She's My Sleeping Pill

This event wasn’t just prepared by her. This was the result of a collective effort that many people exerted. Luiz also volunteered to come along with David and Clarisse. He also prepared some gifts for the children and Clarisse wanted to learn something from the people in the center since she would become a doctor in the future.

Riley, being a friend and an actress, decided to perform something in front of the children. She wanted them to know her and to have hope in life like her. She wanted to inspire them with her story.

At 9:00 in the morning, Cayenne was ready to leave the house but Stefan was held up with an emergency meeting. She was a little worried that it would take longer.

“Sis,” Luiz called out on his way out. “I’ll go first since David has arrived. We’ll pick Clarisse up on our way there so, let’s just meet at the venue.”

“Alright. We’ll leave as soon as Stefan finishes his meeting.”

“Didn’t he know that you have an activity today?”

.....

“He knew. It’s an emergency meeting that he needed to deal with.”

Little did she know, this meeting wasn’t something unrelated to her. It was something that Stefan had to resolve before this will reach her ears.

“Find out where this woman is. I don’t care what means you’ll use but you have to deal with her. I don’t want this news to reach Cayenne. Tristan, you have to do everything you can to delete all the circulating pictures.”

“I tried,” Tristan replied with cold sweats dotting his forehead. “This is the first time that I’m having trouble with network control. Don’t worry, I already contacted Shein and some of the people I knew. We’ll do our best.”

“Do you have someone in mind who have the guts to do this against you?” Ferdinand asked his grandson. “I know we have enemies all over the world but I don’t think they’ll do this kind of thing.”

“Well, you can’t really blame anyone else except yourself. It’s your own action that led us to this.” Magnus commented with a deep sigh. “And I’m regretful that we were also the catalyst for this thing to occur.”

Stefan rubbed his face as he closed his eyes in anger. He never wanted this thing to appear and he thought he took care of this woman already. She was the only mistake among all the women that he had relationships. She was someone that he never wanted to meet Cayenne.

“Why don’t you tell Cayenne about her?” Tristan asked when no one spoke. “Ms. Yen is very understanding.”

Stefan was afraid. He has forgotten about this matter and never thought that this would come to haunt him. “I’ll think about this.” Stefan’s face has gone red from anger and shame. He didn’t really know what to do. “I’ll send Cayenne to the venue first.”

Before, Stefan would always walk with confidence and elegant air. This time, his hunched-back shows how serious this news was.

On their way to pick up Clarisse, David received a call and this person told him the news that Stefan tried to suppress. His jaw dropped from the shock and he instantly turned to Luiz who was sitting beside him. The young man was oblivious to the news which means, he hadn’t had the time to hear this piece of information yet.

“Contact the people we know and tell them to delete as many posts as they could,” David said without elaborating on what news it was. He didn’t want Luiz to know about it yet. It would be better if Stefan could explain this matter himself. “I’ll ask him later.” He said to the person on the other end of the line. They exchanged words for a little bit of time before he ended the call with a solemn expression. [I’m not liking this news.] David thought as he sent someone a message.

“Is there something wrong?” Luiz asked the obvious because he knew that David won’t tell him anyway. He was just asking out of courtesy.

And just as he expected, David waved his hand in dismissal, saying that nothing was wrong.

David didn’t want Luiz to know about it but for how long? Since he’s a public figure, many people could reach out to him to tell him about the news. They guarded them against getting wind of this news but sooner or later, they will still hear about it.

Meanwhile, Cayenne and Stefan finally left the house. At first, Cayenne didn’t really mind her husband giving her the silent treatment after he dealt with the emergency meeting and came out of the study room. She thought that a big problem has occurred and he must be having a hard time. She didn’t want to disturb him.

However, as time went by, he still didn’t say anything to her. It went on and on until they reached the next town. She didn’t know what she did wrong but she felt that there was really something wrong between them. He wouldn’t normally do this to her. He would never treat her coldly even if she commits some mistakes.

“Love?”

Stefan didn’t even flinch when she called his name. He was looking outside the window ever since they left their house.

“I must have done something wrong again,” Cayenne muttered and still received deafening silence from him. “Stefan!” She yelled which startled him out of reverie.

“Ha?”

“Don’t ‘ha’ me. What’s wrong with you? You have been silent since we left and you didn’t answer me when I talked. If you are worried about something, you don’t have to accompany me. Just do your business. You don’t really have to cater to my needs every single time, you know. It feels like I’m forcing you to come along with me.”

“Sorry. I just couldn’t let go of the issue this time.”

Cayenne took a deep breath to calm herself and reached for Stefan’s hand. To her shock, he avoided her touch. “Tell me what’s wrong. Tell me what I did that warranted me this cold treatment.”

“Sorry. I...I...my mind is just really messy this time. I need to think about something.”

“Then, hold my hand and think.”

Stefan finally smiled at her statement and held her hand. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to take this out on you and make you feel bad. I’ll settle this matter soon.”

“Do you need help?”

Thinking things this far, he held her hand with both of his and kissed her knuckles. He needed courage and doing this gave him a little push to take a step. He promised to trust her and she promised that she would do the same. Now would be the right time to put their trust to another test. He could only hope that she’d keep an open mind about this.

“Ayen, I need your firm trust. I need you to believe me and only me. Something happened earlier and this will surely cause you some discomfort. I never thought this would come to haunt me but I didn’t want to hide this matter from you.”

“Is your issue more serious compared to me promising an engagement to someone else?”

“Hn.”

“Do you think this will affect the event if I know about this?”

“Hn.”

Cayenne smiled faintly and touched his face with her free hand. Since he tried his best to reach out and sincerely asked for her understanding, Cayenne decided to let this matter go for now.

“I’ll wait for you to tell me the whole story. I won’t listen to anyone and I won’t let someone sway my feelings for you. I will only believe in your words.”

Stefan hugged her tight and kissed her temple. He couldn’t thank God enough for bringing this beautiful sunshine into his life. As long as she trusts him, Stefan knew that he would be able to solve anything. She was his strength that keeps him moving and the compass that navigates him in the right direction.

***

Ingrid with her baby bump came to the study room and found the large monitors displaying some news. The right monitor showed the stock market and analytical report while the left monitor showed the news about Stefan.

“Is it solved already?” Ingrid asked Reuben who was reading a book on the couch. He looked relaxed even though his son-in-law got into another scandal with another woman.

“Not yet.”

Ingrid rolled her eyes and left the room with a book about child care. “I felt sorry for Stefan.” Ingrid muttered as she walked back to the master’s bedroom. She was disappointed in him when she heard this news but she wasn’t really surprised. After all, Stefan was once known for being a wealthy playboy.

“Now. How will you solve this matter, Stefan?” Ingrid whispered in the wind with worry clouding her eyes.