"I'll take it." Said Lucy as she snapped out of her thoughts.

Desmond's eyes narrowed. "If all you wanted was to have Zaria and I help you find a place to live, you could have simply said so."

She smiled gently as she turned to look at him. "Would you? I mean, you find me to be a nuisance."

He paused slightly. Why did her tone sound a little hurt?

"Besides, it's not the process but the result that matters." She spoke again, yet another of her annoying statements. "You can leave, son-in-law. I can complete the purchase on my own." She shooed him off, even though she had already completed all the formalities.

Her words made him change his mind about finding her pitiful. So what if she felt hurt that Zaria was indifferent? Served her right for humiliating his Zaria. He was yet to start blaming her for not being a mother when she was needed most, she should be thankful for that.

"If you need anything else, feel free to speak up now. I need to drop my girlfriend home." He glanced at his watch for the time. He didn't truly need to drop Zaria off. On the contrary, he was thinking of ways to convince her to stay over. However, this house viewing business was mentally draining.

He thought he saw something flash in Lucy's eyes...Surprise?

"You can do as you please." She dismissed him.

"I take it as my house is still mine?" He probed, just to be certain that he was supposed to stop his lawyer from suing her for fraud and attempting theft.

"When did I claim it?" She pretended to be shocked, and he left. He wasn't so masochistic as to want to argue with her. She was crazy, and she had accomplished whatever it was that she had wanted so he no longer had any business in her house.

Zaria was still asleep, but she woke up with a yawn when she heard his footsteps.

"You're back. How did it go?" She asked sleepily as she rubbed her eyes with her fists. He didn't answer her, so she properly opened her eyes, only to find him smiling down at her.

"You looked so cute doing that. Like a comfortable kitten." He explained amid a small laugh, earning a glare for calling her a cat.

"That gives me an idea. I should adopt a kitten. A cute, white one. I should name her Zaria. When she is bored, she will play with Des all over the place." He rambled as he sat down to seriously explain his idea. The thought of the little puppy chasing the kitten while the latter scurried for her life was just so cute that his smile couldn't help deepening.

Zaria was at a loss. "I thought Miss Roatta was merely trying to steal your mansion and company. Turns out she didn't spare your brain either."

He grabbed her, his gaze turning stern in an instant. "Are you saying that I'm crazy?"

"Aren't you?" She responded, only for him to grab her foot and tickle it for revenge.

…

Meanwhile, not too far away from them.

Lucy sighed when Desmond left. The phone rang in her hand, and she answered the call impatiently. "What's wrong?"

"I was unable to contact Mr. Preston." Elena reported.

Lucy threw over her address for her assistant to come. The latter arrived within a few minutes because she was nearby.

"Ms…"

"Stay here." Lucy interrupted her before she could speak.

"What do you mean?" Elena was baffled.

"I mean, this is your new house if you want it. If you don't, cancel the purchase or something." Lucy instructed as she hugged her arms.

"Are you alright?" Elena was her assistant as well as her friend, so she gently asked.

Lucy blinked and flashed a smile. "I'm alright. I just don't like it anymore."

Elena knew there was more to it, but she didn't ask for more information.

Lucy grabbed a fruit on the table before she put it back without taking a single bite. "Desmond and his assistant… Are they living together?" She asked. She had been certain before, but after what Desmond said earlier, she was not so sure anymore.

"That's the information I got from Mr. Fin, who is a close friend of Miss Willaims." Elena answered, explaining Ryan's answer in detail. According to Ryan, Zaria had moved out of her apartment to live with Desmond, and had taken her father and pet along with her.

Lucy slapped her forehead. How could she not confirm the information before she reacted to it? She must be letting her distress get into her brain.

"Are you trying to pull Desmond down using his reputation? There are other ways to do that." Elena suggested.

Lucy walked to the window and tried to look outside, but the long fence did not let her see anything outside her compound. "That's not what I'm after."

Elena shut her mouth to wait for the next instruction, knowing that Lucy was now lost in thought and would not hear a word, much less satisfy her curiosity.

She was right, Lucy was lost in thought. If Zaria didn't live with Desmond, where was her new residence?

Now that she thought about it, she didn't think Theodore would agree to his daughter living with a man she was yet to be married to, let alone move in together with them. She must have been too excited to think it through.

"Who the hell is this Mr. Fin?" She sneered.

"Her childhood friend." Elena repeated the information she had found.

"Just a friend?" Lucy asked insistently, letting Elena know just what she was really asking about.

"He has one sided feelings for Miss Williams. Do you think we should make use of him?" She asked, since she had thought of the idea but was afraid of suggesting it to Lucy.

"What do you have in mind?" She turned around to ask.

Elena smiled at the thought of it. "Mr. Fin will definitely be willing to get rid of Desmond if he were assured to have a chance with his dear Zaria. We can just make up some wild story about having Miss Williams under our control and being able to create a chance for them."

Lucy frowned at every word and by the time Elena was done speaking, she was on the verge of exploding. "How dare you think of using…" She stopped herself before she could get the word 'daughter' out of her mouth. "Elena, women shouldn't use fellow women as bait. Besides, who the hell said I wanted to hurt Desmond?"

"Then what?" The woman would soon die from frustration. Why was it more difficult to work for Lucy than if it was to watch over a toddler? She was so unpredictable! She kept twisting up her plans and not explaining them fully, let alone what she was trying to achieve. She would ask for her opinion yet reject every idea she was given.

"Then, try to contact Mr. Preston again. While you're at it, contact the Morels and ask for a meeting tomorrow.

Elena nodded and called Liam again. This time the call went through, and she was able to set up a meeting with the man in the evening.

__

Lucy met up with Liam over dinner. However, the man must be wary of her because he didn't touch any of the food.

"Are you scared that I will have them poison you? We can exchange our food for credibility." She offered with a laugh at his childishness.

Liam was still skeptical. "What if the poisoned food is on your plate? Perhaps you are ready to use switching as a way to prove that it's alright, and that is how you will give the poisoned food to me."

Lucy laughed gently and started eating. "Eat if you'd like."

"Why don't you save us both the time and go straight to the point?" He demanded. He would never have agreed to meet up with her but her assistant was too annoying to be ignored.

Lucy chewed a piece of lobster and almost wanted to close her eyes to savor it. She would definitely come back to this restaurant. Liam's words were a bummer that interrupted her as she savored her food.

"So impatient… Sell me your shares from Preston and Fort Group." She straightforwardly demanded since he asked for it.

The man paused for a while before laughing. "Why would I do that?"

She paused eating to focus on him. "You should be asking what I can offer in exchange for it."

"Let's hear it." He listened, even though he didn't need to. He was not intending to sell any of his shares after all. Preston and Fort Group was his and Desmond's blood and sweat. Lucy must have known this, which made him curious why she still sought him nonetheless.

"Sometimes you want to do things on your own but you can't because of him." She hypothesised like a psychic, making him wonder what it had to do with anything. "Especially now. You cannot seek your happiness because it is tied to him. A woman—Zaria Willaims?"

___

Song recommendation: I'll make a man out of you—Donny Osmond