EIGHTY-THREE

DYLAN'S POV

My mother dragged me to a corner and into a private lounge there at the mansion rooftop.

"I need to talk to you, Dylan. We need to talk and discuss about Harper! She is a good girl for you!"

"OK mum, not now, please. Guests are around, and I can't just disappear from the event. Let's get this dinner finished, and tomorrow I can lend you my ears, mum please!"

I started to walk away, but my mother pulled me back and made a face as if she was about to cry. I listened to her as she went on and on about what a graceful lady Harper was. It was slowly becoming irritating, but I failed to find a way of quickly dismissing her. How I wished at that time for my phone to ring, but it did not.

"Ok mum, how about we go and talk outside where everyone is?"

"OK lets go", she looped her hand into mine and led me to a group of her friends. The ladies were going on and on about how handsome I looked, how deserving I was to become the CEO of de Milo Children's Hospital, and of course they asked the usual question…it was either "when are you getting married?", or "introduce us to that beautiful angel you were walking with. Which family is she from?..."

I faked a smile the whole time, as I endured the torture from my mother's friends.

"That girl; which family is she from?" one lady insisted on knowing that information.

"She is my friend, and she is from the Meyertons," Dylan answered.

"Meyertons? Which family is that, hmm, Shimmer? Which ones are the Meyertons? I don't recall ever hearing of them. Are they the owners of the pharmaceutical companies…" the lady did not manage to finish off her question, for another woman cut in with:

"No. The ones who own the pharmaceutical are the Meyers. Not Meyerton. The girl; Dylan, did you say she is from the Meyerton or the Meyers?"

"Meyerton," Dylan responded, failing to hide his impatience.

"We don't know them," the woman looked disappointed.

"You can't possibly know everyone in Lakeworld," Dylan stubbornly responded.

"Oh! I thought since she was your friend, we were supposed to know who she is. I mean, our circles know each other well." The woman folded her hands on her chest.

"May I just go now, mum?" With clenched teeth, Dylan hissed in his mother's ear, his tone more begging that demanding.

"Wait a bit dear, just one more minute," the lady smiled gracefully.

ANISHA POV

I stood still land looked at Raelynn, thinking that maybe she wanted to pull a prank on me. However in a few seconds I realised that there was no prank at all. Her smile suddenly disappeared and in its place a very angry, cruel look covered her face. She panted furiously and me; shocked by the sudden change of her demeanor, moved one step back and opened my mouth intending to talk, yet no word came out of my mouth.

"You aren't going anywhere! Soon you will start having a headache and you will feel weak. But what's more interesting is that you will soon have a burning desire for a man. And me being the good friend that I am, have already sorted that out."

"What are you talking about?" I asked in immense panic.

"Umm, miss Anisha, or whoever you are! You treaded in the wrong area! You think you can emerge from nowhere and come and marry into the de Milo family?" she laughed out loud and then went on,

"If I had known that Dylan was this cheap, I would have gotten him for myself. I always thought he dated the classy rich ladies; yet here he is, falling for some pathetic orphan!"

"Raelynn…" I began to speak, but the lady would not let me.

"Stop calling my name! Today Dylan will see your true colours! Before he leaves the mansion rooftop tonight, he would have received a very clear video of you moaning and enjoying yourself in the hands of another man! And he will see what trash he is dating!" she hissed in vast rage.

"We are not dating, we are just friends!" I tried to clarify.

"Too late for that! What friends? He went all out to make sure you were clad in that expensive dress at dinner; even today, look at you! You have outshined everyone, it's like you're actually one of us, the elite of Southrain! Who would believe that you're just a pitiable orphan whose useless mother refused to take care of!"

She came closer to me and held my chin in her palm. I moved back two steps.

"Beautiful, huh? Tonight, Dylan will see what you're capable of! He will receive a video of you making love wildly to a cleaner! You hear me!! A cleaner who cleans his office at work, is the one you'll be passionately in love with tonight! Here in this room!"

"No I won't!" I screamed out.

"Oh yes you will! You just took a full glass of that sprite. What you didn't know was that I had already taken care of your drink! Soon all your passions will be flaring wild and you will be craving for a man! You will even beg the cleaner to touch you!!"

"Why are you doing this, Raelynn? You have Pete, why should you want to fight me? Aren't you getting married in a week and some days?"

"I am! But it doesn't mean I will just sit and watch while my friend makes a mistake! Dylan is my friend too, you see. He is not just Pete's friend but mine too! So he is being blinded by your beauty and thinking that he loves you! I want to help him open his eyes!"

"Raelynn…"

"You are too naïve, you hopeless orphan!! Did you really think that you and I could be friends? Well I would die first before I become your friend!! Today you will learn your lesson! You think you can use your beauty to worm your way into the de Milo family? Besides that beauty, what else do you have? You don't even have a place to call home! How ridiculous!"

She looked at me from head to toe and then from toe to head and her face seemed like she was looking at a very disgusting thing. I moved back many steps, looked at a window but it was just out of desperation. There was no way I would have jumped out of the window in escape, for we were in the sixth floor.

I looked around and saw a door, and assuming that it led to a balcony, I concluded that I would use that door to escape. I told myself that if I just managed to get to the balcony and scream my lungs out, the guards downstairs would surely hear me. There was some music at the rooftop yes, but it was not too loud. I believed I was able to scream louder than the music.

"Raelynn please don't do this. Raelynn…"

"Stop calling my name!" immediately she yelled that out, I felt a sharp pain on my forehead, which again disappeared as soon as it had appeared. I felt a tingling sensation and I started to feel a bit hot; it was as if I was seated near a fire, yet there was no fire anywhere in the room.

Raelynn kept her gaze fixed on me. She smiled wickedly and said, "I can see the dose is starting to work. Don't worry; someone is here to help you!"

She opened the door and in came the waiter, the same waiter who had served us the wine and the sprite.

"Who are you?" I asked in fear. "What did you do to my drink?"

The man was rubbing his hands together, smiling as he stared at me with lust in his eyes.

"Here, Logan. Make sure it's all recorded. I will place it here," Raelynn placed a small thing, which I believed to be a camera, on the headboard.

"It should all be recorded. Don't miss out anything. And remember what I said; make it appear as if she too is thoroughly enjoying it. Hold her in a position such that her face doesn't show much, in case her face shows that she is being forced to do it. But of course there must be moments when you make sure her face is clearly captured, so that anyone who watches the video will not have a doubt who she is."

"Yes, Miss Raelynn. I will do just that." Logan said proudly.

Raelynn walked to the door and smiled at me, "enjoy every moment of it, you pathetic orphan! No one will hear your mourns, so you can make as loud a noise as you want! There's music at the rooftop!"

With that she walked out and the door closed with a click.

Logan, the one who was dressed as a waiter, slowly removed his black jacket and placed it on the sofa. He smiled widely and walked towards me.

"Don't fight me. I won't hurt you. We're just having a little fun, and if you don't fight, you won't get hurt. I will be gentle", his wicked smile grew even bigger as he took large strides towards me.