Scarlett and her mother were in the living room, the news was on but neither of them was watching it. They were each lost in their own thoughts, desperately needing a way out of the trouble they had found themselves in.
Vivian felt heartbroken, still unable to believe that her husband cheated on her with his secretary. All these years, she had several relationships with other men, but she never knew the damage it caused to her family.
Scarlett, on the other hand, couldn't stop thinking about her uncle's betrayal. She felt abandoned by the only father figure she had, the one person she had trusted for as long as she could remember. She never expected this from him, and she was still confused about his reasons for all of it.
“Now arriving at the international art festival, it's handsome business tycoon, Adrian Heartfield!” The reporter on the television announced.
Scarlett and Vivian looked up at the same time, eager to see Adrian on TV. Scarlett smiled when he got out of his car, waving at the flashing cameras and paparazzi who all wanted an interview with him.
He was gorgeously draped in a shiny black tuxedo, his shoes and finely styled hair making a statement. He smiled shortly, causing an uproar among the ladies in the crowd. Scarlett smiled too, rolling her eyes. She could feel her cheeks burning up.
Her excitement disappeared when the same girl from the event stepped out of the car as well, making her way over to Adrian. Scarlett couldn't help but gush over her silver dress which tightly hugged her figure. At the same time, she burned with jealousy at how closely the girl was holding Adrian.
“You still love him,” Vivian said, staring intently at her daughter who blushed, looking away from the television.
“Huh? I don't.” She scoffed but her mother giggled.
“But your jealousy is so obvious.” Vivian chuckled.
Scarlett glanced at the big screen again, watching Adrian and the girl disappear into the large auditorium while the reporters went to welcome other guests.
She was pissed off, she couldn't stand to see Adrian get close to another woman but from the look of things, he was dating that girl. They were always together and even made public appearances together, what other proof did she need?
Knowing that Adrian was already dating someone else while she was still struggling to move on made her heartache. She knew deep down that she wanted him to be happy, but she also did not want any other girl around him.
“You know, you can call him and you two can link up again,” Vivian suggested but Scarlett shook her head.
“There's no need for that, he has already made his choice as you can see. Trying to link up with him will only make me look desperate.” She argued, folding her arms on her chest.
“I still think you…” Vivian was disrupted by Gwen's piercing laughter.
They both turned, only to see her walking in with Richard. They were holding lots of shopping bags, laughing and falling over each other like they had just told the funniest joke of the century.
Scarlett sneered at them, strongly sensing foul play. Vivian could not take her eyes off Gwen, she blamed her for ruining her perfect life.
Richard and Gwen went upstairs together, still talking and laughing, sparing the mother and daughter no look.
“Mom, I can't help but suspect that Uncle Richard and Gwen have something going on between them,” Scarlett revealed.
“Yeah? I feel the same way too. But we can't prove anything.” Vivian pointed out and Scarlett sighed.
A text came into her phone and it was from the doctor, she read through it and replied, then dropped the phone on the table before getting up.
“I'm going to make myself a smoothie, do you want one?” She offered but Vivian shook her head.
“Not really, I think I'm just going to have a nap, my head hurts badly.”
“Take it easy on yourself Mom, we'll find a way out of this,” Scarlett said although she had no idea how they were going to take care of the problem in front of them.
Vivian went to her room while Scarlett entered the kitchen to make her smoothie.
Meanwhile, Jacob came downstairs at that moment, wanting to watch a football match. His eyes caught a glimpse of Scarlett's phone, sitting next to the remote and it was unlocked. Being as nosy as he was, he picked it up and went straight to her messages.
He discovered her conversation with the doctor and instantly read through it.
“The DNA test results will be ready tomorrow evening, shall I send someone to pick it up, or will you come to take it?”
Jacob gasped after reading the text, he couldn't believe what Scarlett was planning to do. He went ahead to read her response to the text.
“I'll be busy tomorrow, please have it delivered.”
Jacob sighed, rubbing his forehead, “That little brat is trying to act smart. What does she plan to achieve with this? Mr Davenport is my father as much as he's hers, why does she have a problem with that?”
He heard footsteps approaching so he quickly placed the phone back where he found it. Scarlett appeared with her smoothie, shooting glares at him.
“What are you doing here?” She fired.
“What do you mean? This is my house, do I need your permission to move around?” Jacob scoffed and took a seat. “You may stay here if you want, but I'm watching a football match.” He changed the channel.
Scarlett groaned heavily before grabbing her phone and storming off.
As soon as she left, Jacob went straight to his mother's room, telling her everything he saw on Scarlett's phone. Richard was in the bathroom when he came in, so they had to keep their voices low.
“That bitch.. why is she trying to act smart?” Gwen seethed.
“What do we do now?”
“Don't worry Jacob, as long as I am your mother, I will make sure you get what belongs to you. You will become the CEO.” Gwen smiled at him.
~~~~
Scarlett decided to go to the mall, she was lacking a few things and this was the perfect opportunity to get them. It would also help her to cool off, considering how angry Jacob had gotten her.
She was busy shopping for skincare products when she saw Adrian standing in one of the aisles, looking at perfumes. She gasped and turned around, hoping that he hadn't seen her.
“I have to get away from him.” She whispered to herself and took another route, she kept looking back and was relieved when she didn't see him anymore.
“Hey.”
She bumped into someone and let out a shriek.
“Woah.. calm down, it's me.” Adrian chuckled, standing in front of her. She looked back again, wondering how he ended up in front of her all of a sudden.
“Oh.. hi, didn't see you.” She tried not to blush.
“Yes you did, and you were avoiding me. So why is that?” He asked, grinning.
“I wouldn't want your new girlfriend to attack me.” She rolled her eyes, tapping her finger on the shopping cart.
“Do I smell jealousy?” He leaned in but she moved away.
“Then your nose has a problem.”
Adrian couldn't help but laugh.
“Lighten up Scarlett. It's been long, wanna go out to dinner?” He casually asked. Scarlett wondered how it was so easy for him to ask her out despite the awkwardness between them.
“I don't know.” She shrugged.
“Come on, I insist. Just a friendly dinner, you know, to catch up on things, that's all. Tomorrow night.” He persisted and she sighed.
“Fine, I'll have dinner with you. Now will you let me shop in peace?” She groaned and walked away, blushing.