Chapter 1529 - Rewards And Consequences

At midnight, the lights through the property were turned on and Sarah and Aiden announced the end of the test of courage.

By then, most of the teams gathered all the tokens, and they were chatting lively in the playroom about their strategies to get the tokens.

Sarah, Aiden, Haru, Nala, Ron, and Zula went to get the kids who didn't return on their own and to inform them that the time is up.

Before sending off everyone to sleep, Nala announced that tomorrow morning they will have a scavenger hunt.

…

In the master bedroom…

Sarah and Aiden are in the bed, ready to sleep.

Aiden cradled Sarah in his arms and thought about the day.

"You did amazing. Everyone had fun…", he praised her.

"Mhm…", Sarah hummed. "I will prepare a special treat for the girls who helped plan and organize these events."

Aiden approved. "Do you have something on your mind?"

"Maybe all-day VIP access to Disneyland? They all love Disneyland."

Aiden thinks that is a good idea, but… "Do you think that Nala, Oni, and Zula will go without their boyfriends?"

Sarah pursed her lips. True, a whole day without a loved one would be painful. "That's easy to solve, I will give them two tickets each. And before you say anything about our single girls, I have a feeling that Masika will go with Zack and Imani will pick Jamari."

Aiden chuckled at the mischievous expression Sarah made. "What makes you so confident?"

Sarah rubbed her chin. "I will bring up the point that Zack never went to Disneyland, and he really wants to go. I know that he will confirm that story as soon as he hears that it will give him a day with Masika. Of course, I will tell him that it's a mission to keep her safe so that he does not think that I am matchmaking them. And when Imani sees that Masika has a partner, she will pick Jamari because Imani spends time with Jamari when girls are not available…"

Aiden looked at Sarah with admiration. "I think that your scheming mind leveled up."

Sarah grinned. "Absolutely! I am much more than just a pretty girl who knows how to code and bash people."

Aiden laughed at her cheeky response and pulled Sarah closer to him. Yes, she is much more than that. She is his everything.

"What do you think about the Payne family?", Aiden asked after some time.

They hacked into the security cameras of the Payne family villa and they are aware of the conversation between the Payne family members when Arthur returned home.

"I feel sorry for the father.", Sarah responded.

"He is not clean.", Aiden reminded her. Other than hiding money so that he does not pay taxes, and making shady deals, Arthur is also sleeping around.

"True. But he knows who should not be offended."

"Do you want to leave him a way out?", Aiden guessed.

Sarah yawned. "I'm not sure. Let's see what he does tomorrow."

She took a deep breath, inhaling her favorite fragrance and within a minute she was sleeping soundly in the arms of her husband.

...

A few hours later...

~ The Black Rock Lake, the Payne family villa ~

Arthur (aka Mr. Payne) was woken up by a call from his assistant.

As much as Arthur does not like that he was woken up at dawn, this is his personal number, and he knows that his assistant would not call unless it's something very important.

"Percy? What happened?", Arthur asked drowsily while rubbing his eyes.

His face contorted in an ugly grimace while he listened to his assistant. Five seconds later, Arthur got out of his bed and rushed to the study.

Gabriella jolted out of her sleep when the bedroom door slammed behind Arthur.

"What the…?", she mumbled and glanced at the time. Why did he leave the room in such an abrupt way? She scooted out of her bed and headed toward the study room, guessing that it's probably work-related. Maybe something happened to that deal he spoke about last night…

Gabriella found her husband sitting at his work desk and typing vigorously on the keyboard.

"What is going on?", Gabriella asked.

"I don't know yet. Percy called. We are trending in social media, and it's not good."

Gabriella frowned. "Who is trending?"

"All of us, and my business…", he said through his teeth.

Gabriella went behind his desk and looked at the titles of trending articles on the monitor:

[

"Dirty deals behind Payne Home Services"

"Darlene Payne, the real party animal"

"All the plastic surgeries of Gabriella Payne"

"You want a promotion at Payne Home Services? Wear red lingerie…"

"Payne Home Services tax evasion"

"Secrets behind the flawless skin of Gabriella Payne (hint: it's not her cosmetic line)"

"Discrimination and racism within Payne Home Services"

"Arthur Payne, the real Dallas gigolo"

...

]

Arthur scrolled through the headlines and his head was spinning. There are so many!

"What is this?", Gabriella asked in disbelief. "These are not true! Why are people talking about my surgeries? Where did they get this information? Take them down!"

Arthur exhaled in frustration. "Gaby, some of these can get us in real trouble. It's not the right time to think about your image."

Gabriella touched her face. "Easy for you to say. I'm selling my brand of cosmetics because I'm telling them that it's working. If they know about surgeries, who will buy it?"

Arthur was irritated. How is he supposed to think, when Gabriella is raging next to him?

"I told Percy to find out who is posting these and to take them down. He is working on it. Got back to sleep."

"Sleep? How do you expect me to sleep after this?", Gabriella hissed and shook her head while thinking at loud: "This is not accidental. Someone is doing this on purpose, to ruin us. Who could it be? Did you offend someone at work?"

Arthur grimaced. "Why do you assume that it's me? Did YOU offend someone? You went shopping, did you buy the latest dress from under someone's nose? Or did you fight over a Chanel bag again?"

Gabrielle pursed her lips. "The incident about the bag was a one-time-thing. I wish that you stop mentioning it."

"Sure, I will stop. But the fact that you made a scene in the mall over one bag is telling me that you are capable of anything just to get your way."

Gabriella felt anger swell inside her. "Instead of worrying about my shopping habits, how about you worry about the scandal you caused because your pants fall off accidentally and you trip and end up right between the legs of your secretaries, assistants, and whoever is young and willing to spread their legs?"

Arthur snorted. "Is this the time for us to argue between each other?"

Gabriella sneered. "Maybe it is. Your secretary is only three years older than our daughter! I agreed to tolerate your promiscuous behavior only because you promised that no one will know. And what is this? How am I supposed to look anyone in the eyes? I will be a laughing stock!"

"Gaby, can we keep this for later? Some of these will impact my reputation and can shake up my business. Let me take care of that, and then we will talk… OK?"

Gabriella's face contorted in anger. "Sure, you protect your business and make sure that your reputation is not impacted. And I will call my lawyer to get the divorce started."

Arthur watched Gabriella storm out of the study, and he jolted when the door closed with a loud bang.

He stared at the trending articles and gritted his teeth. This will impact more than just his reputation, if the things about the tax evasion catch the eye of the police, he might end up in jail! Ah, he has so many troubles, and now his wife is throwing a fit. What else is coming?

Arthur told himself to stay calm. He needs to make this go away, but how can he do that if he does not know who is behind this?

Did he offend someone? No. He is always careful, and the women he sleeps with are single.

Did his wife offend someone? Possibly. But no matter what her temper is at home, she is acting like a proper lady outside, most of the time.

Who else? Darlene? Did she…? Arthur paled when he remembered that yesterday Darlene met Whites and that ended up with her calling the police. Oh, God! If it's them… it's over…

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