Cayenne left in a hurry and did not hear Zeki calling for her. She immediately changed her clothes, went to the foundation office, and met Stefan there.
"What's going on?" She asked before she could take a seat as she was anxious to know what was going on.
"Luiz is currently being slandered online. People are calling him a liar. Apparently, pictures of Clarisse attending our children's party have surfaced the internet."
"I just had a call with Luiz. Did he tell you anything about it? What about David? What is their action plan?"
Seeing her in panic, Stefan held her hand to calm her down. "He is currently trying to reach out to Isabelle."
Hearing her name, Cayenne felt another throbbing headache. "Is Clarisse, okay?"
"She is. I called her earlier. She took a leave of absence from Trine because of the issue. His father expressed his dissatisfaction regarding this matter as well."
With the ongoing issue, Cayenne's staff were looking at her in worry. They knew the foundation would continue with Stefan supporting it behind the scenes, but knowing how much Cayenne cared for others, they did not want to see her in low spirits.
With their ordinary lives, her staff could only turn to social media and express their opinions.
They hurled comments on the post released by ShowbizNews regarding Luiz' unhealthy relationship with the two women.
Staff A: "People are easily tricked into believing the lies that others say without evidence."
Staff B: "When did Sir Luiz say that Miss Belle is his girlfriend? For all I know, she is his female bodyguard who would go on events with him to protect him."
Staff C: "Who said that he broke up with his girlfriend? Labeling her as "ex-girlfriend" without official statements from the people involve, are you all stupid?"
Staff D: "If you cannot get her to endorse your product, then just smear her name! Tsk! So pathetic!"
LuizISLuv: "When Isabelle came into picture, Luiz introduced him as a family friend. Who would have thought that people would jump the gun and say they are in a relationship?"
Busy_BOSS: "If he they did not break up, why is that we no longer see posts of him and his "girlfriend" Clarisse?"
Madness_Xiao: "Family friend but F*cking"
More people joined the fray just because they had so much time and they had nothing better to do but ruin someone else's life.
Meanwhile, Luiz was kneeling on the floor in front of Mr. Rodriguez, Clarisse's father. She already told her not to come because her father was really mad right now, but he didn't care and came anyway for some beating.
Though, he was not really beaten black and blue, but the older man was looking coldly at him.
"Is this the life that you want for my daughter? You want her to be drowned in gossip and slander? I may not be the best father to her, but I would never let any harm fall on her. But what did you do?"
"Shut up and get inside your room!" Mr. Rodriguez yelled at his daughter while fuming in anger.
However, Clarisse stubbornly refused. "If you are going to act this way, then I won't leave."
"Why? You still want to defend your useless boyfriend?"
"You have not even given us a chance to explain!" Clarisse yelled back her retort. "Why can't you just listen for once? You do not even know the whole situation and you are hurling insults at him!"
"Babe don't argue with your dad," Luiz muttered while trying to reach out to his girlfriend, but Mr. Rodriguez glared sharply at him. "He has the right to get mad at me."
"Good thing you are sensible," the older man said as he crossed his legs. "Fine, then. Explain what is going on."
Having been given amnesty to explain, Luiz sighed deeply in relief. Slowly, he narrated the truth to his future father-in-law while the latter frowned in disagreement.
"I still do not like your idea of using another woman to keep my daughter safe. I mean, I understand the sentiment, but it is wrong."
"Rest assured Sir, this will be resolved soon. I just want you to know that your daughter will be the one and only for me."
Hearing his words, Clarisse blushed in embarrassment, and when her father looked at her, she even lifted her chin proudly.
"Make sure to resolve this in 24 hours. If you really love my daughter, then I want you to show her proudly to the world. I don't like secret relationships."
Now that one of his problems was solved, Luiz felt like a heavy stone was lifted off his chest. [The only problem is Belle. I need to find her soon.]
Meanwhile, in a simple bungalow house located in a suburb, their enemy was watching the Dumrique stocks slowly plummet. He took a sip of his red wine and scratched the side of his face in irritation.
The stocks were slowly, slowly plummeting like a snail – maybe a snail is even faster.
He scratched his face again, causing abrasions and bruises.
His phone notified him of a text message and when he saw who it was coming from, a vicious smile appeared on his face.
He thought for a moment as he tapped his phone screen with his bloodied fingernails. [The youngest.]
The other side replied to him with a thumbs up and nothing else. [Ruining me . One life from your side is not even enough.]
Cayenne was discussing with David to solve the issue when she felt a stifling emotion rising in her heart. She suddenly felt nervous for some reason – the kind of anxiousness that you felt when getting a bad premonition.
"I want to go home," she declared which cut off David from speaking on the phone. Stefan also turned his attention to her. "I am sorry David; I will leave this matter to you. I just need to go home right now."
She didn't even wait for her Stefan to come with her.
"Hey! Ayen, wait up!" Stefan called out while chasing after her. "What's wrong? Why are you in a hurry?"
"I don't know. I...I just need to see the children right now," she said while pressing the elevator button down. "We need to hurry."
"Why? What's going on? Are the children sick?"
"No. I just feel – Ah!"
Cayenne screamed when she heard a loud bang outside the building.