“See, they also think it’s impossible,” Leilani says, stretching her leg and kicking the inside of Michelle’s right leg.
“Slide your leg out a little more,” Leilani says.
Michelle complies, but Leilani shakes her head dissatisfied.
“No, I can’t crawl through. Your legs are too stiff. Pull your skirt up and take a proper step,” Leilani commands.
Michelle looks displeased, but she’s not about to lose her chance to humiliate Leilani. She raises her to skirt another inch and wiggles her leg to the side.
“It looks like I have no choice but helps you,” Leilani says with exasperation.
Leilani knows that a hotel like this must-have security cameras everywhere, and she’s willing to guess that one is recording them right now. With a sudden movement, she leans forward and jerks Michelle’s skirt up over her waist. Everyone gasps with shock. Michelle is entirely exposed—she’s not wearing anything under her skirt.
“Wow,” titters a waiter, “She’s quite the coquette.”
“You think she does it to make f.u.c.k.i.n.g her easier?” another giggle.
“Maybe she’s eager to seduce Mr. Bamford,” another whisper.
Though they laugh, they’re ashamed. They wish they didn’t know her. In the general hubbub of the scene, they almost miss a group of people appearing in the hotel door. Once they notice, they’re being watched they become scared, and their amus.e.m.e.nt dies down.
Waylen Hamilton clears his throat. After seeing Leilani in the garden on the security tape, he and Robert rushed to the garden. They arrived just in time to see a disgracefully s.e.x.u.a.l scene. Waylen averts his eyes, and the bodyguards stare at their shoes.
Waylen clears his throat again. Michelle has frozen on the spot. She was making love with the hotel director when the waiter knocked on the door and announced a problem. She didn’t have time to put her underwear back on. She tried to pull her skirt down, but her heels are unsteady in the lush grass. She wobbles back and forth and falls onto the lawn.
The bodyguards hear her shriek, and they look up to see what’s happening. They see something obscene on the lawn.
Leilani seizes on their distractions and begins to sidle away. She hadn’t planned for any of this. Initially, she was just hoping to trip Michelle and run away. Then, she hoped to at least embarrass her on the security cameras. She had no idea that Michelle was n.a.k.e.d underneath her skirt. Moreover, she didn’t expect Waylen to arrive quite so quickly.
The waiters behind Leilani rush forward quickly. They raise Michelle and pull her skirt down.
“Leilani, you bitch. How dare you do this to me!” Michelle screams, her face bright red with anger and embarrassment.
Michelle wants to beat Leilani, but a waiter stops her from running after her, “Manager Cindy, Mr. Bamford is here.”
Michelle stretches out her hand, still balled into a tight fist. She points her index finger at Leilani and shakes it threateningly.
“You better remember this!” she hisses.
“How was I supposed to know you stopped wearing underwear after high school?” Leilani asks innocently.
Michelle is furious, but she doesn’t dare to act too rashly in front of Mr. Bamford. She grits her teeth.
“You! You little—” she screams, “Don’t be so proud. We’ll see how you look after Mr. Bamford punishes you.”
“Oh, do you want to see it?” Leilani says innocently, turning toward her husband, “Darling, someone wants to see you how to punish me.”
A hush falls in the garden. A delicate leaf flutters in the wind, dancing on the air before falling in front of Waylen Bamford. His shoes grind the leaf into the ground, and he walks forward with a few steps and pinches Leilani’s chin.
“What exactly are you doing?” he asks.
Waylen looks horrified and angry. Leilani can feel the muscles on her back tighten as she looks at his expression.
“What do you think I’m doing?” Leilani asks, looking him in the face.
“It’s obvious you’re trying to escape,” he growls, “Tell me why do you want to run away.”
“Runaway from here? I wasn’t running away,” Leilani insists calmly.
If she admits she was running away, Waylen will know for sure that she has something to hide, and Charles Meyer will be implicated in the whole mess.
“Tell me the truth. I swear if you lie to me and I find out, Charles Meyer will die,” Waylen says fiercely, locking eyes with Leilani.
“Mr. Bamford, she wanted to run away,” Michelle says softly, as several waiters nod in agreement, “We all heard her say it.”
Michelle points to the left and says, “Look, through this gate, you can get away from the hotel.”
“Shut up!” Waylen whispers without taking his eyes off Leilani, “Now tell me, Leilani, why do you want to run away?”
She lifts her chin and stares into his eyes fearlessly. Everyone else is terrified by his anger, but she’s used to it.
“You’re too stubborn,” Waylen says.
He loosens his grip on her chin and gestures to Robert who has already summoned the bodyguards assigned to Leilani. The bodyguards approach Waylen, and Waylen kicks them hard in the knees, forcing them to fall to the ground.
“Mr. Bamford, please forgive us,” one of them says, “We were standing outside the door of the bathroom, but we hadn’t seen Mrs. Bamford for a while. Since she was in the women’s bathroom, we hesitated to enter and violate her privacy. During that time, the hotel staff went in and out and told us that Mrs. Bamford was still using the bathroom. We had no idea it would be possible for her to escape.”
“Can’t you monitor one person between the two of you?” Waylen asks, “Wife, how do you think I should punish them?”
Leilani grimaces upon hearing Waylen call her “wife.” She knows Waylen. Every time he calls her his wife, something bad happens. Within moments, there’s a loud, repetitive banging noise and the sound of horrified screaming.
Blood flows fast from the bodyguards’ arms. They’ve each been shot twice in the right arm. They lie on the ground, pressing their left hands into their arms, but the blood fills their hands and drips onto the ground.
Michelle Cindy widens her eyes in horror. Hearing the bodyguard mention hotel staff, she’s scared Waylen will blame her. She falls to her knees on the ground.
She knows that Waylene Bamford hates being photographed, but she had never expected that he would be so angry. He’s sop wrathful, he’s punished the bodyguards before Leilani. Though she’s scared, she’s eager to see what consequences will befall Leilani. She can’t wait to see how miserable Leilani becomes.
“I was informed that Mrs. Bamford took photos in secret, and she insisted on seeing me in the bathroom,” Michelle explains, “Mr. Bamford, if I know she gave the phone to me so she could run away, I never would have left her alone.”
Michelle continues, “Honestly, it’s none of my business what you do in your marriage, but we were classmates and I know she likes to take stealthiest, especially of handsome boys. I just didn’t think it was right that she take stealthiest of you.”
After Leilani made the jibe about her underwear, Michelle feels the need to hit back. Leilani glances quickly at Michelle and sees that Michelle is staring at her with an aggressive expression. The desire to watch Leilani suffer is plain on her face. Leilani and Michelle both know the real reason Leilani took stealthiest in high school.
Leilani was new in school and Michelle was the popular president of the student union. Michelle picked on her and demanded she takes stealthiest of their hot classmates. Leilani was too timid and shy, and she took the photos in the hopes Michelle would stop bullying her. Leilani refuses to let Michelle push her around now.
“Oh, were your classmates? Does Leilani always take stealthiest of men she finds handsome,” Waylen asks, “I had no idea.”
Leilani looks fearfully at Waylen and feels Waylen’s anger intensify.
“Why are you so angry?” she asks, “All young girls like handsome boys—it’s harmless.” She pauses and continues grimly, “I’m just afraid I was so blinded by looks, I could have gotten married to a bad man. Luckily I got you.”
Waylen doesn’t know if he’s furious or flattered if she’s serious or sarcastic.
“Have you lost all confidence in me, husband? Are you afraid I’ll run away?” she asks, “Do you think I regret my choices?”
“Besides, I know that you ordered bodyguards to follow me. I’m not stupid enough to run away,” she continues, “I just wanted to take a walk in this beautiful garden, but then I lost my ring. Now that you’re here, can you please help me find it?”
Leilani takes Waylen’s hand and looks at him softly.
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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