"Master, what do we do now?'' Marco asked as we strolled behind the warehouse in the dark alley as I saw them take Logan and the twins away from me. I was surprised after Logan spoke about her mother and how that triggered her. For a second, I believed what Logan said. She mustn't have searched for her enough and might have ended in a conclusion.

"We had our fun with that bastard and now I don't really care what they do to him and where they take him," I said, shrugging my shoulders. Walking in the alley, I lit the cigarette and took a long whiff of it, extending another one to Marco.

"Master, I think I should head back if you don't need me anymore." He said, and I nodded, as they hated staying idle anywhere. Drake had to handle so much stuff and Marco should help him out instead of wasting his time with me.

"I should leave then." He bowed to me and I waved him off. Wandering in the alley all alone, my mind focused on how uneasy she was after he blamed her. What was she hiding? What happened in the past that bothered her so much!? I thought in my mind, but then again that wasn't my business anyway, so I walked away from the warehouse and towards the Villa.

"Shouldn't you be heading towards Shimmers?" I halted as I heard Oldie's voice. Turning towards him, I smiled after I saw his smiling face.

"Shimmers is going through some renovations and we, the employees, are taking leave," I stated. On the bumpy road, he pushed his cycle towards his house and looked at me. "You look so exhausted. Come, let me feed you something delicious in my hotel." He offered, but I shook my head. I had enough of his free meal and was in no mood to exhaust him even further.

"You look tired as well. Working in the company during the day and hotel at night. Isn't it exhausting?" I asked. I've always seen his cheerful face, even if he faced so many difficulties.

"Of course not! A man should keep working as long as he is alive. And I have a beautiful daughter who has been taking care of my company." He said, beaming with a proud smile on his face.

"That's so nice." I answered, genuinely happy that finally, his life was getting better.

"Every day, she asks about you. You should meet up with us sometimes to catch up and have dinner with us." He said, but paused as he looked at the sky as if wondering about something.

"What is it, Oldie? You know you can share anything with me." I said, concerned about him.

"I wanted to invite Ms. D'Waner for dinner as well, but.." He paused and I furrowed my eyebrows.

"But what?" I asked.

"She is such a powerful and prestigious lady. It might not suit her to visit my house." He concluded, feeling dejected.

"You are inviting me and my wife. She will definitely come." I said, but then regretted the next second.

"You sure? That would be great! How about this weekend? I will keep everything according to her style." He started talking nervously. His voice was barely audible, as he was saying in a gibberish manner.

"You keep everything simple. She isn't the choosy type." I assured him, even if I had my suspicion. I promised him without asking her and she might kill me if I asked her to dine with my friends.

"Okay Oldie, I must head back home," I said and walked away from him towards the lioness' den. She was already angry at me and now this dinner. Ugh, I had only three days to convince her.

*******

"Let me know if something goes wrong." It has to be her fifth long call for the night as I bashed my head on the wall, waiting for her to hang up and look at me for once. But damn, that woman kept on blabbering without even bothering to look at me.

"What brings you here?" I heard her voice and turned around away from the balcony and towards her.

"Do you remember Mr. Oliver Stones?" I asked hesitantly but to my surprise she nodded. Her baby hairs touched her eyelids as she tied her hair in a loose bun. She looked exhausted but didn't give up on work and sleep.

"What is it? If it's nothing serious, then let me finish my work." She said as I was contemplating how to begin.

"He invited me and my wife to dinner with so much love that I couldn't deny," I said in a rush. It felt like I was a student answering a question that was out of the syllabus to my teacher. She then raised her eyebrows and bit her pen, her habit that I noticed many times.

"And?" she asked. I stood there noticing how her collar bone was at display and gulped down my saliva as my throat turned dry.

"This Saturday, can you spare an hour?" I asked. It was as if asking someone on a date. I felt so embarrassed.

"Why don't you take Julie with you if you are finding it uncomfortable to just inform me?" She asked, and I took a deep breath, frustrated.

"He knows you are my wife, otherwise I would have taken Julie with me. At least she wouldn't have disregarded my sincere request as you did." I said, feeling hurt. Julie wasn't my wife, but she was. An immense irritating feeling formed in my brain, making me angry.

"Do as you please. I have to change my schedule. Remind me that day so that I could push my appointments one hour late." She said and got back to another call without waiting for my reply.

"How considerate." I mocked, and she turned towards me and mouthed, anything else? And I shook my head. This was enough for a day. I couldn't handle my crazy heart beating so louder.

"Why is talking to her so difficult?" I murmured and walked towards her room, which was more or less mine, as she barely slept there.

Aimlessly walking through the hallway, my eyes landed on the enormous portrait of her grandma and mother. They had an immense charm on their faces and that definitely passed on to her.

"They were so hardworking." I heard Dima from behind and turned towards her. "Ah." I could say nothing as I wondered whether butting in would be pleasant.

"How?" I started, but Dima knew my question and said. "An accident. That took away all our happiness and princess childhood."

"Hit and run?" I asked. Prying further was not my intention, but I wanted to know what happened that day.

"Police concluded that, but we didn't believe it." She nodded at me as her eyes never left the portrait.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"What could we do? Liara was just fifteen years old and that day was her birthday. She waited for her mother and grandma to come back home and cut the princess cake she loved. But she had to face such a cruel thing that day." Dima shook her head as she had tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I'm sure she might not have told you this, considering her weakness. But for me, she is the strongest girl I've ever seen." She said proudly, smiling at me. Her tears made their way down her eyes, but she had a painful smile on her face.

"She knew nothing about business or the enemies of SAMS at that time. She searched for days for any clue as we couldn't find their bodies." Her voice felt as if it got caught in her throat. I could feel the pain they went through just by listening to her.

"Did no one help you find the culprit? How about Liara's father?" Letting a fifteen-year-old go through so much pain was so inconsiderate of her father.

"He didn't know nor wanted to know about their wellbeing." She shrugged her shoulders and wiped the tears off her face and then looked at me with affection.

"I always prayed for her to find a better man than her father. And I'm so happy to look at him now." She smiled and patted my shoulder gently. I bowed to her, unable to speak, as everything she believed was wrong. It was all a lie.

"I might not be as good as you have imagined me to be." I shook my head and replied. Having her hopes high made me feel guilty, as I was not the guy she pictured me to be.

"Oh, I've seen enough to differentiate between good and bad. I know what I'm saying." She said confidently, and I laughed.

"She is hard to deal with, but I know if anyone can handle her, then it's you." She smiled and descended the stairs, surprising me with her words. I looked at her retiring figure and then the enormous portrait and shook my head, surprised as she dodged my question and wrapped me around some impossible expectations that weren't easy to digest, let alone the possibility of actually happening.

"Huh, my curiosity peaks every time I watch these two ladies staring at me as if I'm a thief," I murmured to myself.

"Aren't you one, though?" I heard a surprised voice and turned around hastily.

"I'm no thief." I corrected it. I wasn't a thief. That wasn't exactly what I did in the past. I furrowed my brows, contemplating my words.

"A thousand billion dollar statue that was entirely made of gold and carved with crystal diamonds having been found after five hundred years was stolen in the year two thousand fifteen." She spoke, taking one step at a time towards me. As she came closer, my heartbeat increased.

"What are you implying?" I asked foolishly, expecting that she imagined stuff, but man, was I wrong?

"A famous Italian man has it decorated in his private villa on an island he purchased after selling it to the nobles in Rome. No one has any idea where that statue went after the nobles placed it in the museum." She shook her head, and I was awestruck.

"Whatever. You really need some sleep." I composed myself and tried to change the subject.

"Ah, Alfredo wants to play dumb suddenly after finding that someone knows about his hidden treasure?" She mocked, folding her hands below her chest. Her loose floral nightdress and a messy cert with a pure bare face made her look so childish if we could ignore her devilish attitude though.

"Have you been digging about my past? Isn't it so lame to do?" I asked. That island and my house were a complete secret. I never shared it with anyone. Not even Samira, let alone Drake. I had that house to store some artifacts I loved and the musical instruments that I loved to practice. It was somewhere I would escape to without the thought of anyone finding me. How did this woman find that? I was really worried by how deep her research about me was.

"Does that not apply to you? Why were you questioning my past to Dima? So considerate, huh?" She asked, frustrated. Her furrowed eyebrows and tight lips expressed how pissed she was.

"I did not. Dima herself shared it with me. Why should I be interested in knowing about someone's past who isn't that important to me?" I said, instantly regretting it, but masked my face well as words already reached where they shouldn't have been. Her expression changed so drastically that I wouldn't have noticed if I had blinked. She was sad for a second when she heard me say that.

"Ah, right? I should have known." She said and took a swift turn back to her study. I thought of stopping her, but held back as I heard her again.

"And FYI, I assumed you stole that idol after I noticed some antique and rare items in your apartment." She looked at me sideways. Her face, half lit by the chandelier, hung above her and a small smile was on her face. "And Charles once mentioned that you have an Island for yourself. I didn't find any proof but joined the dots and perhaps I hit the nail." She said and walked away from me. It appalled me, as not even Italian police could trace where the idol was and she could simply point it out as a guess? Unbelievable and I fell face-first into the trap. Great.

"How did you manage to control all those men? A petite human could keep you on your toes around her, huh?" I mocked myself and took a peek at the closed door of her study and walked away towards her room. I need to sleep. I whispered.

**†****†****†****†****†****†***

❤Vote, Comment, and Share❤