"That was intense," I said as we entered the car, ready to drive away from the horrible place. I continuously observed Liara as she talked to everyone and her eyes landed on her father and his wife. Her father kept on staring at her the entire time without uttering a single word. But on the other hand, his wife was grinding teeth, disrespecting her.

Liara was uncomfortable but professional to the point where no one could point out that she had trouble talking to people in the presence of a worthless father. Liara didn't tell me anything about it, but Mia and Dima explained what happened to her. And perhaps that was the reason she came to Shimmers the day we first met.

I saw her as she covered her eyes by wearing the glasses, hiding her emotions. I knew the moment she held her pen that she started feeling uncomfortable, her act whenever she had to keep her anger in check.

"Where to?" I asked, and she whispered, "SAMS" without looking at me. Her hair fell on her face and I had an urge to take that away from her face, but I gripped the steering tighter.

"It's the weekend. Don't you allow your employees weekend leave?" I inquired, driving through the road towards SAMS.

"The workers of Shimmers have been standing in front of SAMS, protesting against you. You shouldn't go there." Anthony suggested, ignoring my question and I turned my head towards him and asked surprised, "what? Protesting?"

"More reason for me to go there." She murmured and adjusted on her seat as if it did not bother her.

"Why are they protesting?" I asked, as Julie mentioned nothing about it. Perhaps she wasn't aware of it.

"You, out of all people, should know what the employees of Shimmers planned. You are also one of them.'' Liara said, still closing her eyes and both her minions humming at her.

"I'm not an employee. I work contractually and have no contact with any employee." I said, as I preferred having less contact with people. It was only Julie I was interested in talking to. Others wouldn't bother me.

"Whatever." She waved me off as if she was less bothered about what I was. She never asked nor cared about my whereabouts for the past few days, so it was fair if she wasn't interested in what I do and where I was.

"You don't have to drive me everywhere. It's completely fine. Anthony is there to take care of me." She said out of the blue. I took a deep breath and preferred not to answer it.

"I have to fly to California for a few days. I have some personal work. Take care of my schedules and shift them either for the next two days or after I return." I heard her say to Aria. Few days? How many days? Personal work? So many questions popped into my mind, but I made a full stop, not interested in asking her. It did not bother her where I was, so why should I?

"Why is the road so crowded?" I asked, halting the car as I saw people hovering over each other and holding placards."The employees of Shimmers." Anthony said and started calling God knows whom.

"We have to make our way through the crowd. They have blocked other entrances as well. They've been calling your name and the manager, Julie Johns, has been asking you to give her club back." Anthony reported as he got off his phone.

"As if it was ever hers," Liara stated, not caring about the protest and the fact that her name would flash on every news channel.

"Shouldn't we meet her and solve the issue?" I suggested.

"Not needed. She was never the owner, to begin with." Liara repeated, and I sped up the car through the crowd when the guards lined up, pushing the protesters aside before making way for us. I felt terrible for the people protesting as they believed Julie was the owner, but that wasn't the case. Her father cheated on her and the blame game was forced upon Liara.

"We have to be careful. Aria, you go with the guards and I will cover Liara." Anthony said as he got down from the car. The protestors grew angry and started shouting louder as soon as they saw Liara getting down from the car.

"It's fine, Anthony. You cover Aria. Zearo is with me." Liara said suddenly when my focus was on searching for Julie. They said she was standing at the main gate, but I couldn't find her.

"Zearo, will you take care of her?" Anthony asked again, and I nodded at him and held Liara closer to me, making way towards the entrance. The crowd grew fierce, and the guards started pushing them back. I held Liara tighter, to which she yelped. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," I said, realizing that I touched her injury.

"Are you alright? You look tense." She asked as I held her slightly, occupying her hands.

"I'm okay," I said and suddenly I heard Julie's voice.

"Julie," I murmured, to which Liara remained silent. Carefully taking Liara towards the reception, I asked the guards to stay guarded and rushed towards where I saw Julie. The guards tried to stop me, but I pushed them aside and rushed towards Julie, who scrunched down on the floor.

"Julie, Julie, you alright?" I asked as I tried to hold her appropriately and carefully as I saw the injury in her hands.

"Who did this to you? And why didn't you tell me about this protest before?" I asked her amidst the crowd. When her workers saw her injured, they grew more fierce and violent, making my blood boil.

I looked up at the guards, who were confused about what to do as they knew I was their owner's husband holding another woman who was protesting against their owner. A very complicated situation.

"Stop this." I tried persuading Julie, but she shook her head. Her face was swollen because of the heat and the constant protest.

I sighed as I needed to get this sorted, otherwise Liara would do something that Julie and I would regret later. She didn't take action against the illegal work and I was wondering what she had in mind.

"Look, your father was the actual owner, and he signed the contract with her. It's a genuine transaction. We can do nothing." Julie was hell-bent on making her life miserable, and I would not sit and watch her do that.

"You are supporting your wife. My father wrote the will in my name and all his property belongs to me." She said breathlessly, holding the pluck card up.

"Julie, you are ignoring the fact," I said, frustrated with the way she was being stubborn.

"These people believe you were the owner and Liara stole it. They don't know that you had your brother run the illegal business behind their back and you don't have a proper document to prove that Shimmers was ever yours." I tried to pour some sense into her brain.

"I need to talk to her. They didn't even let me have an appointment with her. You know Shimmers is my life. I can't!" She sobbed into my arms. Her workers surrounded us as they saw their owner breaking down in front of them.

"We want justice! Liara D'Waner, you snatched it from our boss. We won't be working in Shimmers if you don't give it back to her." The workers started shouting. Slowly, every single one of them joined and chanted the same thing again and again. I held Julie tightly as she kept on crying and said, "If you want to support your wife, you can go to her."

"I'm stating the fact, Julie. You have to understand that you are spoiling their life as well." I said, pointing at her workers.

Through my peripheral vision, I saw Anthony and a lady making their way towards the crowd. Julie pushed me aside and walked towards them. The entire crowd stopped shouting as the cops walked towards us.

"Our CEO heard your plea and would like to point out things that you might want to know." The lady said as Anthony backed her.

"Where is she?" Julie asked, and I facepalmed. She wanted her attention, and I didn't know why.

"She is busy in a meeting. We are here to solve the issue." Anthony said through gritted teeth. I knew he was frustrated, as now and then his eyes threw daggers at me. I slowly made my way towards Julie, worried she might get hurt, and saw Anthony glaring at me. He turned his face away as I raised my eyebrows, questioning if he had a problem.

"First, they signed the deal months back when the actual owner, Mr. John, was alive. Because of his death, the ownership transfer was delayed and a few days back, they gave our CEO the full ownership of the club." She said, and the workers started whispering. I knew this would happen. I was worried about what Julie was going through.

"Second, if anyone wants to quit even after their new owner increases their salary by twenty percent each, you are more than welcome." She landed the second bomb, separating the crowd into two halves. One who retreated after hearing the offer and the other who still wanted Julie to be the rightful owner.

"You are using money as bait now? How lowly of you!" Julie cursed them.

"We are giving what they deserve. It's business and our CEO also has an offer for you, miss." The lady said politely. The way she handled the situation was really impressive. She within a second crushed the group into pieces without even bringing the actual matter.

"She proposes for you to keep managing the business and will be given a twenty percent share of the club's profit, including monthly remuneration." She said, and the crowd cheered louder. The way Liara turned the completely faithful crowd to her benefit was just unimaginable.

"I don't want her charity." Julie spat, and the crowd gasped. They tried to persuade her, but she walked away, jerking my hands off of her shoulder. I shook my head. As her childish nature had her in trouble.

"Whoever wishes to accept the offer, join the club by tomorrow evening. Your one-month advance paycheck and the new agreement will be given to you." She said and halted when her eyes landed on me and then walked away along with Anthony, who kept glaring at me the entire time.

"I'm stuck." I scratched the back of my neck, wondering where I should be going first. "Keep your other relations away until you are married." I heard a voice. Turning around, I saw Charles frowning at me.

"What now?" I asked, confused why he was angry at me when I did nothing.

"You, in front of all the employees of your wife, supported your girlfriend. Can you imagine, they have broadcasted it live and her family might be watching it right now?" Charles asked as he placed his hands on his waist. His team was sorting the crowd out and slowly allowing the traffic to clear.

"I am a member of Shimmers, too. I was supporting my boss." I said so.

"Yeah right. Holding hands, wiping tears, giving her shoulder to cry on while your wife is watching from afar." He said, pointing at the window on the topmost floor. I looked up but couldn't find anyone.

"I did what was right to do," I said and walked inside the office, Charles following me behind. I could hear the people whispering about me and Julie making my blood boil.

"Where do you think you are going?" Anthony stopped me as I was off to Liara's cabin.

"To meet Ms. D'Waner. She asked me to meet after sorting things out." Charles butted in. I swatted Anthony's hand and walked inside the cabin, where I saw Liara stepping away from her desk and talking over the intercom with a man. She raised her hand, asking us to wait, and I stopped and so did Charles.

"Mr. Luchellies, it will be my pleasure to join you for lunch tomorrow." She said and disconnected the call. Surprised how she dropped another bomb at me, I looked at Charles and he had the same expression.

"Do you have a death wish?" I asked, my voice alarmingly high, making her flinch. I felt a grip on my hands, but I threw Charles's hands away from me. My anger giving me a hard time controlling my actions. I moved faster towards Liara and held her tighter. Looking into her eyes, I saw no emotions, and she slightly raised her eyebrows, questioning my behavior.
"You better have a fucking reason to walk to a wolf's den." I snapped at her and she just smiled at me. 

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