Faux Vows, True Desires

Owen was ready to hurl.

Cecilia was the type who exuded an air of freshness and refinement, quite soothing to the eyes. But he had seen all types of beauties, and he wasn't particularly interested in the type that Cecilia represented. Especially when the one in his heart was Ruby. Cecilia didn't even qualify to hold Ruby's pedestal.

The Martinez family's bodyguards, following the tracker, found him quickly. They rushed over and upon seeing his disheveled state, nearly popped their eyeballs out of shock.

"Mr. Owen, are you alright?"

Owen, massaging his throbbing temples, shot Cecilia another glare before turning to leave. The bodyguards quickly followed suit. After a few steps, he stopped and turned to Cecilia, "Cecilia, I'll get back at you for today."

He particularly emphasized "get back at you".

Cecilia, pretending to be calm, retorted, "One must bear the consequences of their actions. If you have the guts, go ahead and come at me."

"Don't worry, I've got the guts!"

When Owen was confronting Stefan, he was ruthless. That was because he was extremely jealous of him. In reality, he wasn't a bad person. If Cecilia treated him like this, he would settle the score with her but wouldn't vent his anger on the other members of the Yates family.

The bodyguards' car was parked outside the alley. After getting in, Owen instructed them to take him to the Pinehurst Hotel. He wanted to take a hot shower.

The bodyguards, clueless about what happened to Owen throughout the night and why he was soaked, dared not ask.

Owen pulled out his phone and dialed his assistant. After connecting, he said, "Walter, look up a girl named Cecilia for me. She's about 23 or 24. Her name sounds familiar, but I can't place her."

Walter, on his way to the office, replied while driving, "Boss, Cecilia is Lucinda's best friend. They run a coffee shop together named Serendipity Cafe. You asked me to look into Lucinda a while back and I also looked into the people around her."

So she was Lucinda's friend. No wonder the name Cecilia sounded familiar. No wonder Cecilia had the guts to kick him and drench him in cold water after recognizing his identity.

Perhaps she was standing up for Lucinda.

When he went to see Lucinda, he didn't do anything bad. He just acted a bit cocky. Maybe Cecilia saw his cocky attitude and pegged him as a bad guy.

Well, as Lucinda's friend, he really needed to teach her a proper lesson.

Meanwhile, Stefan returned to Ascend Global. As he entered the office building, he happened to run into his assistant Edgar. They walked together.

"Not biking to work today, boss?" Edgar's words were clearly laced with jest.

"My bike is at my wife's place. I came straight from home." Stefan wasn't bothered by Edgar's teasing. "After work, I plan to take my wife to enjoy the scenery on the bike. I need to buy her some long dresses. It'll be quite romantic when we're biking."

Edgar, ".Boss, I feel like you're showing off that you have a wife."

He felt as though he, as a single man, was being mocked.

Stefan glanced at him, "You already had your answer."

Edgar had no comeback.

The employees following behind, upon hearing the conversation between the two top leaders of the company, couldn't help but chuckle. Stefan and Edgar took the executive elevator. Once they stepped in and the doors closed, the gossipy ears of the employees were cut off. Stefan handed Edgar a few sketches.

Edgar curiously asked as he took them, "What are these? Design drafts?"

Stefan didn't reply. He unfolded the sketches himself and saw portraits of several strangers.

"Boss, your drawing skills are great. If you have time, draw some more. I guarantee many people would buy your artwork. How about we hold an exhibition?"

"Help me find out who these people are, where they're from, and why they're getting close to Lucinda."

Edgar jokingly asked Stefan, "Are they interested in your wife? Are they trying to compete with you for Lucinda? But there's malice in their eyes. Your wife doesn't have enemies, does she?" "Lucy doesn't have enemies. You can tell there's malice in their eyes, too."

"Boss, you drew them just like real people. I'm not blind, how could I not see it?"

Stefan immediately made a phone call. Once the call was connected, he said seriously, "Nelson, get Zoey and Zack to see me asap."

Nelson was the head steward of Ascend Estate. All workers at the estate were under his supervision. The deployment of bodyguards was always arranged by Nelson as per the master's instructions. "Understood, sir." Nelson replied respectfully.

After hanging up, the elevator took the two to the top floor of the office building.

They walked out together.

Iris was already waiting at the elevator entrance. As the two came out, she followed, reporting work matters to Stefan as they walked. Stefan listened and responded while walking.

When they reached Stefan's office, Iris stopped. She knew that Mr. Coleman and Edgar had something to discuss.

After the door to Stefan's office closed, Edgar said, "Boss, could they be causing trouble for your wife because of you?"

Stefan, seated at his desk, pondered, and said, "That's what I suspect as well. Help me find out more, and don't go easy on them. Give them a good scare. Tell them to take the message back to their people. If they have the guts, they should come for me."

Using a woman as a threat, what kind of man did that make them?

Edgar kept looking at the portraits of those people, saying, "From the intel I've recently received, it seems the news about your shotgun wedding with Lucinda hasn't spread. The only person in our circle with the inside scoop is Owen, the rest are probably still in the dark. So if they don't know you are hitched, how could they possibly target her?"

Pondering deeply, Stefan asked, "Edgar, are you suggesting that these guys are after Lucinda?"

But she hadn't pissed anyone off, and the Moore family was a bunch of straight shooters living out in the townships. How could they have rubbed anyone the wrong way? Why would Lucinda be in danger? "Boss, we can't jump to conclusions right now. Let's wait till we get the results of the investigation. From the intel I've gathered, it's unlikely they'd harm your wife because of you."

Lucinda's whereabouts over the past decade had been under the boss' radar. If she had enemies, the boss would be the first to know.

Upon finding out that Stefan was married, Edgar, out of curiosity, did a little snooping and found out that his boss had been secretly keeping tabs on a girl for a whole decade. You could say Stefan knew how many meals that girl had every day.

Without doing his own digging, Edgar would never have believed that their seemingly cold and heartless boss was actually head over heels in love.