His Contractual Mistress

"Yeah. I paid those small companies to post scandalous articles about you. I paid posters to slander you until it will break your heart, one more time. However, it never happens! I don't understand why you turn a blind eye! He is married; then he could not marry you! But why were you protecting and a**hole like him instead!? You were even deleting those posts and wiping out those malicious websites!" 

Hailey remained silent. She need not answer any of that, and there is no way she will expose to Liam the contract she and Vincent signed on at the beginning. Those malicious articles do not affect her because she is only a fake mistress by then. 

She doesn't realize yet that she likes Vince, that turns to love as days pass. And Liam believes she's already in love with Vincent since the start. 

"Sweetheart, you are not listening, are you?" 

Hailey came back to her senses when Liam spoke and reached for her chin. She moves her head, slaps his hand, then looks away. She's only embracing herself to bear being in the same room with him. 

"I am thrilled to give Mr. Shen the shock of his life. So if you wanted to save your friends and every person in this building, you would follow everything I said."

Hailey looked up to meet Liam's eyes. "What now?" She raised her voice, but her tone remained cold. 

It displeases Liam how she continues treating him indifferently. But to hurt her is one thing he could not do. She may constantly measure his patience, but he would never lay a hand on her, even how upset he is. 

He could only break her emotionally and make her feel vulnerable and alone until she'll realize that she needs only him. 

"Reveal it to your official Instagram account that your mysterious fiance is me." 

"Are you kidding me?" Hailey sneered at Liam as to how she felt ridiculous. 

"You will announce to the world that we are getting married soon this summer. But of course, we should have a photo together." 

Hailey was stunned. She stood on her feet and shouted at him. "Over my dead body! I'd rather die than to do that or marry you!" 

In what she says, he darkened his face from irritation. She was stubborn; he knew this. Liam breathes in, then sighs to calm himself down. 

"I will decide if you stay alive or not!" Liam utterly asserted—there is a firmness in his tone. 'Tsk! It looks like I need to hide every sharp object display and scattered around Lamandi Castle, or she'll commit suicide like sister Gigi wanted to do in the past.' He thoughts inwardly,

Liam grabs her elbow and pushes her to the sofa. He then sat next to her, but she put a long gap between them and moved to the end of the couch. Again, he looked straight into her eyes, but this time, his gaze is softer; however, Hailey remains disgusted even by how he stares at her with sincerity. 

"Don't get near me, Liam!" That was a warning instead of pleading. She frowned and continued treating him indifferently. 

'Please, Bruce… Have you found any progress? Did you contact Rodney? Did Sandy find Fraine was inside this building?' She has too many questions running inside her head. She wanted to give instructions to all the knights, but she could never do that in front of Liam. 

Hailey tries to focus, listening to her earpiece. It was so tiny, injected in her ear. Liam keeps babbling on her side, but she's not listening to him but engrossed in her thoughts. She just came back to her senses when Liam exclaimed and said, 

"If you will not do it, then I will do it myself!" 

Liam placed his arm around her shoulder, then focused his phone on taking a selfie. Hailey did her best to get away and free from his hold. But he is stronger than her, adding to that she's not feeling well today. 

"Stay still!" 

"Stop it, Liam! Don't you dare to make a false announcement!" Hailey tried her best to remain tough. She needs to fight him, at least. "If you did that, you would only inform all my knights from all over the world that you held me captive. Even if you successfully bring me to V Country, my knights will hunt you down." 

"Ah, bullshit! Don't threaten me with this bunch of juniors! I am the first man you told to be your knight! I should be the only one in the first place! But why do you keep adding more men! You don't need them!" 

Hailey reached her forehead and rubbed it down to her temple. She felt worn out today. She tried to recall the past, but it only causes her to feel exhausted listening to Liam's outburst. 

To be honest, she doesn't want to think about anything now because it only exhausts her even more. 

Without sparing a glance at Liam, Hailey spoke with closed eyes. "That was too long ago, Liam. How old was I by then?" 

'If I'm not mistaken, that time around, I was only watching Barbie movies, enchanting fairy tales, musical princess-like movies, and adventures.' She was entirely innocent and carefree because her family spoiled and pampered her.

"Liam, I was barely 12 years old at that time. In my mind, we were only playing Royal..." Hailey fell silent. It seems like she has to blame, somehow. 

They were playing Royal Marriage, and Liam is her husband. But she's damn brat by that time! Liam takes it to heart, which she never promised him to get married for real when she's coming of age. 

Hailey clasps her palms. She placed them on top of her lap, squeezing tighter. Now to think about it, maybe she was to blame for why Liam became obsessed. But that was like a playhouse or something, out of her innocent heart. 

Besides, Liam is already a teenager by then. He was in Senior High already. Liam may be reaching adulthood, and she is just damn starting her period. But that wasn't a real wedding at all! 

Hailey heaves a long sigh. She felt even worn out of remembering the past. 

"Liam, you aren't allowed to marry a foreign wife. You had already engaged to someone else a long time ago. Even if you persuade me for marriage over again, the V Country Parliament would never consider this." She badly wanted to make excuses for Liam, to change his mind and stop his obsession. 

However, Liam only scoffs at her reasoning. Then, finally, he snaps, "They may not refuse or object! Our family has been good friends since before, and they knew the history of friendship between our forefathers! Therefore, they are in no position to oppose my decisions once I become king!" 

It made her rendered speechless. Liam is bringing up their forefathers. That was true. The Davies and Lamandi families are great friends. However… 

"That wonderful friendship ended in you, Liam. Your uncle, the current King of V Country, is a gentle person. But look at you? You tainted your hands with blood. My family's blood." 

"Gentle person? You know nothing of this world we are living in, sweetheart. Do you think your dad's hand has not stained people's blood all these years? You're still naïve. Those who hold power do not get it quickly in clean ways. Why don't you ask your dad what he must do to remain in his position? He's a Mafia Lord like me. We always spilled blood on the ground to solidify our territories." 

"Don't compare dad to yourself!" Damn it! She wanted to run to the powder room and puke. But, instead, she felt like her surroundings were spinning. Liam bringing up about blood makes her even sicker; she doesn't want to imagine such scenarios. 

Meanwhile, outside the coffee shop, Liam's men suddenly alerted when the elevator chimed and opened. They quickly blocked the men who came out of the lift. 

"Where are you headed? Unfortunately, this floor is closed for the day." 

"Is that so? I didn't tell my employees to close my coffee shop today. Then who the fuck has the thick face to order it?" 

Liam's men glanced at each other; they could not decide what to do in this situation. If the man tells the truth that he is the owner, they must do something about it. However, before they could make a move, someone spoke from the coffee shop owner's company. 

"You Asian Mafia are always a pain to our asses. So why do you always seek trouble?" 

"And who are you?"