She's My Sleeping Pill

“Dad. Grandpa.” Cayenne greeted Magnus and Ferdinand first, giving them brief hugs and respectful smiles. “I’m glad that you two could make it. I was worried that you’d be so busy to attend the party.”

“I would always make time for you daughter-in-law. Of course, I’d grab my dad along as long as long as he can hold out.” Magnus responded which made Stefan smile faintly. His father has learned how to get Stefan’s good side now. He was no longer forcing himself to be a good father to Stefan. Instead, he was trying his best to become the best father-in-law to Cayenne. Stefan would have been over the moon, if not for the fact that Magnus tried pressuring Cayenne to have a baby.

Stefan didn’t greet his father or grandfather happily like his wife. He only smiled faintly before turning to his maternal family. Everyone could see that he was closer to them compared to the Dumriques.

“Mrs. Dumrique is really a kind and patient woman. I can see that she’s trying her best to glue the family together. They are really lucky to have an in-law like her. She’s not only a pretty face. If it were someone else, they’d be spending millions of Stefan’s money to glam up themselves.”

“I agree. I even heard it from someone that she’s really kind in person. Like, it’s not just for show.”

“Ever since they’ve been together, Mr. Dumrique has been donating millions to orphanages and other foundations as well.”

.....

As the party continued, people continued to talk about Cayenne as well. She had no idea that she had become food for gossips. Some of them said something good about her while the others talked negatively. She didn’t care though. She’s not living for the opinion of other people. Her husband’s opinion and her family’s opinion are the only things that matter to her. Who gives a damn about strangers? She didn’t even know their names.

Everything was going well. Cayenne also reminded Stefan’s family to be careful about their food and drinks. In the end, none of them ate anything at the party.

Seeing that the food and drinks they served weren’t touched at all, the waiters in disguise were annoyed to the bones. They have been observing the family and were placing different food on their table but they didn’t take a single bite. They kept chatting with friends.

Jessie, not wanting to see Stanley at the party, left the venue and went outside to relax her mind. Her colleagues have no idea that Stefan’s uncle fancies her and although she likes how he treated her, she was afraid that she wouldn’t live up to his expectation. After all, she’s got a huge secret that no one knows of – not even her family.

At nine in the evening, Luiz came with the bodyguards after the photoshoot. The party will last until ten in the evening and when they arrived, it was already drawing for raffle winners. In fact, Stefan invited Cayenne’s family but Kyle didn’t want to mingle with people in the high society. As for Jonas, he was invited to attend another party and he already give his affirmation. Only Luiz has the time to come and attend the year-end party. It was also a good opportunity for him since he works as a model and there were many businessmen who always look for model to work for them.

“Tonight, we have a special guest who will present the prizes to those who will win the raffle draws. Actually, he was invited because the boss didn’t want to leave his wife’s side.” The crowd laughed at Stefan once again but he only chuckled at his employee’s remarks. “Anyway, this young man just recently earned recognition from many women of all ages. Oh! There are men who like him, too. Let’s welcome the rising model, Luiz.”

“I’m surely taking this chance to get a picture of him.”

“I don’t care about the money I spent on my dress; I’ll have him sign on my waist.”

“Heh! Let me take a picture and send this to the group chat. Those who didn’t come will be jealous.”

And Luiz has no idea of their plans. All he could hear was the squealing of women and the buzzing whispers among them. As he stood on stage, the emcee looked at him before shifting his gaze to Cayenne.

“Lady boss, can I bring your brother home tonight? I’m already full just looking at his face. I’d be able to save money from food if I can continue to stare at him like this.” he even batted his fake lashes at him which made Luiz chuckle faintly. “Hmp! You are irresistibly cute!”

“Thank you.” Luiz replied and his voice made the women swoon for him. Sadly, they no longer have a chance because he already fancied someone and no one can change his mind.

They soon started giving prizes. There were appliances, gadgets, accessories, grocery packages, vacation trip to one of his properties, and so on. People even estimated all of the prizes to be around $50,000. But this amount is not even tenth of what Stefan have all in all. He didn’t mind sharing his blessings to them. At the end of the day, his employees are the reason why he was successful.

Since they were all busy with the party, no one paid attention to any news of the outside world. It’s a once-a-year party and everyone wanted to enjoy themselves. They indulge themselves with the delicious food and drinks. They took pictures with the celebrities they like and most of them flocked around Luiz. Cayenne and Stefan even received inquiry about him. However, they could only tell them to contact his manager since they’re not the ones who manages his work.

When the party was about to end, someone approached Stefan and showed something on his phone. Stefan’s face fell and Cayenne also caught a glimpse of the news. He looked around to find Tristan who came earlier with Elena but he was no longer at the party.

“Give me a sec. I’ll just call Tristan.”

Cayenne was worried that this would affect his reputation.

Upon seeing their expression, people began to speculate and they also opened their phone to search for any news related to Stefan and Cayenne. At first, some people were able to find the news but not long after, when they tried to scroll down, the page showed an error message. Tristan was able to take down the article in a few seconds after getting Stefan’s call. Unfortunately, many people were able to take screenshots and shared the information to the media. No matter how much Tristan tried deleting them, new ones will come up.

‘Damn it! Just how much money would they want to waste just to ruin his reputation?’ Tristan thought to himself as his fingers flew across his keyboard.

“Calm down. This won’t affect the boss if we use this properly.” Elena stated while logging in her own account to make her own post. It would appear that she was defending Stefan and Cayenne but so what? That’s her intention anyway.

-I can’t believe that they attended the party even though someone close to them was in critical condition. The old woman was even left alone without anyone to take care of her. The little girl was also sent home on her own. How heartless! Their kindness is only for show. Mr. And Mrs. Dumrique, stop pretending. Your fake fa?ade has been torn. Not to mention, the old woman is lying down here because her daughter died. I thought you are a family friend. You don’t even show any concern! –

Attached to this post was a picture of Mrs. Amir lying on a hospital bed with several apparatus connected to her. There was also a picture of Denise’s lying on a pool of blood. Stefan and Cayenne were even tagged together.

Stefan walked towards the stage to give his closing speech to end the party. As soon as he opened his mouth to talk, his grandmother collapsed on the floor. “Granny!” Stefan jumped down on the stage, not caring about the people who were watching him. Cayenne also rushed towards Cory’s side with her sandals on her hand.

“Call the ambulance! Quick!” Cayenne shouted since there were medical team on standby outside the resort. It was in preparation should something happen to her. Unexpectedly, the people after her changed target and chose Stefan’s grandma instead.

Cory was still conscious but she was writhing in agony on the floor.

“Granny. Can you hear me?” Stefan questioned, cradling her head to avoid it bumping on the floor. He can’t have his old grandpa do the job since it would be tiring. Cory nodded her head slightly but as soon as she did it, she lost her consciousness.

The medical team arrived and started their job. They didn’t dare delay any second in saving the old woman after seeing Stefan’s red eyes. He looked so angry as he clenched his hands into fists.

“Hon.” Cayenne pried open his hand and linked it with hers.

He didn’t say a word. He only leaned his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes. She felt it. She felt the hot drops of tears on her neck.