“I told you so,” another chime in, “I said she wouldn’t be so smug for much longer.”
Lisa Cindy knows that nothing good will come from her hassling Leilani so she gives the other woman a vicious glare. Leilani looks back at Lisa as if she doesn’t care. Lisa is so angry that she stomps as she walks away, stewing in failure and disgrace.
In truth, Leilani didn’t notice Lisa’s glare and doesn’t even know what they were talking about. Instead, she’s been subtly looking around the room to find someone she caught a brief glimpse of, but the woman is gone before Leilani can take a second look.
Leilani swears she saw someone she knew, but the woman disappeared in the blink of an eye.
“What are you looking for?” Waylen asks.
“Nothing,” Leilani answers distractedly.
She continues to scan the restaurant, looking for the woman. The large, luxury buffet in the middle of the room blocks Leilani’s view of part of the restaurant. With a sigh of disappointment she stops looking, but then, out of the corner of her eye, she sees something. She gets up, slowly and nervously.
“What do you want?” she asks Waylen, “I’ll get it for you.”
“Servants can do that,” Waylen says casually.
“I want to see if there’s anything I like,” Leilani says.
Waylen doesn’t want to refuse her rare kindness to him. He grabs her hands and kisses them. Then he reluctantly let her go and sends two guards to follow her.
Leilani picks up a tray and food tongs while looking around. There are not many people in this part of the restaurant and she quickly spotted the figure she’s looking for. The woman is bending to get something and she doesn’t see Leilani looking at her. When she straightens up, she looks right at Leilani and freezes in surprise and terror. Leilani puts down the tray to approach and the woman does the same before breaking into a run.
“Gabby! Stop!” Leilani shouts.
Gabrielle doesn’t stop running, but Leilani’s guards quickly grab her. She’s still struggling when Leilani walks up to her. She orders the men to let Gabrielle go and carefully examines her sister.
“She should be at school now,” Leilani thinks, “What is she doing here at a hotel in Paradise City?”
“It’s you,” Leilani says in wonderment, “What are you doing here?”
“Leilani,” Gabrielle keeps her head down out of guilt and refuses to meet Leilani’s gaze, “I—”
Nervous and anxious, Gabrielle wrings her dress and steps back quietly after seeing Waylen approach behind Leilani.
“Are you the woman from Andrew’s room last night?” Waylen asks.
He recognizes Gabrielle as the woman taking a shower in Andrew’s room.
“No wonder her face seemed so familiar last night,” he thinks.
Waylen remembers seeing Gabrielle at the Bamford house when Leilani invited her family over for the announcement of their divorce. He remembers thinking she was a quiet girl without much presence, a lot like the old Leilani.
“Andrew’s room?” Leilani asks, giving Gabrielle a confused look, “What’s going on?”
“Waylen is wrong,” Gabrielle says, her voice becoming weaker and weaker with each word, “I wasn’t there.”
Casual onlookers begin to look at the finely dressed group standing in the corner. Leilani takes a look at Gabrielle’s outfit. Although she’s the youngest of Peters girls, she was never the favorite and always dressed plainly. Now she’s wearing a limited edition dress from Chanel. The white dress with black hemlines adds some elegance and poise to her otherwise obedient look, but it’s not an outfit she’d normally wear.
The hotel is known for hosting stars and the rich and famous throw money around as if it’s nothing. The hotel also has a reputation for being the place where rich men and politicians bring their girlfriends and mistresses. Leilani’s face turns cold.
“Do you want to tell me why you’re here?” she asks again, “And what’s that Waylen said about you being in Andrew’s room last night?”
“So I guess you know each other?” a laconic voice drifts to them from across the room.
Andrew approaches with his hands casually in his pockets followed by a few bodyguards. Gabrielle keeps her head down like a child who’s been caught in a lie. Leilani grabs Gabrielle and pulls her behind her back.
“Mr. Clifford,” Leilani greets him coldly.
“Are you friends or sisters?” Andrew asks.
He casts a casual look at Waylen, but he doesn’t greet him. He focuses on Leilani instead.
Leilani frowns, “Cut the crap. What are you doing with my sister?”
“You have to ask her,” Andrew says with a smirk.
Leilani turns around and looks at Gabrielle, “What is going on?”
Gabrielle slowly lifts her head and reveals tear-filled eyes. She doesn’t start talking until Andrew sits down and Waylen walks away to take a call.
“Mr. Clifford had a big operation the other day and was in want of a nurse,” Gabrielle says, “I came to look after him.”
She’s studying to be a nurse so that part of her story makes sense.
“Had a big operation?” Leilani asks skeptically.
She hasn’t seen any trace of that but Andrew does have the gauze on his chest. She assumed it was from a knife wound because his shirt was torn.
Leilani stares at Gabrielle, “What about your studies?”
“I—” Gabrielle trails off nervously.
“I think father put you in a hospital as an intern,” Leilani says, “Does he know you’re here?”
“He doesn’t, no,” Gabrielle admits weakly, “But the Cliffords did me a favor and Andrew needed a nurse so how could I say no? Leilani, please, don’t tell father.”
“I can’t do that,” Leilani says determinedly, “I’ll take you home as soon as it stops raining.”
“No, Leilani, I don’t want to go back,” Gabrielle protests, “Why do I have to?”
“Do you know what sort of a man he is?” Leilani asks, “You’re not safe with him.”
Then she looks at Andrew sitting lazily in the chair and sees that he’s staring at them. He squints slightly as if he knows what they’re talking about.
“He helped me and he seems like a nice guy,” Gabrielle says, “And, he hasn’t ever touched me.”
Gabrielle blushes and the redness spreads to her ears.
“What a naive girl!” Leilani thinks.
Leilani recalls how Andrew teased her in the bathroom stall. Gabrielle is like an innocent rabbit that Andrew can devour at any time. More than that, she’s simple enough to bathe herself in butter and herbs before jumping into the wolf’s mouth.
“Just because he doesn’t touch you now doesn’t mean he won’t later,” Leilani snaps, “Be a good girl and follow me back.”
Leilani grabs the 18 year-old girl’s tender hands.
“Leilani, I don’t want to go back,” Gabrielle pouts, “And I already signed a contract with Mr. Clifford. I can’t just walk away.”
“I’ll take care of that for you,” Leilani assures her.
“Leilani—” Gabrielle stops herself before she can say the first words that spring to her lips.
She and Leilani were always picked on by the Peters girls because they had different mothers. Every time she was bullied, Leilani stood up for her and protected her. However, the more fight they put up, the worse they got bullied. They always stuck together before Leilani left and married Waylen. In spite of everything that has happened, Gabrielle still has a soft spot for Leilani.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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