It's Love That Blinds Him
It’s Love That Blinds Him – Chapter 18

Throughout this week, Lucia was doing her best to avoid the limelight. To her surprise, she wasn’t harassed by Malcolm at all. He didn’t try anything after their phone call. Deep down, Lucia felt a little disappointed. In this game of cat and mouse that she secretly enjoyed, the cat had suddenly disappeared.

Maybe after all, a busy businessman like Malcolm had simply grown tired of the game.

The media no longer reported gossip about her and Malcolm. After several unsuccessful attempts to glean more information, the journalists discreetly withdrew. Over time, public curiosity also faded. New gossip quickly made the front pages of major newspapers and magazines, making Lucia and Malcolm forget.

But just to be sure, Lucia called Hayes and the others to replace out what was going on at the office. She learned that, three days after she took her leave, the journalists gathered in front of the DZ Media building had withdrawn, and that the journalists at the door of the Evans Group building and at the entrance to the Malcolm’s apartment had retired even earlier. These journalists probably judged that it would be more realistic to wait for him rather than wait for Malcolm, from whom they would not be able to extract any information. However, no one expected that the hero and heroine of this story would both decide to remain silent.

Letting out a sigh, Lucia pushed all those thoughts out of her head. She felt like it had been many eons since she had seen sunlight. Looking at the closed carved gate of the community, she couldn’t help but think of the girl named Kathryn. She hadn’t seen this girl since that famous day. If it hadn’t been for this detached villa before her eyes, she would have thought Kathryn had just been someone in her imagination.

Lucia tied her hair into a ponytail and tucked it under a cap. She then put on a pair of big sunglasses that covered half of her face. For clothing, she wore short pants, a tight t-shirt and flip-flops. It was a casual outfit that didn’t attract attention. She picked up her phone and keys and casually put them in her pockets. Dressed so that no one would recognize her, she went to the metro and bought a ticket with a few coins.

It was only eight in the morning when she arrived at the building where she worked. The hall was still almost empty. Not needing to queue for the elevator, she went straight to the floor where the DZ Media offices were located. Since his colleagues were night owls who often worked late, the office was also empty. She took a seat behind her desk and turned on the computer to get an overview of all the work that had accumulated over the past week. She then began to sort them one by one.

It’s a shame that a pleasant vacation is always followed by consecutive days of overtime.

“Wow, the heroine of the great love story has finally appeared again,” Meade said as soon as he entered the office and saw Lucia.

“Lucia, you’re back!” Do you want to celebrate your newfound freedom now that you’ve gotten rid of the paparazzi? » Chester asked him, laughing.

“You’re really missing what to do.” Have there been any developments in the case during my absence? Send me all the information you have already been able to gather,” Lucia said, ignoring their teasing.

” My God! What a workaholic! It makes you wonder why Mr. Evans is crazy about you! » Saying this, Hayes headed towards his office.

However, Lucia who was irritated by his comment punched him on the butt, almost making him trip in front of his desk.

After settling into their respective places, Lucia’s colleagues sent her their share of work. Once she received all the information, she began to study it. After a week off, she had so much work to catch up on that no outside noise could affect her. She didn’t even leave her office at lunchtime, eating the takeout her assistant brought her. It was almost closing time when she finally finished the most important tasks at hand.

Breathing a long sigh of relief, Lucia leaned back in her chair and massaged her temples. After a whole day of working on the planning file, without taking a single break, she was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.

“Lucia, you have a call on line 1. He’s a man with a very beautiful voice,” Mae said with a mischievous smile.

Right away, the idea that it could be Malcolm crossed Lucia’s mind. It was the first person that came to his mind. However, she quickly pushed the thought out of her head and answered the phone.

“My dear Lucia, you have finally come out of your hiding place. » It was Zack’s cheeky voice.

“How did you know I was going back to the company today?” » Unable to look him in the eyes, Lucia stared intently at the phone as if she wanted to see Zack’s face through the device.

Zack, who guessed exactly what she was doing, quickly took a cheerful tone: “Don’t look at me like that. The villa manager told me that you went out early in the morning. And knowing you, there’s only one place you could have gone. »

“Are you kidding me?” What’s going on Zack, are you so free these days? Or are you just short of women to have fun with? » Lucia asked sarcastically.

“What you’re saying is hurtful… Anyway, I have something to tell you. » Zack’s tone, which until then had been frivolous as usual, suddenly became serious.

” What is this? » Lucia was a little alarmed by the sudden change in his tone.

“Do you remember what happened to you before you joined the orphanage? » The serious aspect of his tone gave way to a tone that was a little more relaxed without being less serious, however.

“I was too young to remember anything. But I remember that the director of the orphanage told me that I had a fever when they found me. It was a miracle I hadn’t lost my mind back then. Why do you want me to remember these bad memories? What’s the point of asking me that? » Lucia frowned, wondering why Zack was asking her such a strange question all of a sudden.

“So you don’t remember.” » Zack paused for a moment before continuing. “Lucia, keep your distance from Malcolm. It’s not as simple as you think. »

“Zack, you’re acting very strange today.” What do you mean by that? » Lucia nervously held the telephone cord.

“This is the second time Zack has warned me about Malcolm. But why? “, she wondered.

“Actually… Forget all that. I don’t really know either. But you are a good friend of Sophia. If anything bad happens to you, she’s never going to forgive me,” Zack said with a sigh.

Without really knowing why, he had a bad feeling about Malcolm. He had heard about the Evans family stories from a problematic person. It was a delicate situation for him to deal with.

“Anyway, Lucia, if something goes wrong, don’t think you have to get through it alone. Remember that you can always count on me. That’s all I wanted to tell you. I’ll leave you to your work. I’m hanging up. » With that, Zack hung up, without giving Lucia time to respond.

Lucia hung up the receiver when she heard the beep. She understood Zack’s concern, and she felt he knew more than he wanted to tell her. “But what is it about? What does he know that he doesn’t want to tell me? Damn, why didn’t he want to tell me? “, she wondered. She was right to ask herself a thousand and one questions, because Zack wasn’t the type of person who would deliberately keep someone in the dark just to have fun with them.

Lucia scratched her hair in confusion, groaning in frustration. She then forced herself to return her attention to the computer. The Evans Group planning project tortured her. She worked hard to finalize everything so she wouldn’t have to revise it again and again.

However, Zack’s unexpected phone call had disrupted his concentration. Now all she could think about was his solemn and incomprehensible warning. From time to time, Malcolm’s unforgettable and enchanting face also came to mind. He always had a smile on his lips, but Lucia had noticed that his eyes didn’t seem as cheerful as his face.

Lost in her thoughts, Lucia glanced out the window. Suddenly, her cell phone rang. Lucia looked away from the window and leaned over to the phone on the desk to see who was calling. It was an unknown number. Frowning, she answered the call anyway. She had been away from work for an entire week, so it was no surprise that she was getting a lot of phone calls.

« Argh… »

“Hello, this is Lucia on the phone. » She introduced herself in a formal tone.

“Wildcat, did you have a good vacation?” » A magnetic and familiar male voice rang out from the phone.

“Damn, it’s Malcolm!” It looks like a ghost,” she said to herself. Obviously, he hadn’t grown tired of their cat-and-mouse game. He just wanted her, the prey, to rest and regain enough strength before he started hunting her again.

Part of Lucia knew she should hang up, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Every rebellious bone in his body seemed to awaken to prevent his reason from acting. The slight disappointment she had felt in the morning had completely dissipated the moment she heard Malcolm’s voice.

“Don’t you have work to do?” » she asked sharply.

“Yes, but I miss you. » She could hear Malcolm smiling over the phone.

“For my sake, it’s best that you don’t miss me.” Your thoughts of me have already made me homeless, I can’t stand your kindness,” Lucia said angrily.

“Let’s have dinner together tonight. » Malcolm’s firm tone sounded like he was giving her an order. “Don’t try to escape again. Seven days is the maximum time I can give you. Wait for me downstairs in half an hour. »

“Good. Why do you think I would try to escape? I’m not afraid of you,” Lucia said in exasperation.

It was rare for her to lose in an argument. In fact, she had won almost every debate competition she had entered while in college. Her fluid and well-organized speech deterred even the best opponents from confronting her. However, things seemed to have turned around since she met Malcolm. With him, she was the person who could no longer replace words. Even when she felt like she had the upper hand, she always ended up losing miserably.

“See you in half an hour. Don’t run away, wildcat. » It was in this cheerful but firm tone that Malcolm hung up.

Lowering the phone from her ear in a daze, Lucia wanted to slap herself. She had once again fallen into Malcolm’s trap without being able to resist in the slightest. Why did everything seem tangled in his mind every time she spoke to him? As soon as she heard his voice, she could no longer distinguish right from wrong.

“Humph! Do you really think you just have to say it to get me to have dinner with you? That’s what we’re going to see! » Lucia decided to act as if the phone call never happened. She decided to go home to do some tidying up. It had been a week since she had been home, so it must have been very dusty. Thinking about the house, Lucia realized that the owner must be furious. The landlady had told Lucia that she had rented the house to her so cheaply only because she looked like a simple woman who wouldn’t cause any problems. Now that she had made such a mess, Lucia didn’t know what she should say to appease her landlady.

She copied the documents she needed to read tonight onto a USB stick before hastily gathering her things. After that, she put on the big sunglasses and baseball cap and left the company. Malcolm had given him 30 minutes, so he still had twenty more before he arrived. That was more than enough for her to run away.

As the elevator took her downstairs, Lucia suddenly thought about how lucky she was to be wearing flip flops today. It would be more convenient for her to run in flip-flops than in stilettos if she had problems. When she got out of the elevator, she saw that it wasn’t dark outside yet. It was summer and therefore the days were longer. As she walked out of the building, she struggled to adjust to the heat of the floor after spending the entire day in the air-conditioned office. Very quickly, she started dripping with sweat.

She picked up her pace as she headed toward the subway, eager to return to the comfort of an air-conditioned environment. Suddenly the crowd on the street became chaotic. Screams from a few women echoed in the street, as well as all kinds of shocked exclamations. Before Lucia could realize what was happening, a figure quickly rushed towards her.

“Argh…”