I’ll Be Waiting

Meanwhile in the backseat of her car, Shantel was busy admiring the beautiful scenery as she watched the city blur past her window.

It's been precisely a year since she set foot in this city. If not for the urgent task before her. She'd have preferred to never return to this city. 

But on the other hand, who would have expected that Richard Domango will turn out to be such a beautiful tease the moment she arrived? 

Working with him was going to be a good distraction from the fake life she'd created for herself whenever she was in this city… this one thing she was sure of.

However, her good mood was dampened by the thought of the event tonight. She couldn't dispel the anger that came up whenever she thought that she has to bear with one of her mother's endless parties. She regretted giving in to her sister's coaxing. 

She would have loved to just do her thing and leave as quietly as she had come… like she always did in the past. But with Richard's current behavior, collecting his one billion was not enough to satisfy her thirst for revenge. 

This time around, she would be painting the town red.. not as Elsa of course but as Rovencia knew her, 'Shantel Hale … The Seventh Daughter of Jezebel.'

Just then, her phone buzzed beside her.

She smirked before even checking the screen.

It was an unknown number that she didn't need to guess who the owner was. "You shouldn't tease the devil, whoever you are."

Her mood instantly shifted as she saw the message. Was he ready to play? Her amusement only deepened.

She typed out a reply.

"Oh? I thought I was the devil."

She set the phone down, with no further intention of replying if the other party sends any more messages. As she gazed out the window, she felt a delightful thrill course through her.

He was quite predictable in his arrogance and his need to be in control. Tsk! So much for the cold, emotionless and extremely busy CEO everyone said he was. 

Considering that he has always prided himself on how high up and unapproachable he was, she was surprised that he was already biting… way faster than she had imagined. 

She wanted to see how true and how long he would be able to stand by that claim. 

But it turned out he couldn't even hold on for long and had actually started chasing. 

And she, for one, loved nothing more than shaking the ground beneath men who believed they ruled the world.

She had let Richard see her today with her despicable identity on purpose. After all these months, she'd refused to appear in the same space as him. But as fate would have it, he chose to come looking for her, though unknowingly. 

And nothing was going to stop her from getting back her pound of flesh from him. It was just that she couldn't determine the amount of blood he was condemned to bleed out before she'll be satisfied 

Before she finally got to her destination, a message popped up in the private line he had used to contact Elsa.

"I'm sorry I missed your arrival at the airport."

Shantel's lip curled up in a mocking sneer. Quite subservient. Who would have believed that Richard Domango would be this courteous and humble? Will he sweat blood when he finds out that that woman was actually, Shantel Hale— the Seventh Daughter of Jezebel? 

She could bet her life on that possibility, seeing he only remembered to send Elsa a message after so long. That goes to tell how much Shantel Hale's presence at the airport had affected him. 

He couldn't even think straight and only remembered to contact Elsa after so long.

After about a minute, she replied with a monosyllabic, "Oh."

She was sure Richard would be stewing in his rage with that non committal response and was slightly surprised when she got another message almost immediately.

"Which hotel are you lodging in? Can we meet after you're well settled in?"

"Tomorrow. 9 PM. I'll send you the location later."

"I'll be waiting."

"Goodbye Mr Domango," she sneered. By the time he realized the price of her help, it would already be too late.

In his car, Richard smiled in satisfaction. It's good Elsa didn't fix the appointment for tonight. That will give him ample time to find out what Shantel Hale is up to before meeting with Elsa tomorrow.

*********************

By 8pm that night, Shantel strolled out of her room onto the balcony. From her apartment, which was a few blocks away from Three Star Hotel, she could see the gilded ballroom— a glass box suspended over the heart of Valencia. 

Tonight, it was alive with music and laughter, hosting the very event she had meticulously avoided for years: The Hale Foundation Annual Gala.

Her mother, Jessica Hale, would be undoubtedly there, stealing the show in some impossibly elegant gown, surrounded by admirers and enemies alike. 

Shantel could practically imagine her signature laugh cutting ringing through the ballroom. It was a laugh Shantel had spent years trying to cut off from her life.

She turned away from the view and stepped back inside her apartment, the sound of her bare feet muffled against the worn wooden floor. 

The contrast between the glamour of the gala and her modest studio apartment was stark, but Shantel had no desire for the former. She had worked hard to build a life of quiet simplicity abroad, which was a far cry from her mother's world of ruthless power plays and glittering façades.

As she poured herself a glass of wine, her phone buzzed on the counter. Shantel glanced at it, her brows furrowing at the name on the screen.

Grant Lively.

She hesitated, then picked up. "Grant. It's been a while."

"Not long enough," came the dry reply. 

Grant was an old client and one of the few who had survived her uncompromising standards and earned her respect, thus he knew her other identity as Elsa. 

"I'm not calling to reminisce. I'm calling to warn you."

Shantel leaned against the counter. "Warn me? About what?"

"Not what. Who." He sighed. "Richard Domango is looking for you. I heard he was at the airport today… I don't know how he got a whiff that you were arriving today."

"I informed him and… we've met."