Anthony finally stared back at Lerisa's face, and he said to her, "I have to go home now, Lerisa. I hope that you're truly feeling fine now."
Anthony drank from the bottled water in his hands again, looking directly at Lerisa's face. She replied, "Yes, I'm fine. See you later in the evening."
Lerisa's pretty, fair-complexioned face turned sad again as she remembered that Anthony would definitely propose to Clara in the evening. Since Anthony and Clara have been dating for three years or more.
Anthony noticed the change in Lerisa's mood as her face automatically turned red. He immediately asked her, "What's wrong with you again?"
Lerisa snapped out of her trance and replied, "Nothing, I'm fine."
"Hmm, you keep lying to me that you're fine when you are not fine... Tell me the truth, Lerisa. What's bothering you? You can share whatever the problem is with me. You know that I care about you, and I know that you don't have any other friends aside from me," said Anthony.
"You don't have a boyfriend, or probably you do, but I don't know him yet, and I haven't met him. However, that's not why you should be looking sad," Anthony advised.
"I don't have any boyfriends, Anthony," Lerisa admitted, and Anthony looked at her again and asked, "Why? Why don't you have one? You're very beautiful, Lerisa, and I want the best man for you. How about my friend, Ben? He has been disturbing me about you. Why not consider dating him?"
"No. I'm not interested in Ben," Lerisa replied, quickly rejecting Ben.
Anthony's eyes squinted in suspicion, and he smiled and asked her, "Then who are you interested in? I don't know anyone who's your boyfriend or love interest that could have made you look sad."
Lerisa gazed up at Anthony's face. She met his blue eyes on her, and her lips parted to speak, but no words came out, as she couldn't tell Anthony the truth that she was in love with him.
Lerisa gulped it down and stared downward.
Anthony sighed and told her, "It is okay, Lerisa. If you don't want to tell me about the guy that you like... But you should know that I care about you very much and see you more than a friend."
"I have to be on my way home now, as I had already promised my mother that I would be home early for breakfast with her after I've completed my exercise. If not, I could have joined you and your mom for breakfast here. How about your dad?" Anthony inquired.
"He has gone out for the weekend meeting," Lerisa said. Anthony sighed and advised her, "Be good, okay. Take care of yourself."
Lerisa finally escorted Anthony to the exit gate. She pulled the gate open for him and finally locked up their house gate from within after Anthony left their compound. It was unknown to her that her mother stood by the kitchen window and eavesdropped on their conversation, as she was staring at them too.
Lerisa wiped her teardrops away and turned to walk back into the house, not knowing that her mother was also secretly rooting for her and Anthony to marry.
However, stepping into the living room, her mother immediately got out of the kitchen and asked her, "What's going on between you and Anthony, Lerisa?"
Mrs. Antonia was carrying a tray of fried eggs in her hands as she walked up to the dining table and placed the tray of fried eggs there.
Lerisa walked towards the dining room to join her mother there. She replied, "Nothing, mom."
Lerisa sat on a chair, her face still red, and she continued to remember the diamond engagement ring that she had seen with Anthony the previous day.
"You keep saying 'nothing, mom' when you look this red like a tomato. Didn't you stare at your reflection in the mirror, Lerisa?" Her mother asked.
Lerisa sighed and replied, "I'm fine, mom."
"Okay. If you say so, but I hope you know that I like Anthony too, and I don't want you to chase him away with your red face," teased Mrs. Antonia, but Lerisa only shook her head as she picked up a piece of the fried eggs from her plate and ate it.
"Stop it! Go and wash your hands first, and let us have breakfast together since your dad is not yet home. Have you selected the clothes that you will be wearing to attend Anthony's birthday party this evening? Your father and I will also be attending it, as you know that I like Anthony very much, and I want him to marry you, but that's when he's also ready to settle down. At least to seal our family's bond with his family."
"Mom, Anthony has a girlfriend, and you and Dad should stop thinking about me becoming Anthony's wife. Anthony will only remain my boss and family friend," Lerisa said, with a saddened face. She stood up from the chair and walked up to the kitchen door to wash her hands in the kitchen sink.
"Hmm..." Mrs. Antonia frowned and went into the kitchen to meet her first daughter.
She said, "Why would you say that, Lerisa? Anthony cannot marry whichever girl he's dating. His parents won't support him marrying anyone else except you. His dad and your father are best friends, and the same goes for his mother and me too."
"Hmm." Lerisa shook her head and finished washing her hands under the running tap water. She carried her teacup and said, "Mom, I'm hungry first, and I still need to go outside to shop for the new clothes that I will wear to attend Anthony's birthday party tonight."
"Okay," Mrs. Antonia sighed, and finally allowed Lerisa to pass. Lerisa walked out of the kitchen with her teacup and went to the dining table to have her breakfast.
Mrs. Antonia stepped out of the kitchen and joined her first daughter in the dining room, and they had their breakfast together.
Lerisa didn't want to tell her mother the truth—that she saw Anthony with an engagement ring. Anthony would propose to his girlfriend, maybe in the event hall, as he was preparing to settle down with another lady.
Lerisa knew that her parents would be extra heartbroken when they witnessed Anthony going down on one knee and proposing to Clara Harry rightly in front of them to marry him.
Lerisa sighed again and resumed eating her bread with the fried eggs, but her mother only stared at her in silence and continued eating her breakfast too. As they drank and sipped from their teacups,
After her breakfast with her mother ended, Lerisa cleared her used cup in the kitchen, washed it out, and finally went to her bedroom to freshen up. Since she wanted to go out of the house to shop for a new gown that she would wear to attend Anthony's birthday party,
Her mobile phone rang out, startling her, and she wondered who the caller was. She didn't have many friends' mobile numbers stored in her phone.
Lerisa walked up to her phone, where she kept it in the drawer. She picked up the phone and saw that it was an unknown caller.
She picked up the call and sat on her bed, then said, "Hello, who is this?"
"Hi Lerisa. How're you doing this morning?" Lerisa heard a deep, masculine voice ask her
"I'm fine; who is this?" Lerisa questioned, but she immediately recognized the voice as Ben's voice.
She frowned, wondering how he got her phone number. She asked him, "Ben, how did you get my mobile number?"
Ben chuckled first over the phone call, as he knew he had been asking Lerisa out, yet she didn't want to accept him.Lerisa was the first lady who had ever rejected his advances to date her. And he was determined to have her by force, whether she liked him or not. Ben believed that, with time, Lerisa would fall in love with him too.He replied, "Does it matter how I got your number, Lerisa? The truth is that I want to hear your voice. I have been searching for your mobile number since and finally got it from somewhere else.""Where?" Lerisa asked, frowning and not wanting to have anything to do with Ben.She knew that Ben was also from a rich family, not the first son, but he owned a hotel and was doing well at his age, despite being the same age as Anthony.Lerisa asked him, "Why are you calling me?""Chill, babe. Why are you sounding so pissed off? Yesterday, I saw that you looked so sad, and that made me truly worried about you. I couldn't sleep well last night, which is why I am ca
Lerisa sighed as she knew she couldn't miss Anthony's birthday party. She had been there with him since his seventh birthday and now, as an adult.She knew that avoiding the party might make her seem jealous or resentful, which would displease her parents.Lerisa fixed her gaze on the road as she drove her car out of the street, intending to turn onto another street before reaching the main road.However, she saw a man and a woman kissing in front of a black car parked on the street.Lerisa wondered who the shameless couple was, choosing to kiss in public instead of finding a private place.She knew that wealthy families lived in the area, with most houses being owned by the residents, not tenants.As she drove past the black car, she saw the woman's face. To her shock, it was Anthony's girlfriend, Clara Harry, kissing the man.Lerisa's jaw dropped as she slowed down her car to get a better look at them.She had initially wanted to look away, but she couldn't believe that Clara, whom A
Clara knew that she had lied to Remy about her name being April. This was one of her habits of lying to men about her real name since she wasn't interested in them and only wanted to have sex with them.She walked back through her house gate, as she lived there alone, and entered her room in the rented apartment.Meanwhile, Lerisa drove to the shopping complex where she wanted to purchase clothes. She parked her car and sighed as she remembered how Clara had denied knowing her.Lerisa thought about calling Anthony again. However, she didn't know how to explain to him that she saw his girlfriend cheating on him.She switched off her car engine, stepped out of her car, locked the door, and walked up to the shopping boutique where she wanted to select a gown.Entering one of the feminine boutiques, the sales representative greeted her, "Good afternoon ma'am. What kind of clothes are you looking for? We have gowns, skirts, blouses, trousers, and any other feminine wear you may need." Leris
Lerisa met with her parents in their living room and greeted them, "Good afternoon Mom, Dad.""Welcome home, Lerisa. Your father and I forgot to purchase birthday gifts for Anthony today. How about you? Did you purchase anything on your way home?" Mrs. Antonia asked. Lerisa replied, "No, mom. I forgot too."Lerisa glanced at the living room wall clock and saw that it was already 2 pm.Her father said, "There's still time, Lerisa. Why don't you go outside with your sister to the nearby shops and buy a gift for the Gregson family? We can't show up at Anthony's birthday party empty-handed, especially since he is their only son."Lerisa frowned, "What should I buy for him? They're wealthy, and we already gave Anthony a standing fan last year. I don't know what to get him this year.""Anything you choose will be fine, Lerisa. We just need to show our appreciation. It wouldn't be polite to go to their house without a gift, receive one from them, and enjoy their hospitality," Lerisa's father
Later in the evening, Lerisa was in her room when she received a phone call from Anthony. It was already 5 pm, and she had finished dressing up and applying a little makeup on her face.She was nervous to see the caller ID showing Anthony's name and didn't know whether to pick up his call or not. She was worried sick because she hadn't informed him yet about Clara cheating on him.Taking a deep breath, Lerisa finally answered the call just before it could end, and Anthony's deep, masculine voice greeted her, "Hello, Lerisa...""Hi, Anthony. I'm on my way now," Lerisa quickly replied. Anthony asked her, "Are you sure? Or do you not want to attend my birthday party tonight?"Anthony wanted to see Lerisa's face around as he saw her like his younger sister. Lerisa immediately said, "Why wouldn't I attend your birthday? I'm coming, please... Just a minute," she begged."Alright, I'm expecting you. Please don't disappoint me. Later, you can share your problem with me, and if you need money,
Staring at his handsome reflection again in the wide wall mirror for the last time, Anthony finally walked out of his bedroom upstairs. He followed the passage of the top floor and went downstairs to the event hall in the second wing of their mansion."Welcome the celebrant!! As we have been waiting for this joyful moment, to begin with the celebration of his new age with him. Anthony Gregson!" The female host shouted as she watched Anthony walk out onto the front stage into the event hall."Thank you all, Thank you," Anthony said as the round of applause increased for him. After he appeared on stage and accepted the microphone from the female host's hand in a white gown.She was a young lady, although married, but she was the host of the show. She smiled sweetly at Anthony as he smiled back at her and all the guests who had arrived in the event hall with him and his family. They all clapped happily for him too.Lerisa stood at a corner in the event hall and smiled at Anthony too. She
Ben walked outside to the stage with Lerisa. Since Anthony and the rest of the event shows hadn't started.Stepping outside on stage with Ben, as the music continued playing a love song, Lerisa could feel all eyes on her, as it seemed like all the people in the event hall paused to stare at her. Just as she walked out nervously on stage with Ben holding her closely, and with her holding his hands too.She didn't want to stare around at the table where her parents sat watching her in surprise. She knew that her mother had personally told her that she liked Anthony and wanted Anthony to marry her.With the way Ben was holding her waist so closely, Lerisa felt her face burning hot. Even though Ben was taller than her, he was the same height and had a masculine shape like Anthony.Lerisa wondered why she couldn't stop comparing Ben with Anthony. Probably because she grew up hoping a handsome man like Anthony would notice her, as they still lived in the same vicinity, and not like she trave
Lerisa immediately rushed down from the stage, not even waiting for Ben to leave the stage with her. Since the hall had turned dark, mixed with the dimly lit bulb in the hall, she collided with a masculine man whose face she hadn't seen. She apologized to him without looking up, saying, "I'm sorry."But as Lerisa wanted to get away from the event hall quickly and not witness Anthony proposing to Clara on stage, the masculine man grabbed her left wrist and swirled her around to face himself. "Ah!" Lerisa gasped, as she collided with the man's chest and looked up at his face, while Anthony and Clara continued dancing together alone on the stage."Hi, Pretty," Remy said and Lerisa shivered. She was shocked to see that he was the man she had seen earlier in the day kissing Clara Harry by the roadside."Hi," Lerisa couldn't believe her eyes, and her mouth was left open. Ben immediately approached them and quickly pulled Lerisa away from Remy's touch, glaring at Remy, too.Remy grinned at Be