Vespera watched Dominic smile, his tone still polite, yet a creeping numbness spread across her scalp. A deep sense of dread settled in. She was doomed. His reaction, along with the dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep, told her everything she needed to know—he had seen the message. Her smile froze at the corners of her lips, and she couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze.
Looking down, she coughed awkwardly. “I slept well…. I just had a bit to drink last night and got pretty tipsy—everything was a bit of a blur.” She let out an awkward laugh.
Dominic’s expression turned cold, the trace of amusement fading completely. His gaze sharpened, unreadable, but carrying a weight that made her stomach twist. “Alcohol isn’t an excuse.”
Vespera swallowed. “It really is! Drinking messes up my vision. My hands were…” She scrambled for a comparison. “Like I was possessed.”
Dominic scoffed. “Keep making excuses.”
Vespera blinked. With a face full of sincerity, she tried to plead her case. “I swear it was a slip of the hand!”
Even if she had been half-asleep, there was no way she would be dumb enough to call him that. There was only one explanation—her brain and fingers had been completely out of sync.
Dominic seemed too tired to listen to her excuses. “No need to explain further. If you can slip up with your hands this time, next time it’ll be your mouth. You can’t do something and not own up to it, Ms. Gildon.” His look was downright accusatory—like she was some heartless woman trying to play dumb after taking advantage of him.
Vespera felt like she was having a cardiac arrest. She couldn’t understand why he was making it sound like she did it on purpose. She wasn’t suicidal enough to mess with him like that?
Gerard and Raymond exchanged confused glances. They were puzzled. Vespera had mentioned she was heading straight to the office, yet here she was, appearing out of nowhere! They were left confused, trying to piece together what was happening, but it just wasn’t adding up. None of the conversation made sense to them.
Dominic picked up a napkin and wiped the corner of his mouth. “So, Ms. Gildon, did you come all this way just to say good morning? And to discuss your little slip of the hand?” As he spoke, his fingers casually tapped the table near his phone.
Vespera’s heart nearly jumped out of her chest. He knew why she was here. He knew she had come here to delete the message.
Without missing a beat, he placed a small box of strawberry cheesecake on the table. “This cake is really good. I bought it for you. No other reason. Goodbye.” Without waiting for a response, she turned and bolted.
Dominic called out to her, “You’ve come all the way here, don’t just leave. Come back.”
Vespera hesitated for a moment before slowly turning around and walking back with a forced smile. Dominic had Raymond open the cake and place it on the table. He took a small bite, then pulled out his phone and started snapping pictures. As he continued taking pictures, he clicked his tongue and said, “Ms. Gildon, come here and take the pictures for me.”
Gerard and Raymond, who were watching, were bewildered. Vespera had come to deliver the cake in the morning, which was already unusual. What struck them as even stranger was that Dominic, after tasting the cake, proceeded to take photos of it.
Vespera immediately sensed that he was up to something. She could almost feel the scheming nature of these wealthy businessmen. The moment she had his phone in her hands, a sudden inspiration struck her. This was a golden opportunity to erase the evidence. As long as the message was gone, she could deny ever sending it. She quickly opened his WhatsApp.