4: Friends that conspire together, live happy lives together.

"I'm going to work on Monday." Alyssa announced as she scooped another spoonful of vanilla ice cream.

"Really?" Kathleen's eyes grew wide as she gawked at her best friend.

She really has to thank that delivery man!

"Yeah, I've been away for too long. I guess their worried about me." She looked down at the kiiroitori stuffed toy their employees gave her.

"They are. You should see their faces early in the morning Aly. They'd be on high alert every time the door opens, thinking it would be you."

"Don't tell them though, I want it to be a surprise."

Later that night, Kathleen called the delivery company that sent her her package.

"Hello?"

[Miss Kathleen, did you receive the wrong package again?]

"No. No, I received the right one."

[That's good to hear.]

"Yeah, can I ask you for a favor though?"

[Sure Miss.]

"I'd just like to thank the guy who delivered the package."

[There's no need Miss, it's his job.]

"No, it's not that. He actually helped me with something."

[Oh. Well if you insist.]

"And could you please make sure to have him deliver our packages from now on?"

[Of course.]

"Thank you."

Kathleen ended the call with a smile in her heart.

A thank you isn't enough to express my gratitude. She thought. They say the only solution to boy problems are boys.

She then took her phone from her bedside table - pressing 5 random things on the shopping app and buying them.

With a satisfied smile, she closed her eyes to sleep.

A few days later, it was Monday.

Kathleen went to work earlier than usual. She wanted to document their employees reactions when they see Alyssa.

For Alyssa's sake, she specifically told Yna not to go to work today. She wouldn't allow Alyssa's slowly returning confidence to wither because she saw Satan's daughter.

A few minutes after 11, Alyssa texted Kathleen saying she's already a few blocks away from the boutique. The latter quickly descended the stairs to the first floor where their employees were accommodating the last few customers.

It was already noon so she was 95% sure that people would be flocking restaurants rather than boutiques.

Her employees looked at her weirdly. She was really acting way out of character since she clocked in that morning.

Kathleen acted like she didn't notice their stares. She went near the door and happily opened the door for a man and his girlfriend who were the last patrons of the shop for the morning.

She then opened her phone, acting as if she was having a video call with someone - when all she was doing was recording her employees.

A few minutes later, the boutique's door opened revealing a fresh looking Alyssa - wearing denim high-waisted shorts, a white shirt tucked in, a black and white plaid jacket, classic black heels and a black fedora.

Everyone was stunned. After almost 3 months, Alyssa finally showed herself - looking rather stunning, might they add.

She doesn't look like someone who got cheated on by her fiancé the day before their wedding.

Everyone had different reactions.

Bryce ran towards the woman but stopped a few feet away from her. He was just standing there, gawking, unable to do anything.

Rose and Jennie stood up from their seats. Shock and glee evident on their faces.

Bobby - who was holding a box of cufflinks, dropped the box at the sight of Alyssa.

Kathleen who got everyone's reactions on tape smiled triumphantly. She couldn't wait for them to see their reactions! It was gold.

"Hello! I ordered take out!" Alyssa cheerily said before walking over to Bryce. "Missed you too you dog." She laughed, snapping Bryce out of his reverie.

"Aly. Aly. Aly!" He said in varying volumes. On the last mention of her name, he picked her up and spun her around the place, making her laugh. When he placed her back down, he immediately hugged her. "What took you so long? Your godchild has been asking for you."

"I'll visit him and Mina another day."

Everyone approached Alyssa after Bryce broke off their hug. They were so happy to see the woman that they didn't notice that the boutique's door opened.

When they did though, it was as if all the nerves in their body wanted to do the same thing - curse the newcomers for ruining such a great ambiance.

Standing by the door was a surprised looking Yna with Hayden in tow.

~

"What are they doing here?" Bobby asked Bryce in a whisper. They were all gathered in the meeting room at the second floor - eating the take out Alyssa ordered. "I swear to god, if Alyssa goes back into hiding because of these scums, I'll throw them out myself. I don't care if I'm just an employee."

"No one would stop you." Bryce continued to stuff his mouth with food. To say he wasn't mad at Yna and Hayden's sudden appearance was a lie.

"We should've locked the boutique's doors when Alyssa entered!" Jennie gripped the chopsticks she was holding while sneakily shooting daggers at Hayden and Yna who were eating their food - which Alyssa bought with her own money, contentedly.

Everyone agreed to what Jennie said as they once again sneaked looks of disdain towards the couple.

"If you need me, I'll be in the workroom." Alyssa stood up and gave their employees - including the two people she didn't want to see at the moment, a smile before walking towards her workroom which had walls entirely made out of glass.

Everyone could see how her smiles turned into straight lines as soon as she closed the door.

She sat on the chair in front of her drawing table, got a piece of paper and a pen then started drawing.

Everyone in the room felt bad - even Hayden himself felt a sting seeing Alyssa in her current state. Everyone except one.

Yna appeared nonchalant, but she was jumping for joy inside.

She had always hated Alyssa because the woman had almost everything - a loving family, a successful career, loyal friends, and the best fiance, while she had nothing.

She couldn't sit idly by, so she did everything in her power just to put a stop to her almost perfect life.

And to do this, she had to take Hayden for herself. It may not seem like she was seducing the man, but she did. And Hayden - as a man with needs that Alyssa never gave him before they were married, fell for it.

"I think you should leave." Bryce stood up from his seat - Chinese takeout in hand.

"I agree. As far as I know, you shouldn't be here today." Bobby seconded as he stared at the sickening face of Yna.

"We were passing by so I just wanted to say hi." And here she goes with her lotus act once more. An act that no one fell for anymore - except for Hayden who was now hugging the woman.

"We don't need your 'hi'." Rose spat as she glared daggers at the woman.

"Stay here a sec." They weren't expecting those words from Kathleen. She actually told the two scums to wait for her instead of kicking them out!

Kathleen stood up and walked towards Alyssa's workroom.

Everyone watched as Alyssa lifted her head to look at her best friend with a small smile.

Kathleen said something that made that smile falter but after a few seconds, Alyssa sighed, said something and nodded her head.

"You can get all your things now, you'll be transferred to the East boutique as a saleslady. Alyssa's an angel for not firing you." Kathleen hissed.

Noticing that their presence wasn't wanted, Hayden took Yna's hand - leading her down the stairs and out the boutique after saying a 'thank you' for the meal and for Alyssa's generosity.

When they were out, a string of curses filled the boutique's second floor.

Bobby's chopsticks broke. He was so mad that he vented it all out on the innocent pair of chopsticks.

Bryce was suddenly quiet. He just sat there, staring at nothing in particular with fists clenched into a ball.

The girls on the other hand didn't hold back. They cursed the woman until they were contented for the day.

Kathleen's eyes wandered towards her best friend's direction. She appeared to be drawing, but - because she had a talk with her earlier, she knew she was writing one word over and over again on that piece of paper.

Why?

How Kathleen wished she knew the answer to that. Maybe if she did, it would make Alyssa feel better.

The former's eyes grew wide when she noticed a tear fall from Alyssa's eyes. She frowned. How could she make Alyssa feel better? She had to make Alyssa feel better. She just had to.

"I'm going to find an even better man for Alyssa! One that's loyal and better looking than that bastard Hayden!" Lisa - one of their part-timers who had been there that day, had determination in her eyes. She was sure that a lot of her seniors would immediately want to go out with someone like Alyssa.

Besides, there were also a handful of good-looking men in their medical department.

Hearing this, Kathleen immediately thought of the delivery man that Alyssa complemented the other day.

He might just be the answer to their prayers!

"Liz, that's not a good idea either. What if the person you find holds I'll intent?" Brandon - or Bam as they call him, one of the delivery men for the boutique, countered.

"It could actually work." Everyone turned their heads towards Kathleen. "Hear me out."

She then told them the story of how Alyssa told her that she saw a good-looking delivery man and how after saying that, she decided to go to work.

"Then kidnap the dude and make him marry Alyssa!" Rose grinned which made everyone shiver. How could there be such a pretty sadist in the world?

"Okay. Do that Rose, then get sued for kidnapping." Bobby rolled his eyes at the woman's silly suggestion which she returned with a scowl towards the man's direction.

"I was thinking of a more subtle way." Kathleen pointed out. "Just tell me things you plan to buy online."

"You're planning to let them meet often?" Bryce shot her a look. "Do you even know the guy? He could be an ex convict or something."

"Alyssa did say he had tattoos." Kathleen placed a finger on her cheek - trying to imagine a guy who had tattoos on him but still looked attractive enough to get her best friend's attention.

"See?"

"But not all people with tattoos are bad. I have a few of them and I'm not a bad person!" Bobby defended. A lot of people get tattoos just to express themselves and nothing more.

"Says who?" Rose spat which made Bobby glare at her.

"We have no choice do we? He's the only person who caught Alyssa's attention aside from Hayden. Besides, we'd always be with her wouldn't we?"

Everyone thought about it and agreed - even the apprehensive Bryce had to admit that it was their only choice right now.

~

"They what?" He shot up from his seat, phone in hand and a visible scowl on his face.

[They went to the main branch while Miss Alyssa was there Sir.]

"How thick skinned are they? Be sure to keep an eye on my sister. Don't let her recognize you."

He then ended the phone call with one of their family's personal bodyguards.

Because both Gideon and him were very well known, they were always surrounded by fans. And now that their mother's picture was recently revealed to the public, a lot of their fans walk up to her and ask for her picture.

Once - in a mall, a lot of people recognized her and she was almost squished by their raging fans - fighting to get the woman who brought both him and Gideon to the world to sign their pictures of the Wright brothers.

After that incident, they all decided to have bodyguards follow them around, but in secrecy. They didn't want to stand out like a sore thumb in public.

"What happened?" Gideon shot his brother a questioning look.

"The bastard and his slut decided to visit the main branch while Aly was there." He massaged his temples. His sister's business was also his business so he couldn't help but feel stressed over the fact that Alyssa just met the two people that she rather not see anymore.

"Have you talked to Aly?"

"She's still not answering my calls. You?"

"Nope." He leaned on their couch and sighed. "She's dead set on ignoring everyone."

"She's talking to her friends though." Devon pointed out. Autumn had mentioned that Alyssa was still texting and calling them from time to time.

"Of course she is." Gideon sighed. If he had known that a failed love would turn their sister into a different person, he would not have allowed her to get into a romantic relationship and would rather have her be an old maid.

"I still can't understand why Hayden cheated. We've been nothing but good to him." Devon furrowed his brows. He has been thinking of possible reasons why Hayden cheated on his sister but there was nothing.

"I don't want to think about that. Regardless of anything we did and didn't do to him, one thing was for sure. Aly treated him very well. She loved him but he cheated. And in my book, once he cheats, he's not a man deserving of Alyssa."

Devon turned quiet. His brother was right. Regardless of what they did, he was in a relationship with their sister and not them. And as far as they were concerned, Alyssa was nothing but a loving girlfriend to him.

The gears on Devon's head started to work. If they were to let the man go after making their sister suffer, then they'd put the title 'the entertainment circle's most protective brothers' to shame.

A few days after - when Gideon finally had free time in his hands, he decided to visit Alyssa and Kathleen. The boutique was closed and he was sure his sister was staying at their apartment.

He parked his car in front of the apartment and walked his way towards the door. He had the key, but he didn't know if Alyssa wasn't 'okay' with them or not at the moment so he decided to press the doorbell instead.

Kathleen - who was eating some chips while sprawled in front of the TV in her pajamas, grumbled but she still stood up. Alyssa was out for a jog, she was intending to go for a jog herself but decided against it as soon as she saw a movie that peaked her interest.

She was shocked to see Gideon in front of their house. She looked left and right before dragging the man inside.

"Are you crazy? What if someone saw you!" Because her brothers were so overprotective of her, no one knew what the famous Wright brothers' sister looked like. The public only knew that Gideon and Devon had a sister by the name of 'Aly', as they liked to call her.

Imagine how messed up it would've been if someone recognized Gideon. Their neighbors would freak and ask them a bunch of questions!

"Relax, I made sure no one was around." He looked around the house and then back at Kathleen. He ruffled the woman's already messed up hair and then laughed after he saw her scowl. "Is my sister home?"

Kathleen tried to fix her hair before answering.

"No, she went out for a jog." She sighed and stopped fiddling with her hair. It was no use fixing it at that point.

"A jog?" Gideon raised his brows. He was expecting his sister to stay home and continue sulking - not that he wanted that to happen. The reason he went there was to cheer his sister up, but hearing that she's out on a jog ruined his plans entirely.

"Yup. What? Do you want to see a sulking Alyssa instead?" Kathleen spat while walking towards the couch. She picked up the pack of chips she left behind and continued to eat - not minding Gideon at all.

She was used to Gideon and Devon randomly popping out of nowhere to see their sister. Actually, all three of them were. During the first few times they randomly showed up, Autumn, Mackenzie and herself were all in a mess trying to fix themselves but they basically gave up after the 5th 'pop up'.

There was no way they could predict the two men's schedules. And because they were siblings - their randomness was hereditary.

"Damn girl, you aren't even ashamed of yourself right now? Gideon Wright is in front of you! Give yourself some face." Kathleen glared at the man before throwing some of her chips on his face.

'Why do I always get thrown at with chips on the face?' Gideon wondered before shooting a glare towards a grinning Kathleen.

"Want some?" She offered the pack of chips to Gideon with a grin.

"No thanks." He wiped his face clean before walking towards the refrigerator. "You really need to stock more food in your refrigerator you know. Aly can't eat these junk food."

Kathleen just rolled her eyes. Both of Alyssa's brothers were like that. They were - by far, the only people she knew who had such a huge sister complex. They were actual fools for the woman!

Alyssa could go ask them to give her all their savings and Kathleen knew they'd gladly give it to her!

Gideon returned to the living room with two sandwiches in hand. He handed one to Kathleen - snatching the pack of unhealthy chips away from her grasp.

The latter shrugged before biting into the sandwich he gave her. It was delicious! How was it possible that her brothers - who were obviously male, were so great in the kitchen while Alyssa - as a woman, was a huge mess? She could practically burn water!

"Why don't you teach Alyssa some moves in the kitchen?" Kathleen blurted out.

"Why would I do that? The kitchen isn't a safe place. There are knives, there's fire and a lot of other hazards. Why would I allow my sister in the kitchen?" He took a bite from his own sandwich and looked at his sister's best friend confusedly.

"This is exactly the reason why Alyssa is bad in the kitchen! You probably didn't even allow her to go near a kettle did you?" Kathleen sat there, looking at Gideon in disbelief. She was an heiress herself but even she knew a thing or two when it came to cooking!

"Say all you want to say, but I'm not allowing her anywhere near a kitchen. She has me and Devon to cook for her, why would she need to cook for herself?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because of the fact that she'd have to leave the both of you and get married someday!"

Gideon looked at Kathleen with a frown. How could the woman talk about Alyssa's marriage when she just had her heart broken a few months ago by a jerk?

"Don't give me that look! I'm just stating facts." She pointed out. Gideon shrugged his shoulders as he nonchalantly replied.

"Then the man needs to know how to cook - if he doesn't, then he has to learn. Either way, I'm not marrying my sister off to someone who can't even make her something as easy as breakfast, lunch and dinner!"

Kathleen could only shake her head. How did Alyssa live a normal life with brothers like these?

Just then, the door opened - revealing a sweaty Alyssa. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of her brother who was already on his feet - ready to take her in for a hug.

"Wait!" She stopped him. "I'm covered in sweat Gideon. I'll take a shower first." Alyssa quickly ran towards the stairs to her room with Gideon closely trailing behind her shouting the words 'I don't care' and 'just give me a hug'.

"I sure as hell am happy to be an only child." Kathleen then placed the remainder of her sandwich down on a plate and grabbed the chips Gideon took away from her.

A few minutes later, Gideon descended the stairs with a frown.

"You got locked out." Was all Kathleen had to say before giving the television her 100% attention again.

It wasn't even a question.

"Really though, how can you girls resist this?" He motioned to himself which earned a scoff from Kathleen even though she wasn't looking at him.

"You can reserve all of that for your fans. We don't want it." She nonchalantly replied.

Well - to be really honest, it was a huge shock to them when they first found out that Alyssa was the famous 'Aly Wright' her brothers always talked about.

But after a few dinners and private events with Alyssa and her family, they realized the Wright brothers were like any normal men.

"I don't even know why I visited today." He let out a frustrated sigh before fiddling with his phone to call his PA.

"Jessie, hi. Yeah. I sent you a list of groceries. Can you please buy them for me and send it to Aly's place? Thanks."

"You're cooking?" Kathleen peeped at him. She has to admit, whenever Gideon cooks - he would really cook.

"I can't let you girls eat takeout again, can I?" He scowled at Kathleen's grinning face. "You only smile at me like that when I say I would cook."

"What use is there for me to smile at you if you won't then?" She poked her tongue out at the man before turning back to the movie she was watching.

Gideon was left there, gaping at the woman with a cabbage in hand.