Desmond frowned at what he had just heard. Did Lucy just call Zaria her daughter? They all knew this, but he also knew that Lucy had blatantly denied Zaria and even claimed that she had never been married and didn't have a daughter. Why was she suddenly reclaiming her and acting like she was defending her?

Alyssa was even more shocked. She looked at the woman on her right with eyes full of disbelief, making Lucy roll her eyes at her.

"Don't pretend you don't know who the mother of Theodore's daughter is. Isn't it because you knew she is my daughter that you urged your son to sue her?" She dropped a bombshell.

"What did you say?" Desmond was yet to digest one piece of shock when the next landed, and he was caught off guard.

"Don't make things up, Lucy!" Alyssa raised her voice at the other, who merely laughed like she was having the time of her life.

"You don't need to pretend to be shocked Alyssa. You know fully well what I'm talking about." It was because Alyssa investigated the journalist behind the article and found that it was Zaria Williams, who looked like the younger version of Lucy. Otherwise, it was almost certain that there wouldn't have been such an unnecessary fuss.

"What is she talking about?" Desmond finally asked when he processed it. His eyes narrowed in realization. No wonder Alyssa hated Zaria so much. So it wasn't entirely about the article which had long been deleted and which had nothing to do with Alyssa being arrested—at least not entirely. He had been wondering why she was still against their relationship even when he assured her that Zaria was a kind woman and requested her to try and get along with Zaria and give her a chance. So there was more to it all along.

"Don't listen to her, son. She is fond of creating trouble wherever she goes." Alyssa tried to defend herself, not wanting to have a falling out with her son. It was slightly better if they argued because of Zaria, since she was still a fool. But Lucy was a different story altogether. She was manipulative and deceptive and was fond of destroying relationships wherever she went. She was a walking nightmare.

As expected, she didn't let Desmond side with his mother before focusing on him.

"You initially decided to brush it off. But after she cried about how the world would no longer accept her, you decided to teach Zaria a lesson. Am I wrong?" She interrogated him, sounding pained.

"How would you know that?" Desmond reacted to yet another bomb thrown his way.

"You went after my daughter and are now in love with her.. Of course I would investigate you. Who knows, you might just be my future son-in-law like Marchal predicted."

Desmond did not wish to talk about the past; it kept reminding him of the shell of kindness that was this woman in front of him, the very woman who was now trying to snatch his company and wreck his family while at it.

His lips twitched at her protective demeanor. "The daughter you ditched, or the one you rejected just recently?"

"My daughter nonetheless." She shrugged indifferently. "And she's not the reason why I came here. This is." She opened her handbag and took out a file to drop on the table, giving the duo chills. What was this document about?

Alyssa wanted to walk out akd give her son privacy as she guessed that it must be a work-related matter, but this was Lucy. There was no telling what she might want to do to her son, so she decided to stay back and watch over them.

Desmond glanced at the woman who was smiling smugly then at the file on the desk. With uncertainty in his eyes, he picked the file up and slowly opened it. Then his eyes narrowed and he glared at Lucy. "This is fake!"

"Is it? Prove it." Lucy smiled gently.

She had just shown Desmond the ownership documents of the Fort family's mansion, and she was the new owner.

Alyssa curiously leaned over and her son passed the papers to her, which made her shake her head.

"This cannot be."

"Well, it can. Since you were stupid enough to give the ownership of your family mansion to Jaime, I was clever enough to snatch it from him." Her lips curled upwards when she recalled just how she had fooled the man. She had played the idiot like a monkey, and he had fallen for her traps one after another.

After making Jaime owe her too many unpaid favors, she had asked for the Fort Family mansion. In exchange, she would bail him out and he would no longer owe her anything.

Of course, she was not stupid enough to bail out the man who would immediately go after Theodore and Zaria.

Alyssa sighed tiredly. The Fort Family house was the only place she could call a home. She did have properties on the outside, but some of them had been rendered unusable by the court since they were evidence of Jaime's crimes, while she had sold others to raise enough money to sue Marchal—which had failed miserably.

She couldn't find an apartment to temporarily live in, could she? She wouldn't be able to handle the humiliation.

"What do you want? I will give it to you if you give the house back." She tried to plead with the devil at the table.

"What I want, it's simple. I only want Preston and Fort Group."

"You're crazy." Desmond dismissed her and was about to make a call to end this insanity when the latter threw him yet another file. He had a bad premonition as he picked it up.

She stood up when she was sure that Desmond had read the contents. "Alyssa, I'll give you two days to move out of my house. And you, three hours to get lost from mine." The last part of her statement was directed at Desmond, who was still in disbelief. Lucy had just bought his mansion.

"How dare you!" Desmond erupted.

"I can, so I dare. Don't embarrass yourself." Lucy smiled at the two of them before leaving the restaurant.

She blinked as her smile faded. It was fake to begin with, so she didn't need to keep it up for too long.

"Master, are you done?" Her young bodyguard asked when she returned to her car.

She didn't answer him, keeping to herself instead.

The young man looked at her and carefully chose his words. "Master, the ones who hurt you are long dead. Substituting the victims to torture their family will not give you any satisfaction. Instead, it will only make you feel empty."

Lucy looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Who said I was seeking revenge? I'm only paying them back for what they did to…"

Her statement trailed off, making the young man curious. "To whom, master?"

"Aren't you curious?" She laughed, and the young man quickly shut his mouth to drive.

….

"Why would she do that?" Zaria asked in disbelief, when Desmond informed her that Lucy had just bought his mansion as well as the Fort Family's residence.

"I don't understand." Desmond was not too upset about his mansion, since it was not difficult for him to get another. What bothered him was Lucy's behaviour. It was as though she was trying to achieve something, which she was crawling towards.

"I don't understand her either. I'm sorry I can't tell you what she's thinking." She placed a hand on his shoulder, which he took and hugged.

"Don't worry about it." He didn't expect her to know. He only wanted to let her know what kind of lunatic her mother was. For some reason, he also wanted her to know that she didn't seem to completely reject her. Lucy's rejection had broken her heart so much. However, that woman was unpredictable. What if he got Zaria's hope high, only for it to be shattered by a word from Lucy? There was no guessing what would happen next when it came to that woman.

"So, are you going to pack?" She asked, and he shook his head.

"Why the hell would I do that? I will wait for her to attempt and kick me out, and we will end up in court if we have to." He stood to look outside as though anticipating her arrival. He was not going to allow himself to be humiliated, and Lucy could buy the unoccupied mansion on his right if she so badly liked this part of the city.

"If she troubles you too much, I will have a word with her." She promised, making him chuckle. Who would have thought that he would one day be under someone's protection? The latter was even protecting her from her own mother and tousling his hair as a way to soothe him for everything he had been through. How lucky he was.