Chapter 534 Storytelling

As Tom and Lucy approached the reception area, they both stopped in their track in surprise when they saw Evelyn and Jade standing in front of Anita.

Since Evelyn and Jade were backing them, neither Tom nor Lucy made any attempt to alert them of their presence. Instead, they watched them, wanting to know what was going on.

"Go on. I'd like to hear the story you told these gullible fools. Tell me exactly how Lucy snatched my son from you," Evelyn demanded harshly while some of the ladies who didn't know her gasped in surprise at the realization that the woman in front of them was Evelyn Hank.

Tom exchanged a look with Lucy, both wondering what Evelyn was doing there and how she had known about what was going on. It was obvious that even if they had agreed to ignore it, it wouldn't have gone their way.

"And while she is at it, I hope for all your sakes that no harm is done to Lucy, else I will have every last one of you locked up and the keys thrown away. I care nothing about who you are," Evelyn threatened harshly while the women squirmed in their seats.

Jade looked at her mother and made a mental note to tell her later that she had no right to be so harsh on the ladies when she had been just as gullible as them a moment ago and had foolishly believed what she heard until she found out it was Tom and Lucy they were talking about.

"I'm not part of them. I only listened to what they said," the lady who had been seated beside Evelyn earlier said as she quickly rose to leave, but one glare from Jade and she sat down.

Tiffany stood up, assuming the role of big sister, "My sister doesn't have to repeat anything or say anything to anyone. Let's leave, Anita," Tiffany said, and when Anita rose, Jade stepped in front of her to block her path.

"If either of you takes one more step, I'm going to slap you so hard your head is going to spin," Jade threatened, daring her to take another step.

"You can't...." The rest of Tiffany's words were lost as Evelyn slapped her hard across the face causing the ladies to gasp in surprise.

"I don't make threats or issue warnings. Now sit down and shut your mouth," Evelyn ordered Tiffany, her eyes burning angrily as she turned to Anita.

"Now answer the question!" Evelyn snapped at Anita, but Anita remained quiet as she stared ahead of her without making eye contact with anyone.

She hadn't expected this turn of events, but she would be damned if she bowed her head in shame or let them intimidate her. The Millers don't scare easily.

"Do you know who I am? Who do you think you are to hit..." before Tiffany could finish speaking, Jade slapped her hard to shut her up, and she staggered back, almost losing her balance, but Anita was quick to hold her and help her regain balance.

"I don't give two cents who you are. Sit down and shut your filthy lying mouth!" Jade hissed at her angrily.

The left side of Tiffany's face burned red from the dual slap she had received from mother and daughter, and tears stung her eyes as she reluctantly let Anita lower her to her seat. They were not raised to indulge in physical combat, and there was no way they could leave so easily, so it was best to do as they were told.

Tiffany and Anita lowered themselves to their seat as gracefully as they could without making eye contact with either Evelyn or Jade, who were holding them hostage. From the corner of her eyes, Anita could see Lucy and Tom, and that made her eyes burn with tears of humiliation which she quickly blinked back.

"Mom," Tom called to get his mother's attention, and Evelyn turned from Anita to look at her son and Lucy.

"Why were you not answering your phone? Lucy dear, is everything alright?" Evelyn asked, and Lucy nodded, and the ladies breathed in relief, glad that no harm had come to Lucy since they didn't want any problems for themselves and their families.

"Aurora, what are you doing here?" Jade called in surprise when she saw Aurora standing beside Lucy with a grin on her face, obviously enjoying the show.

"I was just getting acquainted with your brother and his girlfriend. Thankfully, these ladies assumed I was a new staff here and offered me some money to tamper with Lucy's skin care," Aurora said, her eyes brimming with excitement, and the ladies shrunk into their seats while Tiffany turned her face to the side.

"Aurora?" Evelyn asked, looking at Jade to confirm if the name sounded familiar because she was the one they had talked about earlier who was going out on a date with Harry, and Jade nodded.

"What is going on here?" Tracy, the owner of the spa, asked as she stepped out of her office after one of her staff came to inform her of what was going on at the reception.

"These ladies offered me a huge sum to tamper with Lucy's skincare," Aurora informed her friend, and Tracy looked at her in disbelief.

"What? Why would they do something like that?" Tracy asked as she looked at the ladies seated in front of her, taking note of Tiffany's red cheeks.

"My sister and I had no part in it. It was all their idea," Anita said stiffly, and Tiffany nodded in agreement since Anita had kept trying to convince them not to harm Lucy even though they both knew she had done that to free herself from the consequence if they were caught.

"But they were going to do it because you incited them with your tale. Why not repeat what you said to them in front of us," Lucy asked, stepping forward since this was between Anita and her.

"I think you all need to take whatever this is out of...." Tracy snapped her mouth shut when Evelyn, Jade, and Lucy turned to glare at her.

"You should be grateful we are only talking here. If anything had happened to Lucy, this place would have been shut down," Evelyn assured Tracy.

Seeing how the three ladies in his life were handling the issue, Tom stood aside with hands in his pocket as he watched the scene unfold with a blank expression.

Anita's eyes filled with hatred as she stood to face Lucy, "I told them exactly what happened. I dated Tom first. Tom was my man until you showed up, pretended to be my friend, and snatched him despite knowing how I felt about him," Anita said spitefully.

"I pretended to be your friend and snatched your man despite knowing how you feel about him; is exactly what happened? Is that so?" Lucy repeated her tone, a mix of amusement and incredulity.

"Is that what you tell yourself? That I showed up and snatched your man? Does that take away your sense of shame and help you sleep better at night? I was going to ignore this because I didn't want to stoop to your level, but now I'm grateful that Tom insisted we confront you and expose you for the shameless gold-digging liar you are," Lucy said as she turned around and walked away from Anita.

Everyone looked at her, wondering where she was going and what she wanted to do, and they were all surprised when she returned with a single chair and placed it in front of Anita before sitting down, facing everyone else.

Evelyn and Jade let her take over while they stood beside her, daring everyone in front of them to leave until they were done.

"Since you are here, and your audience is still here, you don't have to retell anything. I will speak for myself and tell my own part of the story so I can strip off whatever it is you have used to cover your shame," Lucy said as her gaze moved to the ladies who were still squirming but didn't make any move to leave because apart from the fact that they were not allowed to leave, they also wanted to watch the drama play out between Lucy and Anita.

By now, the audience had increased. A couple of the staff who were out to get the next set of customers on their list, and some of the ladies who had been inside receiving their treatments and were about to leave, now stood there at the reception to see what was going on.

"Not that I owe anyone here any explanation, but you should at least find out whether or not I deserved whatever you plotted against me," Lucy said while Anita picked up her handbag.

"I don't have to stand here...."

"You are right. You don't have to stand," Lucy cut in rudely.

"You can sit if you please, but what you will not do, is take a step out of here. You won't leave this place until I'm done," Lucy said firmly, jerking her head to Anita's seat for her to sit down.