Leah's POV
"No, Damian, please listen to me..." I whispered.
Damian didn't say anything. He pushed Lucas away and walked out of the restaurant with everyone staring at him.
Feeling desperate, I gave Lucas a dark look and chased Damian out of the restaurant.
"Damian, please stop and listen to me!" I tried to pull Damian's arm and stop him, but he threw my hand away.
"Don't touch me, Leah! I know a rich girl like you would never be the right match for a poor boy like me. Go back to your husband, Leah. And do me a favor. Do not say yes to a man next time they ask you out for dinner if you're married! It makes me look ridiculous! Shame on you!" Damian barked at me.
Feeling heartbroken, I lowered my head. Tears of shame dropped from my eyes. People passing by stopped to look at us. I had never been openly accused like this.
How am I going to explain to Damian that I got rejected by an asshole who ignored me for five years and now he came back to me, trying to drag me down and spoil every single date that I had in my life? Does that even matter to Damian? I broke his heart and my heart was shuttered.
Lucas won again.
Troy ran toward me and pushed Damian away from me.
"Hey, what the fuck do you think you're doing?! Are you trying to hurt Leah? Go away right now, will you?!" Troy asked angrily.
"Great. That's exactly what I'm going to do!" Damian said.
Then, he turned and walked off.
Looking at this back, I wept silently.
All I wanted to do was to have some fun with a friend.
"Leah, are you OK? Do you want to get into the car and I'll drive you back home?" Troy asked.
"No..." I wept in a broken voice. "Call Jalin. Let him prepare for my divorce paper. I can't live a life like this anymore."
Three days later, the night before the bidding day for the Huffner Bridge.
I was invited to a charity dinner by the local City Hall.
I had been feeling depressed for the past three days, because I couldn't get in touch with Lucas.
It seemed that he just magically disappeared from my life.
I didn't have a lot of time to worry about his whereabouts, because I was fully engaged with the Huffner Bridge Project.
When I arrived at the City Hall, the secretary of the mayor had already been waiting for me at the entrance.
"Miss Lewyn, we're glad to have you here. Mr. Mayor is waiting for you at his office," the secretary said.
"There must be some misunderstanding... I'm here for the charity dinner," I said.
I intend to be extra careful when I talk to human beings. They have egos larger than our tails.
"Yes, indeed. But Mr. Mayor has some urgent business to talk to you before dinner. This way, please," the secretary said and led me into the elevator.
The mayor's office was located on the top floor of City Hall, overlooking the entire Skagen City.
"Miss Lewyn, I'm so glad to meet you. I've been longing to meet you in person for a really long time." the mayor said, stretching out his hands.
He was a tall, dark guy in his mid-fifties with a mustache. He looked like one of those canny sheriffs walking out of a Western film in the 50s.
I shook his hands and said, "Mr. Mayor, the pleasure is mine. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Ah, Miss Lewyn, you're beautiful and smart. You possess the two best qualities that a woman could ever have. Do you mind...?" He smirked and picked up a cigar.
"Not really." I frowned and said. I didn't get human beings. They would rather spend millions of dollars on inventing drugs to cure lung cancer, but they just couldn't quit smoking.
"You must be surprised to be invited to my office, Miss Lewyn," the mayor lit the cigar and said. "I've heard that you've just been promoted to be the VP of UniHealer, a position that people are dying for. I never expected you to be so young and attractive. You must be really good at what you're doing."
"I'm just lucky to make several good investments," I stared at the mayor and said.
The mayor narrowed his eyes amidst the smoke and said, "There's no luck in our line of business. There's only preparation and commitment. Sometimes people are fully prepared, but they lack the last bit of commitment, so they can't get things done."
"Mr. Mayor, what do you exactly mean?" I raised my eyebrows and asked.
"I know you're preparing for the Huffner Bridge Project. You have to know that the land of Mediland is a controversial place, which you can't find on the city's blueprint. So, if, I'm just saying, if I want to categorize it as governmental taking, I can propose a motion during the next Council Meeting."
"You want to take away Mediland," I said in a cold voice. This old fuck was nastier than I thought.
"Don't mistake me, Miss Lewyn. I'm not the one who's going to take away your favorite Barbie doll. I'm just telling you, I have full control of your money maker. So if you want to make money, you have to go through me," the mayor said.
I smiled faintly and asked, "If you don't mind, may I ask what the city is going to do with the land of Mediland after it is taken?"
"Well, we've got a lot of trash that has to be disposed of on a daily basis. So I guess we could use a place to dump our trash, you know, just to keep the city tidy and organized." The mayor winked at me and continued, "You like things being tidy, don't you, Miss Lewyn? Do you tidy your room at home? What do you wear when you do house chores?"