Her body was severally bruised and she was pregnant that time... I got so much tensed to see her in that way. I insisted her to tell me the reason and I got to know that her husband used to abuse her physically. Although I had an past relationship with her but she was my friend first... So I thought to help her out of the hell. She had a daughter of seven years old with her that time. So she asked me to send her to her grandparents'' home. I fixed everything for her so that she could escape away from there. But¡­" "But what?" Lisa asked. Veronica was confused to see her so eager but she shrugged it away, thinking that she must be curious as Frank and she had lived in the same country.. "But the day of the escaping, she didn''t arrive at the decided place. I called her again and again, but got no response. Later I got a message that she wanted me too meet her near an abandoned place... I had some doubt about it but still went there and it proved out to be the biggest mistake of my life. It ruined my whole family and killed my son.." Mr. Brown again started crying. Veronica too was shocked to know about it as she was completely oblivious with what was going on there. She had never expected it to turn out like this which was absolutely different to her imagination. She looked at Reuben with confusion while he just blinked at her to assure her. "After I gone to visit Harper, I saw her lying in a pool of blood with a knife thrashed into her pregnant belly. I need to put out the knife from her stomach but she held my hands and made me promise her to protect her daughter which I failed to do... Because that time, Frank came there with his men and he showed me the pictures of me when I tried to save Harper. He portrayed it like that I was the one who killed her... I was shocked at first but before I could say anything, Harper left her last breath, leaving the world. I then saw the little girl crying hysterically sitting beside her mother. She was looking so fragile with her tiny frame. But before I could save her, Frank''s men took her away and threatened me that if I tried to find out about her then he''d show this pictures to the cops and make me lose my business¡­" "I understand everything. But what is the connection between Alex''s death and his threat?" Neil pointed it out. "That''s the catch here. If he would have only demanded me to take my business away, I still would have come out with a new idea. But he blackmailed me with my family instead... He threatened me that if I didn''t obey his words, then he would kill my family too. And obviously, I didn''t want to risk my family''s life at any cost. So from that day, I agreed with whatever he said... Because of him, I had to torture my whole family. I even locked Alex up in one of my farm house. But one day, when they grew up, Alonzo found his brother and then¡­" Chapter 376 - Transformed into a nightmare... "Because of him, I had to torture my whole family. I even locked Alex up in one of my farm house. But one day, when they grew up, Alonzo found his brother and then¡­" As Mr. Brown paused, Veronica asked, "Then what?" Sarcastically chuckling at himself, he replied, "Truthfully, I was very much happy that my eldest son Alonzo could protect his twins now. But my happiness was short-lived as my only dream got broken too and it transformed into a nightmare... Frank found out about it and he forced me to find Alex from anywhere possible. I was helpless with it but still tried my best to delay the search mission... In the meantime, I came to know about Veronica. As a father and my past experience, I too didn''t want Alonzo to be with a middle class girl. So I helped Frank in creating misunderstandings between the twins and her.... However, I never expected Frank to give me an ultimatum to kill my younger son Alex in the expense of saving my other family members. I had no other choice but forcing my son to intake those sleeping pills.." At the end of it, he collapsed on the floor and started wailing like a mad man. Mrs. Brown too broke into tears along with Myra and Alonzo.. It was not them only but each and every single person in the room had tears in their eyes. The sudden turn of events had really shocked them to the core. The person whom they had blamed for their whole life was not the actual villain here. The negative character had suddenly turned out to be partially positive!! The main villain of the story was now a victim of a well planned strategy!! "I...I can''t believe it. It''s beyond my imagination." Willa said. "Me too.." Lucinda too whispered in a low voice. Mrs. Brown collected herself properly and went towards her husband. She kneeled in front of him and cupped his face in her hands. "I always knew that somewhere in your heart you love me and our children very much though you don''t show it on your face directly... But I never had guessed that you had to go through so much pain in the past few years. You had to take all the burden on your shoulders alone to protect us... I really empathy you because of this. But the final result of your sacrifice was too much to take. I can''t accept that. If you were in trouble, then you should have informed us. I know it''s not that much easy but still it wouldn''t have wasted so many lives together.." Mrs. Brown said looking at her husband with love filled eyes. Then those loving eyes suddenly turned into fierce ones as she got up from there and walked towards the REUNIC couple.. Reuben and Veronica looked at her confusedly but it soon got cleared when they heard the next words from her which fell on Mr. Brown like a thunderbolt. "Willingly or unwillingly, he killed my son. I don''t care if it was forced or not. Even he was blackmailed to do so, he should have risk his own life to save Alex. But he didn''t do that... Instead he chose the latter option and murdered my son which was nothing less than courting a death warrant. As Veronica was also a victim of his plans, I want both of you to give him his required punishment... It doesn''t matter to me if he''s dead or not. I just want my innocent son to get justice. From now on, I''m a widow of the Brown family. So he''s all yours to punish and torture.." Mrs. Brown''s chilled voice left everyone in shock. But Mr. Brown didn''t even feel a little bit of angry on her. He knew whatever he did was extremely wrong and he deserved to be hated by his family. Reuben and Veronica shared a glance before looking at Myra and Alonzo to find any kind of hesitations and denial in their eyes but they found none.. So getting the positive response, Reuben said, "Don''t worry. My men will take care of him. But now we have to focus on only one person and that is Frank.." "Yes.. I request you to find out the details about the person who is the root of all of our miseries... I want him to rot in hell. Will you please do this favour for me?" Mrs. Brown pleaded to Reuben and Veronica, holding their hands. Veronica kept her palm on Mrs. Brown''s hand and promised her, "We are taking an oath today to find out the real culprit Frank. He not only did wrong to you but Diana also. He deserved the worst punishment." She then turned towards Mr. Brown and asked with a sharp glare, "Where is Frank? Tell us." "I.. I don''t know anything about him. He just ordered me via some private number which had no tresses to find him." Mr. Brown said while stuttering. "Don''t tell lie. How could it be possible that you were working for him for all these years but you don''t have any clue about him! Isn''t this surreal?" Veronica mocked him with arched eyebrows. "He''s right, Ica.. Frank hadn''t left any tress about him." Reuben replied to her. Veronica now became puzzled on this piece of news and she asked him quizzically, "Then how are we going to get him under our grasp? We need to track him first to give him the retribution of his ugly sins." Reuben just smirked at her and exclaimed in a wicked voice, "Why don''t we ask Lisa about him?" "What!! Lisa!! But how would she know about him? I know that they belong from the same country but it''d be impossible for her to have any idea about Frank.." Veronica said exasperatedly. Not wanting to beat around the bush, Reuben suggested Veronica, "Babe .. I think it''d be really best if Lisa would give you an answer about this." Veronica was about to argue with Reuben again when Lisa''s next words kept her rooted there.. "Frank Howard is my father.." Chapter 377 - Dirty Empire... Veronica was about to argue with Reuben again when Lisa''s next words kept her rooted there.. "Frank Howard is my father.." Lisa said in a single breath. All turned their faces to her like a flash of lightning and stared at her with widened eyes. They were unable to register the new found information which Lisa had just disclosed. "What? You''re Frank''s daughter?" Diana was the first one to break the silence after few minutes. Lisa took few deep breaths to calm herself down and said, "Yes, I''m the unlucky daughter of that evil man. I even hate to call myself as his daughter¡­ But trust me Diana, I never knew that my father was the one who had married your mother. If I would have known about it from before then I''d try my best to get you out of his evil clutch." Diana who was still in her own stupor, shook her head vigorously in denial when she heard Lisa and said, "No, sis.. I never blamed you. I know how much of a good person you are that you can''t even think of doing bad to anyone.. I was just wondering how could be an angel like you have a devil father like that Frank Howard! You were the one who had always helped me from the start and I really respect you for that." Lisa was somewhat relieved after getting confirmation from Diana that she didn''t hate her. She then turned her face towards others to check if they had believed her or not. And to her relief, no one seemed to despise her. "You were asking me about my father''s location, right? I too don''t have any idea about it as I had left him and his dirty empire few years ago already... I didn''t want to be a part of his nasty deals. Although, I don''t know where he is now but I can find out about him soon if you guys want me too." Lisa proposed to them. "No Lisa. You''re already pregnant and I don''t want any risk about you and your baby." Veronica said. "But I really want to help you guys. Because I too have some revenge to take on him." Lisa said through gritted teeth. Jack who never had uttered any word from the start, suddenly asked, "And what is your exact reason?" Sarcastically chuckling at the question, she said, "He not only killed Alex and many other people with his dirty tricks. But he also didn''t leave my mother along with my aunt." "What do you mean? We know about your aunt Harper already then what about your mother? Don''t tell me¡­" Veronica stopped in mid sentence just by imagining the actual truth. "Yes.. He had killed my mother too four years ago when I finally decided to leave him. I just couldn''t stay with a murderer father, right? But he had sent his men to follow me. I only had little money with me other than my important doc.u.ments like passport and educational certificates... I was running away from them when I met Uncle Lopez on the road. I didn''t notice a car on my way in fear of getting caught by them when I got involved into an accident with uncle''s car." Lisa narrated. Veronica was listening to her very carefully as she finally got to know about how her father had met with Lisa. Mr. Lopez had just told her that he met with the company''s shadow in a business venture but nothing more... Sighing deeply, Lisa continued, "Uncle admitted me in a nearby hospital and paid for my treatment. He got informed by the doctor that I had some marks of slaps and hits on my body. Then he enquired me about it and I told him everything. He asked me to come with him in city S but I don''t accept it. As I wanted to live at my mother''s house far away from my father''s legacy which he was not even aware about. Reluctantly, Uncle agreed but arranged for my security. He also wanted to sponsor me but I didn''t want any free money. So I told him that I''ll find a job myself.. At this point when he came to know about my educational qualifications, he asked me to help him in managing his company''s branch in country Z which I happily agreed. And from that day onwards, I regard uncle Lopez as my own father." Everyone was again in tears after hearing about the sad story of Lisa''s life as it was even impossible to imagine to have a father like Frank who didn''t even hesitate to kill his own wife.. They also praised the strong willpower of Lisa who had to go through all of this without anyone beside her. While Veronica was very much proud of her father as he again proved to be a great man along with being the best husband and father.. "You''re really brave Lisa. I don''t know if I''d be able to stay so strong like your, if I was in your position." Lucinda said while the other girls nodded. Reuben then looked at Alonzo and said, "I think it''d be best if you take Aunty back to your home as she''s all exhausted. Don''t worry about your father, we''ll take care of him." Alonzo agreed and left with his mother and Cole while Myra chose to stay here. Reuben then ordered Tom to drive Rachel back to her home too while his men took Mr. Brown and Mike away from there as it was the time of the biggest revelation of their lives.. "Lisa, if you don''t mind me, then may I ask you where is your husband and how did you met him for the first time? And where is he right now?" Willa asked carefully. Lisa smiled and replied, "Well, that''s a big story to tell. What if I narrate you guys about our love story in the presence of my husband.!!" "Wow! That''d be great. But when can we meet him?" Veronica asked her excitedly. Lisa smiled at her and replied, "He''s here already. Let me call him¡­ Honey!!!" Chapter 378 - Most favourite sister... Lisa smiled at her and replied, "He''s here already. Let me call him¡­ Honey!!!" As soon as Lisa called for her husband, everyone moved their focus from her to the door. They were all excited to see the husband of Lisa who seemed to love her a lot which they could imagine just by her talks... ---- In the adjacent room... Andrew was taking deep breaths one after another to calm his nerves. He was sweating profusely even in the highly air conditioned room. His throat got dried with the anticipation of meeting his friends but somewhere in his heart, he was very much scared of their reaction. He knew that whatever he had done with them and the way he had manipulated everyone to believe that he was already dead, was absolutely wrong. If he was in their position, he too would get angry on them and might not acknowledge them the same way like before. But who could stop anyone from expecting love and support from others! Human heart is very vulgar. It always desires to get the love from the people who it adores.. It can even become selfish to get both the affection and attention from their closed ones when nothing matters to them other than being cared by them. Andrew remembered about his and Lisa''s child which was still growing in her tummy. He knew that his child deserved all the love from his grandparents, uncle and aunts.. Finally inhaling the longest breath, he got the courage of meeting them because of their unborn child and walked out of the room... --- As everyone was eagerly waiting for him to come, Veronica too was very much curious about him. She didn''t know why, she was feeling like they were gonna get one of the biggest blow of their lives.!! But this feeling was not negative like the previous one.. Somehow it was giving her a positive vibe that something good was going to happen which might turn their world upside down but only with happiness.. Soon there was a knock on the door and everyone''s attention got locked on the wooden material. Their anticipation grew more by each passing second and when finally the door cracked open, the whole room fell in eery silence... There was no gasp or scream but a complete silence which was quite unexpected from them. Andrew entered the room with slow steps while each and every person present in the room just looked at him with confused eyes. This went on for few more minutes without any talking anything and reacting much as they saw him standing beside Lisa and wrapped his arm around her shoulder protectively. Reuben was aware that it would be hard for his friends to believe it. So he chose to not say anything for a moment to let them get a grip on their emotions. But there was only one person except Reuben who was not shocked like others. He had an indescribable emotions painted on his face. Neil looked at Reuben who too turned his eyes towards him. They gave each other a knowing nod with a serious face. Andrew didn''t know what to say and Lisa too could feel his sweaty palm. "Guys, you asked me to introduce you to my husband. And here he is, Andrew Jones.." Lisa thought to be the one to instigate the discussion by breaking the silence between the siblings. As Lisa said this, everyone''s eyes widened as they scrutinized Andrew from top to bottom with their hawk like eyes as if they were inspecting some criminals. "You are Andrew Jones? Our Andrew?" Henry who too was very much shocked, finally asked. Andrew looked at him and smiled a little before replying, "Yes, Henry. I''m the same Andrew. All of yours big brother." "But.. how could it be possible! You were dead, right?" Willa queried still not believing her eyes. Andrew chuckled sarcastically and said, "No.. I''m still alive.." Lucinda who was in complete shock finally came out of her trance and ran to Andrew like a bolt of lightning. Andrew saw this and removed his hand from Lisa''s shoulder before stretching it out for her. In a second Lucinda jumped into Andrew''s arms and hugged him tightly while crying loudly, "You are really alive brother. You are really really alive." "Yes. I''m Lucy. Your brother is finally here." Andrew said while caressing her head. He then extended his other hand to Willa who too had tears in her eyes. Seeing his action, Willa too rushed towards him and hugged him tightly. "You don''t know brother Andrew how much we have missed you." Willa too sobbed with Lucy. "I know that very well sis. I too missed you guys." Andrew said while kissing their heads. "Liar! If you have missed us then where were you for all these years?" Jack complained like a kid. Henry too agreed with him and said, "Yes, you don''t care about us." Andrew detached himself from his sisters and walked towards his brothers. He stared at both Jack and Henry for few minutes, then engulfed them into a big hug... "I''m so much sorry for hurting you, guys." Andrew apologized sincerely. Henry and Jack hugged him back and felt overwhelming emotions running through their veins. Neil too come forward and said, "So finally you become a little bit of daring to face us." Andrew glanced at him with guilt in his eyes and said, "Yeah.. Finally." Neil didn''t know what to do. He just kept quiet for few minutes and then embraced him tightly, forgetting all the past memories. But there was only one person who still didn''t show any reaction of it. She was just standing there with an expressionless face watching over the whole scene quietly. Reuben tilted his head down to look at Veronica and rubbed her back to sooth her. He exactly knew what kind of pain she was going through now! Pain of betrayal and lies! Andrew too noticed it and stood in front of her before asking, " Everyone had already greeted me. But what about my most favourite sister?" Chapter 379 - New addition and bonus... Andrew too noticed it and stood in front of her before asking, " Everyone had already greeted me. But what about my most favourite sister? Won''t she give her brother a hug? Is she too much angry on me that she doesn''t even want to talk?" Veronica just blinked for few times and said, "You''re just an illusion of mine. If I close my eyes, then you''d vanish away again... There will be no Andrew again like now. I''m sure, I''m just living in a surreal dream right now." As these words went through Andrew''s ear, his brain got a big hit along with his heart, thinking what he had done to his sister that she couldn''t even able to believe about his presence. Andrew took few step towards her and crashed her into a bone crushing hug as he whispered, "No baby sis. You''re brother will not go anywhere again leaving you. I''ll be there for you for my whole life.. And I''m not an illusion of yours. I''m actually here. Look at my eyes and you''ll believe it." Veronica didn''t look up but just burst into tears in her brother''s arm. She could feel the warmth emanating from his body. Sobbing on his chest, Veronica asked while stammering, "Where were you brother? Why did you leave us?" "That''s a big story to tell. But first, you stop crying. I just can''t see your tears." Andrew said while wiping her tears. Here, Reuben''s eyes also became teary seeing the heartwarming scene playing in front of him, which also didn''t go unnoticed by Andrew as he asked him softly, "Will you not forgive me Reuben and help me to come out of the guilt?" "Everyone needs a punishment for their wrong deeds. You too need one. But I know that living far away from us for these years was the biggest retribution of yours. But.." Reuben said but stopped for a while. Andrew stared at him with hopeful eyes when Reuben added, "But I can forgive you on one condition. Only if you promise to not leave us again." Andrew felt tears running down from his eyes as he said, "I promise bro. It''ll not happen again. I promise to protect you all till my last breath." Hearing that, Reuben couldn''t control himself more and pounced on his brother as they both hugged each other tightly, crying out all their pain. "Seems like Drew brother never loved me. He completely forgot about me." Louis said while pouting. "Jealous idiot!" Reuben taunted him which made Andrew laughed out loud. Andrew then stretched his other hand to him and pulled Louis in a bro hug. After few times, when everyone became quite normal, Veronica squealed in joy and said, "Oh my God! I can''t believe that Lisa is none other than our sister-in-law." "Yes, me too Vero. Not only we get our brother back but there is a new addition in our group. Our beautiful sister-in-law, Lisa." Lucinda too cheered up. Willa shook her head in denial and said, "No guys, you''re forgetting the bonus here. Our soon to be born little niece or nephew." "Oh, yeah! You''re right. It''d be fun to have a little baby in our team." Veronica jumped in excitement. And how could Reuben leave a chance to tease his dear fiance! Reuben gave her a naughty wink and said grinning from ear to ear, "Babe! If you want to give a playmate to the baby, we can make one too.." Veronica''s cheeks become red in shyness and she couldn''t retort back at him on this point. "What do you mean by making a baby? We''ll have one before you guys." Henry joined Reuben as he teased Lucinda. Lucinda too blushed profusely and hid her face in Henry''s chest. "No..no.. Guys, you''re wrong here. We''ll be the first one to announce the good news." Neil proudly announced, embarrassing Willa completely and making others laugh. "Fine.. fine.. Enough of this now. I want to hear about Andrew and Lisa''s love story." Diana interrupted them. Everyone got excited and took their own seats while Andrew just stared at Lisa with love in his eyes. Lisa too smiled back at him and narrated, "After a year or two of that incident, I was out to buy some household stuffs when I met your brother first. I was getting annoyed with so many bags when Drew had helped me in holding them.. He also offered me a ride back to my home and I agreed. As I told him the address, we found out that both of we live in the same locality.. From then on, the numbers of our small meetings increased and we started to spend more time with each other. Eventually we fell in love with each other but was skeptical to profess it because of our past.. Finally with a great courage, both of us revealed our past to each other and we came to know that both of us had suffered a lot. After dating for few months, your brother proposed me for marriage and I accepted it.. As you can see now, I''m now pregnant with a cute baby, completely ready to enter in the most special phase of parenthood." Hearing their simple yet cute love story, everyone smiled and hooted an "Awwwww!!" which made both of them blush hard. "So now that we came to know about everything, I''m curious about something. If you kept on hiding from us for so many years¡­ Then why the sudden change in your plan? Why you decided to come back again?" Neil asked with a frown. Andrew smiled at him and said while caressing Lisa''s bulging stomach, "Well, we came back to city S because of our child. We thought that he or she deserves every happiness in her or his life so we are here now.. However, we never planned to meet you guys so soon. We have thought to solve some problem of ours first before facing you guys¡­ It''s Reuben who had found me first and forced me to meet you guys so that I can give you guys the compensation of all my lost time.." Chapter 380 - Youre impossible... "It''s Reuben who had found me first and forced me to meet you guys so that I can give you guys the compensation of all my lost time.." "What! Bennie had brought you here?" Veronica exclaimed in surprise with the new found information. She then pondered over a while and when her mind finally got the result of it''s hard work, Veronica almost screamed, "That means¡­you hadn''t gone for any business meetings but went to fetch Andrew and Lisa back?" Reuben nodded at her grinning like a fool and said, "Yes, you''re right babe. But I was not alone in this task. Neil helped a lot to find him out.." "Neil??" Henry asked in an unbelievable tone. "Yes... Actually he was the one who did the most of the job. I just gave my men the instructions." Reuben said. Andrew also became curious about it and asked, "Yeah.. Guys, I too want to know about this. I mean, how did you both find me when I hid myself really well?? I only gave a small clue to Reuben few days ago but nothing more than it." Neil chuckled at him and said, "Well, that is a secret between us." "What do you mean?" Louis asked in confusion. Reuben smirked and replied, "Well, brother Andrew... You forgot that you are the one who had trained us at the start of Secret 7... You thought you gave us a clue! But no, we had already found out about it a long ago. We were just waiting for the right moment to come to bring you here... But before that, you had already showed yourself to us, making our work more easy." Andrew furrowed his eyebrows and stated, "Wait a moment! I can''t understand anything. You had already traced my location before I could give you any clue about my existence." Reuben nodded his head smilingly and replied, "Yes! Actually Neil had hidden a quite big secret from all of us for one year which no one was aware about. Not even me.. I just became aware about it few months ago. And then I confronted him and he told me everything about that particular secret. Then we started working together to find you." Neil also agreed with Reuben and described, "Around one and half year ago, I went for a business conference outside of the country. And Andrew too joined there.. I had no idea about him that time. But at the last day of the trip, I got a glimpse of Andrew which fell like a bomb on me. I never expected him to be alive... But before I could follow him, he got vanished away from there. I couldn''t able to find him again. However, I was damn sure that it was Andrew... So after coming back, I told my men to search about the incident six years ago which led our brother to fake his death. And finally when I came to know about the truth, I became momentarily angry on him and stopped searching for him." Andrew looked at Neil in shock whereas Lucinda''s face become pale hearing that her brother knew what happened six years ago. Reuben analysed it, so to divert their attention, he continued the story, "Later when I came to know about it, I make Neil understand about the importance of finding Andrew and soon we started working on it.. Few days earlier of our engagement, I got to know that he''s coming back here with his wife and also saw a picture of him with Lisa. But Lisa''s face wasn''t shown properly. But when Lisa attended our engagement party, I could notice similarities between her and the woman in the picture with Andrew. My confusion turned into confirmation when she told us about her surname and the country where she lived which matches exactly with Andrew''s.. Then I asked Tom to follow her car and as we have planned, we found their location yesterday after the party. Today morning, I visited them with Tom and emotionally blackmail them to come here. And the rest is the history." Everyone was impressed with the intelligence that the two brothers had shown because of which, they got united with their brother again. "I must say this, Reuben and Neil. I thought that my husband is the most intelligent man of the world. But today you guys proved me wrong. Because you guys are far more better than him." Lisa praised them with a glint of appreciation in her eyes. Andrew frowned at this and glared at his two brothers before pouting cutely at his wife, "Honey.. You can''t praise other men in front of your husband!" Lisa gave him an ''are you serious'' kind of look and said, "Drew.. They are not some other men. For god''s sake, all the men present here are your younger brothers.!!" "But still they are men nah baby!!" Andrew tried to justify his words. "You''re impossible!" Lisa exclaimed in irritation, making others laugh at their sweet argument. This continued for few more hours as they joked around, pulling each other''s leg but it suddenly stopped when they heard the door get opened by a ''thud'' and a cheering voice resonated in the air. "Hey guys! You''re having fun without me. Thank God that I had come to have lunch with Mom here and got notified that you guys are also here. So came to meet you all." Amelia said standing at the door. All of them were astonished to see Amelia standing there as they knew that it was not the right time for her to meet Andrew. But before they could say something, another voice of a middle class woman interrupted them which brought tears into Andrew''s eyes. "Amy! How many times have I told you not to shout like this. But you never listen to me. Look how.." Mrs. Jones was scolding Amelia for her loud behaviour when her eyes fell on a particular person and she gasped in shock.. "Andrew¡­" Chapter 381 - Make your husband cry... Mrs. Jones was scolding Amelia for her loud behaviour when her eyes fell on a particular person and she gasped in shock.. "Andrew¡­" A small whisper left from Mrs. Jones'' mouth as she looked at him with disbelief. Amelia too heard her mother but couldn''t understand why she had suddenly taken her brother''s name. She noticed that Mrs. Jones was staring at a specific direction. So she too looked at there and what she saw next, made her shiver in horror. "Mom.." Andrew muttered in a low voice as he took slow and unsteady steps towards his mother. Mrs. Jones thought that her eyes were playing a game with her. It couldn''t be possible!! Her son was dead, right? Then how could he be standing there all fit and fine right in front of her! Was it a dream? Even if it was a dream of hers, she didn''t want to wake up from the beautiful dreamland where she could finally got a glimpse of her dead son in a lively form. Andrew stopped right before his mother and looked at her with mixed emotions. There was pain, hurt, relief and mostly love for his mother which made his eyes wet with tears. Mrs. Jones slowly cupped his right cheek and mumbled in a low voice, "Andrew.. Is it really you, my son?" Andrew caught her hand into his and saud while nodding his head, "Yes Mom, It''s me. Your Andrew." Mrs. Jones stared at him for a while in bewilderment before taking her hand back from his grip which made Andrew frowned at her confusedly. "Mom¡­" Before he could complete his sentence, a loud sound of a slap echoed through the room, making everyone shocked to the bottom of their hearts. Andrew held his left cheeks exactly where his mother had slapped him hard but didn''t complain. Because he again deserved this! "Don''t call me Mom.. You faked your death to all of us and now you have the audacity to call me your Mom." Mrs. Jones shouted at him. Grabbing his collar in her hand, she shook him with all her power and yelled loudly at him, "Where were you these days? Do you know how much pain we had to suffer just because of you? There was not even a single day when I haven''t cried for you.. Not only me, but your dad too was very much hurt. And now you''re showing yourself in front of me as if nothing had happened." Holding his mother''s shoulder, Andrew bowed his head in shame and apologized immediately, "I''m sorry Mom. I''m sorry for everything. If I hadn''t behave like a dumbass six years ago, then you didn''t have to go through this torture and pain, Mom. I''m the sole reason for all of this blunder." Saying this, Andrew hugged his mother and started crying immensely. Mrs. Jones too got melted when she felt the warmth coming from her son''s body which was too much familiar to her and she too sobbed hugging him tightly. Parting from each other, Mrs. Jones again cupped his face with her both hands and started kissing his whole face like a mad woman.. Actually, she was trying to confirm that her son was really there and it was not any kind of dream! Andrew absorbed all the love which his mother was pouring on to him. Only he knew, how much he missed the motherly touch and kisses of Mrs. Jones. He was now feeling like he had got all the happiness in his life and he was now flying on the cloud nine.. After Mrs. Jones got satisfied with her motherly kiss, she caressed his head and said, "You became more handsome, you know?" "I know Mom. But als, I got a surprise for you which would make you instantly happy." Andrew said. "What is it, Drew?" Mrs. Jones asked being puzzled. Andrew smiled at her and signed Lisa to come towards him which she happily did. Wrapping his hand around his wife, Andrew introduced her to him, "I know Mom that you have already met her at the party. But you don''t know her real identity yet¡­ She is Lisa Mom, my wife and your daughter-in-law. And you are soon going to become grandparent too." Mrs. Jones looked at both of them in shock and amazement for few minutes and then a bright smile crept up on her lips. Pushing Andrew away harshly, she engulfed Lisa in a motherly hug and caressed her back lovingly which made Lisa sob in happiness. Pulling up from herself, Mrs. Jones wiped off Lisa''s tears and said, "Don''t cry Lisa. It''s not good for the baby''s health. Moreover, it''s time for us to make your husband cry for his past sins. You should just enjoy the show of me teaching him a good class." Lisa laughed after hearing this whereas Andrew huffed at them, "Woah!! Now that you got your daughter-in-law, you have already forgotten your own son." "Well bro. It''s common for every mothers in our group. Ica and I even haven''t married yet but still my Mom behave like she doesn''t have any son but a daughter. I have no value in her eyes anymore." Reuben said, acting to be pitiful. Veronica punched him on his arms which made him groan, making others laugh. "Obviously, we would prefer them over you guys. After all, daughters are far more better than sons. Actually, they are the best." Mrs. Jones took her daughters'' side. Veronica pinched on Reuben''s arm and glared at him, "You heard that?" Reuben adorably nodded her head which earned a chuckle from her. Amidst of all these drama, there was only one person who had mixed feelings in her heart. She was happy that her brother was alive but at the same time, an unknown kind of fear was rummaging into her heart. What if her secret got revealed now! Still hiding her worry, she slowly walked towards Andrew and called him, "Brother¡­ How are you?" Andrew turned his head towards her and looked at her coldly. Amelia tried to hug him in tightly only to get pushed rudely by Andrew as she fell on the floor with a ''thump''¡­ Chapter 382 - New Avatar... Andrew turned his head towards her and looked at her coldly. Amelia tried to hug him in tightly only to get pushed rudely by Andrew as she fell on the floor with a ''thump''¡­ Everyone was shocked to witness the new avatar of Andrew. He never used violence against any girl, specially when it was his own sister. Amelia and Mrs. Jones were equally surprised with Andrew''s behavior. They couldn''t even dream in their lives that Andrew could ever do something like this without any reason. He loved Amelia more than himself. He treated her more like his daughter rather than a sister.. And now that he was meeting her after so many years, he should have hugged her tightly and pampered her to the fullest. Then why was the sudden change of behaviour? He was not someone to behave like a delusional person.. So there must be something secret that he already knew which led him to this! "Andrew..!! What happened son? Why are you behaving like this? Why did you push your sister? I didn''t expect this from you." Mrs. Jones scolded her son, helping Amelia to get up. Andrew mockingly chuckled and said, "You want to ask me why did I push her, Mom? But before that, ask her, why did she play a dirty game six years ago which broke out friendship and let me leave my family and friends just because of a misunderstanding.." "What are you talking about Andrew? What had she done six years ago? And what kind of misunderstandings you''re talking about? Most importantly, what is the relation between you leaving the country and Amy''s deeds!" Mrs. Jones asked in a confusion. "Oh! Trust me Mom, if I said that your daughter is the only reason because of the distance I had created in these years with you guys... She is the only culprit for whom I''m still living in agony for my past decision though my friends had already forgiven me." Andrew almost shouted in anger. He was too much furious to even speak properly, totally contrast to his always calm demeanor. Though Mrs. Jones had no idea about the reason of Andrew blaming her daughter, but she was sure that whatever her son was saying, was absolutely right. Because she too had a gut feeling and a little bit of doubt harboring in her heart after the sudden disappearance of Andrew. It was revealed that Andrew had last met with Amelia before leaving country K. And knowing about her daughter''s selfish personality with a hint of arrogance always, Mrs. Jones became confirmed that Amelia had really something to do with all this. But she won''t take any decision before hearing the whole truth. She would listen to both of the parties before coming into a conclusion. So without wasting any time, she just looked at Andrew and asked, "Tell me Drew about the reason of you faking your death. How is Amy related to all of these?" Andrew looked at his mother and holding her hands, he gently gave a squeeze before saying, "I''ll tell you everything Mom but you have to promise that you''ll not break down after that." Mrs. Jones shook her head in refusal and said, "I''ll not Drew. Your mother is not that much weak to break down so easily. If Amy really did something worse then I''ll myself give her the punishment she deserves." Nodding his head at her, Andrew helped her to sit on a couch whereas Veronica made Lisa sit beside her. Veronica was very much confused that time but she knew that something big had happened which might consider Lucinda too as she had observed both of their changed behaviors in the party. Whereas Amelia was shivering in fear as she knew that her bucket of lies were going to be revealed in front of everyone soon. She would not have any way to escape.. She was very much scared in her present circ.u.mstances but she was sure that it would worsen more after Andrew disclose all of her plans. Already her friends were giving her menacing glare without even knowing about the truth. It confirmed that her life after getting out of here would be full of hurdles and hatred by her friends. But she was more scared of her parents, specially her mother. She very well knew that Mrs. Jones was not like other rich mother who will tolerate her sins. Andrew gave a sharp glare to Amelia before starting to narrate the whole story, "It was six years ago when this happened. All of us were extremely happy with our lives. We siblings were spending our time together doing all sorts of stupid stuffs.. But one day suddenly everything changed. And the change was in a negative way which was solely created by Amelia." Everyone focused on Andrew while Amelia just gulped her saliva in fear. "Amy had always a soft corner from the start for Henry. I know that Henry was also aware of it but he didn''t give her any kind of encouragement on this... He always tried to shun away this fact as he treated Amelia like a sister. And one of the reason for this was, Henry had a soft corner for Lucinda from his teenage years... Amy too knew about it and she was extremely jealous over the matter. Henry would always tag around Lucy and Lucy too loved to be with him. Their little hearts were kept on blooming into something beautiful for each other." Andrew paused for a minute... Taking a deep breath, he then continued, "This too didn''t go unnoticed by Amy. She started hating Lucinda more because of her attachment to Henry. And her this despise led her to do something so wrong that it not only ruined our lives but also forced me to do something that I still regret about.." "And what is that bro?" Veronica asked calmly. Andrew starred at her for few seconds and stated, "She decided to take revenge on Lucy by the most meanest way. She mixed aphrodisiac in Henry''s juice¡­." Chapter 383 - Drowning in my own guilt... Andrew starred at her for few seconds and stated, "She decided to take revenge on Lucy by the most meanest way. She mixed aphrodisiac in Henry''s juice¡­." A gasp left out from Veronica and Willa''s mouth whereas Henry''s eyes glinted with anger. Amy felt that there was not much time for her to stay happy anymore and she bowed her head in guilt. "Aphrodisiac?" Mrs. Jones asked in disbelief that her daughter could really do something like that. Andrew nodded and then said, "Yes.. It was a party night of us. We were all busy in dancing and playing games when Amelia took the chance to add the drug in Henry''s drink. She then gave the spiked drink to Henry which he drank without thinking too much. Later, she took him to one of the rooms so that she could seduce him and have her way with Henry to let Lucinda out of his life. But her plan got failed when Lucinda took me to the room to search for Henry as he was missing from some time already. And the scene I saw there, made my eyes bulged out in rage. Amy was sitting on Henry''s lap, trying to kiss him but he was just in daze. I stormed in the room and pulled her out of Henry''s lap. Amy got scared seeing me and she tried to find excuses to save herself from me. And then she came out with a wicked plan. She told me that it was Henry who had brought her there and tried to force on her which I easily believed being a protective brother as I thought that my sister could never tell a lie about this kind of matter which includes her self-respect." As Andrew revealed this, everyone''s mouth opened wide in shock. Whereas Henry was completely traumatized with the information. "That clarifies why I was feeling a huge headache the morning after that party. It was paining me so hell that I thought someone was hammering me on my head. Because of the strong drug, I wasn''t even able to remember anything about past night!" Henry said in exasperation as he remembered that day. He was beyond angry right now but he chose to stay quiet because wanted to know the full story first before taking any further action. "What happened then?" Henry asked without showing too much emotions in it. Lucinda tightened her hold in Henry''s hand which reciprocated with a small squeeze on her palms. Sighing deeply, Andrew stated, "As I told you that, I completely believed my sister and my fury increased on you. But Amy didn''t stop there, she said more than I expected. She told me that it was Reuben and Neil''s bet for Henry to made Amy fall in Henry''s trap. This took the last bit of rationality from me and bolted angrily towards Henry. Before I could punch Henry back and blue, Lucinda stopped me by holding my hand and tried to reason with me that my friends could never do that to a girl. But I being an idiot, he pushed her and stormed towards Henry again. When Lucinda finally said something which prohibited me from hitting him. She demanded two days from me to prove that Henry, Neil and Reuben were innocent. I gave her the chance and left with Amy. But in these two days, I insulted my three brothers with my venom filled words in front of anyone. They were utterly confused about my behavior but still didn''t shout back on me as they loved me too much. I did everything to make their lives hell in that two days but I didn''t know that it''d turn to be my biggest mistake for which I will continue regretting for my whole life." Andrew was now again in tears along with Lucinda. Reuben and Henry couldn''t believe their ears that their brother could think of them being so low that they would play with a girl''s dignity just because of a stupid bet. Truthfully, they were very hurt! Their elder brother whom they had loved and respected so much, had misjudged them on such a harsh matter! Andrew noticed the gloomy faces of their brothers but didn''t try to justified himself. He just took a deep breath and continued, "After two days, Lucy came with the CCTV footage where I could clearly see that it was Amy who had spiked the drink. I was utterly shocked with this. I couldn''t believe my eyes that the sister whom I had trusted over my friends, would betray me like this.. Pain and regret was eating me alive and I became completely numb that time. I had no idea how to repent on my actions. So I decided one thing which I was able to think that time. I was decided to leave the country and stay far away from you guys as I didn''t have the bravery to face you guys again. But before leaving, I went to meet Amy and fit for the first time in my life, I had slapped someone. After bashing and scolding her over again, I left for the airport without anyone''s notice and left the country forever. I was in country X for few years then I shifted to country Z. There I met Lisa and about rest you guys already know. But trust me, I had always kept a track on you guys to see how you guys were doing. Not a day had passed without remembering you all. But I prohibited myself to come face to face with you as I was drowning in my own guilt. However, when I came to know about Amy coming back to country K after years which was specifically after the news of Henry and Lucy''s engagement, I had a hunch that she had some dirty plans in her mind to ruin the peace between them... So to save their relationship from Amy''s evil clutch, I came back to city S and now I''m clarifying about the most unbelievable truth of my life to you all.." Chapter 384 - Get burnt into her fire... "So to save their relationship from Amy''s evil clutch, I came back to city S and now I''m clarifying about the most unbelievable truth of my life to you all... Now it''s on all of you if you guys would forgive me or not. But one thing I can assure you both Lucy and Henry. I''ll not let Amelia create any problems in your life. You both will live happily like you''re doing now.. Even if that means that I''ve to stay away from you guys." At the end, Andrew''s eyes were full of tears as he thought of the pain he had to suffer again if his friends disagreed to forgive him again. Everyone was silent for a moment as they needed some time to digest all the truth in one day. They too couldn''t able to believe that their friend Amy who they thought of their own sister could do that to them. Although Neil was aware of the truth from one year ago but still hearing it from Andrew, it pained him more than ever. Reuben too was very much shocked to know this bitchy side of Amelia. It was paining him to even think that how much more Amy could fall low in her act just to get what she wanted. Veronica was rubbing his palm, trying to control his emotions... Whereas Henry didn''t know just what to say or how to react. Such a big blame was put on him but he was thankful to Lucinda who had proved him innocent without letting him know anything though they were not even near to being a couple then.. He tilted his head towards Lucinda and looked into her eyes lovingly. He intertwined their fingers together while Lucy gave him an assured smile. Right that moment, something hit Henry like a bolt of fire!! Frowning a little, he asked, "Lucy.. That day, when we were eating in our home and I told you about Amelia calling me. You suddenly got tensed and started asking me that if I would ever leave you or not.. Was it because of this? You were insecure about Amelia''s dirty planning and plotting. You already knew what she was about to do with me that night, which is why you got scared, right?" Lucinda reluctantly nodded her head and said, "Yes.. After that day, I always had a fear inside me¡­what if she come back and try to snatch you from me once again... But now I don''t fear her at all. I know how much we love each other and no force could separate our strong love strings¡­ Even yesterday in party, she tried to threaten me to leave you but I gave her a good reply about it. I showed Amy the actual place of her in our life. So don''t worry, love. I don''t have anymore insecurities in my heart regarding you." Henry smiled at her which she returned with her own but they failed to notice that someone was utterly silent from the moment Andrew was done with his talking.. Mrs. Jones was burning in anger inside her heart and she didn''t want anything at that time apart from slapping the shit out of her daughter. And finally, she did so¡­ Getting up from the couch, she harshly pulled Amelia up from her seat and gave her a tight slap on her cheek. Amelia didn''t expect the slap to come so suddenly from her mother. So she was taken aback with the force that Mrs. Jones had put on the slap. She fell on the floor, hitting her arm lightly on the corner table. But that was not the end of it. Mrs. Jones again pulled her up harshly and gave another tight slap on Amy''s right cheek. Blood started to ooze out from the corner of her lips along with fresh tears from her eyes. Gripping her elbow harshly, she jerked Amy''s body a little and shouted on her, "I didn''t know that I''ve gave birth to such a despicable woman. I''ve never thought that my sweet little Amy would grow up to be an evil woman who would try to destroy other''s life.. I''m feeling ashamed of myself that I''m your mother. From today onwards, I don''t have any daughter with the name Amelia Jones. I just hate you.." "Mom.." Amelia cried in front of her mother as she was too much hurt with whatever she had just said. "Don''t you dare call me Mom. I already have warned you. I only have one son Andrew and my daughter-in-law Lisa who will fulfil the loneliness of me not having a daughter." Mrs. Jones screamed at her. Amelia then looked at her friends and begged, "Please guys. Forgive me for just once. You at least understand my situation. I love Henry, that''s why I did those things." Veronica sarcastically chuckled at her and said in disgust, "You call this love? Love doesn''t mean to force yourself on Henry and later defame him.. If you would have really loved Henry then you''d be happy to see him with the person who brought colours into his life. You were nothing but just a selfish and overpossessive girl." She then turned towards Andrew and scolded him, "And you my dear brother¡­ Didn''t you just promise us few hours ago that you''ll never leave us again. Then how could again speak about going away from us?" Veronica''s anger alarm had already started ringing aloud. And everyone knew that it was not the time to trigger her wrath more if they didn''t want to get burnt into her fire. Reuben knew the process of cooling down his fiance''s anger but he didn''t do so. After all that Amelia really deserved this... Whereas about Andrew, he would not stop her but join her in giving a good piece of mind to him. "You know what, Andrew! I thought that you think of us as your own brothers. But I think, I was wrong about that. You never had treated us as your brothers. Because if you had, then you wouldn''t have done that..." Chapter 385 - Huge enemy base... "You know what, Andrew! I thought that you think of us as your own brothers. But I think, I was wrong about that. You never had treated us as your brothers. Because if you had, then you wouldn''t have done that... After knowing about the whole truth, I am really hurt because you didn''t trust us. But if we see from a brother''s perspective, you trusting on your sister was nothing wrong.. But the way you had blamed us was not at all acceptable. You should have talked to us face to face calmly and ask us if we really had a bet over such kind of nasty things. But no!! You didn''t do that. You lived on your own assumption. Okay, still I agree with your justification of being a protective brother. But even after you got the CCTV footage, what did you do? You just ran away without having a proper conversation with us?" Reuben said in a grim voice. Andrew bowed his head in shame as the words of Reuben were piercing through his heart, giving him immense pain. But he couldn''t do anything as he didn''t leave any position for himself to retort back on Reuben''s statement. Reuben kept on looking at Andrew for a few seconds blankly and then again started, "You were just a coward that time Andrew. I thought that you had changed completely in these few years. After all, you''re going to be a dad soon. But I was again wrong!! You again chose to escape from us when you thought that we would start hating you after knowing the truth. But guess what? None of us hate you. We just want our brother to live with us... Even if you don''t agree with it, then you can go anywhere you want, but we''ll not let our sister-in-law and future nephew or niece to be away from our family. Right guys?" Reuben asked his friends. "Absolutely right." All of them said in chorus. Andrew felt happy tears running from his eyes and he just whispered, "Thank you guys.. Thanks a lot.." Henry walked towards him and kneeling in front of him, he said, "We really don''t blame you brother. But we''re just hurt because you didn''t trust us enough. However, let''s just forget about the past and start a new... From today onwards, we''ll live like the old time.. But yeah. Let me announce one thing clearly today and right now. I can never be friends with Amy again. After what she had done, she had no existence in my life." Amelia felt her heart shattered into pieces after hearing Henry''s rude words but it also made her understand that whatever she had done was wrong.. She was now repenting on her past mistakes.! "I leave Amelia''s future''s decision on your hand Lucy as she had hurt you the most. But if you take my suggestion, then I think I should send her back to country M again." Mrs. Jones said. Lucinda thought for a while and then stated with hatred towards Amelia, "I don''t think, it''ll be a good idea, Aunty. If she go back to country M then it''d be easy for her to forget everything and live her life happily.. So I want her to stay here. None of her friends or family members will talk to her. She''d be getting the best punishment of her life when she''d get ignored by those who were once her friends and family.." "But what if she again try to harm you and Henry?" Mrs. Jones asked in concern. Lucinda smiled at her and replied, "If I was the previous Lucy then I might get scared of her. But right now I''m the fiance and soon to be wife of Henry Johnson. I have full trust in our love that no one can separate us anymore." Henry was impressed with his fiance''s confidence and kissed her on the head while Lucy just smiled at him.. "Mom, you go back home with Amelia. We have something important to discuss. And don''t tell anything to Dad right now. I''ll tell him about everything myself." Andrew said to his mother. Mrs. Jones nodded and said, "Fine. But you''ve to promise me that you''re going to live with me in our Jones Mansion. No more staying alone... Lisa now needs someone to take care of her when she''s heavily pregnant. And who could be better than a mother itself?" Lisa smiled at her and said, "Don''t worry Mom. If Drew doesn''t want to stay with you, then I''ll leave him to stay alone and come to you. I''ll only live with my Mom from now on." Mrs. Jones chuckled while Andrew just glared at his wife playfully... "I''ll be waiting for both of you then. Kids, come for dinner tomorrow with your parents." Mrs. Jones said and everyone agreed with her. Mrs. Jones smiled ar them and left from there, dragging Amelia with her. After they were gone, Neil asked, "So what do you want to talk about?" Andrew gritted his teeth in anger and said, "Frank Howard... I want to give him all the pain that my wife had suffered while staying with him." Louis who was silent till now, too felt his anger rising up as he said, "I too want to take revenge on him on behalf of Diana.." Myra who was quietly listening to them, suddenly spoke out, "I also want to give my brother Alex justice for his untimely death." Reuben gave a glance to each one of them and then said, "Seems like that Frank already have a huge enemy base. Hmmm.. So why not show him the power of us?" "But how? From the descriptions I heard from you guys about him, I''m absolutely sure that he''s not someone to get easily manipulate.. He''s both dangerous and clever. I think it''d be really hard for us to catch him. And even if we are successful in this, then there''s no guarantee that we''d get all the proofs against him." Jack said, thinking really hard. "Don''t worry about the proofs. I''ve already collected more than we needed to summon him. But the problem is¡­" Chapter 386 - Priceless to witness... "Don''t worry about the proofs. I''ve already collected more than we needed to summon him. But the problem is¡­" As Andrew paused for a while in between his sentence, everyone''s curious eyes was only on him.. "What is the problem?" Reuben asked with his eyebrows furrowed together. "But the problem is that he knows everyone of us because of our business. He is well aware of the fact that we all are very much powerful and have very good connection with each other... Now that you guys already became public about your relationship and Diana also has become a part of our group, so Frank must have seen the bond between all of you.. So if we give him a business proposal, specially now then he would definitely doubt on our motives. He''s like a cunning fox so he''ll try his best to find out about our actual reason behind it.." Andrew said looking at everyone. Henry tapped his finger on his chin and said, "Yes... You''re absolutely right about it. If we sent him any kind of proposal to bring him to city S or to know about his location, he''ll not only try to find out about us but maybe he''ll get alarmed beforehand which we can''t afford at this moment.." Neil too thought over it and said, "That means we need someone who is not connected with us directly but will help us in it.." "That''s impossible. We can''t find someone like this. Moreover, is their any guaranty that the person won''t betray us?" Jack enquired them and everyone fell in silence as it was completely true. They couldn''t trust anyone except their close ones.. And all of their close ones are so much well associated with each other that it wouldn''t take time for Frank to understand that there was something fishy in their plan. "I agree on it. But the question is now, who would be able initiate our plan without backstabbing us?" Louis asked. Everyone became puzzled and started to hover their minds for new ideas to make their plan fruitful so that Frank could get his punishment.. Meanwhile, Reuben asked a million dollar question to Andrew, "Can you tell me if Frank knows about Lisa''s marriage with you or if he has any kind of idea about her residence or lifestyle after escaping from there?" "No, he doesn''t. After Lisa and I got together, I took care of everything about her security so that Frank doesn''t know about her. But I''m not sure if he had found out about her being related to us after yesterday''s party." Andrew muttered in a doubtful tone. At this, Reuben smiled and replied, "You don''t need to worry about that. As I already had a hunch of Lisa being your wife, I strictly informed the media to not let any news out about her to the public.. Knowing my actual influence over the whole industry, they wouldn''t dare to reveal anything till I ask them to. So we''re relieved on the matter of Lisa.." "Hmmm... That''s right. Then Lisa can really be a secret part of our strategy." Jack said. "Yes.. But now we need to think about the person who can help us in it.." Henry reminded them about their previous conversation. As everyone was busy in their thoughts, Veronica''s mind was going through something else... And suddenly a light bulb lit on inside her brain and she happily announced, "What about the person who would decide on helping in this matter is not a boy but a girl!" "What..what do you mean by that? How can it be a girl when no one we know has a sharp brain to lead our plan and make sure that Frank would fall under the trap." Louis asked again looking confusedly at Veronica. Veronica just shrugged her shoulder and replied confidently while wiggling her eyebrows quizzically, "Did you forget that I''m also a girl?" "Vero¡­ We know that you''re a girl and you''re amazing in planning and plotting but you are forgetting that even if Frank doesn''t know anyone, he would definitely know about your identity of being the heiress of Lopez family." Lucinda pointed it out. As Lucinda said it, everyone nodded at her because it was actually a very good point to not forget!! But Reuben was the only one there, who was not satisfied with it as he knew that if his Ica had mentioned something like involving herself in it directly to bring down Frank, the it''d definitely mean that she had already something in her mind... She''d never suggest anything without thinking about the pros and cons. That''s how much clever she was! Veronica just wickedly smiled at everyone and asked cynically, "Have you guys forgotten that I''m not only the heiress of Lopez family but also a CEO of a big company?" "We too didn''t forget about it, but Vero¡­ even if you''re the CEO of Creation, it was not known by anyone. Only we have the idea about you being the CEO." Willa said. "What!! You''re the CEO of the biggest multimedia company, Creation." Diana almost shouted, couldn''t able to believe her ears. Myra too was shocked as she could never imagine that the girl Veronica whom she had thought of being a simple employee, had such a big responsibility on her shoulder.. She was too much shocked to even react after knowing that Veronica was the mysterious founder of Creation whom no one had any idea about.. Veronica giggled at them while Reuben just hugged her shoulder tightly and proudly announced, "Yes, my Ica is the mysterious CEO of Creation.." "I can''t just believe it.." Myra whispered. "Me too.." Diana too muttered unbelievably, making everyone chuckled at their reactions. Lisa too smiled at them but again became serious when she remembered the main topic they were discussing about and asked, "So Vero.. What were you talking about? Willa was right that no one knows about your identity of being the CEO. So how will you trap my so called disgusting father in your plan?" "That''s the biggest advantage here Lisa. No one is aware about my real identity. They just think of me as a simple employee. So if I make a proposal for Frank then he wouldn''t even doubt anything.. He would just think like others that I''m also impressed by the progress of his company and want to have a collaboration between us.. And after he finally fell in our trap and we got to know about his whereabouts, that will be the perfect time to reveal about the biggest truth of my life. I''m sure his expression will be priceless to witness at that moment." Veronica narrated her whole plan to her friends. They were all impressed with her idea and agreed to it immediately.. But being a protective boyfriend, Reuben didn''t forget to ask her, "Babe, are you sure about this?" Veronica smiled at him and replied, "Yes baby.. I''m damn sure. There can be no one else other than me who can handle his cunning mind.." "Okay then.. it''s final but remember that I''ll always be by your side." Reuben said looking into her eyes. Veronica smiled back at him and said, "I know that babe.." Chapter 387 - Mission Frank... Veronica smiled back at him and said, "I know that babe.." "Not only you Reuben, but all of us will stand by her as a shield to protect her from all the danger." Andrew too assured. "Yup.. After all, she is our little sister and we''ll not let anything happen to her.." Neil too joined with others while Henry just nodded with them. Veronica smiled at her brothers who were as much protective over her as Reuben.. As everyone started making a plan out of it, Reuben''s mind wandered around only one matter which was equally very much important. Pondering over it for a while, Reuben looked at Veronica confusedly and asked about his queries, "Ica.. I know that you''ve already planned everything. But what about your secret.? You always hid about you being the CEO of Creation from the start. What about if something happens in middle and we''re forced to reveal about your identity to the world?" Veronica smiled at Reuben as she clearly understood that he was just worried about her. After all, it had took a lot of troll on her to keep this secret hidden from everyone for this long!! Cupping his face in her hand, Veronica said, "You don''t need to overthink about it honey, it''s been enough of me playing hide and seek with the people.. Now I want to come out of this game and rule the business world being, acknowledged by everyone as the CEO of Creation.." Reuben was actually happy that Veronica was finally ready to disclose about the truth of her being the CEO of Creation.. He really wanted his beloved to be recognized on the basis of her hard work but not as only the heiress of Lopez Industries or the fiance of Reuben Smith.. So he just kissed her on the forehead and said, "I''m happy for you and proud too.." The love emanating from them was very much obvious to the eyes of the viewers as they could completely feel it. Andrew beamed seeing his little siblings being so much in love with each other and asked, "So mission Frank is on from now, right?" Everyone looked at him and they cheered together, "Yes.. Mission Frank is on.." ---- After that eventful day, everyone departed to their home with a promise to meet each other next day at Jones Mansion with their families. And now they had a big task to tell the whole story of Lisa and Andrew to their lovely parents. They also needed to inform them about the upcoming circ.u.mstances which would be both tough and rough!! So they decided to visit their own parents right after leaving Fusion but later they rejected the idea as they wanted to give them a surprise on the spot.. So they just called them to inform that they were invited in Jones Mansion for a family dinner.. They knew their parents would be utterly shocked with the revelation but they''d be extremely happy with it. They all loved Andrew as their own son so it was expected from them to be angry on him for his big trick. But their happiness on the news of Andrew being alive would definitely overpower their small amount of anger.. ---- Love-Paradise... Veronica was lying beside Reuben, resting her head on his bare chest. Reuben had cocooned her in his arms completely after their love making.. They were just laying on the bed comfortably absorbing the warmth from each other''s body after a big hectic day where not only one, nor two but four revelations had been occurred.. "I still can''t believe that Andrew brother is alive and Lisa is our sister-in-law with a baby of them on the way." Veronica whispered, making circles on his bare chest. Reuben just rubbed her n.a.k.e.d back and kissed on her forehead before replying smilingly, "Though it''s quite unbelievable but it''s the truth." Veronica too smiled and replied, "Hmm.. Shocking yet the happiest truth of our lives." Tugging her hair strands behind her hair, Reuben asked being a little serious, "Babe.. Now that we''re already engaged, do you have any plan for our marriage? I mean when do you want us to get married?" Veronica looked up abruptly at him the moment she heard about the word ''marriage''.. Stroking his right cheek fondly, she replied, "I can marry you, any moment you want me to, Honey.." Reuben chuckled at her and kissing her palm, he replied, "Me too babe. But I want our wedding to be the most beautiful one of the world. Because I want you to become Mrs. Smith like a queen.. You deserve all the happiness of the world, Love. And I really want everyone to remember the day when Reuben and Veronica got united by the vow of marriage. So tell me about a day." Veronica thought for a while but still couldn''t find any special day so she said, "Bennie.. How about I give you my answer tomorrow? I really can''t guess anything now." Grinning at her cute face, Reuben kissed her lips and said, "Okay fine. Now let''s sleep. It''s already late.." Veronica just nodded her head and pressed his head in Reuben''s chest as they entered their Dreamland peacefully. ---- Alonzo''s apartment... "Mom, please eat something now." Alonzo requested his mother who was just sitting in her room without eating or drinking. Still she didn''t give any response to him. Alonzo looked at his sister who stared back at him in helplessness. She really didn''t know what to say at that moment. She too was devastated with the news but controlled herself to be strong because of her mother. Myra sat beside her and tried to console her, "Mom.. Please eat something. If you don''t eat now then I''ll not eat too.. You know right, I have severe gastritis problem and if I skip meal for just once then it''ll be not be good for my health. Do you want me to fall ill?" Hearing the concerned voice of Myra, finally Mrs. Brown looked at her daughter and asked her, "Both of you hadn''t eaten anything yet? It''s already so late!" Chapter 388 - Magical to his ears... Hearing the concerned voice of Myra, finally Mrs. Brown looked at her daughter and asked her, "Both of you hadn''t eaten anything yet? It''s already so late!" Alonzo too sat in front of his mother on the bed and took her hand in his before saying, "Mom.. How can you expect us to eat anything without you? I know whatever happened today is quite a big shock for you but trust me¡­ Your, not having dinner won''t solve any problem Mom. But it''ll make your health worse. So please have your dinner." Mrs. Jones looked at both of her children and smiled weakly before nodding her head as she said, "Fine.. But you both have to eat with me.." Alonzo and Myra happily agreed with this as the three of them had their dinner with small talks.. --- Alonzo''s room... Alonzo sighed and rested his head on the headrest. Closing his eyes, he thought about the whole day incident and suddenly one teardrop fell from his eyes. No matter what, Mr. Brown was still his father and somewhere in his heart, he felt the pain for him.. He was busy reminiscing about the day''s event when someone''s face flashed into his mind. She was beautiful, without any pores on her skin. A natural kind of glow was radiating from her whole body, making her look more enchanting. Alonzo was truly mesmerized with her beauty. Her voice sounded so magical to his ears that he wanted to hear it again.. But how? Then he remembered that the girl whose beauty had already attracted him, had given him her number.. So without waiting for a second, he hold his phone and dialed the number. But to his bad luck, even after it ringing for a while, she didn''t pick it up.. Feeling sad, he cut the call and keeping his phone on the side table, slept off, thinking about a new day when he''d finally be out of all this nightmares and could lead his life happily with someone special who would love him wholeheartedly... ---- Jones Mansion... Mrs. Jones had welcomed her son and daughter-in-law very happily. She was so much happy that finally she''d be able to spend some time with her son along with her beautiful daughter-in-law. All of them were already done with their dinner and now was sitting in the living room, talking nonchalantly. Everyone was happy, leaving only Amelia who was sitting their silently with a sad face as no one was involving her into a conversation. She was feeling like she was an outsider in the house as everyone was ignoring her purposefully. But she was still happy that her brother was back. She had always blamed herself internally for her brother''s death. Now that he was finally here, she was happy. Not only that, today she came to understand something by watching the couples that love was not some kind of material to easily snatch away. You need to feel it in your heart. Maybe she really loved Henry but he didn''t love her back!! For him, it was always Lucinda who had won his heart. She was the stupid one here to believe that she could stay Henry away from her if she could create misunderstandings between them. But today, Veronica''s words resonated in her ear. If she''d have really loved Henry then she''d never play dirty tricks on him six years ago. It was all in the past and now she wanted to forget it all and move on her life. But before that, she need to apologise to everyone whom she had hurt, specially Lucinda.. While she was thinking this, Mrs. Jones said, "Lisa, you must be tired by now. Go child and take some rest." Lisa smiled and replied, "Mom, I''m still not tired. I just want to spend some time with you and talk to you to my heart''s content." Andrew smiled at his wife and pecked on her forehead, making Mrs. Jones beam at them. They kept talking when suddenly Mrs. Jones asked, "When are you going to tell about it to Dad?" Andrew sighed and said, "Mom, you''ve already called Dad to come here tomorrow to talk about Amy''s matter. Right? He even had booked his flight ticket already. So after he come back, I''ll give him the surprise along with other elders." "Hmm.. That seems to be a good idea. I can already imagine his joyful face after seeing you." Mrs. Jones said as she caressed his left cheek. She then moved a little bit close to Lisa and handed her the milk which was kept on the table before saying, "The milk is already chilled now. So now drink it without any complain. The saffron mixed in it is really good for both you and the baby''s health." Although Lisa made a face at first but one stern look from Mrs. Jones was enough to stop her from complaining. Giving her a sheepish smile, Lisa quietly drank the milk pressing her nose so the smell couldn''t make her vomit. Seeing her adorable act, both Mrs. Jones and Andrew chuckled at her while Amelia just smiled. After Lisa was done with it, Mrs. Jones ordered, "Now both of you go to sleep. It''s already late now. If you want to chat with me, you can do it tomorrow but before that, your rest is a must." "Okay Mom.. I understand. Good night then." Saying that, Lisa stood up from the couch with Andrew''s help and went inside their room. Amelia saw them leaving. Then she too turned towards her mother and muttered, "I''m going to my room too. Good night Mom." Mrs. Jones didn''t greet her back but only said, "Your phone will be with me till your father come here. Till he decide what he want to do with you, you''re not taking any step out of this home." Amelia nodded her head and ran towards her room. Quickly locking the door, she rushed towards her bed and pounced on it. Hiding her face in the cushion, she cried loudly for hours before falling asleep. Chapter 389 - Dived into cold water... The next day morning¡­ Love-Paradise¡­ Reuben woke up from his slumber and gazed at Veronica who was still sleeping with her back facing him. He smiled seeing the beautiful view of her n.a.k.e.d back which was as smooth as velvet. Shifting towards her, he hugged her from behind tightly and kissed her nape sensuously. Veronica stirred a little in her sleep as she felt Reuben''s soft lips on her bare skin while his left hand was running through her soft locks, giving her relaxation.. But it soon changed into a m.o.a.n when Veronica felt his right hand travelling under the duvet and moving on her tummy.. His hand then started traveling more upside and it finally landed on the lower portion of her b.r.e.a.s.t. Reuben was caressing the portion as he was trying to feel the heaviness of her soft round b.r.e.a.s.t.. Veronica let out a soft m.o.a.n when Reuben pinched the side of her b.r.e.a.s.t, "Uhmmm¡­" This small m.o.a.n was enough to trigger the beast inside Reuben but still he was in no mood to comply with her as he was thinking of teasing her a little more at that moment... He knew exactly what pleasured Veronica the most but he was not ready to give it to her till she didn''t ask him for it herself. Reuben continued to caress her clivege area and the lower portion of it but never for once, he had moved his hand on the top of her b.r.e.a.s.t.. Veronica was now very much frustrated as she knew that Reuben was intentionally playing with her. She had long waken up by Reuben''s kiss but still was being lazy to move as she was feeling his caresses but her irritation grew when he didn''t put his hands on her b.r.e.a.s.t which was one of her soft point.. Being irritated, Veronica held his right hand in hers and placed it on her b.r.e.a.s.t, earning a chuckle from him. Veronica groaned at his behaviour and scolded him, "If you don''t know what to do then leave me, I''m going back to sleep then.." Hearing it Reuben pinched on her already erected n.i.p.p.l.e and whispered in her ear, "As my baby wishes.." Actually Reuben too was getting frustrated because he was holding himself back till now from fondling her soft round b.r.e.a.s.t which fitted perfectly in his hand because it was also one of his favorite part of love making.. As Veronica m.o.a.ned again, Reuben couldn''t control himself more and hovered over her kissing her hungrily. Veronica too started responding him back with same passion which led them to have their morning love making session.. ---- Secret 7¡­ A man was lying on the floor with blood stricken face. He was partially unconscious because of the vast amount of blood that he lost.. When he was brought here by Reuben''s men, he hadn''t any idea about this clan to be handled by Reuben and his team. He knew that the biggest underworld clan was called Secret 7 because it had seven badass bosses with whom no one wished to have a fight. People feared to offend them. As he was fetched there, he already understood that Reuben was the head of this group but he couldn''t guess the other members properly. Mr. Brown thought that if Reuben was the head then the others might be Henry, Neil, Louis... But he was still unable to understand who the other three persons were. It couldn''t be Jack at all as he seemed to be too much sweet to be a member of this group.. Still, he had a doubt in his mind as he thought that, there was nothing impossible in this world specially if it was all about power and money.. His mind for once diverted towards Veronica being one of them but he instantly shook that idea away from his head as he believed that no girl could handle such a reputed organization¡­especially an underworld group.. Though he was aware of the fact that Secret 7 was not some other dirty gangs which supplied illegal work. Contrary to that, Secret 7 was the cleanest clan among all.. It only rules over the people who tried to go against them or did any nasty works like selling girls, drugs trafficking etc.. It had a huge power over the world which was enough to make people pee in their pants. So it was a big ''No'' for Mr. Brown to think that Veronica or any girl could be a member of this group. Unbeknownst to him, not only one girl but two beautiful ladies who were both high in beauty and professions, were the partner of the other members.. However, before he could put pressure on his brain more, Mr. Brown suddenly heard the footsteps of someone which was getting closer and closer by every passing second.. Though with difficulty but he still tried to open his eyes and sat on the ground. He was looking ten years older than his actual age at that moment. His hair was ruffled with a cut below his nose and because of rubbing the part, all the blood had been spread on his face, making him look like he was bitten to black and blue. Not to mention, that it was not true at all. Because the reason of his blood loss was completely different to what people would think after seeing him.. Few seconds later, the door suddenly got opened by a jerk by two bodyguards and two tall men entered there with full attitude and glory. They were both equally handsome and well built with their perfect bodies.. Mr. Brown''s eyes fell on the two men who were staring at him with scorching eyes which was brewing anger only.. Seeing the first person who entered there, Mr. Brown was completely shocked. He felt like he had just dived into a cold water which was gushing through his whole body, making it freeze like an ice.. "You¡­ What are you doing here?" Mr. Brown asked with fear lacing in his voice.. Chapter 390 - Retribution of hurting my girl... "You¡­ What are you doing here?" Mr. Brown asked with fear lacing in his voice and a hint of confusion. Both of the men smiled cynically when the one in the front said, "Why are you seemed to be so shocked, Mr. Brown? I thought you will welcome me grandly here!" Mr. Brown was completely shocked seeing these two men there. Actually he was more shocked to see the person who was talking to him, here.. Louis who was standing behind chuckled seeing his baffled expression and asked, "What!! You hadn''t imagined Jack to be here, right?" Yes!! The person who had come with Louis was none other than Jack.. Actually, Mr. Brown was partially correct too. He guessed absolutely right that Jack was also a member of them. Although Jack wasn''t listed as one of the main bosses of Secret 7 but he still had an strong position in this group.. He was the one who was on the responsibility to gather informations about all the illegal businesses. So if the men wanted to ask any kind of permissions for their target in the absence of the seven members, Jack would be the one to give them leads. Although the group mainly contained seven people but they had to keep few trustworthy persons to take care of the clan in their absence and Jack was one of them along with Tom.. Jack who was looking at Mr. Brown with raging eyes, bent down a little and held his collar tightly before saying, "You were the reason of my Myra''s misery and all sadness. Though you were bounded by Frank''s threat, still it didn''t mean that you needed to ignore her completely without showing any ounce of love towards her... You know what, I don''t even feel a little bit of pity for you because you deserved it very much. Not only you played with your children''s feelings but also you tried to harm my little sister whom I adore a lot from the day she had born.. However, I''m not here to talk about the past right now. But I''m just here to set your punishment. You should say thanks to your daughter, that I''m not putting my hands on you because I love her too much to disrespect her father though he''s nothing but a piece of shit.." Mr. Brown was literally shivering under the dark gaze of these too men when Louis added, "You should also thank God to give you a good luck as my brothers are not here today... If they would have been here then there would be no chance of you getting out of this hell. However we came here to give you the punishment you deserved.." Saying this, Louis asked one man to help Mr. Brown to stand up from the ground and when he did that, both Louis and Jack were shocked to see so much blood. Jack looked at those men angrily and asked, "Who gave you the permission to beat him so much that he is bleeding like hell?" The armed man who was holding Mr. Brown and bowed his head before saying, "We''re absolutely sorry about that sir. But we haven''t beaten him up or did anything without your permission." "Then, where did the blood come from?" Louis asked angrily. Still bowing his head, the man replied, "Sir, while we were bringing him here, he tried to get out of our clutch. So while fighting with him and trying to stop him from creating more trouble, we pushed him on the ground.. He got hit by the sharp objects there and started bleeding. We tried to bandage his would as you never gave us any order to hurt him but he completely rejected our help. Because of this, his bleeding became intense." Both Louis and Jack nodded their head understanding that it was not actually their fault but still because of the carelessness of keeping a sharp object near them, they needed to give them a punishment.. "Team up all those men who was on duty yesterday. Tell them to make rounds of this whole building with two sacks of sand behind their back.." Louis ordered firmly. Jack then looked towards the other men and said, "Apply torture D on him and pulled out his nails. After you are done with this, send him to the police station and file a case against him for drug trafficking and all his illegal works.. We have all the proofs with us. So just submit it to them. Reuben had already talked with the police so it''d not be much of a problem. But remember one thing, I don''t want any kind of black dot or any harm on the name of Brown family. Only Mr. Brown should be punished for his deeds while I want the other family members to come out as clean.." Louis and Jack shared a glance with each other and nodded. After that, Jack took out a knife and scratched Mr. Brown''s right palm with it which made him shout in pain.. "I heard that you had slapped Myra once with this hand. So it''s your retribution of hurting my girl." Jack spat on him with bloodshot eyes and again pierced the knife into his hand. "Aaaaahhhhhh.." Mr. Brown screamed in pain which everyone ignored totally. After that, signalling the men to look over Mr. Brown, both Jack and Louis left from there as they had to attend the small family get together in the evening. ---- Jones Mansion... It was already evening time and at any moment the guests would start to come.. Well, rather than guests they were more like family members! So everyone was working in a rocket speed while Mrs. Jones was giving orders to the savants. Although Lisa was prohibited to do any kind of housework, but she somehow pursued her mother-in-law to help her in the kitchen work as she was getting extremely bored. After a while, everything was finally done. They were making the last bits of preparations when the doorbell rang and soon they heard the voice of a middle aged man.. Chapter 391 - Source of our contentment... After a while, everything was finally done. They were making the last bits of preparations when the doorbell rang and soon they heard the voice of a middle aged man.. "Honey.. Where are you? Look, I''m already back.." The man almost shouted to let his wife know about the presence of him. Mrs. Jones who was in the dining room, setting the table along with Lisa acknowledged the voice in a mere second and an instant smile bloomed on her lips. Just by seeing the glow on Mrs. Jones'' face, Lisa understood who was the person calling her mother-in-law from the living room. Especially, the endearment he had used, had already confirmed the person''s identity who was none other that both Andrew and Amelia''s father.. More importantly, the person was the loving husband of Mrs. Jones and the head of the family, Lisa''s father-in-law, Mr. Jones. "Mom, you go and meet Dad. Meanwhile, I''ll hide in our room along with Drew till everyone arrive here." Lisa said smilingly, holding her mother-in-law''s hand. Mrs. Jones smiled brightly and walked out of the dining room with a beaming face. Lisa too smiled and left for her room very quietly without making any kind of noise... ----- Living room.. As soon as Mrs. Jones entered the hall, Mr. Jones'' eyes shone like some glittering stars. "You are back, honey!" Mrs. Jones exclaimed excitedly as she hugged him tightly. Mr. Jones too hugged her back and said, "Yes. I''m finally back. Where is my princess by the way?" Hearing about Amelia, Mrs. Jones'' mood became sour and she replied, "She''s in her room. You can talk to her later but first go and get freshen up. The kids and our friends will be here anytime soon." Mr. Jones could analyse that there was something wrong with his wife but he quickly shrugged it away and replied, "Okay.. Then, I''m going to our room. I just can''t believe that I''m going to meet those little kids who are now a.d.u.l.ts after so many years... I really missed them a lot in country M. And how can I forget about my friends! They must be here anytime. We''re going to have lots of chatting and fun tonight." Mrs. Jones smiled and replied, "Those kids are now so big that they have already got engaged and two of them are dating. I''m so happy for them.." Mr. Jones too smiled and said, "Hmm.. Seems like I have lots of things to catch up. Give me few minutes and I''ll be back." After that both Mr. and Mrs. Jones left for their bedroom as the husband needed to take a bath while the wife needed to arrange his clothes.. ----- Andrew''s room... Lisa entered the room to notice that Andrew was sitting on the bed with wet eyes. He had already heard his father''s voice which he had missed for years and couldn''t able to control his tears. Walking towards him, Lisa cupped his face in her soft palms and said, "Dad is finally here, Drew! Now all of our family will be together as we wished and dreamt from years." Andrew stared at her beautiful eyes and replied after kissing her palms, "I know, Lisa. And I''m feeling so much happy write now that I can''t even express it just by mere words. Finally we''ll all be together, spending our time with only happiness. I think, our child is the lucky star for us. Our baby is the one who has brought back all the happiness and joy in our life." Lisa kissed his forehead and replied, "Yes, you''re right about that. Okay, now get up and change into the jeans and shirt which I had kept on the bed. They''ll be here anytime now." Andrew nodded his head and left for the washroom after kissing her belly and then her lips lightly. Lisa chuckled at him and stood in front of the mirror while applying a light makeup. Caressing her baby bump, she muttered, "You are the source of our contentment. Come soon baby. Both Mumma and Dadda love you a lot.. Now not only us actually, but you uncle, aunt''s and grandparents also love you. We''re waiting for you baby¡­EAGERLY.." ----- Living room... Mr. Jones was sitting in the living room with his wife talking about everything and everyone. "I saw the pictures of Reuben and Veronica''s engagement. They were looking so much good together. I had never imagined in my life that they''d be couple as they always loved to bicker with each other.. But yeah.. I always had a feeling that Henry and Lucy can be a great couple as they have many similarities in them. However the most shocking one was Neil and Myra who had never talked to each other properly ever.." Mr. Jones said while laughing. Mrs. Jones to smiled and said, "Not only them, even Jack and Louis had also found two pretty girlfriends firy themselves. And trust me...they look equally compatible." "Woah! Now I just can''t wait to meet them. By the way, why you have called me here urgently? You told me it''s something serious about Amy. What is it? Did she again created any trouble here like she always do?" Mr. Jones asked suspiciously. Sighing deeply, Mrs. Jones replied, "Well, before she could do something, she had been stopped by her friends. I''ll tell you about it in front of everyone.. The kids already are aware about it. It''s just the other elders also need to know about it. I hope you won''t have any problem with me sharing this in front of them." Although Mr. Jones didn''t know what kind of new drama his daughter had created but he still shook his head in denial as he said, "Why would I have any problems with them? After they are also our friends who are nothing less than our family.. If Amy had really done something bad then she needed to get the right punishment for it. And this time, even I won''t stop you¡­.." Chapter 392 - Center of everyones attention... "If Amy had really done something bad then she needed to get the right punishment for it. And this time, even I won''t stop you¡­.." Mrs. Jones looked at her husband with a perplexed expression and asked, "What made you change like this suddenly? Before you never let me scold Amy no matter what happened.." Mr. Jones sighed deeply and replied, "I now understand that my one mistake of not letting you scold Amy had turned her as a rebellious girl... I always wanted to trust her even though we were informed that Andrew''s death was somehow related to her. But now enough is enough. I don''t want to spoil my daughter anymore.." "You''ll get all the answers about our son Andrew today. Just wait for some more time." Mrs. Jones said. This make Mr. Jones confused but before he could say anything, the doorbell rang which signaled the arrival of their friends and children. Mrs. Jones personally went to open the door to welcome them. Whereas Mr. Jones stayed in the living room as no one knew about his arrival. So he decided to give all of them a surprise. However, before they could surprise them, Mrs. Jones got the biggest surprise when she noticed that all of them had come together with a full planning. "Come inside.." Mrs. Jones smiled and brought them there. "Well, you don''t have to welcome us like guests. We already are well acquainted with this home. So you don''t need to worry much about us." Mrs. Smith said smilingly. The men smiled whereas the younger members just followed their parents like some obedient children. But as soon as they stepped into the living room, their footsteps paused. However the gasp they heard was not some kind of shock but it was a shout of pain.. "Ahhhhhhhh!" The loud scream from the youngsters made the elder ones really scared as they turned behind only to witness one of the funniest scene of the day.. The youngsters who were following their parents like some blind people, didn''t notice their parents to stop suddenly which led to bump them on their backs.. The scene was kind of like a movie scene where the elder men had stopped seeing the most unexpected person who was also their friend.. While their wives were too busy in chatting and laughing that they didn''t notice their husbands to stop and they accidentally bumped into them though it was absolutely light. But the latter incident was the funniest among all.!!! The youngsters who were entering there, holding their respective partners'' hands were teasing each other mercilessly.. They were so much into mocking one another that they didn''t see their parents to stop. But that didn''t let them bump into the elders. While kidding, Reuben and Henry pulled Neil''s leg so mercilessly that Neil pushed them forward in irritation. However, both of them dodged it successfully and instead of Reuben and Henry Louis was hit by Neil. As a result Louis fell on Jack along with Diana which led Jack to fall with Myra. As Myra was holding Lucinda''s hand, she too fell with Henry on the floor. Amidst the action, Henry''s leg got hit by Reuben which made him disbalanced on his step and he too fell with Veronica on top of him.. Only the main culprit of the whole accident who was none other than Neil was standing there shocked with a terrified Willa. And how could the boys get relieved with them falling on the floor with their respective partners but Neil could stand there with all his glory! So without wasting a second, Reuben and Henry held each leg of Neil''s making him stumble down as he too fell on his butt, followed by Willa.. These actions happened so fast that no one was to understand exactly what was the circ.u.mstances behind it.. The parents also didn''t realise anything until they heard their children''s painful gasps.. As all of the elders along with Mr. Jones who was sitting on the couch witnessed the whole scenario and few minutes later, after getting understand what actually happened, all of them burst into laughter.. "Hahahaha¡­" "Oh my God! What just happened here?" Mr. Wilson almost had tears in his eyes while laughing too hard. "Haha.. They are¡­so..Oh God!... They are so funny.. Hahaha.." Mr. Lopez couldn''t stop his laughter as he stammered in between speaking. As the elder ones continued with their laughter after watching the so called entertainment show, the youngsters were embarrassingly sitting on the floor like some falling angels.. But even after few minutes when they weren''t done with their mockery laugh, the young people got really irritated with them. They glared at their parents as if they did something really wrong which was more like a big sin to them. Amidst all of this, Mr. Jones who was behind of them, slowly walked towards them and said, "I thought that I''ll be the center of everyone''s attention today but never had imagined that you little ones will also snatch the golden chance from me.." Hearing his voice, all of them turned their faces towards Mr. Jones and an immediate smile crept on their lips. Amelia who was watching the scene behind them, couldn''t believe her eyes seeing her father there. She wanted to run towards her father but one glare from Mrs. Jones stopped her there.. "Uncle! You are really here!" Lucinda was the first one to come out of the shock. "Yes. I''m finally here." As soon as Mr. Jones said that he was engulfed into a tight hug by the children.. As they were hugging them, Mr. Johnson suddenly hit Mr. Jones on his shoulder and scolded him, "You idiot! You finally remembered us." Sheepishly chuckling, Mr. Jones said, "I always remember you guys.." He then hugged his friends who shed tears of joy. Mr. Joy hugged everyone and got many scoldings from his sister-in-laws. After their reunion, Mrs. Jones announced, "It''s dinner time everybody.." But before they could response to her, a voice stopped them on their tracks, "Are you guys really planning to have dinner without me?" Chapter 393 - Escape from the reality... But before they could response to her, a voice stopped them on their tracks, "Are you guys really planning to have dinner without me?" The voice seemed to be quite familiar to everyone. The elders who were laughing till then and making fun of them, paused in their actions suddenly. Their heartbeat fastened after hearing the voice of the man which had become a lot huskier than before. Although all of them were still in shock but they never tried to turn their faces towards the person whose sudden question made them root into their places. Whereas the younger clan was just watching their parents excitedly, again sitting on the floor as if they had made it their only home or more like a gallery to witness the upcoming drama of tears and smiles.. Andrew who was standing near the stairs, kept looking on his father and other family members who was still in their stupor to say something or move from there. Holding Lisa''s wrist, he slowly walked towards and them and stood in front of the elders so that they were able to see his face without turning their bodies to him. "Dad, Uncle, Aunty, will you guys have your dinner without me? I won''t let it happen. Today, Mom had made one of my most favourite dishes. So I''m not missing my dinner despite your protest." Andrew said to make them come out of the trance. And it worked, all of them except the youngsters and Mrs. Jones stared at Andrew in horror as if they had seen some ghost. Actually, Andrew was not less than a ghost for them right now. As he had already died six years ago according to them, so seeing him completely fit and fine after so many years was quite unbelievable for all of them. Their eyes were conveying that they had still not registered the idea of Andrew being here and thinking it to be a dream. However, few minutes later, when they finally came out of their stupor, a chill ran down from their spines. And the next moment, questions of uncertainty started bombarding on him. "Andrew.. You are really here?" Mr. Morgan who was Louis'' father asked with confusion. "Am I seeing the right or my eyes are just playing a trick on me?" Mrs. Wilson asked, still couldn''t believe her eyes. Andrew just smiled at them and said calmly, "Yes.. I''m truly here. And none of your eyes are playing tricks on you." Saying it, he looked at his father expectantly and asked, "Dad, will you not give a hug to your son after six years? I know I did a grave mistake of hiding my existence from all of you.. But Dad, please don''t stand their like a statue. Talk to me, shout on me, slap me or beat me. You can do whatever you want but just for once, give me a hug, Dad.." As soon as those words left from Andrew''s mouth, Mr. Jones pulled Andrew towards him and engulfed him in a bone crushing hug. A rush of emotions travelled through the veins of the father and son as they kept hugging each other, trying to satisfy the long years of loneliness in their hearts for each other. Tears started to come out of both of their eyes along with the others who were witnessing the emotional scene which was showing the love between the father and son. Small weeping sound could be heard from the big hall as now everyone started to shed tears, seeing the beautiful moment of reunion between two members of a family who shared one of the best bond of the world. Pulling away from the hug few minutes later, Mr. Jones held Andrew''s shoulder tightly and asked, "You are alive, my son? But how can it be possible? They¡­they told me that you''re already dead." Andrew wiped off the tears from his father''s cheeks before wiping his own and said, "Dad, it was not true at all. Actually, I faked my death for a reason which was eating me alive slowly. I was a coward that time to not face the situation like a strong minded person but chose to escape from the reality to hide my guilty feelings. I''m really sorry Dad. Please forgive me for just this once. I promise, I won''t take this kind of rushed decisions anymore which will hurt you all. I won''t let you down in my life." Although Mr. Jones and others couldn''t understand anything what was happening but they knew that, there must be something big behind Andrew''s such a big step. They all knew how much Andrew had loved his parents, friends and their families. So it won''t be possible for him to distance himself from his close ones without any specific reason. Seeing the atmosphere getting tensed, Mr. Smith thought to ask the question which was roaming inside his mind from the moment he saw Andrew. "Andrew, where were you in these past few years and why did you fake your death to all of us?" Andrew sighed at this and said, "I know you all are curious about it and I''m too eager to tell about everything but before that, let''s get seated in the living room.." As the elders nodded their heads, Mrs. Jones glanced at her other kids who were really behaving like two years old children and asked, "Do you guys want to keep sitting here for the whole night or are you planning to even come inside?" The youngsters gave her a sheepish smile and followed their parents like obedient children. ---- Living room... After setting themselves comfortably on the couch, Mr. Jones was about to ask Andrew about the story when he noticed Amelia standing at the corner. Despite knowing that Amelia had done something wrong, he still couldn''t control his father''s heart and told her, "Amy darling¡­ Why are you standing there alone? You even hadn''t met me after I came back. Now quickly come here and give your father a hug.." Chapter 394 - Victim got punished... "Why are you standing there alone? You even hadn''t met me after I came back. Now quickly come here and give your father a hug.." Amelia''s eyes brimmed with tears when she saw her father calling her for a hug. She was begging for his comfort in her heart from the moment she saw him. But because of the recent circ.u.mstances and her mother''s glare, she had suppressed her emotions. She hoped for her father to notice him and when he finally did, she rushed towards him and hugged him tightly like a koala, asking for consoling from him. Mr. Jones smiled seeing his daughter hugging him so tightly as if he would run away from her if she loosened her grip on him. He caressed Amelia''s back lightly as he too missed his daughter very much. Though it had been only few days being away from his daughter but still he missed her a lot. "So Amy, how are you my princess?" Mr. Jones asked. Amy wiped her tears and said with a small smile on her lips, "I''m absolutely fine dad. How are you?" "I was dull till few minutes ago. But after I saw my son Andrew, I finally became good. You must have known about him being alive from before, right? Then why didn''t you inform me? I should have come running here the moment I had been notified." Mrs. Jones said, happiness leaping in his voice. Amelia sniffled a little and said, "Dad, we too came to know about him only yesterday. Reuben had found out about him with the help of Neil and brought him here by forcing to meet us." After Amelia''s explanation, Mr. Jones remembered that he needed the answer of Andrew''s sudden disappearance from their lives. Mr. Jones was actually a very calm man who liked to make a decision after knowing about everything. That was one of the reason he didn''t slap or beat Andrew the moment he saw him after six long years. Although he should be angry on him for telling them lie and keeping them under dark for so long but he better knew to not take any hasty decision which might create another set of barriers in their lives. So he chose to ask his son first about everything and if he found his reason to be unworthy of forgiveness, then he would show Andrew the actual wrath of him for betraying them for years and making them cry for his fake death. But somewhere in his heart, he too knew that if his son had took such a drastic step then it would be for some strong reason. However, he too didn''t miss to notice the slight change in Amy''s behaviour when he had asked Andrew about the past. Instantly, he got a hunch that Andrew going to meet Amelia lastly before leaving country K, had something to relate with this whole incident and Amelia might have a big part in all this. Andrew looked at his father and the other elders who too were eagerly waiting for the hidden answers of their big questions. Mrs. Jones and his friends gave them a slight nod while Lisa who was sitting beside him, squeezed his hand a little. This did not go unnoticed by the elders too and they frowned at the action. Mr. Lopez was the most confused person among them all but he decided to enquire about it after hearing Andrew.. Inhaling a sharp breath, Andrew turned his face towards Amelia and glared at her before saying, "The main culprit of the hurtful situation is none other than my so called little sister, Amy.." "What! Amy?" Mrs. Lopez asked being shocked. However, Mr. Jones didn''t show any kind of change in his expression which scared Amelia more. She clearly knew that if wanted, her father could be more dangerous than her mother. She always got pampered by him, it''s absolutely truth. But she was also aware of the fact that after knowing about her dirty tricks, her loving father who had always supported her in every single way, would never love her the same way like before.. Maybe, he would start hating her too like others..!!! Andrew nodded his head and started narrating, "Amelia always had a crush on Henry. But he never gave her any attention as he always felt something special for Lucy. So to take revenge on her, she missed some drug to seduce Henry but before something could happen both I and Lucy barged inside.." After that, he described each and every details to them which led them to get shock after shock. Diana and Lisa too filled informations about Frank to them and how he had manipulated everyone for his own profit.. Silence filled in the room after the whole revelation. All of them felt blood running out of their ears as they heard about it. Amelia was crying bitterly sitting beside Mr. Jones who had not spoken anything from the start. But his eyes were enough to convey his internal emotions. His bloodshot eyes were burning in anger and he was breathing heavily. Taking few breaths, he calmed himself and then what he did next shocked everyone. *pak* Yes! It was the sound of a slap. But surprisingly, it was not Amelia who had got the slap from her father but it was Andrew.. Without wasting a second, Mr. Jones just slapped Andrew hard on his face, making everyone surprised with his unobvious reaction. As it was not completely Andrew''s fault in this case but Amelia who had turned the whole definition of friendship and love upside down, so all of them thought that the slap would fall on her face. They had never imagined even in their wildest dreams that Mr. Jones would show his anger on Andrew instead of Amelia. It was kind of a situation where the victim got punished on the behalf of the main culprit''s vicious plan!! Andrew looked at his father in shock whereas Mr. Jones just glared at him furiously as he shouted on him in rage, "How dare you blame Amy?" Chapter 395 - Completely assured... Andrew looked at his father in shock whereas Mr. Jones just glared at him furiously as he shouted on him in rage, "How dare you blame Amy?" "Dad¡­" Andrew whispered, couldn''t able to believe that his father''s slapped him. "What Dad? Don''t call me your dad after what you had done." Mr. Jones scolded him angrily. No one was able to understand the reason of his this kind of reaction which was completely unexpected from him. "Honey.. What are you talking about? Please calm down." Mrs. Jones tried to pacify her husband. Mr. Jones took another sharp breath and said, "How can I calm down when he dared to do this with us? He is now blaming Amy for this. But let me clear one thing very clearly... More than Amy, it was Andrew''s fault. Do you know why? Because he was the one to break the relationship between his friends and family on a simple misunderstanding." No one spoke anything in between to interrupt Mr. Jones as they knew that he had more to say. Mr. Jones turned towards Amelia and said, "This girl here who is unfortunately my daughter had committed a big sin of targeting her friends, specially the person whom she confessed to love a lot which is totally absurd.." Then he looked at Andrew and pointing his finger on him, he said, "But you.. What did you do? You just came into her stupid words. You didn''t trust your friends who was with you from their childhood and always treated you like their own brother.. Okay, you might have a doubt on them after hearing your sister''s complain. But couldn''t you at least try to find out the actual truth? But No! You didn''t do this but tortured them with your rude behaviour... Last but not the least, even after Lucy had showed you the proofs, you just ran away in fear and guilty conscience. You became so selfish that you didn''t think about your parents even for once.." As Mr. Jones said this, Andrew understood his fault. Before his friends also told him about this, but the scolding he was getting from his father now was helping him to understand the harsh meaning of his stupid decision. Andrew stood up from the couch and hugged his father tightly and said, "I''m sorry Dad. I understand that whatever I did was wrong and I''m repenting on this. But please don''t stay angry on him." Mr. Jones could feel the pain in his son''s tone. It also hurt him a lot. He knew that his son had suffered a lot in these past years, so it was time for him to get the happiness he deserved. And what could be the best happiness for him other than his parents'' love? So Mr. Jones too hugged him back and warned him, "I''m forgiving you this time. But if you do something stupid like this again then I''ll beat you into a pulp and feed you to the dogs." Andrew chuckled and said, "I promise Dad that I won''t disappoint you again." Mr. Jones smiled and looked at Lisa before asking with a frown, "Who is this beautiful pregnant lady here?" Andrew grinned at his father and grabbing Lisa''s hand softly, he helped her to get up. Then he encircled his arm around her shoulder and declared to everyone, "She is Lisa Andrew Jones, my wife and the mother of our child who is going to see the light of the world few weeks later." Everyone squealed in joy hearing the good news whereas Mr. Lopez was extremely shock with these new information. He stared at Lisa with shock and exclaimed, "What! You''re Andrew''s wife. You always told me about your husband but never let me meet him even after my so many requests.. That means you knew from the start that Andrew is related to us. So you purposefully hid his identity from me so that I couldn''t come to know about it." Lisa gave him an apologising smile and said, "Sorry Uncle that I hid this from you. But I had no other choice. When we talked about our past, I came to know that you and Andrew are more than related to each other. But because of his condition, I couldn''t tell you anything." Mr. Lopez smiled and said, "At least now I''m relieved that this idiot is your husband. Previously, I was a little scared about you being in safe hands or not but now I''m completely assured as this idiot son of ours would take good care of you.." Both Andrew and Lisa smiled whereas Mr. Jones had no bound of joy with the good news he got from his son. "Yayyyyy!! I''ll be a grandfather soon. Honey¡­ Can you just imagine we''ll be grandparents in few weeks!" Mr. Jones shouted in excitement. Everyone laughed at this but then a weak voice called for him which made all of them stopped again. "Da¡­dad. Will you not talk to me again? Please forgive me. I''m really sorry." Amelia stammered while sobbing really hard. Mrs. Jones'' face turned grim immediately and he threw daggers with his eyes on her before spitting angrily on her, "Forgiveness? Do you really deserve one Amy? No, you don''t! After whatever you have done, you not only closed the door of forgiveness but also degraded yourself in our eyes.." He then looked away from Amelia and told his wife, "Ask Amelia to not show her face in front of me anymore. She''s dead for me from now on." The last statement came as a thunderbolt on Amelia as she cried hysterically in front of her father but he just ignored it completely. Mr. Jones'' heart was paining like hell as he could never imagine in his life that his daughter whom he treated like a princess always, would do something like this. Getting no response from her father, Amelia slowly walked upstairs to her room still crying badly and stumbled on the floor.. As everyone was looking at Amy''s disappearing figure, Veronica''s mind was working on something else and she finally asked, "I still have a doubt in my mind.." Chapter 396 - Biggest bait... As everyone was looking at Amy''s disappearing figure, Veronica''s mind was working on something else and she finally asked, "I still have a doubt in my mind.." "Doubt? What kind of doubt Ica?" Reuben asked. Veronica looked at him with her eyebrows furrowed together and said, "Bennie.. I didn''t notice it previously. But now that I listened to the whole story once again, my mind started to work on something again.. Carefully thinking about everything, I suddenly analysed that Diana said that Frank had married her mother exactly five years ago...right?" Along with Reuben, Diana too nodded her head whereas the others just kept on looking at her with confusion. "So what babe?" Reuben questioned. "But if you remember, Lisa said that Frank had killed her mother four years ago which means that when Lisa''s Mom died, Frank had been already married to Diana''s mom. Means he had married another woman when his wife was already alive which is another illegal work of him.." Veronica conveyed her queries to everyone. Everyone thought about it and they were too shocked with the informations as they never had thought about it in so much details. "Exactly.. You are absolutely right about it Vero." Neil said. Reuben then turned towards Lisa and asked, "Had Frank already divorced your mother or was still married to her when she had been murdered by him?" Lisa shook her head in denial and replied, "No, he had never divorced my Mom." Getting the answer, Reuben then turned towards Diana and asked her, "Did you ever notice anything uncertain about him while you are living with your mother in country Z? Like he was leaving the house for few days and not returning till long?" "Yes.. He often used to go out, giving excuses about business trips.." Diana replied immediately, not understanding where this questionnaire was going on. A cynical smirk appeared on the REUNIC couple''s lips and they shared a wicked glance towards each other which made the others more confused. "Can you guys please tell me what are both of you actually planning?" Andrew asked impatiently. Veronica stared at his brother and said smiling evilly, "We got our biggest bait to know about Frank''s location, Bro.." "What do you mean by it, princess?" It was Reuben''s father Mr. Smith who asked it. Reuben chuckled devilishly before saying, "Lisa will be threatening Frank with his illegal marriage case and ask for money.. As much I know about Frank, he''ll definitely send her the money and we will hack the location of him through the bank transaction." Everyone was silent for a moment and suddenly they started to clap. "Wow! Reuben, that''s a brilliant idea." Andrew praised him. Veronica heard it and retorted him while pouting cutely, "Excuse me! It was me who had clarified Frank''s dirty marriage tricks and you''re praising Bennie for it. All of you should appreciate me, not him.." "Aww!! Are you getting jealous baby that I''m smarter than you?" Reuben teased her more. Veronica flared her nose in anger and snapped at him, "Shut up! Everyone present here knows that I''m the most intelligent one." "No babe.. You''re misunderstanding their goodness. They just praise you to make you feel good. Nothing more." Reuben pulled her leg with a chuckle. "You idiot! How dare you¡­ Are you calling me a dumb now?" Veronica said. When Reuben nodded his head in positive way as if to confirm that she was dumb, Veronica started hitting him on his back and arms while others just laughed at the couple''s cute bickering. "Okay.. Now enough of both of you. Stop fighting." Mrs. Lopez scolded which stopped Veronica from beating Reuben more. Reuben wiggled his eyebrows at her mockingly which Veronica returned with a deadly glare. "As it was an emotional day already, let''s talk about something interesting now." Jack said excitedly. "What should be the interesting topic then?" Louis asked. Thinking for a while, Mr. Wilson who was both Neil and Lucinda''s father, suggested, "Why don''t we talk about the marriage dates and preparations of our children?" At the suggestions, everyone became excited while the three engaged girls got shy on it''s mention. Whereas their respective fiances grinned from ear to ear as soon as they heard the word ''marriage''. Henry who too was beaming like a fool, shared a glance with Neil and getting his approval too, he said, "Before you decide anything, I just want to announce something.." Each one of them looked at him being puzzled when Mr. Johnson asked, "What is it, Henry?" "Actually Dad.. On the day of Reuben and Vero''s engagement, one reporter casually asked Neil and me, if both of us are going to get married to our partners on the same day.." Henry said. Their parents nodded their head and waited for him to say further. This time, Neil took the charge and replied, "Four of us thought about it very attentively and finally we came to a decision that it''d be the best if we get married on the same day.. Especially it was Lucinda''s request to get married with her love Henry on the same day her brother which is me, gets married to Willa." An automatic smile crept on everyone lips as they too thought it was an awesome idea. But the happiest among all of them was the elder Wilson couple whose both children decided to marry on the same day. "I think it''ll be amazing." Myra exclaimed excitedly whereas others nodded. Mrs. Johnson then looked at the kids and said, "Actually, we parents had a conversation yesterday morning about all of your marriage. We had decided to get Lucy and Henry married in one month and after one week, we thought of Neil and Willa''s marriage... But now that you guys decided to get married on the same day, we''ll choose one of the date among these two... Whereas about Reuben and Vero, all of us specially your parents insisted on you guys to get married on the next month of the other two couples'' marriage. Do any of you guys have any problem with it?" While the other two couples had no problem with it, Veronica and Reuben straightly denied the idea as they stated together, "We object.." Chapter 397 - Stupid Consumptions... While the other two couples had no problem with it, Veronica and Reuben straightly denied the idea as they stated together, "We object.." Their this one statement made everyone turn their heads towards them in complete shock as they were unable to believe that the REUNIC couple would be the one to refuse the proposal.. According to them, if anyone could be the happiest person in the world after knowing about the wedding dates then it would be Veronica and Reuben. Both their energy and excitement level would shot into an extreme level, hearing that their parents had decided to get them married in just mere two months and they would start flying high in the sky just by anticipating their marriage.. To their uncertainty, the situation turned out to be totally different. Where they thought the REUNIC couple to be dancing in joy, they were now objecting the marriage idea. But the question was, why?? Mr. Smith who was the happiest person till now, thinking that his daughter Veronica would be the future madam of Smith''s family, got saddened the most at their refusal. So he asked them, "And why is that? Why are you not happy with the dates? Don''t you guys want to get married to each other now?" One after one question had been thrown on the couple by their fathers whose excitement had turned into a grim expression right now. Reuben and Veronica knew that their parents and other elders had already started their stupid consumptions about their decision. Even their friends were staring at them with hawk like eyes as if they would eat them whole if they got any disapproving answer from the couple. Not wanting to mislead their confusion more in a negative way, Veronica and Reuben shared a quick glance of mutual understanding. After that, Veronica stopped their overthinking process by saying, "Guys.. Guys.. please stop your wrong assumption. Whatever you guys are thinking, are not correct." Reuben then turned towards his father and said, "Dad.. If it was possible then we would love to get married right now. But we have some other plans on this matter." "What kind of plans? Say it clearly both of you." Mr. Lopez said getting really confused by their behaviour. Veronica sighed and replied, "Dad.. it''s not that we don''t want to get married. But the actual reason of declining your proposed date was we want to tie out knot on a different day which is very much special to us." Nodding at what Veronica said, Reuben too stated, "Yes.. Ica is absolutely right. We want our marriage to be on the most unique day so that it could be the most memorable day of our lives... Actually, we were talking about our marriage yesterday night. But couldn''t come up with any decision. When we started the topic again on today morning, we got a brilliant idea which would make all of you happy too.." "I think, you guys had made a whole merry go round with your words. Now if you''re done with this beating around the bush game, then will you please let us know about the date you had decided to be united together with the vow of marriage?" Mrs. Smith interrupted them as she was getting frustrated by this couple. Mrs. Lopez too agreed with her and said, "Yes. Don''t make us wait anymore. It''s really getting frustrating by every second. So spill the beans now if you don''t want us to force you guys to get married on our proposed date." Noticing their parents'' anxiety level rising up to the angering level, Reuben and Veronica chuckled a little and held each other''s hands. Intertwining their fingers, Reuben announced happily, "We''ll get married after three months, on the day when we became a couple." Veronica then added smiling brightly, "Yes, we''ll be completing five years of our loving relationship exactly three months later. So we decided to make it more memorable by stepping into the new journey of our life with a blissful wedding.." The room fell in silence for a second which made Reuben and Veronica feel a little awkward. They had just shared a great news to them today which consisted them to get married on a very special day of their lives. So they expected their family and friends to be jumping in excitement but contrary to that, all of them were just sitting there quietly like a ice cube. After waiting for a whole ten minutes which were nothing less than a complete decade for the couple, they finally got a response but it too shocked them to their core.. They were just pulled into a sudden hug by their fathers. Yes! Fathers!!! As soon Mr. Lopez and Mr. Smith heard about their children''s decision, they took time to register the whole thing in their mind. And when they finally did, they leapt so much in excitement of joy and happiness that they straight away engulfed the couple into a warm hug. But they were not hugging their own son and daughter. Actually, Mr. Lopez took Reuben in his fatherly hug whereas Mr. Smith embrace Veronica in his own arms. After breaking the hug, Mr. Smith exclaimed in joy, "This is the best day to get married. I agree with your decision." Mr. Lopez too nodded his head and said excitedly, "Yes.. Which date can be better than their fifth anniversary? We can be able to celebrate two occasions together then.." Both of the mothers were also very much satisfied with it as they hugged and blessed the couple. Whereas the other elders became overjoyed with it. Their friends were also happy for them as they congratulated the couple. "So shall we start the wedding preparations from tomorrow?" Mr. Wilson asked. "Absolutely. We want each and everything to be perfect after all. Especially when it''s the grand wedding of the three couples." Mr. Morgan said. Andrew too got very much happy for his siblings and said, "We still have time for Reuben and Veronica''s wedding but we don''t have enough time for the other two couples.." Chapter 398 - Jasmine... Andrew too got very much happy for his siblings and said, "We still have time for Reuben and Veronica''s wedding but we don''t have enough time for the other two couples.." "Hmm.. You''re right about that Drew. We need to hurry the preparation now if we want everything to be perfect." Mr. Jones agreed with his son. "Come on everyone.. Don''t get panicked now. Everything will be alright. We have so many people in our team to help out." Louis said in a cool demeanor. Jack then suggested, "Yes. Louis is absolutely right. I think it''d be best if we distribute every work between us like we did for Vero and Reuben''s engagement party." "Yeah.. That''s a really good idea." Henry said. Others too gave their consents on this matter as they started discussing about the wedding preparations for the two couples who were going to get married first. After that, they had a peaceful dinner while laughing and chatting happily like their old times as their family became finally completed now with few extra members like Lisa, Diana and Myra. That moment, they forgot all the tension and worry as they enjoyed the family time whereas Amelia just felt more guilty for her wrongdoings after hearing the cheerful laughter coming from downstairs.. ----- Country Z¡­ In an abandoned place.. A big mansion was situated among the greenery location where no people could come easily. Although the mansion was hidden between tall trees, still it couldn''t hide the beauty of the extravagant mansion. There was a big fountain at the entrance whereas the whole mansion was made with white marble. Many men in black suit was standing outside of the big mansion to protect the owner of it from their enemies. Everything about the place was really beautiful but only from outside. Because what was happening inside would boil anyone''s blood in anger after witnessing the scene. A woman in her late forties was sitting on the bed lifelessly, watching the outer scenery from the window panel. She was too much thin to even describe. Her skinny face had few wrinkles but it couldn''t stop showing the actual beauty of her.. The woman''s feature was really good but it was her light weight which made her look twenty years older to her actual age. The woman had bruises on her whole body, her skin colour was extremely pale. One look on her and people would think of her being a patient. However, it was not actually true. The woman was a true beauty even a year ago though she was in her middle age but it changed drastically after her daughter left the country to pursue her dream or more like getting disgusted by her new husband''s behaviour. Her eyes were expressionless but she was feeling immense pain in her heart for not listening to her daughter and pointing her to be a jealous freaked girl.. Few minutes later, the door of her room opened and a tall man in his mid fifties entered with a cigarette in his hand. The woman''s head snapped towards the person, hearing the sound of his footsteps and she glared at him with disgust and hatred. Walking towards the middle aged woman, the man held her chin roughly and said, "Oh no, Jasmine!! You should not look at me like this. I only want to see love in your eyes for me, honey... But you never showed me the love from the past one year. Why honey? It''s not fair to me at all as I love you so much but you''re not giving me back the same feelings." The woman whose name was Jasmine tried to free herself from his hold but failed miserably. In fact, her little try triggered the anger inside the man more and he tightened his hold on her chin and squeeze it roughly which made her cry in pain. But this time, she was not ready to get stepped under his legs and she tried to protest against him.. "Move your dirty hands away from me, Frank. Don''t touch me." She shouted. Frank who was having fun in torturing Jasmine, snickered and an evil smile crept up his lips as he stated in a dangerously cold voice, "No darling. I can''t. If you really want me to leave you then stop squirming like a butterfly." Hearing it, Jasmine stopped wiggling and looked at his eyes with anger but Frank just ignored it completely. He trailed his hand from her face to her arm then stopped near her bosom. Jasmine shut her eyes in disgust and tried to free herself from his grip. His touches now made her feel like vomiting blood. She despised him more than anything now. The person whom she married with love going against her daughter was making her feel so disgusted with his touch that she just wanted to wash every inches of her body wherever he had touched her. Seeing her trying to avoid his touch, made him more anger and he threatened her with fury in her eyes, "If you don''t want your daughter to get killed by my men, then listen to my order and let me have my way with you. After all, I''m your husband honey. What''s wrong there to taste my own wife?" And his blackmailing worked in her perfectly. After all, nothing could matter more than a daughter for a mother. Frank took her weak body roughly on the bed making her cry in pain. After one hour, when he was finally done with satisfying his hunger, he detached himself from her and sat on the bed starting l.u.s.tfully at Jasmine''s n.a.k.e.d body. Jasmine tried to cover herself with a duvet but Frank didn''t give her a chance to do so. He then lit a cigarette and took a big sniff out of it and exhaled the smoke on Jasmine''s mouth which made her cough hard. "You should always be obedient like this Jasmine if you want to safeguard your daughter Diana from my clutch.." Chapter 399 - Witchy Strategy... He then lit a cigarette and took a big sniff out of it and exhaled the smoke on Jasmine''s mouth which made her cough hard. "You should always be obedient like this Jasmine if you want to safeguard your daughter Diana from my clutch. I must say, Diana really got her good looks from you.. You, my baby is also very pretty but look what you have turned yourself into. Just because you got to know that I always wanted to have a good f.u.c.k with your daughter, you''ve restraint yourself from me.. huh?" Frank said pinching Jasmine''s chin. Yes! It was Jasmine Miller who had married Frank Howard five years ago despite the protest of her only daughter who had loved her the most. Frank had made her so blinded by his fake love drama that she had distanced herself from her precious daughter Diana.. Even when Diana had complained about Frank to her, she just completely shrugged her off as her trust for Frank was so much high that she didn''t believe her own daughter who had always supported her after her father''s death. But what she got in return? Only betrayal from the person whom she thought of spending her whole life with!! In fact, she had broken all her relationship with Diana just because of this person. She was very much sure that her daughter must be hating her with all her mind and soul... Her heart pained when she thought about her little daughter who would always call her ''Mom'' in a a sweet voice. She, her dead husband and their daughter Diana were very much happy in their own life. But after the death of Diana''s father, Jasmine got completely broken and it was her daughter who had stood beside her like a stone to help her getting out of her miseries.. And how she had returned her favour? She just pushed away her daughter from her life, snatching the motherly love from her which she really deserved. Might be, it was the retribution which she was getting now for her wrong deeds of hurting Diana and trusting the wrong person.. Now, there was no way to turn back anything except praying to God for her daughter''s safety.. Frank noticed that Jasmine was mingled in her own thoughts and he knew exactly what was wandering in her pretty little mind! "You know what, Jasmine! I tried many times to be under the pants of your beautiful daughter. Even I tried to force myself on her several times. But that bitch!! She always got the chance to escape from my grip. Not only that, she even threatened me to stay away from her with her father''s property... But still she was not done with it as she really ignited the fire inside me this time. She ran away from here in the name of making her career. But I got a good news for you darling.. My men just informed me this morning that they got some news about Diana. I''m going to get her informations now as I''ve already satisfied my hunger for you.." Frank said with a wicked smile on his lips. Seeing his devilish features, Jasmine got scared but not for herself. It was Diana whom she was afraid for.! Because she knew that this vile man could go as far as possible just to get whatever he wanted. "Please don''t do anything to Diana. You can treat me like trash if you want. But don''t harm my daughter, please." Jasmine literally begged in front of him. Frank smirked at her but didn''t say anything. Completely ignoring her pleads, he wore his clothes and got out of the room, leaving a crying Jasmine there who kept cursing herself for spoiling her daughter''s life.. ---- Secret 7¡­ Reuben, Veronica, Neil, Willa, Henry, Louis, Jack and Andrew were having a serious meeting among them.. Whereas their men almost had tears in their eyes when they saw their old leader Andrew there... Andrew greeted each one of them happily and then their calculative minds started working on different types of plots. They didn''t bring Lucinda, Myra and Diana here with them. And Lisa too didn''t come as she was heavily pregnant. Lucinda was fully aware about how Secret 7 worked but she never interfered in their matters as she was never interested in these kind of things. She was more like a sweet girl who never loved to fight. Whereas Myra and Diana too had a vague idea about it but they were totally okay with the stuffs as they knew that their partners could never do anything wrong.. "So these are the proofs which I''ve collected about Frank. These have all his black money details and every informations about his illegal works.." Andrew showed them the needed proofs. "Hmm.. So we don''t have to worry much about it right now. What about Frank''s illegal marriage details?" Henry asked. "Well, my men had already got it and it''s right here." Reuben said as Tom handed them the scanned copies of his both marriage certificates. Veronica smirked after seeing the proofs and then said, "Shall I start my mission then?" Reuben nodded his head and said, "Yes Ica. Tell your officials to send a contract to Howard and Co. I''m sure he''d be extremely overjoyed when he''d come to know that the biggest multimedia company Creation had sent a contract to them for a collaboration on an upcoming project." "Exactly.. And then I''d trap him slowly into my witchy strategy and bring him close to his death door to the hell!" Veronica wickedly smiled, making others grin too. ---- Country Z¡­ Frank''s Mansion.. Frank was sitting on the big comfortable couch of his study room. His men who were investigating on Diana''s matter, were standing in front of him with a worried expression. Whereas Frank''s assistant had a mix kind of expression showing on his face which didn''t got unnoticed by Frank. Gulping his saliva a little, Frank''s assistant said, "Sir, we''ve both a good and bad news for you.." Chapter 400 - Good and bad news... Gulping his saliva a little, Frank''s assistant said, "Sir, we''ve both good and bad news for you.." "What do you mean by both good news and bad news? The good news must be related to finding Diana, right? Then what is the bad news here?" Frank asked with his furrowed eyebrows as he kept on thinking about different stuffs which could be bad omen for him. But he couldn''t find one. He for once thought about Mr. Brown but later shook off the thought as he knew that he was not that much capable of bringing any harm on him. So for now, he was really confused about the fact that, what exactly could be the bad news his assistant was talking about.. "Sir, actually. You''re wrong about it. The good news is not about Diana Ma''am. In fact she is resolving around the bad news which I''m going to give you." His assistant said in fear. "What are you talking about? How can Diana be a bad news for us? We were trying to find out about her from the moment she left country Z but we never got any clue about her. She vanished away from us like a thin air. And now that you guys have finally found her, you are telling me that it is a bad news?" Frank asked them in a cold voice. But it was enough to make them understand that though he was looking calm from outside but he was brazing fire from inside. Shivering slightly in fear, his assistant said, "Sir, we found out the whereabouts of Ms. Diana. She is in city S right now.." As Frank heard it, his confusion grew more as he never thought her to be back into the same country she had studied in. He clearly remembered that he had made sure to bribe some of the officers there so that if Diana had ever landed there, he would be immediately notified about it. But he got no news about her.!!! Moreover, if she had gone to country K then why was she staying in city S instead of city B where he had spent her few years of college life? Strange!! After he was done with his thinking, he asked, "So what is she doing in city S? Any news about that?" One of the investigators nodded his head and said, "Yes sir. She is now working under Lopez Industries. But the next information we got about her, will shock you very much." Frank didn''t say anything but just signaled him through his eyes to continue on whatever he wanted to say. Getting the signal, the investigator started narrating everything, "Sir few days ago, the richest and most famous couple of the business world Mr. Reuben Smith and Veronica Lopez got engaged." "Yeah.. I read the news about them. Reuben Smith is a really sly businessman and that''s why he''s the most wealthiest business tycoon of the world right now " Frank muttered as he remembered the small encounter between him and Reuben at a party. The investigator listened to him carefully and then informed him about the rest of the story, "But the catch is here that, something big got revealed that day. Miss Diana had arrived there with Mr. Reuben Smith''s cousin brother, Louis Morgan that day.. They were really close to each other and when the reporters asked them about their relation, Mr. Louis announced that he and Ms. Diana are dating¡­" "What! Did you just say that Diana is dating Louis Morgan? But how can it be possible?" Frank almost shouted after hearing the most unexpected news. Nodding his head in affirmation, the other investigator continued, "Yes sir.. But the shocking news hadn''t ended yet. There are more to hear. Actually then the reporters asked them if they were going to get married any time soon.. As a response, Mr. Morgan immediately declared he is completely ready to marry Diana and the moment Ms. Diana too agreed to marry with him, they''ll host a wedding." Now the land under Frank''s legs started to slide away as he felt a big blow was hitting him on his face. He immediately freaked out, "No.. This can''t be possible. If Diana marries that Louis Morgan, then it''d be impossible for me to reach her... They are very much influential people and I don''t stand anywhere near them. Though I am the most reputed businessman of country Z but when it comes to power, money and anything else, I''m far behind them, especially from Reuben Smith.." "I know sir. But as I said, together with the bad news, we too have a very good news for you which may solve your all problems." His assistant said. "What is that?" Frank asked expectantly to get some good result out of it. "Sir, the biggest multimedia company of country K has sent us a proposal for an upcoming project." His assistant said happily. "You meant to say it''s from Creation? Wait a minute! Isn''t it the same company whose Vice President is Louis Morgan?" Frank asked confusedly. The assistant nodded before replying, "Yes sir. But you don''t need to worry about that. Because as much as I know, even though Mr. Morgan is the Vice-president of the company, he still doesn''t have any say in choosing companies for business collaboration... It''s the secret CEO of Creation who has upper hand in everything. And it''s also him who had sent the proposal personally as his officials informed us that the CEO himself liked our work ethics very much.." Now Frank was relieved after hearing it. He also became happy with the news as he told his assistant, "Inform them immediately that I''d like to have a collaboration with them." ---- Creation¡­ Top floor... Veronica along with Louis and Willa were sitting leisurely in the CEO''s cabin waiting for Frank''s reply. They were very much sure that the moment Frank would come to know about the proposal, he''d immediately accept it without thinking too much.. And as expected they heard a ''ping'' sound from the computer. Even without seeing the message, Veronica just smirked evilly and said, "Finally, the fish got caught into the net!!" Chapter 401 - Threat mail... Even without seeing the message, Veronica just smirked evilly and said, "Finally, the fish got caught into the net!!" Louis and Willa too smiled at Veronica''s mockery statement whereas Veronica opened the email that had been sent to them. Just by reading it, their face turned into a winning smile and they were enveloped into a cheerful energy. "So guys, now that we have already got his acceptance mail, it''s time for our next step." Veronica announced. "Yes.. And for that we need the help of our lovely sister-in-law, Lisa." Willa happily chirped. Louis too nodded and said, "Let me inform others about this then." Both Willa and Veronica nodded and started their evil planning again.. ----- Jones Mansion.. Everyone was seated in the living room, chatting happily about everything while Mrs. Jones was feeding Lisa her fruits. "So Andrew, do you plan to join back in our company and take the CEO position anytime soon? Your dad had become already old and now want to be free from all the work pressure... Your mother had already sacrificed many things for me. Now I want to accompany her in everything by giving her all of my time." Mr. Jones said. Andrew thought for a while about this matter then looked at his mother who had already done everything to bring smile on everyone''s faces and never complained about it. Finally, he made a decision and informed his father, "You''re right dad.. You''ve worked really hard for these years. Now it''s time for you to relax a bit with Mom.. Don''t worry. I''ll handle everything. Just let me shift my business from city Z to here. Then I''ll collaborate both of our companies and take your responsibilities." Mr. and Mrs. Jones were both proud of their son while Lisa and Amelia were too happy for him. Suddenly Amelia remembered that she had promised her school friends for a gathering. Hesitatingly she asked Mr. Jones, "Dad.. Today I and my friends had planned to meet up. Can I please go?" Mr. Jones gave her a cold look and said, "Do whatever you want. You don''t need to ask about anything from us. After all, you never asked us before committing such big sins... But let me warn you about one thing. If you dare to play anymore trick on others specially Lucy and Henry, then I''ll be the first one to strangle you to the death. You already had made us ashamed of your behaviour. I don''t want to lower my head anymore because of you." Amelia meekly nodded her head with tearful eyes and left for the restaurant where she had planned to meet with her friends.. After Amelia was gone, Mrs. Jones asked her husband, "Honey, do you think it''s a good idea to send her alone outside? What if she creates trouble again. You even gave the phone back to her." Seeing Mrs. Jones''s concern filled face, Mr. Jones held her hands and said, "I''ve just let her go because I wanted to see what is her exact plan. If she is really going to meet her friends or she had some other plans.." Lisa interrupted them in between and said, "I don''t know Dad why but I feel like Amy is already repenting on her mistakes and she''ll not do any kind of mistakes again." "Though I''m not sure but I too think that she has changed after getting thrashed by everyone. But I need to mention one thing here.. Even if she had turned for better, we should not forgive her so easily. Whatever she had done is practically a big crime. We need to show her what happens what someone tries to take the wrong steps." Andrew stated. Mr. Jones nodded his head and replied, "Yes. You''re right about it. We should not loose our emotions for her till she gets to understand the actual pain of betrayal and separation from friends and family." "I just hope whatever Lisa had said is true. I really want Amy to be a better girl with a good heart. I''m not going to compare her with others but my only wish is to see her choosing the good path.." Mrs. Jones also spoke about her feelings. In the meantime, Andrew''s cell phone buzzed and when he saw the number, he smiled. Picking up the phone, he said, "Hello." "Bro.. Is Lisa sis with you?" Louis asked from the other side without greeting back. Andrew frowned and asked, "Yeah. She is here.. Why?" "Frank already took the bait. So it''s now Lisa who has to work on our next plan." Louis replied. "Hmmm.. Fine.." Andrew said looking at Lisa who was happily eating some fruits. "But bro.. Don''t call him now. Wait for a few days so that he couldn''t doubt anything." Louis reminded him. Andrew snorted at him and replied, "I know that, you idiot! Don''t forget that I''m the eldest one here, not you." Louis sheepishly smiled from the other side and said, "Hehehe.. Sorry." Andrew too smiled and hung up the call.. ---- Days were passing by with the siblings focusing more on the plan to give Frank the cruelest death for his wrong deeds and preparing for the upcoming wedding of their friends. It had already been more than a week after Frank had decided to have a collaboration with Creation... Frank was sitting in his big mansion in country Z when he got an email from an unknown sender. He furrowed his eyebrows and opened the email but when he started reading it, cold sweat started to form on his face. The e-mail was not any simple one where he was literally blackmailed by the sender but it was a threat mail with full proofs.. He got threatened by some unknown person with his two illegal marriages. Not only that, there was also proofs attached to it along with some of his illegal works like drug and women trafficking.. His whole body started to shiver from top to bottom and he immediately called for his assistant. "What is this? How anyone could find out about this when you have told me that you had kept it undercover without leaving any proofs?" Frank shouted in anger. Chapter 402 - Primary suspect... "What is this? How anyone could find out about this when you have told me that you had kept it undercover without leaving any proofs?" Frank shouted in anger. The assistant read the email again and again to find out any loopholes. But to his bad luck, there was none. Each and every proof was accurate ones. Here, Frank''s anger started to rise up and he clenched his fingers in a tight fist which made his knuckles turn white in colour. "Find out who is the person to have the guts to send me this. I want the report in twelve hours." Frank shouted. The assistant bowed his head and said, "Okay Boss. I''ll give you the information in few hours." Saying this he left while Frank picked up a showpiece from the nearest table and threw it with force on the floor. His veins started to show up and his face turned red in complete anger... ---- City S¡­ Wedding preparations were going on full swing. Cards were getting distributed to every known person. The whole city was very much happy with the news of the two couples'' marriage. There was only one topic among everyone that was how amazing the wedding was going to happen. The youngsters were sitting in the living room of Johnson mansion to discuss about everything. "Diana has already designed the gowns. So we''re not worried about that. What about the wedding hall decorations?" Veronica asked the boys. "It''s going good. We''ve already planned everything. Now we''re just waiting for the wedding day to arrive." Reuben said. Amelia who was too present there suggested, "Uhmm.. If you guys don''t mind then can you change the set up from white and pink to white and purple.. Pink is quite common nowadays. I think purple will be the best." Everyone looked at her while Veronica just scrutinized her from top to bottom. In this past one week, Amelia had changed massively. The old selfish Amelia had turned into a helpful Amy who always had a glow on her face nowadays. She was always happy with everything. Though everyone tried to ignore her but she would still talk with them cheerfully. Amelia also had apologized to all of them a lot of time but it was Mr. and Mrs. Jones'' order not to forgive her easily so they were just keeping their distance from her. Henry was not even looking at her and it was paining Amelia very much. However the pain was not because she still had an infatuation on him but because she had understood her fault.. Lisa who was eating a sandwich said, "I think, it''s a really good idea. We should go with it. What say?" Lucinda thought for a while and said, "Hmm.. I too think it''s an awesome idea. If Willa doesn''t have any problem then let''s go with purple instead of pink." Willa shook her head and said, "I don''t have any problem with it." "Okay, it''s fixed then." Myra said excitedly while others nodded. Suddenly the ringing of a phone, interrupted them in discussing the matters. When they looked at the source of the noise, it was Amelia whose phone was ringing. Seeing the caller ID, a blush formed in Amelia''s cheeks which the girls noticed immediately and gave a confusing look to her. "Uhmm.. Guys, please excuse me. I need to receive the call." Amelia said and went away from there. Andrew and Reuben made an eye contact with Veronica, signalling her something. Nodding at them, Veronica got up from there and said, "Guys.. I''m going to bring drinks for everyone." All of them nodded and again busied themselves in talking. Veronica slowly went behind Amelia and hid in one of the corners. She knew that Amelia had changed completely but still she needed to ensure the safety of her friends. Moreover, Andrew and Reuben also gestured her to follow Amelia to know who she was talking to or if she was making any new plan. She stood there quietly, trying to listen to her conversation but what she heard next blew off her mind. "Yes.. I do remember about the date. Don''t worry. I''ll definitely reach there in time." Amelia said on the phone. Here, Veronica was absolutely surprised hearing the word ''date''. So she focused more on her to be assured if she really had found someone special for her. And her doubt got confirmed when Amelia said with a small chuckle, "I like you too and I''m sure we both will fall in love with each other soon.. You''re the one who has supported me when my friends had turned their faces from me. Though they were right at their position, but it still hurts.. But after meeting you that day, I understood that I too can have a happy life with someone. Because of you, I was able to come out of my horrible past. Thank you." It was really a shocking news for Veronica but she was happy that Amelia really had moved on. But she was happier because now Amelia won''t create any disturbance in her friends'' life. Call it selfish but she wanted her friends to be happy and safe! Her trance got broken when she heard Amelia hanging up the call after saying, "I miss you" to the person on the line. Veronica quickly left from the place and went inside the kitchen to bring soft drinks for her friends while Amelia too joined them again but this time with a wide smile on her face. ----- Country Z¡­ "It''s been already five hours. Did you find anything yet?" Frank asked impatiently. "No sir.. We haven''t. As we told you that this is not Ms. Diana as we were keeping tracks on her and we didn''t find anything unobvious." The assistant said. Frank was now completely disturbed by it. His primary suspect was Diana but she was not the sender which made him more frustrated. He paced around the whole room like a madman, trying to figure out about the person who had sent him the email and suddenly someone''s name came running into his mind as he asked exasperatedly, "Find out about Lisa.." ---- [Please read the complete author note...] Chapter 403 - Remaining bachelor days... He paced around the whole room like a madman, trying to figure out about the person who had sent him the email and suddenly someone''s name came running into his mind as he asked exasperatedly, "Find out about Lisa.." The assistant was now really confused with what his boss had ordered to him and asked, "Lisa Ma''am? But why she would threaten you sir? After all, she''s your daughter." "Yes.. She''s my daughter. But she has every reason to blackmail me. Now that I think of it carefully, no one other than her can get so many evidences. Even that Brown idiot didn''t have any idea about my two marriages." Frank said very calculatedly. His assistant nodded his head and ordered the investigators to find out about Lisa. Hours were passing and by each hour, Frank''s patience was also fading away. After straight ten hours of research, the assistant spoke out, "Sir, we got the whereabouts of Miss Lisa. She seemed to be living in country K from past few days." "What? She too is living in country K? Find out, if she has any connections with Diana." Frank ordered as he clenched his jaw tightly. "No sir. She doesn''t have any connections with Ms. Diana or anyone. Report says that she went there for a job interview in a small company. We also got her email id and other informations.. After we check both of the IDs, there seemed to be no connection between them. So we''re sure that it''s not Lisa Ma''am.." the assistant informed. Now, Frank was hell confused and too much irritated as none of his presumptions were coming out to be true. He pulled his hair in anger and screamed loudly at them, "Leave right now. I want to stay alone." Everyone got scared by his cold tone and left hurriedly from there. Frank was running his had through his hair continuously. He was burning in anger right then and wanted to break everything inside the room. After crashing numerous of things in the room, he finally calmed down a little but it too didn''t stay for much longer. Soon, he got a call from a private number which he immediately picked up without looking at the caller ID. "Who is this?" He yelled on the phone. "Oh ho! Seems like Mr. Frank Howard is really very angry because of the email." The person said in a relaxed tone. Frank''s eyes widened immediately when he heard the person and asked, "Who¡­who are you? And what do you want from me?" The person smiled devilishly and said, "Well, you don''t need to be aware about who I am. But what you must know is¡­ I''m the one who can destroy you any moment if you don''t listen to my orders. And about what I want.. Hahaha¡­ I want money.. 100 million dollars.. Deposit the money in my bank account in the next 14 days. If I don''t get the money till then, I''m going to ruin you completely.." Frank''s hold on the phone tightened and a chill ran down from his spine. It was the first time he got threatened by someone too brutally.. The blackmailer didn''t even gave him any scope to talk back as he was on point for the whole time. "How can I be sure that you''ll not post anything about me after I send you the money?" Frank asked, gritting his teeth. Laughing mockingly at his question, the other person said, "You don''t need to worry about that. I''m a man of my words¡­" "Fine then. Send me your account details and I''ll deposit the money in two weeks." Frank finally accepted the deal. The other person smirked at him and replied, "I''ll be waiting then." After hanging up the call, Frank pushed off all the showpieces which were kept on the nearby table and screamed loudly to get out of his frustration. "Who was the person who called me now?" Frank called for his assistant and asked him with his rage filled eyes. "Sir.. The call was from a private number. So we couldn''t track the ID." His assistant said with his head bowed down. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" Frank cursed again and again. After a few minutes when he finally calmed down he looked at his assistant and replied, "You were right. It''s not Lisa or Diana who is blackmailing us. Because the person who had called me, was a male¡­" ---- City S¡­ A man was sitting on the couch leisurely while resting his head on the soft cushion. He kept the phone on the table after having an interesting chat with someone. "So the blackmailing is done already?" Veronica asked the person, chewing some popcorns. Andrew smiled and replied, "Yes, baby sister. It''s already done." Reuben laughed at his response and said, "Now that we had already given him two weeks time to send us the money, we don''t have to think about him for the next few days as he''ll be now busy with arranging money and finding clues about the caller which he will not get at any cost unluckily.. So I think we should focus more on these two couples'' marriage which is just ten days away." "Yes...what Reuben had said is absolutely right. Frank should be forgotten for a while till the wedding ends. Our main priority now is the wedding preparations." Louis said while pointing at Neil, Willa, Lucinda and Henry. "The wedding cards had been distributed already, hall is decided, menu has been fixed and decoration too has been settled¡­ So now we have to give our hands on the other stuffs like booking flowers, buying gifts for the guests etc etc¡­" Jack reminded others. Veronica too nodded her head and said pointing at the soon to be married couples, "We will handle everything. Whereas you four just need to take rest and enjoy your remaining bachelor days with your respective partners. No more questions are allowed here.. " Everyone smiled at her bossy behaviour but it soon changed into worry when they heard a loud scream which terrified them all in a mere fraction of second, "Ahhhhhhhh...¡­." Chapter 404 - You make me complete... Everyone smiled at her bossy behaviour but it soon changed into worry when the heard a loud scream which terrified them all in a fraction of second, "Ahhhhhhhh¡­." All of their eyes snapped towards Lisa who was sitting their holding her tummy and screaming in pain. Andrew clutched her baby bump and asked frantically, "Babe¡­What happened? Is it paining?" Before she could reply, Lucinda noticed that the couch was getting wet and she shouted in exasperation, "Oh My God! Lisa''s water already broke. We need to take her to the hospital." Andrew''s eyes widened in shock as he stammered, "But why now? The doctor has given the date three weeks later." Mrs. Jones who had come rushing towards them hearing Lisa''s scream scolded him, "Stupid! You''re busy in talking here when you need to pick your wife up and run to the hospital... The baby can come at any moment and its normal to have a delivery few weeks earlier than the exact time." Hearing his mother''s response, Andrew didn''t waste anymore time and lifted Lisa up in his arms whereas Veronica and Willa ran inside the room to bring Lisa''s pregnancy reports along with other important things. ----- Fusion¡­ A girl was sitting in a private room, wearing a beautiful black dress. She was looking outside the window, thinking over something when the door of the room got opened. Amelia turned towards the door and noticed a handsome looking man in his pale blue jeans with a black shirt, walking towards her in his own glory. As the man approached towards her, he immediately apologized, "I''m extremely sorry for being late, Amy.." "I think it''s the first time when a girlfriend is waiting for her boyfriend on their lunch date. However, as it''s the first time, I''m ready to accept your apology." Amelia replied with a smile. The man also smiled back at her and said, "Thanks Amy. Your boyfriend will not do the same mistake again." Amelia narrowed her eyes at him, "It better be like this way. If you get late again, then I''ll stop talking to you for a week." The man on the other side laughed at her cuteness and said, "I''ll not give you a second chance to do so " Nodding her head at him, she said, "So¡­shall we order first?" "Yes.. We shall." Saying this, the man called for a waiter who took their order and left from there. "So.. For how many days, we are going to hide out relationship? It''s been already two weeks that we''re dating each other." The handsome guy said holding Amelia''s hand. Sighing deeply, Amelia replied, "I really don''t know about it. Everything in my home is just a mess. Everyone was avoiding me for my mistakes. No one is even trying to have a conversation with me. They are treating me like I''m completely invisible. Especially my Dad¡­he loved me so much but now he doesn''t even want to see my face." A teardrop fell from her eyes which the man had wiped off with his thumb. His heart too filled with sorrow, seeing his girl crying like this. "I know whatever you did was really wrong. But as I told you, I also had hurt many people close to me which led them to hate me with their guts.. Most importantly, because of my stupidity, I lost both my twin brother and my first love." He said in disappointment. Amelia stroke his palm gently and asked, "You still love your first love. Don''t you?" The man was about to reply when a knock interrupted them and the waiter returned with their food and left after serving them. While eating, the man stared at Amelia whose face had turned a little darker after the mention of his first love which brought a small smile on his lips. "I don''t have anymore feelings for her. She was my past and I know that I''ll never be able to be with her in this life... She''s happy with her own partner and going to get married to him really soon. So I just pray to God for her happiness. And now¡­only you reside in my heart." He confessed truly looking at Amelia with love filled eyes. Amelia abruptly looked up at him and an immediate smile bloomed on her face as she said with a longing expression, "I don''t know what would''ve happened to me if you were not with me in my life''s most difficult time. Thanks for being here, Alonzo.." Alonzo smiled at her and replied, "You too are with me when I needed someone''s love and support the most. You make me complete. So thank you to you too.." Amelia smiled at him and teased, "I didn''t know that Alonzo Brown can be romantic also?" Alonzo laughed at her comment and said, "You are yet to see more of my romantic sides, Amy." "Is this an indirect proposal, Mr. Brown?" Amelia asked raising her eyebrows. "Maybe, Ms. Jones " Alonzo replied playfully. ----- Few hours later¡­ Hospital¡­ Everyone was sitting outside the operation theater where Lisa had been taken for her delivery and Andrew too was with her. Andrew was a mess when he arrived in the hospital, being followed by his parents and siblings. The doctor rushed Lisa into the delivery room after confirming that this was the day of the baby''s birth. Everyone was excited and waiting outside impatiently from past two and half hours to welcome the first born in their team.. At that moment, Amelia came running towards them and asked, "Where is Lisa sis? Is she okay? And what about the baby?" The elder Jones completely ignored their daughter when Veronica replied, "Lisa is in the delivery room now. There is nothing to worry much as doctor had said that both mother and baby are stable." Amelia heaved a sigh of relief and thanked the God. But what she didn''t notice the confused gaze of her friends who were staring behind her in puzzlement. "Bro¡­ What are you doing here?" Chapter 405 - No boys are allowed near her... Amelia heaved a sigh of relief and thanked the God. But what she didn''t notice the confused gaze of her friends who were staring behind her in puzzlement. "Bro¡­ What are you doing here?" Myra asked as she noticed Alonzo standing right behind Amelia with a worried expression. Amelia''s head jolted up when she heard Myra calling Alonzo as bro. She looked at him in bafflement while Alonzo too was shocked to see his sister and others waiting there. "I came here with Amy as she got the news of her sister-in-law going to have her baby soon. So I accompanied her here. But what are you doing here?" Alonzo questions back with furrowed eyebrows. "Wait a minute!! How do you know my daughter? Are you her school friend? But I never have seen you before." Mrs. Jones said looking at Alonzo. Amelia shook his head and said, "No Mom. He''s not my school friend. I met him at Fusion few weeks ago. But why Myra is calling her brother?" "I''m calling him bro because he is my brother. A real one. But why are you both together here?" Myra asked eyeing both Alonzo and Amelia. Before the question and answers round could go any further, Reuben stopped them by saying, "Guys, we can talk about this matter later. Now please keep quite as it''s a hospital." All of them shut their mouths while Reuben and Veronica shared a knowing look with each other. ----- Few minutes later... Their wait became finally over when they heard the cry of a baby and a happy smile crept on everyone''s lips automatically just by imaging about the little one''s arrival. Soon, Andrew came out of the delivery room with a bright smile. His eyes were filled with happy tears while his face had a different kind of glow which could not be described by words. Mrs. Jones held his hand and asked expectantly, "How are Lisa and baby?" Andrew sniffed a little and replied cheerfully, "Lisa and baby, both are fine. And it''s a girl.." Their faces lit up in a big smile and they exclaimed loudly together, "Congratulations.." "Wow bro!! Your wish got fulfilled by God. You''re now a proud father of a cute little princess." Reuben hugged him while Neil and Henry too joined them. A happy atmosphere was spread through the whole corridor at the news of the little princess'' arrival. All were happy and excited to see the new member now... ----- An hour later¡­ Lisa had been shifted to a VIP room and the other elders had also arrived in the meantime to welcome the new life of joy. Andrew was sitting on the bed while caressing Lisa''s hair who was resting her head on his chest after a tired delivery of a healthy baby girl. The girls were squealing like kids looking at the soft puddle of happiness who was sleeping now with her pink lips pouted towards them. She was looking truly like an angel..!!!! "Oh my god! She''s so small and cute." Diana exclaimed in pure aww. "Yup¡­ That she is. And look at her eyes and nose. It''s so adorable." Willa said, touching her nose. "I know right. Though her features are more like Lisa but her face shape is completely like our brother Andrew." Veronica pointed it out. "I agree with that." Lucinda said. Amelia played with her little fingers and then asked, "Bro and sis-in-law, have you both decided any name yet?" Both Andrew and Lisa looked at each other and then proudly announced after nodding at them, "Olivia Jones.." "Woah!! That''s a really good name." Henry said. "Yup¡­ Olivia name is as cute as our princess. She''ll be the apple of our eyes. We won''t let any harm approach to her. All the evils would have to face us before reaching her... We''ll protect her from every boys over here who would try to come near her. She''ll be only our little angel.." Reuben said with a smile playing on his lips as he adored the cute baby who was now placed in Mrs. Smith''s arms. "For the god''s sake, Mr. Smith. She has just born few minutes ago. And you guys are already started doing her future planning to keep the boys away from her.. What rubbish! At least let her get back to her home first. And stop being so much possessive over her." Veronica spat at him angrily. Reuben just made a cute pout while Henry supported him, "Reuben is absolutely right. No boys are allowed near her." "Do you want me to beat you up?" Lucinda threatened him with her deadly eyes. "Why are you threatening him? Reuben and Henry are correct. We won''t allow any boys around her. We can''t trust anyone nowadays, specially if they are boys." Neil said to his sister and earned a slap on his shoulder from Willa. Andrew laughed at them and added, "Thank God that we''ve decided to come back here in city S before the baby''s birth... Now I have my brothers to protect my princess from those bad boys'' traps. She''d be guarded by all of us. So I don''t have to worry much." Listening to it, Lisa glared at her husband and scolded, "Don''t even think about bounding her with your stupid reasons of not letting her befriend with the opposite genders." "Exactly.. And if you guys want to be so much overprotective about her, then why are you guys marrying us? Aren''t we our father''s daughters too? Don''t they love us like you guys love our Olivia? Or, they are not protective about us? Tell me.." Veronica asked angrily, threw daggers at him through her eyes. "Yes.. Now give us the answers of this question. Do you think our fathers love us any less than you guys¡­huh??" Lucinda too joined Veronica in rebuking at them. The men visually gulped seeing their respective partners asking them about the most unexpected questions of their lives, making the elders specially the fathers laugh at them. "Yes...yes.. I agree with our daughters. If you can''t allow a newborn baby to have any guy friends then why should we allow our princesses to get married with you guys?" Mr. Lopez teased them equally. Chapter 406 - Bennie keeps me always happy... "Yes...yes.. I agree with our daughters. If you can''t allow a newborn baby to have any guy friends then why should we allow our princesses to get married with you guys?" Mr. Lopez teased them equally. "What!! No!! You can''t do this to us. They are already our fiance and we''re going to marry them real soon. So you have to allow us no matter what." Reuben almost demanded in a panicky tone. "Yes.. I completely agree with whatever you have said, Reuben. Our parents can''t back off now from giving their daughters'' hands to us." Neil bombarded at their parents. Henry vigorously nodded his head and said, "I''m also in Reuben and Neil''s team." The elders along with others kept staring at the three men who were getting married in few days but still acting so childishly and burst into laughter... Their vulnerable faces were so much funny that they couldn''t stop themselves from breaking into fits of laughter but their laughter got a red signal when they heard a small cry.. "Wahhhhhhhhhh¡­.." Getting disturbed in her peaceful sleep by the old people, baby Olivia started to cry in her feeble voice. Mrs. Smith cuddle her into her arms and swung her from right to left which led Olivia again drift into her sleep. After she slept, Mrs. Lopez glared at everyone and scolded, "If you guys are done with showing your possessiveness then don''t dare to speak anymore. Both mother and baby need rest now." Mrs. Jones smiled taking her granddaughter in her arms and said, "As Olivia is going to enter her home for the first time the day after tomorrow, so I''ve planned to arrange a feast that day. So all of you are coming without missing it." "Of course! How can we miss the opportunity to play with Olivia and eat super tasty meals?" Louis said in excitement as he rubbed his hands together. Diana hit his head and said, "Idiot! Olivia is too much small to play with. She can only eat, sleep and cry now. Nothing more." Everyone laughed at it while Mrs. Jones looked at Alonzo and said, "You too come on that day at our home. Your sister will also be there. So nothing to worry.." Alonzo nodded his head while Amelia looked at Mrs. Jones who gave her a brief glance before turning towards her granddaughter again. Everyone left after bidding goodbye to the couple and Andrew decided to stay with Lisa to take care of her and their baby... ---- Two days later¡­ Alonzo''s Apartment... "When are you coming?" Amelia asked Alonzo on the phone. Alonzo who was buttoning up his shirt to get ready for the visiting Amelia''s home, kept his phone''s speaker on and said, "I''ll be leaving in five more minutes." "Hmm¡­ I think Mom and Dad might ask us about our relationship today." Amelia muttered while fidgeting with her fingers. Alonzo combed his hair and replied, "I also think the same. However, if they really ask us, we''ll tell them the truth about us. It''s not like we''re committing some crimes." Amelia thought for a while and replied, "Yes.. you''re right. I can''t think of losing you too. You are the one who made me understand that what kind of big problems I had created in the past.. You had told me that there is no future of me if I go behind Henry like a leech. He deserves to be happy and me too.." "Amy¡­ Past is past. We should forget about it and move forward, right?" Alonzo asked in a sweet tone. Amelia smiled and said, "Yes.. You come soon then and drive safely. I''ll be waiting for you." "Hmmm¡­ I''ll be there in another thirty minutes." Alonzo said before hanging up the call. ----- Jones Mansion¡­ "Welcome..!!!!!!" Everyone shouted in excitement as soon as Lisa entered with Olivia in Andrew''s arms. They chuckled seeing the curiosity of their loved ones and placed Olivia in the crib. The whole living room was decorated beautifully with various colours of ribbons and balloons. It was looking really cute as a welcome gift for the baby and her Mumma.. "Lisa.. You go and freshen up first. We''ll take care of Olivia till then. Andrew, help her to her room." Mr. Jones said to his son and daughter-in-law. After they went to their bedroom, they started cooing the little baby when the bell rang and Alonzo came inside with a bouquet of flowers for Lisa and some gifts for baby Olivia.. "Uh.. Please come inside and make yourself comfortable here." Mrs. Jones welcomed Alonzo who returned her politeness with a small smile. Reuben looked at Alonzo and said, "Its good to see you here, Alonzo." Alonzo looked at him and replied, "Thanks. And nice to meet you all too." "Hello Alonzo. I hope you''re fine." Veronica said. Alonzo gaped at Veronica in shock as he didn''t expect Veronica to greet him at all and said meekly, "Uhmm.. Yeah.. I''m fine. I can see you''re good also." Veronica grinned widely and wrapped her hands around Reuben''s and said proudly, "Yes.. Bennie kees me always happy." Reuben pecked on her forehead while Alonzo just smiled at them. Meanwhile, Lisa too came downstairs with Andrew and joined everybody while Amelia took a seat beside Alonzo as they shared a shy smile to each other. After everyone settled themselves, Mr. Jones asked directly without beating around the bush, "From the experience I have over love, I can clearly tell that there is something more than friendship between both of you. Now it''s your turn to confirm my assumptions." Alonzo gave a final glance to Amelia and held her sweaty hands before announcing, "We''re dating from the past two weeks, sir.." No one spoke anything more but just kept on looking at the couple. They already got a hint the previous day in the hospital that there was something cooking between them. So they were not shocked at all with the information. "You told us that you''ve met each other at Fusion for the first time, right?" Mr. Jones threw another question at them. "No Dad.. We''ve met each other two years ago.." Chapter 407 - Portrayed your departure as a form of betrayal... "You told us that you''ve met each other at Fusion for the first time, right?" Mr. Jones threw another question at them. "No Dad.. We''ve met each other two years ago.." It was Amelia who had disclosed the information to them this time which made all of them to get a big shock with this revelation. Not even a single person was aware about it... Though Reuben and Veronica had already guessed about their relationship from beforehand but they never knew that these two people in front of them who were connected to them by different relations, were already accustomed to each other from past two years.. It was a really long span of time but no one was aware about it. They didn''t even get a simple doubt about this couple. "What? You guys know each other from two years? How could that be possible?" Myra asked being still in her shock. Alonzo nodded his head and said, "Actually.. you''re somewhere right and somewhere wrong too. We don''t know each other from two years ago but we had a meeting together in Country M two years ago." Amelia then looked at the confused faces of her parents and friends who had a look of puzzlement showing on their expressions and inhaled a sharp breath. After that, she gazed at her parents and asked, "Do you remember Mom that I needed to attend a business party two years ago on the behalf of Dad as he was out of country that time?" Both her parents pondered over the matter and when they got back their memory of that time, they nodded at her. "Yes, I do remember. You had just started working under me that time. And it was an emergency for which I need to go abroad so I let you attend the party." Mr. Jones said remembering the particular day. Amelia confirmed her father by saying, "Yes dad.. You''re right. That day, I met Alonzo for the first time. He too had come to join the party and we talked about few business related stuffs with others on the night of the party." "So¡­ After that night, you continued to have a connection between each other? But whatever I''ve known about Alonzo, he was behind our Vero, right?" Jack asked one of the most important questions of the time being. Alonzo sighed and replied, "Yes¡­ You were right that I was behind Vero till few days ago. And about keeping connection between each other from that day, you are absolutely wrong¡­ Because that was the first and last time I had any conversation with Amy. We were just strangers who met at a business party and spoke a little bit for business purpose. Nothing more¡­" Amelia looked at Alonzo and then replied, "Yes.. That''s right. It was after the engagement day when we came face to face again after two long years at Fusion... Alonzo couldn''t recognise me at first but it didn''t take me much time to acknowledge him as I became a fan of his impressive business talks in that party.." "Wait a minute! You are talking about the same day when we had a huge revelation about a lot of stuffs¡­right?" Veronica asked as she calculated the date by their mentions. Amelia nodded her head again and said, "Yes.. It was the same day when I came to know about my mistakes." "Oh! I see.." Veronica said. "What had happened then?" Reuben asked. Alonzo then grabbed Amelia''s hand a little more tightly to assure her and replied, "As Amy told you that she recognised me immediately, so we had a fair share of talk together¡­ Both of us shared each other''s number but when I called her at that night to release my exhaustion, she didn''t pick it up.. Two days later, she called me herself and we decided to have a friendly chat at a restaurant. There we opened up about our past where we came to know that we both had made mistakes in our lives. So we grew more understandings than sympathizing each other¡­" Amelia continued their story from there as she narrated, "As we were on the same boat, we became each other''s supporter in our most difficult time. Like these we started to grow a fondness between both of us... Our chatting increased and without knowing anything about the circ.u.mstances and the results, we started to like each other and now we''re dating for two weeks." Everyone listened to them carefully and stayed quiet for few minutes. But Mr. Jones broke it with the most unexpected question, "So do you still have feelings for our Vero or you have completely got over her?" This made not only Alonzo but Veronica too fell off guard in a tight situation but she thought it''d be best to not say something at this moment. After all, she too wanted to know if Alonzo had finally moved on from her... If yes, then it''d be very much helpful for her and Reuben''s relationship in future¡­ Alonzo took another deep breath and did the most unpredictable thing anyone could ever expect from him. He simply walked towards Veronica which made her not only confused but also made Reuben grit his teeth.. But it changed into surprise when Alonzo suddenly kneeled in front of Veronica and said, "Vero.. I know whatever happened in the past can''t be forgotten ever. The amount of insult I threw on you can''t be taken back ever in this life... But at least, I can apologize to you for my actions which may have hurt you a lot. I''m sorry Veronica for every single thing. You were really a true friend of mine and Alex but I misunderstood it in a wrong way and blamed you for my brother''s death and portrayed your departure as a form of betrayal." Looking up at her in the eyes, he confessed, "It''s true that I''ve loved you once in my life more than myself and became crazy over you so badly that I had no idea about right or wrong. Truth to be told, I still like you a lot¡­" Chapter 408 - Empty heart... Looking up at her in the eyes, he confessed, "It''s true that I''ve loved you once in my life more than myself and became crazy over you so badly that I had no idea about right or wrong. Truth to be told, I still like you a lot¡­" As these words left from his mouth, Amelia let out a huge gasp.. She gaped at him unbelievably and shuddered because of the thought of Alonzo still liking Veronica even after days of their dating. Was her luck so bad that she couldn''t get the love of her life for herself? Why everytime the person whom she thought of spending her life with, likes someone else? She felt pain, only pain!! It was hurting her so much as if her heart had been pierced through again and again by sharp weapons.. Her heart was bleeding internally without knowing how to stop it... The others were also agitated with what Alonzo had said as they couldn''t understood that how could a person date a girl when he still had feelings for his first love? However, the person who should be the angriest among all of them was sitting there quietly without muttering even a single word. Reuben was sitting there silently looking at Alonzo deeply while hugging Veronica''s shoulder who had laid her head on his broad chest. They knew that whatever people were thinking was nothing nearest to what Alonzo wanted to say.. After being in a relationship for almost five years, they had gradually learned to get a right grip on someone''s emotions.. The look Alonzo was giving at Veronica right now was not a look of affection but more like of regrets which also had a ting of apology in it.. But the way Alonzo was staring at Amelia few minutes ago, was enough to convey that it was more than liking for Alonzo towards Amelia.. So they just waited for Alonzo to complete his sentence before speaking.. Alonzo turned his face towards Amelia, only to notice her tear filled eyes. He gave her an assuring smile and looked back at Veronica who was staring at him with an expressionless face. Taking a deep breath, he finally started narrating again, "Yes.. I still do like you. But this liking is only as a friend. I just think of you as my friend from five years and I wish to remain same for the rest of my life.. So Vero.. Are you ready to befriend me again? I promise this time, I''ll stick to only friendship cause my empty heart has already found someone to fill it with love and happiness." Veronica tilted her head to her side to glance at Reuben who stared deeply into her eyes and after two or three seconds, he smiled lovingly at her while giving her a affirmative nod. After getting his positive response, Veronica finally looked back at Alonzo. Adorning a beautiful smile on her face, she cheerfully said, "Yes, we can be friends again for our lifetime but only if you agree to confess your true feelings to the love of your life." Veronica pointed towards Amelia with her head, making Alonzo momentarily shocked. But he soon recovered from it and nodded his head at her with a smile. He then turned his gaze towards Reuben and said, "I''m sorry Reuben for all those stupid bets I tried to make with you. I became blind at the time because of my revenge. You are really the most perfect life partner for Vero." Reuben grinned at him and said jovially, "Yes, I agree that you made some really idiotic bets but I also know that you''re not a bad person from your heart... I had already told you before that you just needed to open your eyes to see through the real world. And now that you did so, your good self has come out of your hidden personality." Alonzo nodded at him smilingly and walked towards Amelia who was looking at him with so much expectations of love that even blind people could be able to understand her feelings. Holding her hand, he stared deep into her eyes and said, "Amy, I know you''ve made some mistakes but you had also suffered a lot like I did. In these few days, you became an inseparable part of mine. Now that I think of my past life, it seemed to be totally colourless. You''re the one who have filled colour in my life. So I request you to keep it colourful for my whole life." Amelia''s eyes brimmed with tears whereas the others were looking at them with an awestruck face. After long turmoil in his heart on how to express his feelings, he finally preserved all of his courage and finally confessed, "I know it''s not too much romantic like how Henry, Neil and Reuben had proposed to their girls... But still I think that there would not be any better chance than today to profess my love to you other than in the presence of your parents and other elders.. So Ms. Amelia Jones, I want to confess in front of everyone that I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you please honor me with the identity of being your husband? Will you marry me, Amy?" Amelia couldn''t suppress her tears at all and she pounced on Alonzo. Hugging him tightly, he sobbed in his chest and said, "I love you too Alonzo and¡­ Yes, I''ll marry you." Everyone became happy with the scene when Andrew suddenly spoke, "Dad, I think it''s been enough of Amy''s punishment as she had already apologized to us lots of time. So please forgive her and bless her for her new life." "Yes uncle and Aunt I too think that it''s high time when Amy needs to get forgiveness for her mistakes. She has changed a lot in these past few weeks. So please forgive them.." Reuben too said to elder Jones couple. Chapter 409 - Give us a grandchild... "Yes uncle and Aunt I too think that it''s high time when Amy needs to get forgiveness for her mistakes. She has changed a lot in these past few weeks. So please forgive them.." Reuben too said to elder Jones couple. Mr. and Mrs. Jones shared a glance and looked at Amelia who was staring back at them with longing eyes and after a while they opened their arms for her. Without wasting a second, Amy ran towards them and hugged her parents as much tight as possible. "I''m sorry Dad and Mom for the mistakes. I promise to be your good daughter from now on." Amelia cried in her parents arms. Mrs. Jones rubbed her back while Mr. Jones kissed her head and said, "Don''t cry. It''s a happy day of your life. So don''t shed tears today. We have already forgiven you." He then turned to Alonzo and said, "She is our princess. Though she had done some mistakes but still I care for her a lot. So promise me that you''ll take care of her." Alonzo smiled at him and said, "I promise Sir that I''d treat her like a queen and love her from the bottom of my heart." Hearing this, Mr. Jones gave him a big smile and said, "Call me Dad from now on, my son-in-law." Amelia blushed hearing it while Alonzo scratched the back of his neck shyly. Myra walked towards her brother and hugged him tightly, "I''m finally happy for you brother that you had found someone special for your life¡­" Alonzo hugged her back and said, "Thank you Myra. You''ve helped me a lot in my difficult phase." Amelia then went to Lucinda and asked, "Can you please forgive me too?" Lucinda smiled at her brightly and said, "I forgive you Amy and I wish you all the very best for your new life." Amelia then stared at Henry with pitiful eyes and pleaded, "I''m sorry Henry. Please forgive me." Henry looked at Lucinda who blinked at him positively which made him turn to Amelia as he said, "Its okay, Amy. You don''t to apologise. Stay happy.." After getting everyone''s forgiveness and overcoming the congratulatory period, Mrs. Jones said, "Guys.. let''s have dinner then." Everyone agreed and Lisa too was coming with others when they heard Olivia crying.. "Waaaaahhhhhh¡­" "Lisa.. You take Olivia with you in your room and feed her. She must be hungry. I''ll send your dinner there. You too need some rest after delivering a baby." Mrs. Jones said. After Lisa went upstairs with a maid''s help, they too walked into the dining room.. ----- Dining room... Everyone was eating peacefully with normal chatting. The atmosphere of the dining hall was really pleasant with everyone''s smiling faces. In the middle of chatting, the elders started to talk about something fruitful. So Mr. Wilson said, "Now that our Olivia baby is already here, I''m getting a little bit envious of my friend who will be able to play with his granddaughter all time. But what about us? When will we get the chance of playing with our grandchildren?" The youngsters specially Willa and Lucinda who were eating their food happily, stopped when they heard their father and an immediate blush crept on their cheeks. Whereas Neil and Henry just smirked at them, completely enjoying their fiances'' red cheeks. If this particular statement could snatch anyone''s attention most then it was of Mr. Lopez and Mr. Smith. They shot their head up towards their daughter and son who were still having their dinner cheerfully without any care of the world. Placing the spoon back on the plate, Mr. Smith said, "Yes.. You''re actually right. Vero and Reuben, when are you going to give us a grandchild to play with? I really don''t mind to have a cute chubby little grandson or granddaughter even before your marriage. In fact, I''ll be happier if you guys get married with a child coming in your lives." The moment, Mr. Smith''s words reached Veronica''s ear, she spat out the food she was eating and started coughing loudly. Reuben who was also equally shocked with his father''s statement, patted Veronica''s back to soothe her and gave her a glass of water to control her coughing. Whereas the other members of their younger clans gave the REUNIC couple a teasing smile. After calming herself down, Veronica took few deep breaths but it got hitched again when she heard her father, Mr. Looez saying, "Yes.. it''d be really awesome to play with a grandchild soon. I too don''t mind having a cute little grandchild before your marriage. So give us a grandchild as soon as possible." Veronica just looked at both of the fathers with a stupefied expression, couldn''t able to believe what their fathers just said. Still patting her back, Reuben retorted back, "Why are you forcing us? You should demand this from these two couples who are getting married in few days... We are latecomers. So ask them to give you guys grandchildren first. We''ll give you guys one when we want." Reuben very smartly turned the table towards the soon to be married couples, saving themselves from their parents'' clutch. It was not like he didn''t want their children.. Actually, he badly want a daughter of their own at this moment, especially after Olivia''s birth as he was already swooned over her cuteness.. But he was holding himself back as he knew that if he made Veronica pregnant now then it would be hard for her to manage everything.. Pregnant women were ought to feel more tired than normal people. And wedding is a big thing so it would be really difficult for Veronica to take care of herself and their unborn baby along with the wedding pressure. He wanted Veronica to enjoy the day fully as it''d only come for once a lifetime... Moreover, they had one more important thing to finish which might become the hurdle in their lives who was none other Frank Howard. So they could only think of a baby after Frank''s demise and having their wedding grandly so that their baby could also stay safe.. Veronica too knew the reason of it and she mumbled a small "Thank you" to Reuben who gave a quick peck on her nose as a response. Like this, the night ended here with the elders asking for grandchildren from the couples while they tried their very best to ignore their parents¡­ Chapter 410 - No boys, no restrictions... Few days later¡­. It was the evening before the two couples'' wedding. The excitement of their wedding was on the peak of every corner of the country K... Not only the couple, their friends and families but the whole country was in a frenzy mode to witness the wedding of these two lovely couples who had become inspiration of many others. The girls were living in a different suite altogether, having fun of their own. The boys were not allowed there as the elders believe that it''s not a good omen to see the bride before the wedding. But to their dismay, not only the bride but also the bridesmaids decided to be away from their respective partners for this one night. The boys who had a different suite for themselves much to their dismay, were getting frustrated for being there alone without their lovers. They were not allowed to go there because of their mothers'' strict orders whereas their fathers were just having fun seeing their sons being restless for their girlfriends and fiances. Only Adam and Lisa were living in a same room as they decided not to attend any kind of party because of their little daughter Olivia who was just few days old.. Henry was pacing from one corner to another while the others were sitting in the room with a grumpy face. "Guys, I really do think that''s it''s completely stupid idea to stay here, listening to our parents'' order. Come on, we''re not a kid anymore to be disciplined by them.." Neil said frustratingly. "Yes. I too think the same. Let''s break their restrictions for one night, okay? After all, it''s our wedding next day but still we can''t be with our soon to be wives? What kind of rubbish is this!" Henry too shouted in irritation. Jack, Louis and Alonzo too were feeling miserable without their girls by their side. They thought to spend some quality time with their girls but here everything was happening exactly the opposite way they wanted. Reuben who was in deep thought for the whole time, was missing Veronica like hell but he hid it really well for the sake of his buddies. After staying silent for a while, when he too couldn''t hold his eagerness to meet his beloved, Reuben finally asked, "Do you guys want to meet your girls?" As they heard the question of Reuben, the boys'' heads snapped up at him so fast that it could''ve twisted badly if they would''ve forced themselves a little more. "You really have a plan in your mind. Don''t you?" Louis asked him curiously. Reuben just chuckled at him and replied in a relaxed tone, "Yeah.. I''ve planned something to fulfil all of our wishes." "What is it?" Jack asked in excitement. Alonzo too became eager and said, "Yeah.. Tell us about your idea." Reuben smirked at them evilly and stated casually in few words, "Lets crash their party.." ------ As the boys were planning something adventurous, the girls were busy in partying in the big living room of their en-suite. They were so much eager to enjoy the evening that they completely discarded the boys with the help of their parents. And now they were dancing in their room like some crazy girls with snacks and drinks. They were not some rich heiresses right now but some normal girls who were enjoying the last moment of their friends'' bachelor day.. "Ooohhhhh hooooo!! Give it to me, I''m worth it.. Baby, I''m worth it.." They were dancing crazily with their hairs ruffling here and there, twisting their h.i.p.s with the groove of the song while shouting the lyrics loudly in the air.. "Ah.. it feels so awesome to dance like this." Diana yelled loudly as the music was on full volume. "Oh my God! It''s so good to dance like this with you guys after years." Amy exclaimed in joy, still shaking her waist. Veronica laughed at them twisted her head from left to right in a s.e.xy way as she said, "Yes.. it''s the best way to celebrate Lucy and Willa''s bachelor party, without the boys and their naughtiness.." "Yes.. If they would have been with us then our party would not be a bachelor party anymore. It''d turn into a romantic party.." Lucinda joked. "Hahaha¡­ That I completely agree. If the boys would have been here then they couldn''t kept their hands off from us. As we are looking super hot." Willa winked at them. Myra laughed at them said, "Guys, I must say that I never enjoyed a party like this." "I know right. We''re best at arranging this kind of parties. And cherry on the top is...there is no one to disturb us today. No boys, no restrictions.. Yayyyy!!!" Veronica cheered up holding her glass high in the air and danced in the beat of the music of the very famous song ''Worth It'' by Fifty Harmony.. They were so much into their dancing that they didn''t notice the shadows of the six intruders who had just barged into their suite very secretively without anyone''s notice in fear of getting caught. But their eagerness went downhill when they witnessed the scene displaying in front of them and their eyes widened in shock seeing the appearances of the girls... Savouring the beauty of their partners, dancing so s.e.xily in the rhythm of the music, their throat dried as they gulped down the saliva thirstily.. After few minutes of watching their craziness, they were about to enter when they heard the self talks between the girls that they didn''t wanted to be with the boys at the bachelorette night. Here, they were planning to risk their lives to be with them. But look at the girls! They just wanted to enjoy their singlehood for a night... Good! Very Good! Actually not good, but... EXCELLENT!!! These girls needed to get punished badly by them! "Seems like the girls didn''t want us at all. They''re absolutely fine without us and enjoying their alone time by partying hard even without remembering us. Huh? They don''t even care about us anymore." Reuben spoke loud enough to let the girls hear his taunts. Chapter 411 - Anywhere door... "Seems like the girls didn''t want us at all. They''re absolutely fine without us and enjoying their alone time by partying hard even without remembering us. Huh? They don''t even care about us anymore." Reuben spoke loud enough to let the girls hear his taunts. The manly voice of Reuben brought back the girls'' senses from their dancing state to the reality. They immediately made a turn like a tornado and came face to face with the six men who were glaring at them with their sharp eyes. Their glare made the girls who were looking equally s.e.xy with their short tight black sweetheart neckline dress, got really shocked to their core seeing the boys here. The girls observed the hot bodies of their own men which were wrapped in a casual wear and their breathe got hitched as they drooled over their handsomeness.. Veronica was the first one to break the silence as she narrowed her eyes at them and asked pretending to be angry, "What are you boys doing here? And who let you in?" Reuben rolled his eyes at his pretty fiance and scoffed, "First of all, I don''t need anyone''s permission to come here as my hot and s.e.xy fiance is already here.. Most importantly, we should be the one to get angry on you. You girls don''t want us to be here at all?" Veronica stared at him with a horrified expression as if she had seen some alien and said, "What are you? Two years old? Can''t we even enjoy a bachelorette party of our friends without you guys?" Reuben who knew his fiance really well after dating her for almost five years, had a lot of knowledge on how to make her melt under his charms and now the only thing which could work on her was... acting pitiful... "Babe.. Are you really trying to discard me? Am I a burden to you? Huhuhu.. You made me really upset today with your sharp words." Reuben pretended to be extremely hurt by her. As Reuben was doing his best to look broken, the other five men were looking at him incredulously as if they couldn''t believe what they were witnessing now.. Not only the boys but the girls were also stupefied with Reuben''s action.. Neil, Henry, Jack, Louis, Lucinda and Willa were already aware of this kind of scenes from before so they already became accustomed to it. But the situation for Alonzo, Myra and Diana was completely different as they had never seen Reuben behaving like a drama king... Even Amelia was also surprised with the way Reuben was behaving now. Yes! They saw him acting like a love sick puppy before but never had he ever acted to be pitiful towards anyone.. So it was kinda unpredictable for them.. Although Veronica knew that it was just a act of him to lure her but she still couldn''t help but fall for his puppy eyes again which were looking at her very cutely... Without wasting a second, Veronica went towards him and cupped his cheeks in her soft palms as she consoled him, "Awww!! My baby got upset with me?" Reuben instantly nodded his head like a small kid which made Veronica melt more for him and she said hugging him, "No baby.. Your Ica can''t ever ignore you. You are my life Bennie. Don''t ever forget that.." Embracing her back, Reuben muttered, "If you really are sorry for me then please let us stay with you guys. You know, I missed you so much, love... I promise that we guys will sit at a corner silently and let you enjoy your party without creating any problem. We''ll just stare at you like marble statues. Won''t we, guys?" Hearing Reuben''s question who was trying his best to make Veronica agree with his cute act, the others vigorously nodded their heads and said together, "Yes.. We promise.." Chuckling at Reuben, Veronica whispered in his ear a little bit seductively, "Though I know baby that you''re putting on an act but still you got succeeded in it.. You can not only stay here but also enjoy with us with dancing and drinking. We won''t scold you guys." Reuben sheepishly smiled at her, getting caught red handed over his drama and said wiggling his eyebrows naughtily at her, "But you agreed, nah? It''s enough for me.." Veronica hit on his head playfully and dragged him in the hall, shaking her head at his craziness while the other girls also did the same. "Told you that I''ll not let you be away from me, not even for a single night." Henry mumbled in Lucinda''s ears. Lucinda understood the double meaning of Henry and teased him back, "Well, baby¡­ It was not you who did the work but it was Reuben." Neil heard his sister and said being offended, "Then how are we here if we didn''t do any work? Does Reuben had an ''anywhere door'' like the cartoon Doraemon that we could go anywhere without walking?" Willa rolled her eyes at him and said, "You just came here following Reuben. Whereas he had done all the work of making us agree to let you guys stay with us." Neil and Henry knew that whatever their girls were saying, was absolutely true so they chose to shut their mouth for the time being and enjoy the night with their girls. Moreover, they also didn''t want to have a fight for any silly reasons just before few hours of their wedding. Amelia who too had a smile on her lips, having her friends and boyfriend with her, asked in puzzlement, "But how did you guys enter here crossing all our parents and their scrutinizing eyes? Wasn''t it difficult for you guys to come here so secretively as it seemed to be quite impossible for me?" "Yes.. I''m also eager to know about it. How did you guys do it without getting caught by our mothers, Bennie?" Veronica asked. Reuben just shrugged his shoulders as if it was not at all a big deal and replied with a carefree attitude, "We just climbed up through the balcony door.." Chapter 412 - Gate crashing... Reuben just shrugged his shoulders as if it was not at all a big deal and replied with a carefree attitude, "We just climbed up through the balcony door.." "What!! You guys seriously gate crashed just to attend our party? What if you guys get hurt.!!" Myra shrieked in fear just by thinking something dangerous to happen with Jack. Whereas Jack smiled and said, "Don''t worry, baby. Look, nothing happened to us. We''re here in front of you guys." "Yes, Myra. Just chill. They have this habit of gate crashing from the time of their childhood." Lucinda said boredly. Diana caught the exact meaning of the sentence and asked being extremely surprised, "They have the habit of gate crashing from their childhood?" Amelia nodded her head stuffing some french fries in her mouth and said, "Yep.. They often used to bunk their classes in school." Louis huffed at Amelia and said, "You are pretending like you have never bunked your classes, Amy. Actually, more than us you; Vero and Lucy bunked the class to spend more time at your favourite place." "Favourite place? You mean shopping malls? As girls always love to do shopping." Alonzo asked being completely confused. It was completely unobvious for him because he had never thought the famous and wealthy heirs and heiresses of country K could be so naughty and rebellious in their teenage years to bunk their classes by gate crashing instead of being obedient students. "We would be happier if they would have spent their free time in shopping but they never did it." Neil said in irritation, remembering those days when his sisters would create a big fuss. "If not shopping, then where?" Myra asked. Reuben chuckled abd replied, "In canteen. They would finish their tiffin in the class itself and would spend the rest time in eating the yummy foods of canteen. Obviously they were not alone. We too used to join them." "Wow! That sounds so interesting. You guys really had a great fun in your teenage days. Right?" Diana asked in excitement. "Yeah.. We really had lots of fun." Henry said while others agreed. "Okay.. Now enough of this. Tomorrow is my lovely brothers and sister like besties'' wedding. So celebrate the last day of their bachelorhood like a boom." Veronica cheered everybody. Everyone agreed and started dancing again but this time, with their partners. Reuben hugged Veronica from behind and kissed her bare shoulder which made Veronica shudder at his closeness. Veronica clutched his hand which was resting on her stomach and arched her head back, keeping it on his shoulder to give him more access. As other couples were also busy in romancing with their own partners, Reuben and Veronica had no tension of getting interrupted in their lovely moment. Reuben turned Veronica around so that they could face each other, making both of their chests brush together while they were just drowning into each other''s eyes. Reuben bent his head a little and kissed her neck sensuously making Veronica close her eyes under his soft touch. Veronica''s hand automatically moves towards his neck and she clutched his collar tightly. Kissing on her jaw, Reuben moved more upwards and their lips were just few inches away from each other at that moment. The soft plump lips of Veronica was so much tempting that Reuben couldn''t control himself more and crashed his lips on her. They both kissed gently yet fervently. It was not a hungry kiss but more like a kiss to prove how much they had missed each other in this short span of time. After they were done with kissing, they noticed that the other couples were too in the same situation like them. All of them shared a glance and then in the next moment, they burst into laughter. After that, they decided to play few games to spend the night in a more fun and productive way¡­ ---- Next morning¡­ It was already morning and the wedding will start in less than an hour. The boys had already left the room in the early dawn so that no one could doubt on them and scold them for their last day adventurous activities. The bridesmaids were already dressed in their beautiful soft pink colour dresses which had different neck cut in every gowns but the design was same.. They were looking extremely pretty with their half open hair and smokey eye makeup with pink lipsticks. They also wore matching heels with small yet elegant earrings.. Whereas both of the brides had dressed themselves in white wedding gowns.. Lucinda was wearing an off-shoulder mermaid gown which had a sweetheart neckline. While Willa chose to wear a same mermaid gown with a thin strap on both shoulders which had a deep cut ''V'' neckline. They were looking very much beautiful with white heels and low buns on their head. They also had diamond tiara on their heads with beautiful necklaces and earrings. Their make up was minimal with long eyeliner strokes and pick lips. They had applied blush on their cheeks and their eyes were glittering with happiness. "Both of you''re looking very much beautiful that the moment my brothers'' eyes will fall on you, they will faint." Veronica teased them, making their blush get more intense. "Just look at their blush. They are looking so good. I can already imagine the red cheeks of them when they''ll walk down the aisle." Amelia too teased. As they were joking around, they heard a knock on the door and Mr. Wilson and Mr. Johnson entered with a big smile, followed by a grumpy Mr. Smith. Actually, both Mr. Smith and Mr. Johnson had a fight today morning over Willa. But at last Mr. Johnson won over the fight of walking Willa down to the aisle as she had already lost her father. She only had her mother and few relatives who too couldn''t be able to attend her wedding which made her sad but her mother called her in the morning to bless her which brought the smile back on her. Chapter 413 - Its time now... She only had her mother and few relatives who too couldn''t be able to attend her wedding which made her sad but her mother called her in the morning to bless her which brought the smile back on her. "Are you ready my princesses?" Mr. Wilson said walking towards Lucinda and Willa. They nodded their heads while a teardrop fell from his eyes. Lucinda immediately hugged her father and said, "Don''t cry dad. It hurts me seeing you in tears. I''ll still be your daughter even after I''m married." Mr. Wilson kissed her forehead and said, "I know darling. It''s just the time really went fast that my little Lucy is going to get married to her prince charming today." Seeing the father daughter interaction, Mr. Lopez''s eyes also became teary and he looked towards his only princess who too was staring back at her father with emotional eyes. Willa who was sad, remembering the sweet moments spent with her father, also had tears in her eyes. Mr. Johnson noticed it and hugged her in a fatherly embrace as he muttered, "Am I not a father to you, Willa? Don''t be sad... As I''m going to walk you down the aisle, you''re my daughter from now on. I always wanted a daughter but instead got Henry. So I was deprived of a daughter''s love. But from today onwards you''re my daughter along with Lucy." Willa let out a sob and hugged him tightly when Mr. Johnson said, "Don''t ruin your makeup by crying. I want both of my daughters to look the prettiest in the world today. Also I have a surprise for you." Wiping her tears, Willa asked confusedly, "Surprise? What is that?" Mr. Wilson who was standing beside Lucinda cane to her and stated while patting her head, "Surprises are meant to be found out, not to be told." As soon as he completed the sentence, the door of the room got opened and Willa got the biggest shock for today. There stood her mother with a happy smile on her face. Without wasting a second, she ran to her and engulfed her mother in a hug. Willa''s mother rubbed her back to console her which made her calm down. "Mom¡­ How are you here? You said¡­" Willa stammered. "It was a surprise for you, prepared by my soon to be son-in-law so that he could make you happy." Her mother said. Willa felt herself really lucky that time to get a husband like Neil and thanked God for it. Mr. Johnson interrupted the mother-daughter duo in their sweet moment as he had no other option other than it. "Willa.. It''s time now." He said. Willa nodded her head and looked at her mother for a last time who gave her a forehead kiss and proceeded towards the wedding hall along with Lucinda. Veronica and the other bridesmaids too followed them and also helped Willa''s mother to the hall... ----- Wedding Hall¡­ The wedding hall was decorated really beautifully with lilies and other flowers. Every big shots were present there and having chat with others. The atmosphere was really good but the situation of the two groom''s were really funny. They were sweating profusely even in the fully air conditioned hall, waiting impatiently for their respective brides.. They both were wearing white tuxedos with a black bowtie which had completely different style and designs from each other.. Whereas the groomsmen were wearing pastel and neutral colored suits looking all dashing and handsome. Reuben noticed his friends'' nervous expression and teased them to lighten their mood, "Bro.. If you''re already sweating this much now then, what will you do when your brides will enter the hall looking all pretty.." Neil glared at him while Henry retorted him back, "Speak how much you want now. We will see at the day of your wedding who will be more nervous. Us or you?" Reuben immediately shut his mouth as he knew he''d lose in bantering on this topic. He focused his gaze towards the front row where Adam and Lisa were sitting with a big smile on their faces, holding little Olivia in their arms who was sleeping. But his gaze shifted to the door when he heard the sound of the door getting opened. Neil and Henry darted their eyes towards the entrance and they became short of breath when they noticed their brides walking down the aisle holding their father''s arms, looking all gorgeous... Willa and Lucinda too became sentimental seeing their grooms standing on the stage waiting for them looking all handsome in their tuxedos.. Whereas the bridesmaids and groomsmen too couldn''t take off their eyes from their own men or girls.. They too were mesmerized by each other''s look that they forgot completely that it was not their wedding but their best friends''¡­. As they reached the stage, Neil and Henry stretched their hands out for their soon to be wives who held it tightly before standing in front of them. The bridesmaids too stood behind the brides and had an eye-lock with the groomsmen. As the procedure of the wedding started, it was finally the time for the ring exchange. Reuben being the best man came forward holding two ring boxes on a platter... Whereas being the maid of honor, Veronica too handed the rings to the brides... As they were exchanging the ring after taking the voice, Reuben''s eyes fell on Veronica who was smiling at the couple. Sensing his gaze on her, she too looked back at him and their eyes contacted in a deepening gaze which spoke many emotions between them. Reuben motioned to the couples with his eyes and then pointed towards him and Veronica with his index finger, before giving her a wink which was enough to convey what he meant to say.. Veronica easily understood that he wanted to say that it would be them in few days standing on the stage as groom and bride in place of the two couples.. It made her smile very brightly and her eyes pooled with tears just by thinking about their wedding day and she too could see the glistening eyes of Reuben which confirmed her that he too was thinking the same at that moment.. Chapter 415 - Talent of twisting the words... Others laughed at their bickering when Mrs. Smith suddenly became a little serious and asked, "On a serious note Willa¡­we''re not joking when we say that you''re glowing differently. Why do I feel like your extraordinary glow has some different reason?" Willa smiled shyly at them and stared into Neil''s eyes who blinked his eyes with a smile to assure her. They then focused their gaze on their parents and friends to look over their facial expression. He then shifted his eyes towards Mr. Lopez and Mr. Smith and asked, "My dear uncles, last time you asked Vero and Reuben to give you a grandchild, remember?" Both Mr. Smith and Mr. Lopez stared at them confusedly but still nodded their heads voluntarily. Neil smiled at them and said, "What if instead of Vero and Reuben, I and Willa fulfil your dream of playing with a grandchild as soon as possible?" "Wha¡­what do you mean?" Mrs. Wilson asked her son with a visibly expectant eyes. Willa took a deep breath when Neil squeezed her hand lightly, giving her his support as she said, "You guys are going to be grandparents soon. I''m pregnant.." Everyone sat rooted to their place. No one was able to spoke out any words as they were having difficulty to gulp the news. What it seemed like an hour, finally Willa''s mom broke the silence and asked, "Are you serious, Willa? Are you really pregnant?" Willa nodded her head in response while Neil gave them a bright smile to confirm the news.. Another silence filled around the big dining table and then suddenly something happened which blew off their ears. "Congratulations¡­.." All the young people shouted excitedly, squealing in joy. "Now that I think of it carefully, you were drinking juice instead of wine yesterday night because you''re pregnant... right?" Veronica asked remembering last days'' activity while Willa just nodded at her shyly. Reuben too pondered over something in his head and stated, "Hmmm¡­ It was the reason for which you were getting so much hyper to see Willa. You man!!" Neil just gave him a sheepish smile and hugged Willa by her shoulder. "Oh My God! It''s the best return gift which you can give us on the wedding day. Congratulations to both of you." Mrs. Wilson moves towards them and hugged them tightly. Mr. Wilson too kissed Willa''s forehead and teased his friends, "Look, I''m getting a grandchild before you guys." Mr. Smith and Mr. Lopez were very much happy with the news but when their friend showed off about having a grandchild soon, they just glared at him but didn''t say anything as they knew that if their children had made a decision of having their own baby later, then they should never pressurise them. After all, it would be them who would have to take care of the little life so they would know which was the best time to think for a baby. However, Mr. Johnson had another plan in his mind. Looking at his son and daughter-in-law, he demanded cutely, "Now that both of you''re already married, give me a grandchild like Neil and Willa." Lucinda blushed while Henry said proudly with a sly grin, "Soon dad.. We''re trying." Mr. Johnson immediately became super excited and laughed like a kid. Like this, the wedding day of the two couples came to an end with lots of happiness and fun... ----- Two days later... Secret 7¡­ Reuben, Veronica, Andrew, Louis and Jack were sitting in their big meeting room where they usually made most of their plannings about their next steps. The newly married couples had gone for their honeymoon to different countries but only after taking a promise from their friends that, if any kind of problems occurred then they would have to inform them at that instant moment which all of them agreed. Now they all were talking about Frank and the trap they were going to pull on him soon. "So it''s been already thirteen days we have threatened him. Tomorrow is the last date for him to deposit the money. So we have to remind him again so that he wouldn''t dare to think that we''re just kidding." Reuben said. "Yes.. I''ll made the arrangements of the call." Andrew said. Jack who was listening to them carefully had a doubt in his mind which was triggering him a lot for the past few days. But because of their busy schedules and wedding arrangements, he couldn''t ask them about it. Thinking that it was the best time to put out his thoughts, Jack asked his sister, "Vero.. I can''t able to understand one thing. As Frank had already agreed to have a collaboration with your company, now you will ask him to come to city S for contact signing¡­ If he''s already coming to City S then why had you made the blackmailing plan to know about his residence location. It''s not needed anymore right, if he''s already presenting himself to us.." "Yes.. I''m too thinking the same. Even, Lisa was asking me the same question when I told her that the threatening part was a big success " Andrew said. Veronica smirked when Jack and Andrew asked the question. She glanced at Reuben first who too was having an evil smile and then turned her head towards the person who was gritting his teeth in anger, sitting there silently. "Well, like everything, my this action also have a big reason behind it. As you know that I never plan anything without thinking about the casualties, so this plan will also not go for a waste." Veronica replied. Andrew became more confused with what his sister just said and asked, "Sis.. I must say that your talent of twisting the words had been redoubled in these past years. But, my sharp brain is still not able to crack your mischievous words. So can you please elaborate the whole thing now?" "Why don''t you ask Louis about it? He can give a better explanation about this matter than my Ica. After all, he''s the one who asked us to help him in this." Reuben stated looking at his cousin brother. Chapter 416 - You are ridiculous!... "Why don''t you ask Louis about it? He can give a better explanation about this matter than my Ica. After all, he''s the one who asked us to help him in this." Reuben stated looking at his cousin brother. Andrew and Jack turned their heads towards Louis, completely oblivious about the situation. Louis too looked at them and calmed down his anger before saying, "Diana really misses her mother. Though she doesn''t show it to anyone but she really loves her mother a lot... That''s why I asked Vero and Reuben bro to help me finding her mother. As a result, they planned this blackmailing thing to know about his location." Reuben then continued, "Frank is not a dumb person who would bring Diana''s mother, Mrs. Jasmine with him in city S... He is well aware about the fact that Diana has become our friend and if we get to know about Jasmine aunt arriving here, we''ll definitely protect her from him no matter what... It''ll also led him to reveal all of his secrets out to the world and he''ll lose his business. So he''ll never take such a drastic step to bring her along with him here.." Veronica nodded agreeing with Reuben and said, "Yes.. And that''s why, I''m searching for his location. So that when he''d come here to sign the contract, I''ll keep him busy here with the collaboration... While our team will arrive at his residency to save Diana''s mother from them. As Frank would be here, so it''ll be a lot easier to complete our task." "Woah!! What an amazing plan! That''s why you both are compatible for each other so much. Indeed Hurl and Ice have the most cunning mind." Jack exclaimed in astonishment. Andrew laughed at it and said, "Of course, they complement each other perfectly." Hearing the praise about their bond, Reuben and Veronica chuckled and felt proud of themselves... ---- Same day evening¡­. Country Z¡­ Frank was working in his study room when he got a call from a private number. It didn''t take anymore time than few seconds for him to understand that it was the call of the same person who had blackmailed him few days ago. Inhaling a sharp breath, he accepted the phone call and said, "Hello¡­" A deep male voice resonated from the other side of the phone and said, "Remember me Mr. Howard? Tomorrow is your last date to pay me the money if you want to keep yourself safe." Though Frank was burning from inside but he didn''t have any other choice than to reciprocate his demands. So he said, "Send me your account details. I''ll send the money tomorrow morning itself." "That''s like a good businessman. Check your email, I''ve already sent the information." The person said. Frank gritted his teeth and said, "Fine.." After he cut the call, he asked for his assistant. As his assistant arrived, he ordered, "Send the money in this bank account. Also, don''t forget to investigate about the account holder." His assistant nodded and left. While Frank just rubbed his forehead in frustration. Right now, he needed nothing more than relaxation to cool his mind. And he could get his shares of pleasure at this moment from only one person¡­. His WIFE¡­. ----- Next day morning¡­ Smith Enterprise¡­ Veronica entered the building along with Louis. Everyone greeted them happily with a big smile on their faces. However, the employees were giving their special attention on their Lady Boss Veronica more than their Boss'' cousin. Louis noticed it and showed his dissatisfaction, "Look at these people. Where they should have treated me in the best way, there they are giving you all their attentions, completely ignoring the great Louis Morgan. Humph!" "Don''t be jelly, Louis. They love me more than you because I''m the best among all." Veronica wiggled her eyebrows playfully mocking at him. Louis just huffed as they entered the private elevator and went up to the top floor where the handsome CEO of Smith''s Enterprise''s office located. ----- Reuben''s cabin¡­ Veronica walked inside the cabin without knocking, being followed by Louis only to see that Andrew was already present there. Reuben looked up from his computer to glance towards the door and an instant smile etched on his lips. Veronica too gave him a bright smile and went towards him. Reuben stretched his hand still sitting on his chair and Veronica took the signal as she sat on his lap directly. They shared a small kiss, hugging each other and pouring their love into it.. Andrew looked at them smilingly while Louis just rolled his eyes. "I miss you babe.." Veronica said, breaking the kiss. Reuben pecked on her cheek and muttered, "I missed you too honey." "For god''s sake, its not even been two hours and you guys are already missing each other. Ridiculous!" Louis snorted. Reuben picked up the crystal ball from the table and threw it at Louis, scowling at him, "You are ridiculous!" Andrew laughed seeing both of the brothers'' fight whereas Veronica just giggled. "So¡­ Got any news about Frank?" Andrew asked. Louis nodded at him and replied with a smirk, "Yes¡­ He transferred the money into one of our man''s account today morning who has a posting in country M.." "You really have a sharp brain like a fox Vero.. How easily you gave another person''s bank account number to divert Frank''s speculation. You really need a big applause for this." Andrew praised his sister. Veronica smiled and replied while caressing Reuben''s cheek lovingly, "It''s not me who had gave the idea to play with Frank''s mind like carom board. If anyone is worthy of these praises then it''s my Bennie who gave this amazing idea." Reuben grinned at her and kissed her palm which was caressing his right cheek till now. "Oh! So it was you bro.. However, I can''t deny the fact that you''re really intelligent." Louis said. "Everyone except you is intelligent here." Reuben mocked. Louis flared at him while Andrew just shook his head before stopping them from having another round of verbal fight, "I think it''d be best if we start the meeting now." "No brother Andrew. We can''t start the meeting until the actual blackmailer of Frank arrive here.." Veronica said, making others smirk. "Are you guys waiting for me then?" Chapter 417 - Frying Franks brain... "No brother Andrew. We can''t start the meeting until the actual blackmailer of Frank arrive here.." Veronica said, making others smirk. "Are you guys waiting for me then?" Came the husky voice of a man who just opened the door of Reuben''s cabin after Tom escorted him there. Everyone turned towards the person who was the one blackmailing Frank from the past two weeks and a cynical smile crept on their lips. "Yes, We were exactly waiting for you Alonzo.." Reuben stated. Alonzo entered the cabin, wearing his business suit, looking all handsome and sat next to Louis. "So Mr. Blackmailer¡­ Had fun while threatening the son of a bastard, Frank?" Louis asked him, arching his eyebrows. Alonzo nodded his head while a smirk was still playing on his lips as he replied, "More than you can imagine. He played with our lives for more than twenty years and now it''s my turn to play with him.. He killed my brother mercilessly and named it as suicide. Now I''ll show you the pain of death." The four of them could see the fire in Alonzo''s eyes clearly. They knew how much it hurt to lose someone close to them. After all, they had also gone through the same phase once. However, because of their good luck, they got their brother Andrew back. But for Alonzo, it was completely different. So his sufferings and pain were more bitter than anyone could ever expect.. Andrew kept his hand on Alonzo''s shoulder and said, "We understand you Alonzo. Your pain is so much that you couldn''t help yourself but to request us to give you the chance of blackmailing Frank... That''s why, we had to cancel the plan of including Lisa in our plotting. However, it sure made me relax a lot and we became successful in frying Frank''s brain ten times more than we expected." Alonzo gave an evil laugh but became serious instantly as he said in a cold tone, "Frank deserves the cruelest death in the world. And I will do my best to help you guys to force him to his demise." Everyone nodded at him while Reuben assured him, "Don''t worry. He will get his punishment from us. Now we have to discuss about our next step." Veronica thought for a while, tapping her index finger on her chin and said, "I think it''d be best if I call him personally as the hidden CEO of Creation two days later... Because if we call him now, Frank''s evil mind will start to grow a seed of doubt against us." "Hmm¡­ You''re right about it. But I must have to say, I really got the biggest shock of my life when I came to know that you are the unknown CEO the biggest multimedia company, Creation... You have really hidden it well. By the way, I want to apologise to you about that particular day when I insulted you to be a simple employee." Alonzo felt really guilty over his rude behaviour to her. Veronica sighed before saying, "It''s okay Alonzo. I have already forgiven you. So you don''t need to apologise every single time." Alonzo smiled at her meekly and said a small "Thank You". Reuben''s eyes then fell on his cousin who seemed to be thinking really hard over something, paying no attention to their conversation and asked, "Now, what is going in your little brain, my dear brother?" Louis tilted his head towards his cousin and looked at Veronica who was still sitting on Veronica''s lap and said, "Vero.. You said that you''re going to call him over phone. What if he recognise your voice as you have already gave many interviews for our company before." Veronica looked at him for a perfect thirty seconds with an unbelievable expression, couldn''t able to understand if she should laugh or cry on his foolishness.. She then averted her eyes from him and fixed it on her fiance before stating, "You are right Bennie whenever you say that he couldn''t have any connection with your bloodline... He can never be the youngest son of the Morgan family with his pea sized brain." Reuben shrugged his shoulders and said, "I warned you guys beforehand, that he''s a complete idiot but you guys always defended him. Now see yourself." Louis who got really offended with his brother and friend''s mocking statement, threw daggers at them with his eyes and shouted at the them angrily, "Yaa¡­ You both, stop badmouthing about me. I asked a very important question right now and you guys are here making fun of me.." Veronica rolled her eyes at him and said, "Like seriously, Louis!! Even now you''re asking what kind of idiotic question had you had made.. Dude¡­ Why do you play games all the time then? Actually the question should be like this¡­ How do you able to play games with strangers hiding your identity when you need to use your voice in it?" Louis frowned at Veronica''s question and replied while scratching his head like a kid, "It''s easy to hide my identity as I use a voice changing software." Veronica gave him a knowing smirk at his reply which helped Louis to get the meaning of their previous conversation clearly. "Oh shit! How can I forget that you too can use a voice changing app or software while talking with Frank?" Louis face-palmed himself, realising his foolishness. "Now you understood, why we called you an idiot.." Reuben pulled his leg while Louis made a funny face towards him.. ----- Two days later¡­ Creation, Top floor¡­ "So.. are you ready?" Louis asked after settling the chords and turning on few software settings. Veronica nodded at him and raised her thumbs up, indicating him that she was absolutely ready. She put on the headphone while Louis called on Frank''s private number and connected the call with the device. Veronica waited for few seconds for Frank to pick up the call and kept tapping on the table rhythmically to pass on the time and finally her wait got over¡­ "Hello¡­ Who is this?" Chapter 418 - Adapting male voice... Veronica waited for few seconds for Frank to pick up the call and kept tapping on the table rhythmically to pass on the time and finally her wait got over¡­ "Hello¡­ Who is this?" Came a manly voice of a person whose age was approx twenty eight or nine years old. Veronica stopped tapping her fingers on the table and said in a firm tone, adapting a male voice, "Hello, This is the CEO of Creation speaking. I''d like to talk with Mr. Howard about our new project." Hearing that it was the CEO of Creation ''himself'' calling, the man on the other side became extremely excited and said, "Yes.. yes.. Sir.. I''m giving boss the phone. Please wait for a second." Veronica nodded while Louis tried his best to control his laugh, listening to the male version of Veronica''s voice. Looking at his laughing self, Veronica too suppressed a smile and made a zip sign with her index and thumb fingers over her mouth to gesture him to shut up. Louis raised his hands in surrender and focused more on their talks. After a while, Veronica heard a haggard voice of a middle aged man who was panting heavily, enough to make her understand that either he had come running there to receive her call or he was having some physical intimacy chores.. "Good morning, Sir. Sorry for making you wait." Frank said calming his breath down. Veronica rubbed her nose and said, "It''s okay, Mr. Howard. I just called to inform you today that I really like your project idea which you submitted recently to us... I also got notified by my team that had accepted our proposal for a collaboration. So I''d like if you can come to city S for the contract signing... As I am busy with my schedules, so it won''t be possible for me to go over there. If you agreed to sign the contract here after a meeting with my company then only we''ll go further with the collaboration.. Otherwise, I''ll not have any other choice other than cancelling it. As I prefer to have a detailed conversation with my client before signing any project." Frank immediately got frightened as he didn''t want to miss the golden chance to work with Creation. Already he had lost 100M dollar on that Blackmailer and his men was still not able to find the person... It was eating his head like a hungry monster. Now if this project too got slipped out of his hands then it''ll be hard for him to gain a profit. So without wasting a second, he immediately agreed with her and said, "No sir.. I''ll be coming there in two days. Thank you so much for giving us this huge chance to work with you." Veronica smirked at his response and replied in a stern voice while playing with her nails, "Okay then. We''ll be waiting for your presence." After hanging up the call, Veronica chuckled devilishly and muttered, "Fool..!!" Louis too smirked along with her and added to her comment, "A big one." After that, they both shared a glance with each other and then burst out in laughter. ----- Love-Paradise¡­ Veronica was lying on the bed, scrolling through her phone, checking some mails after their dinner. Whereas Reuben was looking through his laptop keenly to find something really important. After few minutes when he found what he wanted, he patted Veronica''s arms and said, "Babe.. Come here quickly." Veronica looked at him with confusion and then sat up on the bed. Moving closer towards him, she asked, "What do you want to show me honey?" Reuben encircled her in his arms and turned the laptop screen towards her so that she would be able to see it and asked, "How is it?" Veronica''s eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the beautiful scenery in front of her and a gasp of astonishment left out of her mouth instantly.. "Wow!! It''s just amazing, Bennie. But why are you looking for it?" Veronica asked him in confusion. Reuben caressed her left arm, still engulfing her in his embrace and replied with his shining eyes, "I''m searching for this to get some excellent ideas for our wedding decoration.. After a lot of searching, I finally found something really good which will go with our taste and look elegant just like you. I want our dream wedding to be the most perfect one, Ica.." Veronica''s eyes filled with tears when she heard Reuben and she became extremely emotional. But still there was a smile hanging on her lips which proved her happiness about how much lucky she was to get someone so caring and loving like Reuben.. She crawled on his lap and positioning herself more comfortably on him, she hugged him tightly, wrapping her hand around his neck. Resting her head on his shoulder, she smelled his tantalizing fragrance and kissed his chest softly before letting out a small sob. "You know what Bennie, you''re the best thing that has ever happened in my life. I love you so so much that I can''t express it just by words." Reuben patted her head and said, "I love you too sweetheart. But you''re wrong about one thing here." Veronica raised her head to look at him questioningly as if to ask him where she went wrong. Reuben chuckled at her cute expression and whispered in a seductive voice, "You know, you can show me your love with a hot love making session.." Hearing it, Veronica slapped him on his chest playfully and teased him, "I''d love to baby.. But the problem is that I''m on my period now.." Reuben let out a frustrated sigh and murmured while cursing, "Shit! Now I''ve to take a cold shoulder so late at night.." Seeing his frustration filled face, Veronica laughed at him loudly and said pulling his cheeks, "Awww!! My baby is so cute. Go baby and take a relaxing cold shower.." Reuben glared at her and left for the washroom, mumbling in irritation, "I''ll take my revenge soon, honey¡­" Veronica laughed more at this and browsed through his laptop for more decorative ideas.. Chapter 419 - Dangerous planning... Few days later¡­. In a luxurious hotel room¡­ A man in his middle age was opening his shirt button by one hand while his other hand was holding the phone near his ear as he was talking to someone. "I''ve already arrived in city S. I hope you guys know how to protect everything there. As I''m not in country Z anymore, Jasmine will again try to run away... Though she''s not anymore strong and energetic like before but we still can''t take any chance over her. So keep an eye on her always." Frank said to one of his most trusted bodyguards. The bodyguard nodded his head from the other side though Frank couldn''t be able to see him and replied, "Don''t worry, boss. We''ll take care of her." "Hmm.. Good. If any kind of problems occur, don''t disturb me in middle as I''ll be busy in handling the contract signing for our new project with Creation... If you feel that it''s really something important which needs my supervision then keep it for me to return back. Got it?" Frank asked in a stern voice. "I got it boss.." The bodyguard replied and Frank hung up the call. His assistant who was waiting there for him to take his next instructions, asked, "Sir, is everything okay?" Nodding his head, Frank said, "Yes.. Everything is okay. Did you inform Creation that I''m here already?" "Yes, Boss. It''s done and they told us to visit them at their company tomorrow at 11 am." Frank''s assistant replied. "Fine.. Then, I''ll like to take some rest for now." Frank said. "That''s okay boss. But don''t you want to visit Miss Diana?" The assistant asked in an alarmed voice. Frank smirked cynically at him and replied, "Obviously, I will. Not only Diana, but I planned to pay a visit to my dearest daughter Lisa too. I want to see how both of these girls who had the audacity of leaving my kingdom by running away from me, are doing now... But the time is not right now. Let me settle the deal with Creation, then only I''ll visit my both daughters. I want to give them the biggest surprise of their life." A crooked smile crept on Frank''s lips just by thinking about Lisa and Diana without knowing that the surprise he was talking about, would turn against him.. It would be Frank himself who would get the most shocking surprise of his life by these two ladies and their friends which would haunt him down for his whole life only if he remained alive.. ---- Love-Paradise¡­ Reuben was caressing Veronica''s hair as they were drinking coffee leisurely without any tension about the world. "So.. You asked Frank to attend the meeting tomorrow, right,?" Reuben asked. Veronica nodded her head and shifted closer to Reuben more before saying, "Yup.. Louis is going to handle him tomorrow along with few of other directors." "Hmmm.. Then when are you going to show reveal your identity to him exclusively?" Reuben asked another question. Veronica grinned evilly before replying, "Do you really think, he is that much worthy for me to show my face all exclusively to him?" Reuben raised one of his eyebrows to his fiance whose smile had turned into a smirk now and asked, "What had you exactly planned then?" "Well, nothing much. I''ve just decided that I''ll reveal my identity of being the CEO of Creation to the whole world along with Frank. Then, it''ll be more fun you know. Frank''s expression will be the funniest to watch." Veronica winked at Reuben playfully who just shook his head at his girlfriend''s dangerous planning. ---- The next day... Creation... Frank took a deep breath and looked at the big sign board of the biggest multimedia company and his eyes glittered in greediness. With his sparking eyes, he gave a last glance to the large logo and entered the building with a calm exposure. "How may I help you sir?" the receptionist asked politely. Frank checked her body up and down in a l.u.s.ty manner which made the receptionist a little bit uncomfortable but she hid it very well with a fake smile. "A meeting is scheduled for us today on the name of Mr. Frank Howard. So we''re here for it." Frank''s assistant replied politely. The receptionist smiled a little and checked the details on the computer and said, "Yes, Sir. You have meetings with our officials on the 19the floor... Please take the elevator at the front. After reaching at the floor, go left side and the first room is where the meeting will be held." Frank''s assistant said a small "thank you" and left with Frank who gave the receptionist a naughty smirk to her which resulted the receptionist to feel disgust on him. ---- Top floor of Creation... Veronica was noting down each and every actions of Frank from the moment he entered the Premises of her company. She was munching some crackers and ch.i.p.s while looking through the computer screen which was playing the live CCTV footage of Frank''s action. Nothing could go amiss from her hawk like eyes and her eyes turned red into anger when she deciphered the hungry looks in his evil orbs for the receptionist. Louis too noticed it and clenched his jaw tightly in anger as he remembered about his dear girlfriend who almost got molested by Frank. "This bastard! How dare he give those l.u.s.tful look to a girl whom he met just now. I''m surely going to beat him really hard the moment I get the chance." Louis roared in anger. Veronica looked at him and said, "Calm down man. I too want to kill him more than anything. But before that, we''ve few things to take care of." Louis calmed himself down and said, "You are right. We need to save Diana''s mother from that ugly place first. Only then, we can go forward with our plan." "Yes.. By the way, did you get any information from our team if they were able to reach the place securely without giving any hints to Frank''s bodyguards or not?" Veronica asked, looking at Louis. Chapter 420 - Act normally... "Yes.. By the way, did you get any information from our team if they were able to reach the place securely without giving any hints to Frank''s bodyguards or not?" Veronica asked, looking at Louis. Louis too stared back at Veronica and said, "They have already surrounded Frank''s mansion without anyone''s notice.. They are just waiting for our order and then they''ll come out of their disguise." Veronica nodded her head in understanding and replied, "Fine then.. let''s go now. It''s already time for our entry." Louis arched his left eyebrow in confusion and asked, "Our entry? Am I not the only one who is going to attend the meeting with Frank?" "Yes.. You were supposed to. But now my mood changed, resulting me to badly want to have a face to face meeting with that jerk... Though I''ll meet him this time as a simple employee. He''ll get to know about my actual identity after Diana''s mother gets rescued by our team." Veronica said, wiping her hands in the tissue to remove the stickiness of the ch.i.p.s she was eating. Louis sighed at her and stated shaking her head, "You are really something. Let''s go then. I''ll tell my assistant to call the other officials too who are going to attend the meeting with us." "Hmm.. But don''t forget that we have to behave normally like Diana''s friends. I''m sure that Frank had already guessed that Diana had revealed about her past to us... So if we pretend that we don''t know anything about him, then it''ll stir his doubt against us. That''s why, I''m telling you to act normally like the way, we''d do to see the person who had mistreated our friend and your girlfriend." Veronica reminded him. Louis thought for a while and said, "You''re right about it. We can''t let him have any sense of queries against us. Otherwise, our plan will be backfired." Veronica nodded as they both went out of the giant room which was the dome of the one and only mysterious CEO of Creation.. ---- Meeting room... Frank was sitting in the meeting room, waiting eagerly to meet the CEO of Creation. He was rubbing his thigh in nervousness and tapping his fingers on it. His assistant too was a little nervous as he never met such an mysterious CEO in his life. He had dealt with many famous and wealthy CEOs before but it was the first time when he''d be able to meet someone whose identity was completely secret from everyone. Even no one was aware about the CEO''s gender too.. Although he came to know recently that the CEO was male because of the previous phone call which Frank had with the CEO. Hearing the male voice, everyone sighed in a sense of relief as he didn''t want to deal with any female. The reason behind his demand was his boss who would drool over any beauty without thinking for once that if she was in his reach or already been out of the league. This nature of Frank had created many problems before but he had coped with it really well as the girls too had some hideous wish to fulfil so they would succ.u.mb themselves to Frank without any hesitation. But he was well aware about the fact that the CEO of Creation was not any simple one. If she was a girl and Frank would try to get any chance over her then the result would be really horrendous. Not only they would lost the contract but their company would also be under attack of Creation. This was why, Frank''s assistant prayed the CEO to be a man.. They were waiting patiently when the door of the room got opened suddenly and a tall handsome figure entered along with a gorgeous girl beside him and with other officials following the both of them. "Hello everyone. I hope you don''t mind us for being late." Veronica stated in a professional tone. Frank just kept on looking at Veronica and gobbled over her mesmerizing beauty which was really shining in the boring meeting room. "No.. no.. it''s okay. You don''t have to say sorry about it." Frank''s assistant said on behalf of him. "So, shall we start the meeting now?" One of the board directors asked looking at Frank. "Uhmm¡­ Yes... yes.. we shall start the meeting now. But if you don''t mind me of asking a question.. Where is the CEO? He himself called me to inform us about the deal." Frank said. "Well, he''s not always free like you. He had to attend another important meeting so he went there." Louis answered without showing any kind of emotions on his face but he was literally burning in anger internally. Frank looked at Louis and then shifted his eyes to Veronica who was looking outside of the glass window. Louis nudged her lightly on the shoulder, making Veronica look at him quizzically. Nodding her head at Louis, Veronica sat on his left side with other officials. The meeting started and they talked about various stuffs relating to their new project. In between, Veronica shared a few glances with Louis signalling him about something. After one hour of discussion, Louis said, "It''s fixed then. We''ll be signing the contract today itself as we are happy with the project clarification which you presented." Frank just smiled and replied, "Yes.. I''m just now waiting for the signing to be done. Then both of the companies can proceed with the collaboration soon." Louis'' assistant handed the contract to Frank while Louis said, "Read the contract well before signing. If you want to put any extra clause then just inform my assistant, he''ll handle everything." "Yea, sir.. let me check the contract for once." Frank''s assistant started to read the first page of the contract. Frank became irritated with the way his assistant was behaving and he snatched the file from his hand. "What''s there to read? Such a prestigious company can never make any mistakes in making the contract. So let me just sign it without wasting any of our time." Frank said. Chapter 421 - Fate was written in black ink... "What''s there to read? Such a prestigious company can never make any mistakes in making the contract. So let me just sign it without wasting any of our time." Frank said. Without wasting any further second, Frank just signed the contract after giving a little look through the doc.u.ments.. Veronica smirked at his behaviour as she got what she wanted. She intentionally created a havoc in his life so that he didn''t have the patience to read the contract thoroughly where his fate was written in black ink.. Although Frank''s assistant had a tiny bit of hesitation to sign the contract without looking into the details but he knew better to close his mouth, not to intrigue the furry inside his head. After they signed the contract, the directors one by one shook Frank''s hand and left after taking permission from their VICE President. Now it was only Louis, Veronica, Frank and his assistant were present in the room. "Now, we''re also bonded officially like we have already become relative personally before." Frank said with a crooked smile. Veronica arched one of her eyebrows and pretended to not understand the inner meaning of his big goofy words. "What did you mean to say, Mr. Howard? Can you make it more clear?" Veronica asked. Frank''s smile broadened when he saw the act Veronica was putting on and said in a lazy manner, "You guys don''t know, what I''m talking about? Strange! But the information I got from my people that you''re Diana''s good friend, Ms. Lopez and Mr. Morgan is her boyfriend. You must already know right that Diana is my stepdaughter and I love her very much." Louis'' fist tightened and his hand itched really bad to punch the annoying face of Frank. But he controlled his anger when Veronica held his hand and snapped at him, "Don''t you dare to take Diana''s name by your filthy mouth. I''ll chop off your tongue if you do this again." Frank laughed at him and said, "Do you really think, you can do this? I know that you''re very much powerful but look¡­still you couldn''t able to stop me from having a collaboration with your company." "It''s true that I was forced to sign the deal because of our CEO''s order. But that doesn''t mean that you''ll have the permission to say whatever you want about my girl." Louis roared in anger. Veronica knew how much angry Louis was. Though it was also a part of their plan but still it was going overboard as she could clearly notice that if Louis was not stopped by her then he could beat Frank at any moment which would ruin their whole plan.. "Mr. Howard, if you really think that we''re bound to respect you just because we''re obliged to follow our Boss'' rules then you''re absolutely wrong. After whatever you did to our Diana, you don''t deserve even an ounce of respect from us." Veronica scowled at him and left with Louis without giving Frank any chance to talk more. Whereas Frank just stared at their back and an automatic smile crept on his lips. "Find Diana''s address as soon as possible. I want to meet my dear daughter today." Frank said to his assistant with a smirk. ---- Evening time... Diana''s apartment¡­ The doorbell rang suddenly which made Diana furrowed her eyebrows. She moved her eyes from her laptop to the door and muttered to herself, "Who would come so late? Louis is busy in a meeting so he''ll not be here." Keeping the laptop aside, she walked towards the door and opened it wide to only get shocked as sweat started to form on her face. She became blank for a second as she couldn''t believe that the person she hated the most would be standing in front of her so suddenly. "You¡­what are you doing here?" Diana muttered in fear after finding out her words. Frank just smirked at her and said, "Won''t you let your dad enter inside? I was waiting so much to meet you and finally the day has come." Diana didn''t know what to say. She was just shivering in fear at that moment. Looking at her shuddering figure, Frank just pushed her with a little force and walked inside her apartment without bothering her. "Wow! You have a lovely apartment for yourself. I thought that you''d be living like a beggar after leaving your mother. But seems like it''s completely opposite. You''re spending a lavish life here." Frank whistled and sat on the couch. Diana kept the door open and took a deep breath. Walking towards him after getting her fighting spree back, she asked in a cold voice, "What is the reason behind your visit here? Tell it and leave. I don''t have enough time to waste on a garbage like you." Frank''s jaw tightened but he controlled himself remembering the reason of his visit and said, "Well, you got a really sharp tongue now. Good!! However, it''ll not stay so much sharp after few days when I''ll snatch everything from you. I must say, your boyfriend is really handsome." Diana''s eyes widened in shock when she heard about Louis and asked in a terrified tone, "You...you met him today?" Nodding his head, Frank replied leisurely, "Yes.. I did. And that''s why, I came to meet you too. You must be thinking, why I''m suddenly visiting you.. The reason is that I came to give you a proposal. If you agreed to it then I''ll set you free otherwise¡­." "Otherwise what?" Diana whispered in a low voice. "Otherwise, I''ll make sure that your boyfriend won''t be alive to love you anymore." Frank said. Tears started to pour out of her eyes as soon as Diana heard Frank''s threat and she stammered, "You.. you won''t do any such kind of things to him." "Well, I will because I can. Moreover, the proposal is not a big one. It''s just you have to transfer your properties on my name which your father had left for you. Last but not the least, you need to spend a steamy night with me.." Chapter 414 - Exceptionally glowing skin... It made her smile very brightly and her eyes pooled with tears just by thinking about their wedding day and she too could see the glistening eyes of Reuben which confirmed her that he too was thinking the same at that moment.. Reuben shook his head, gesturing her to not shed tears and Veronica happily accepted it with a smile. They were talking to each other through their eyes, expressing their feelings in a silent way. But their own imaginary world got interrupted when they heard the loud clapping sound of the guests. Only then, they noticed that now the couples were kissing as the wedding finally came to an end. After the kiss, the priest pronounced them as man and wife which earned another round of applause from everyone, including Veronica and Reuben.. The wedding was done finally and the happiness could be clearly visible on the couples'' faces. Now it was time for the celebratory toast. After toasting with the elders and their friends, they went to their guests. Neil noticed someone or he should say two very familiar faces actually... He walked towards them with Willa and greeted them with a bright smile, "It''s good to see you both here. But I''ve never imagined that you two will come together." Cole who was invited into their wedding, smiled at them and said, "It was unexpected for me too. Actually my company is having it''s first collaboration with Ms. Baker''s company.." Neil nodded his head and looked at the girl who was sitting there with a smile on her lips and said, "Hello Emma.. I hope you''re fine." Emma smiled back at him and said, "Yes, I''m good. And congratulations on your wedding." Willa knew about Emma as Neil had already told her that his parents had tried to matchmake him with Emma before they came into a relationship. However, Willa never had any hard feelings over Emma as she knew her from beforehand as they met in few parties. Emma was a good girl by heart and very much compassionate towards her work, so she too didn''t mind much when elder Wilsons notified her father that there would be no possibility of their families to get connected by marriage in future. She was actually happy that Neil had found a girl like Willa as his life partner... It''s truth that she once had a soft corner for Neil but she was not a selfish bitch like most of the heiresses. According to her, it''d be best to let the person go instead of caging him in a fake marriage so that both of them could live happily. Becoming an expertise in relationship, Willa noticed the glint in Cole''s eyes when he stared at Emma and her lightbulb got lit immediately. "Are you guys dating?" Willa asked suddenly which made both of them surprised with the sudden question. Neil just grinned, seeing his wife being more bold and straightforward after achieving their biggest happiness which had been recently added in their life. Emma blushed red and bowed her head a little in shyness while Cole didn''t know what to speak. It was clear that Emma had feelings for Cole but on the other hand, he was still unsure about Emma. Cole was in a mental turbulence about his feelings. He believed that he still loved Myra though she had moved on her life. But after spending few weeks with Emma for their project, he too started to grow a different kind of emotion for her. So he just smiled at the newly wedded couple and said, "Uhmm.. We are not dating. We''re just business partners and now friends too.." Hearing it, Emma''s brightened face became a little bit paler but she quickly recovered it. To divert their attention, Emma asked, "If you don''t mind, can I ask you a question, Willa?" When Willa nodded her head, she asked, "Why are you having juice instead of champagne?" Willa chuckled at her question and looked at Neil who replied, "Actually, she can''t handle drinks much. So I prohibited her from drinking today." "Oh!!" Emma said smilingly while the couple excused them from there. ----- Dining place¡­ After greeting everyone, the newly wedded couples had been brought to the food zone as they hadn''t eaten anything heavy from the morning. Because of the hectic schedule of the wedding, they too became tired and needed to feel their tummy. As they were about to have their lunch, Alonzo and Myra''s mother, Mrs. Brown came towards them. "Congratulations to all of you. May God give you all the blessings and shower you with love and prosperity." Mrs. Brown blessed them. They smiled and thanked her when she added, "Both of the brides are looking really beautiful today but why do I feel like you have different kind of glow on your face, Willa?" "Yes.. I too was thinking the same Aunty. I asked her so many times from the morning about the secret of her exceptionally glowing skin but she was not ready to tell me at all.. I mean we both went to the same parlour and had the same treatment. Then why she has more glow than me? This is not fair at all." Lucinda complained while pouting. Henry chuckled at his wife and joked, "Babe.. You are absolutely wrong about whatever you''re thinking. Your skin is glowing so much that I feel like I''ll go blind any time." Lucinda slapped on his arm and glared at him before scoffing at him, "Very funny!" "Look bro.. You just got married few minutes ago and Lucy had already started being a witchy wife. I don''t know what will happen to you in the future?" Louis made fun of them which earned a glare from Diana. Lucinda snapped at him and said, "Why are you talking so much? Don''t forget that you''re too in the line of getting married soon. So wait for the day." Others laughed at their bickering when Mrs. Smith suddenly became a little serious and asked, "On a serious note Willa¡­we''re not joking when we say that you''re glowing differently. Why do I feel like your extraordinary glow has some different reason?" Chapter 422 - You made me strong and superior... "Well, I will because I can. Moreover, the proposal is not a big one. It''s just you have to transfer your properties on my name which your father had left for you... Last but not the least, you need to spend a steamy night with me. We''ll have lots of fun together...only you and me. And I promise that your boyfriend will have no idea about it." Frank said getting up from the couch. Diana wanted to vomit on him in disgust. Just the thought of his dirty look on her was enough for her to curse him under her breath. "I''ll not do anything what you''ve said, Frank. You''re a disgusting person and I hate you the most in the world." Diana spat in utter disgust towards him. Frank didn''t mind her words as he went closer to her and stood right in front of her, leaving few inches gap between them. He grabbed her jaw in a tight grip and looked directly into her eyes with venom before saying, "Don''t use the heavy word hate against me baby girl. I don''t like this word at all, specially from your butterfly like mouth.. I''m giving you exactly ten days to think over the matter. Give your positive answer to me days later. Otherwise, you know what I can do with your boyfriend, right?" Diana held his wrist and tried to remove it from her jaw. Instead, his grip tightened on her. After staring at her for a whole one minute, Frank finally left her and walked out of the house in a cool way. When he was about to cross the threshold, he turned towards his right side a little and said, "Remember darling. You only have ten days in your hand. And your time starts from now¡­ Tik tok.. tik tok¡­ tik tok¡­" Giving a final smirk to Diana, Frank finally left. Diana sighed and locked the door. As she entered the drawing room, tears started to build up in her eyes. "Why are you crying when the person who needs to cry is none other than that asshole Frank?" Came a womanly voice from the bedroom. Diana turned her face towards Veronica who was standing there with her hands folding under her chest and replied, "I seriously don''t trust Frank, Vero. He''s really dangerous. He can do anything for his selfishness." Veronica sighed and went towards her. Taking a seat beside her, Veronica held Diana''s hand to give her emotional support. "You don''t have to worry about that Diana. Louis is far more intelligent and stronger than that stupid Frank¡­ Moreover, we have already trapped him in our plan. We''re just waiting for something really important and then he''ll be completely bashed by us." Veronica said. "Nothing will happen to Louis, right?" Diana asked in fear. "Trust me. There are no chances of Frank harming him or anyone of us." Veronica said. Diana immediately hugged Veronica and sobbed in her arms, trying to free herself from all her fear. Veronica hugged her back and consoled her by rubbing her hands on her back. In the difficult times of one''s life, true friends are the one who spreads positive energy and supreme support to them.. Those are lucky who have true friends in their life.. Diana was exactly feeling herself as the luckiest woman of the world at that time to have Veronica and others has her friends.. ---- Next day¡­ Smith Enterprise¡­ Reuben just finished his meeting with one client and came back to his cabin when his phone buzzed. As he checked the caller ID, his tired mood got uplifted and he picked up the call with a bright smile on his lips, "Hey babe.." "Hi honey.. Had lunch?" Veronica asked from the other side. "Yes love. Just had my lunch with one of my important clients. What about you?" Reuben asked, opening the first two buttons of his shirt. "I too had my lunch few minutes ago. I didn''t call you before because I knew you''d be busy in meetings." Veronica said leaning back on her chair. Reuben smiled at his caring fiance''s words and said, "Hmmm.. My baby loves me a lot." Veronica chuckled and replied, "Yes.. I too know that my dearest fiance also loves me very very much." They both smiled at it when suddenly Reuben remembered something and said, "Babe.. I forgot to tell you that I have already called various media companies to be present tomorrow morning at Creation... The show will be live telecasted on the big screen and I also sent my men to install cameras in your meeting room." "Okay.. That''s good then.. However, when are our man going to attack Frank''s mansion today?" Veronica asked. "Evening baby.. Our men are now watching their every moves. They had already come to know about the room where Mrs. Jasmine is staying.. We''re now only waiting for their shift change and that''ll be the time when they''ll save her from Frank''s men.." Reuben informed. "Fine.. After she gets saved, I''m gonna give Frank a damn surprise tonight." Veronica smirked evilly. Reuben too laughed at her and said, "Count me in babe." "Obviously love.. I can''t do anything in my life without your constant support. Yes, I can be the strong leader of Secret 7, Ice¡­ I can also be the influential CEO of Creation whose identity is still a big mystery.. But truth to be told that nothing could be possible without you. You''re the most important person of my life along with my parents... My parents gave birth to me but you''re the one who had taught me how to live my life happily. You made me strong and superior. All of my achievements would be incomplete without you, my love.." Veronica confessed her true feelings to him. She didn''t know why she was saying these things to Reuben now but she felt like telling him her true feelings though she knew that Reuben was already aware about her emotions. A silence filled in both of their cabins as they both became emotional. But after a while like a perfect tuning, they both whispered together an "I love you.." which brought a big smile to both of their lips immediately... Chapter 423 - Rescuing Jasmine... Secret 7¡­ The same evening... Veronica, Reuben, Louis and Andrew were sitting in the action room which was basically technology room for them with lots of computers and extraordinary devices. "Spread in three teams. Team A, go the left side. Team B, take right side. And team C, attack from the backdoor." Reuben ordered in through the small earphone which was a lot advanced in techniques. They were keeping their eyes on their team by the GPS which was attached on their team members.. The most helpful for them in their rescue mission for Jasmine was the Quadrotors which were flying in the air and now entered the mansion of Frank. It was not any simple kind of Quadrotor which was easily visible to everyone, in the shape of a small plane. This particular device was so much small that no one could be able to see it. It was in more like a size of a fly or bee. Their team listened to their bosses and worked accordingly. They were not shooting some bullets but a small chip kind of bow which had sleeping drugs in it. At first, they decided to kill them all but Lisa stopped them from doing so as she was very much well aware of her father''s team. According to her, her father had threatened those people to join his territory by keeping their families'' life under gunshot. That''s why, they were just forced into doing so and ganged up as one of the most cruel underworld group. So she pleaded to them to kill them only after knowing if they were still innocent or had already turned into monsters like her father. Veronica looked through all the footages and said, "Team C¡­ Go to the right and you''ll find the staircase. Go up and then turn right again. You''ll find a corridor there... Open it and turn left. The lady is in the last room. The helicopter is already waiting on the terrace. Before taking her there, don''t forget to give her a sleeping injection." "Yes ma''am. We got it. We''ll be in the terrace in few minutes." The leader of team C replied. The loud noise of guns could be heard through the action room of Secret 7... Everyone''s attention was on the screens only, from where they were monitoring the whole area. After ten minutes, they finally saw two of their men were bringing an unconscious middle age women to the terrace. They put her into the helicopter before accompanying her and soon the helicopter flied over the sky. "Yes! We did it. Good job team. Keep all of Frank''s men detained there till we give you any further order." Louis said through the hearing chip. "Wow! Our Louis is really excited and happy today." Andrew said with a chuckle. "Obviously, he will be. After all, he was able to fulfill his girlfriend''s dream." Reuben said patting his shoulder. "Hmm.. let''s leave then. We''ve to prepare for tomorrow morning also. I''ve to invite Frank personally to celebrate his dooms day." Veronica said with a chuckle. Andrew too got up and said, "Yeah.. I have to leave too. My princess is waiting for me in the home. Moreover, the newlyweds are also coming back tomorrow evening... They are already upset that they will not be present on the spot of the live show tomorrow. So they don''t want to miss the chance of seeing Frank cry when we''ll torture him tomorrow night." "Hmm.. I''ll go to Diana''s apartment then." Louis said while everyone gave him a teasing smile. ---- Frank''s hotel room¡­ *thrash* Frank threw the lamp shade at the mirror with full force, making the glasses shattered into pieces. "How? How could it be possible? That bitch Diana had ignored me completely and now living with that bastard Louis? She can open her legs for him everyday but she can''t do this for me at least for once?" Frank shouted in rage. His assistant was standing there, watching his boss getting crazy over such a small thing but didn''t there to stop him. Suddenly they heard Frank''s phone ringing loudly which made his mood more angry. Frank saw that it was already past midnight and it''ll be 1 am in another fifteen minutes. He was about to cut the call in anger when he stopped, noticing the caller ID... It was an unknown number which made Frank excited thinking that it might be Diana who was calling him now. "Hello.." he answered the call in an expectant voice. "Hello Mr. Howard. I''m not surprised that you''re still awake so late at night." The person said on the phone. Frank frowned when he heard a female voice which was not Diana''s but suddenly he acknowledged it after thinking for a while. "May I know why Ms. Veronica Lopez had called me so late at night? Isn''t it her time for a beauty sleep?" Frank asked mockingly. Veronica laughed devilishly and said, "I was about to sleep when I thought, why don''t I invite Mr. Howard for tomorrow''s special meeting?" "What kind of meeting?" Frank asked, being completely confused. "Well, as you already know that tomorrow is a meeting in Creation about our upcoming collaboration where our CEO will also be present for the first time... So you need to be there. However, it was not the main reason I''m calling you for." Veronica said as she snuggled into Reuben''s bare chest more who caressed her hair softly. "Then what is your exact reason of calling me? I''d like if you say it clearly to me without beating around the bush." Frank almost shouted at her. Reuben too heard it and his fist immediately clenched into a tight ball in anger. He just wanted nothing but to punch his face for putting up his voice on his fiance. Veronica rubbed his arm to calm him down and replied, "Patience Mr. Howard.. Patience.. If you really want to know the reason, then don''t you dare to raise your voice on me.. I wanted to talk to you about something really important which is related to Diana.." Chapter 424 - Live Telecast... Veronica rubbed his arm to calm him down and replied, "Patience Mr. Howard.. Patience.. If you really want to know the reason, then don''t you dare to raise your voice on me.. I wanted to talk to you about something really important which is related to Diana. I''m sure you''ll be excited now to listen to me." Frank became a little bit calm hearing the name Diana, without knowing that what he was about to hear from Veronica next, would blow up his mind completely... "Diana.!! What about her?" Frank asked. "Well.. Nothing much about her. It''s just I need to give you something." Veronica said nonchalantly. "You want to give me something..!!! But what?" Frank asked. "A warning!!!" Veronica stated in a casual tone. Frank was now completely confused about what Veronica was speaking. He couldn''t able to decipher even a single thing. Veronica understood his silence and continued, "You went to meet Diana yesterday, right? But unfortunately, she was not alone there. I was also present with her.. I knew that if you had already arrived at city S and got aware of her relationship with Louis. Then you''ll surely pay a visit to her. So I thought to stay with her yesterday. And guess what? My prediction was absolutely right. You not only barged inside but also dared to blackmail her." Frank was completely stupefied with the new information and his hands turned cold. "So you heard everything?" Frank asked in a small voice. "Yup, I have. And I also heard that you gave her a time period to change her decision. How much was it? Yeahh¡­ Ten days.. But ten days are too much for me to get revenge on you. So just ten hours..." "What do you mean by ten hours?" Frank sat on his bed and held the phone more tightly. Veronica chuckled at his question and then threatened in a deadly manner, "Ten hours and I''ll make sure that your whole company goes bankrupt.." "Your time is starting from now. Tik. Tok. Tik. Tok. Tik. Tok." Veronica too imitated Frank. Frank''s blood rushed up in his veins and he asked angrily, "What the hell do you think of yourself? Do you really think that you can do anything to my empire? Yeah.. I know that you''re the fiance of the great Reuben Smith and he really can demolish my whole company just by a click of his finger but you can''t... If you really have the guts and power, then try to go against me yourself, without taking anyone''s help." Veronica just shook her head at his stupidity and said, "You really think that I''ll give you an open challenge without holding such power in myself? I promise that I''ll not take anyone''s help but still will make you beg in front of me. And that too is just in ten hours." Frank was now a little bit scared with Veronica''s threat. He tried to speak on the phone but found out that she had already cut the call. Sighing deeply, he thought about what Veronica had just said. He remembered that she was a strong woman and if she had said that she won''t take anyone''s help to destroy him, then she''d seriously do it alone... However, when he thought about Veronica being a simple employee of Creation, then all of his worry and hesitancy flew away by the window. According to him, no woman could be able to ruin his plan because they all were fragile. With a smile on his face thinking about his next day victory, Frank too slept with a smile on his face, not knowing that his mansion in country Z was already in a big havoc. ---- Next day morning¡­ Top floor, Creation¡­ "So everything is ready?" Louis asked the couple who were clinging to each other like Koala bear. Reuben ran his hand through Veronica''s hair while she rested her head on his shoulder. "Hmm.. Tom made sure to double check every preparation. The press is already here and currently waiting in the longue area. My men informed that Frank will be here in five minutes. They''re keeping tracks on him from yesterday night." Reuben said. Louis nodded his head and said, "Hmm.. Our security team have kept Frank''s men captured there. So they too didn''t get any chance to inform him about Diana''s mother... She has been brought back this morning and she''s staying in Secret 7 for now. I''ll bring Diana there as everyone will be present there too." Meanwhile, Tom entered and informed, "Boss, Frank and his assistant are here." Reuben nodded his head and said to Veronica, "Okay then darling, I and Louis are leaving for the meeting room. You come when the time arrives. Till then watch his drama via live telecast." Veronica agreed smilingly and the boys left Veronica there to confront the biggest bastard of the world Frank Howard.. ---- Meeting room¡­ Frank was sitting there with his assistant. Although Frank was completely relaxed but his assistant was having some bad feelings in his heart like something bad was about to happen. Frank was just scrolling through his phone to check the latest news about the business world, without having any idea that he''d top the headline in few minutes.. His attention from his phone broke when he heard the sound of the door getting opened. He saw Louis entering with a cold expression, latching on his face. Frank smirked and was about to greet him when he noticed the most unexpected person here, the great Reuben Smith. His eyebrows furrowed as a new kind of fear started to bubble in his heart. But when he remembered Veronica''s promise to not take Reuben''s help in anything, he again relaxed. Faking a smile on his lips, he greeted by extending his hand, "Hello, Mr. Smith. I never imagined to meet you here in such an unexpected situation." Reuben didn''t shake his hand and said, "Well, I''m known to give surprises to everyone. Didn''t you see the news of my proposal to my fiance? Chapter 425 - Grand Entry... Reuben didn''t shake his hand and said, "Well, I''m known to give surprises to everyone. Didn''t you see the news of my proposal to my fiance?" Frank smiled fakely, feeling insulted with Reuben''s behavior and said, "Yes. I saw it. And I''m very much happy for you." Reuben just smirked and replied, "That''s good. Let''s start our meeting then." "Uhm.. Mr. Smith... If you don''t mind me, may I know if you''re somehow connected with the deal or not. And where is the CEO?" Frank asked very carefully, not to offend Reuben. But before Reuben could give him an answer, Louis interfered, "Reuben bro is one of the shareholders in our company. So, he ought to be present here. Our CEO is already in the office and will come here at any moment." Truthfully, Frank was a little shocked to know about this. However, before his mind could go haywire, Reuben said to the officials who were also present there to start the meeting. Everyone took their seats when Louis started to show the presentation. The time was passing by and it was already 9:30 am. Frank who was focusing on the project till now, suddenly remembered Veronica''s threat and checked the time. A smirk etched on his lips when he saw the time and thought, ''Just one and half hour more to go. Huh? She couldn''t even blow any hair of mine in the past eight hours, what will she do in only one hour now? Nothing! She can''t do nothing to me. I''ll show her my power after the meeting ends.'' But his trance got broken when he heard the familiar voice. He turned towards the projector screen and his eyes bulged out of the socket when he noticed his own video there. It was the video of last night when Frank was breaking every single thing in his hotel room while cursing Diana badly. All of his conversation got recorded in the video, including his determination to bed Diana. Next came the video which had been taken in Diana''s apartment when he had gone to give a so called ''good'' proposal to her. Louis''s jaw clenched in anger as he glared at Frank with his raging eyes. Whereas Frank was completely shocked with what was happening there. His assistant also had the same look of terror on his face. "What are you playing instead of the PowerPoint Presentations? Stop it now. Just stop it. I want to leave at this moment." Frank shouted out of his lungs. Reuben who was enjoying the show, finally took out his phone and messaged Veronica, "Babe.. I think now it''s your time to have your grand entry." On the other side, Veronica read the message and smirked. Standing up, she gave a final look on the screen and went out of her cabin.. ---- Frank was still shouting to get away from there at that moment, ordering his assistant, "I said, book my ticket to country Z. I''m not going to stay here anymore." "Why are you in hurry so much to go back to your home? Weren''t you the one who was eagerly waiting to meet our CEO? Witnessing your love and respect for her, our CEO is willing to meet you and she is in the elevator now." Louis said in a mocking tone. Frank caught the ''she'' word in Louis''s statement and asked confusedly, "Your CEO is a female?" When Louis nodded his head, Frank became more puzzled and mumbled, "But when I talk to the CEO it was a male. Then how can be the CEO a lady?" Before anyone could answer him, the door suddenly burst open and a beautiful lady in a tight knee length maroon skirt with a soft yellow colour shirt entered the meeting room with a gorgeous smile adorning her lips. "Well, the male voice you were talking about, were generated by a voice changer software." Veronica said with a small smile which was not at all an innocent one... Reuben looked at her with a smile, completely mesmerized by her beauty whereas Louis just smirked. Frank on the other side furrowed his eyebrows seeing her here and asked, "What are you doing here?" Veronica rolled her eyes and asked in irritation, "Can''t you ask anything else rather than what we all are doing here? Gosh! You don''t even know how to use proper words and here you came to challenge me!" "You¡­ How dare---" Before Frank could complete his sentence Reuben got up with a thud sound, making him stop from speaking anymore. Walking towards Veronica, he wrapped his arms around Veronica''s shoulder and said loudly, "She dares to speak to you in whatever way she wants because she has the right. After all, who will dare to stop the CEO of such an large company?" Not only Frank but also the other officials and the reporters who were reporting the news via live telecast were also shocked with the sudden revelation. They thought, they might have heard something wrong so they wanted to confirm it again. Seeing the stupefied face of the directors and other shareholders, Reuben declared loud enough to reach his words in everyone''s ears clearly, "Yes.. You guys have heard it right¡­ The CEO of Creation is none other than the VFX head of this company, Ms. Veronica Lopez." This stirred everyone''s attention, including the netizens who too were watching the live show from their respective places. All were shocked, surprised and astonished with this totally unexpected news. Never in their dreams, anyone could imagine that the heiress of Lopez family and the would be madam of Smith''s household, was also the mystery CEO of such a reputable multimedia company, Creation. Frank was completely baffled with this revelation and fear crept in his heart, thinking about the warning Veronica had given him last night. "How¡­how can you be the CEO? How?" Frank stammered in utter fear. Veronica smirked, seeing his disheveled look and said, "Mr. Howard.. I''m famous to make every impossible things possible. So it''s nothing new to me. However, right now I''m more focused on fulfilling my challenge which I gave you last night. Won''t you like to see it by your own eyes, how I destroy you by my own hands by revealing all of your dirty secrets?" Chapter 426 - She is my biggest pride... "However, right now I''m more focused on fulfilling my challenge which I gave you last night. Won''t you like to see it by your own eyes, how I destroy you by my own hands by revealing all of your dirty secrets?" Frank''s face paled like a white sheet as he asked in a scared tone, "What dirty secrets are you talking about?" Veronica just gave him a cynical smile and held the remote of the projector before opening a folder which she presented on the screen as a slideshow. Frank''s all illegal dealings like human trafficking, drugs transactions...everything was shown into the slideshow with proper proofs. Sweat started to form on Frank''s forehead and he trembled in fear when he saw the proofs against him. Veronica glanced at him and stated in a nonchalant tone, "Yesterday, I promised you to make you bankrupt in just 10 hours, right? We have thirty minutes left in our hands to end the time period. And this thirty minutes are already enough for me to win the game." Without wasting anymore time, Veronica signaled Louis to do something, for which he nodded in response. He immediately opened the business chart of Frank''s company and showed the shares status to everyone. When Frank looked at the status of his company''s share market, he trembled and fell on the chair in terror. The shares were decreasing in an unbelievable way. Frank stared at the screen blankly. But he knew that it couldn''t be possible if Veronica hadn''t used her brain in it. The clock started to tick down and when it was almost ten seconds left, the three of them started their count down.. "10" "9" "8" "...." "3" "2" "1" "And boom¡­" Veronica squealed in excitement which resulted Frank to have an almost heart attack. The share market of Frank''s company, "Howard & Co." was not lying under the minimum margins which clearly showed that his company went down for bankrupt. Frank was not in any situation to speak anymore as he became almost paralyzed. But this was not enough of his misery when cops entered there and put a handcuff on him. Reuben smirked at him and said, "This whole show has been telecasted in live channels. So the whole world now knows about your nasty undefined works. Now rot in hell, Mr. Frank Howard." Cops took Frank away from there whereas the three of them watched him walked out of the building in a weakening way. After they left, Veronica looked at the other officials who were equally surprised with the sudden turn of events. Giving them all a sweet smile, Veronica said, "I know that all of you are still in a shocking state after knowing about my true identity. Take your own time to digest the news that I''m the CEO of this company who lived like a mystery for all those years. But now that I have revealed myself to all of you, I''ll wish all of your cooperation with me. Don''t worry. Nothing will change except two things that I''m now your official CEO and my office will be shifted permanently on the top floor." The directors and shareholders listened to her attentively and they somewhere swelled in pride, knowing that the company they were working in till now, had such an amazing CEO. Specifically a female CEO who knew how to rule the business world so intimidatingly. She would be a role model to every single girl who wanted to do something big but was not able to do it because of their lack of self confidence... "Truthfully, we''re very much happy to know that you''re our CEO. Such an young lady who is handling one of the topmost company with such extraordinary skill, is really an inspiration to all of us. From now on, we''ll be your big supporters." One of the directors of the company said. Veronica gave them a grateful smile and said, "Thank you a lot.." Reuben nodded at them and took Veronica out of there, holding Veronica''s hand while Louis just flowed the couple... ----- As the trio walked out of the premises, various media channels surrounded them and started questioning them. "Ma''am, how were you able to hide your identity so well for these past few years?" "Reuben Sir, are you feeling proud of your fiance?" "Louis sir, You knew about Veronica Ma''am from the start. So how do you feel to work with her?" All of them smiled at the reporters brightly and one by one replied to their answers. "Well, more than hiding my identity, I was trying to establish myself as more powerful and reliable CEO... My parents, friends and the love of my life are the one who has been supporting me from the start. So, all the credits go to them." Veronica said, looking lovingly at Reuben. Reuben smiled at her adoringly and replied, "I was, I am and I will always be proud of my Ica. She is the one who lights up my whole world with her single smile. So yeah, she is my biggest pride." Whereas Louis too didn''t stop to answer their questions as he said, "It''s great to work with her. Although she''s a little crazy sometimes but when she turned herself into the CEO of Creation mode, she becomes extremely professional which sometimes scares me." Everyone laughed at Louis''s joke and congratulated them. Amidst of these congratulatory greetings, one of the reporters asked an completely irrelevant question but it was not a bad one. Actually everyone wanted to know about answer of the question which the reporter asked them very bravely. "Sir, now that the other two couples are already married¡­then when are both of you going to get tied with each other in the wedding knot?" Veronica and Reuben shared a small glance to each other and stared at reporter who was looking at them expectantly. "We''ll held our wedding on our fifth year anniversary of togetherness. You all are invited there... We''ll give you a complete notice later. Thank you." Reuben said as the trio entered their car and left the place, the reporters and netizens jumping in excitement. Chapter 427 - Longing for years... Secret 7¡­ "Is he here?" Reuben asked, entering their action room along with Veronica. "Yes, sir.. The cops have sent him as per your instructions." Tom said. Reuben was about to say something when they heard a a cheerful shout of some people which almost made their ears numb... And those people who shouted "Congratulations" were none other than the newly wedded couples who had come back from their honeymoon this afternoon. "Oh God! You guys are finally back. I''m so happy." Veronica squealed in joy when she saw the couples and hugged them alternately. "Yes.. We''re finally back. We already missed the great show today morning. So we didn''t want to lose the chance of watching evening show too." Lucinda said excitedly. Veronica beamed and asked Willa, "How are baby and mumma?" Willa chuckled and said, "Both baby and Mumma are absolutely fine." Reuben too shared a hug with his brothers and started chatting randomly. "I think, we should now pay a visit to our guest." Henry said. "Yes.. I was waiting eagerly for this." Henry too showed his enthusiasm. Diana and Louis were also present there as Diana wanted to see the helpless look of Frank whereas Louis had his own plan to bring her here. All of them nodded and went to the corner most cell where a disheveled Frank was sitting with his head buried inside his knees. Hearing loud footsteps, he tilted his head up to find out the whole gang present there. "So Mr. Frank Howard.. How are you? Didn''t you give me ten days time to accept your proposal. But look my friends had already destroyed you in just ten hours." Diana said with a smirk. Frank frowned but didn''t utter any words but his head snapped towards the door when he heard a very familiar voice.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #..._49076694627184928 for visiting. "Now that he''s completely destroyed, why not give him few other surprises too?" A manly voice echoed through the whole room and reached into Frank''s ears which made him totally stupefied... "Alonzo Brown!" Frank whispered in a low voice. "Yes.. The same Alonzo Brown who is the twins of the late Alexander Brown whom you''ve killed mercilessly... Glad to inform you, that I''m the same person who had blackmailed you with the evidence. I''m your blackmailer who asked you for 100 million dollars." Alonzo said walking inside with Amelia. Frank''s jaw almost dropped when he heard it as he looked at him blankly... But suddenly a cynical smirk appeared on his lips when he remembered something. "Well, you guys really made a great plan to ruin me. But I still have the upper hand in this.. My dear Diana, your mother is in my territory. As soon as my men would come to know about my situation, they will kill her brutally. So if you want to save your mother, then ask your friends to release me from here." Frank said looking at Diana. Diana''s mouth dried when she heard about her mother and one tear drop fell from her eyes. She badly wanted to save her mother because somewhere in her heart, she still loved the person who had given birth to her. Although her mother had treated her really bad after committing with Frank, but she couldn''t forget the sweet memories she had with her mother in the past... However, she also knew the fact that if they released Frank at this moment then he''d get his revenge by hook or crook which might take her friends'' lives also, which she couldn''t afford at all.. She was now in a dilemma about what to do next and whom to choose. Louis noticed her tearful eyes and glowered at Frank, "Do you really think you''re eligible to kill her mother?" Frank smiled wickedly and replied in pure confidence, "Of course. I have the power to do so." Reuben laughed at his overconfidence. He was really pleased to see Frank still trying to act powerful and strong in front of them when he was already in the stage of drowning in the sea. "Listen you bastard! If we can collect all the evidences against you then don''t you think we can also save Diana''s mother.." Reuben sneered at him. Seeing the baffled expression of Frank, Veronica then continued, "Didn''t your stupid brain ever try to find the reason of the blackmail call when we had already found out about you? You fool! We asked you to transfer the money so that we can get your location and save Diana''s mom from your clutch." Hearing it, not only Frank but also Diana became equally shocked. Both of them looked at her with wide eyes¡­one with fear and another with expectations... "Bring her here." Louis ordered one of their men. He nodded and came back with a middle aged woman few minutes later. Diana couldn''t believe her eyes when she saw the condition of the woman. She had never imagined that her mother could look so weak and fragile as if she had not eaten any food for days. "Mom¡­." Diana whispered lowly. Jasmine who was not aware of her circ.u.mstances till now, heard the only voice which she was longing for years and her head jolted up towards her daughter. She kept on looking at Diana''s face as tears started running out of her eyes. Louis patted Diana''s back to give her motivation. While getting the cue, Diana slowly walked towards her mother. As the mother-daughter duo kept on looking at each other fondly, their emotions finally broke down as they pulled each other into a tight hug and sobbed loudly. "Diana...my daughter. Mom is very sorry for everything. I shouldn''t ever trust a devil like man more than my own daughter. Please forgive me." Jasmine cried heard as she apologized to her daughter. Diana shook her head in denial and said, "No Mom. Don''t cry please. I''ve already forgiven you before. I was just angry on you that you didn''t trust your own daughter... But now that you''re back with me, I''m going to protect you from all the evils. I''m not letting you go anywhere from now on. You''ll only stay with me." Chapter 428 - Goodbye Frank... "But now that you''re back with me, I''m going to protect you from all the evils. I''m not letting you go anywhere from now on. You''ll only stay with me." Jasmine cried more and more after her daughter''s confession and kissed her forehead tightly to ensure that she was not living in any kind of false dreams. She wanted to ensure that everything which was happening now was absolutely real.. Others also were overwhelmed with watching the reunion of the mother and daughter but their peace got broken when they heard the irritating voice of Frank. "No¡­. How could this be possible? How can she be here when I kept her as a prisoner in my mansion?" Frank shrieked in anger. He was acting more like a madman than any normal human being at that moment. Jasmine looked at the source of voice and her eyes became sharp seeing his pitiful look. "So, you finally got back your Karma?" Jasmine said smiling happily. "Don''t you dare to mock me now." Frank shouted in anger. Jasmine just laughed at him coldly and replied, "You deserve hell Frank for ruining our lives." She then turned towards Reuben, Veronica and others and asked "Are all of you my daughter''s friends?" Everyone nodded while Diana said, "Yes Mom. They are my friends who are helping me in every possible way. They are the one who have brought you here too." Listening to her daughter, Jasmine''s eyes teared up again... Folding her hands together, she said, "Thank you so much everyone to support my daughter. I''m the worst mother of the world who couldn''t stand beside her own daughter. But you all have done more than a friend would do for their other friend." "Aunt.. She''s my everything and others also love her like a true friend. So it''s nothing much for us to do." Louis said. Jasmine looked at Diana questioningly who just blushed before answering, "He is Louis Mom, my boyfriend." An immediate smile crept on Jasmine''s lips as she blessed them, "I''m very much happy for you. May God bless both of you." "Can you stop your stupid family drama and tell me how the hell did you guys get evidences against me? No one knew about any of my dealings." Frank yelled at them. "Hawwww!! Now you''re finally on track. I was thinking where did your clever brain get vanished that you''re still not asking about this point to us." Veronica said mockingly. Reuben too smirked and said, "This question of yours will be answered by two most important persons of your life." Frank was thinking really hard about the person and finally when his brain worked, he muttered unbelievably, "Lisa¡­ It''s Lisa, right? Then who''s the other one?" "Awww Dad! You finally remember me. I''m so much contented. And the other person who you''re trying to know about after wrecking your whole lot of brain, is none other than your son-in-law and the father of your one month old granddaughter." Lisa muttered as she stepped into the room with Andrew. If Frank was shocked till now, then now his eyes had completely bulged out of his socket in disbelief. "Son-in-law? Granddaughter? What are you taking about?" Frank asked being totally perplexed. Andrew smiled evilly at him and said, "I, Andrew Jones whom you have met at a party before, is the husband of your daughter and father of a beautiful one month old girl." Frank was unable to take anymore shock in just one day. So he just put his hands on his ear and started to scream loudly. Reuben told his men to handle him when suddenly Frank laughed out loud and said, "I know I''m going to die soon. So why not give you the last shock of your life before dying,my dear so called daughter?" As he spoke, he brought everyone''s attention back to him. Seeing them all confused, Frank again burst into laughter and said, "Lisa is not actually my daughter. She''s the daughter of my sister, Harper... When I killed her mother in front of her eyes, she went into trauma. As I took her to the doctor, I came to know that Lisa was too much small to consume the heavy doses of medicines and as a result, she might forget some of her memories... As my first wife couldn''t get pregnant, she wanted to treat Lisa as her own daughter. So we took her to our home. But I had a different reason to adopt her as my daughter... As her father''s property was on her name only, I could get all the money after his death. I wanted to get Lisa married to one of my business partners like I did to her mother but this bitch had run away and now----" "Ahhhh!!!" Frank shouted in pain, holding his jaw as Andrew had given him a tight punch on his face. "Never ever use bad words against my wife, you bastard!" Andrew shouted on him.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #..._49125308825137915 for visiting. Others were also shocked with the new revelation which Frank had just revealed and looked at Lisa worriedly but what she said next made them extremely proud of her. Lisa held Andrew''s hand to calm him down and spat at Frank with a disgusted face, "You think, you can weaken me with your stupid revelation. Yes, I''m both shocked and sad after getting to know about the new information... But do you know the reason of my sadness? It''s because of the death of my both mothers who were brutally killed by you. One who had given birth to me and the other who had loved me more than everything in her life... Actually, I''m also very much happy that I''m not your daughter. Now I don''t have to stay in guilt for all those families whom you''ve killed. From now on, I don''t have to despise myself for being your daughter." After she said that, Andrew looked at her in appreciation while Lisa added sternly, "I want you guys to give him the worst death possible." Reuben smirked and said, "That you don''t have to worry about, Lisa. Our men had already injected him with a drug which would start taking action in any moment now." As he finished speaking, they heard the sound of coughing, only to see blood continuously oozing out of Frank''s mouth. Frank started to scratch his full body crazily while blood didn''t stop from coming out of his mouth. Everyone stared at him without any concern for him as Reuben mentioned, "This drug will not kill him instantly. It''ll work on his body slowly by making his organs itch day by day... When his blood will be dried completely, one by one, all of his organs will start to fail and finally he''ll stepped into the door of hell." Everyone was impressed with Reuben''s professionalist kind of work and felt relieved that Frank would get the best punishment which he really deserved. They gave him one last glance without showing any kind sympathy towards him and left him there alone to let him embrace his painful death in the most hurtful and vulnerable way.. "Goodbye Frank.. Hope you enjoy the last few days of stay here.." Chapter 429 - Veronicas bachelorette party... Days have passed too soon without anyone''s knowledge. Everyone was busy with shopping and other stuffs so much that they forgot that there were very less day for the wedding. Almost two months later, their hectic schedule finally ended which was more because of the ongoing preparations of the wedding. More than the bride and groom, their family members and friends were excited to shop for the grand wedding of their favourite couple.. They didn''t leave anything less for the special day of the most loving couple of the decade, The REUNIC couple.. The netizens were also very much happy to get a chance to witness the lovely couple''s wedding. Finally the wait was almost over as the wedding day has finally arrived which was going to be on the next day. Right now, Veronica was spending her girlie time with her friends to celebrate the last day of being bachelor. Yes! Today was the bachelor''s party of Veronica and Reuben as they were going to get tied down with each other in the name of marriage on the very next day... So celebration is a must! Veronica was wearing a beautiful violet colour long gown which had very thin straps on both of her shoulders. It also had a violet belt around her waist which was made with the same material of her gown. The gown was specially gifted by Reuben to wear for this evening... She had her open hair softly curled as she placed it on her right shoulder. As they had a wild bachelorette party for Willa and Lucinda so they tried something new for Veronica. They thought to enjoy the night with playing different kinds of games like ''never have I ever'' and others.. They also danced crazily in the beat of some pop music and of course most of the songs were k-pop songs as Veronica was a great fan of K-pop. Sipping the wine from the glass, Veronica cheered happily, "Oh My God! It''s so fun to enjoy your own bachelorette night with your besties." "I know right.. It''s one of the best feeling in the world to celebrate the last day of your bachelorhood before getting married to the person whom you love the most in the world." Willa said dreamily as she drank the orange juice. Willa was not three months pregnant and her face was glowing so radiantly like a bright star in the sky... "Well, I don''t really have any idea about how does it feel to have a bachelor''s party before your wedding day as I didn''t get the chance to celebrate." Lisa who too was present there, said with a sad smile. "Aww! Please don''t be sad now. We''re with you now. We''ll make your every day colorful like some party people." Amelia said hugging her sister-in-law while the other girls nodded their heads. Amidst of all these, Veronica noticed something really unusual.. Her best friend from childhood, Lucinda who was always a cheery bird when it came to talk about party stuffs, was a little bit quieter today than the other day.. Lucinda seemed to also be a little lost today.. Veronica kept her hand on Lucinda''s shoulder and asked in concern, "Lucy.. What happened to you? Why do you seem to be a little lost today?" Lucinda looked at her best friend for a few seconds and replied smiling faintly, "Uhmm.. Nothing happened. Was just a little bit tired.." "Tired? But why? You seemed to be okay in the morning. You even slept in the afternoon like a log." Diana said getting confused. Myra too agreed with her and added, "Yes.. You even have eaten in more quantity than other day. So there''s no way of you being tired." "Uhm.. No no.. That''s not the reason. Actually nowadays I''m becoming hungrier than usual and also a bit more tired." Lucinda said. Veronica frowned and touched Lucinda''s forehead to check her temperature. But when she found out that it was completely normal, she asked, "You don''t have fever also. Then why are you feeling so low?" Lucinda shook her head and replied, "No, it''s not because of illness. It is because of some special reason." "What kind of reason? Tell us so that we can help you in this. Your behavior seemed to match with a pregnant woman.!" Willa replied casually. Lisa''s head immediately snapped towards Lucinda and she hold both of her shoulders in a firm grip but not enough to hurt her. Looking into her eyes expectantly, Lisa asked, "Don''t even try to lie to me Lucy. And tell me if Willa is right or not. Are you pregnant?" This single question made the other girls to turn their face towards a shy Lucinda. Lucinda smiled shyly and replied meekly, "Yes.. I''m pregnant guys. You guys are going to become an aunt again." Everyone stood like a statue for a while there, not knowing what to do and how to respond.. "Ommo ommo ommo! Lucy, are you f.u.c.k.i.n.g serious? You''re really going to be a mommy while I''m going to be an aunt again for the third time in a row. Yayyyy!!!" Veronica squealed in joy, jumping up and down which made others laugh at her. Willa excitedly asked, "How many days are you long? And when did you come to know about this first?" Lucinda smiled brightly at them and caressed her still flattened tummmy before replying, "Five weeks.. Actually I came to know about it two weeks ago but I thought to keep it as a secret as you guys were busy with the wedding preparations. After almost a month of coming back from our honeymoon, I started to vomit a lot. My period also got missed and when I finally took the test, it came out to be positive." "Woah!! That''s really good.. And many many congratulations to you. Does Henry know about your pregnancy?" Amelia asked smiling widely. If it was few months ago then Amelia would have got jealous over Lucinda but now everything had changed. Alonzo made her understand the real meaning of love and now she couldn''t think of anyone else other than her man, Alonzo in her life.. Before Lucinda could reply, they heard Henry''s cheerful voice from the door, "Not only I know about the pregnancy, I even announced it to my friends just now.." Chapter 430 - Get controlled by my wife... Before Lucinda could reply, they heard Henry''s cheerful voice from the door, "Not only I know about the pregnancy, I even announced it to my friends just now.." They all turned towards the doorway where all of them saw the love of their lives standing there with a with a bright smile on their faces. Veronica''s eyes immediately followed it''s way towards Reuben as it took in his look. Reuben was looking extremely handsome in his violate colour suit which was co-ordinated with Veronica''s gown. Their eyes met for a few seconds as sparks started to build up in their hearts. They smiled at each other softly, showing the admiration they had for each other. Finally their intense eye-lock ended when they heard Louis''s voice, "Guys.. Don''t you think it''s the time for double celebration? Firstly it''s Vero and Reuben bro''s wedding tomorrow and then another pregnancy news!! Woah! This year is full of surprises.." "Yes¡­ you are right. But before that, let me congratulate my brother." Saying that, Veronica went and hugged Henry tightly. "Congratulations Henry. I''m so much happy for you that I can''t even describe it through words." Veronica said with a bright smile. Henry too hugged her back and replied, "Thanks sis. I''m also very much happy. We wanted to tell this news the moment we came to know about this. But it got delayed one or other way.." Veronica smiled and asked, "It''s okay bro. I understand. But did you guys tell our family about the news?" Lucinda shook and said, "No.. We haven''t told them yet. But we plan to reveal it to them after you guys leave for your honeymoon." As the congratulatory session ended, Reuben suddenly announced, "If you guys are done with your bachelorette party, then I''ve to take my lovely fiance somewhere." Everyone grinned at the mention of this whereas Veronica frowned as she asked, "Take me somewhere but where?" Reuben just gave her a small but genuine smile and said, "You''ll find it out soon babe. But before that we need to leave from here. So guys bye.." At that moment Andrew thought of teasing him a little as he said, "Enjoy the last day of bachelorhood bro. Because from the next day, you''re gonna be controlled by your wife for your whole life." Lisa slapped his arm lightly while Neil and Henry just nodded sadly which earned a glare from their respective partners, making others life. "You guys don''t have to worry about that. As I''ll gladly like to get controlled by my wife." Reuben said wrapping his hand around Veronica''s waist protectively. Veronica beamed at him with her eyes full of love for him. Everyone waved their hands at the couple grinning widely and bade them goodbye as the couple walked out of the room... ---- As soon as they were about to come outside, Reuben covered Veronica''s eyes with his left hand while opening the door with his other hand. Veronica took hold of his hands and asked pouting cutely, "Bennie.. Why did you cover my eyes?" "Sshh! My curiosity queen. Just for a few seconds and you''ll be able to see it by yourself." Reuben whispered in her ears s.e.xily, making her tremble in desire. Nodding her head like an obedient child, Veronica let Reuben take her wherever he wanted. With the trust she had on Reuben and the support Reuben had provided to her, both of them finally come outside as the cold wind hit Veronica''s face gently. Slowly but steadily, Reuben finally removed his hands from Veronica''s eyes and the scene in front of her made her jaw dropped in disbelief. The small staircase at the backside of their bungalow which led them to the garden area in their backyard, were decorated really beautifully. Both sides of the small staircase were lighted up with small fairy lights. It also had red, white and peach colour flowers lined up at the both sides of the railing. Veronica was really mesmerized with the beauty of the view as her eyes were shining with excitement and lots of contentment. "Wow, Bennie! It''s so beautiful." Veronica squealed in joy. Reuben chuckled and mumbled in her ears, "It''s just the start of tonight baby. More surprises are yet to come." "There are more surprises?" Veronica asked getting surprised with Reuben''s new revelation. Reuben just nodded his head in response and helped her to walk down the stairs carefully by holding her hands.. As their fingers intertwined, Veronica felt a shiver ran down her spine. Reuben took her towards the backyard through the pathway which was made of rose petals and candles lighting up on either side of them. Finally they arrived at one of the most beautiful place of their back garden which came as another greatest shock for Veronica. The tree at the far most corner of the garden had been decorated with fairy lights and few lamps were hanging from it''s brunches and trunks. There was a table set up for the pair with a small table lamp between them. Reuben pulled out a chair for Veronica to sit down which Veronica accepted with a teary smile. After Reuben too settled himself beside her, Veronica muttered still looking at her surrounding with an awe expression, "Seeing all the preparations that you''ve made, suddenly I remember about our first date night at the cliff." Reuben too chuckled along with her and replied, "I planned it remembering our first date itself. I wanted to represent that exact moment when you become my girlfriend exactly five years ago... That day was one of the happiest day of my life. And now that we''re going to start our new life with a new relationship status, I want to make it memorable like the first one." "So it''s the last date night of us as a girlfriend and boyfriend, right? After all, from tomorrow on we''re going to be married and I''ll be known as your wife, Mrs. Veronica Reuben Smith.." Veronica muttered in a low voice but enough to be heard by her beloved. Chapter 431 - Only yours for lifetime... "So it''s the last date night of us as a girlfriend and boyfriend, right? After all, from tomorrow on we''re going to be married and I''ll be known as your wife, Mrs. Veronica Reuben Smith.." Veronica muttered in a low voice but enough to be heard by her beloved. Reuben nodded his head and replied, "Yes darling, from tomorrow onwards , you''ll be my wife, Mrs. Smith. And I''m your husband, only yours for lifetime." Veronica smiled at him and said playfully, "So what are we waiting for? Let''s start eating to celebrate the last day of our bachelorhood." Chuckling at her, Reuben nodded and served her food. He was about to serve his own food in a different plate when Veronica interrupted him, "Don''t Bennie. Let''s share it today for the last time as an unmarried couple.." Reuben nodded his head smilingly as both of them had their dinner peacefully, feeding each other while having some talks. ---- After the dinner was done, they started walking through the garden hand in hand, feeling the low breeze caressing their faces. They were completely silent as if they were trying to savour the last bit of their time before entering into the married life. Few minutes later, the alarm of Reuben''s phone rang up which broke the silent yet comfortable silence between them. "What happened Bennie? Why did you set an alarm?" Veronica asked confusedly. Reuben cheekily smiled at her and without replying, he just kneeled down on the ground holding Veronica''s hands. Veronica stared at him in puzzlement and asked, "Bennie, what are you doing?" "Nothing much Ica. Just celebrating the very special day of our life." Reuben replied beamingly. Veronica too gave him a bright smile, already guessing what was about to come and as expected Reuben took out something from his pocket. "Love.. As I''ve already said it to you countless of times that you''re the bestest thing which ever happened to me. I love you so much that I can not even think of leaving without you for a single second... You''re my sunshine, my moonlight, my everything. You lighten up my life with your beautiful smile. I have always been in love with you, maybe from the time I''ve first saw you in diapers." Reuben joked at the last sentence making her too laugh with him. Chuckling at her, he again started to speak, "Honestly, I was very much afraid to tell you about my actual feelings at first. But when I finally got courage to profess my love to you, that day changed the purpose of my whole life. You accepted my love wholeheartedly, making me the happiest man of the world... Thereafter, started the journey of our love life. We became so much accustomed to each other that we became completely inseparable. Like this, five years have already passed without us knowing... And these five years are the best days of our lives. Thanks Ica for choosing me over everyone and being with me always. I love you baby." Tears started to drop from her eyes but her eyes was filled with love for the man who had own her heart. Reuben got up from the ground and wiped off her tears from her cheeks. Veronica just kept staring at him lovingly as she whispered, "I love you too darling. The most in the world." Sometimes words were not needed to describe your feelings because eyes were enough to do the job for you... Right now, Veronica and Reuben''s situation was the same. Veronica had many things to say to Reuben in her heart but she hadn''t any words to describe it. So she just kept quiet and let her eyes speak about the volume and depth of her love which Reuben easily read through without having any kind of difficulties... Reuben then handed her the gift box and asked her to open it. As soon as Veronica opened the lid, she got mesmerized by the beauty of the gift. It was a pair of beautiful diamond earrings which was sparkling like the stars in the night sky. Caressing the earrings with her fingers, Veronica said to Reuben, "Bennie, You didn''t need to.." But before she could complete, Reuben cut off her in middle as he asked her, "Ica, do you remember the day we went with our mothers to the jewellery shop to discuss about the designs of your wedding jewelleries?" Veronica thought for a while and then replied, "Yes.. I do remember that day. I selected each and every jewellery designs for the wedding on that day... But when I was about to choose the perfect design for the earrings to match with the necklace, you refrained me from doing so." "Yeah love, you''re right. I stopped you from selecting the design because I wanted to gift it to you today.. So Ms. Veronica Lopez, your soon to be husband want you to wear this beautiful pair of earrings tomorrow at the wedding." Reuben said. Veronica was not at all ready to drop the smile from her lips which was the result of Reuben''s love for her. Smiling beautifully at him, Veronica said, "I would love to wear this beautiful earrings tomorrow darling." Saying this, Veronica encircled her hands around Reuben''s neck and inched her face closer to him. Reuben too wrapped his one hand around her waist and placed the other one on her cheeks and touched his nose with her. Soon the thin proximity between them closed as both of their lips touched, sending shivers down their spines. The kiss was soft and gentle, pouring their love in that kiss.. Reuben softly nibbled her lips, urging her to open her mouth which Veronica obliged really easily. Their tongues matched as they covered each and every corner of their mouth. A minute later, they finally broke the kiss and joined their foreheads together as they tried to calm themselves down by breathing heavily. Veronica stared at Reuben''s beautiful grey orbs and whispered on his lips softly, "I too have a surprise waiting for you, love." Chapter 432 - Simple decoration but lavish from heart... Veronica stared at Reuben''s beautiful grey orbs and whispered on his lips softly, "I too have a surprise waiting for you, love." "Are you serious? You really have a surprise for me?" Reuben asked looking a little bit shocked. Although Veronica had always prioritised there relationship the most and gave him lots of gifts before, but still he didn''t except a surprise from her right at this moment.. He was well aware of her busy schedule. As now everyone knew that she was the CEO of Creation, so everyone wanted to have a meeting with her¡­specially her old clients. And Veronica being herself, was a little bit guilt ridden for hiding her identity from her business partners so long, agreed to have meetings with them. On top of that, she also had the pressure of their wedding and their honeymoon for which she needed to work ahead so that there won''t be any problem when she was not there. That''s why, Reuben thought that Veronica would not have any time to prepare any gifts for him and a surprise was a thing which he didn''t even imagine in his dreams! But who was Veronica Lopez after all? A girl who loved Reuben immensely without any selfishness or demands in her heart. So how could she not prepare something memorable for him! Especially, when they were celebrating the last day of their bachelorhood along with their fifth anniversary.. Veronica smiled at him and said, "Yes... A surprise! Now be a good boy and close your eyes. Don''t even think of peeking. If you try to cheat, then I promise that the outcome will not be good for you." Reuben nodded like an obedient child and closed his eyes, very much excited about the surprise that his fiance was going to give him. Veronica held his hands and guided him towards the other part of the backyard. She made sure to give him few glances to check if he had really kept his eyes close or just pretending.. To her relief, Reuben really had his eyes shut as per Veronica''s order.. As soon as Veronica reached the place where she had prepared a small surprise for Reuben, she took a big sigh and let his eyes free from her hold. Reuben adjusted his eyesight to his surroundings and when his eyes finally fell on the surprise waiting for him, his jaw dropped completely in shock. There was a tent made in the middle of the garden, covered with a blanket. A soft white mattress was placed on the soft grass which was covered with cushions. Fairy lights were hanging from the sides whereas few snacks along with soft drinks were also being kept there just beside the decorative items. But what attracted Reuben the most was a LED TV hanging on the artificial wall where the videos of his childhood were playing.. Reuben''s eyes teared up seeing the beautiful arrangement his soon to be wife had done just to surprise him. It was a simple decoration but really lavish from heart... "It''s beautiful, Ica.." Reuben whispered, gazing at Veronica with his eyes full of love. Veronica smiled brightly at him and said, "That''s not the end of the surprise, Bennie. Because, I have a gift for you too." Reuben''s eyes lit up like 3d blub when he heard Veronica. He couldn''t believe that Veronica had arranged all of this amidst of her busy schedule. It was not difficult for Veronica to understand what Ivan was actually thinking in his mind right now.. She just smiled at him lovingly and encircled her hands around his neck, making him come out of his trance as he too wrapped his strong arms around his beautiful fiance''s waist. "Don''t think too much Bennie. If you can give me surprises in spite of being so much busy with your office work and wedding preparations¡­ Then why can''t I free some time for my one and only handsome fiance and plan something special for him to make him enjoy the last night of bachelorhood with his soon to be gorgeous wife!" Veronica exclaimed with a cute smile on her face. Reuben''s eyes glistened like stars, seeing the effort the love of his life had put into making the arrangements just to make him feel special. He bent his head down and gave a small peck on Veronica''s rosy lips before murmuring, "Thank you so much love for everything. I''m not going to be grateful to you for this amazing gift because I know you won''t like it at all.. But what I want to express to you is, you have made my life colourful in every way. You have not only made me a better person but also show me how a man should protect and love his woman. I love you baby." Veronica couldn''t suppress the smile that was etching on her lips and tiptoed on her feet as she gave him a chaste kiss on his lips before murmuring, "I love you too baby. Now it''s time for your gift." Reuben beamed brightly and spoke with excitement, "I can''t wait to see it." "I too can''t wait more to show it to you. And for that, you''ve to come inside this tent. Come honey." Saying that, Veronica pulled him inside the small blanket house and made him sit on the mattress. She crawled towards the left side where a big box was wrapped beautifully with a red coloured wrapper. There was also a red rose attached to it, making it look more beautiful. Veronica brought it towards Reuben and said, "Open it baby. It''s all yours now." Reuben glanced at her for once and then looked at the big box with confusion. Taking a deep breath, he started to unwrap the packaging. And when he finally opened the box, his mouth instantly gaped open widely in complete surprise¡­ It was a digital painting of both Reuben and Veronica on their surprise engagement day. In the picture, Reuben was holding Veronica by her waist while Veronica had her right hand placed on his shoulder. Both of them were looking at each other with love filled eyes while their other hand was intertwined with each other, making the ring finger clearly visible to everyone''s eyes where their engagement ring was shining brightly just like their beautiful future.. "You made this yourself?" Chapter 433 - Most gorgeous bride of the decade... Both of them were looking at each other with love filled eyes while their other hand was intertwined with each other, making the ring finger clearly visible to everyone''s eyes where their engagement ring was shining brightly just like their beautiful future.. "You made this yourself?" Reuben asked almost in a whisper. Elysia nodded her head in affirmation and said while caressing the framed picture of both of them, "Yes, Bennie.. Actually I was very much confused about your gift. I was wondering what to give you that will not only make you happy but also be able to make you feel special¡­ After lots of pondering, I finally remembered that I''ve definitely painted few of our portraits with colours and papers. But never made one digitally. That''s when this idea popped into my brain and I thought to made a digital painting of us. And what could be the best reference of a picture than the memories of our heartwarming engagement night! So I chose this special moment of ours and drew it digitally to give you as a gift." Reuben''s eyes which was glistening with tears, finally couldn''t able to hold that water drop anymore as tears started to fell on his cheeks, making it completely wet. "I don''t have words to describe my feelings at this moment, Ica. Just keep it in your mind that I''m the luckiest man in the whole world who had got you as his better half. I love you baby. And I promise that the love I have for you will only grow more by each passing second." Reuben said, looking into her eyes emotionally. Veronica too couldn''t hold her tears anymore, listening to Reuben''s soulful confession as she also whispered, "I love you too baby. And I promise to keep you happy for my whole life by loving you with my everything." Reuben smiled at her confession but didn''t bother to wipe off any of their tears. He just put his right hand on Veronica''s left cheek and pulled her on his lap by wrapping his hands around her waist. Veronica too reciprocated with him as she placed her left hand on his shoulder and caressed the nape of his neck with other hand. Their eyes were locked with each other. Even though both of their eyes were glassy, but the love they had for each other was so strong that it couldn''t be hidden by those treacherous tears of them. Reuben bent his head a little lower while Veronica forwarded her face towards him. And the next moment, both of their lips got collided with each other, indulging them into a blissful kiss.. This kiss was more of a gentle kind yet very much passionate which was pouring all their feelings out of their heart into that special moment. They sucked each other''s lips and nibbled it with their teeth. Their tongues were tasting the every corner of their sinful mouth as their saliva got interchanged between them. The kiss they were sharing was so passionate that they even forgot to breath. But when their lungs wasn''t able to supply exchange anymore, only then they stopped themselves from kissing more. Both of them were now panting heavily due to the sensual kiss. However their eyes were still not ready to look away from each other as they shared a sweet yet heartwarming smile. They stayed their in same position without bothering anything and watched a romantic movie together till late night to celebrate their last day of bachelorhood. It was half past twelve when they thought of heading to bed as the next day was going to be the most important day of their life. And none of them wanted to look like a ghost with dark circles under their eyes because of lack of sleeping. ------- Next morning¡­ It was already ten in the morning when Veronica was getting ready with the help of the makeup and hair artist. While her friends who were already ready, were watching her with full of admiration and a smile on their faces. As the makeup artist was putting the final touch on her, a knock interrupted them in middle. Amelia was the one to get up and open the door, only to find the father''s group standing outside like a team. Mr. Lopez smiled at Amelia and asked, "Is Vero ready?" Amelia nodded her head and said, "Yes, uncle. Please come inside." Smiling at her, they walked inside and noticed Veronica sitting in front of the mirror with closed eyes. The girls saw their respective father''s and went to them. The fathers too wrapped their hand around their daughters shoulder while both Rose and Amelia were also got embraced by Mr. Jones. Mr. Lopez and Mr. Smith glanced at each other and then walked towards Veronica who still was not aware of their presence. They placed their hands on each of her shoulders, making Veronica open her eyes, only to notice both of her fathers looking into the reflection of her in the mirror. "You''re looking very beautiful, my princess." Mr. Smith said with a smile as he stared at his daughter-in-law with love filled eyes. Veronica smiled and also took a look of her whole appearance and said, "Thanks dad." Mr. Lopez made Veronica stand on her feet and gazed at her from head to toe, making a teardrop slip out of his eyes. Veronica was wearing a beautiful princess gown which had sweetheart neckline. Her whole gown was embroidered very beautifully with small intricate designs and few pearl pieces which was making it look more gorgeous. The veil she was wearing, was really long and pretty. The outline of the veil was designed as the same way of her gown. What the inner part had small flowers embroidered on it, maintaining same amount of gap with eachother. She wore a beautiful pair of white heels which had a small design made in the middle with pure white pearls. Her hair was done in a bun in a vine pattern. Few strands of her hair was falling on her face which was made in soft curls. A crystal and pearl hair piece was adorned on her hair, making it look more beautiful. She had paired up her beautiful diamond necklace set with a beautifully designed crown. She had done a light make on her face which was making her look natural yet the most gorgeous bride of the decade, combined with all of her accessories. Mr. Lopez wasn''t able to take his eyes off his daughter as few more tears fell on his cheek while he said, "How did you grow up so early princess that now I have to walk you down to the aisle for your marriage!" Chapter 434 - A fairy from heaven... Mr. Lopez wasn''t able to take his eyes off his daughter as few more tears fell on his cheek while he said, "How did you grow up so early princess that now I have to walk you down to the aisle for your marriage!" Veronica felt her eyes getting moistened when she heard her father and she couldn''t help herself from throwing herself onto her father before wrapping her arms around him like a small child. "Dad.. I too don''t know when I''ve become so big. But always remember that no matter what, I''ll stay as your small princess forever." Veronica muttered as a teardrop fell from her eyes. Mr. Lopez too secured his daughter protectively in his arms and joked, "Yes¡­ You''ll always be my that small little princess even after giving me grandchildren to play with.." Veronica''s cheeks turned red, hearing her father''s comment and she buried her face more into her father''s chest, making everyone laugh at her antics. Mr. Smith who had followed Mr. Lopez into Veronica''s dressing room, walked towards the father-daughter pair and said, "Hey! Don''t tease my daughter anymore. Otherwise my son can''t be able to handle her red face which is right now looking like a ripe apple.." This brought another fit of laughter in the room as Veronica complained while pouting cutely, "Dad¡­ Not you too." Mr. Smith stopped his laughter and said, "Okay.. Fine.. I''ll not tease you anymore nor I''ll allow anyone to. Now you need to walk down aisle with your father princess. Your would be husband must be growing impatient while waiting for you." Veronica nodded her head smilingly while Mr. Lopez extended his hand towards her before asking in a warm tone, "Shall we proceed, princess?" "We shall, Dad.." Veronica too said, mimicking her father''s tone and earning a chuckle in return from him. ------ The wedding hall had been decorated beautifully with white, pink and yellow tulips as it was one of Veronica''s most favourite flowers.. Reuben was dressed in a black task, looking handsome with his hair set perfectly. He had worn a black pair of shoes with a classic silver watch. All in one, he was looking like a Greek God who was waiting eagerly for his goddess to reside in their own small paradise.. "Bro¡­ I can understand that you can''t wait anymore for your bride. But don''t make it look so much obvious." Neil teased from behind. Henry too couldn''t suppress his inner wish to tease his best friend and stated, "Yes Reuben. If you behave like such an inpatient groom them people may start to think of you as a love sick puppy.." "Wait! Doesn''t the whole world already know that he got smitten by our Vero like s hopeless fool! Then what''s there to hide anymore?" Louis too couldn''t hold himself from joining others in making fun of his cousin. Reuben glared at them with his cold eyes and muttered through gritted teeth, "Will ypu guys stop teasing me? And for your kind of information¡­ let me tell you that yes, I''m a love sick fool and I''m very much proud of that. And this is the reason for which I''m being recognised as the most romantic boyfriend of the world unlike you guys." This is enough for everyone to shut their mouth as they knew they could not be able to win over Reuben when it came to talk about being romantic. Reuben could be called as the king of romance who could turn any single moment into a romantic one without even doing too much hard work. Their chit chat finally stopped when the light music started playing in the background. And the door slowly opened, indicating the presence of the bride. Reuben''s heart started to beat in an unimaginable speed as he stared at the direction of the door to see a glimpse of his soon to be wife. His wait didn''t last longer as Veronica walked down the aisle with her hand wrapped around her father''s arm. The cold shoulder, full sleeves, beautifully designed netted wedding gown was hugging her slim figure so tightly that it was making her curves more prominent. Her floral veil was tucked over her hair securely with the gorgeous diamond crown which was giving her a queen like aura. The diamond necklace set she was wearing with the pair of earrings which Reuben had gifted her, was intimidating her beauty thousand folds more. Her hair was done in a vintage style with few of her locks falling on her face while her makeup was done very lightly with a peach eyeshadow and light pink lipstick. Her brown eyes had been highlighted with a black eyeliner and mascara while her cheeks were adorned with a slight blush. To give her a complete look, she wore a pair white pencil heels which was designed in a very lavish way with small pearls and diamonds. Reuben was so much lost into the mesmerizing beauty of her that she didn''t notice that Veronica had almost reached him. It was Henry''s words only which had brought him back into sense from his fairytale world. "So how is your bride looking Reuben?" Henry asked in a low voice, only for him and their friends to hear. "Just like a fairy from heaven!" Reuben muttered, still staring at the beauty who would be officially his after few minutes. His friends chuckled hearing his response but Reuben didn''t give any heeds to them as his only focus was on Veronica who too was staring at him with all the love in her eyes. As they approached the stage, Mr. Lopez said to Reuben, "I know son that I don''t need to warn you about anything as you''ve already proven yourself numerous of times that how much of a good life partner you are fir my princess.. Still as a father, I''ll like to request you to take care of my daughter and love her like the way you''ve always done. And if you hurt her anytime, don''t forget that her father is here to break your legs and feed them to the sea whales.." ----- [Please red the creator''s thought completely...] Chapter 435 - Reason to stop our wedding... "Still as a father, I''ll like to request you to take care of my daughter and love her like the way you''ve always done. And if you hurt her anytime, don''t forget that her father is here to break your legs and feed them to the sea sharks.." Reuben''s eyes turned determined as he assured his father-in-law with full confidence, "You don''t need to worry about Ica, Dad. She''s just not the love of my life but my heartbeat also. Without her, I''ll not be able to live... So it''s going to be my duty to love her way more than I''ve loved in all those past years. And if you feel anytime that I''m doing any wrong with your princess, then you can feel free to feed me to those sharks." Reuben joked at the last line to make the mood lighter which surely worked and brought a smile on both father and daughter''s lips. Mr. Lopez didn''t waste anymore second and gave his daughter''s hand on Reuben''s already stretched one and said, "I believe in you son. Stay happy and blessed always." He then kissed Veronica''s forehead lovingly and went to sit beside his wife. As soon as Reuben grabbed Veronica''s hand, they felt an electricity ran through their body. This feeling was not the same one like other times but it had a different kind of power which might be the effect of their rapid heartbeats for stepping into the new phase of their life.. "You look absolutely beautiful, love. I don''t know how I''m going to concentrate on this wedding now!" Reuben complemented Veronica with all the love he had in his heart for his bride. Veronica gave him a shy smile and said, "You too look dashingly handsome, baby. Though I''m also feeling the same like you but we still have to complete our wedding rituals so that I can finally be your Mrs. and you my Mr.¡­" Reuben chuckled and replied teasingly, "Yes.. The sooner the wedding will end, the quicker I can kidnap you for our long waited honeymoon." Veronica giggled at his statement and was about to reply something when the bishop thought to interrupt their sweet moment. "Before we start the wedding, I want to know if anyone have any reasons on why these two people should not be legally wedded." The bishop asked. Reuben frowned at his question and muttered, "Why would anyone have any reason to stop our wedding? Especially when both the groom and bride are eagerly waiting to get married. Please avoid all these questions and let us take our vows. I can''t wait to marry this gorgeous woman standing beside me anymore." Reuben''s this statement earned a round of laughter from all around the hall. They couldn''t believe that the great, always cold hearted CEO was so much whipped that he wanted to skip all of these not so important rituals.. "Your son is surely an inpatient one!" Mr. Smith whispered into his wife''s ears. Mrs. Smith chuckled in response and retorted, "Well, he definitely got the trait from you." This was enough to shut his mouth as he remembered his own wedding. Veronica smirked at Reuben''s expense and exclaimed in a teasing way, "Eager much¡­ aren''t we?" "Yes baby.. Very much." Reuben too replied with a smirk without having any kind of hesitation. It made Veronica shake her head at his childishness but a smile was still plastered on her lips. The bishop cleared his throat and finally asked the most awaited question, "Do you, Reuben Smith, take Veronica Lopez, as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and hold, from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you apart?" "I do..." It didn''t take even a millisecond for Reuben to answer back confidently, making everyone again chuckle at his antics. Inhaling a sharp breath, Reuben held Veronica''s both hands firmly and confessed while looking into her eyes, "Ica.. It''s needless to say how much of happiness you''ve brought into my life as my lover. You have brightened my dark world with those bright lights, emitting from your eyes.. Today I''m not going to promise you anything because it''s for me to know, so that I can fulfill your every dreams in my own way. But what I can do is to confess my love to you again in front of the Jesus and our close ones.. Baby, my love for you has only grown in every passing second. I just want you to never change and be the way like you are now. Your one smile is enough to bring the monsoon in my dry life. And I wish to spend all of my lives only with you as your boyfriend, fiance, husband and also the father of our children.. I love you baby. I love you with everything I have. You just need to remember one thing baby that¡­ MY HEART BEATS ONLY FOR YOU¡­" A teardrop slid down Veronica''s eyes which Reuben very softly wiped off from her face before giving her an assuring smile which she returned with her own. It was now time for Veronica to take her vows as the priest asked her the same question.. "Do you, Veronica Lopez, take Reuben Smith, as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and hold, from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you apart?" Veronica too didn''t waste any time and said in affirmation, "I do¡­" The hold Reuben had on her arms, had been reciprocated by her this time as she also professed with same amount of intensity, "Bennie.. You have every ounce of idea that how much your presence in my life meant to me¡­ Like you, I will also not make any kind of promises on this very special day of our life as I very well know, exactly what you expect from me as a wife. And that is too, keep loving you till eternity until death do us apart.." Chapter 436 - Their own unique love story... "Like you, I will also not make any kind of promises on this very special day of our life as I very well know, exactly what you expect from me as a wife. And that is too, keep loving you till eternity until death do us apart.. Trust me baby when I say that your embrace give me the soothing feeling which can calm me even in my most difficult time. Every girl prays for a husband like her father. And I''m feeling the luckiest over here to say that I indeed got one who loves me unconditionally like my Dad.. I always feel secure in your arms which makes me fall in love with you deeper and more deeper by each passing second. And I''ll definitely feel like the happiest woman of the world to be the mother of our children in future.. I love you too baby with all of my heart, soul and body. And like you''ve already mentioned, MY HEART ALSO BEATS ONLY FOR YOU." It was now Reuben''s turn to tear up on Veronica''s confession as it held lots of love, emotions and passion into it. Veronica shook her head, indicating him to not shed any tears. But how could Reuben stop when he was controlling himself from the very moment he had seen Veronica walking down the aisle..! Veronica knew what was going inside him and it''s hard for him to express all of this all of a sudden. So she whispered teasingly only for him to hear, "Come on, Bennie! I don''t want to marry a crybaby now!" A chuckle escaped from his lips in an instant, making Veronica also smile along with him. But their emotional moment got again interrupted by the bishop as he said, "It''s time to exchange the rings now." It was Lucinda who was carrying the ring on behalf of Veronica while from Reuben''s side,, Henry was the one to hand over the ring to Reuben. The rings were very beautifully designed platinum couple bands with rare diamonds placed on it to give it a more richer and mesmerizing look. Reuben took the ring first and stretched his hand towards Veronica. Understanding his sweet gesture, Veronica too placed her hand on his while smiling brightly. Caressing the ring finger on her left hand, Reuben smoothly slid the diamond ring through her long fingers and left her hand only after placing a small kiss on it. Veronica also took the ring from Lucinda and held Reuben''s already outstretched hand in hers before sliding the ring very gently through his finger. Both of them stared at their locked hands which were now adorned with the rings of each other''s names and an automatic smile crept on their lips. The bishop smiled seeing these two people with so much in love and announced happily, "Now, I pronounce both of you as husband and wife. You may ki-------" Even before the priest could complete his sentence, Reuben pull Veronica towards him, making her fall directly into his embrace and latched his lips onto hers.. The bishop stood there shell shocked for a moment while the guests present there along with their family members and friends just shook their head, observing Reuben''s too much eagerness and impatience.. In fact, they were more than happy to see the lovely bond between the couple which could not be compared to anyone as they had their own unique love story to outshine everyone.. However, none of their thoughts didn''t bother the couple as they got themselves too much indulged into kissing their newly pronounced husband and wife.. Although Veronica too was a little shock for the initial few seconds but it didn''t take too much time for her to understand exactly what was happening with her as she too almost instantly reciprocated the kiss with same amount of passion.. Their mouth were working on each other in a perfect sync as they sucked each other''s lips very soothingly. It was not one of their hungry kisses but more like a passionate one which was symbolising their love for each other. As it was their first kiss as husband and wife, so they have poured all of their emotions in that one single kiss¡­ What it seemed like a minute, they finally pulled apart from each other as they panted for breath. Their foreheads and noses were touching as they kept staring into each other''s eyes with love filled orbs. A huge round of applause broke their trance from their lovely moment and their parents came to congratulate them along with their friends. "Congratulations guys. I can''t believe that my favourite couple is finally married." Amelia said excitedly, hugging both of them together. "Hey.. I too want to join you guys in this hug." Lucinda exclaimed, her pregnancy hormones kicking up. "Yeah.. We should also join them. Come Lucy and Diana let''s give the newly wedded couple a group hug." Willa too teamed up with them. As if they were in a tow, all the girls threw themselves onto Veronica as they hugged her tightly. The boys too shared a look between themselves and at the next moment, they too jumped on Reuben like monkeys, engulfing him in a bone crushing hug.. The elders laughed, seeing their childish acts but felt immense happiness and pride for giving their children a good upbringing. "Guys¡­ If you are done with your group hugs, then can my wife, daughter and I congratulate the new couple?" Andrew spoke out a little loud so that everyone could hear him. After everyone moved away, Andrew embraced both of them and kissed Veronica''s head softly before saying, " Congratulations guys. Finally my wish of witnessing both of you getting married got fulfilled." Lisa too took them in a sisterly hug and said, "I''ve always dreamt of having a happy family and I got one because of you two only. So I can''t express the amount of happiness I''m feeling right now just by words. May God bless both of you." Veronica and Reuben smiled at them and said together, "Thanks a lot to both of you." Reuben then took little Olivia in his arms whose face brightened up into a big smile, getting into the arms of his favourite uncle. Veronica pecked her cheeks and said to her, "Thanks baby for coming into our life and making our day more special." As if understanding Veronica''s words, Olivia cooed at her in her own language, making others chuckle at her act. "Guys.. If you''re done with your chit-chatting. Then can you please come and toss the bouquet now? Don''t forget that you have your reception party to attend after it." Amelia reminded them. Chapter 437 - Absolute diva and handsome hunk... "Guys.. If you''re done with your chit-chatting. Then can you please come and toss the bouquet now? Don''t forget that you have your reception party to attend after it." Amelia reminded them. Hearing his daughter''s words, Mr. Jones couldn''t help but ask her in a teasing way, "Why are you getting so excited for the bouquet throw part all of sudden? Are you hoping to catch it so that you can be the next one after them to get married with your lover boy Alonzo?" This was enough to make everyone burst into laughter while the couple who had been teased mercilessly by their own father or father-in-law couldn''t help but shied away. Amelia had a completely red face while Alonzo too had a little bit blush painted on her cheeks. "Come on, now! Don''t tease them. It''s true that the newlyweds really have to get ready for their reception party after it. So let''s not waste anymore time now." Henry''s mother said, making everyone agree with her. "Yes, Vero.. Bring your dear hubby with you so we can finally get done with this custom." Neil''s mother said while patting Veronica''s shoulder. Veronica smiled and wrapped her arms around Reuben as both of them walked towards the stairs outside while all the unmarried couples stood in a line to fight for the bouquet. Louis''s eyes narrowed seeing Myra and Jack joining them. "Hey! Why are you guys here? Don''t you dare the stand in this row. You have already snatched Willa''s bouquet last time while that Emma or Jemma had Lucinda''s bouquet¡­ So now give us also a chance now. Moreover, your wedding date has been also set after a month. So you don''t have any work here. Shoo shoo.." Louis literally shooed them away from there, making Diana lower her eyes in shyness as everyone teased them while chuckling. It was true that Jack and Myra too decided to marry after REUNIC couple''s wedding. But as they didn''t want such a big fat wedding because of Myra''s father''s incident, so they thought to keep it low and not to invite anyone else except their friends and families.. "Okay guys.. So are you ready?" Reuben asked his friends. "Yes¡­!!" Everyone shouted in response, making them almost go deaf. Veronica smiled at them and counted to three and then it finally fell on Amelia''s hands, much to everyone''s liking while Louis just stood there sulking like a kid. "It''s okay brother. You can try your luck in their wedding." Reuben teased his brother, pretending to feel pity on him. "Hey, Alonzo! When are you going to marry then?" Louis asked impatiently, earning another round of laughter from everyone. Alonzo glanced at Amelia who was blushing profusely and announced smilingly while holding her hand, "Actually, both Amy and I have decided to get married on the same day of my Myra and Jack''s wedding. Only if none of our parents have any problem with it." "We don''t have any problem with this, Alonzo. In fact, we''ll be more than happy." Alonzo''s mother said. "Yes. We too agree to that. Marrying off a brother and sister on same day with a pair of another brother and sister is really gonna be something to wait for." It was Andrew and Amelia''s mother who said it. After all of these congratulations and discussions, the couple finally went to their reserved suite which was obviously two different rooms much to Reuben''s dismay and started to get ready for the reception... ----- After an hour, Reuben knocked on Veronica''s room who had just finished getting ready with the help of the make-up artists. One of them approached the door and opened it. Reuben entered inside while all of them left the room, giving the couple their much needed alone time. Veronica swirled around, sensing his presence and Reuben felt his whole world stopped at that moment his eyes fell on his wife.. Clad in a pinkish peach colour, V neck tulle gown which had wrapped her slim figure gorgeously, she was looking extremely beautiful.. It had a slit on her right leg, giving a full view of her milky white skin while those noodle straps were letting him look at those s.e.xy collarbone of hers which made Reuben''s eyes darken involuntarily. She had her hair tied in a half up-do, letting the rest of her silky hair fall on her back. She had put on a beautiful round shape earrings which had pearls and diamonds designed in a flower shape on it. His eyes then travelled towards her neck and a big smile appeared on his lips instantly, seeing her wearing the same pendant which he had gifted her on their very first date. Veronica also didn''t forget to put on the wrist chain which was also his mother''s gift to her when they went for shopping together. She had paired her dress with a peach colour high heels. Her makeup was natural but what attracted Reuben more towards her, was that plump lips of hers which had been adorned with a dark rose pink lipstick... While Reuben was checking her out, Veronica too took her sweet time to have a satisfied look over her husband. Reuben was dressed in a dark peach colored checkered suit which was hugging his well sculpted body tightly. He had worn the same watch which was her gift for him on their first anniversary. His shoes which were of a combination of brown and black, were shining brightly. While his hair was set perfectly with few of his hair strands falling on his forehead. At this moment, Veronica didn''t want anything more than to ravish him completely. Both of their eyes finally locked with each other and Reuben took few steps to reach her. Wrapping his arms around her waist, Reuben whispered, "You are looking like an absolute diva, wifey." Veronica too encircled her arms around Reuben''s neck and muttered, "You too are looking like a handsome hunk, hubby." Both of them smiled at each other''s compliment and soon their faces leaned towards each other¡­ Chapter 438 - You look PERFECT tonight... Both of them smiled at each other''s compliment and soon their faces leaned towards each other¡­ Reuben brushed his lips on her soft ones and kissed her passionately. It was a smooth kiss without any biting or domination. The kiss only conveyed, how much this couple loved each other and they couldn''t wait to spend their life as husband and wife. After a minute of their lovely kiss, they pulled away when Reuben said, "We have to leave now baby." Veronica nodded her head and said, "Let''s go then." Pecking her forehead for one last time Reuben intertwined their fingers as both of them walked towards the reception hall where everyone was exclusively waiting for them. ----- Reception hall... The whole hall fell in awe as soon as their eyes fell on the newlyweds who were looking like the heaven made couple.. As if all of the Gods have taken all their precious time while making these two people and joining both of their fate together so that they could outshine everyone just by their single appearance. As soon as REUNIC couple entered inside, they had been ushered towards the place where the cake has been kept.. It was a big five tire cake which symbolised their five years of togetherness as a couple. It was completely white in color but was decorated with beautiful pink, purple and violet edible roses along with green edible leaves. Small intricate patterns were made on the white cream, giving it a more beautiful look. Every layer had different flavours starting from top with chocolate, mango, vanilla, strawberry and butterscotch flavours, just like they have encountered with different kind of phases in their life all throughout the span of five years.. Reuben and Veronica cut the top layer of the cake as chocolate was both of their favourite flavour all time and then fed it to each other. After that, Reuben opened the champagne bottle as everyone cheered for the couple for their longevity and happiness. Giving a toast to everyone, the couple finally were called to have a dance on the stage. Reuben stretched his hand towards her and asked politely like a gentleman, "May I have the honour to have a dance with my lovely wife?" "Yes, you may." Veronica too played along with him as she placed her left hand on his extended palm gracefully. As the couple stood in the middle of the stage to have their very first dance as a married couple, the song finally started playing. The moment Veronica realised what this song was, her eyes widened in surprise. She very well knew this song to be Reuben''s favourite as he believed that this particular song briefed about the love he had for her. According to Reuben, this very song was the one which had very beautifully verbalized all his emotions for Veronica through it''s lyrics.. "I found a love for me Oh darling, just dive right in and follow my lead.. Well, I found a girl, beautiful and sweet.. Oh, I never knew you were the someone waiting for me.." It was Ed Sheeran''s song, ''Perfect'' which Reuben believed to portray a perfect scenery of their whole life and their eternal love for each other.. As the lyrics said, he really had found the most beautiful girl for himself who only had the ability to capture his heart and made him crazy in her love.. "Cause we were just kids when we fell in love.. Not knowing what it was.. I will not give you up this time.. But darling, just kiss me slow, your heart is all I own.. And in your eyes, you''re holding mine¡­" Just like the song said, it was true that both of them had known each other from their childhood. They fell in love with each other without any of their knowledge that it was something which would lead them to this day.. "Baby, I''m dancing in the dark with you between my arms.. Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favourite song.. When you said you looked a mess, I whispered underneath my breath.. But you heard it, darling, you look perfect tonight.." Truly, they were right now dancing with each other, with their favourite song playing in the background. She was actually looking very pretty and glorious with a beautiful smile on her face while he had wrapped his hands around her small frame.. "Well I found a woman, stronger than anyone I know.. She shares my dreams, hope that someday I''ll share her home.. I found a love, to carry more than just my secrets.. To carry love, to carry children of our own.." Reuben had indeed found a strong woman as Veronica as his life partner, with whom he had been sharing a home for past few years.. They have lots of secrets and same dreams which no one was aware about except them. They too hoped for have their own children who would be their symbol of love.. "We are still kids, but we''re so in love.. Fighting against all odds.. I know we''ll be alright this time.. Darling, just hold my hand.. Be my girl, I''ll be your man.. I see my future in your eyes.." They seriously had fought against all those problems in their life and now they finally have written their future as husband and wife.. "Baby, I''m dancing in the dark, with you between my arms.. Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song.. When I saw you in that dress, looking so beautiful.. I don''t deserve this.. Darling, you look perfect tonight.." Today when he saw her in both her wedding and reception dress, he couldn''t feel anymore lucky to conquer this enchanting woman''s heart so deep from the root that there was no way out of escaping.. "Baby, I''m dancing in the dark, with you between my arms.. Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song.. I have faith in what I see.. Now I know have met an angel in person.. And she looks perfect.. I don''t deserve this.. You look perfect tonight.." Both Reuben and Veronica always had faith in each other''s love which led them to tie into the sacred bond of marriage today. They truly have found their own angels in each other.. But the only difference that this beautiful couple had with the lyrics was that¡­ Reuben and Veronica truly DESERVED each other because their love had crossed all the boundaries and set a parameter for everyone to look upon in future, as the REUNIC couple that they were¡­ Chapter 439 - Leaving her parents... Reuben and Veronica truly DESERVED each other because their love had crossed all the boundaries and set a parameter for everyone to look upon in future, as the REUNIC couple that they were¡­ The song ended but the couple were still busy in themselves, absorbing the new feeling of love as a married couple.. Their eyes were still locked with each other, conversing their feelings while exchanging those big particles of emotions through those dark brown and grey orbs of them.. An ear piercing clapping sound made the couple finally come out of their beautiful fairly land. They turned towards all of their guests and thanked them wholeheartedly while beaming brightly like a sunflower in daylight.. "So, can I have a dance with my princess now?" Veronica''s father asked her with a smile which she returned with her own. But before she could even say yes, Reuben''s father immediately snapped at him, "Hey! She''s going to dance with me. You move from here.." "No.. She''s my daughter. So she will dance with me." Mr. Lopez too was not ready to show defeat easily. Their fight continued for few more minutes when Veronica finally stopped them by snapping at them in a low growl, "Enough of your childish fights. I''m going to dance with both you¡­ alright?" Listening to her, both of their faces instantly lit up like a hundred watt bulb and they grinned like some five years old children. Veronica shook her head at their craziness while the others chuckled, seeing the sweet interactions of the two fathers with their daughter.. After few hours of fun, laughter, chats and lots of eating, the reception party finally came to an end.. Now it was time to bid her parents a goodbye and leave for their own paradise. Although Veronica was living away from her parents from quite a few years, still she couldn''t stop those tears from wetting her cheeks. Maybe, it finally settled inside her brain that she was no more a Lopez. Now she was Mrs. Veronica Smith.. This feeling was completely different to what she felt during her first stay away from her parents. This time she knew that she was not anymore just her daddy''s princess but someone else''s wife too.. So what if she had been living with Reuben for almost four years! Still no one could snatch the right from her of being emotional for leaving her parents forever before stepping into a new phase of her life with her husband and in-laws.. "Don''t cry, princess. We''ll always be there for you." Mr. Lopez said as his own tears made it''s way out of his eyes. Mrs. Lopez hugged her daughter tightly and said, "May God bless you with all the happiness, baby. I love you, always." Veronica nodded her head like a cute toddler and said, "I love you too, Mom and Dad.." Mr. Lopez kissed her forehead with adoration and helped her to sit in Reuben''s car. Both Reuben and Veronica waved their hands at them as their car drove away through the wide streets of the city.. ----- Reuben could feel Veronica''s sadness of saying goodbye to her parents. So he being a perfect husband, encircled his hand around her waist and pulled her on his lap. Hugging her tightly, he whispered into her ears soothingly, "It''s okay baby.. I''m with you. If you want to cry, my shoulder is right here for you to lean on.. No need to suppress your cries. Let it out, baby. I''m always here for you to share your pain, sorrow, happiness, joy and every other emotions of yours." As if Reuben''s words worked like a magic on Veronica, she finally broke down completely in his embrace while Reuben kept caressing her back to soothe her.. Sometimes acts are more prominent than big motivational words. Silence can also fade away all the problems from your life when the perfect person stays by your side as your biggest support system.. Few minutes later, when Veronica finally let her heart out in front of Reuben, he helped her to drink some water. It was only then Veronica noticed something odd with the routes and she couldn''t help but ask, "Bennie¡­ It''s not the way to our home.. Then where are we going?" "Yes baby.. We''re not going home because we''re heading towards airport right now." Reuben said smilingly. Veronica furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and asked, "Airport? But why?" "Ica.. Seriously! Where does couple go after their marriage? Obviously, honeymoon!" Reuben replied in a state of disbelief. Veronica pouted before retorting back at him, "Hey! I too know it. I was just confused about it as I thought that we''ll be going to our honeymoon one or two days later¡­ I didn''t even pack anything. What I''m going to wear in our honeymoon then? Most importantly, where are we even going?" Reuben smirked at her question after questions round and said, "First of all baby, I''m not going to tell anything about our destination. Because it''s for me to know and you to find out." Veronica pouted cutely in order to break his resolve so that she can do some negotiations with him to make him spill out the beans.. But her plan completely flopped as she heard his teasing words, "Today I''m not going to melt at your cute face. However, I forgot to tell you that I''ve packed both of our bags beforehand and it''s already being settled in our jet.. Most importantly, I don''t know why are you even worried about dresses! As per I know, we both are going to stay n.a.k.e.d for most of the time. I have even made full plan to keep you completely busy in the bed and not leave you even for a second after reaching there... So there are very few chances for you to wear those dresses as you''ll be too much tired to go out after getting tired of our sensuous love making." Veronica''s eyes widened in shock and a tint of blush appeared on her cheeks... She hit on his chest shyly and muttered, "Shameless!" Reuben laughed out loud at her response and said, "Yes, baby! Only for you." ------ Few hours later, their private jet finally landed. Veronica was still sleeping as she was too much tired after her hectic life for past few days due to the preparation of their own wedding. So she dozed off immediately as soon as her worn out body hit the bed of their private room, accompanied by Reuben.. When they were about to land, Reuben didn''t have the urge to wake his sleeping beauty up, so he carried her out from the flight and settled themselves in the already awaiting car.. Chapter 440 - Magnetic view... When they were about to land, Reuben didn''t have the urge to wake his sleeping beauty up, so he carried her out from the flight and settled themselves in the already awaiting car.. As the car started moving, Veronica''s eyes slowly opened and she was shocked to see themselves sitting in a car... She understood that Reuben must have carried her into it after landing at the airport.. She tilted up her head a little only to notice Reuben sleeping, leaning back on the headrest while tightly hugging her in his embrace. A smile etched on her lips and she softly kissed his jaw before caressing his cheeks with her hand lovingly. Her eyes then travelled out of the window and fell on those big hoardings which seemed to have the name of the place written in big letters. Veronica squeezed her eyes to read the name properly from the fast passing car and when she finally able to read the full name from one of the banners, her eyes widened in pure shock.. And the next moment, she squealed loudly like an excited kid, making Reuben shot open his eyes wide in surprise.. "Maldives..!!!!" All of a sudden, she cupped Reuben''s face in between both of her palms and peppered with small kisses all over his face. "Oh My God, hubby! You knew that I wanted to go to Maldives and you planned it exactly for our honeymoon! Aren''t you really the best husband of the whole world?" Veronica exclaimed excitedly in between her kisses. Reuben chuckled and stopped her by holding her arms. He could clearly notice the huge amount of excitement and happiness in her eyes. "How will I not fulfill my dear wifey''s wish! Especially when she''s my life and I can get so many kisses as a return gift!" Reuben teased her. But this time, instead of being shy, Veronica grinned brightly and pecked his lips lightly before saying, "Thank you a lot baby for the surprise." Reuben too grinned back and said naughtily, giving her a wink, "Well you can thank me later in bed!" Veronica smirked at his quirky response and whispered in his ear seductively, "Sure babe! Today you will definitely get your thank you gift that too with a bonus." Reuben''s eyes immediately darken in l.u.s.t but before he could capture her lips in a heated kiss, the car stopped and they noticed that they had finally reached their destination.. ----- Both of them walked hand in hand towards their resort which had their own private beach. Though it was looking very much authentic but it was not less luxurious than any five star hotel. Reuben had booked the whole place to have some privacy with his wife.. The resort was built in the middle of the sea. There was also a swimming pool attached to the sea.. It was connected with the land through a bridge, giving a beautiful view of the whole settings. Veronica didn''t waste even a second to make a quick run towards the resort.. As she had already changed her dress into a pair of shorts and t-shirt in the jet itself. So she was not having any problem while exploring everything while running from here to there like a small kid. Reuben could do nothing but chuckle at her cute antics as he too followed her.. As it was already evening there, the reflection of the setting sun on the water was something to die for.. The managers himself came to show them everything. After inspection every nook and corner of the resort, the couple finally entered their bedroom to get freshen up. Veronica was the first one to have a bath while Reuben made few special plans for tonight to surprise his wife.. As Veronica came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a robe, she couldn''t able to find Reuben anywhere. Her eyes then shifted towards the bed where a beautiful red dress was placed with a note which says, "Wear this and come at the back of the resort. Your dear hubby is eagerly waiting for you.." A small smile appeared on her lips, reading the note. She thought to not waste anymore time and went to the dressing table to do her make-up first. She took her handbag which she had taken with her to the wedding hall as it had all of her make up. Though the makeup artists had their own make-up boxes but she still took it for emergency.. Now it finally came handy for her..! *sigh* As she opened the zip of the bag, a small disposable plastic bag came into her view. She had a puzzled look on her face, knowing very well that she had not put it into her bag. It was only then that she remembered Lucinda keeping something into her bag, saying that she''d need it later.. Veronica was getting ready for her wedding that time so she didn''t take a look on it. But now her curiosity peeped from her inside and she thought to finally have a look on it.. However, as soon as she her eyes checked out the material inside it, her eyes bulged out of her socket which soon replaced with a naughty smirk on her face.. "So the girls were already aware of this honeymoon of ours! Well, good for me!" Saying that, she kept the bag aside and started dolling herself up.. ----- On the other side, Reuben was eagerly waiting for his wife at the said location.. He was wearing a maroon shirt with a black jeans. The first two buttons of his shirt were open, giving a perfect view of his well built chest. His hair was disheveled but it was adding extreme hotness to his look, even ten times more than before.. He once again checked all the arrangements around him so that nothing could go wrong... A table was set at the center of the bridge with a red tablecloth placed on it. Dinner was already prepared and ready to serve at any moment.. The wooden platform of the bridge was entirely covered with red rose petals and those lit candles on both sides, were presenting a more romantic view to the n.a.k.e.d eyes.. Few minutes later of waiting, Reuben finally heard the sound of clicking heels and his eyes automatically following it''s way towards the source of it, only to get wholly mesmerized by the magnetic view.. Chapter 441 - All kinds of illicit thoughts... Few minutes later of waiting, Reuben finally heard the sound of clicking heels and his eyes automatically following it''s way towards the source of it, only to get wholly mesmerized by the magnetic view.. Veronica was walking towards him with slow steady steps, wearing the s.e.xy dark red grown which Reuben had gifted her. The extremely long slit were giving a perfect view of her s.e.xy toned leg... The low deep cut neck was clearly showing a good amount of her cleavage area where a two layer fancy chain was hanging, making Reuben extremely jealous of it.. Her hair was softly curled and left open to dance with the tune of the cold breeze.. She had a no make-up face. Just a thin layer of eyeliner and red lipstick were enough to give her the look of a seductress, making Reuben gulp his saliva.. If they''d have been around any people now, the Reuben would have already gone possessive over her. But now that they were completely alone, Reuben could only stare at her with both love and desire in his eyes. However, he also needed to control those raiding hormones of his as he knew that they had a long journey from their wedding hall to here. So Veronica must be extremely tired, although she had slept most of the time while being in jet.. That was why, he had only made arrangements for a candle light dinner date. But now seeing her looking like a complete seductress, he couldn''t able to control himself.. Breath in¡­ Breath out¡­ Breath in¡­ Breath out¡­ Reuben just kept focusing on inhaling and exhaling few deep breaths, closing his eyes which finally had a positive response on his body.. Veronica who had almost approached him, noticed his actions and a small smile crept on her lips, very well aware about her dangerous effect on him. She snapped her fingers in front of his eyes to bring him back from his trance and it worked. Reuben opened his eyes hastily and looked at Veronica who had a knowing smirk on her face.. "Where are you lost, hubby?" Veronica teasingly said, taking a seat opposite to him. Shaking his head, he replied beamingly, "Lost in you.. By the way, why did you sit there by yourself? I was about to pull the chair out for you like a true gentleman!" Veronica couldn''t help but roll her eyes as she mocked him, "You could''ve done that if you were not lost in your fairytale daydreams about me.." "Now what can I do when my wife is so hot and s.e.xy!" Ivan teased, making Veronica raise one of her eyebrows at him playfully. Reuben chuckled at her reaction and said, "No, seriously! You really are looking extremely beautiful babe. So gorgeous that I felt my breath getting hitched the moment I saw you walking through that bridge like an angel.." Veronica blushed at the heartwarming compliment and said, "Well, now what can I say about you, hubby! As always you''re looking extremely handsome like a Greek God. Most importantly, you''re looking too much edible for me to have all kinds of illicit thoughts in my mind regarding you. You don''t know baby how I''m controlling myself from pouncing on you and eating you like some tasty meatballs.." Reuben''s eyes widened in shock, listening to the naughty talks of his wife and the junior under his pant started to wake up all over again. Scolding his junior in his mind, Reuben tried to divert the whole conversation in the food as he said, "Uhmm¡­ Ica.. I think we should have our dinner first. It''s already getting cold." Veronica nodded her head, not wanting to make his situation worse and said, "Yeah.. We should." After that, they had their dinner while laughing and joking. Nothing else mattered to them at that moment except the presence of their better half. They even danced while teasing each other and did some star gazing while being in each other''s embrace. All in one, the couple spent an eventful date night which they gonna remember for their whole life.. ----- Reuben and Veronica finally entered their suite with their fingers intertwined with each other and that satisfied smile never left from their faces.. As they were about to enter their bedroom, Veronica suddenly stopped in her track, making Reuben also stop with her. "What happened?" Reuben asked confusedly. Veronica averted her eyes towards him and said, "Bennie.. I''ve kept the empty jug on the kitchen slab before going for our date. But I forgot to fill it with water. Can you please do that for me and bring it in our room?" Although Reuben felt a little bit puzzled with her sudden demand but still obliged to her. "You don''t have to say please for that, Ica. Just command me." Saying this, Reuben went towards the kitchen while Veronica heaved a big sigh of relief. Without wasting anymore time, she barged inside, running with her tail between her legs and rushed into the washroom. Getting control of her erratic breath, she looked at the packet, placed on the cabinet with a naughty grin on her lips. Pulling the straps of her dress down, she took out the material from the bag and got ready in a minute.. Satisfied with the look, she smiled brightly and then took few heavy breaths before deciding to show her presence in front of her dear husband.. ------ On the other side, Reuben who just entered into the room, stood still in utter shock as he inspected the whole room with his now widened eyes. He couldn''t believe what he was seeing right now! The whole room was decorated with rose petals and scented candles. There was a heart made with red roses on the bedsheet, giving the atmosphere around him a more romantic vibe. Reuben very carefully placed the water filled jug on the bedside table and looked around to find his wife there, only to be disappointed to not have a single trace of her. However, the next second, he heard the washroom door getting opened with a clicking sound. He turned around involuntarily only to feel his body turning rigid while the blood throughout all of his veins started rushing towards his heart, making it beat in an insanely rapid speed.. Chapter 442 - Horny for you... He turned around involuntarily only to feel his body turning rigid while the blood throughout all of his veins started rushing towards his heart, making it beat in an insanely rapid speed.. Suddenly he felt the air around him started heating up like wild fire.. His pupils dilated, body felt numb, brain stopped working completely... Right now, his focus was only on his wife who was standing with a naughty smirk on her lips, looking like a complete seductress in that black netted lingerie.. Though her had lingerie set had a robe on it but it couldn''t able to hide even a little bit of modesty of hers as it was completely transparent because of the lacy material.. Reuben checked Veronica out from top to bottom shamelessly with his l.u.s.tful eyes.. Veronica''s smirk turned more sinister as she noticed him checking her out like a hungry wolf. Biting her lips seductively, she asked in her very low voice, "Like what you see?" Reuben''s eyes shifted back on her face from her curvaceous body as he replied with an equally dangerous smirk, "Love it!" Getting the most expected answer from him, Veronica started walking towards him with slow steps, moving her h.i.p.s from left to right in a s.e.xy way. Stopping right in front of him, Veronica trailed her index finger from his eyes to nose, cheeks and then lips and then finally glided it on his neck and collarbone area.. She leaned closer to him and whispered almost on his mount, making her hot breath fall on his lips, "I''m happy that you loved the view, hubby.." Taking a pause, she stared into his eyes darkly and mumbled in an extremely s.e.xy tone, "Do you want to know something interesting? There are more things which can be done with this body of mine other than just l.u.s.ting over it. I''m all yours baby. Take me however you want today.." This provocation of Veronica was enough to lose the last bit of patience of Reuben as he pulled her petite figure towards him and crashed his lips on hers. They kissed each other like they had never kissed before. His lips sucking her soft petals like some sugar candy while she slurped his rough lips like some melted chocolate. Their tongues danced with each other in a perfect sync as they mingled together to taste the fine juicy taste of their saliva.. It might sound gross to others but for them, it was like they were sucking nectars from each other''s honey pot.. Veronica nibbled on his lips in demand of dominance. But Reuben didn''t give in to her. He was way too much hungry for the warmth of her mouth that he couldn''t help but become selfish in matter of being dominant¡­ Their breath started to lapse, making them finally pull away from each other in order to inhale some oxygen in their lungs. Reuben pressed his forehead on hers as they panted heavily. Both of their eyes were shut, trying to absorb the sweetness of their mouth. With his eyes still closed, Reuben mumbled in a small voice while stammering a little because of the lack of breath, "I¡­ I think we sho¡­shouldn''t do it today. You''re already very much tired because of the long journey. I don''t wa¡­want you to exhaust you any¡­more¡­" If it was any other time, Veronica would have already teared up. But now she was hungry.. She was freaking very much hungry to devour her husband. And no one can stop her from doing so tonight.. Not even her over the top understanding husband! Veronica''s hands travelled upwards in a very slow and sensuous way, making Reuben intake a huge amount of breath.. Grabbing Reuben''s collar in her tight grip, she pulled him towards her by a decent amount of force and whispered in a dangerously cold tone, "Who said that I''m tired? Tell me his name and I''ll make sure to bury him under my foot.." Reuben gulped seeing this minacious yet extremely s.e.xy side of hers and tried to say, "I thought that you----" "What did you think doesn''t matter now. Because I''m anything but worn out right now. In fact, I''m extremely horny for you but you''re making it difficult for me by blabbering those stupid excuses of yours." Veronica kind of growled frustratingly at him. "I¡­ I''m sorry.." Reuben could only mutter this words out of his mouth. Veronica smirked cynically, hearing his apologies and exclaimed with her perfectly shaped eyebrows raised up, "You are sorry¡­ right? That means you''ve really committed a big mistake.. And every sinner should be punished for doing sins. So you too have to face the retribution right now." Reuben knew that, her punishment didn''t signify anything good.. Now he''d surely have to face his lady devil''s wrath. And no one could save him from her unless she didn''t want it herself.. Veronica enjoyed that nervous expression of his and slowly took of the robe from her body, revealing herself in just the lacy bra and pantie.. Reuben''s eyes raked over her s.e.xy figure shamelessly but he couldn''t have a good look of her as he had been pushed mercilessly on the bed.. Veronica too sat over him and started unbuttoning him while muttering in a low seductive voice, "Today you''ll have to face the consequences of not listening to me. And it''ll be something which will be a real torture for you." Pulling out the shirt from his body, Veronica went towards the headboard and tied his right hand with it. She then picked up the lacy overcoat of hers and tied it around his other hand to the other corner of the headboard. Reuben was so much lost in watching Veronica that he didn''t notice that now both of his hands were tied to the corners of the headboard.. Veronica again took her seat on Reuben''s stomach as she inspected his upper bare body and felt herself drooling over those chiseled chest and s.e.xy abs of him. Her eyes then again went up and locked with Reuben''s desired ones.. She leaned over him and whispered menacingly, "Your punishment is¡­ not being able to touch me even when I''m just few inches away from you.." Chapter 443 - Alluring wifes s.e.xy tactics...* [WARNING! PARTIAL MATURE CONTENT IS WAITING FOR YOU ALL.. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK..] She leaned over him and whispered menacingly, "Your punishment is¡­ not being able to touch me even when I''m just few inches away from you.." Reuben became confused for a second, not understanding what she was actually saying. He was about to prove her that he could obviously touch her without any kind of difficulties when he felt a tug around his hand. It was only when he realised the current occurrences around him.. "What the hell is this babe? Why did you tie my hands?" Reuben asked in irritation. Veronica giggled and replied in a monosyllable, "Punishment..!" Reuben tried to argue back with her as it was turning very hard for him to just lay like a handicapped person, without being able to touch the luscious body of his alluring wife.. "Babe¡­ Please until the knots. I pro----" "Sshh! No talking¡­ only enjoying.." Veronica put her index finger on his lips to stop him from blabbering and slowly trailed her hands on his muscles.. Reuben closed his eyes in ecstasy, feeling the soft touch of her hands on his bare skin. Now he felt like it was not going to be as bad as he thought.. In fact, it''d be much more interesting with his alluring wife''s s.e.xy tactics..!!! So he just kept quiet this time and enjoyed the sensation he was feeling because of the handiwork of his wife.. He wanted to see what more his wife could do with him¡­ "Are you going to surrender yourself to me, baby?" Veronica asked very sensuously. Reuben opened his eyes and stared at those brown orbs of hers which were expecting a positive response from him. "Fine¡­ You can do whatever you want. But after you''re done with your tortures, it''ll be my turn to take over from there on.." Reuben kind of proposed a deal to her. Veronica thought for a while, tapping her index finger on her chin and finally agreed with his demand. "As you wish.." She muttered with a sinister wink. Reuben grinned evilly and mumbled in a s.e.xy way, "Good.." Veronica smiled and gave a wet kiss on his neck, making Reuben seethe in pleasure.. This was surely gonna be a long night!! Veronica noticed the changing expressions on his face as she leaned more onto him, not leaving even a single space between them. "This time I''m going to please you and you are going to sit here patiently, allowing me to work on devouring your luscious body. And most importantly... You are not allowed to TOUCH me.." Veronica whispered in his ears, giving him a seductive wink, which earned a devilish grin back from him. "I''m eagerly waiting for that babe.." He said as he planted a kiss on her lips. "Nah.. No touching, remember. Today it is all about you and I''ll be the only person who will please you... My hands will roam all over your bare flesh and my tongue and lips will cover every nook and corner of your delicious body..." Saying this, Veronica started kissing him from his chiseled face to his well toned chest and then¡­.little down¡­ She kissed his navel and roamed her hands on those chocolaty abs. Going further down, she stopped when she was near his pants.. Veronica tilted her head a little to look at him, only to discover his eyes already on her as a smirk was playing on his lips as if trying to see what his girl was going to do next.. Smirking back at him, Veronica put a kiss on his shaft over the pants, earning a groan from him. "Uhmm¡­ babe!" The smirk on her face grew as she started to unbuckle his belt. Reuben''s eyes widened for a second but it didn''t stop him from enjoying the view he was getting from there. Veronica slowly pulled his jeans out of his legs and then fixed her on that stupid boxer of his which was the only hindrance for her now. Averting her eyes to him, she put her hands on his waistband and traced his waistline with her fingers very sensually. Reuben bit his lips to control his groan as he didn''t want to give it to her so easily... Noticing his deliberate resistance, Veronica arched her eyebrows at him challengingly and pulled off the boxer from his leg while staring deep into his eyes. Her eyes then travelled from his face to his chest, perfect abs and stopped right on his already erected d.i.c.k.. Seeing the size of his little brother, she literally gulped her saliva and again glanced at Reuben. "Liked the size babe?" Reuben teased with one of his eyebrows arched at her playfully. Veronica narrowed her eyes but soon smiled seductively before mumbling in a way too much s.e.xy voice, "Oh my dear hubby! Don''t forget that I''m the one who gets to not only see it, but also taste this little brother of yours daily. So don''t you dare to challenge me." Reuben''s smile dropped immediately but what Veronica said next, made his lips stretched into a huge satisfactory grin.. "But what I must have to admit right now is¡­ your baby brother is not really little but a very huge one. And right now, I''m going to suck it like I never did before.." Veronica whispered in a sultry tone. It''s the universal truth that every man loves it when his woman calls his member big and Reuben too was not immune to it.. Although Reuben knew that his c.o.c.k is a very big one but listening to his wife, describing it as huge fed his male ego really well which made him to grin like a fool.. Veronica noticed his happy expression and a smile also crept on her lips, knowing very well exactly what was going on inside his brain.. "I''m waiting, babe! Can you please a hurry a little?" Reuben teased while winking at her. Veronica chuckled and mocked him, "Impatient man!" Her eyes then fell over his big shaft and soon her hand glided towards it. Moving her hands on his length, she tried to feel the hardness of his member.. And man! This was one thick and hard shaft much to her liking! Inhaling a sharp breath, Veronica lowered her head to have a better look on it while her hands still kept stroking his member. Leaning down more, she finally came face to face with his little brother and soon her hand got replaced with her mouth.. Chapter 444 - My Turn...* [WARNING! AGAIN PARTIAL MATURE CONTENT ALERT..] Leaning down more, she finally came face to face with his little brother and soon her hand got replaced with her mouth.. She licked the head of his d.i.c.k and swirled her tongue around it sensually.. Veronica glanced at Reuben for a second and tlook his full length inside her mouth, making Reuben close his eyes in extreme pleasure. Bobbing her head up and down she took his d.i.c.k in and out continuously. Her tongue was tasting the velvety texture of it while her right hand was busy in playing with his balls. "Oh God!" Ivan groaned, feeling her squeezing his ball hard. Hearing his groan, Veronica thought to tease him a little and at the next moment, she let go of his shaft from her mouth. Reuben got puzzled suddenly because of the lack of warmth he was getting from her torturous mouth.. Opening his eyes immediately, he was about to ask her why she had stopped when he noticed her looking at him with a devilish grin on her face. And this was only when he realised that she was taking the revenge from him for suppressing his groan a few minutes ago. Getting hung in middle by his wife, he couldn''t do anything but feel frustrations of not being able to feel her on his little brother. So he literally pleaded him in extreme need, "Babe¡­ Please.." Veronica didn''t want to make her hubby suffer more, so she obliged to what he said. Leaning down, he started to leave few sloppy kisses on his member, making it completely wet again. When she was satisfied with giving him kisses, she bit his head a little, making him groan in both pain and pleasure. Her teeth mark was clearly visible on that particular spot where she had nibbled, so she thought to soothe it with her tongue by licking and then kissing it lightly.. After that, she again put his long member in her mouth and started to do her work smoothly. She sucked his d.i.c.k with so much passion as if she was sucking a lollipop.. She swirled her tongue around it and moved her head up and down in a perfect rhythm, making Reuben shake his head in pleasure. Soon she felt him hardening more in her mouth, making her also quicken her pace. She continued to suck him in an incredibly fast speed, making him enlarge more in her mouth.. "Oh babe! Suck faster, honey!" Reuben demanded, feeling himself very close to his release. Veronica too obliged and moved her lips over his member more faster, making him finally arch his back as he came out into her mouth with a loud groan.. As she felt his c.u.m in her mouth, Veronica sat up between his legs and gulped the whole liquid down her throat. Wiping her mouth temptingly, she gazed at him with her alluring eyes. Reuben who was panting heavily because of his electrifying release, finally opened his eyes and stared into her dark brown orbs with too much satisfaction and happiness. Seeing the satisfied look on his face, Veronica felt proud of herself for giving her man a perfect blowjob. Her eyes shone with happiness as she saw Reuben smiling at her with lots of love for her. "You are just amazing babe!" Reuben complimented her genuinely, boosting her confidence up more. She too beamed brightly at him but failed to notice him checking her out with desire filled eyes. Reuben looked at that tantalizing body of hers and his eyes started darkening immediately. Desire filled in his veins and his hands itched to get a hold of her. He tilted his head up to look at his tied hands and then averted his eyes to Veronica who too was looking at them with narrowed eyes. One of the corner of his lips lifted up in a dangerous smirk and the next moment, he stretched his hand down with a force, making a ripping sound echo though the whole room. Veronica gasped open her mouth in complete shock as she noticed both his shirt and her lacy robe were now lying on the floor, shredded into pieces.. "What the hell..!!" Veronica exclaimed in utter disbelief, finally finding her voice out. Reuben chuckled at her funny expression and mocked her while wiggling her eyebrows, "What have you thought, my hot wifey? That I can''t open this stupid fabrics if you tie this around my wrists! Uh huh! Not possible, wifey! Don''t forget that I''m Hurl, the leader of Secret 7. This little things can''t prohibit me from touching my own wife. It''s just I wanted to see what you would do to me if I surrender myself to you.. And let me tell you baby, you have done an extremely good job in pleasing me. And for that, you need be rewarded¡­ but in a different way which you''re definitely gonna love. Now that you''re already done with your so called torture¡­ it''s MY TURN now!" As soon as those words left from his mouth, Veronica felt herself getting flipped all a sudden and the next second, she was lying on the bed with Reuben hovering over her.. She couldn''t even able to understand when and how did Reuben made this happen, but she knew nothing was impossible for her husband.. Caging her between the bed and his well built body, Reuben tucked few of her hair strands behind her ear. "I had already warned you before that, the second you would be done with your punishment, it''ll be my turn to do every freaking dirty stuffs with you which will make you quiver in pleasure under me.. So just feel my hands doing magic on you, baby. Because today, I''m not going to leave you even for a nanosecond. Not even your sweet pleadings can stop me from devouring your tasty body for the whole night." Reuben''s voice was laced with s.e.xiness which arouse Veronica to such an extent that she felt herself lost of words. Noticing the effect he had on her, Reuben couldn''t control himself anymore and captured her lips into a toe-curling kiss.. Their lips fought with each other for dominance as they sucked, nibbled and licked them hungrily.. After few minutes, Reuben finally left her lips and traced his tongue on her neck, jaw and collarbone... His lips soon glided more downwards and stopped between her heaving b.r.e.a.s.ts as he.... Chapter 445 - Token of love...** [WARNING! EXTREME MATURE CONTENT IS AHEAD! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK..] His lips soon glided more downwards and stopped between her heaving b.r.e.a.s.ts as he took a sniff of her cleavage to smell the heavenly scent of her milky skin.. Planting a soft kiss on her cleavage, he again moved upwards and started giving sweet kisses on her neck and collarbone area.. He bit on her skin there, making Elysia m.o.a.n in pleasure. To soothe the little amount of pain she felt, he suck the spot but it still wasn''t able to satisfy him.. Her smell was tempting that he couldn''t help but nibble on her shoulder blades all over again and then licking it over there.. He continued to do it over again and again, leaving lots of hickeys on her bare skin above her chest.. Satisfied with his work, he slowly pulled himself up to have a good look of her. Tracing his finger over the bra edges, he asked, "From where did you get it? As much as I remember, I haven''t put it into your bag with your other lingeries and bikinis.." "Oh! So you have packed them also? Interesting! By the way, Lucy had put it in my bag without telling me what it was. She just said that I''ll need it later which is absolutely true.." Veronica informed him while smirking. Reuben chuckled before replying, "Remind me to thank her later." "We''ll thank her together then." She said, giving him a wink. Reuben grinned but soon his eyes turned darker again when his eyes fell on those hickey marks. Couldn''t able to contain those horny hormones of him anymore, Reuben pulled Veronica towards him a little and gliding his hand behind her back, he unclasped her bra in a swift movement. Veronica couldn''t even able to realise anything but soon she felt Reuben pulling off that lacy bra of hers from her body, making her completely n.a.k.e.d from her upper half. A gasp escaped from her mouth when she felt the cold wind rushing inside from these windows, fanning her soft buds, making it hardened to a next level.. Reuben''s eyes darken at this beautiful sight of her round and fluffy b.r.e.a.s.ts, completely bare in front of him and the next moment, he dipped his head down and planted a soft kiss on the edges of it.. Veronica took a sharp breath as she felt his cold lips near her b.r.e.a.s.t. Her hands involuntarily travelled towards his shoulder and held them hard. Reuben too moved his lips a little upward and stopped right in front of her pink buds. His eyes shone in l.u.s.t which was mixed with a tons of love and he didn''t wait one more second before dipping his head down and taking her n.i.p.p.l.es in his mouth. Reuben sucked her n.i.p.p.l.es just like how a baby drinks milk from his mother''s b.r.e.a.s.t. Swirling his tongue around the pink area, he nibbled on the n.i.p.p.l.e and then bit it hardly.. "Uhmmm¡­" Veronica m.o.a.ned in ultimate pleasure, feeling her husband''s lips working smoothly on her already aroused buds. The m.o.a.n motivated Reuben more as he licked the area of the b.r.e.a.s.t where he had bitten and then again started sucking it with all his might while his left hand started molding her right b.r.e.a.s.t. Squeezing her other b.r.e.a.s.t from time to time, he plucked on the already erected n.i.p.p.l.es while he sucked the other one, pouring out all his attention on them.. After he was satisfied enough, he moved away from her left b.r.e.a.s.t and latched his mouth again on her right one. Just like his mouth, the position of his hands too changed... Now his right palm was groping her left melon, pinching the n.i.p.p.l.e time to time and massaging it like a pro while his mouth sucked her right bud, wetting it completely with his hot saliva.. What it seemed like fifteen minutes, Reuben finally left the other b.r.e.a.s.t and buried his face between both of her melons and bit the smooth valley lightly, leaving a hickey over there. His lips travelled further down and peppered many sloppy kisses on her flat belly. Her belly button was the one which had always attracted him towards it, making him succ.u.mb to his desire as he started roaming his tongue all around it, softly nibbling her navel from time to time.. His one hand was still squeezing her right b.r.e.a.s.t while his other hand slowly glided down more towards her panties.. Veronica inhaled a sharp breath as she felt Reuben''s hand sliding under her lacy panties and soon his big palm covered her modesty like a prey covering it''s possession.. Reuben tilted his head up, completely satisfied with showering kisses on her stomach area. His eyes roamed over her upper body and a smile crept on his lips, seeing those red and purple hickeys that he had left on her as a token of love.. His eyes then met with Veronica who was already looking at him with both l.u.s.t and love in her eyes. A smile was tugging on her lips, making him smile bigger than before.. His eyes then again drifted downwards where his left hand was still grabbing her down there.. Reuben''s right hand which was still massaging her left b.r.e.a.s.t, finally paced downwards and stopped right on the upper side of her waistband. Tracing her waist in a sensuous way with her long fingers, he finally tugged on both corners of her panty and pulled it off from her long white legs in one swift movement.. "You''re so wet, baby!" Reuben whispered as his hands came in contact with her v.a.g.i.n.a which was dripping with white liquids. Veronica''s eyes gazed at Reuben''s handsome face as she mumbled in a seductive voice, "Only for you, love.." A smirk appeared on Reuben''s lips, listening to her s.e.xy reply. Glancing at her beautiful face one more time, he bent his head down and planted a kiss on her shaved p.u.s.s.y.. His right index finger made his way inside her v.a.g.i.n.a, making Veronica m.o.a.n at the touch on his soft finger.. Hearing his m.o.a.n, Reuben''s mouth stretched up into a satisfactory beam as he placed another sloppy kiss on her cunt while his two other fingers slid into her love hole and stroked her inside and out in an unbelievably fast pace.. Chapter 446 - Tsunami in a stormy weather...** [WARNING! MATURE CONTENT AHEAD.. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK..] Hearing his m.o.a.n, Reuben''s mouth stretched up into a satisfactory beam as he placed another sloppy kiss on her cunt while his two other fingers slid into her love hole and stroked her inside and out in an unbelievably fast pace.. As Reuben''s fingers kept working inside Veronica''s v.a.g.i.n.a, covering every fiber and corner of the walls inside it, Reuben moved his head upwards to her b.r.e.a.s.t again and started sucking it with all his intensity.. "Mhhmmmmm¡­ Babe¡­" Veronica m.o.a.ned when she felt Reuben''s fingers going deeper into her.. Reuben didn''t reply but fastened his pace. His sucking too turned into biting and licking, making Veronica go insane with immense pleasure. When Reuben felt Veronica''s wall tightening against his fingers, he instantly stopped stroking her and removed his hands from there. "Ba¡­.by¡­.." Veronica protested, feeling the lack of presence of his warm fingers inside her wall when she was about to c.u.m. Reuben chuckled at her and kissed her lips smoothly before whispering on her lips, "I have better ways to make you c.u.m.." Veronica''s eyes shone with excitement as she understood what he actually meant by it.. "Really? Then I''m eagerly waiting for it, Mr. Smith." Veronica murmured in a sultry tone while giving him a s.e.xy wink, making Reuben groan in desire. "Then I''ll not keep you waiting for more, Mrs. Smith.." Reuben muttered dangerously, kissing her lips. Taking a small glance of her face, he immediately slid down towards the end of bed and stretched Veronica''s legs wider, at the either side of his body.. Kneeling in between her legs, Reuben bent down and placed her long legs on his shoulder. His fingers slowly found the petals of her beautiful flower without any thorns and his mind did a summersault due to excitement.. Slowly separating the petals of her v.a.g.i.n.a, he leaned towards and took a deep, long sniff, making his thoughts go haywire.. Only desire was visible in his eyes, looking at the pink cunt of hers which was literally asking for his attention on it.. Dipping his head down, Reuben slowly put kisses on her cunt and then started sucking it like a candy.. Indeed, the sweetest candy of the world! His tongue swirled around the pink area of her v.a.g.i.n.a, licking every nook and corner of it with so much hunger that, it seemed like he hadn''t ever tasted something so much delicious like this.. Grazing his teeth on her c.l.i.t.o.r.i.s, he bit the nub on it, earning a loud m.o.a.n out of Veronica''s mouth. "Oh Gosh!" Reuben''s tongue worked like a magic on her c.l.i.t.o.r.i.s to soothe the little pain that his sinister teeth had given her.. His fingers again started stroking her while his thumb massaged her pubis. Two fingers of his left hand were keeping the labia outstretched so that he could have a taste of her sweet c.l.i.t.o.r.i.s without any problem or barriers while the fingers of his other hand were now busy in finger f.u.c.k.i.n.g her.. As he continued to pleasure her by his mouth for over ten minutes, Veronica started to feel a tug inside her lower part as if something was rushing through her inner cells, making her tighten her walls.. Veronica didn''t need to even think for once to know exactly what it was! So she just grabbed Reuben''s hair, pushing him more into her vulva as she m.o.a.ned, "Faster honey.. I''m going to c.u.m soon.." Hearing her plead, Reuben too quicken both his fingers and mouth''s pace and kept licking and sucking every part of her v.a.g.i.n.a and c.l.i.t.o.r.i.s without even stopping for a second.. "Ahhhhhhhh¡­." Soon Reuben felt the white wave of her liquids hitting his tongue as pools of c.u.m came rushing out of her love hole like tsunami in a stormy weather.. Reuben kept licking all of her c.u.m, not having any intention to leave even a small amount of her white creamy juice untouched. Licking her completely clean, Reuben finally left her beautiful pink p.u.s.s.y which was now glistening with his saliva and kissed Veronica soundly, making her taste herself.. Veronica too kissed him passionately as their tongues got entangled with each other, fanning each other''s face with their own breath. Reuben pressed his stone like hard member near her p.u.s.s.y, making Veronica squirm under him as she could clearly feel how desperate his little brother was to be inside her.. But Veronica being Veronica, couldn''t let him do whatever he wanted. So within a snap of a second, she pushed Reuben with all her force, making him fall on his back on the bed. Before Reuben even could understand what exactly had happened to him in just few seconds, Veronica was already sitting on his stomach with both of her legs on either side of his waist. "What was that?" Reuben asked, completely baffled with the sudden position change between them. Veronica gave him a devilish smirk and said, , "Your time is up, hubby.. Now it''s my turn.. AGAIN..!!!" Reuben c.o.c.ked one of his eyebrows questioningly but didn''t say anything. Understanding that he had given her his consent of doing whatever she wanted to do with him, Veronica bent down capturing his lips with hers, again.. As they kept kissing each other crazily while her hands started roaming on his s.e.xy body without any tax.. She traced his abs at first and then his well built chest. Her palms then slowly started moving towards a little down and soon it contacted with his hard n.i.p.p.l.es.. Without wasting any second, Veronica pinched them, earning a groan from him. Pulling away from each other, Veronica shifted her both hands more downwards and held his little brother between her palms. Stroking it slightly, she said, "It''s so rocking hard baby.." "You made it like that, love.." Reuben too replied in a hoarse voice. Veronica grinned at his reply and soon lifted herself up a little from his body and positioned his c.o.c.k near the entrance of her v.a.g.i.n.a.. As she felt the tip of his shaft touching her p.u.s.s.y entrance, a m.o.a.n escaped from her lips, making Reuben equally groan with her. Looking down at his hard c.o.c.k, Veronica''s eyes started darkening in desire and in one swift movement.... Chapter 447 - Happy First Night...** [WARNING! THIS IS THE LAST MATURED CHAPTER OF THIS WHOLE BOOK.. ENJOY!!] Looking down at his hard c.o.c.k, Veronica''s eyes started darkening in desire and in one swift movement, she pushed his member inside her hole.. Reuben groaned at the amazing feeling of him being inside her after so much torture while Veronica also m.o.a.ned at the satisfaction of being fulfilled by him.. It made her feel like, she was now finally complete! Veronica took few seconds to let Reuben''s shaft settle inside her and then she finally started moving her body up and down.. Reuben held her waist tightly and guided her to move on him in a more fast pace. Veronica too rested her palms on his chest to balance herself and slid herself up and down on his shaft.. She tilted her upper body downwards to come face to face with her husband and slowly kissed on his lips. After few minutes of passionate kiss, she moved towards his jaw and started giving sloppy kisses over him... Tracing her lips on his neck and collarbone area, she kept biting it from time to time, leaving hickey all around the place.. Coming towards his n.i.p.p.l.es, she started sucking them like the way Reuben did with hers.. "Argh¡­!! babe.." Reuben groaned in pleasure when he felt her biting him on his n.i.p.p.l.es. Veronica chuckled and licked it to soothe his pain and did the same with his other n.i.p.p.l.e. Still riding him like a pro, she traced his well shaped abs with her tongue and started kissing it while leaving hickeys from here to there.. After she was satisfied with her work, she straightened herself properly and started riding him in an amazingly fast pace. Reuben''s eyes were intently gazing over his s.e.xy wife''s every movement who had now her eyes closed in pleasure. Her soft, round b.r.e.a.s.ts which he loved so much, were bouncing up and down with her each movement.. Without able to control himself anymore with the sight of this s.e.xy seductress of a wife, he sat up with Veronica sitting on his lap, just the way she was few seconds ago.. Veronica opened her eyes feeling his movement and stared at him with questioning eyes. Reuben just gave her a l.u.s.tful look and latched his lips on hers.. They kissed like there was nothing in the world except both of them. Their breath haggard, lips joined, his chest brushing touching with her full b.r.e.a.s.t as she kept riding on him.. It was an amazing feeling! After satisfied with the kiss, Reuben cupped her right b.r.e.a.s.t with his left hand while his other hand was wrapped around her tiny waist securely.. His lips went towards her n.i.p.p.l.es as his mouth covered her hard buds and kept sucking it like a baby.. Now Veronica was riding on him, moving up and down with her hands roaming on his n.a.k.e.d back freely.. Whereas, Reuben too had her secured in his arms as his one hand and mouth kept doing there work perfectly on her b.r.e.a.s.ts.. With their bodies still entangled, Reuben swirled themselves around, changing their position in a snap of a second, with Veronica now lying on the bed on her back while Reuben hovering over her.. Veronica''s eyes widened with the sudden change of their positions as she heard Reuben whisper darkly, "My turn!" Veronica just gave him a small smile as she was not in any kind of positions to utter even a single word.. She was so much immersed in pleasure that she didn''t care if it was her or Reuben now dominating their hot love making.. Veronica just wanted to enjoy herself with her husband, drowning themselves into the pool of ecstasy! Taking the hint, Reuben started pouncing inside her like a hungry lion.. He kept thrusting inside her in and out with all his power, hitting her g-spot with his every thrust.. Veronica too moved her waist up and down, to match his thrust as they both kept m.o.a.ning each other''s name insanely.. Nothing else mattered to them anymore. Only the feeling of fulfillment inside them both emotionally and physically, were keeping them all hyped up.. After pouncing inside her for over twenty minutes, Veronica felt herself squirming under him as a jolt of pleasure started hitting her inside.. Veronica clutched onto him more tightly as she mumbled, "I¡­ I''m c.u.m.m.i.n.g love." "C.u.m with me, babe.." Reuben too said as he felt himself hardening more inside her walls which had also started tightening around him.. "Oh, Bennie¡­!!" "Yeah, Ica¡­" Soon a jolt ran over their body as a wave of intense pleasure hit their mind and soon both exploded themselves into each other, m.o.a.ning each other''s name loudly.. Reuben dropped his body over Veronica''s, resting his head in the crook of her neck as they held each other tightly, feeling themselves as the luckiest persons of the world.. "It was one hell of an amazing love making!" Reuben whispered, after gaining control over his breath. Veronica smiled at his statement and kissed his head before mumbling back, "Indeed it was! Happy first night, hubby!" Reuben chuckled and pecked her lips, saying, "Happy first night, wifey.." As they were resting in each other''s arms, a sudden thought struck into Reuben''s mind as he said, "Babe, we haven''t used any protection today.. Are you one your pill?" Hearing his question, Veronica bit her lips nervously and mumbled, "Bennie.. Actually I was thinking¡­" She paused for a while to take a good look of Reuben''s handsome face and saw him scrunching his eyebrows together in utter confusion.. "You were thinking?" Reuben asked as he noticed Veronica turning quiet all of a sudden. Inhaling a sharp breath, Veronica stared right into his grey eyes and said, "I was thinking¡­ why not we also have a baby like Lucy and Willa? We''ve already dated for so many years but had to wait for marriage because of all those personal problems of ours.. But now that we''re finally married¡­ don''t you think we should start having our own family? Just imagine a small baby running over the whole house calling us Mumma and Dadda.. Doesn''t it sound amazing? Like having our own symbol of love who will strengthen our love in a more beautiful bond. It''s actually my wish. But if you''re still not ready for having a baby, then we can------" Before Veronica could even complete her sentence, Reuben hovered over her, kissing her gently on his lips.. Veronica was stunned for a second but later kissed him back with same amount of love and passion.. After pulling away from each other, Reuben exclaimed in a mixture of excitement and seductive tone, "I too want the symbol of our love roaming around the house, calling us Mumma and Dadda, doing all kinds of naughtiness, making us run all around the house crazily... So let''s not waste anymore time. We''re already very late as that Neil and Henry who had started their love life way to later than us, had already made their wives pregnant. Now our only and prior focus will be on making a baby of our own. And for that, we have to start the baby making process as soon as possible.." The second, these words left from Reuben''s lips, he immediately kissed her lips again, making Veronica blush at his words as they soon indulged themselves in many more rounds of love making, in order to welcome a new family member of their own¡­ Chapter 448 - Peaceful life... It''s almost been two months since Reuben and Veronica had returned from their long twenty days of honeymoon.. In these twenty days, they had stayed in Maldives for seven days and then visited a completely different country, Switzerland which was Reuben''s favourite to enjoy their second phase of honeymoon. As Reuben had already promised Veronica, he hadn''t left her from bed for even a single second until he was completely satisfied.. In fact, he didn''t have any urge to leave their hotel room at all. But his wife''s wish to do sight scenes, had made him oblige to her demands. Without any care of the world, they had roamed around the country like free birds, did lots of shopping for themselves and their dear ones, tried different kinds of street foods and cuisines, involved themselves in different kind of adventures like scuba diving, para gliding and many more interesting things.. But what the couple loved the most was their love making session for those continuous twenty days, without missing even a single chance of having romance.. They would''ve stayed more days there if not Alonzo, Amelia and Jack, Myra''s wedding would have not been at the corner.. After one week of their return, the two couples held a simple yet beautiful wedding in the presence of their family members and friends.. Right now, both Veronica and Reuben were sitting in the living room of Lopez Mansion as her father had urgently called for an important discussion. Not only them but Andrew and Rose were also present there along with now almost five months old Olivia who was playing with the newly married couple while giggling cheerfully. Mr. Lopez smiled at the scene and then looked at Rose before saying, "You might be thinking why I''ve called you at this moment without giving you any kind of specific details¡­ right? But there is something very important for me to discuss with you which needs both Vero and your presence." Veronica had a calm face, already aware of her father''s plan while Rose held a confused look as she couldn''t able to detect anything by looking at her father like uncle''s expressions.. "What do you want to discuss, uncle?" Andrew asked the most obvious question which was running in Rose''s mind right now. Mr. Lopez glanced at his daughter and son-in-law for once who gave them an assuring smile and then stared at his wife who too nodded her head in affirmation. Inhaling a sharp breath, he averted his eyes towards Rose and Andrew and finally disclosed, "Rose.. You''ve always been a daughter to me. Not only that, you''ve even handled my company by staying as a shadow for the past few years along with Vero.. Now that, I''m growing old day by day, so I''m thinking of handing over my company to my children and spend some quality time with my beautiful wife just like others did. I''ve already talked about it Vero and she was the one to support me to the fullest on this wish of mine.. Coming to the point, I''ve decided to distribute twenty percent of my shares on your name, Rose. Like this, you''ll be the third highest shareholders of our company after Vero and Reuben respectively. Like this, you''d also be able to handle our company without any kind of prohibition from anyone. So I expect you to take the shares as a gift of a father to his daughter. Please accept it, Rose." Rose was completely baffled for a moment as she kept looking at Mr. Lopez with her eyes wide opened. She couldn''t believe that he was taking such a big drastic step.. "But uncle.. This will not be fair for Vero. She''s your only daughter and she deserves to-----" Before she could complete her sentence, Veronica interrupted her in the middle, "Yes, I know that I''m the only child of my parents. And being the only heiress of this big empire, I don''t have any problems with my father''s decision... In fact, I''m more than happy that now you''ll be managing our company not as a shadow, but as a legal shareholder. Moreover, what will I do with so much money? I already have my Creation which is already one of the most successful companies of the world. So like dad said, don''t deny it. You''ll be making all of us happy my accepting this shares.." Rose gazed at Veronica''s smiling face for a while and then looked at her husband to know about his thoughts. Andrew too stared back at her and nodded his head in assurance. Exhaling a good amount of breath, Rose looked up and finally said, "Okay, Uncle.. I agree. But you''ve to promise me one thing that the CEO position will be handled by Vero only." Mr. Lopez chuckled at her and said, "No problem.." Reuben smiled, seeing the happy faces of everyone and thought to make the mood lighter by saying, "If all the serious conversations are done, then can we have my mother-in-law''s tasty handmade food? I''m already very hungry. Look, even my stomach is growling in response." Everyone laughed at his antics while Mrs. Lopez said, "Come, Reuben.. Today I''ve prepared all of your and Andrew''s favourite food." Both Andrew and Reuben squealed at this and the evening was spent with a happy atmosphere by them... ------ Love-Paradise¡­ Reuben and Veronica were lying on their bed, completely n.a.k.e.d after a hot love making session. They were just covered by a single comforter and reminiscing about the past when Veronica suddenly said, "So many things have changed in the past few months¡­ Your hotel project with Alonzo was a very successful one. Myra and Lucy too opened their much waited restaurant which is running very successfully now... Each and every friends of ours are now well settled with their respective life partners while Louis is making all the required arrangements to propose Diana. Life is very much peaceful for everyone of us¡­ isn''t it?" Reuben just smiled at her and said, "Yes.. Finally, crossing so many hurdles in our life, we finally are living a peaceful life.." Veronica turned her face towards Reuben and inched closer to give him a passionate kiss. Their lips were just few inches apart and about to brush with each other when suddenly something so uncertain had happened which none of them had ever expected.. Chapter 449 - Indigestion problem... Their lips were just few inches apart and about to brush with each other when suddenly something so uncertain had happened which none of them had ever expected.. Veronica pushed Reuben with all her force and ran towards the washroom in a speed of a bullet train and started puking her guts out.. Reuben laid on the bed for a few seconds, completely baffled. But his trance soon got broken when he heard the awfully puking sound from the washroom.. As if he finally he came into his play mode after pausing for a while, he immediately made a run towards the washroom and barged inside in like an erupted volcano.. Holding her hair from behind, Reuben caressed her back softly and helped her to clean her face after she was finally done with her vomiting. Veronica rested her head in Reuben''s chest, completely exhausted and inhaled few deep breaths.. Without saying anything, Reuben lifted her up in his arms and laid her on the bed, before sliding beside her. Pulling the comforter over the border, he ran his fingers through her hair by one hand while caressed her cheek gently to give her some relief.. "Babe.. I know it''s not the right time to say this but still you shouldn''t have eaten the pizza after having Chinese.. Look, now you''re the one who is sick." Reuben said with pure concern, lacing in his voice. Veronica opened her eyes slightly to have a look on his worried face and a small smile appeared on her lips. Stroking his cheek fondly, she said with a small pout, "But Bennie.. Those pizzas were so tasty. Though I was already full but still I was craving for those pizza and chicken nuggets. So I couldn''t control myself.." Reuben sighed at her and said, "Okay.. I understand.. But from the next time, you have to care of your intestine properly. And tomorrow first in the morning, you''re going to doctor to have your check-up. I don''t want to see you sick again." "But it''s just a small problem. Nothing much.." Veronica tried to retort. "No.. I''m not listening to anything. You need to go to hospital tomorrow morning and it''s final. I don''t want to take any kind of risk with your health." Reuben said. "Okay.. Fine.. Now let me sleep. Will you?" Veronica gave a big yawn. Reuben smiled at her and pulled her into his embrace. Kissing her forehead, he whispered, "Goid night, love.." Nuzzling her nose into his neck, Veronica wrapped her hand around his waist and mumbled with a small smile, "Goid night, hubby.." ------ Next morning.. Veronica was sitting in the doctor''s cabin with Reuben who was continuously rubbing her palm to ease her. Veronica couldn''t help but smile as she could clearly see that Reuben was the one who was actually tensed while she was just enjoying his care for her.. "So you were vomiting last night and even today morning also?" The doctor asked. "Uhm.. Yes.. I think I have a mild food poisoning. Can you please prescribe some medicines for it?" Veronica asked. The doctor stared at her for a while and was about to say something when they heard Reuben''s phone ringing loudly.. Reuben checked the caller and noticed that it was none other his assistant, Tom.. His brows furrowed together in confusion as he knew that, Tom would have never called him at this moment if it was not important, specially when he had clearly mentioned that he''d be in hospital with his wife right now. "Iva.. I''ll just go and come after answering this call." Reuben said. Veronica nodded her head and Reuben got out of the room after pecking her forehead. After Reuben was gone, Veronica asked, "Doctor, you wanted to say something?" The doctor nodded at her and said, "Yes.. I wanted to know if you''re feeling dizziness or any new kind of new cravings from the past few days. Most importantly, when did you have your period last time?" A frown appeared on Veronica''s forehead as she said in confusion, "Uhmm.. No.. I didn''t feel dizziness till now. But yeah.. When I saw pizza last night, I couldn''t stop myself from eating them even though I was very much full.. And about period¡­ I think it''s coming in few days time. Wait a minute! Today is the last day of this month and I always have my period in the middle of the month. That means, it''s got delayed this month." The doctor smiled at her and asked, "Are you sure that it''s delayed or you''ve actually missed your period this month?" "No¡­ How could I miss my----" Veronica was about to deny but when the realisation of the doctor''s words hit her hard, she abruptly stopped in middle at her sentence. "Wait! Doctor, what do you mean by me missing my period? Do you by any chance want to say that I¡­. I''m pregnant?" Veronica''s eyes widened in realisation, making the doctor nod at her smilingly. "I think you have come to the wrong ward, Mrs. Smith. You have to book an appointment in the obstetrician department." The doctor informed her. An immediate smile crept on her lips as a tear of happiness rolled down on her cheeks. She couldn''t believe that she was going to be a mother soon. There''s a tiny human being growing inside her w.o.m.b who was going to be the symbol of her and Reuben''s unconditional love. Veronica sat there, completely paralysed in shock, still unable to register the idea of giving birth to a tiny baby of their own in few more months. She was still emerged in her thoughts when the doctor''s voice finally broke her trance.. "Mrs. Smith.. As a gastroenterologist, I can''t give you the hundred percent guaranty as you have to check with an gynecologist about this matter. But according to my experience, there''s a maximum chance of you being pregnant." The doctor stated, looking at her dazed face. Wiping the tears from her face, Veronica nodded her head and asked in a pleading voice, "Doctor can you please hide the possibility of me being pregnant from my husband and tell him that it''s some indigestion problem?" Chapter 450 - 1+1=3... Wiping the tears from her face, Veronica nodded her head and asked in a pleading voice, "Doctor can you please hide the possibility of me being pregnant from my husband and tell him that it''s some indigestion problem?" Seeing the confused look on the doctor''s face, Veronica immediately described, "Actually, I want to confirm about it first before telling my husband. If somehow the test doesn''t come positive, he''ll get upset but will still try to look happy because of me which I don''t want.. And if God blesses and I really am pregnant, then I want to tell him this happiest news of our life personally, by giving him a special surprise. So can you please help me in this matter, doctor?" Veronica requested earnestly, making the doctors chuckle as she said, "It''s okay. I can understand your feelings. I''ll help you in this. But the question is, how will you check with the obstetrician, hiding everything from your husband?" This question made a smirk appear on Veronica''s beautiful lips as she said naughtily, "Leave that on me.." Smilingly, the doctor nodded her head and gave her the details about one of the best obstetricians of the hospital and instructed few things to her.. As they were talking about stuffs, Reuben finally entered and said, "Uhmm.. Sorry, Ica.. Actually one of my foreign clients wanted to meet me immediately as they''ll be leaving tomorrow only. That''s why, it took me some time to delay the meeting for few hours." "Oh! Babe.. Why don''t you meet the clients now itself? Doctor said I''m absolutely okay other than having a little bit of indigestion." Veronica said, holding his hand. The doctor too nodded her head and confirmed, "Yes.. It''s just some simple food poisoning. She''ll be fine after having some medicines." Reuben stared at the doctor for a second and stated averting his eyes back to his wife, "No.. I''m not leaving you alone. I''ll drop you at Creation first and then only I''ll go back to my office." Veronica sighed and tried to persuade him by saying, "Bennie.. How about I call Louis to pick me up from here? Then it''ll be convenient for both of us. What''s say?" Reuben thought for a while and said, "Okay fine. But you''ll call me immediately if you feel your health is getting worse." "Hmm¡­ I know baby. You just go now. I''ll take the prescription for the doctor and pay the bill to the receptionist till Louis arrives here." Veronica said. Reuben sighed a little and kissed her forehead lovingly as he said, "I''m leaving then. Take care." "Hmm.. Bye.. Drive safe." Veronica said, giving him a beautiful smile. Reuben then turned towards the doctor and gave her a short nod before leaving for his office, making Veronica heave a big breath of relief.. "I''m going to meet the obstetrician then. Thanks for your help, doctor.." Veronica said genuinely. "No problem." The doctor smiled back at her. ----- Love-Paradise¡­ It was already evening and Reuben was about to arrive home at any moment.. In afternoon, Veronica called Reuben saying that she was feeling a little low and wanna take some rest. So she came back home alone much to Reuben''s disappointment. But Veronica somehow managed him and now she was preparing for the surprise with a content smile on her face. After few minutes, she finally looked at all the decoration with emotional eyes while her left hand involuntarily started caressing her tummy as she whispered in a low voice, "What do you think, baby? Will your dad love the decoration? Oops! Why am even I asking this? I''m sure he''ll be so over the top of the moon, that he''ll not even care about the decorations and will start jumping like a kid. Hehehe.." A smile was not ready to leave her face as she started getting ready for tonight, remembering the special moment when the obstetrician confirmed that she was indeed pregnant. Oh! How she cried like a small baby due to immense happiness! Chuckling at her thoughts, she put on the lipsticks and checked herself once again on the mirror when she finally heard the sound of a honking car¡­ precisely her husband''s car.. With a big grin on her face, she said, "Come on baby.. It''s time to hide now.." ------ Reuben was totally worried about Veronica after her phone call in afternoon. But he couldn''t able to come as the client meeting was important for his new project.. Although he didn''t give even a damn to this but Veronica''s persuasion made him agree. But he still couldn''t help himself from worrying over her health.. So he finished all of his work as soon as possible and came back home earlier than before. With long steps, he climbed up the stairs and rushed towards his bedroom only to find it completely vacant. However, what caught his eyes was the whole room decorated with beautiful balloons of different colours. A frown appeared on his face, looking at the decorations as he walked over there to inspect them with his keen eyes.. His eyes then fell on the box that was placed on their bed, wrapped in a golden wrapper which made him furrow his eyebrows in puzzlement. "Ica¡­ Babe¡­ Where are you?" Reuben called for his wife but didn''t get any response from her side. On the other hand, Veronica was trying her best to not make any kind of noise from the walk-in closet as she peeked through the door to witness her husband''s every single reaction.. Not getting any trace of her, Reuben finally decided to open the box. Taking a deep breath, he untied the ribbon and opened the cover of the box, only to notice it filled with lots of pompom. A small chuckle escaped from his lips, seeing his wife''s craziness. Shaking his head, he took out all of those pompoms and peered inside the box, only to see something very unexpected.. There was a pair of baby shoes with a card and envelope inside it.. With a deep frown on his face, Reuben took out those small baby shoes and inspected it carefully. "Why did Ica buy these shoes? Is this for Willa or Lucy?" Shrugging his shoulder at his own question, he thought to see what was inside the envelope. The card had a picture of a cute cradle while the four side of the card was covered with footprints of a small baby. Still with confusion laced on his face, Reuben opened the card to read the content inside it, only to get the biggest surprise of his life¡­ An equation was made on the middle page of the card with big bold letters which said¡­ 1+1 = 3 Chapter 451 - We Are Pregnant... Still with confusion laced on his face, Reuben opened the card to read the content inside it, only to get the biggest surprise of his life¡­ An equation was made on the middle page of the card with big bold letters which said¡­ 1+1 = 3 At the end of the equation, a heartfelt quote was written in a beautiful calligraphy style which Reuben realised to be Veronica''s handwriting.. "Congratulations Daddaa.¡­!!! Now you''re going to promote from Mumma''s handsome hubby to my superman Daddy.." These small note was enough to bring tears into Reuben''s eyes as he finally understood that the card or the gift box was not for Willa or Lucinda, but for him only... His hands traced the picture of the beautiful cradle at the front page which was painted by Veronica. Reuben''s hands started to tremble while his eyes turned glossy. With those shaky hands, he opened the other envelope and held out a pregnancy kit which had two red lines on it, confirming that whatever he was thinking, was not a dream but reality.. His grip tightened around the kit and soon a sob escaped from his mouth. His eyes became teary as the salty water drops started falling on his cheeks simultaneously.. A pair of hands soon wrapped around his waist from the back. He didn''t need to even turn around to detect the owner of those soft hands.. Grabbing her hands, Reuben turned Veronica around, making her come face to face with him.. Cupping both of her cheeks, he whispered while stammering a little, "Ar¡­are we really go¡­going to be parents?" Veronica wiped the tears from his face and confirmed with a small smile on her face, "Yes, Bennie. Now we''re becoming three from two soon. I''m pregnant, love!" The moment those blissful words came out of Veronica''s mouth, she felt herself flying in the air as Reuben had lifted her up in his arms in a snap of a second. Twirling her around, Reuben squealed in extreme happiness, "Yes! Yes! Yes! We''re going to have a baby! The symbol of our love who will call you Mumma and me Dadda.. Yayyyyy!!" Veronica laughed along with him as both of them enjoyed the most amazing news of their life together.. Putting her down on the floor, Reuben pulled her towards him by holding her waist and said, sincerely, "Thank you love.. Thank you for making me a father. Thanks for being with me always and giving me the biggest happiness of having our own baby, our symbol of love.." Tears were rushing out of his eyes nonstop, making Veronica too tear up with him. "Thanks to you for loving me so much. Thank you for giving me opportunity of carrying out love in my mind. Thanks for making me a mother, Bennie.." Veronica too whispered with lots of love. Reuben smiled at her tearfully and leaned towards her before capturing her lips into a sweet, gentle kiss. Veronica too reciprocated with the kiss as their lips molded with each other perfectly. This kiss was neither an aggressive nor a hungry one. But it was showing the gratitude and love they had for each other.. Both of them were pouring every single bit of their emotions like happiness, bliss, love, care, excitement and many more in that one kiss.. After they were finally able to satisfy with the kiss, they pulled away from each other and stared at each other lovingly with a smile on their faces.. "I love you.." Veronica whispered on his lips and pecked her lips. "I love you too, baby.." Reuben too confessed as he too joined his lips with hers in another passionate kiss.. ----- It was almost midnight when both Veronica and Reuben were lying in each other''s arms.. Reuben was softly caressing her tummy, pecking it time to time as he whispered in an adorable voice, "Dadda loves you, baby.. Just come out soon. Dadda can''t wait anymore to hold his princess in his arms and pepper your small, cute face with tons of kisses.." Veronica was enjoying his attention at first but when she heard him calling their baby, a princess, a frown appeared on her lips.. "Who are you calling your princess? It''s gonna be a prince. My little prince!" Veronica said in a sweet voice after opposing Reuben. "No.. It''s not your Prince but my Princess.." Reuben too retorted back. "Haww! How can you say like that? It''s my prince." Veronica too wasn''t ready to accept defeat. "No.. Princess.." "Prince¡­" "Princess.." "Prince¡­" This fight kept continuing for few more minutes when finally Reuben thought to put a stop on it. "By the way.. Why are we even fighting for it? Today only we got to know about our baby. So we should think more about how to break this happy news to our friends and family now." Reuben reminded her. Veronica too thought for a while and said, "Yeah.. You are right. We should not fight for our baby''s gender now. Actually, I have already a plan in my mind about it. Why don''t we call everyone for dinner this weekend and disclose the news at a time?" "Hmm¡­ I liked the idea. Let''s do it then." Reuben said as he pulled Veronica towards him. Kissing her softly on her lips, he said, "Now Dadda wants to love momma.. So no more talks." Veronica chuckled at his statement and whispered seductively, "Momma is also ready to be loved by Dadda.." Reuben grinned from ear to ear, hearing her response and hovered over her, letting themselves drown into pools of pleasure.. ------ Few days later¡­ Finally it was weekend and as per the couple''s plan, all their family members and friends had already arrived at their place and now were chatting with each other merrily.. Reuben and Veronica who were sitting in the middle, on a love seat, shared a glance between themselves.. Nodding at each other, they finally decided to break the news to their parents.. "Everyone.. Can we get your attention please? We have an important announcement to make.." Reuben started to lead their declaration. All of them turned their faces towards the couple with curiosity showing on their faces while Mrs. Smith asked, "Yes? What do you want to say, Reuben?" Veronica grabbed Reuben''s hand more tightly and Reuben too squeezed her palm in assurance as they both inhaled a sharp breath before announcing in a perfect sync, "WE ARE PREGNANT!" Chapter 452 - Equal share in making the baby... Veronica grabbed Reuben''s hand more tightly and Reuben too squeezed her hand in assurance as they both inhaled a sharp breath before announcing in a perfect sync, "WE ARE PREGNANT!" The whole living room fell into a complete silence. Not even the sound of their breaths could be heard as if all of them had stopped breathing from their lungs, while their skin, hair or other body parts were doing the job on behalf of their noses.. It was so quiet that even the sound of a falling safety pin could be heard from the room.. Veronica and Reuben shared a worried glance between them, not knowing what was exactly running inside all of their brains and again averted their eyes towards them.. While their friends and family members too stared at them with surprise and amus.e.m.e.nt in their eyes and the next moment, a huge squeal echoed through the whole room, making the REUNIC couple almost go deaf in ears.. Thankfully, little Olivia went to the back of the garden with her nanny. Otherwise, she would''ve already thrown a crying fit due to these people''s sudden screaming.. "Oh My God! Are you really serious? I can''t believe that you guys are actually pregnant!" It was the hormones of an almost five months pregnant Willa which had made her squeal in an overly excited tone. Veronica looked at her for a moment and then confirmed, "It''s true Willa. I''m actually six weeks pregnant.." "Woah! If you''re also pregnant like us, then it means, that we three besties are pregnant together and our children will have a mere age difference of only few months... Yayyyy! Like us, our kids can also play with each other from their very first day.." Another pregnant woman Lucinda who was three months long with twins, exclaimed loudly. Reuben chuckled and said, "Yes! Our kids can definitely play with each other like we did in our childhood." "Yeah.. And my princess, Olivia will be all of their elder sister to guide those little munchkins." Andrew too interjected happily. "Bro.. I still can''t digest the happy news of three of us becoming father almost at the same time." An excited Henry said. "Well, me neither. It was both quite unexpected yet the most blissful news of our life!" Neil too exclaimed, feeling extremely happy for his best friend. As the youngsters kept talking, they didn''t notice that their parents were unusually very silent. However, their attention finally got attracted towards them when they heard the sobbing sound, coming from their direction.. They turned their face towards them, only to notice both mothers were literally sobbing like a baby with a happy smile on their faces while the fathers were consoling their respective partners. Veronica and Reuben looked at each other for few seconds and then they finally went towards their parents with a big smile on their lips. "Mom.. Dad.. Won''t you congratulate us for giving you guys a grandchild to play with? Weren''t you the one to eat our head all the time, murmuring these three words like a mantra that ''We want grandchild! We want grandchild!''¡­ Then where is your super excited reaction now? I thought that the moment you guys will heard the news of Ica being pregnant, you''ll start going all crazy over it and I''d have to immediately book an appointment for you all in a mental hospital. But look at you guys now! When you need to act like the biggest drama queens of the world, you''re sitting here in your husband''s arms like they are your only lifeline while we are some unimportant organs!" Reuben literally pulled their parents'' legs to get the most unusual reaction from them and it did work very well.. "You stupid son! Teasing us like this? Now move from my side, you ungrateful brat! Let me hug my daughter first." Mrs. Smith literally shoved Reuben away from her side and hugged Veronica tightly along with Mrs. Lopez. "I can''t believe that my daughter is going to have her own child now. You really have grown up so big, Vero.." Mrs. Lopez said while hugging Veronica to her chest. "First of all, my heartiest congratulations to you! Now you''re having your own small baby who will fill your life with full of happiness. But that doesn''t mean that you''ll conceal the childishness in your heart... We''ll always be there for you along with Reuben. So don''t ever hesitate to demand anything from us whenever you want.." Mrs. Smith said while caressing her head. Veronica smiled at both of her mothers and said, "Thanks Moms.. You don''t have to worry for me. Whenever Bennie will disturb me, I''ll immediately call you. And then you can scold him as much as you want.." The mothers chuckled at her statement when Mr. Smith said, "You are really a blessing to our family, Vero. From the moment, you''ve stepped into our son''s life as his lover, you''ve only brought happiness for all of us. Thanks for loving that stupid son of mine so dearly." Veronica grinned from ear to ear hearing her father-in-law''s comment and she said, "No Dad.. You don''t have to thank me for this. If Bennie wasn''t in my life, then I''d never be able to enjoy the amazing feelings of being loved by someone with so much intensity." James, Veronica''s father smiled with tears in his eyes and said, "Congratulations princess.. Now you''re going to have your own prince or princess.. But never forget that you''ll always be a child to me no matter how much you grow up." Veronica hugged her father tightly and whispered, "I know dad.. And I love you.." Mr. Lopez pecked on her forehead and said, "I love you too, my baby.." Reuben who was actually enjoying, seeing his wife getting the love from both of their parents, thought to tease them a little as he exclaimed dramatically, "Woah! I can''t believe that you''re acting like such big hypocrites right now! Don''t forget that if I wasn''t there for Ica, then there wouldn''t be any existence of your yet to be born grandchild now... I also have worked really hard in bringing this little one into the world. We both have equal share in making this baby. So preserve some gratitude for me also.." Chapter 453 - Pregnancy mood swings... "I also have worked really hard in bringing this little one into the world. We both have equal share in making this baby. So preserve some gratitude for me also.." Reuben''s shameless words brought a huge round of laughter around the whole room while Veronica simply glared at him with a tint of blush on her cheeks. "Yes! Yes! We did a grave mistake of not thanking you. So thanks my son for loving my daughter so much. And congratulations for the best promotion of your life.." Mr. Lopez hugged him tightly, making Reuben beam brightly at him. All of them smiled at them and started congratulating the couple one by one while the youngsters literally jumped on the couple like monkeys, careful enough to not hurt the pregnant ladies.. ------ Four months later¡­ "Can you see this clearly now? These are your baby''s arms, legs and the fingers. The baby''s head seemed to be in a good position. So there''s nothing to worry.." The doctor said while pointing at the different body parts of the baby. Veronica was now five and half months pregnant. And right now, she had come to have her ultrasound with Reuben. The couple was now looking at the screen with utter amus.e.m.e.nt as they checked every body part of their baby with a smile on their lips. It didn''t matter to them if they were hearing their baby''s heartbeat countless of times or not, but it always made both of them cry in happiness. "Yes.. we can see it clearly.. She is so much beautiful." Reuben whispered as a tear dropped from his eyes. Veronica who too was looking at their baby with utmost love in her eyes, snapped her head towards Reuben and retorted, "Bennie.. How many times I''ve told you that it''s a prince, not a princess. Still you don''t understand." "You are wrong love. It''s a father''s instinct which says that the baby is gonna be a girl.." Reuben too politely said. Glaring at him, Veronica couldn''t help herself from mocking her husband, "Oh really? You''re not the one who is carrying the baby for almost six months but it''s me.. So mother''s instinct knows better that it''s gonna be a boy." Seeing them bickering like some kindergarten kids, the doctor just shook her head and stated, "Mr. and Mrs. Smith.. I''ve already suggested you to check the gender of your baby but you both denied it... So now please, don''t fight over the baby''s gender anymore. Just know that he or she is very healthy and fine.." This made both Veronica and Reuben stop their childish bantering as a wide grin appeared on their lips, hearing that their baby is absolutely healthy and growing well in it''s mother''s tummy.. "Thanks doctor.. So we are going to come after two weeks again, right?" Reuben asked. "Yes.. Though the baby is absolutely fine. But still it''s good to have a regular check up quite often; as in a month, Mrs. Smith is going to enter her last trimester." Nodding her head, the doctor replied. The couple smiled enthusiastically and walked out of the hospital after having few other important conversations with the doctor.. "Bennie¡­ Can you please make me spicy noodles after we reach home?" Veronica asked, buckling her seatbelt. Reuben smiled at her and said, "Yes babe.. I definitely can.. But you''ve to promise me that you won''t touch those pizza and burgers for one week." "Hey! That''s blackmailing. You just can''t stop me from having those yummy food. It''s your baby who likes them more than me." Veronica pouted cutely, trying to show her displeasure. Driving the car through the busy street, Reuben caressed her tummy with his one hand while managing the steering wheel with his other one and mocked in a taunting tone, "Oh really? I thought it was baby''s mommy who was craving for those, not the other way around." Veronica grinned at his statement and pretended to think for a while before mumbling, "Well, it''s both Mumma and baby''s wish. Now can you please make it without anymore arguement?" "I already told you that I''ll make the noodles for you. But you have to eat some veggies also, ignoring those junk foods for a whole week." Chuckling at his wife''s antics, Reuben tried to persuade her. "No.. I''ll not stop eating them.." Veronica too replied like a stubborn baby.. "Well, you definitely will.." "No.. I won''t.." "You will.." "No¡­" "Yes.." "No.." "Yes.." ------- Another two months later... Veronica had already entered into her seventh month and now her tummy is as big as a pumpkin.. She was right now sitting in her bedroom and watching Shinchan with some ch.i.p.s and ice-cream placed in front of her.. "Aww! Shinchan is so cute.. Will you also be this naughty like him, baby? Huh?" Veronica asked while caressing her tummy lovingly.. The second she asked the question, she felt an instant kick of her baby, making Veronica laugh in merriness, "Oh! So you agree with your mother. Don''t worry.. If you become like Shinchan, then we both will team up against your Dadda and irritate him together.." Reuben who just entered their bedroom with a glass of mango juice in his hand, witnessed this cute scene with a big smile on his face.. Walking towards her, he handed it over to Veronica who immediately drank the whole juice in one go as it was both her and baby''s favourite.. Sitting beside her, Reuben wrapped his arm around her shoulder while his right hand caressed her tummy as he said, "And if you become like Himawari, then we''ll do all those crazy stuffs which can annoy your Mumma to the extent that she''ll let you play with me whole time. Okay baby?" At that moment, Reuben felt another kick which made his grin wider than before... This became an everyday routine for both of them. Whenever they used to talk with their baby, he or she would always give a kick as a response, making the couple''s hearts fill with happiness.. Bending down a little, he kissed on Veronica''s tummy and mumbled, "Two more months, baby.. And then you''ll be in our arms. I just can''t wait anymore to hold you, sweetheart.." Veronica smiled at him, running her fingers through his hair. Reuben had taken a paternal leave from the day Veronica had entered into her third trimester and was now taking care of his wife and their babe solely.. The couple were busy in enjoying their pregnancy days as much as possible, with Veronica throwing tantrums in every small matter and Reuben pampering her in the most vulnerable period of her mood swings.. It had also turned into a habit for him to talk with his baby every now and then and feel his or her kick.. Veronica''s mood swings were also on it''s peak. And she had turned much more hornier than before, much to Reuben''s liking.. Amidst of this, Willa had also given birth to a beautiful baby boy one and half month ago while Lucinda''s due date was in just few days. Louis too have proposed Diana and they have decided to get married after the arrival of the REUNIC couple''s baby.. Alonzo and Amelia too have announced their pregnancy just a few weeks ago while Jack and Myra had adopted a five months old baby boy whose parents had abandoned him for money pressure.. All in one, everyone seemed to be very happy in their own life including their parents who were pampering Veronica to the fullest and never missed to give her a visit every now and then. "Life is so beautiful now¡­ isn''t it Bennie?" Veronica asked, staring at Reuben who was talking with their baby now. Reuben sat up straight, hearing her words and said, "Yes¡­ It indeed is.. And it''s all thanks to you." Veronica just beamed brightly at his response and confessed lovingly, "I love you, hubby.." Reuben smiled back at her and mumbled, "I love you too, wifey.." As soon as those lovely words left from his mouth, Veronica captured his lips into a passionate kiss as they soon indulged themselves into a hot yet safe love making session... Chapter 454 - Baby Shower... Two months later¡­ It was a beautiful morning with birds chirping everywhere, singing a sweet melody. The weather was also very much pleasant with the beaming sun and light breeze caressing everyone''s skin.. Although the atmosphere was very much peaceful, but it was not the same cast for Love-Paradise. In fact, it was so cheerful with everyone''s chatting and laughter that the whole city would be able to hear them from their own home.. And why not it would be all happy and cheerful, when the party was specially arranged to celebrate the baby shower of the most loved REUNIC Couple! The garden was decorated beautifully with peach, brown, blue, soft pink and white colour balloons.. A tent was set up in the middle of the garden with few artificial animals like giraffe, elephant and zebra were placed in front of it, giving a beautiful view.. A beautiful set up was made in the backyard with a long table and few cushions beside it to sit there and have fun to their heart''s content.. Teddy bears along with other soft toys were spread everywhere while a big showpiece stand with the word ''BABY'' written was standing at one of the corner of the garden. It was also filled with pink and blue balloons.. Willa was sitting beside Neil with their three and half months old baby girl, Nathan in her arms. Lucinda who had given birth to a twin boy and girl, was also smiling happily with Henry beside her. She was holding their little prince Jacob while Henry had their little princess, Jennifer in his arms. One year old Olivia was playing with her Barbie doll with Andrew and Rose at her both sides. Not only them but Jack and Myra too had came there along with their seven months old adopted son, Michael.. Amelia who was three months pregnant now, was resting her back on Alonzo''s chest while he had his arms wrapped around her. These couple were doing nothing except teasing Louis and Diana who were soon getting married.. All of their parents were also happy and chatting contently with each other. As they were busy in enjoying the party, the center of attraction finally decided to mark their presence in front of them.. Veronica who was wearing a simple peach colour maternity gown with white sequins on the top part, was glowing brightly like the sun.. Reuben was also looking extremely handsome with a white casual shirt and light brown pants. He had one of his arms wrapped around Veronica''s shoulder while his right hand was resting on her full grown belly protectively. Both of them had a big smile on their faces as they walked towards their families and friends.. "Pregnancy glow really suits you well.." Mrs. Wilson, said kissing Veronica''s forehead. "Before you start nagging, let me tell you that you''re also looking like a super cool dad in this casual outfit." Mr. Johnson complimented Reuben who was grinning widely. "Well, thank you ladies. But today is only for my wife. So you can compliment her as much as you want. I won''t get jealous today." Reuben teased them, making others laugh at him. "No baby.. Today is for both of us. Remember, we''ve made this baby together¡­ right?" Veronica said while giving him a playful wink while Reuben just shook his head smilingly. After all the congratulatory wishes and lots of gifts, the couple finally decided to cut the cake. It was a gender neutral cake, matching with the colours of balloons. An edible teddy was placed on the top while the cake was decorated with beautiful golden, pink, blue, brown and peach coloured edible balls. This cake was personally selected by Reuben as he wanted to surprise his wife and it definitely did the magic as Veronica was literally drooling over the cake. "Wow! Bennie.. It''s so beautiful that I want to just keep it like this. But what can we do when our little munchkin is craving for this yummy chocolaty cake! So let''s cut it fast and feed each other." Veronica squealed excitedly, clapping her hands.. Reuben chuckled at her cute antics and teased, "Sure love.. It''s only the baby who wants to eat the cake, but not her Mumma.. And we definitely have to listen to our baby. So let''s do feed her quickly." Veronica made a small pout but later laughed it off as she couldn''t hold her craving anymore. They both cut the cake together and fed each other while others cheered for them loudly.. Veronica was about to have another bite of her cake when she felt a hard kick on her tummy. Looking down, she said, "Oh! So baby wants more cake? Let him have it then." Saying this, she cut another big slice and started eating it. However before she could gulp it wholly, she felt another big contraction hitting inside her tummy.. She ignored it first but suddenly the contractions started growing larger and it become more painful second by second. "Ahh!" Veronica suddenly cried out, gripping Reuben''s arm tightly. Reuben''s head instantly snapped towards her as he held her tightly in her arms. "Baby.. What happened?" Reuben asked, with a worried look. "It¡­it''s paining a lot, Bennie.." Veronica stammered while clutching her tummy in a tight grip. Now everyone''s attention was only on Veronica who was literally screaming in extreme pain. All of a sudden, she felt some liquid flowing out of her lower part, wetting her gown completely. Seeing it, Veronica whispered in disbelief, "Mom.. Why I''m peeing now?" Mrs. Lopez''s eyes turned wide hearing her daughter''s words as she exclaimed loudly, "Oh My God! Your water broke, Vero. We have to immediately take you to the hospital." "What? But Ica''s due date is still two weeks later." Reuben shouted exasperatedly. "I know.. But it''s completely fine to give an early birth. So don''t waste anymore time and take her to hospital." Mrs. Smith pacified an already terrified Reuben somehow. Nodding his head vigorously, Reuben immediately picked Veronica up and made her lie on the backseat with her head resting on Mrs. Lopez''s lap. Mrs. Smith brought Veronica''s hospital bag quickly and took the front passenger seat as Reuben drove the car like a bullet train while the others also followed them from behind.. Chapter 455 - Replica of our love... Few hours later... Hospital delivery room... "Mrs. Smith.. Give a hard push.." The doctor said. "Aaahhhhhh!" Veronica yelled in pain as she tried to push her best but to no avail. Reuben who had already started crying, seeing his wife''s pain, couldn''t afford to feel even a little bit of sting although his hands were getting scratched mercilessly by his wife''s sharp nails as she kept holding his wrists tightly.. "Yes baby, push a little bit more. You can do it." Reuben continued to encourage her as he knew, what the most she needed right now was his emotional support.. Veronica glared at him angrily while trying to push and shouted at him angrily, "You are never going to touch me again, you idiot!" Reuben literally shivered at the thought of not able to touch her but soon shook those stupid imaginations away from his head and focused on his already raging wife. "Love.. We can talk about it later. You just focus on pushing now. You''re a strong woman.. right? And I love you a lot for this." Reuben kept murmuring every single thing which could give encouragement to his wife. "I can already see the head. Just two more pushes and the baby will be out. Please Mrs. Smith. Try hard to push with a little bit more force." The doctor requested earnestly.. Reuben started peppering her forehead with small kisses to divert her mind from the pain, not even caring that she was covered with sweat right now.. "You can do it, love.. You definitely can. For yourself, for me and for our baby.." Reuben kept whispering sweet nothing in her ears softly, making Veronica feel blessed to have him in her life. She knew that she was unnecessarily blaming him. But she was also aware about the fact that the amount of love he had for her, had allowed her to shout on him even without any solid reasons. This was their power of love! With Reuben''s constant support and love, Veronica finally gave one last push and soon the whole room filled with the wail of a very small baby. "Waaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...¡­" "Congratulations! You both are now proud parents of a baby boy." The doctor informed them with a big smile on her face. Reuben and Veronica looked at their son who was still busy in crying and then averted their eyes towards each other again. Both of their eyes were now filled with happy tears as they heard the cry of their beautiful baby boy. "You''ve done it, love. Congratulations baby''s Mumma..!!" Reuben whispered with a big smile as he pecked her lips. Veronica too cried with her husband and said with a big grin, "Congratulations to you too, baby''s Dadda.." They shared another sweet kiss with each other to share the happiness, when the doctor asked, "Mr. Smith.. Would you like to cut the umbilical cord?" Reuben nodded his head positively and cut the cord looking at their symbol of love who was still covered with blood.. "We''re going to take him to clean up now. And then we''ll shift both the mother and baby in the VIP room." One of the nurses informed. Reuben nodded his head and went over to Veronica, "I''m going outside now. But don''t worry. Soon I''ll be with you after they transfer you into the VIP room along with our baby." Veronica smiled slightly as she felt her eyes getting heavy. Reuben watched her drowning into slumber as he pecked her forehead once again before walking out of the delivery room to inform their family and friends about the happy news of their baby boy''s arrival¡­ ------ One hour later... Veronica opened her eyes slowly and adjusted her eyes to the lights before looking at her surrounding, only to find her husband and now her baby''s father staring at her with utmost concern, adoration and lots of love in his eyes.. "You woke up? How are you feeling right now?" Reuben asked immediately when he saw her opening her eyes. Veronica smiled at him and said, "I''m feeling happy, content and very much overjoyed." Reuben smiled at her and informed her when he noticed her looking for their son, "Doctor is checking him." "Why? Is everything okay?" Veronica''s eyes filled with worry for her baby boy at the mention of doctors checking him. Caressing her head, Reuben packed her lips softly before replying, "He''s perfectly fine. They''re just running few mandatory tests on him." Veronica visibly relaxed and said, "Thanks for being with me when I was giving birth to our baby. Truthfully, it was your words which had motivated me that time." Rubbing his thumb softly on her cheeks, Reuben muttered, "Thanks to you to bear so much pain in order to give birth to our symbol of love. Today you not only made me a father but also gave me the most precious gift of my life." Veronica smiled at him and was about to say something when they heard the door getting opened as a nurse came in with a small baby wrapped in a blue blanket in her arms.. Both of their eyes started shining like a star as they saw their baby. Reuben helped Veronica to sit up properly and made her rest her back on the pillows.. "He needs to be fed." The nurse informed, giving the baby to his mother. Veronica held him carefully as she stared at the bundle of joy with teary eyes. The nurse helped her with her buttons and showed Veronica how to feed the baby before leaving from there, giving some privacy to the couple. "He''s so beautiful.." Veronica whispered as she gazed at her son lovingly who was sucking milk from her b.r.e.a.s.t hungrily. Reuben who was sitting beside her with his arms around her shoulder, caressed his son''s hair lovingly, making the baby smile as he slowly lifted his eyelids up and looked at his father. "He has your eyes, Bennie.." Veronica said in amus.e.m.e.nt. "And he has your nose." Reuben mumbled, witnessing the beautiful view where his lovely wife was feeding their precious son. The sight was heavenly! "I can''t believe that we have made him." Veronica whispered as she stared at her baby with adoration in her eyes. Reuben chuckled and said, "I know right! But seeing the replica of our love, we can''t help but believe that we have indeed made a handsome baby boy together." They smiled at each other and kept looking at the blessing of their life with love filled eyes. But their sweet moment soon got interrupted when the door burst open and entered their family members and friends with big smiles, adorning on their faces.. ------ A few minutes later... "He''s exactly looking like baby Reuben.." Mr. Smith said, gushing over the cuteness of his grandson. "Look, how he is smiling at us! He''s such a cutie pie!" Mrs. Lopez said holding her grandson in her arms while her husband kept cooing at him. Like this, everyone took turns in carrying him and immediately got bowled out at his cuteness who was smiling like a sunshine at everyone. "By the way guys, Have you decided any name for this little munchkin?" Louis asked excitedly. Reuben and Veronica shared a glance between each other and nodded at him in affirmation. "You''ve mentioned to us before that whatever the baby''s gender will be, you guys would give him or her an unique name which will be a combination of both of your names. So by which name this precious cutie pie is going to be called then?" An excited Amelia asked, going awe over the baby boy. A smile bloomed on the new parents'' lips as they looked at their newborn baby with all the adoration in their eyes before muttering lovingly, "Benver¡­ Benver Smith.." Chapter 456 - Epilogue... Five years later¡­ The whole mansion was decorated beautifully as if someone''s wedding was going on.. A five year old boy was standing in the middle of the big hall, having a wide smile on his lips as he blew the candle off excitedly.. "Happy Birthday to you.. Happy Birthday to you, Benver.. Happy Birthday to you.." Yes! It was the fifth birthday of Reuben and Veronica''s precious son who was everyone''s apple of eyes. Veronica who was standing on his left side, took a slice of cake and fed him while wishing, "Happy Birthday, baby.. Mumma loves you a lot." Benver smiled brightly when his mother kissed him on his cheeks and said, "I love you too Mom.." "What about me, champ? Don''t you love me?" Reuben who was standing on his right side with a seven months old baby girl in his arms asked, making a sad face.. "I also love you a lot, Daddaa.." Benver said excitedly, hugging his father tightly. Reubica Smith who was both Reuben and Veronica''s princess, blabbered some incoherent words while laughing and clapping loudly as if she too was wishing her elder brother. "Look your baby sister is also wishing you, champ." Reuben said pecking his daughter''s cheek. Benver kissed his sister on her cheek and said, "Thanks, baby sis. Your brother loves you too." Reubica laughed merrily and dropped a sloppy kiss on her brother''s nose, making others chuckle at her cuteness. Veronica had given birth to her and Reuben''s second baby, Reubica seven months ago who had successfully owned everyone''s heart in a whip of a second. "Guys.. Can we have a family photo of you four now?" Jack who took the responsibility of taking photographs for the evening, asked the couple. Myra grinned, seeing her husband''s passion for photography while feeding her elder adopted son a piece of cake while her four years old son was sitting on his grandmother''s lap. "Is this even a question to ask? Today we all are good going to have a small family photo session." Reuben said cheerfully. Denver jumped on his feet like a happy birthday boy and exclaimed jovially, "Yayy! We''re going to click lots of photos.." Veronica chuckled, seeing her son''s reaction and said, "Cool down baby.. Otherwise, you may get hurt." "Okay Mumma.." Benver said sheepishly with a stupid grin on his face. Reuben and Veronica took lots of pictures with their friends, family members and their clients who were also invited in the grand celebration of their baby boy''s birthday.. "Our baby had grown up so much that''s he''s already five now!" Lucinda said, peppering his whole face with kisses. Henry who was holding both Jacob and Jennifer''s hands who also turned five one and half months ago, said, "Really buddy! You''ve become so handsome that all the girls are only ogling at you." Both Henry and Lucinda decided to not have anymore children as two were enough for them. Neil who had his twin one year old daughters in his both arms said, "Yeah.. Our Denver is really popular among girls." Willa wiped the five year old Michael''s face which was filled with cake and then said, "Well, our baby Reubica is not any less. Look, how beautiful she has become in this small age only." Alonzo came with Amelia, his four and half years old son was in his arms and said, "Yes Reuben! You will definitely have a hard time in future in keeping boys away from this little angel." A frown appeared on Reuben''s face as he said in a disapproval tone, "Why would I have hard time? I''ll just warn every single parents to keep their son away from my princess... Otherwise, they''ll have to face the consequences. I''ll not let any leach roam around my baby girl. Hmph!" The moment these words left from his mouth, he yelped in pain as Veronica had stomped on his foot angrily. "Dare you act like a possessive father to my daughter. Then I''ll send you to dog house for one month!" Veronica warned him with a hard glare. Reuben gulped visibly in fear of getting kicked out of their bedroom, but his little son saved him from his wife''s wrath as he spoke out in his anger, "No Mumma! No boys are allowed near sisso. I''ll break every boy''s bones who will dare to come near Reubica." Listening to his little man, Reuben felt extremely proud as he praised him with a pat on his head, "Good job champ! I''m trusting you with my princess then. You have to protect your sister from every single boy.. okay?" Benver nodded his head with his chest up, acting like a grown up when he was actually a Lilliput, making others chuckle.. "Like father, like son!" Veronica murmured angrily, seeing the possessiveness of the father-son duo. Andrew who heard him couldn''t help but reply, "We, fathers can''t help it Vero." Veronica looked at six years old Olivia who was literally clinging to her father and sighed heavily. Rose too shook her head and said, "I''m handling this from past six years. So just imagine my situation." "Well, I can also relate with you. Just look at my husband for once and you''ll understand the reason of my worries.." Diana sighed, looking at Louis who was glaring at every single boy of his three years old daughter''s age.. Veronica nodded her head in understanding and turned towards her parents who were now playing with both Reubica and Benver and a smile crept on her lips. She went towards the balcony from where she could be able to see her whole family and friends enjoying the party to the fullest while laughing, chatting and joking with each other. Her smile grew wider when she noticed how her kids were getting love and pampering from every single person. Their giggling faces were making her sigh in extreme content and satisfaction. She just prayed to the God to keep her family always happy and healthy like this... Reuben who noticed his wife lost into deep thoughts, knew exactly what was running inside her mind.. Walking towards her, he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, making Veronica lean her back on his chest.. "Thinking about the past, wifey?" Reuben asked in a soft tone, kissing the side of her head. Staring at her beautiful family who were laughing and smiling contently, she mumbled, "Hmm.. I was thinking how everything changed in this past six years.. isn''t it? First we were secret lovers, then we became world''s favourite REUNIC couple. Then you gave me the best proposal, making me your fiance. We then solved Alonzo''s problem and reunited with Andrew bro... Our best friends got married and had their own children. We too had our dream wedding and now are living with our life blissfully with our two beautiful children. Though we had lots of ups and down in our life, but the end result was always good.. right?" Reuben smiled hearing her words as he said, "Yes.. Life is indeed great because you''re there for me. Today we have everything that a man can ever wish. An understanding wife whom I love the most in the world, two beautiful children who are our everything now and a happy family which only lives for each other.." Veronica turned around to face Reuben who was now looking at her with love filled eyes and said, "You know what Bennie! I thank God everytime for sending you in my life. You''re a blessing to me. Really! Please stay by my side like this always.." "Where will I go leaving you? My soul stays in you. My breath only whispers your name. And there''s no existence of Bennie without his Ica.. We''ll always stick together till death do us apart. No one can change this fact." Reuben muttered while cupping her face. Veronica smiled and tiptoed herself a little so that she could reach Reuben''s height. Realising what she wanted, Reuben too dipped his head down and pulled her into a heartwarming kiss.. They sucked each other''s lips so gently as if they were treating a porcelain doll. Their tongues mingled with each other and danced in the wave of passion.. Their eyes were closed while their arms were wrapped around each other as the couple kept enjoying their kiss sensually.. Through this kiss, they had sealed all of their promises to love each other for the eternity and grow old together till they take the last breath of their life.. Panting heavily, they pulled out of their passionate kiss and stared into each other''s orbs which were filled with unconditional love for each other.. Giving the most tender smile that anyone had ever seen, they voiced out their most yearning feelings for each other while whispering lovingly in a perfect sync¡­ "My Heart Beats Only For You¡­" -----THE END----- A short note to my lovely readers... Finally this book has come to an end..!! As you know that, this was my very first book so it''ll always hold a special place in my heart.. Thanks to all of you who have supported this book and showered their love on it unconditionally.. I''ll always be thankful for you to join the journey of Reuben and Veronica who have proved that love is eternal and trust is the base of it.. I hope you''ve loved this book where I''ve poured my every emotion and passion without any expectations other than your love.. Like this, I wish to get your immense support for my other books also.. So please read my other two books if possible.. 1. Superstar Wife : Please Have Some Mercy 2. Lying Vows : The Secret Billionaire''s Wife The last book is the newest one which I''ve started updating not too long ago.. So please love and support the book.. Last but not the least, I love all of you... [P.S. - Read the author''s thought...] Love, Sree_ExoL