Payment for his services!

A mix of fury and agony twisted Esme's features as she read the message. The words cut deep, igniting a storm of emotions within her.

Six months earlier, a series of messages from an unknown sender had shaken Esme's world, revealing Julian's alleged infidelity. Determined to uncover the truth, she had hired a private investigator to tail him. The investigation revealed that Ruby had indeed returned to the picture and that Julian had been secretly financing her lifestyle.

Esme was so enraged that she went to threaten Ruby, infuriating Julian. She also argued with him at the time, but Julian vehemently denied the allegations, insisting it was merely a rumor and that he was helping Ruby out of kindness. But Esme's doubts persisted, prompting her to continue spying on Julian.

The rumors eventually ceased following their arguments. The detective reported no sightings of Julian with Ruby, leading Esme to believe the issue had been resolved. She had almost convinced herself that things were back on track, unaware of the fact that Julian was still carrying on with Ruby behind her back. 

Esme couldn't believe that she had been fooled all these days. A rush of disbelief swept over her as she grappled with the fact that she had acted just like a puppet in Ruby's hand.

Esme acted exactly the way Ruby wanted. The pieces clicked into place in Esme's mind—each scene of confrontation, every moment of anger and distress—all carefully manipulated by Ruby to paint Esme as the villain and herself as the innocent victim in Julian's eyes.

Esme couldn't help but burst into laughter at the sheer audacity and cunningness of Ruby's scheme. She begrudgingly accepted her own foolishness, acknowledging how deftly Ruby had outsmarted her. The bitter irony of being played like a puppet by someone she had considered an adversary left a bitter taste in her mouth.

With a mix of resignation and annoyance, Esme's fingers flew across the phone's screen, crafting a concise yet defeated reply: 'You win, Ruby. I accept my defeat. I have already broken up with him. He is all yours.'

As she hit the 'send' button, Esme twisted her mouth in annoyance.

As the message sailed into the digital abyss, Esme's lips twisted into an irritated grimace. "Ruby, you're quite the schemer," she muttered through clenched teeth. "But mark my words; I'll make sure you learn your lesson."

Esme typed a long message to Julian:

'Julian, I finally realized my mistake. It was only me who loved you. You never told me that you loved me. You never expressed your wish to marry me. It was only me who wanted to marry you. I love you, but that doesn't mean that you have to reciprocate the love. Now I realize it. I am sorry, Julian, for troubling you. I'll never come between you and Ruby. Best of luck with your future.

One more thing: I thought you should know this. Please check it.'

Swiftly snapping a screenshot of Ruby's damning message, Esme sent it to Julian, a sly smile curling her lips as she anticipated the impact of her move. With a hint of triumph glinting in her eyes, she retreated into the bathroom to freshen up.

Meanwhile, Ruby was busy checking her own phone, her brow furrowed in concentration. Suddenly, Julian's phone buzzed, and she glanced up. She saw Esme's name on the screen and rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath, "This woman has the nerve to message him!"

She craned her neck and looked at Julian, who was still on the balcony. She quickly grabbed the phone and checked the message, her anger boiling over as she read Esme's words.

"She is still trying to mess with me. But your attempts will not work." With a twisted smile of deceit, Ruby swiftly deleted the incriminating message, determined to erase any trace of Esme's efforts to disrupt her hold on Julian.

"Julian will never know about this," Ruby sneered, her face contorting with cunning. "I'll keep thwarting your attempts, Esme. You can't win this game."

She put the phone down and approached Julian with a calculated, flirtatious smile, masking her devious intentions beneath a facade of innocence and charm.

At Silas's villa...

Silas emerged from the bathroom, expecting to see the woman he had spent the night with still lying in bed. However, the room was empty, and her clothes were nowhere to be found. He felt a pang of confusion and curiosity, wondering where she had gone. He considered the possibility that she might have gone to the kitchen to get something to eat or drink, but his attention was immediately drawn to the dollar bills on the side table.

His eyebrows furrowed as he picked up the money, unable to believe that Esme had left him a payment for his services. A sly smile spread across his face as he realized that she had essentially paid him for sex.

"Seriously?" he muttered. "Esme Shaw. You are thinking I'm only worth $1000. What a pity!"

Silas, typically confidence in his charm and affluence, suddenly felt a pang of insignificance due to Esme's actions. A sense of challenge flickered within him.

"This woman is something. I have to get her." His eyes flashed with cunningness as he looked at the cash in his hand.

Ring-Ring-Ring…

The ringing phone diverted Silas's attention from his thoughts. He glanced down and noticed his mother's name flashing on the screen.

"Mom!" Silas exclaimed, caught off guard by the rarity of his mother reaching out to him at this hour. He braced himself for whatever news or scolding might follow.

Silas swiped the screen to answer the call and said, "Hello," his tone measured.

"Silas! Where are you? Where were you last night? Who were you with?" His mother's voice boomed through the phone, her tone laced with urgency and anger.

Silas had to hold the phone away as her tirade continued, his ears ringing from the force of her words.

"Why are you not answering me?"

Teasingly, Silas interrupted her tirade, saying, "If you stop shooting questions at me one by one, I might answer you." He aimed to lighten her mood, despite having no clue about the source of her fury.

"You! Silas, I am upset with you. You let me down again." His mother's frustration persisted.

Pouting in faux innocence, Silas inquired, "What did I do?"

"Don't you know? Wait, wait. I'll tell you everything." Annoyed and determined, his mother insisted, "Come to the Sullivan estate."

"Right now? I have a meeting." Silas attempted to defer, hoping to buy time to understand the situation and formulate a strategy to placate her.

She was unyielding. "Postpone the meeting. Come here, or I'll come to the office."

"Fine, fine. I'll be there. Happy?" Silas acquiesced, sensing no escape from his mother's demand.

"Hmm…"

A non-committal response came before the call ended abruptly. Silas rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, tossing the phone onto the bed before heading into the closet.

"God, she's so annoying sometimes," he groaned, contemplating the impending encounter with his mother as he prepared for the day.