Chapter 186 – An Unbreakable Vow with the Heartless Tycoon

“What are you doing?” Andrew asks from the door.

Ruby quickly releases her grip on Michelle’s hair and covers her face with her hands. Leilani can see her rubbing her eyes violently to make them water. So she’s going to play the victim, Leilani thinks. She’s pathetic.

Andrew is wearing a bathrobe, and a belt around his waist is tied loosely. The top of the robe is open, exposing his tanned and chiseled chest muscles. He runs his fingers through his wet hair, and a few drops of water slide suggestively down his chest. He seems to be accustomed to spats between the women, and he walks into the room as if nothing unusual is happening.

“Mr. Clifford, Michelle, hit me!” Ruby pouts.

“Why did she hit you?” Andrew asks, sounding bored.

He takes a warm towel from a servant, wipes his hands, and glances at Leilani. Leilani wants to scream at him for being so indifferent. She pushes Ruby away and tries to leave the room. She has to get to the bathroom and throw up immediately. Already, she’s wasted too much time.

Ruby grabs Leilani’s arm, digging her long fingernails into Leilani’s soft skin. “You can’t go!” Ruby says.

“Let go!” Leilani hisses.

She pinches Ruby’s hand, and Ruby withdraws her arm but quickly grabs Leilani by the waist. Leilani struggles, but the other woman is surprisingly strong. She looks at Andrew and mouths a silent plea for help. Andrew nods at one of the guards.

“Miss Ruby, stop fighting,” the guard warns, forcefully dragging her off, Leilani.

“Mr. Clifford, Michelle put abortion drugs in the pudding!” Ruby shouts.

A horrible chill creeps up Leilani’s spine. She turns on her heel and sprints to the bathroom, knocking a chair over in her panic. She can hear Andrew and the other women chasing after her, but she doesn’t care. The only thing that matters is saving the baby.

She throws herself onto the bathroom floor and digs her fingers into her throat. She retches and retches, but nothing comes up. She tries again, shoving her fingers as deep as she can. She retches until she can’t breathe, but the toilet bowl remains clean.

“Give her some water,” Andrew shouts.

Exhausted and miserable, she rests her head on the cold toilet seat. The entire bathroom smells antiseptic, and she can’t help thinking about hospitals. She rubs her stomach. I’m so sorry, little one, she thinks, I’m so sorry, Waylen. Ruby’s whiny voice pulls her from her reverie.

“Mr. Clifford, I heard that Michelle was making crème pudding in the kitchen for Miss Leilani,” Ruby says. “When I went in, I saw her putting something in the pudding. She seemed very nervous about being seen—it was really suspicious. I decided to investigate and I found some abortion pills in her room. I don’t know why anyone would do something so horrible to Miss Leilani.”

Two bodyguards immediately grab Michelle and pin her hands to her side. Michelle doesn’t struggle. Instead, she glares icily at Ruby.

“If you thought there was an abortion drug in the pudding, why on Earth would you force-feed it to Leilani?” Michelle asks.

“I just wanted to prove that Michelle had drugged the pudding,” Ruby says, her eyes wide. “I wanted to see her reaction. I didn’t mean for Leilani actually to eat it.”

“There are many ways to prove that the pudding is was drugged, why would you choose to make Leilani your lab rat?” Michelle sneers. “Besides, you don’t accidentally shove a spoon down someone’s throat. You just want her to miscarry because you’re a miserable, jealous bitch.”

“Stop trying to pin this on me, you’re the one who wanted her to miscarry,” Ruby says, sounding upset. “You’re the one who put the pills in the pudding.”

“But you made her eat it, not me,” Michelle says. “Besides, I didn’t put any sort of drug in the pudding. I swear on my life.”

“What was in the glass vial then?” Ruby asks.

Though the guards are still holding her, Michelle smiles. “Extra sugar,” she says. “I was afraid that the pudding wasn’t sweet enough. I read that pregnant women crave sugar, and I wanted to make a pudding Leilani would enjoy.”

Leilani groans and lifts her head from the toilet seat. Andrew strokes her hair and back. “Don’t touch me,” she snapped, “If you actually care to get someone to test the pudding.”

Andrew gently pulls Leilani to her feet and guides her away from the toilet. She feels too weak to refuse his help. He guides her to a small loveseat and sits close beside her. The carefree bachelor’s attitude has disappeared, and he looks like he’s plotting violence.

Finally, a servant returns to the bathroom, “There’s no drug in the pudding!”

It relieved tears well in Leilani’s eyes. She gently rubs her stomach and vows never to put the baby’s life at risk again.

The guards release Michelle, and she flies across the room and slaps Ruby twice across the face. “You vicious woman!” Michelle screams. “You’re so jealous of Leilani, you wanted to make her miscarry, and then you thought you’d pin the blame on me. I know it’s bad for pregnant women to get worked up, so one slap is for her, and the other is for me.”

Andrew rings the service bell and calls for more bodyguards. “Come in and take these women away,” Andrew orders. “I don’t want to see them again.”

Ruby cries, “Mr. Clifford, I know it was wrong to force Miss Leilani to eat the pudding, but I’ve learned my lesson. Please don’t send me away.”

A few women throw themselves onto their knees to beg for mercy. Before they can say much, the bodyguards rush in and drag them out of the room. Michelle glanced uncertainly at Leilani and then walks from the room on her own, holding her head high.

“Wait a minute!” Leilani sighs, “Let her stay.” She knows that Michelle is clever, and she suspects that she intentionally let Ruby sees her adding the powder to the pudding in the hopes that it would lead to something like this. Though Leilani knows just how dangerous Michelle can be, she doesn’t want to be left alone with Andrew. She hopes she can use Michelle to distract Andrew. She looks at Andrew’s doubtful expression and says, “There’s really no need to send her away since she didn’t drug me.”

“Fine, let her stay,” Andrew says with a shrug. Michelle’s tense shoulders seem to relax. She raises her head and looked proudly at Ruby, her eyes flashing with her victory.

Leilani simply rubs her abdomen. She closes her eyes, and Waylen’s proud face appears in her mind. It seems I think of him whenever I’m in crisis, she thinks, I wish he were here now.

Andrew, Leilani, and Michelle return to the dining room table. The servants remove the old food, and the cook prepares a fresh, light meal for them instead.

“Are you alright?” Michelle asks Leilani, “Shall we ask Andrew to find a doctor for you?”

Leilani shrugs indifferently. She doesn’t have the energy to pretend to be Michelle’s friend right now. Her head throbs and her throat feels raw. She looks at the food and realizes her appetite has vanished. “I think I’ll go upstairs to rest,” Leilani announces.

“I’ll go up with you,” Andrew says, standing up and grab her wrist.

Leilani shakes off his hand, “Can’t you leave me alone?”

Surprisingly, he lets her go. She smiles to herself, pleased that she’s managed to shake him. Instead of going to her bedroom, she creeps up to the study. When she brought Andrew his tiramisu he was talking on a cell phone—the study seems to be the only place in the mansion with a signal. She stands outside the ornately carved wooden door and nervously touches the handle. She breathes a sigh of relief when the handle turns—the door isn’t locked.

She rushes into the room and shuts the door behind her. She powers on her phone and almost cries when she sees she has a signal. For a moment, she hesitates to wonder who she should call.

Waylen doesn’t believe me, so calling him would be useless and humiliating, she thinks. I don’t think Gabrielle has her mobile phone, and I have no idea where she is. I could try Bryan, but it’s impossible to get in touch with him under the best circ.u.mstances—he comes and goes as he likes and often disappears for days at a time.

Leilani sighs dejectedly. Of course, Charles’ name comes to her mind. He always answered her calls, and he was always willing to help her solve her problems. She laughs sadly to herself and decides to search the internet for the contact information for private helicopter service. She’s not sure they’ll be able to navigate to Andrew’s place, but she doesn’t know what else she should try.

---