Knowing that she had dumped an impossible condition at the other party, Shera unhurriedly sipped her tea as she waited for a response.

"That is doable. But I have a condition." Lucy spoke up after a while.

"You have conditions when you are the one who wants me to do you a favor?" Shera asked with a hint of disdain in her voice. "Aren't you too greedy, Ms Roatta?"

"It's to ensure you are not robbing me in the name of doing me a favor. My condition is that you will not meddle in this matter. You will leave it entirely to me. If I prove that you have tried to do anything behind my back, the conditions you set will no longer be valid." She insisted. Knowing Shera, it would be a surprise if the woman didn't use this chance to try and acquire Twilight.

In response, Shera laughed lightly. "I didn't think about it before but now that you mention it…maybe it will be fun to sabotage you."

"I'm sure you don't want to become The Dark Night's enemy when we could be friends." Lucy threw in a low-key threat, promising that if Shera meddled with the results, she would fight back even if it caused unnecessary chaos.

"Ah, whatever. I don't want to tire myself out anyway. But I will give you a week." Shera waved her hand in dismissal.

"One week...that's alright." Lucy left CT Corporation, heaving a sigh of relief. Shera did not make her sign the contract in the end, so they merely had a verbal agreement. Her reason was that if Lucy was willing to bet everything she had on him, then she was certain of his innocence. It was true but it didn't mean there was time to be lax about it. She had to prove Theodore's innocence as soon as possible.

_

Desmond dropped Zaria off. When he turned to go back into his car, she tugged his sleeve. "Can you stay, please?"

His heart broke when he heard her. She couldn't stay on her own tonight after everything that happened. He kissed her forehead and took her hand, leading her into the villa.

Once in her room, he warmed a glass of milk and brought it to her, before taking off her heels and massaging her feet.

"I'm alright." She smiled at his fawning actions.

Although she said that she was fine, he didn't stop what he was doing. They had already had dinner earlier so he tucked her in bed soon after she took a shower.

"I will handle whatever is left. Go to sleep, okay?" He coaxed.

"How can I let you do everything? I have to find some clues too." She was feeling drowsy from having not had enough rest the day before, but she was determined to finish what she had to before she could rest.

Knowing that she would not be convinced no matter how hard he tried to persuade her, he gave in and explained to her the plan he had in mind.

"Are you sure the Qins would agree?" She knew that she could not bail Theodore out mainly because the Qins had prohibited it, so she was surprised when Desmond talked about convincing them to let him off.

"There's only one way to find out." He shrugged. He knew that it all depended on what he could offer in return and how soon he could prove his words. "I'll give Leo a call."

The call only lasted a few minutes before he returned to her side. She bit her lower lip. "He disagreed, right?"

"Yes." He sat beside her and pulled her into his arms. "Because someone else was faster. Your mother already has an agreement with Shera."

Zaria was taken aback. "My mother? Why would she do that?"

"Because she can't bear to see you sad. By the way, Leo casually mentioned that she betted full ownership of her company on Theodore's innocence.

Zaria no longer knew what to say. Could it be that Lucy had had enough of a luxurious life and was throwing away some of her wealth to relieve herself. She could never fully understand tycoons' train of thought.

"Are you going to pretend not to know why she is doing it?" He teased her.

Zaria shook her head. "Caring about me is one thing. But even if it's for my sake, that seems a little too much. Hey, do you think she still loves my dad and can't bear to see him behind bars?"

"Who am I to make a guess?" He smiled, even though he thought the same way. Although it was none of his business, he hoped for Zaria's family to reunite. Heaven knew how badly she had always wanted to see her parents together. She even made a wish on the wishing well on their behalf.

"Let's go to sleep. Sing me a lullaby." She childishly demanded, knowing that he would merely tease her in return.

However, he held her against his chest and actually started singing.

She burst into laughter. "Who would have thought? Although your voice is so seductive when you speak, you sing like a frog? You will start ribbiting if you don't stop."

He smiled, glad that she was finally laughing. "At least I'm good with the piano. I can play you a tune later."

She snuggled against him comfortably. "I would love that." Tilting her body, she pinched his nose. "You have to decrease your caffeine intake. It has a negative impact on your voice."

"That's okay. I don't intend to be a superstar anyways." He held her hand that was pinching his face.

"You still need to decrease it. Don't get me started on all the other health effects." She frowned at him. What was so good about caffeine anyway? Before she became Lucy's assistant, she had started to insistently give him water whenever he asked for coffee. Once in a while she would replace it with milk or juice too. She made a mental note to tell Zeus what to do.

"Honey, although you are beautiful even when you frown, I still prefer your smile." He pinched her cheek to forcefully make her smile.

"Then give me a reason to smile." She pouted.

"I love you." He kissed her lips. "And I need you."

He traced a finger down her back and flipped her so she would be on top of him. She kissed him but just as he was about to reach into her pajamas, her body went limp. He checked on her only to find out that she had fallen asleep.

Well, she needed to sleep after such an emotional turmoil. He kissed her hands and slid out of bed, heading for the bathroom.

____

The following day.

When Zaria told Ximena about what happened to Theodore, the latter was in the middle of a meeting with a client's assistant.

"Please proceed with the meeting. I have an emergency to attend to. Excuse me." She apologized and rushed out of the meeting room, letting her assistant take over.

She jumped into her car and sped off towards Preston and Fort Group.

But who would have thought, her car would run out of fuel when she was far from the next gas station?

"Crap. I knew I shouldn't have ignored the alarm." She cursed.

She was still dialling a number on her phone when someone knocked on her window. She looked up, coming face to face with Liam.

"Get off the road if you don't want to drive. You are causing a traffic jam." He berated her.

"I thought the highway was a nice spot to park my car." She smiled sarcastically before her smile faded into a frown. "Of course I have places to go too. Can't you freaking tell that I'm out of fuel?"

"I wasn't asking for an explosion." He widened his eyes at the audacity of this woman to yell at him.

She exited the car and glanced at the wide highway, where other cars were still swiftly going past despite the blockage of one lane. Liam was the only one who was brainless enough to wait for her to move. Or perhaps, he was just causing trouble.

She glared at him. "Of course I will explode! Do you wealthy people leave your brains behind every time you negotiate business deals? You are pathetic!"

"Do you have something against wealthy people?" He raised an eyebrow, recalling that this was not the first time she was yelling at him for being a CEO.

"Only foolish, arrogant ones like you." She sneered. Of course she hated them. If they weren't brainless, they wouldn't be fond of forcing their children into decisions they wanted nothing to do with. She glanced at him over her shoulder and entered her car. "I would very much advise you to stay away from me. I'm in a hurry."

"Do you want to get somewhere fast? I can drive you." He offered. "It may take long for the gas station to help you refill your car. Just saying…"

She knew that he was right no matter how much she wanted to deny it.