After making the necessary arrangements with Liza and informing the police that she would be going overseas for a while, Elizabeth books a plane ticket to Paris.
She sits at the edge of her bed and thinks. Since she's seen August earlier, she hasn't really had time to think about everything that has happened. Her building burnt down, and somehow she knows Eldred Dereon was responsible for it. But why would he attack her? What reason could he possibly have? She barely even had time to mourn her loss, when August sprung going to Paris on her. Would leaving be a wise choice? She falls back onto her bed and finds herself thinking about her mother again. Strange. She picks up her phone and scrolls down to her mother's contact. Staring at her phone, she contemplates dialing the number. She may not be on speaking terms with her mother, buy that doesn't mean she doesn't love or care for her, unlike her mother. She decides to dial and waits for her her to ansArriving at their destination, Emily and August step out of the Mercedes-Benz as a picture of sophistication. They were Dereons after all, and needed to keep up with appearances. The drive to the restaurant was a silent one, neither one daring to speak out of fear.As soon as they step out, Emily breaks the silence. "Is she safe?" August holds out his arm for her to take and they walk into the building. "I told her to book a flight to Paris and stay at Hotel Judour. I also explained to her that it's not safe to be here right now. " August responds. Emily nods and the maitre d shows them to their private table as soon as they enter, then Emily asks to swop tables with a private booth. August frowns but follows her. As soon as they're seated, Emily explains the switch. "Father would have been listening in and have bugs planted at our reserved table. This is just a precaution." August nods and is quite impressed by Emily's move, he didn't even think about that. Suddenl
Emily steps out of the Maybach. She turns towards the big sprawling mansion and feels the bile rise at the back of her throat. What made her decide to do this? That was easy.Eldred Dereon and Giovanni Russo.Regaining her composure, she walks to the front door, rings the buzzer, and waits.The front door opens and a burly man gestures for her to come inside. "Mr. Marino will be with you shortly. Please, come in." He speaks in rapid Sicilian. Emily feels thankful to Tony for forcing her to learn the language. "Thank you," she responds back. And walks towards the lounge area. She proceeds to walk around to kill time. If it wasn't for her father in law, she wouldn't need to go this far. Tony will disown her completely after this, she thinks to herself.Just then a well-dressed man, about her Papas age, walks out to greet her. She walks towards him, arm outstretched to shake his hand. He gives a hearty laugh and wraps her in a bear hug. "My Emmy, how I've miss
Elizabeth walks the streets of Paris in high spirits. Her long honey-colored hair blowing in the wind as she looks around the city in wonder. This will be her new home, she already decided that. She just needed to find the perfect spot to open her new fashion house. She's already called real estate companies and set up appointments to view some vacant buildings.It was an hour before her next viewing when she decided to pop into a cafe for some coffee. She places her order in fluent French and seats herself. Just as she was about to put her bag on the table, her phone rings. Looking at the caller ID, she sighs at the unknown number, but answers anyway."Hello, Elizabeth White speaking," she answers curtly and business-like. "Dragonfly. " came the sweet voice of August and her heart melts all over again. "August!" She answers in an excited tone, August chuckles and says, "I'll be seeing you next week, Dragonfly. Was your flight okay?" She smiles at his words, stil
August smiles while looking at his phone. He gave Elizabeth some hope for the two of them, and that's all that matters. He walks into Dereon Industries with a renewed faith that things will start looking up. He greets the ladies at the reception desk with a bit more gusto than usual, "Good morning ladies, hope you're ready for the day?" he says and flashes his well-known playboy smile, both of them blushing as he greets them. "Good morning, Mr. Dereon!" they respond eagerly. He smiles again, nods, and turns around to the elevator, and heads to his office on the top floor, listening to the giggles behind him,"Mr. Dereon is so hot!""He seems to different today!"August chuckles in response. Did he really seem like such a cold man? He continues to greet and make conversation with his staff members, most of them surprised at his good mood. As he reaches his office, he gets a phone call on his cell. Reaching for it, he checks the caller ID.It wa
Emily looks up at the mansion she grew up in and feels a pit in her stomach.She hated coming back here. She thought her marriage to August Deron would set her free of her father, but it seems like she was stuck with him. As she walks up to the large front door, she remembers her last day here, she swore never to return. Now, look at her, back with a vengeance.Walking into the living room, she looks around the place and feels sick. She despised this place, but she needs to do what needs to be done, she needs to do what her Mama couldn't.She walks to her father's study,knocks, and mentally prepares herself. She knew he would be home as it was Tuesday, his so-called off day."Come!" his voice booms and she flinches. He still had that effect on her, no matter how prepared she thought she was, he could still break through her bravado. With a trembling hand, she opens the study door. Giovanni Russo looks up from his laptop and makes eye contact with
August meets his father at their usual booked booth after taking a call from Emily. Shehad let him know that her family would be joining the so-called wedding celebration. He wasn't sure what Emily was planning, but he trusted her enough to handle it. "... I expect it to be sorted out by the time I get back to the office!" He caught the tail end of what seems to be a work-related phone call. His father slams his phone down and looks up at him. "Incompetency," he says, referring to the now-ended call. "Ah. I deal with that on a daily basis." He responds, making boring conversations and sits down opposite his father."Now, son. Tell me, how have things been on your side?" Eldred asks and August eyes him suspiciously. "It's been alright. Married life and whatnot," he responds, nonchalantly. "Of course. Have you and Emily decided when you'll be giving me an heir?" his father asks and August chokes on his water. "Uhm *cough* not exactly. Emily and I are pursuing our careers
After six days in Paris, Elizabeth was becoming homesick. She wasn't used to being away from home unless she was kept busy with business meetings. She had just finished her call with August and was in a much happier mood. She missed him as well, but he assured her that he would be on a flight to Paris tomorrow. Plus, she finally found a new studio, so her day was just getting better and better.August calls her every morning and evening, and she feels like she's falling more in love with him each time. There was to be a so-called "wedding celebration" that Emily planned for some or other reason. Emily had come up with a plan to rid them of both their father, and it was apparently to be implemented at this celebration next week. She was still confused but trusted both of them. She had been keeping Liza up to date with the happenings of the new Libellule House as well. Life seems to be looking up. As she sat down to drink her morning coffee, her phone rings again. She looks at th
Emily wakes up from a nap after a rough day of meeting with her grandfather and father. She yawns and gets out of the bed. Walking towards the door, she suddenly finds herself peckish and heads downstairs to grab a bite to eat. But first she wanted to go to Antonio's study to see him. She knocks then lets herself in and wishes she didn't just barge in.Antonio had a petite blonde in his arms and they were kissing passionately."Oh! I'm so sorry!" She says and proceeds to walk backward, closing the door. "Em! No, come back." Antonio calls after her, but she had already closed the door. Oh gosh, she'd forgotten that he had a girlfriend now, so she couldn't just barge into his life as she pleases anymore. Emily smiles, walking towards the kitchen. She was so happy for Antonio, he's finally happy after all these years of living under the iron grip of Giovanni. He had something to look forward to each day. As she prepares herself a cup of tea, she hears Antonio and