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Faye deemed it imprudent to return to the same jeweler to sell what Fabian had given her. So she opted for a different store, hoping to secure a better bargain.

But the moment the attendant offered a price, her confidence wavered. She wasn't so sure about her choice anymore.

"Fine! Seven thousand!"

The tall and thin man who looked like he would disappear any moment in his suit jacket, shook his head. "No ma'am. 3 Thousand or nothing."

Faye scoffed. "Oh yeah?" She folded her arms, leaning backwards. Squinting, she began a staring contest with the attendant who wanted to take advantage of her naivety.

For a few seconds they both held their gazes, until the door which they didn't realize was open, shut itself. No one walked in or out, neither was anyone in sight as they gazed beyond the walk-in glass.

"I don't have all day miss." The attendant said, adjusting his glasses.

"Neither do I." Faye returned, turning her attention from the door to look at him.

"Well then, if you don't mind…" he stood up "...I have other things to do."

Her eyes widened immediately, and her facade crumbled away. "You…you're not going to accept my offer? Mr, I told you__"

"Madam Faye, I heard all you said__"

"Then why?" She pranced up "You retail these eye wears for 13 thousand, and you can see that they're all still brand new so it's not like a 6 thousand profit will be too bad, wouldn't it?" Faye protested, getting worked up already.

"Madam, I__"

"I agree." A deep voice suddenly resonated from behind.

The moment their heads turned, they froze!

The sight of the handsome man who donned his black turtleneck woven shirt looking back at her with his hands in his pocket was enough after all. Not to forget the sly smirk that played across his lips.

'Fabian?' she muttered.

"I mean…" his eyes averted from his wife who wore a look of terror "it isn't so bad to earn that much from a piece, is it? Mr Gallagher."

The man's eyes widened. "You know my name sir? What brings you here sir?" He bowed, breaking a nervous laughter in amusement.

"I asked first." Fabian's eyes darted to Faye again.

"Ye__yes sir." He bowed, excusing himself from the table. "I apologize sir. Ma'am, my apologies, I'll take your offer." He said to Faye.

"There'll be no need for that." Fabian answered on her behalf. "Let's go."

He turned and headed out the door. Faye, who had her lips parted all the while, managed to gather herself, taking the accessories from the table—abandoning the fact that she had a lot to process.

*******

In the car with her eyes somewhere between her knees and thighs, Faye had already gulped countless times. It was even 3 minutes yet.

It was unclear to her whether what pierced her was the deafening silence , or Fabian's eyes that should've been on the road but were on her after every 5-10 seconds. When a few more minutes or months—as it felt to her—had passed, her lips finally opened to say something.

"Why are you selling them?" Fabian spoke up first.

"I…I'm sorry." She raised her head.

"Why?" He maintained his insistence, his gaze fixed straight ahead, almost as if he dared not meet her eyes now that he was certain she was watching him.

"I…" she bit her lip "I…"

'Oh no. How am I to tell him it's because I needed money? I mean that's the reason we first met…and now…'

"I guess it didn't mean anything to you." He muttered…his grip unconsciously tightening on the steering and whitening his knuckles.

"No! It's not that…it's…it's just…"

"Nevermind. We're 10 minutes away from another store." His clenched jaw relaxed in sadness rather than anger. "...you'll get a better offer there," Fabian added after a while.

Another 3 minutes of awkward silence ensued, it was obvious how…sad the young man felt. The gloomy look on his face was starting to get contagious. So when her lips opened again, Faye made sure she spoke up first.

"I…It's not like I don't value or appreciate it, it's just that…I…my family…" she raised her head, only to see that he stole a glance at her.

'He cares to know…' her heat skipped.

Clearing her throat she continued "Yesterday at the meeting, we were all billed to support the event since the company cannot afford that much…and…I couldn't afford the amount so…" her voice disappeared.

After a while, "how much?" Fabian asked. "Nevermind." Faye shook her head, looking through the window.

"Tell me."

"50 Thousand."

Fabian chuckled instantly. "Really?" He grinned.

"Yes. What's funny?"

"Nothing." He finally took a glance at her. "Is that what you couldn't tell me?" He chuckled again.

"I'm sorry but, what's funny?" Her forehead furrowed.

"Your family." He looked away from her…though his eyes never dared looking into hers. "I like them." His smile suddenly dropped. "...I really do."

********

FAYE

After that day, Faye grappled with the urge to replay the moment with her…husband, every 3-4 hours. Though 3 days had passed already.

She almost couldn't help it. How he looked, spoke, laughed and even wore a gentlemanly somber expression…made her flutter. Yet, her questions about his strange grin and smirk still remained. 'Did he think I was lying? He couldn't have known, could he?'

Faye understood the amount was outrageous, but…it wasn't impossible. 'To think I even slashed the amount. Or does he know I was lying about that? No. Can't be possible.' She pinched her forehead.

With a heavy sigh, she made her way to the bed where the vibrant red gown lay waiting for her. This dress was chosen for the special date night planned for the following day. Beside it, an array of exquisite accessories awaited her attention - a dazzling and sophisticated diamond necklace, an elegant wristwatch, silver heels, a couple of stylish hair accessories, and an even more luxurious handbag than she had owned before.

The manner the young man recklessly spent on her was really concerning. Of course it was his part of the deal to assist her with her late parent's case, but all this?...

'Oh Fabian…' Faye immediately smiled cheekily as she mentioned his name. She'd never noticed his name slip from her mouth before.

As her smiley eyes were involuntarily trailing down the fine adornments on the gown, a chuckle bubbled up and escaped her lips. The thought of Fabian's reaction when she sent a picture of herself fitted in the outfit, left a playful grin on her lips. Though he wasn't present then, but she could only imagine how he jolted by the time he realized he let his intrusive thoughts out.

Faye could swear she saw his text that read 'Nice body.' Even though it was deleted the next nanosecond.

The red gown hugged wherever it needed to hug on her body, alluringly reaching her ankles which were lifted by the monster Victoria heels the ace designer insisted she picked. Among other outrageously pricey items of adornment.

'Why?' She grinned, face palming. 'Couldn't he comment on something else?' she giggled again, with her stained cheeks.

'What was he thinking when he typed that?' she giggled, but instantly her stained cheeks fell. 'No no no. Don't get ahead of yourself. Don't.'

Taking a deep breath, Faye fell on the bed and shut her eyes—unfortunately allowing sadness to overwhelm her like she was some bipolar person. The speed in which her emotions switched.

Her emotions came with the thoughts of how lonely she was, how she would most likely be solo at the date night event the next night, and the stinging reality that she's married to Fabian—to save his girlfriend's life.

But of course, the most pressing part of it which is that she'd be seeing her family the next night, and probably alone.

"Should I perhaps…hire a date?"

FABIAN

******The Event Day******

Since the day Faye informed him about the billing for the seemingly extravagant 'date night party', Fabian's interest was piqued. He immediately sensed that the charges could not possibly be fair or justified.

No member of the Vincent family could boast of splashing 50k Sedders on a date night event. Not even for the company's growth and betterment. And from his recent findings, he discovered the party didn't cost as much after all.

Fabian suspected it was their hatred for her, that blended with the jealousy that heaped in their hearts as they most likely assessed her—that prompted them inflate her own share.

Pfft! He confirmed through his trusty intel that the set up and everything about the event didn't cost up to a 160k.

As Fabian muled over this, he was taken aback by the sudden realization that Faye's family's affair was on his mind, when his phone rang. It was a call from Fivio.

"Sir. A blog post about the daughters of the Vincents family was just released."

"What about it?" His brows arched.

"Vanessa Vincent apparently quoted it and tagged Mrs Scholar."

"And?" Fabian adjusted, sitting up properly.

"She dared her to have a man in her life, at least for the date night, but phrased it to appear as a joke. Thankfully, Mrs Scholar remains anonymous as her accounts are private. Although it's causing a stir on social media, because Mrs Scholar is not known by the public."

The both ends of the call fell silent for a some time, as Fabian was trying to get his emotions in check.

"Thanks for letting me know." He dropped the call.

Fabian felt unhappy about this, but decided he wasn't going to lift a finger on this.

'It's trivial man. Trivial.' His hand brushed through his hair. He couldn't afford being caught up in her family's issue. He already had Atalia to worry about anyway.

Another call came in again. It was from his Intel in the event planning committee. 'Sir. I just found out there's a plot the Vincents are making against one of their own.'

"Who?"

'Her name's Faye sir.'

Fabian scoffed, his eyes bearing a look of amusement. "I see. What is it?" He knuckles began to whiten.

"At the second hour when a major stakeholder of VinCo is expected to give a speech, the monitor will be interrupted with some receipts and bank statements to a foreign account. Though I couldn't lay my hands on everything, I believe a call recording would follow too. All pointing to her cautiously transferring stolen funds."

Fabian's emotions boiled over that instant! How could they hate her so much? Even if she was adopted!

He immediately rose to his feet. "Thank you. I'll call you soon."

'No problem sir.'

In a swift response to the dropped call, Fabian wasted no time and immediately dialed Fivio's number. It was as bright as day what they hoped to achieve by throwing the lavish party, baiting as many influential people as possible. Including inviting the press to live stream, and stirring the internet with the nonsensical blog posts.

Redeeming their broken image and crowning his wife the black sheep of the family missing no target.

"Fivio."

'Sir.'

"Abandon whatever it is you have on your desk now. I have a…special task." He smirked.

It was time he started keeping to his end of the deal, and make her family understand that someone in Faye's corner knows how to play too.