Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Are you going to accept it?
Jessica held the envelope just out of my reach, the mocking smile still playing on her lips when our eyes locked. But I simply stared at her, my gaze flitting from the envelope to her.
Silence descended upon us, and the air continued to crackle with unspoken tension. When I made no attempt to receive the envelope from her, a frown made its way to settle between her brows.
She moved back, the cocky grin on her face faltering, now replaced with a pout as she put on a pitiful look. I watched as she turned to Lucas, tugging at his arm like a spoiled child who did not get her way.
"Lucas..." she whined, and I felt the bile crawl up my throat just by watching the interaction unfold before my eyes.
"Evelyn is ignoring me and refusing to accept our invitation. I only wanted to personally invite her to the event to celebrate our appointments. Did I...did I do something wrong?" She asked in a soft voice, feigning pity as she lowered her gaze.
Lucas reached out to pat her hand tenderly, his expression softened as he reassured her over and over with a gentle smile. "You didn’t do anything wrong. She is the one being unreasonable."
Jessica lifted her head to meet his eyes, the small pout still resting on her lips. "Are you sure? But she seems mad at me for some reason... I must have done something to upset her."
"No, no, you didn’t. Don’t worry about it."
I let out a loud scoff. But before I even had the chance to open my mouth to say something, Lucas had interrupted, cutting me off. He faced me this time, pinning me with a vicious glare as he clenched his jaw.
"Can’t you just accept the invitation? Jessica is already so nice to welcome you to the event, even though your father disowned you. Yet here you are ignoring her, acting all mighty and arrogant. Can’t you be more grateful?"
A cold chuckle escaped my lips. Ridiculous. But of course, you could count on Lucas to make such absurd statements, for him to twist wrong into right, all for Jessica.
I kept my expression cold. "More grateful? For what exactly? Don’t act like you are here doing me a favor when you know exactly what you are doing," I spat the words out of my mouth.
Anger burst in Lucas’ eyes while Jessica’s eyes glistened with unshed tears.
"I’m sorry," my stepsister mumbled under he breath as she lowered her head, and a single stray tear fell from her eye. "I really didn’t know you would be against coming. I...I thought you would be happy about the news."
The envelope was still in her hand as Lucas comforted her.
"Jess..." he murmured in a gentle tone as he reached up to wipe the tears that were rolling down her flushed cheeks. "She’s not worth it, don’t cry over someone like her. I know you only want the best for her, but it’s clear she doesn’t appreciate it."
He whipped his head around, his eyes snapped to mine, an intense glare burning right through me. "Are you happy now that you made Jessica cry? Why can’t you be happy for us? Is it that difficult to accept a God damn invitation?"
I didn’t notice how close Lucas had gotten to me until Rhys put his arm between the two of us. His features hardened as he glared at him, the warning sitting at the tip of his tongue. "Can’t you see that Evelyn doesn’t want to accept your invitation? Are you done forcing her already?" He sneered.
I looked up at Rhys with a small smile, appreciating the way he stood up for me without hesitation. But of course, Lucas remained adamant about me accepting it, and he refused to budge.
He scoffed dramatically instead, his arms crossed over his chest while an arrogant look spread across his face. "She’s accepting it whether she likes it or not. If she doesn’t, then we are not leaving," he declared, pulling Jessica closer to him.
He turned to Jessica this time, his gaze softened once again, and a small smile crept onto his face. "Don’t worry, I will make sure she accepts the invitation no matter what. She will come, I promise you that."
"Maybe you shouldn’t be lying to her," was what I wanted to say. The temptation was huge, very huge. But those words didn’t leave the tip of my tongue like I thought they would.
This was getting too much, even my head was starting to hurt. I needed this to end. So instead of flaring up at them again, I chose a different path this time.
I let the corners of my lips curl upwards into a small smile. "You know what?" My words pierced through the thick tension that settled between us, and their eyes immediately found mine. "I will accept it."
I watched as their eyes grew wider, almost as if they were surprised that I would give in that easily. But little did they know that I was not planning on going at all, and they couldn’t do anything to force me. Unless they decided to kidnap me and drag me there, but that was far too extreme.
Right?
Lucas returned a satisfied smile, and beside him, Jessica perked up, her eyes twinkling brighter than before.
Rhys looked as though he wanted to argue and say something, but Lucas beat him to it.
"Great, that’s more like it," he commented, a smug look plastered across his face as I took the envelope from Jessica’s hand.
But I barely acknowledged him, as I turned to place the envelope aside. Instead, I merely arched a brow at him, my expression remained cold and indifferent as our eyes met.
"Since I have accepted your invitation, are you going to leave now?" I asked, getting straight to the point.
"So eager to chase us out, hm?" Lucas shot back instantly, a glimmer of amusement and anger swirling in the depths of his eyes. It almost seemed like in some twisted way, a part of him was enjoying it.
I scoffed. "You wanted to give me the invitation, and I have taken it. That should be the end of it, right?" They stared back at me, and when neither of them said a word, I continued. "So shouldn’t you be leaving by now? Unless you would love to be escorted by the guards of police, then you are more than welcome to stay."
Jessica frowned, while Lucas narrowed his eyes into thin slits, a scowl making an appearance.
"She told you two to leave," Rhys reiterated through clenched teeth when neither of them made a move. "Did you not hear what my girlfriend said?"
He took a step towards them, forcing them to stumble back in shock. This time, he tilted his head to the side slightly, a smirk slowly spreading across his face.
"Or do you prefer to be dragged out by the guards or police, like what Evelyn said?" He paused, musing. "I wouldn’t mind seeing that, though. I bet it would be entertaining," he added with a snicker.
"You—!"
"Are you going to keep standing here? It seems like you are really asking to be thrown out."
Although it was obvious that Lucas was displeased, he still grabbed Jessica’s arm, his fingers encircling her wrist. "Come on, let’s get out of here," he said through gritted teeth as he pulled her towards the exit.
But their steps came to an abrupt halt right as they were about to step out. I watched as he turned around to face me, the anger still carved into his features. But I remained unfazed, only smiling at them, and even giving them a mocking wave. "Goodbye!"
The frown on his face deepened as he let out an angry huff. "I’ll see you again this week," he declared before storming down the brightly lit corridor.
I immediately headed towards the door as well. But I only managed to make a step when I felt warm fingers curl around my wrist. I looked back to see Rhys looking at me with a concerned expression.
"Where are you going?"
"Following them. They are so adamant about me accepting the invitation, I bet they are up to no good. I need to find out what is going on."
He cocked a dark brow at me. "Are you sure it’s a good idea? Will they even say anything?"
I frowned. "Are you doubting me?"
His eyes turned wide as he shook his head. "No, of course not."
I slipped out of his grasp and snuck outside, forgetting all about the headache and the dizziness from earlier. I peeked around the corner, watching as the two of them laughed with one another as Rhys stayed close behind me.
"Did you see the look on her face? I bet she didn’t see that coming," Lucas remarked, a triumphant look on his face.
"I’m sure she’s upset that my dad gave you the CEO role while I am the CFO. After all, she is also his daughter, yet she is left with nothing."
He laughed. "Wait till she finds out that we removed her from her father’s will too. The Hart Group will belong to us, all of their wealth belongs to us!"
What? I couldn’t stop the gasp that left my lips, and Lucas’ sharp voice tore through the air.
"Who’s there?"
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