The man who had dragged her into the landing did not do anything to her. Instead, he leaned against the door and lit a cigarette.
Bethan managed to make out his face with the dim light of the cigarette. “Brettley?”
Brettley took a deep puff of his cigarette, his face expressionless. “You’ve barely known the man for an hour, yet you let him send you home and even accepted a gift from him?”
Bethan’s breath caught in her throat. “Were you following me?”
Brettley did not answer her. Instead, he shot her a cold glance. “Are you feeling lonely now because I left you and the children are back where they rightfully belong? Is that why you’re so desperate?”
Bethan gave him an incredulous look. “What does this have to do with you? Let me tell you, Brettley Morrison, the only relationship I have with you right now is that of CEO and employee. Does the Morrison Group pride itself on invading its employees’ privacy?”
Brettley paused. After a moment, he took another puff of his cigarette. “I just wanted to give you a word of caution: don’t trust everyone you meet.”
Within hours of meeting, Theo had held Bethan’s hand in public, drove her home, and even gave her a gift. Brettley’s gut feeling told him that this man probably had ulterior motives toward her. He could not be trusted!
“Don’t trust everyone you meet… “
Bethan echoed then smirked. “That sounds like a piece of good advice. Unfortunately, there are a lot of good liars out there. Some of them are so skilled that even though the situation called for the truth, they can still lie through their teeth and claim they didn’t see anything.”
Bethan lifted her head and gave Brettley a defiant look. “
Do you agree with me, Mr. Morrison?”
Brettley’s expression darkened. He remained silent for a long while before he finally confessed, “I’m sorry for what happened just now, but I have my reasons. Alice– “
“I know what your reasons are. It’s because you can’ t bear to let your oh-so -perfect wife admit she did something wrong, isn’t it?”
Bethan interjected, her suppressed rage finally taking over. “I genuinely can’t understand you, Brettley.
“Bethan Peterson sacrificed so much for you in your marriage, but did you give her anything in return? Every night, she waited for you to get off work until past midnight. She was unhappy and your family mistreated her, but she didn’t say a single word about it to you to not upset you. She had a bright future ahead of her, but because of you, she gave up on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study abroad. What did you give her in return? You didn’t even give her so much as a glance. Yet now, six years later, you act like a perfect husband to Alice. You give her all your love and protection, and you’re even willing to go against your principles and lie for her.”
Bethan turned her face to the side to hide her disappointed expression. “I really can’t understand you.”
“You’re right. Alice was indeed at fault for what happened today.”
Brettley let out a deep sigh. “Neil and Nellie refuse to acknowledge her as their mother. The reason why she tried to frame you is that she’s jealous of you. She’s jealous that the children seem to love you more than her.”
Bethan sniffed and snickered at him. “They’ll never love her. “
Bethan knew that her children would never acknowledge another woman as their mother.
“
She’s still their birth mother , ” said Brettley as he sighed again. “
She and I will work together to try to regain their trust again. What happened today at the art gallery won’t happen a second time.”
Bethan turned around and gave him a cold stare. “How do you know it won’t happen again? What if it does? Will you lie for her again, just like how you did today?”
Brettley furrowed his brows in annoyance. “Don’t be unreasonable. I already said this won’t happen a second time.”
“Well, you better hope it doesn’t.”
Bethan scoffed and circled him, but he immediately grabbed her arm. “
Stay away from Theo Allen.”
Bethan flung his hand away. “He’s an artist I’ve admired for a long time, and I’m his favorite jewelry designer. Whatever happens between the two of us is none of your business! Why don’t you go home and lecture your wife instead?”
Without a second glance, Bethan strode out of the landing and entered the elevator. Just as the elevator doors closed, she caught a glimpse of Brettley, still standing motionless on the landing. She sniffed, a little amused at the irony of the whole situation.
The elevator arrived at her floor. When Bethan entered the apartment, she saw that Anne was already asleep. She had left some food for Bethan on the dining table.
Bethan microwaved the food and sat down for her dinner. As she ate, she opened the gift that Theo had given her before he left. It was a USB flash drive.
Bethan frowned. Immediately, she picked up her bowl and went into her room. She inserted the flash drive into her computer.
The flash drive contained a video file that looked like footage caught from a surveillance camera. Bethan played the video, and her eyes widened in shock as she watched.
It was surveillance footage of Alice trying to frame her! The camera had caught everything from an excellent angle with Alice’s face in full view and even managed to record the sound.
Bethan stared at her computer screen dazedly before she suddenly recalled what Theo had said earlier.
‘I display knock-offs of my own artwork and place them in surveillance camera blind spots. However, these paintings have cameras embedded inside them
“Bethan, Bethan! “
The next morning, Bethan was woken up by Anne’s continuous knocking. She rubbed her eyes and crawled out of bed. “What’s wrong?”
Last night, as soon as she finished watching the footage, Bethan sent the video to Nigel. Nigel had called her in an attempt to console her, and the phone call had lasted a few hours. As a result, Bethan had gone to sleep at 2 a.m.
She was woken up at 7 a.m.
“Someone’s here for you! It’s a guy called Theo. He says he’s here to have breakfast with you and drive you to work! “
Bethan immediately jolted awake and leaped off the bed. “Theo?”
“Yeah, ” replied Anne from the other side of the door. “I think he’s an artist or something.”
Bethan quickly washed up and groomed herself. When she finally emerged from her room, Theo, in all white, sat on the couch as he talked with John. When he caught sight of Bethan, Theo smiled and stood up. “
Good morning.”
“Good morning,” muttered Bethan, somewhat embarrassed.
Her lateness did not seem to bother him, however. He glanced at his watch. “If I remember correctly, the Morrison Group’s punch-in time is 8:30 am. It’s 7:20 am now, and the Morrison Group Tower is about thirty minutes away, which gives us forty minutes left to have breakfast together.”
As soon as he finished, Theo stood up in a graceful motion. “Come on, let’s go.”
Bethan hesitated, but after a moment, she bade Anne farewell and followed him.
A while later, they were seated at a café near the Morrison Group Tower. Bethan sipped her oatmeal and said to Theo, “I had no idea you were going to pick me up for work…”
She gave him an awkward smile. “I just…”
“You don’t think our relationship is at that stage yet? “
The corners of Theo’s mouth turned up in a gentle smile. “It’s okay. You’ll get used to this soon.”
Bethan pondered for a moment before she looked up at him solemnly. “I have a fiancé.”
Theo chuckled. “What does me trying to get to know you have anything to do with your fiancé?”
Bethan was dumbstruck at his response. Not knowing what else to say, she continued eating her breakfast instead.
“Your friend and her boyfriend have a really good thing going, ” said Theo nonchalantly. “He mentioned to me that you went home last night, but you left the food in front of the door and left. It must be inconvenient having her boyfriend hanging around all the time, isn’t it?”
Bethan kept silent, but she nodded after a moment. She had been considering moving out to live on her own since the house that had burnt down obviously could not be inhabited anymore. Besides, it would not be easy trying to get pregnant with Brettley’s child. Bethan knew she could not stay with Anne and b e a third-wheel forever.
Theo took out a pamphlet from his bag and handed it to her. “I’ve been living here for quite a while now– it’s a pretty good place. Why don’t you take a look at this? If you like it, we can be neighbors.”
Bethan flipped through the pamphlet. Theo was right; it looked like an excellent good place to live. The location was strategic, just a stone’s throw away from both the Morrison Group Tower and Blue Bay Villa, and the facilities looked superb. The rent was a little above average, but Bethan had enough savings.
“Thank you, I ’11 consider it.”
She thanked Theo and slipped the pamphlet into her handbag. However, just as she lifted her gaze, she caught sight of the two people coining in through the entrance.
Bethan rolled her eyes. ‘What an unfortunate coincidence, ‘ she thought. She did not expect to run into Brettley and Alice on a breakfast date like this.
Theo saw that she was gazing in the direction of the café entrance and turned around. He chuckled and waved at Brettley. “Mr. Morrison, fancy running into you here.”
Brettley was busy ordering with Alice at the counter, so he did not even notice Theo or Bethan.
Brettley turned around when he heard Theo’s voice. As soon as his gaze met Bethan’s and Theo’s, his expression darkened.
Alice, too, caught sight of them. She pursed her lips in indignation and said to Brettley pointedly, “Look at that. Bethan and Theo Allen had just met yesterday, yet they’re already here on a breakfast date. Tsk.”
Brettley could not help but frown at Alice’s tone. After a moment, he strode to where the duo sat and plopped down in the empty seat right next to Bethan. “
Let’s share a table.”
Alice had no choice but to hastily follow, but she noticed that the only available seat left was next to Theo. She sat down reluctantly.
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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