The next morning, the two of them drove me to the airport together.
The whole way there, they kept up the act, fighting over me right in front of me.
"Leah, you have to come back soon. I don't want to be stuck alone with the jerk who's trying to steal you away!"
Sylvester gave a dismissive little laugh. "Leah's my girlfriend. I'm her right hand at home. I'll keep her company running like clockwork while she's gone. Eat your heart out."
"When Leah comes back, she's definitely going to like me better!"
They thought they were hiding it well.
But I'm not one of the idiots in the comment feed.
Penelope lived off me, spent my money.
Sylvester's job? I'd arranged that too.
And in the end they wanted to swallow my family fortune and gut me of everything I had?
Ugly and delusional both.
I turned away, a cold little laugh forming inside me.
By the time I got back, it'd be their turn to go behind bars.
It was already dusk when I reached the hotel.
Sitting on the bed, I opened the surveillance feed again.
Trading on being my best friend of more than a decade, Penelope had passed off a fake order in my name and given the butler and all the staff half a month's leave.
Sylvester, using the gold coins I'd showered on him for two years, was hard at work digging out a hidden room in the villa.
The comments were going wild.
【Just imagining the male and female leads sneaking off to cuddle in that secret room behind the side character's back gets me so hyped!】
【And once the side character comes back, the male lead's going to slip her the sterility drug a second time so she can never have kids! Then she'll have no one but him, and the fortune's locked in tight!】
I cut a backup copy of the footage and shut off my phone.
For those two weeks, I put my energy into trading industry intel with the heavy hitters and left the pair of them alone.
The moment the fifteen days were up, Sylvester couldn't wait to message me.
"To celebrate you coming home, I've prepared a welcome-home dinner myself!"
Penelope met me at the airport, eagerly taking my luggage and looping her arm through mine.
"Don't go playing favorites with Sylvester just because he's been sucking up to you! You and I are the best of friends!"
I used to think Penelope was thin-skinned, which was why I'd always shielded her from everything.
When her parents wouldn't let her study and pushed her into marriage, I went and pulled her out of that pit myself.
When she got picked on at school, when people spread rumors about her, I threw money and effort into clearing her name.
And yet now, after she'd done every last thing with Sylvester, she could lie without her face flushing or her heart skipping a beat.
Back at the house, Sylvester stood waiting at the door with an armful of flowers.
Sharp brows, bright eyes, straight-backed. Easy on the eyes.
His looks really were superior. Otherwise I wouldn't have been willing to date him online for two years.
【The male lead's already put the drug in her wineglass! Once she gets her premarital checkup, she'll find out the sorry state she's in! From now on the family fortune can only go to the male and female leads' children!】
I let them usher me in without so much as a flicker.
The second I sat down, I made trouble, throwing a plate to the floor.
"My lucky color today is yellow. Why would you set out a blue plate?"
They knew I threw the occasional rich-girl tantrum.
Even though a flash of resentment crossed Sylvester's eyes, he still rushed off to fetch a new plate.
Then my gaze slid to Penelope, in her blue dress.
As if I'd suddenly worked out why I'd been so cold to her the whole way home.
Penelope went pale. "I, I'll go change into a yellow dress right now!"
The moment they were gone, I switched the wine in front of me for the glass at Sylvester's place.
They came back.
Seeing me in a much better mood, they quietly let out their breath.
I picked up my glass first. "You two worked hard holding down the house these two weeks. This is for you."
The three of us drained our glasses at the same time, the smiles they were fighting to hide almost breaking through.
Mine too.
Just as I was about to pull out the footage and tell them the truth.
My secretary showed up at the door.
"Boss, you're finally back!"
"While you were away, that best friend of yours all but wrecked the company!"
