“Sir, an invitation arrived for the charity auction this weekend,” Jacob informed Tristan when he got inside the office. But it wasn’t the invitation that caught his attention, it was the velvet box that came with it.
“What is that?” he asked curiously.
Jacob passed the box and the invitation card to him, “This is the host’s thank you gift for the donors.”
Tristan’s forehead creased immediately. “What did we donate?”
Jacob’s eyes flicked to him, looking at each other, both men were confused as to who will answer the question. “What did you donate?”
“I didn’t send them anything,” Tristan shrugged.
His assistant then took the tablet from his boss’ table. He opened the site for the auction where the donated items were displayed. He then clicked on the picture of the necklace with Tristan’s name under it.
Jacob handed it over to Tristan when his boss looked at it, the creases on his forehead deepen. “Whose necklace is this?” he chuckled, scratching his forehead in bewilderment.
“I don’t know, I thought you had someone else donate it,” Jacob stated, he was as puzzled as his boss right now.
Tristan didn’t ask him to donate anything to the auction. But it turned out that his boss didn’t ask anyone to donate anything at all.
“Hmm… This is a little surprising…” Tristan smirked. “We’ll find out tomorrow,” then he passed back the tablet to Jacob.
Nodding at the CEO, he asked him if there was anything else he need. When there was none, Jacob headed back to the executive office.
When he sat down on his chair, he suddenly remembered Belle. This office used to be as quiet as a cemetery before Belle came, then she livened it up.
She and Jacob would always make fun of Tristan whenever he was mad, as he was like a child. When Belle left, it became a cemetery again.
Jacob sighed, he’s missing their executive secretary. Unfortunately, there is no chance for her to come back, as she now has her own company.
Whenever he will recall Belle’s antics, he can’t help but laugh to himself. She really was like a child when he scrunch her nose or stick her tongue out behind Tristan.
In the middle of reminiscing, his phone rang. John called him to let him know that Belle visited Frederick.
He was on his way out to let Tristan know, but he had to stop as his father told him that she already left. The old butler also informed him of the properties Frederick gave her.
A few minutes more, Tristan came to tell him that he was ready to go home. Jacob cleared his desk and quickly followed.
In the car, he let his boss know everything his father has told him. “She’s back?” he asked frowning and Jacob nodded at him. He can tell that Tristan was disappointed. Belle didn’t even let them know that she is now back in Bree. “Pass by her house.”
They immediately spotted Belle’s house, not because they are already very familiar with it, but because it now has a red door. “Why did she change the color of her door?” Tristan asked but Jacob obviously doesn’t know the answer.
Tristan noticed the confused look on his face, “Can you ask Nathalie?”
Jacob immediately pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed his girlfriend’s number. He also put it on speaker mode, as gestured by Tristan.
“What’s up?” she asked as soon as she picked up the call.
“We were passing by Belle’s place--” he started.
“Passing by or you passed by it?” Nathalie interrupted before he could continue.
Jacob glanced at Tristan but he has no reaction to Nathalie’s question, so he chose to tell her the truth. “Y-Yeah, Tristan and I passed by,” he told her.
“So what’s up?” Nathalie asked again.
“Uh, we noticed that her door is now red. Why did she change it? When?” Jacob asked continuously.
Nathalie let out a harsh sigh, “Someone painted ‘bitch’ and ‘gold digger’ on her door. She saw it when she got home earlier so I called a contractor to have it painted.”
Nathalie’s obviously irritated while telling them what happened. She was evidently unhappy about what has been happening to her friend.
“You guys didn’t know who did it?” Tristan asked.
“Oh!” surprised to hear Tristan’s voice. “We do, it was Vernice and Joyce. They were caught on the CCTV. They both look drunk, probably tripping.”
Tristan clicked his tongue and leaned back on the seat. He gestured for Jacob to end the call and so his assistant did.
“Joyce is really testing my patience, and so are Mrs. Williams and Vernice,” he said thru gritted teeth.
“What are you planning to do?” Jacob was really curious. He wanted to know if Tristan will finally do something to put those troublemakers into their rightful places.
“I’m not sure yet, to be honest. I want to pressure Williams Corp, but I know Belle wouldn’t like that. Lawrence is still her father after all,” he sighed, obviously frustrated.

“What about Joyce?”
Tristan bowed down, scratching his nape before shaking his head. “I don’t know too. If you were to ask me about my feelings for her, I’m one hundred percent sure that I don’t love her anymore. But, I also promised her parents that I will take care of her before they passed away.”
Jacob nodded. He understood how hard it was for his Boss. He wanted to sympathize with him, but at the same time, he wanted him to decide for the good of everyone.
However, he can only think about all these to himself. Remembering how Tristan took out a Swiss knife on him, he can’t tell him anything. He could only sigh and keep his lips zipped up.
Tristan also wanted to finally be at peace with Belle. But with the existence of Joyce, Vernice, and Esme, he knew it was impossible at the moment. He could only wait.
Wait for the time when he can be with Belle without worrying about anyone. He could only wait for the chance to be able to show her how much he love her, without feeling scared for her.
He could only wait and he hopes that it could happen soon. He can see how men look at Belle. He knows there’s a good number of bachelors eyeing her and this number just keeps growing.
He is afraid that they will make a move on her, so he wants to secure his place. However, with everything that’s been going on, he can’t even do anything for both of them, especially for her.