36 WHAT NEXT?
“Livid, that’s a rather interesting word to use,” Tom commented, “If I may ask, Renee, what exactly do you mean when you say he was livid? How exactly did he react?”
my
Renee sat up straight, letting out a heavy sigh. “There’s no one who wouldn’t get mad when they find out the source of their joy was nothing but a lie. Just like husband, my father–in–law and the entire family weren’t happy about it-”
“But despite that, they didn’t attack me or make my situation worse. On the contrary, they were quite supportive” she wiped a tear that was trickling down her face and sniffed, “-Even though they were affected by it badly, they didn’t hate me for it, especially my husband,” she concluded with a smile.
“I’ve caused them a lot of pain and trouble, and I hope the public sees that this is all me and they aren’t involved in any way,” she said with a pleading tone.
With a slow, disbelieving shake of the head, Tom said, “I must say the Monroes truly live up to their reputation. It’s impressive they didn’t abandon you after the damage your actions caused… although I wouldn’t call it abandoning if they did
Now that that’s been cleared, let’s move on to the next questions,” Tom said
with a wide smile.
“Bring it on,” Renee said with a light chuckle.
ΑΛΛ
Now that I’ve destroyed Renee’s career to some degree, what next?
Anna sighed as she leaned back on the couch, grabbing a handful of chips from the bag of potato chips in her hand.
And how exactly do I take Daniel’s company and leave him with nothing? It probably won’t be easy with the amount of influence he has, even with the help of Davis.
She sunk further into the couch as though she was trying to become one with it. Regardless of how hard it would be, she had to take the company from Daniel without destroying it. She had to destroy while keeping the company safe from the destruction.
“Aish! What a sly fox!” Lily exclaimed, grabbing a handful of chips and throwing it at the big screen. “How can she talk about always telling the truth when she and Daniel are lying about being married? She’s something, isn’t she?” Lily
asked through a mouthful of chips.
When she didn’t receive an answer from Anna, she turned to her to see her absentmindedly chewing. “Anna?” she called her. Not receiving a response, she waved her hand in her face. “Are you still in there?”
“Who knows,” Anna breathed, sitting up straight.
“Why do you look distraught?” Lily questioned with concern but to her surprise, Anna burst into laughter instead. “Did I say something funny?”
Anna raised a brow, “Why do you look so distraught? You’ve been reading the word of the day, haven’t you?” she said with a chuckle.
“Well, yes,” Lily said bashfully before squinting her eyes, “Don’t even try to change the topic. Is it Renee’s interview that made you look like this?” she asked, her eyebrows drawing together.
“It can’t be that because I haven’t been paying attention to all they’ve been saying since they went live.”
Lily drew closer to her, “Then what is it? Is it Davis?”
“No, it’s not,” she answered and sat up straight, facing Lily. “It’s just…”
“It’s just…” Lily repeated as she stared at her expectantly.
Anna let out a sigh. “I don’t know if it’ll be possible for me to take over Daniel’s company-”
“His company! What for? Why would you want to take over his company?” Lily asked, her brows knitted together.
Anna rolled her eyes. “You make it sound as though I just announced that I intend to marry him again,” she joked, but Lily didn’t get the joke because, in a split second, she was in front of Anna.
“Is that an indirect announcement?” she exclaimed, with a deep frown on her
face.
“It’s a joke, Lily. Quit exaggerating,” she squalled, glaring at her. “Seriously, Lily, it’s getting annoying.”
Lily’s shoulders dropped. “I’m sorry, I just get so angry when I hear
you mentio
that… that… I don’t even know what to call him, but I hate when you talk about him unless you’re dissing him or plotting his downfall,” she said in a monotone voice.
“I don’t know if I’ve said this before, but I’m glad you’re on my side,” Anna said with a wide smile, trying to lift her mood.
“As you should be,” Lily raised her head high, a proud smile on her face making Anna shake her head playfully.
“Anyway,” Lily started. “You can always run his company. Since he’s into food processing, we can spread rumours about him using chemicals and-
“That would ruin not only Daniel but the company itself. I can’t let that happen,” Anna shook her head.
“Why not?” Lily raised a brow.
Anna shrugged, “Well… we can’t ruin the company because-” It belongs to me. -it would cause problems for innocent people. If the company does, then the employees will have to be laid off. Besides, what we’re trying to do is to show the world they’re not the angels they pretend to be-”
“—but the complete opposite. Although it’s rather tempting, we can’t stoop to their level in the name of revenge. Then we’d be no different from them,” she concluded, jerking her head backwards at the words that came out of her mouth.
I forget how wise I am at times.
Lily stood from the table she was seated on and sat on the couch, next to Anna.“ Thanks for that. It’s not my revenge, yet I’m being overly zealous about it. You’re right, I shouldn’t let those who are innocent suffer and we should stick to exposing them.”
Anna nodded in agreement, “Precisely. I’ll have to talk to David about this, although I doubt he’d be that much of a help. After all, he can be such a pain in the ass most times.”
“I’m so sorry, Anna,” Lily suddenly said, her voice flat.
“Sorry? What for?” Anna questioned, placing her hand over Lily’s.
Lily turned to her with watery eyes. “I should be the one keeping you on track if your thirst for revenge starts to lead you astray or cause you to lose your sense of reasoning and compassion, yet I’m doing the opposite and egging you on to
become like them.”
Anna’s lips widened into a smile, “Lily, I know you’re looking out for me and have my best interest at heart. And we can both keep each other on track, so don’t worry about it.”
Lily nodded with a sigh, “I need to do something with my life, don’t I? If I wasn’t so jobless, I wouldn’t be sitting here trying to turn your life into a live–action series.”
“You’re being too hard on yourself, but… I do admit we need to find something. I
IN WHAT NE
can’t keep relying on Davis’s money, nor can you keep relying on your father’s,” Anna pointed out and they both sank into the couch, exhaling simultaneously.
“My father is threatening to remove me from his will if I don’t make a decision. soon,” Lily threw a chip in her mouth. “But again, I’m not getting any younger, am I?”
Anna chuckled, “We both know your name isn’t coming off that will, but yeah, you should make a decision soon,” she let out a groan of frustration, “I wish I had properties to inherit. Perhaps I wouldn’t be this stressed out if I did.”
“Trust me, it doesn’t make that much of a difference with a father like mine,” Lily snickered.
Anna nodded, “Well-” The ringing of her phone cut her off.
“Hey there, Baby,” She said as she picked up the call, making Lily turn to her with a raised brow.
