"Is everything alright?" He asked, noticing that she looked disturbed after answering the call.

"Your mum is here to see you." She answered.

"And why does that make you displeased?" He did not understand.

"She doesn't like me. I'm afraid she might kick a fuss."

He pulled her into his arms. "That's possible, but so what if she kicks a fuss? Just ignore her." It didn't matter what everyone else thought of her, as long as he loved her.

"Let's go and meet her." He took her hand and walked back to his office, before letting the intern assistant show Alyssa in.

As expected, Alyssa frowned as soon as she saw Zaria behind her son. "What is she doing here?" She asked in displeasure, referring to Zaria who was behind Desmond's desk after blatantly refusing the idea of sitting on his lap.

"She works here and she's my girlfriend. She has every right to be here." Desmond gave an indifferent response. "Why are you here, mother?"

Alyssa was so angry that she would have exploded if she wasn't good at keeping her feelings to herself. Desmond must be trying to anger her on purpose. "It's personal." She looked at Zaria meaningfully, signifying that the latter should get the hell out.

"We do not keep secrets from each other." He retorted. Although it was true, Alyssa hated Zaria even more.

"Whatever. That snake is trying to buy shares from everyone. Your company shares." She announced.

"What snake?" He feigned ignorance.

"That woman! Lucy Roatta. Heaven knows why she is…"

"Who gave you the right to call her that?" Zaria interrupted her, making Alyssa gap in disbelief at the fact that Zaria dared to be so rude to her.

Even she didn't comprehend why she was so angry. Lucy had already rejected her after leaving for all these years, so they should each pretend that the other did not exist. Why did she feel a burning rage when she heard Alyssa's words? She turned to Desmond with a small smile. "I'm sorry. May I say a few words to your mum? Thank you."

Desmond was amused. What a strange thing to ask permission for. Besides, who gave her any permission? She thanked him before he actually did, not that he minded seeing his mother being put in her place if she dared to speak ill of people she shouldn't.

"My mother is not a snake. She is a human." Zaria tried not to be overly rude. "It is her choice to purchase whatever company shares she wants, and if the shareholders sell them to her, it is their choice too, since they own the shares."

"You have no right…"

"Neither do you." Zaria interrupted her before she could yell about her not having any right to meddle in the matters of Preston and Fort Group. If there was anyone with zero rights, it was in fact Alyssa who was neither an employee nor a shareholder.

"That's enough." Desmond stopped the third world war that was rapidly building up. "She does have a point, mother. Miss Roatta has every right to do as she pleases with her money."

Alyssa could not take it anymore. How could he be so indifferent about the possibility of being kicked out of his own company? That was probably what Lucy was after, and she was only taking slow steps so no one could guess what she was after. She pointed a shaky finger at Zaria. "Did that woman send you to blind my son so the two of you can steal the company from him?"

Zaria burst into laughter at the insane logic. "If stealing a company were that easy, wouldn't it mean that the CEO is too brainless?"

A frown settled on Desmond's face. "Why am I being attacked when I'm doing nothing but minding my own business?"

Zaria let out a sigh. Even though she didn't understand what Lucy was trying to do either, no one was comfortable listening to people badmouth their parents.

"I'll take my leave." Alyssa huffed and took her purse.

No one offered to send her out, so she looked at Desmond in displeasure. "Aren't you going to ask your assistant to see me out?"

"She's not…"

"Of course I would love to." Zaria interrupted before Desmond could reject his mother. He could only let her see the angry woman off.

Zaria knew that Alyssa had something to tell her, probably not anything good, and she was right.

"Don't even get your hopes high. The Fort family would never accept a lowly woman of your class no matter how many short skirts you wear to seduce my son." She sneered as soon as they were alone.

Zaria maintained a sweet smile. "What a bummer. Fortunately, I don't need your family to accept me. I only need Desmond to accept me."

Alyssa gritted her teeth, which the latter found amusing. "You can let go of your anger, Alyssa. If you are afraid that I will tell Desmond the things I accidentally found out about you, you can be rest assured that your secret is safe with me and my dad."

Alyssa was even angrier. What made her think that she had the power to bargain with her? And what did she mean her secret was safe with her and her dad?

Zaria pressed the elevator button for her, and when it arrived, she waved at her with the most innocent smile, so meek that one might mistake her for an angel. "See you later, Ms. Alyssa. Enjoy your ride back."

If they had not left Desmond's office at the same time, Alyssa would have suspected that there was something wrong with the elevator based on Zaria's evil smile. She had no choice but to hold back her anger and leave. She would find ways to get rid of the little bitch.

_

As soon as she got home, she took out her phone and made a secret call. "Let's meet up."

She hung up as soon as the other party agreed to meet. They already had a secret meeting place and didn't need much detail, so she got changed and left the house, driving on her own even though the chauffeur was closeby.

She drove to a mall and parked her car in front of the mall, creating an alibi for herself before going for a walk. She pulled a scarf over her face to cover herself before she entered a restaurant.

"Why did you look for me? You know that we are still under suspicion." Whispered a middle-aged man, the man she had called earlier. He was in disguise too, which she had only found out after knowing him for years. His face wasn't really his face, it was a skin mask that only looked very realistic.

"You've got to do me a favor." She whispered.

"Let's talk somewhere else." He suggested, and they left the restaurant to go to his penthouse instead. She sipped on a cup of tea as she finally relaxed after such a hectic day.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Mark," She called with a heavy sigh. "My son is going to get killed by that bitch." She explained all the reasons why she hated Zaria and why she wanted her dead.

In response, the man's lips twitched in a laugh. "Why should I save your son from anyone, when you let mine be jailed?"

She frowned. "How can you say that? Jaime's my son too." She was helpless. "I know there are things he did that aren't very pleasant but he indirectly helped me get rid of that bastard."

"Yet you did nothing when the little brat you just mentioned schemed to get him in jail." He was full of displeasure when he realized that the woman he had been thinking of teaching a lesson was also the same woman that Alyssa detested.

"It's not easy to bail him out." She said in her defense. "I'm finding ways. As for that little brat, aren't I here now? I came to seek you so you would do something about her."

"I will take good care of her." Mark laughed heavily and lit a cigar to take a long drag before slowly letting out a puff of smoke.

He then leaned over to her. "My dear Alyssa…"

"Not now, Mark." She pushed him away with a frown.

__

Zeus grinned at the content playing on the laptop on the desk, and shut it with a sneer. Someone was so badly seeking their death.

…

Zaria received yet another creepy message on her Creszone.

[Alyssa asked someone to take care of you.]

The sender was none other than Zeus, who had been silent since she shut him up and warned him to stay out of her life.

She frowned at the content and was wondering how he knew when the answer arrived.

[I bugged her. Take a different route to and from work. If you think you are being followed, tell me about it.]

[Never mind. I'll keep watch over you instead.]

She was even more confused after his last text message. She was about to apologize for being rude before but it morphed into a question. [Why do you care about me so much?]