His anger erupts like an active volcano that has been dormant for too long. “Why don’t you say something?” he roars. “Why don’t you invent one of your little stories? You’re usually so full of them.”
It was a bad idea to turn to him for help, Leilani thinks regretfully. He still doesn’t believe me. I thought he would realize I was telling him the truth when he saw the results from the exams, but I guess even that wasn’t enough to change his mind. She has no idea that the results have been delayed due to technical problems at the hospital. She also doesn’t know that he still hasn’t heard her recording or found her letter.
“Why don’t you say he threatened you with Gabrielle and forced you to come to him to save her?” Waylen asks.
Leilani is dumbfounded—she has no idea how Waylen has guessed the truth. “That’s true,” she whispers.
“So I suppose you’re going to tell me that you’re just acting with Andrew,” Waylen says.
Leilani nods her head gently.
“You think I’ll trust you just like that?” Waylen asks.
She looks up at his face and sees disbelief etched across his expression. He doesn’t seem to be persuaded at all. She shakes her head in despair. “Why don’t you ever listen to my explanations?” she asks, “Why can’t you just trust me?”
“Because you’re always lying.”
He’s right. It’s all my fault, she thinks. I slowly destroyed his trust by lying and deceiving him. Things are so bad now that he won’t even believe the hospital report. I used to be so cold. I never cared if he believed me or not, but now I regret every lie I’ve ever told.
“What can I do to convince you to trust me again?” she asks.
“Trust you?” Waylen asks with a sarcastic smile. He suddenly grabs her hand and tugs her forcefully from the stall.
Leilani tries to pull her hand away, but his grip is too strong. His rage and determination terrify her, and she wants to escape. “What are you doing?” she asks.
He tugged her wrist and pulled her out of the bathroom and back to the VIP room. Andrew is sitting lazily on the sofa. As they enter the room, he lazily lifts his heavy eyelids and looks at Waylen, holding Leilani by the wrist. Andrew keeps his calm and smiles arrogantly at the duo.
Waylen positions Leilani in front of Andrew and hands her a pistol. “Shoot him in the heart in front of me, and I’ll trust you,” Waylen says. “This is the last chance I’ll ever give you.”
Leilani shakes her head in horror. She looks down at Andrew and wonders how he can look so calm although she doesn’t know for sure that Charles’ heartbeats in Andrew’s chest, she heartbeats to take the risk.
Andrew’s bodyguards pull their guns from their holsters and point them at Waylen. Waylen’s men draw their pistols and point them at Andrew’s men. They look evenly matched, and Leilani doesn’t know who will win. Either way, one thing’s for sure, the battle will be bloody.
“Are you afraid?” Waylen asks. “Or you just don’t want to hurt your precious Andrew?”
Leilani’s face pales, and she subconsciously draws her hand back. She can see the disappointment in Waylen’s eyes.
“If you’re afraid, I can help you,” Waylen said, raising his gun toward Andrew.
“No!” she screams, rushing in front of Andrew and shielding his body with her own. “Waylen, I beg you, don’t do this.”
“No?” Waylen asks, “Why not?”
“Can’t you see, Mr. Bamford?” Andrew asks with a malicious smirk. “She loves me, and she can’t bear to give me up.”
“Shut up!” Leilani hisses. She turns her head to glare at him and sees his deliberately provoking expression. She looks back at Waylen and sees he’s on the verge of losing control. His breathing is ragged, and blue veins stand out on his hand. “Waylen, I swear, he’s lying to you,” she says.
“Darling, why are you telling him this story?” Andrew asks. “Are you afraid that he’ll shoot me? Even I think it’s cruel to string him along like this.”
Waylen looks like a vengeful devil. His entire aura radiates rage and bloodl.u.s.t. He tightens his grip on the pistol’s trigger. He looks warningly at Leilani, “If you want me to trust you, get out of the way.”
“No, you can’t kill him,” Leilani begs.
I don’t know if the heart really belonged to Charles or how Charles’s heart ended up in Andrew’s body, Leilani thinks. I have no idea if Charles is alive or dead, and if he’s dead, I have no idea how he died. But I’ll find out the truth one day. For now, I can’t risk letting Waylen shoot Andrew. Besides, Andrew is a powerful and famous man. I couldn’t bear to see Waylen locked away for murder.
“Are you protecting him?” Waylen asks.
“Don’t believe anything he says,” Leilani pleads.
“And I should believe you instead?” Waylen asks sarcastically.
“Waylen, please put your gun away,” she says. She tries to smile reassuringly, but it seems to have the opposite effect.
He waves the gun and jabs it into her chest. “Get out of the way,” he orders, punctuating each word with another jab of the gun.
Leilani shakes her head. Her face is deathly pale, and tears streak her cheeks.
“Would you really sacrifice yourself to protect him?” Waylen asks.
I don’t know how to explain, Leilani thinks. I can’t say I’m protecting Charles’ heart—that would make Waylen just as angry. His expression is so broken—it must be as unbearable for him to see me with Charles as it was for me to see him with Leonie.
Waylen fingers the trigger of the gun. If he pulls the trigger, the bullet will slice through Leilani’s body on its way to Andrew. Leilani stares at him and wonders if he’ll actually do it. He’s so possessive, she thinks, maybe he’s the type of man to ruin what he can’t have just to keep anyone else from having it.
A loud gunshot echoed through the room. Through the padded doors, Leilani can hear the shop assistants screaming outside. The bodyguards shift uneasily and c.o.c.k their guns. Leilani looks around the room, wondering who’s been shot.
Everyone is staring at her feet. When she looks down, she sees the bullet from Waylen’s gun embedded in the floor next to her left foot. She looks up at Waylen, and his expression devastates her. He throws the gun onto the floor, turns on his heel, and walks out of the room — Leilani bursts into tears.
“Wow, he really shot at you,” Andrew says, slowly approaching her.
“Shut up!” Leilani snaps, “Get out of here!” In a rage, she slaps him hard across the cheek. Her hand stings, but Andrew caresses his face calmly.
“Are you done with your shopping here?” Andrew asks as if nothing has happened, “Shall I accompany you to other shops?”
“Andrew, you better not be lying to me,” Leilani warns, “If Charles’ heart isn’t in your chest, I will be the first one to shoot you.” She jabs her finger into his chest to emphasize her point.
Andrew looks at her quietly. His face is still red from the slap, but he rubs his heart as if she’s hit him there. As he looks at her, his face pales with pain, and his features seem to twist and contort.
“What’s wrong with you?” Leilani asks, suddenly worried. She wants him to die a thousand painless deaths, but she doesn’t want the heart to die with him.
“Aww, you still care about me,” Andrew says. He smiles weakly and gestures to his bodyguards. One of the men brings him a bottle of water and a small white pill.
“No, I don’t give a damn if you live or die,” Leilani says.
“If I die, the heart will die,” Andrew warns. “Are you willing to see that happen?”
“I’ll dig it out!”
“What? You think if you take my heart out, you can bring Charles back?” Andrew asks with cruel amus.e.m.e.nt.
Leilani looks away from him. She doesn’t want to talk to him anymore. She wants to forget his very existence.
“Do you want to know the results of our competition just now?” Andrew asks.
“No, I don’t,” she says.
“Don’t be so stubborn,” Andrew says pleasantly. “Anyway, you needn’t worry about anything. I only have feelings for you now. Other women are nothing to me.”
Leilani smiles, sarcastically, “I really don’t care in the least.” She turns around and stomps away. She doesn’t want to hear about the results of their disgusting competition. More seriously, she doesn’t want to know how Waylen reacted to the model’s dance.
“Don’t want to know how Waylen reacted?” Andrew asks as if he’s read her mind. When she doesn’t respond, he continues, “The only person in the world who wants only you are standing in front of you, and you don’t cherish him.”
“What do you mean?” Leilani asks, reluctantly turning around.
“Waylen is a normal man,” Andrew says. “Did you honestly think you were the only one he was attracted to?”
“Shut up,” Leilani snaps. She doesn’t know if he’s telling the truth or not, but it’s painful even to consider Waylen’s attraction to other women. Leilani walks into the main part of the store and watches one of the assistants wrap her purchases in thick tissue paper embossed with the store’s logo. As she waits, Leilani hears some of the other assistants gossiping about the events in the VIP room.
“Have you heard?” one whispers. “The model took off all of her clothes, and neither of the two men reacted at all.”
“I can’t believe that any man could stay calm in front of such a s.e.xy woman,” another reply.
“Is there something wrong with Mr. Clifford and Mr. Bamford?” a third assistant asks.
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.