37. Knew each other’s idiotic hidden agendas

Briella couldn't help but worry about Janice. Even though she knew about Matilda's dark intentions, she wasn't sure what that woman was capable of. With her intensity and desperation rising, she was confident she could do anything. 'Brie, are you okay?" she heard Chelsey ask. She brought her along to their mansion because she had something she needed Chelsey to finish, and besides, Braun wasn't there yet, so it was better to have company. 'Have you contacted Janice?" she asked her with a sigh. 'Her phone is still unreachable" she replied. 'Relax, trust Miss Janice. I know she can handle this kind of situation." She nodded quietly. Luckily, Chelsey saw Matilda and her assistant Jovert leaving earlier while she was talking to Xander. So, Chelsey decided to follow them and found out about their plan to corner Janice. 'What if you didn't follow them? Janice would have been in danger," she told her. Don't worry too much about it. I know Miss Janice can handle it. It would be best if you focused on the magazine launch and Miss Janice's introduction to the world," she said with a smile. She simply nodded in response. She was ready—ready to surprise everyone once again as she stepped onto the stage as a model known to all and admired once more. She would also ensure she could take the first step of her plan, but she didn't know if Braun would agree to it. She hadn't talked to him about what she wanted to happen. 'Have you gathered enough evidence of Matilda's pregnancy?" she asked her friend after a while. She grinned.'Getting that information wasn't easy because that animal is cautious. Still, with the help of a skilled hacker I know, he managed to access the hospital's confidential files that Matilda's assistant always visits," she recounted while fiddling with her iPad and showing it to her. A vicious smile crept onto her lips. Now that Matilda's pregnancy was confirmed, she had an ace up her sleeve that would further crush the woman; she would use it at the Asian Runaway Awards. She knew Matilda would find another way to attend that Gala Night; she was desperate to prove something to her. She glanced at Chelsey and raised her eyebrow when she saw her staring at her. 'Why are you staring at me like that?" she asked. 'I just wanted to ask you something," she said. She leaned back on the soft sofa and gestured for her to continue talking. 'You have the evidence of their betrayal. What's your next move? And when do you plan to make your relationship with Big Boss go public?" she asked. Briella took a deep breath and looked at her. 'This isn't enough. If I release this information now, they will celebrate even more because they don't need to hide from me anymore. They will continue with their lives and manipulate other people to rise even higher. I've seen how Matilda controls Xander; I guess that Matilda is using the child she's carrying to control that foolish man. But Matilda doesn't know that Xander has his plan, just for himself, and doesn't care about her," she said, devoid of any emotion on her face. 'What do you mean?" Chelsey asked with a furrowed brow. They're both using each other for their agenda. I figured it out just now while we were talking; I saw that not everything we discussed with Xander was known to Matilda. I saw Xander's reaction when he was looking at Matilda, and I'm sure whatever mischief that woman is up to now, Xander doesn't know about it," she explained. 'Imagine if they both knew each other's idiotic hidden agendas…" she added with a smile. She saw the gleam in Chelsey's eyes, and soon enough, she burst into laughter. 'You're going to pit them against each other! Am I right?" she said. She nodded with a smile. 'They are both greedy for their own purposes. Xander wants both of us and now I clearly see his rotten nature. I can't believe I fell in love with that son of a btch," she said, shaking her head. 'It's okay. You have already learned from your mistakes. That's what's important. Sometimes, before you wake up from your foolishness, you need to be hurt badly," she said. She raised an eyebrow. She didn't know where Chelsey got that deep insight; she hadn't heard of any relationships the woman had. In all the years they've been friends, she hadn't mentioned being interested in anyone except for the Oppas she admired from KDramas. 'Why do you have that look on me?" she asked. 'I'm curious. Where did you get that?" she asked. 'What?" Chelsey asked, puzzled. She tilted her head.'Have you been in love?" 'Of course!" Her eyes sparkled, and she seemed to clasp her hands together dreamily. 'And right now, I'm in love! I saw someone who captured my heart again!" she said. She sighed deeply, realizing Luigi was standing not far away, seemingly staring blankly at them. 'Luigi," she called his name. As if snapping out of a trance, he immediately returned to his attention. 'Madam, Mr. President sent me here to give this to you," he said, approaching them. He handed her a long brown envelope. She furrowed her brow in confusion as she took it. 'What's that?" Chelsey asked, clearly curious about what Luigi handed her. 'President Braun instructed that only you can read it, and no one else can see it," Luigi emphasized. 'Excuse me, are you implying something?" Chelsey retorted sharply to Luigi, who immediately got his message across. But Luigi ignored her and continued to look at her. She stared at the envelope for a long time, contemplating what it contained, when her phone rang. She saw Janice's name, so she quickly stood up and bid goodbye to the two. She took the envelope with her and heard Chelsea's outcry. 'Briella, let me know what's inside!" she called after her. 'Didn't you understand what I said? It's only for Madam," Luigi shot back at Chelsey. 'We're best friends and practically sisters, so I have the right to know, too," Chelsey insisted. She continued to walk away, leaving the two still arguing. 'Hello, Janice. Are you okay?" she asked immediately, unable to hide her concern for her friend in her voice. 'Hi, dear. Don't worry, I'm fine, and I want to say thank you for informing me," she said, her voice clearly happy. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. 'Did something wrong happen? Where is Matilda? Did you meet her? What did she say?" she asked her in rapid succession. She heard Janice's gentle laughter on the other end. I think I'll stop worrying. It seems nothing terrible happened to her. 'Don't worry about her. She got what she wanted," she said. 'What?" she asked, confused. 'Oh, I'm sorry. Did I confuse you? What I mean is she got what she wanted, literally. And I want to thank you because if you hadn't told me, I might have fallen into her trap," she explained. She didn't ask any more questions; that's all she wanted to know. Janice meant a lot to her, and she wanted to ensure that nothing would harm her or involve her in any controversies. 'Anyway, I wanted to give you a call so you wouldn't worry too much. I'm already at home. I want you to be ready next week because it looks like the Magazine Launch will be moved up," she said. She nodded, even though Janice couldn't see her. 'I need to hang up the phone; I'm exhausted. Tell your husband to give me a call later. Bye" Her mouth was left agape at what she said before she hung up. Did she know who my husband is? **** Matilda's body trembled as she parked her car in front of Xander's house. She never expected everything to happen; she didn't know that a woman had such a character! She knew she was bisexual because of the information she received from one of her sources, which also gave her all the information to win her over, but it didn't mention her being Dominant and wild in bed. Shit! She's worse than Xander! If I didn't need her help, I wouldn't have submitted to that woman! She smirked as she received her approval. Shed didn't need to sign a contract with her company because she said she had something better to offer. She assured her she would earn big if she just fixed her work. She'll be the model for a full-coverage magazine! Get ready, Briella! When my magazine comes out, I'll slap it on your face! She got out of her car and went straight into Xander's house. Her boyfriend greeted her in the living room, looking dazed. She approached him with a smile and kissed him, but she suddenly seemed to snap out of it and saw the tension in his face. 'What happened to you?" she raised an eyebrow at him. 'Where the hell have you been? I went to your dressing room in the office, but only your assistant was there," he countered. 'Can't I go out for a walk?" she feigned innocence and stood up to move away, but she quickly grabbed her hand and stared at her neck. Oh no, don't tell me . . . 'What's this?" he exclaimed immediately, pointing at the collar of her collared cropped top. 'Are these lipstick?" 'What?" she pretended to be surprised and touched her clothes, but she was surprised when he suddenly pulled her clothes. She screamed and was about to stop him when her body was revealed to him. She couldn't hide the bruises and scratches she got from that sadistic woman! 'What are these, Matilda?! Who did this to you?" he shouted at her while pointing at the wounds and bruises on her body. What am I going to say?! Think, Matilda, think! I need to come up with a reason to make Xander's mind spin! 'I auditioned for a movie", she blurted out in response. 'What?" he asked, eyebrows furrowing. 'You heard what I said, so don't make me repeat it", she snapped at him. 'I tried to audition, and they needed to hurt me for real so I could act properly." 'Are you insane? You're pregnant, Matilda. What if something happened to the child you're carrying?" he retorted. 'I don't care about the baby anymore" she shouted at him and violently grabbed her stomach. She remembered what Jovert had said earlier, if she wanted to get the man completely, she needed to act better and show that she was hurting herself. 'Stop doing that, for God's sake! What's happening to you?" he shouted, grabbing both of her hands. 'This is my body, so I'll do whatever I want with it," she shouted and forcefully took her hand. 'Why, Xander? Is the child still important to you? Is our relationship still important to you?" Xander stopped and quickly softened his expression; the fierceness disappeared, and he hugged her tightly. A smile spread across her lips when she felt him calm down. 'I'm sorry, Matty, I'm just really stressed out today," he said apologetically to her. 'Let me guess, Briella is the reason again?" she asked, slowly calming herself and diverting the conversation away from her. He sighed heavily and nodded. 'She already knows I have another woman," he said. Her eyebrows furrowed, unsure of what she was feeling, whether she would be happy or angry. But the truth is, she doesn't care anymore if she finds out about her relationship with Xander because she would prefer him to know everything so he knows where he stands. 'In what way did she find out?" she calmly asked Xander. 'She didn't say how, and she's known for a long time. On the day we were supposed to meet, she already knew I was going to see another woman," he replied. 'And what did you say?" she raised an eyebrow, starting to move towards their room. She was feeling cold, and besides, she was embarrassed by the number of bruises and scratches on her body. 'Wait, why do you seem unaffected by what I just said?" he asked, following her. 'Do I need to be affected by what you said?" she asked. 'You know I've been telling you for a long time to leave that woman. Aren't our child and I enough for you?" she snapped at him. She just went straight to their room. She heard his loud sigh, and he hugged her tightly from behind. She winced when he touched her because her body still hurt from what Janice made her do. 'I need her money, Babe. I told you I invested in her Agency. And he's threatening me now. That's why I asked her for another chance." 'Chance?" She raised her eyebrows, squirmed out of his hug, and faced him. 'What do you mean by chance? You still haven't admitted to our relationship," she asked him in astonishment. 'Babe, listen to me." He took a deep breath before speaking again. 'She wanted us to go public, she wanted us to announce our engagement, and she'd let go of my debt to her—it's two million, Matilda. If I don't follow her, she'll definitely do what she says, and I know that woman, so I need to follow what she wants." 'Why are you so focused on Briella?! Do you still love that woman, Xander?" she shouted at him. She started to get irritated by the name of that woman. 'B-Babe . . " he said in surprise. 'Are you still thinking straight? If you announce your engagement in public, do you know how I'll feel? I'm pregnant, Xander. Don't you know how affected I am by what you're doing?" she said, tears starting to fall. In these situations, she needed to bring out her acting skills to confuse him. 'Babe, we—I need Briella. I know I'll lose a lot in the company if she takes the money I borrowed from her. We made a contract before because I thought she forgot about it, but I didn't expect her to mention it last night when we talked." She raised her forehead and looked into his eyes. 'When you announce your engagement, do you know how I'll feel? What if I gave you the two million? Would you stop seeing that woman?" she asked him. She saw him stop and couldn't believe it. 'Babe, where are you going to get two million in five days? I can't afford to give that much money now because of our preparations for our child," he said worriedly to her. She smiled sweetly, and she thought of only one way. 'Let me handle it. I told you I have a new source of income," she said, and after getting her pyjamas, she went straight to the bathroom to clean her body. Don't blame me if I have to do this, Xander. You should blame that woman because if not for her, I wouldn't have been able to hold onto something that would save your stupidity and foolishness!