Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23 “Happy Birthday Veronica, From Akash.” Rebecca read the words written on the cover. She opened it, and there were hundred dollar bills inside. “What’s this?” Her heart skipped a beat. A woman receiving money from a man outside the family wasn’t something that could be overlooked.

“My boyfriend,” Veronica lowered her head and rubbed her thumb on her palm. “He sent it to me. He didn’t even have the time to talk to me on the phone. He sent me this shitty envelope through a friend. And that’s not even his handwriting.” She paused. “I don’t get it. What does that mean? Does he not care about me? Does he think as long as he sends some cash, I’ll be his girlfriend?” Rebecca thought for a little while and asked, “What does he do?” “I don’t know. I met him at a party, and he said he’s a businessman and gave me his visiting card,” Veronica explained. “Since then, we kept meeting outside often, and he’s a good guy. He never talks about his work, but he does know how to paint, and he gave me one of his original paintings. However, he didn’t even have time to make a painting for my birthday this time.”

“Send me his details.”

“Why?”

“I’ll do some investigation on him.”

“What?” Veronica was shocked. “Investigation? What are you talking about?”

“Our parents are rich, so there’ll be many men who’ll try to trap us,” said Rebecca. “If we do a background check on your boyfriend, we’ll know whether he’s a fake or not.” “Background check?” Veronica didn’t like what she was hearing. “Wait, did you do a background check for Benjamin before you married him?”

Rebecca’s expression froze. She hadn’t done that. She was so emotionally driven after losing her virginity, she didn’t care what his identity was. She married him after he agreed to marry her. She just assumed he didn’t have a family because he never brought it up.

Rebecca took a breath and asked. “Are you just passing time, or are you serious about him?” “Why would I get upset if I wasn’t serious?” replied Veronica.

“Mm, but are you sure you want to marry, though?” “What do you mean?”

“Look at our parents. They had four children, and people think they’re the perfect couple, but we know they’re not even living in the same room anymore. They just come together for appearance sake. And look at Shawn and Elizabeth. They used to roam together like birds made for each other before marriage, but now, you don’t see them smiling together.” “What are you getting at, sis?” Veronica frowned. “Are you telling me I shouldn’t marry?”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying.” Rebecca stressed her words. “Don’t marry unless it’s necessary, or it’ll only become a burden for you. So, do some checking on Akash to see if he’s worthy or not before proceeding.” “No,” Veronica shook her head, “I’d rather ask Akash directly instead of doing sneaky things in the dark. Anyway, thanks for your time. Take care.” She took the envelope and walked out. Rebecca sat there, lost in thought for a while. “She’s right about one thing.” Rebecca glanced toward Benjamin’s bed. “I never bothered to do a background check on him.” She remembered their past conversations to see if she could pick up any clues about him, but really, there was nothing significant. “Now that I think about it, he never talked about his past, did he? It is indeed strange. Why didn’t I notice it sooner?” she thought for a bit.” Should I ask him? But if he’s got some dark past, I might bring the trauma back” She was not heartless enough to put a person through such a thing. “How should I get the info from him then?” Her stomach grumbled again and brought her out of her thoughts. She grabbed the potato chips packet and hurriedly ate them.

And because of hurriedly crunching and swallowing the spicy chips, she ended up coughing a lot. It wasn’t going away. There was no water bottle around. The dry cough hurt her throat, and tears clouded her eyes.

Benjamin got off his bed and went to the fridge and took out a water bottle. She looked at him in great surprise. She didn’t think he would wake up from her cough and then get off the bed to give her a water bottle. (How nice of him.)

However, Benjamin didn’t come to her but walked straight back to his bed.

The cough that briefly stopped began once again as shock took over Rebecca’s expression.

Benjamin sat down and finished half the bottle before putting the cap on. He kept staring at her without blinking.

She was looking at him, but she didn’t even make a gesture to show her need of water.

“Hmph,” Benjamin snorted and tossed the bottle onto her bed. Before she knew it, she ended up grabbing the bottle and drinking from it. While she was doing it, she realized that he was still looking at her, and she ended up spilling the water.

Benjamin slightly shook his head before lying down on his bed and pulling the blanket back on.

Rebecca slapped her hand to her forehead in a mix of complex emotion. She had never felt this embarrassed in a long time. It proved extremely hard for her to digest the fact that she drank water from a bottle he had given her. After all, she always thought she was above him, that she was more powerful than him in many ways. However, now that thousand-layered illusion was beginning to be shaken by the storm of discomfort brewing in her heart. She felt like some invisible chains began to bind her.

And she could hear the men she had dated laughing inside her head, saying that she will eventually lose to him completely like how she lost her virginity to him.

“No. I’m Rebecca Sterling,” she thought. “I’m the best! I have no equal! I won’t let this injury cripple my confidence!”

At the same time, near the airport. Oliver just reached the airport in a taxi. He paid using the platinum card before stepping out.

He didn’t have any luggage, except for one small bag that had a pair of clothes, kitchen tools, and some cash he had withdrawn from the ATM.

“Getting this card from Devon was easy,” Oliver smiled as he briefly stared at the card. “All I had to do was remind him of the weed packet under his mattress, and then he went back to his old self and completely forgot about this card. It’s scary how drugs have made a strong man into a cripple in a matter of months. I won’t take drugs anymore, so I won’t become like him, but there are still a lot of ways to have fun in this world.” He was walking in through the entrance. “Once I leave this city, my second life will begin.”

Two giant men in classy gray suits that were walking out of the airport picked him up by the arms from either side and took him outside. “Hey, who are you two? Put me down!” Oliver yelled. “I haven’t done anything wrong!” One of those men whispered in Oliver’s ear, “As long as you are holding the platinum card, you don’t want to leave the city, or your death will become news on TV for a hit and run case.” Those words sent shivers up and down Oliver’s spine. “Just go back to the villa, and be a good butler, Oliver Claude.”

Saying that, the two giant men walked away without looking back. Oliver, however, still found himself shivering uncontrollably. A tall and sturdy man like him who had severed the heads of thousands of chickens and cut open the necks of even more buffalos when he was working at a farm was now close to peeing in public.