Benji had just gotten off the elevator when he was greeted with the face of the man that his boss had been gushing over all day.

'Ugh! Not enough that I have to hear his praises all day now I even have to see his face everywhere?' He grumbled in his heart.

However, he knew that he just could not ignore the man since they had come face to face and hence he had decided to do the right thing.

Though he was annoyed, he yet had to greet him now that they had crossed paths.

Unfortunately, all of Benji's plans of greeting him were thrown off-track when the man in question ignored his existence and entered the elevator.

'What is he so arrogant about? This proves that Nana has bad taste in men!' Benji scowled when the doors of the elevator were shut.

He stood in the same place and watched the lights on the elevator blink as it climbed higher and higher.

Shaking his irritation away, he turned around and swiftly strode outside the building.

'I need to restock the refrigerator! Let's cook something yummy tonight!' He planned the dishes for his dinner as he exited the building.

When Benji had come home after his day at work, he had noticed the sorry state of his empty refrigerator and decided to do some last-minute shopping before he started dinner preparations.

This was how he had come to meet his boss's boyfriend who had so rudely ignored him.

'I will tell Nana of this incident for sure!' He threatened no one in particular as he clenched the cloth bag in his hand.

While he was walking towards the supermarket that was specifically built for the residents of the apartment building that he had rented a house in, Lucille was walking in the direction of her daughter's bedroom.

Lucille strode inside the room without bothering to knock on the door as she found no necessity for such formality when the other person was her flesh and blood.

As she entered the room, she caught sight of her daughter standing before the window and gazing out at the darkening sky.

'Did I ever witness my daughter having this brooding expression on her face before?' She wondered to herself as she inched closer in her direction.

"What happened outside, baby?" She inquired while placing her hand on Mandy's shoulder.

Mandy had been in deep thoughts about certain things and hence when she felt an arm on her shoulder, she panicked and jumped up in fright while letting out a loud frightful scream.

Hearing her scream that could put banshees to shame, Lucille flinched and hurried to cover her ears.

When Mandy realized that it was just her mother who had entered the room without her permission she was both annoyed and afraid.

Annoyed because her privacy was not being respected by her very own mother and afraid because the now blackened expressions on her mother's face were enough to put the fear of God in her.

Mandy had always been afraid of her mother's wrath and the reason for that was, although Lucille looked like a kind and loving mother to the outside world, only Mandy was aware of how she had been brought up since young.

Thankfully, a knock on the door had saved her from her childhood memories which could get scary at times.

'I need to stop remembering the past now. It's not like mum can hit me anymore and I now have Daddy to help me out if I get in trouble.' She coaxed her rapidly pounding heart as she peeked towards the door.

"Come in" She pronounced in a loud voice.

A familiar face popped in through the slightly opened door before the entire body appeared.

Seeing the person who had entered the room, Mandy had a curious frown while Lucille had a glowering glare.

"What are you doing here, Richy?" Mandy questioned as she watched the man step in their direction and then respectfully bow to both the mother-daughter pair.

"Young Miss, I heard you scream and hurried to check whether everything was alright." He answered as he looked at Mandy with concerned eyes.

Mandy's cold heart melted on the outside and she shook her hand dismissively.

"Mother just entered my room without permission and gave me a fright." She explained the reason for her abrupt scream.

Richy nodded his head but did not comment on it as it was not his place to do so but Lucille wasn't pleased when she heard this.

"What permission? I am your mother! Why do I need permission to enter my child's room?" She scowled at Mandy, forgetting about her earlier animosity with the male servant.

Mandy gave her mother an appeasing smile and guided her towards the couch to let her sit down.

"Yes, mother. Whatever you say." She coaxed her and sat next to her.

"What was it that brought you to my room?" She inquired and waited for her mother's response that would have to validate the reason for almost giving her a heart attack.

Lucille had opened her mouth to question her about what had happened with Lina earlier but she halted even before she began.

She shot a glance at the man standing with his head lowered in a submissive manner and then at her daughter.

Mandy noticed her shifting glances and she too looked that way and found the object of her gaze.

'Richy?' She tilted her head and turned towards her mother with confused eyes which were rewarded with an annoyed sigh.

"Give us a little privacy." Lucille commanded when she noticed that Mandy had not understood her signals.

Richy's head whiplashed upwards as he first glanced at Lucille and then turned to look at Mandy with pitiful and wronged eyes.

'Oh, so Mandy's words mean more to him than mine?' Lucille was amused when she discovered this strange behavior.

Just as Mandy was about to protest against her mother's command, her wrist was held in a tight grip which made her grimace in pain.

She knew that if she made any noise, then the strength being used would just increase and so she did not utter a single word and bore the pain in silence.

"What are you waiting for?" Lucille interrogated in a harsh tone which prompted the man to hurry out of the room.

Before leaving, he shot an understanding glimpse at his young miss which helped ease her guilty heart.

The moment the door was shut, Mandy withdrew the hand that was being held in a death grip by her mother.

"Mum, we can trust Richy so why did you send him away?" She whined while rubbing her slightly red wrist.

"Still so naive!" Her mother spat out in annoyance but did not explain any further because she had other pressing matters to attend to.

"Forget about the servant! Tell me what happened outside with Lina and why did you leave so abruptly?" She interrogated and her eyebrows scrunched up together while she waited for Mandy's explanations.

Mandy's body froze and her irises shook when she heard this question.

'How should I tell my mother about the deal we made with Miss Zheng?' She panicked and then averted her eyes to hide her thoughts.

Talia and Valerie had warned her not to get into any conflicts or quarrels with Lina until their plan had come to fruition.

But when she had just arrived from Jeanette Liang's house, she stumbled upon the conversation between her mother and that vicious woman who had hurt her best friend.

She forgot all about the warnings that she had been given and confronted Lina about harming her friend.

She had finally come back to her senses when her mother had used the words 'Don't accuse without proof' but how could she change her actions in the very next second?

Hence she played the part of being pissed at Lina until she could bear it no longer and then left the room.

'I thought that I did a good job but looks like mum was not fooled!' She cursed her weak acting skills.

'If mum knows about the agreement that I and Jeanette made with the Zheng sisters then she will surely try to talk sense into me and stop me.' Mandy staunchly believed in the goodness hidden in her mother's heart.

There was no way that she could step away now that their plans had already started moving in the direction that they were hoping for.

'I need to convince mum that nothing is out of the ordinary!' She determined and then looked up at her mother.

"I was on the verge of tearing her face apart and had to leave so that I don't go against your wishes." She explained and a part of that was true as she had left when she could no longer bear looking at Lina's stupid face.

Lucille was still doubtful about the explanation that she was provided with and continued staring at Mandy's face, in hopes of finding some clues about what had truly happened.

"Daddy would be upset if something happens to that bitch." Mandy went on and then gave a playful smile to her mother who glared at her for calling Lina a bitch.

"You don't want Daddy to be upset and I don't want you to be upset." She concluded her attempts of tricking her mother into believing her story by placing her head on Lucille's lap.

Lucille was immensely flattered when she heard her explanation and the doubt in her heart faded away.

She patted Mandy's head a couple of times and ran her finger through her hair.

"Baby, it is just you and me in this house. Don't trust anyone else but me." She reminded her naive daughter and signaled her to get up.

Mandy did not want the pleasant ambiance between them to be disrupted by anything so she silently nodded her head in acquiescence.

"Rest until it is dinner time and then come to the dinner table. Your father might be back since Lina has come home." Lucille shook her head in dismay as she rose from her seat.

Mandy pouted when she heard her mother's words as she too believed that her father would appear today and the reason for that was not his biological daughter but his wretched niece.

"Don't worry, baby. I'm sure Daddy loves you too." Lucille tried to pacify her wounded heart.

She then patted her head one last time before turning towards the door.

'I need to find that Richy guy!' Lucille's smile turned to a terrifying glint when she had stepped outside the room.

____

While Lucille had ordered a maid she found on the way back to her room to inform Richy that he needed to appear before her urgently, Lina was attending to a call which seemed to be urgent too.

"Come to place ASAP!" The person on the other side hung up after yelling this message.