Lerisa was done having dinner with her parents in the dining room. None of her siblings were at home, so she stood up, locked the house entrance door, and finally returned to her bedroom to sleep.
She went into her bedroom, picked up her phone, and saw that the time was after 10 p.m. Furthermore, she was surprised to see many missed calls from Anthony too, and she wasted no time, immediately calling Anthony back to know why he had called her. The phone call connected, and she spoke first: “Hello, Anthony.” Anthony was still standing in his bedroom, preparing to step out to have dinner with his parents before retiring back to his bedroom to sleep. He saw his phone ringing, took it, and saw that Lerisa was the one calling him. He picked up her call and asked her, “Hey, Lerisa. I was calling you before to know if you have gotten home safely and if you're alright now.” "Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks for calling me to check," replied Lerisa. She knew that Anthony cared for her like an older big brother. But he was not her brother, as she has a big brother named James Jonah. She wished Anthony could see her beyond the sibling bond or their family closeness as just friends, as she loves him too. Anthony said, “Okay then. Goodnight. I will still visit you tomorrow morning to check up on you again.” "Okay," Lerisa didn't want to refuse Anthony's visit to her family home. She agreed and knew that it wasn't Anthony's first time visiting her family house, as her mother likes him a lot. Lerisa replied, “Goodnight too.” The phone call with Anthony finally disconnected, and Lerisa stared at her phone screen in silence for a while. She had saved Anthony's photos on her phone and even used his photo as her screen wallpaper. She smiled and kissed his photo on her phone screen, feeling her innocent heart shudder and thud in her chest for Anthony. If only he could hear her heart beating. Lerisa finally plugged her phone in to charge, then went into her bathroom to ease herself before getting out and walking up to her pink bed to sleep. **** The following Saturday morning, after Anthony was through with his early morning exercise and fitness training, he jogged about for a while and ran too. He is a billionaire, but that didn't stop him from exercising, as mostly the rich folks occupied the town they lived in. Anthony was wearing a white sports jersey as he went to jog that morning. He was wearing a white singlet top, white shorts, and white socks, paired with white canvas too. Anthony looked breathtakingly handsome, and plenty of young ladies along the way stole glances at him. They watched him jog at that early hour of the morning. Anthony's family home was not far from Lerisa's family home, as it was only two streets away. He decided to visit Lerisa in her family mansion and find out how she was faring now, as he sees her as his junior sister and his best friend too. Anthony finally approached Lerisa's family gate and knocked on the black gate, waiting for the house occupants to come out and pull the gate open. Meanwhile, the huge black gate was locked from within, and Anthony wasn't with his phone to call Lerisa either and inform her that he was around at her family house. Anthony gazed at his wristwatch and saw it was already after 8 a.m. The sun was rising gradually above the clouds, and Anthony knocked again before Lerisa, who was sweeping the frontage of her father's compound, went to pull the gate open. She gasped as she was surprised to see Anthony standing there, looking breathtakingly handsome to her and filled with sweat. Her breathing etched on seeing Anthony in a white singlet top that revealed his masculine abs. She couldn't imagine what those toned abs would feel like when she finally touched him. She gulped hard as she finally stared up at Anthony's handsome, dark face. She met his eyes and greeted him, “Good morning, sir,” also acting shyly upon seeing him. Anthony smiled, happy to see Lerisa's blushing face at him, as she usually does. She was very light-skinned, and he liked seeing her pretty face. Anthony replied, “Good morning, Lerisa. How was your night?" Anthony took the water bottle he was holding in his right hand up to his lips. After cocking the bottle open, he drank from it, with water dripping down from the side of his lips. Lerisa swallowed again, watching Anthony drink the water. She stared downward while he parted the bottle away from his lips and asked her, “I came to see you. How are you feeling now?” “Lerisa! Who's there at the gate?” Lerisa heard her mother ask her from within the house frontage. She stared backward in the compound and at her mother before she replied, “Anthony, mom.” Anthony walked closer to the gate, meeting Lerisa closely. He told her, "Move away from the gate; let me say hello to your parents first." Lerisa wasn't wearing any bras underneath her ash-colored nightgown. She felt her body radiate heat due to Anthony's close proximity to her. She immediately moved aside from the gate and made way for Anthony to enter her parents compound, as he was standing very closely in front of her. Anthony smiled at Lerisa while his eyes traveled and lingered down, staring at her full bosom. He gulped and quickly looked away from her as his eyes traveled and stared at her sharp pointed nipples that were already hard, pointing out through her light ash-colored nightgown. Lerisa quickly stepped aside, and Anthony walked into their compound to greet her mother, who was smiling at him. Mrs. Antonia Jonah stepped outside fully from the frontage door as she saw Anthony approaching her, and he was the man speaking to Lerisa at the gate. Mrs. Antonia smiled at Anthony and greeted him first: “Our CEO, good morning, sir.” Anthony smiled and replied, “Good morning, ma. How are you doing this morning?” “I'm fine, Anthony, and you? What a pleasant surprise to see you here! You hardly visit us here again since you took over the company position as the new CEO. Did we do anything wrong to offend you in any way?" Mrs. Antonia inquired, to which Anthony replied, “No, Ma. Not at all." Anthony offered a friendly smile, and that made Mrs. Antonia relieved. She smiled back and said, “You're welcome to our house anytime that you like. Come inside, as I'm about to prepare our breakfast now. You can join us for breakfast too.” “No, Ma. Thank you. I only came here to find out how Lerisa is doing, as she looked so sad yesterday,” Anthony said, his eyes moving to stare at Lerisa, where she stood. She finally walked up to meet them, smiling shyly and hiding her blushing face. “Lerisa? Oh! She came back home yesterday looking sad too, and I also wondered what went wrong with her. I hope that there's no problem between you both in the office.” Mrs. Antonia asked. “No, Ma. I don't have any problem with Lerisa, and I can see that she's fine now. I have to be on my way home, as that's why I'm here to check on her,” Anthony politely said, wanting to leave. “Okay then. Thank you for visiting us and for checking up on my daughter. Your mother invited me over for your birthday celebration tonight. I hope that you also invited my daughter too.” Mrs. Antonia asked, smiling brightly, as she wanted Anthony as her in-law. Anthony smiled handsomely and said, “Yes, Ma. I did.” “Okay then. We will see you later in the evening. I have to go inside now and prepare what I initially wanted to fry for breakfast before you arrive. Goodbye, Anthony,” Mrs. Antonia said, and Anthony answered, “Okay, ma.” Lerisa stood aside, listening to her mother's conversation with Anthony,and her mother finally left them and went back into the bungalow house, leaving her and Anthony alone.Anthony finally stared back at Lerisa's face, and he said to her, "I have to go home now. I hope that you're truly feeling fine now." Anthony drank from the bottled water in his hands again, looking directly at Lerisa's face. She replied, "Yes, I'm fine. See you later in the evening." Lerisa's pretty, fair-in-complexion face turned sad again as she remembered that Anthony would definitely propose to Clara in the evening. Since Anthony and Clara have been dating for three years or more,. Anthony noticed the change in Lerisa's mood due to how her face automatically turned red. He immediately asked her, "What's wrong with you again?" Lerisa snapped out of her trance and replied, "Nothing, I'm fine." "Hmm, you keep lying to me that you're fine when you are not fine... Tell me the truth, Lerisa. What's bothering you? You can share whatever the problem is with me. You know that I care about you, and I know that you don't have any other friends aside from me," said Anthony. "You don't
Ben chuckled out first over the phone call, as he knew he had been asking Lerisa out, yet she didn't want to accept him. She was the first lady who had ever rejected his attempts to date her. He was determined to have her by all means, whether she liked him or not. He believed that, with time, she would fall in love with him too. "Does it matter how I got your number? The truth is that I want to hear your voice. "I've been searching for your mobile number since and finally got it from somewhere." "Where?" Lerisa asked Ben, frowning and not wanting to have anything to do with Ben. She knew that Ben was also from a rich family, not the first son, but he owned a hotel and was doing well at his age, despite being the same age as Anthony. "Why are you calling me?" Lerisa inquired. "Chill, babe. Why are you sounding so pissed off? Yesterday, upon observing how depressed you appeared, I became extremely concerned for your well-being. I couldn't sleep well last night, which is why I am cal
Lerisa sighed as she knew that she couldn't miss Anthony's birthday party. She had been there with him since he used to celebrate his seventh birthday party, and until now he has become an adult. Lerisa knew that if she avoided attending Anthony's birthday party, it might seem as though she was jealous or holding a grudge against him, and her parents would frown at her. Fixing her gaze on the road, Lerisa drove her car out of the street and wanted to take another street turn before driving out onto the main road. But just then, she saw a lady and a man kissing each other in front of a black car parked on the street. Lerisa wondered who the shameless young lady and the man were, kissing in public rather than finding a private place. She knew that mostly rich families lived around the estate, as most houses were individually owned and some were mostly occupied by the real house owners together with their family members instead of tenants. But as she drove her car ahead to exit the st
Clara knew she had lied to Remy about her name as April. That was one of her habits of lying to men about her real name, since she wasn't interested in them and only wanted to have sex with them. She walked back into her house gate, as she lived there alone, and returned to her room in the rented apartment. Meanwhile, Lerisa drove to the shopping complex where she wanted to purchase clothes, parked her car, and sighed in relief. She remembered how Clara had denied knowing her. Lerisa thought to call Anthony again on the phone. But she didn't know how she would explain to him that she saw his girlfriend cheating on him. She switched off her car engine and finally stepped out of her car before locking her car door and walking up to the shopping boutique where she wanted to select a gown. Lerisa stepped into one of the feminine boutiques, and the sales representative there attended to her. "Good afternoon, ma'am. What kind of clothes do you want to buy? We have gowns, skirts, blouses,
Lerisa met with her parents in their living room and greeted them, "Good afternoon, Mom, Dad." "Welcome home, Lerisa. Your father and I forgot to purchase birthday gifts that we will give to Anthony today. How about you? Did you purchase anything when you were coming home?" Mrs. Antonia asked, and Lerisa replied, "No, mom. I forgot too." Lerisa stared at the living room wall clock and saw that it was already 2 p.m. Her father said, "There's still time, Lerisa. Why not go outside now with your sister to the shops nearby and purchase what we will give to the Gregson family? As you know, we cannot go there empty-handed to attend Anthony's birthday, since he is their only son." "Hmm, you're right, father. But what do I buy for Anthony? As they're rich, and last year we had already given him a standing fan... And I don't know what to buy for him this year again," Lerisa said with a frown, as they had bought a lot of gifts for Anthony before, and she didn't know what she would give him r
As the evening wore on, Lerisa found herself in the comfort of her room, when suddenly her phone rang. It was Anthony on the other end of the line. By 5 pm, she was ready, having taken the time to dress up and add a touch of makeup to her face. She felt a surge of anxiety as Anthony's name appeared on the caller ID, unsure of whether to answer his call or not. She was consumed with worry, unable to bring herself to tell him about Clara's betrayal. Inhaling deeply, Lerisa managed to pick up the call just before it could disconnect, and Anthony's rich, masculine voice welcomed her. "Hey there, Lerisa..." "Good evening, Anthony. I'm on my way now," Lerisa swiftly responded. Anthony inquired, "Are you certain? Or are you not interested in coming to my birthday party tonight?" Anthony enjoyed having Lerisa's presence around, as he saw her as a dear younger sister. Lerisa quickly responded, "Of course I'll be there for your birthday! I'll be there soon, please... Just a minute," she plead
After one last glance at his reflection in the mirror, Anthony left his bedroom upstairs. He traced the path of the upper level and descended to the event hall in the second wing of their grand estate. "Welcome the celebrant! Just as we have eagerly anticipated this joyous occasion, we are thrilled to join him in celebrating his new age. Anthony Gregson!" The female host exclaimed with excitement as she witnessed Anthony's grand entrance onto the front stage in the event hall. "Thank you all, Thank you," Anthony expressed with gratitude as the round of applause grew louder for him. As he stepped onto the stage, he gracefully took the microphone from the host, who was dressed in an elegant white gown. Despite being married, she was the host of the show. She greeted Anthony with a warm smile, reciprocated by him and the other guests who had gathered in the event hall alongside him and his family. They all enthusiastically applauded him as well. Lerisa stood at a corner in the event ha
Ben strolled out to the stage alongside Lerisa. Since Anthony and the rest of the event shows hadn't begun. As Lerisa stepped onto the stage with Ben, the music of a beautiful love song filled the air. All eyes in the event hall seemed to fixate on her, creating a moment of suspended attention. As she stepped onto the stage, her nerves were palpable. Ben stood by her side, offering support as she tightly gripped his hands. She hesitated to glance around the table where her parents sat, their expressions filled with surprise. She was aware of her mother's personal endorsement of Anthony as a potential spouse. As Ben held her waist tightly, Lerisa could feel her cheeks turning red with embarrassment. Despite Ben's height advantage over her, he possessed a similar stature to Anthony, exuding masculinity. Lerisa couldn't help but constantly compare Ben to Anthony. Perhaps it was because she had always dreamed of catching the eye of someone as charming as Anthony, given that they still re