She's My Sleeping Pill

"Hhmm." Cayenne stirred in her sleep and slowly opened her eyes, greeted by her husband's firm chest, her face felt a bit hot. She's getting used to waking up with this sight and she likes it. She felt warm and safe in his arms.

Since Stefan was still sound asleep, Cayenne didn't wake him up. She got out of the bed and dressed herself up before calling the hotel service for breakfast. Stefan woke up after half an hour and had breakfast with her.

The two of them continued to spend their time travelling across Europe until the end of the month. They bought a lot of souvenirs for friends and family as well as bringing home the memories that they have accumulated from the entire month of vacation trip.

When they got back to City A, it was the first day of March.

"We're finally home." Cayenne mumbled while opening the lock to their house. Stefan was following behind her silently while pulling their luggage. Knowing that they're both tired, she went to the kitchen and got a glass of water for him. "You rest later. I'll unpack our things."

"Let's unpack it together after resting." Stefan suggested as he reached out his hand to receive the water from her. "I want to rest with you."

"If that's the case, let's go and take a rest. We'll be going back to work tomorrow and I need to make some mental preparations for it."

"Why?"

"Because I am pretty sure they will ask me about us. I need to think carefully." Cayenne responded with a little bit of worry. "And by the way, we need to speak to my family. They must have so many questions for me, too."

Stefan put down the glass on the coffee table and pulled his wife to sit on his lap. "I'm sorry."

"Hn? What are you apologizing for?"

"For telling the world that we're married. I thought that since we're in Europe, the news of my marriage and the identity of my wife will take time before it reaches here. I was only planning to let my business partners know about us. But the incident during Julia's wedding ruined it all. Now, people know about us and it caused you to be worried. I never wanted you to become worried."

"Sooner or later, people will know about us. I'd be unreasonable if I get angry for this matter. You're not at fault here. There's no need to apologize."

"Thank you." Stefan kissed her nose and stood up with her in his arms. "Let's go to bed and rest. Let's unpack our things later." Stefan carried her to their bedroom and walked directly to the bathroom to shower together. This time, he really meant it when he said rest. He didn't make love to her for the time being because of having a jetlag.

In the apartment where Cayenne's family lives, Luiz was making afternoon snacks for the nurse and his mother. Kyle wasn't around since he left to go on a date with Kath.

'Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong!

Luiz strode towards the door and opened it but there was no one outside. "Did the kids play a prank again?" Luiz asked himself softly while scratching the back of his head. When he was about to close the door, he caught sight of a small envelope on the floor. "What's this?" he picked it up and brought it inside. The surface of the envelope was clean without any information of the sender but it was addressed to his sister. Luiz brought the letter to his room and sent a message to Cayenne regarding it.

'Do you know who sent it?' Cayenne replied to her brother's message when she woke up in the afternoon. When she checked the time stamp, it was three hours ago that his brother sent the message to her. 'Just keep it for me. I'll come and get it tomorrow.'

'No information of the sender and yes, I'll keep it for you.' Luiz replied almost instantly to his sister's message. He knew that Cayenne's back and they would finally see her again the next day.

Cayenne thought it was weird. Ever since they moved to their current apartment, she never received any letter with an anonymous sender. 'Who could be sending me an anonymous letter?' Cayenne thought while fiddling with her phone. She wanted to tell Stefan about it but since she wasn't sure of the content yet, she decided to keep it for now.

"Sir, we've sent the letter to her doorstep." A young man who was wearing a hoodie told the person inside the black Mercedes Benz. "Is my task done?"

"Hn. You can go back now." The man handed him a small envelope which contains three thousand dollars. A high price for sending a small envelope to Cayenne's home.

"Thanks." The young man pocketed the money and left to buy food for his family. He didn't do anything bad. He was merely sending that envelope to someone's home so he didn't feel guilty or afraid at all.

The man sitting on the driver seat shifted his position to face the person sitting at the back seat. "Sir, where are we going now?"

"Let's go back to the company and wait for my darling Cayenne to contact us."

The man drove the car and left the neighborhood where Cayenne's family stay. "Sir, with all due respect, why did you give the envelope to her? Wouldn't it be nice if you give it to Mr. Dumrique?"

"My darling will be hurt if Stefan would break up with her all of a sudden. It's better if she breaks up with him instead."

"Isn't it the same? Either she breaks up with him or he breaks up with her, she will still get hurt."

"And that's where I will come in. I will be there to comfort her when she gets her heart broken."

"Oh." The man didn't say anything anymore. He chose to work for him. He chose to accept his help when he was in dire situation. Now, no matter what his employer will do, he can only turn a blind eye to it in order to avoid getting his family killed alongside him.

When Stefan woke up around five in the afternoon, the sun was slowly sinking below the horizon and the street lamps outside lit up one after another. He called to order some food while they unpacked their things and sorted out the souvenirs they bought.

After unpacking their things, the food delivery also arrived, just in time for them to have an early dinner.

"Just wait for me upstairs. I'll just arrange the dishes." Stefan commented and led his wife back to their room. "And don't come out unless I call you."

"Do you have another surprise for me?" Cayenne asked him with anticipation.

"Hn. I have another surprise for you. I will prepare surprises for you whenever I can. So, just stay here." Cayenne nodded her head but Stefan realized that she might go to the balcony and see the back garden. "I change my mind. Can you stay in the living room instead?"

"Oh. Okay." Cayenne picked up her phone and went downstairs with him. She went to the living room while Stefan went to the kitchen to arrange the dishes that he ordered. 

He set up a simple dinner at the back garden and turned on all the lights to lit up the whole surroundings. Since it was night time with lots of stars littered on the sky, Stefan decided for a night picnic. They can also spend this time star gazing and talk about their life.

His plan was perfect. The mood was perfect. He prepared everything with the thought of Cayenne's sweet smile in his mind. But a single phone call ruined it all.

"Sir, bad news." Chris stated while looking through the data he gathered in his tablet. Some of them were information given by Shein. "Someone has been buying the shares of Madeline Park in PH. At first, they appeared to be separate entities but I started to get suspicious when many shareholders sold their shares and the price was thrice the actual amount. I have asked Shein for help and he found out that it's actually bought by one person. He only used different people to carve up the shares."

"Who is it?" Stefan asked with a deep frown. Madeline Park in PH is one of the big projects that his grandfather worked on. This park earns tens of millions every year and many shareholders clung to their shares because of the dividends. He couldn't understand why they would sell their shares just because the price was tripled.

Chris scrolled on his tablet and found the picture of a handsome man with a gold-rimmed glasses and purplish-white hair tied neatly at the base of his nape. "His name is Seijie Sy. His family is a powerful business magnate in different business lines in Singapore, China and Korea. He personally owned several companies in Europe and U.S."

"Seiji?" Stefan asked Chris. "This name is very familiar."

"Cayenne must have talked to you about this person in passing. After all, they were quite close when she was in high school." Chris replied instantly upon remembering this detail. "Wait. Could this be – "