She's My Sleeping Pill

"Let's start with the actress," Cayenne said and Stefan raised his eyebrow. Putting her words that way, he could sense that there was something he failed to discover. "You must have heard about her from someone else. I don't know what they said, but that woman didn't have to do with all of these sh*ts happening to me."

"Did you just curse?"

"Can't I?"

"Don't do that in front of the children," Stefan said and hugged her. "So, you knew about it. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm worried that you would do something reckless again. I know that you care about me, but I also feel that you should not do everything for me. You have other important things to do, and all I'm doing is cause a mess and let you clean it."

"Let's get something straight," Stefan said and cupped her face to make her look at him. "You are the most important person to me in the world. Everything else came second. You are my priority and I promised that in front of the whole world. No matter how small things are, I would handle it."

"That means not letting me grow," Cayenne retorted which stunned Stefan for a while. "Hon, I know you care for me and I really appreciate that. However, I also want to stand on my own... uhm, fight my own battles and if I can't win such a fight, I would certainly look for you to help me handle it. At least, you must let me try."

"So, you wanted to resolve this matter on your own? What were your plans? Let me hear it. Let's pretend that I didn't know about it yet."

Cayenne smiled and held his hands. "First, I planned to meet with the woman. Kyle and Tristan would be there to accompany me together with the bodyguards. I heard that she already stopped her work, so if proven that she had no idea about what happened and she didn't receive any benefits from it, I will let her go."

"How do you plan to determine that?"

"I have Tristan with me, right?"

"Then?"

"After that, I will ask Atty. Sandford to write love letters to those people who kept tagging me on their malicious posts."

Hearing her words, Stefan couldn't stop his chuckles from coming out. "Love letter, huh? They would be scared silly with your love letter."

"It's their fault for tagging me with those things," she said and pounced on him for another hug. "My plan was great, right?"

"Cruel, but great," Stefan said to indulge her. "What about the other thing that you wanted to tell me?"

"It's about Rey."

*

At the Dumrique family villa, Julia was humming a song while looking for another dessert recipe. She knew that Cayenne would be holding the job interview today, so she planned to come over and bring some sweets to her and her staff. She wanted to show to the public that they were getting along.

"You seemed very happy," Celestine commented while taking a glance at the recipe book in front of her daughter. "You've been making a lot of desserts lately. Did you give all of them to Cayenne?"

Julia looked at her mother and faintly smiled. "Yes, I did. Though, I only bring things to Stefan's company then he will bring the food home for her."

"You've never seen her?"

"I will see her today," Julia said which wasn't the answer that Celestine was looking for. With Julia's attention on the book, Celestine looked at the things on the table. "Send my regards to her. Oh! Let me know once you leave the house. I have something I want you to bring for her."

"Cool."

After taking a small cup of ice cream, Celestine reluctantly left the kitchen. "Elliot!" she called out and the man showed up right away. "Monitor my daughter properly. I don't want her to do stupid things to Stefan and his wife," Celestine whispered and the man nodded his head. "Good. I'll be inside my room.

Tell me if you find something suspicious."

Julia was aware that everyone was suspicious of her, but she didn't care. She only needed to do what she wanted to do. She knew that her plan would pay off.

Back inside the monitoring room, Elliot focused his attention on Julia. He watched every move of hers and noted everything that she put on the desserts she was making.

A few minutes later, his phone rang and he saw an unknown number flashing on the screen. "This is Elliot," he said right after answering the call.

The other person on the line was laughing happily and from the sound of his laughter, Elliot could tell who it was – Rey the madman.

Rey was someone who would fight to death for the people he cares about. He was someone that everyone from their previous organization avoided at all costs. Few gained his trust and support. Truly, Stefan Dumrique was lucky to have this man on his side.

"You're as rigid as ever, Elliot," Rey commented after a short laughing moment.

"You haven't changed either," Elliot responded emotionlessly. "What do you want from me?"

"Nothing difficult, actually. I just want to know how far can you go for Celestine."

Elliot closed her eyes as he took a deep breath to calm himself. "Rey, I'm doing the best I can to stop them from hurting Cayenne and the kids. Don't do anything to Celestine. She even stopped going out to stay away from everyone."

"I heard Julia has been approaching my boss lately,"

"She's only trying to reconcile with them. I assure you that her every move is deeply recorded in my mind."

"Oh, you better be. You don't want me to crack your skull and take out your brain and see if it everything was really recorded, right?"

Elliot shivered. If there was anyone he trusted and feared at the same time in this world, it was Rey – his previous partner. "You have my word. I'll stop Julia from getting any silly ideas toward Cayenne and her loved ones."

"I appreciate your help, Elliot. I know I could count on you," Rey expressed before ending the call.

[Count my ass.] Elliot thought while trying his best to control himself not to throw his phone on the wall.

At Peach Wood Subdivision, Rey chuckled while keeping away the pictures he got from Tristan. It really surprised him to know that Elliot wasn't just Celestine's employee. He was her lover and the person responsible for killing her legal husband.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Rey instantly locked the drawer where he kept some valuable information before opening the door. Stanley was standing outside the bodyguards' quarter. "Do you need my help?"

"Yes, Rey. Can you help me bring the boxes to the car? Dominic hasn't come home yet, but I wanted to finish packing as soon as I could."

"Sure. I just remembered you are moving to your new house today, right?"

"Hn. Jessie and I planned to live there starting today. I will be helping her with some of her things later, too."

"Good luck to you. You deserve to be happy, man."

"Thank you."

Rey went out to help Stanley as if he was not threatening someone just a few minutes ago. When wearing ordinary clothes, he looked like those kind uncles out there who would always offer a helping hand. No traces of cruelty can be seen on his face.