26 The Reason She Left.

Raymond stared listlessly into the distance, replaying Cyprian's older brother words in his head. Though the man had told him why Cyprian left him four years ago, Raymond felt like he was back to square one. He did not understand any of the reasons that had been listed out for him.

Sitting beside him, Ruthlyn was also in the same condition. On her own part, she was thinking of how to break the news to both her Boss and her brother. She was also scared of having them judge her so she was stuck between telling them and not telling them that...

"Hello!" Ethan's voice, along with the sound of his hand which slammed on his desk, jolted them out of their reverie.

"Do I still have assistants?" He asked, glaring coldly at them and causing them to stand from their seats.

Earlier this morning, Ethan had snapped at them not once or twice, but five times and that had made them know that he was on edge. For now, they could only tread carefully whenever they were around him.

"Yes Sir!" The siblings chorused.

"We will not be staying at the Villa for some time, so get your things ready and inform Miss Anderson too," he instructed them.

Their eyes widened at the news and Ruthlyn proceeded to ask,

"Where will we be staying, Sir?"

"Where else?" Ethan answered her question with his own question.

From his words, Ruthlyn could already tell that he meant they would be staying at The DeLoach's mansion. Her main concern now was why he was now addressing Shikera as Miss Anderson, when he had changed before. Did they fight, and was that why they wanted to stay away from the Villa for a while?

"I will reach her immediately, Sir." She nodded before walking away from there, her heels clacking as she left.

"And you, " Ethan turned to Raymond, "Send a spy into Preston TV."

Raymond nodded, presuming that Ethan wanted to increase security around Shikera but he asked anyway,

"What assignment should I give the spy?" He asked.

Hearing the question, Ethan looked down at the file in his hands, Shikera Anderson's employee records. From her record, he could see that her articles were popular among the citizens of the country so if she published an article on Mignon, there was a chance that there would be a reoccurrence of the incident four years ago.

He looked up at Raymond, his expression steely, "To make sure all of Shikera Anderson's article get to me before they are published."

"That's all?" Raymond asked, noticing that his Boss had kept quiet. Was that the reason why he was sending a spy to Preston TV, not to protect his wife but to spy on her?

Ethan nodded, dismissing Raymond before standing up from his swivel chair. He walked towards the office window, staring outside at it while his mind kept replaying what happened last night. He knew he hurt her but that was the only way he could bring justice to Mignon. The only way to avenge her was to destroy anyone who dared to bring shame to her name. Shikera was already lucky that she was bound to him in a contract marriage, if not, he would have gone as far as to bring Preston TV down to its lowest.

★★★

As soon as the sun began to turn orange in the sky and people began bidding the day goodbye, Raymond found himself in Preston TV's garage, resting against Shikera's car as he waited for her. His eyes wandered around the garage, taking in the different employees as they walked into their car shouting farewells to each other.

"So noisy, " he muttered under his breath. Though he did not hate reporters like Ethan did, he disliked their gossipy nature and bubbly personality because it looked fake to him.

"Bye Vicky!" A familiar voice made his head jerk up in surprise and he looked in the direction of the sound. His ears had not fooled him as he could see Cyprian waving goodbye to someone as the person proceeded to enter a car.

He did not know how, but he found himself in front of her while startling her with his sudden appearance.

"The fuck!" A string of curses flew from Cyprian's mouth as someone suddenly blocked her way, hindering her from walking further.

"Raymond?" She asked, recognizing him. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

Raymond who had originally been here to pick up Shikera found himself saying another thing.

"Of course, I came to see you," he stated, like he expected her to know the reason without asking.

Cyprian, on the other hand stared at him like he grew horn on his head, "Why will you come to see me? And how the hell did you even know I work here?!" She asked disbelievingly.

Raymond shook his head; he couldn't tell her he saw her by chance, could he? Besides, he had been planning to visit her that night too.

"Forget about that," he stated, looking into her blue eyes which made him feel like he was staring into the depth of the ocean. "I visited your eldest brother today and he told me the reason why you left me." He examined her face for any sort of reaction and he was not dissapointed.

An expression of hurt fleeted past her eyes before they finally went back to normal.

"And so? He told you and you still have the guts to come to me?" She questioned, turning to leave but Raymond pulled her back, maintaining a firm but gentle grip on her hands.

"And why wouldn't I come to find you, Rian? I couldn't understand a single thing of what he—" Cyprian interrupted him with a scoff, and she slipped her hand away from his.

"You couldn't understand? Care to tell me what you don't understand about cheating on me with my best friend?!" She yelled, clamping her hand over her mouth as soon as the words got out of them. She had forgotten that they were still in the garage and that other reporters and announcers were around.

Slowly, she tried to walk away from there when Raymond's voice stopped her.

"Why the fuck are you accusing me without any evidence? How will I cheat on you with your best friend when I didn't know you had one?"

"That's true, Ray. You never paid enough attention to me anyway, since I was the one blindly in love."

"What—" he started.

"Cyprian and Raymond?" A soft voice drew the both of them attentions as they turned in shock, both of them shocked for a different reason.

Cyprian looked from Shikera who just arrived, to Raymond and her heart sank. She carried her heavy legs to her friend and hugged her goodbye.

"See you tomorrow, Kera. You can have a talk with him..." She cast one last glance at Raymond before walking away from there, leaving Shikera standing like a pole.

"Have a talk with him? Raymond, did she find out about Ethan?" She asked, confusion evident on her face.

Raymond simply shook his head, trying hard to shake off the nagging suspicion in his heart. His boss's wife and Cyprian couldn't be friends right? And even if they were friends, it couldn't be her that Cyprian was suspecting him of cheating with.

A few meters away from there, Cyprian stood still with tears welled up in her eyes,

"I wasn't wrong after all; he was here for Kera."