Chapter One: Thraldom

Chapter One: Thraldom

Nimbeville Hospital, Obstetrics Department.

Lying down on the hospital bed with abortion instruments, Mika had tried all her best to escape, but all to no avail. The harder she tried to escape, the more the bodyguards tightened on her, as she had just been sentenced by the undefeated Liam to terminate her pregnancy.

“Please don’t do this,” she pleaded while panting and trying to avoid the doctor injecting her with anesthesia.

“If she doesn’t want to do it with anesthesia, then abort it without anesthesia”. Liam’s voice rang out coldly.

At this point, Mika lost all the strength left in her. Her small face and fragile body, which had been burdened for a long time, dropped.

She gritted her teeth in pain as numerous instruments entered her body, scraping her flesh to remove the fetus from her. As the pain lingered on, Mika slowly reminisced about her life and the three years she spent in the Duncan family.

Mika lived her entire life with no sense of purpose, as she was born in a competitive environment. Living up to meet standards has been a hassle for her until she met Liam. She tried all her best to get close to Liam, but he didn’t even spare her a glance. Liam was a top student at their school, and she tried all that was within her ability to remain in the same class as Liam, even if it meant crying under the quilt every night. She still charged forward.

Her opportunity to marry Liam came when he was drugged at his grandfather’s banquet and he accidentally took Mika. His grandfather, his Grandfather being a man of principles, insisted on Liam getting married to Mika as Mika had maintained a good reputation in the socialite circle.

Hearing of this, Liam was furious and thought of Mika as a despicable woman who used all means to climb unto his bed; this development also caused him to break up with his white moonlight, Emily, who he had always taught of as a sensible woman and the only one worthy of the title of the young mistress of the Duncan family.

Ever since then, her life has been made a living hell by Liam and the other members of the Duncan family.

The surgery ended, and Mika was in pain with severe bleeding, which was a side effect of the abortion as her body was too weak to contain the abortion.

However, outside the ward, the Duncan family members remain unbothered. “Is the bastard gone?” Liam’s sister Mia said while playing fashion games on her phone. “Yes,” Liam said while taking big strides out of the hospital.

Mika had slept for an hour when she suddenly felt someone pressing down on her lower abdomen. On opening her eyes, she saw that it was Amelia, Liam’s stepmother, alongside some middle-aged women.

“What are you doing?” She screamed in pain.

With that, Amelia landed a slap on her face. “How dare you talk to me like that? Oh, oh I see you are aggrieved because that scumbag has been removed from your belly, or do you think you can become the young mistress of the Duncan family by using crooked means?”

“Who even knows where she got her baby from and is trying to pin it on Liam?” another middle-aged woman chimed in.

“Hold her up for me,” Amelia mother shouted.

The middle-aged woman held her as Amelia kept on pressing on her lower abdomen.

Mika winced in pain; she started screaming for help, but the ward was blocked by security operatives, and no one was granted access.

“Open up. I am trying to help you so people will not think the Duncan family is heartless,” Amelia said as she poured the hot porridge and chicken soup down her throat.

Mika felt her lungs and chest burning in pain, which is incomparable to the pain she felt in her heart.

For four years she has been acting dumb and obedient, fulfilling all their wishes, thinking one day she would be accepted. Mika left the hospital on the third day, and on getting to the Duncan family mansion, she met the mother-and-daughter duo alongside Emily laughing while watching a TV series.

“Look who is here; I thought you were so fragile that you couldn’t move,” Amelia said.

“Auntie, don’t blame Mika; she just had major surgery, and she must feel very weak,” Emily said, obviously feeling very pleased.

“What major surgery? For someone who brought in a bastard to become the Duncan young mistress,” Amelia retorted.

“Yes, it is a great deal, and for anyone who does not know, you might actually think here is the home of Miss Emily.” Mika said while walking up the stairs.

Hearing this, Emily’s face was distorted, and Amelia shouted angrily, “Who made you the hostess to dictate who will come to this house or not?”.

Mika closed the door and slid down on her back. She was tired emotionally, physically, and mentally for someone she loved for several years who was even heartless enough to kill her unborn child.

Her phone rang, and it was her childhood friend Dylan “Mika. Are you fine? What did that scumbag Liam do to you?” Dylan shouted angrily over the phone. “Do you want to come over?” “No,”, Mika replied, “I am fine, thank you.“ She heard footsteps coming, and she immediately disconnected the phone.

Downstairs, Amelia was seething with anger. “Auntie, why is Mika behaving like this? Won't she start refuting your orders when she finally gets a foothold of Liam's heart?” Emily said, acting coquettishly as she intentionally added fuel to the fire.

“No, that will never happen; she will never become Mrs. Duncan. Don't worry, Auntie will handle this.” Amelia comforted her while walking Emily out of the house. Immediately Emily was out of sight. She opened the black market on her phone and sent a message:

13.Code: “there is refuse to be disposed.”.

Chapter Two: Ask Liam for Help

Chapter Tw Ask Liam for Help

Back in her room, Mika dusted herself and went into the closet to make a phone call as Amelia and Mia had planted spies all over the house, making it difficult for her to talk freely. The call was connected with one ring.

“Hello dad, it’s me, Mika. Can I come and spend a week at home?”.

Stephen, Mika’s father, who had just been bragging about how well done Mika was in the family meeting and how she married Liam, the business mogul who loves her very much, was perplexed.

“Why would you want to come home for a week? Are you saying our house is better than the Duncan family mansion?” He retorted.

"No, dad, I don’t like it here; I am in so much pain that I just want to come home,“ Mika said.

“You useless trash that I call a daughter, is your emotional state more important than our family’s business? Why are you so spoilt, unfilial, and lack sense of empathy?” Stephen lashed out while breathing heavily.

"Dad, I just..." Mika was cut short.

"Okay, you know what? I’d let you come home for a week, but on a condition: come with a check of at least ten million dollars from Liam to invest in our business; after all, you are both husband and wife.” And with that, the call was disconnected.

Beep Beep… The sound of the call disconnecting rang in Mika’s ear. At this point, she was certain that she was all alone; she buried herself in the pile of clothes lying in the closet and wept heavily.

On the other end, Stephen was infuriated, as he had always boasted about Mika being Liam’s wife and achieving great things for his extended family members, but Mika has not been able to support the family business in any way. Buried in thoughts, he thought about how to get in touch with Liam himself since Mika wouldn’t give him the chance to meet with Liam when Derek and Joanna, his elder brother and niece, walked in. It was time for the family meeting.

With a few more arrivals, the family meeting started, and the state of the family business was stated. It was a crucial time to find companies that would be willing to invest in their company to save it from bankruptcy.

“What if we write letters to banks to give us loans using the few properties we have as collateral?” Joanna suggested.

“What properties, how many properties does even your father have to be able to withstand a loan?, Don’t fret, everyone. I have spoken to Mika, and she has agreed to let Liam invest in our company. She will be here at the next meeting with the check." Stephen said in a whim of the moment.

“Really?" “That is nice," “Our family business is saved!" ”I knew Mika was born to do exploits." Others chimed in, and what seemed like a never-ending meeting came to a close with the conclusion that Mika was going to resuscitate the family business.

Joanna was red with anger as yet again, Mika overshadowed her. Ever since they were little, Mika has always been better than her in all things, and Stephen never failed to rub it in her face, which would make Derek always very furious and scold her harshly, sometimes hitting her. She always wished that Mika would disappear for once and let her have the limelight.

“You couldn’t even think of a better solution after all the money I spent on you in business school!” Derek shouted while scolding her.

“Do you know why I sent you to business school? It is for you to take over the company, but what are you doing now? Rubbish! you could not even find a good family to cling on too like Mika, or do you not know the meaning of business alliance?” Derek continued.

“But business alliances cannot be achieved only through marriage,” Joanna said, which only infuriated Derek more.

“Lock the young miss up and provide her with business books to read; she must be fed with only bananas and water,” Derek instructed the maids.

In spite of Joanna’s plea for mercy, she was locked up in the dimly lit basement, and day by day she swore to come out and get revenge over Mika for the torture she faced.

Meanwhile, Mika has been under severe pressure from Stepehen as he repeatedly called and threatened her. She was at a loss because Liam has refused to come home since the day he aborted her baby.

On the fifth day, Stephen called Mika and spoke to her in an affectionate tone.

"Mika, my darling, tell me what you have been through all these whiles.”.

Mika breathed slowly as she recounted all her experiences in the Duncan family house.

“Crap, you have been through a lot,” Stephen sighed.

“You know what? Try to get the check from Liam, and I will help you file for a divorce.

Mika could not believe her ears.

"Dad, what did you say?” Mika said angrily.

“ What? Oh, so now you yell at me, Is it my fault that you are incompetent and can’t catch a man’s heart? You are just as self-righteous as your mother,” Stephen caused.

Mika saw red “Do not involve my mother in this.”

“Are you that angry? If you are still interested in your mother’s ashes, get that check here next week,” and with that, he hung up the phone.

Mika was hurt for herself and for her mother as she has a scumbag. Father and her mother had a jerk as her husband. Mika decided to take food for Liam in the company; she packed the thermos filled with delicacies Liam loved as she took a cab to his company.

On getting to the company, she climbed the stairs up to the CEO's floor when she saw a shocking scene of Emily hugging Liam from the back. Although she knew she did not weigh anything in Liam’s heart, she felt a thousand needles pricking her heart. She ran into the toilet to wipe her eyes, and on coming out, she met Emily’s questioning gaze.

“What are you doing here?” Emily asked.

“What do you mean by that? This is my husband’s company, and I have every right to be here. What are you doing here? Or are you trying to be a third party?” Mika retorted.

“Oh, I see you are a bit retarded. For your information, Mika, I am now the chief designer of this company.”.

Mika was shocked, seeing the shocked look on her face. Emily felt pleased, and she left twisting her waist.

This was a position Mika had begged Liam for numerous times as she studied design and Liam had never honored her request, but Emily did not study design and is currently the chief designer. She realized that she had underestimated Emily’s importance in Liam’s heart.

Chapter Three: Mika is a shameless Bitch

Yet again, Mika was heartbroken, but this time she decided to put her pain aside and get her goal in order to divorce Liam, because she knew if she were to divorce him straight up, Liam would give her no alimony, and her father would not be pleased with that.

Bracing herself with confidence, she carried the hot thermos and went straight to his office.

“What are you doing here?” Liam said, his face darkening.

“You’ve not been home these days, and I figured you were busy, so I decided to bring you lunch.” Mika said.

“You think so highly of yourself,” Liam said mockingly. “What makes you think I would want to eat from you? Or do you think you are Mrs. Duncan and I have to report all my activities to you?

Seeing Liam get agitated, Mika resorted to her Trump card.

“No, I don’t think so. It’s just that grandpa will sense something is off since you never come home and I am always at home.” Mika said, feeling disappointed with herself for using Grandpa’s name.

“Oh, always at home, I see. You don’t think I am dimwitted, do you? After going around fronicking with different men, you think you can come here and try to act all saintly, even using my grandpa as a bargaining chip. ” Shameless! “Leave,” Liam shouted angrily.

“Please don’t! I care about you; that is why I am here,” Mika pleaded.

“Oh really?” Liam said as he walked towards her. He grabbed the thermos from her and emptied its contents into the trash bag.

“Are you satisfied? At least the thermos is empty now. You can leave." Liam walked back to his seat as Mika reluctantly went out sadly.

On getting out, she was met with a downpour of trash; looking up, she met Emily’s smug face.

“Oh, sorry Mika, the cleaners didn’t see you there; that was why the trash was lowered on you.” Emily said

“So the cleaners now drop refuse on the CEO’s floor?” Mika said with gritted teeth.

“No, not really. It is just that a refuse dump was spotted somewhere around here, oh, and look, that is you. You are trash, Mika.” Emily said.

Mika walked out in shame with refuse dumped on her body and different odors emmanating from it. She was even more downcast because she heard some of the female employees gossiping about her.

“Look, she is a mistress." “Yes, a third party; she ruined Miss Ruck’s engagement with our CEO and then used cunny means to force the CEO to marry her." Another chimed in.

“Eeew, so despicable; she is an embarrassment to womanhood. If I were the one, I wouldn’t show my face to the world till I die.” They concluded.

The picture was now clearly painted in Mika’s mind; she was a no-ambition woman. Then, then on seeing Liam, she was attached to him like a Leech obsessing over him, and she forced her way to his bed; truly, she was shameless. She dragged her feet without cleaning up, and she was lucky not to meet the mother-daughter duo on getting home.

She was relieved, and she went upstairs to take a shabby bath, after which she decided to go see her father and talk things out with him since her plan with Liam failed.

She went downstairs but was stopped by the butler.

“I am sorry, Miss Havens; the young master said not to allow you to go anywhere,” the butler said apologetically.

“Really?” Mika muttered to herself; she sluggishly went back as she had been too exhausted from the activities of the day and did not know when she fell asleep.

Joanna had just been ungrounded, so she was naturally happy and invited her friends to the drink at a bar. Although she was intelligent and from a good background, she had a chaotic private life, which she used to vent her anger on the high standards set by her family. When she was abroad, she had many flings and made out with lots of boys and men; she also did drugs. That was a dark side she kept from the public.

“Mika is a bitch, causing me to go through this much pain; if only she would die,” Joanna cursed against Mika with her friends at the end of the bar. At the other end of the bar, Emily had been looking at Joanna’s proactiveness in cursing Mika; she did not like her loose tongue and attitude, but “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,“ she thought to herself.

She approached Joanna and her friends and sat beside them while taking her own drink, hoping to get some leads and information on how she could use Joanna. She needed to be sure Joanna had some real ability to hurt Mika.

Joanna and her friends kept on cursing and stabbing a doll with Mika’s name written on it, which pleased Emily greatly, and from their conversation she learned that Joanna was Mika’s cousin.

When it was time to pay for the drinks, Emily stepped forward and placed a black card on the table.

“Swipe it, "she told the waiter.

Joanna and her friends looked in shock as that black card was peculiar to the top 10% families in Coastland.

The waiter swiped the card, and all of Joanna’s friends left after thanking Emily.

“Miss Havens, I am Emily, Emily Ruckus,” Emily introduced herself.

Joanna now understood where the black card came from. “Nice to meet you, Miss Ruckus.”.

Joanna said politely.

“You must be wondering why I paid for your drinks; trust me, I have no ulterior motives,” Emily said, flashing a smile.

“I just saw through your pain, and I was once in that shoe when a boy broke my heart, so it is fine; men are scum anyway. Women rule right?” Emily said, feigning ignorance.

“No, Miss Ruckus, you got it wrong; I was not down because of a boy,” Joanna said with a slightly distorted face.

“Oh, so what is it? We are friends now, aren’t we? I can help out. I am sorry for that misconception.”.

“It’s fine,” Joanna said.

“It’s just my cousin, who thinks she is better than everyone else and oppresses us by that means she even said she married Liam, rubbing it in our faces." Joanna continued.

“Wait, Liam?, Oh, is your cousin Mika?” Emily said, covering her mouth.

“Oh yes, do you know her?” Joanna asked.

“Yes, Liam is my childhood friend, so I naturally know about his affairs.” Emily added.

“ Really? Then is Mika really married to Liam, or is she just bluffing?" Joanna asked hopefully.

Emily felt the curiosity and the nervousness in her, and she decided to play around with her more to get more information.

Chapter Four: Games of Lies

“Why do you think she is bluffing?” Emily asked again.

“Isn’t it obvious? She claims to have married Liam for about four years, but Liam has never come to see the elders of our family, nor has he invested in our family business. I am not even sure he paid her bride price; at least your boyfriend is supposed to gift you regularly, so I think she is just lying. What do you think, Miss Ruckus?" Joanna asked.

“See, I know Liam very well, and he is not a person who would disrespect his elders for it’s just that...” Emily pretended to hesitate.

“Please continue, Miss Ruckus." Joanna said it in an encouraging manner.

“Yes, Liam and I were engaged, but Mika came to ruin our engagement by drugging Liam and climbing up to his bed.” Emily said

“Really”? Joanna gasped in shock.

“I am not accusing you of lying, but what is the evidence of this?" Joanna continued.

“I don’t have evidence presently, but I can get it for you. Do you know Mika was pregnant and Liam asked the doctors to abort the baby without anesthesia?”

“ What?” Joanna’s jaw dropped. “Liam is so ruthless,“ she thought to herself.

Emily exchanged contact information with Joanna as she bade her goodbye. Immediately, Joanna was out of sight. Emily showed a sly smile and continued drinking as she had finally found a way to deal with Mika. Although Amelia promised to handle the situation, she couldn’t let her guard down.

Meanwhile, Joannna was still pondering the piece of information she just received; she did not know that it was already past curfew.

Carried away by thoughts, Joanna dragged her feet into the living room and was welcomed by a sound slap from Derek.

“Where have you been? You scoundrel, look at you so shameless, and you even reek of alcohol." Derek yelled at her without giving her a chance to refute.

“No wonder you can’t compare to Mika; you will never see her do this rubbish." Derek continued.

Suddenly, it started pouring outside.

“Looks like the heavens have decided your punishment." Derek smirked.

“You will kneel outside till the rain stops,” Derek said on a final note as he walked back in.

The maids collected her bag and phone for fear of her running away, and she was subjected to kneeling under the harsh weather. Her nails dug deep into her flesh as she wept profusely through the night.

Morning came quickly and Joanna was released. She limped into the room and plugged in her phone. She saw missed calls from a lot of her friends, but what caught her attention was the video Emily sent to her. She watched it and smiled. All her pains seemingly disappeared that minute.

She called Emily and asked to meet at the nearest café shop. On getting there, she met the glamorously dressed Emily.

"Wow, she really knows her stuff." Joanna thought to herself.

“Good afternoon Miss Ruckus,” she politely greeted Emily as she approached her.

“Please sit, Miss Havens." Emily said, gesturing for her to pull out the nearest seat.

As soon as Joanna took her seat, Emily started.

“So what does Miss Havens think about the video I sent?” Emily asked.

“I don’t know; it is hard to believe.” Joanna said

“Miss Havens, I consider you a friend; that was why I released that video to you. I do not want you to look down on yourself because of a liar.” Emily said.

“Also, I understand that your family business needs investment, so I came up with a little something for you as a token of our friendship,” Emily continued as she pulled a check for a hundred million dollars out and handed it over to Joanna.

“Geez, Miss Ruckus, thank you so much. I will surely remember your kindness." Joanna exclaimed and thanked her profusely.

“It’s totally fine,“ Emily said.

“And also, I think we can do away with the Miss; just call me Emily; after all, we are friends now, aren’t we?” Emily said, flashing her set of white teeth.

“Yes, totally, thank you, Emily; let’s have a meal some other time." Joanna said while leaving.

Emily bade her goodbye and smirked. For the Havens family, this amount of money is a great deal, but it cost nothing for Emily to spend.

"Mika, let’s see how you deal with this now." Emily said.

Days rolled by, and it was time for another family meeting in the Haven’s family house. At this point Stephen was downcast, but being a sly fox, he came up with an excuse pretty quick that he can use to stall time for Mika.

“Ahem, Mika and Liam will not be here today as they have some other engagements to attend to,” Stephen lied through his teeth.

Joanna snorted, "OOh really, well, it is understandable since Mika belongs to the high class of society and we don’t. I guess it is normal to stand your elders up like this.”

Hearing thus, Derek’s face and the faces of the other Haven family elders darkened.

"Yes, Joanna is right. Stephen, even though Mika is married to the Duncan family, she is still a daughter of the Havens family, and disrespecting her elders is not a virtue we teach here." An elder said.

Stepehen, being a man that cherishes faces, was embarrassed, but he could only lower his head.

“But there is no need to fight her; after all, she is Haven’s family's current savior, so where is the investment check, Mika promised?” The elder asked.

Stephen stuttered, “Em em, about that, due to their many engagements, they haven’t found time to sort things out, but she definitely will let us just be patient.”

“Patient? You say. Uncle Stephen, first you disposed of my idea and the ideas of everyone here with the claim that your daughter will do something, then your daughter disrespected the family by not showing up, and now the promised investment is not here and you ask us to exercise patience. Till when, uncle? Is it until the family business comes crumbling and we have no face in Coastland at all?” Joanna yelled.

Stephen yelled back at her, “Shut up! Who told you to talk when your elders are speaking?” With that, he turned to Derek, whose face was already darkened, obviously disgusted by Joanna’s loose tongue.

"Brother, should you not caution your daughter, or do you think I don’t know that she is jealous of Mika’s stand as the young mistress of the Duncan family?” Stephen asked while shooting a glare at Derek.

Before Derek could speak, Joanna flared up and said, "What, Jealousy? I would rather remain in my father’s house than go to where I will be reduced to trash that even a maid will be better than me.”

At the drop of this statement, Stephen’s face turned pale.

Chapter Five: Betryal

Seeing Stephen’s pale face confirmed all of Joanna’s doubts.

Derek, sensing something was off, stood up and urged Joanna and Stephen to sit, and then he asked Joanna to apologize for her statement.

“I will not apologize, father, because I am not in the wrong. Uncle Stephen here should apologize to the whole family for decieving us.” Joanna retorted.

Seeing Stephen’s pale face and Joanna’s eagerness to spill the beans, the elders were certain that something was definitely wrong and decided to resolve it amicably.

“Let everyone calm down,” an elder said.

“Okay then, even with all these, we will still have to wait for Mika because there is no feasible solution, or do you have a solution, dear niece?” Stephen said intentionally wanting to push Joanna into the pit.

“Yes,“, Joanna replied to the shock of everyone.

“I have made a business alliance with the Ruck’s company, and I have an investment check from that,” she continued.

“You, Ruckus, how is that possible? Joanna, this is not a place to throw tantrums.” Derek said.

“Here it is." Joanna said placing the check Emily had given to her earlier on the table.

“And, oh, uncle, don’t use Mika to destroy us in this family again; who does not know that Mika is a whore that used despicable means to climb up to the bed of Liam?”

“Shut up!“ Stephen’s eyes reddened.

“And she is not favored by the Duncan family after splitting their previous engagement with the Ruckus family. Imagine she did not even get a wedding.” Joanna said as she continued gloating.

“Don’t spew nonsense; Mika and Liam’s not getting a wedding is due to personal reasons, and how dare you slander the young mistress of the Duncan family? Do you not fear retribution?” Stepehen said, almost choking with his words.

Immediately, Joanna connected her phone to the projector in the room, and she started playing a video; it was the video of Mika getting an abortion ordered by Liam.

As soon as the video ended, the temperature in the room dropped, as it was obvious what had just played out. What was supposed to be a day of pride for Stephen turned to a day of shame.

Even though the investment has been secured, everyone left quietly as they spoke in hush tones.

Joanna left the venue with Derek, both feeling pleased.

“How did you get that investment with the Ruckus family?” Derek asked as soon as they got into the car.

“The young miss of the Ruckus family, Emily, is my friend.” Joanna answered.

“Yes, finally you understand the meaning of business alliance.” Derek said as he praised her to the skies.

Joanna was overjoyed as her father praised her all the way home; the car was filled with laughter; this was the first time something like this happened to her, and she was determined to keep it going.

Joanna got home amidst her excitement and called Emily, asking to meet; they decided to go to a high-end restaurant in Coastland.

Joanna walked into the restaurant beaming with smiles; she hurriedly held Emily’s hand.

“You are so happy today; what is the matter?” Emily asked.

Joanna then explained all that had happened at the Haven’s family house.

As Joanna explained, Emily got an idea of who Stephen was and was delighted to advance in her place. Emily and Joanna chatted for a while, and they said their good byes.

As Emily walked back into the company, she saw Mika going out of the company through the back entrance with a box of snacks; obviously, Liam had denied her entry into his office. Watching her back, her lips curled up into a smile as the bliueprint of her plan formed in her mind.

She walked into Liam’s office and met him working.

“Hey Liam.” She greets him.

“How are you?” Liam raised his head, greeting her.

“I am fine, but I want to talk to you about something." She said acting coquettishly.

“What is it?” Liam said, gently stroking her hair.

“It is about Mika.” Emily said, at the mention of Mika’s name Liam’s face darkened, and he pulled Emily into his embrace.

“I told you never to mention Mika to me again; she is a despicable shameless whore!” Liam said decisively

“But Grandpa likes her, so you have to like her so as not to hurt Grandpa, and I totally understand.“. Emily said, shedding a strand of tears.

Liam looked at her with pity; she was always this kind and considerate.

“I can tolerate her, but I cannot allow her to ruin the Duncan family business.” Emily continued.

“What do you mean by that Emily?” Liam asked.

"Oh, you do not know? , then it is my bad then.” Emily said, feigning ignorance.

"Emily, tell me what it is; we are one, and whatever affects you affects me.” Liam said.

Hearing this, Emily felt a thousand butterflies in her belly.

“Mika is trying to steal the trade secret of the Duncan family for her family business.” Emily said

“What? how did you know?” Liam asked.

“I am friends with Mika’s cousin; we studied at the same school abroad, but she does not know that I am with you, so she just told me out of fraud." Emily said.

At this point, Liam was seething with anger. Maka, that evil woman, will not stop at anything to achieve her goals.

Then Emily started to exaggerate about how Mika uses the Duncan family name to bully people, even her family members. Liam, who had started to see things about Mika in a different light, was now more than convinced that the drug incident was orchestrated by her, and then he connected the dots in his mind to how Mika had been acting nicely to him in the past few days.

“Now acting as a spy, huh?" Liam smirked to himself as soon as Emily left.

Meanwhile, Stephen got back home in anger, smashing all the porcelain dolls and many other expensive antiques.

“That bastard dared cause me to lose face.” He eventually calmed down and thought of a plan.

He decided to get the money out of Mika by all means. He then texted her.

“Bring what I told you to bring from Liam tomorrow by ten am, and I will help you get divorce; otherwise, forget about being my daughter." He felt that was not enough and decided to add filial peity.

“Or how else can you prove to seek the progress of your family if you can’t help us?” With that, he breathed a sigh of relief and sank into the cushion.

When Liam got home, Mika was having a bath in the bathroom, preparing to take food for Liam again, hoping he would change his mind.