Chapter 331 – An Unbreakable Vow with the Heartless Tycoon

“Hey babe, do you think my sister looks better with long or short hair?” Caitan asks.

“I don’t even notice the difference,” he says. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re the only woman worth looking at.”

“Oh, come on,” Jessica mutters. “You’re both so full of shit.”

Before Mamai dated Caitan, he dated Jessica. He was never a good boyfriend, but his large brown eyes and dark, tousled hair made him an ideal partner to show off at parties and social events. Every time she saw him, Caitan flirted with him. Little by little, Jessica began to notice him flirting back, until one day she walked in on the two of them kissing.

They deserve each other, Jessica thinks. Caitan likes stealing other people’s boyfriends just to prove she can, and Mamai likes having multiple girlfriends at a time. I hope he leaves her for another woman as he did with me.

“That’s so rude, Jessica,” Caitan says. “Since when did you start swearing? Mom punishes her.”

“Oh, come on,” Jessica says. “I’m not a child anymore.”

“Both of them shush,” their mom says. “Your brother is coming.”

There are footsteps and voices in the hall outside the door. It sounds like a whole team of bodyguards, and servants are coming with Andrew and Leilani. Bella claps her hands and whispers orders to a servant, and the man rushes away.

The doors swing open, and Leilani and Andrew come into the room. The servant runs back in and throws a thin mat onto the floor in front of Leilani. Leilani’s eyes widen, and she looks at Andrew with confusion. Jessica also shoots a confused look at her mom.

“Don’t you know the Clifford family rules?” her mom asks. “Since you’re going to be my daughter-in-law, you must get onto the floor and bow to me. And then you must do the same for your future sisters-in-law.”

Jessica wants to hug her mom—the look on Leilani’s face is priceless.

Leilani can’t believe her ears: there’s no way they expect her to get down on the floor and bow to everyone. It has to be a joke. She laughs, but Bella Clifford shoots her a strange look. Are they serious?

“Mrs. Clifford, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of such a thing,” she says. “Is this a universal rule? Or is it only for the people dating your children?”

Bella Clifford purses her thick lips. She has a mole in the corner of her eye just like Andrew, but it looks menacing instead of flirtatious. She sits down and glares at Leilani.

“Who do you think you are?” Bella asks. “It’s not easy to become a Clifford. You have to earn my son.”

“You have no idea just how difficult it is,” Leilani mutters under her breath.

Only Andrew hears her, and his fingers dig into her ribs. She winces and tries to pull away, but he keeps her close to his side. Bella’s sharp eyes flash, and she smirks at Leilani.

“If you want my son, you’ll get on your knees,” Bella says. “If you actually love him, that won’t be a problem for you.”

Leilani rolls her eyes and says, “Do you know that this will be my second marriage, Mrs. Clifford?”

Bella’s mouth falls open, and Andrew’s sisters snicker behind their hands. Clearly, no one was expecting her to be so open about her divorce. She looks around the room, locking eyes with each woman.

“I’m not some naïve little girl,” Leilani says. “I’ve been married before, and I know what I should expect from my in-laws. I’m not bowing to any of you.”

“I will not be spoken to this way in my own home,” Bella hisses. “I’ve told you our family rules, and I expect you to respect them. If not, you can leave.”

“Really?” Leilani asks. She points at Mamai and says, “Did you bow when you first came here?”

Mamai looks away, and Leilani nods. She takes out her phone and snaps a picture of the mats on the floor and then points the camera at Bella, Caitan, and Jessica. She puts the pictures into a photo album and starts writing a caption on Facebook.

“What are you doing?” Bella asks.

“I’m posting this on Facebook,” Leilani says. “I’m sure all my followers will be interested to hear about the strange rules in the Clifford home.”

Bella jumps to her feet and lunges toward Leilani, “Don’t post them!”

Leilani raises the phone above her head, but it’s snatched out of her hand all the same. She turns and sees Andrew looking down at the screen. A small smile plays around the corner of his mouth.

“Oh, thank God,” Bella says. “Andrew, delete those photos at once.”

Andrew shakes his head and says, “Leilani, my mother is playing a trick on you. My family doesn’t have any rules about bowing.”

He tosses the phone back to Leilani and kicks the mats toward Mamai. Mamai catches the mat with one hand and tosses it over his shoulder. He steps behind Caitan and looks Leilani up and down, undressing her with his eyes. She scowls, and he winks at her.

“Come on now, mom,” Andrew says. He lets go of Leilani and crosses the room to hug Bella. He lowers his voice to a whisper, but Leilani can hear every word, “Mom, what do you think you’re doing? You can’t treat my fiancé like this—I had a hard time bringing her here already. If you scare her away, I swear I’ll have another heart attack.”

Bella glares at Leilani over Andrew’s shoulder, and Leilani shrugs and smiles innocently back. Andrew lets go of his mom and pulls Leilani close to his side. A sharp knock on the door breaks the heavy silence.

“Come in,” Bella calls.

The butler rushes in and says, “Mrs. Clifford, Mr. Clifford just called and said that he’s having dinner with the president and his family. He wants you and Andrew to join him—he says it’s a very important banquet.”

“Really?” Bella asks. “This is terribly last minute; I’m going to have to start getting ready now.”

“Wait, mom, I wanna go too,” Caitan whines.

“Of course you can come, dear,” Bella says. “You, too, Jessica. I don’t know what your father thought when he just invited Andrew and me—the whole family should be there.” She pauses and glares at Leilani, “Andrew, have the drivers take her back home.”

“If she’s going back home, so am I,” Andrew says. “But if you want me at that dinner, she comes too.”

“Please be reasonable, Andrew,” Bella says. “You can’t invite more people to the president’s dinner.”

“Well, you just did, Mom,” Andrew says.

“It’s okay,” Leilani says. “I’m not a big fan of banquets, and I don’t have anything appropriate to wear. The driver can take me back.”

“No,” Andrew says. “I wanted to introduce you to my family, but now I can introduce you to everyone else.”

“No, Andrew, please,” Leilani whispers.

He whispers back, “Don’t you want to save Gabrielle?”

Leilani grinds her teeth and glares at him. Andrew is her only chance at saving Gabrielle from the brothel. If she doesn’t listen to him, Gabrielle will be stuck serving rich men for the rest of her life.

“Mom, just let Leilani come,” Caitan says. “I have a new dress up in my wardrobe—Leilani can borrow it.”

Leilani freezes. She’s not sure why Caitan is so nice—surely the girl must have some secret motive. She watches as Caitan darts out of the room and rushes upstairs. She comes back a few minutes later, carrying a white garment bag and a pair of low black heels.

Leilani takes the garment bag, and one of the servants rushes forward to grab the heels. Caitan smiles and glances down at Leilani’s purse. Leilani follows her gaze and looks at the black leather bag. It’s only slightly bigger than a clutch, with a silver chain strap and crocodile leather. Andrew gave her the bag when she moved into his house—it’s a limited edition and from Hermes’ next collection. No one else in the world has it yet.

Leilani takes the garment bag into the dressing room and strips out of her own outfit. The dress is stunning, and it fits her quite well, despite the slight baby bump. She zips it up to the side and spins in front of the mirror. A soft ripping sound makes her freeze.

She unzips the dress and pulls it off, terrified she’s burst a seam. She holds the gown up under the light and checks each seam, but they’re all fine. Then she checks the straps. The fabric is frayed where it meets the bodice of the dress as if someone has hacked at it with a pair of scissors.

So that’s why Caitan was so eager to lend me her dress, she thinks. She wanted it to rip in public and humiliate me. We’ll see who has the last laugh, though.

She calls for a servant and asks the woman to bring her a shawl, a pair of scissors, and a needle and thread. The servant comes back with the items, and Leilani cuts the broken straps and slips a few stitches into the top of the dress to make it snug around her bust.

She puts the dress back on, slips her feet into the sparkling black shoes, and sweeps her hair into an elegant updo. Jessica ruined all of her makeup, so she splashes water on her face and pinches her cheeks. She studies her reflection in the mirror. Hopefully, pregnant women indeed have a natural glow, she thinks.

When she leaves the dressing room, the entire family is waiting outside. Leilani wraps the shawl around her shoulders to hide the modified dress and steps out. Caitan frowns and nudges Jessica.

“Don’t you like the dress?” Caitan asks.

“Of course I do,” Leilani says.

“Then why are you wearing the shawl?” Caitan asks. “Wait, Mom, isn’t that Grandma’s shawl? It’s so old fashioned.”

Leilani smooths the shawl and says, “Ever since I got pregnant, I get cold really easily. I asked the servant to get a shawl from Andrew, and he gave this to me. Perhaps I’ll take it off when I feel warmer.”

“It’s hideous,” Jessica says, flipping the long hair of her wig over her shoulder.

“Hmm, what do you think, Andrew?” Leilani asks. “Do you think it’s too ugly?”

“Well, a bit,” Andrew says. He winks and adds, “But you need something to distract from your beauty.”

Caitan rolls her eyes and says, “You’re so funny, Andrew.”

She looks down at Leilani’s handbag, smiles, and heads out the front door. Leilani slings the bag over her shoulder and follows Caitan out.

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