Chapter 183 - The Secret Behind Myrtle Shade

"Where do you get this information?"

Allie finally got the nerve to ask. She had been a spy to a syndicate and had run away for her life, so she knew very well the risk of telling such information. Just who was Shiela? Was she right in her decision to accept their business partnership?

"I'm sorry, Miss Allie. That's all I can tell. Just warn your whole family about the use of the creamer. I would like you to know also that the real Myrtle Shade substance is not incorporated in all the flavors, especially those that are best-sellers in the market, but it's in the most expensive one."

Seeing that Cherry and Allie just stood gaping at what she revealed, Shiela continued. "And these expensive ones are not available in the shops for selling. The company distributed it secretly. The people in the black market know about this."

"By the way, Shie, does this possibly mean that mom has access to the black market?" Cherry dared to ask, her mother's life was at stake after all. She could even hear the loud pounding of her heartbeat, louder than the voice of Shiela.

"Where do you get this information?"

"I can't tell, Miss Che. It is also possible that someone just gives it to her. The strength of the substance placed in each sachet varies from medium to strong. And the strong ones are used in  revenge."

"The effect of the substance is deceptive. The release of the dopamine in the brain that can give the user the feeling of pleasure, confidence, and energy is gradual but steady. So the users can stay in the state of euphoria for many days. But those who are highly addicted will completely lose their mind and their memory. If an enemy uses it for secret revenge, he does not necessarily kill."

"For a while, Shie, why are those coffee shop goers are addicted to Myrtle Shade?" Allie asked, still unable to get all the answers she wanted to ask.

"It's because it's in the syrup the attendants used as sweeteners. The sweeter the coffee, the higher the substance content."

"Shie, why do you know all of these?" Cherry asked, her knees shaking as she imagined the risk Shiela placed herself.

"I was a victim."

"How are you able to get out of this?"

"When the biggest shabu lab in the country crumbled down, the authority arrested my abductor as one of the leaders of the syndicate."

Allie and Cherry looked at each other. How could they ever tell her that Allie's biological father was only one of them?"

"You did not lose your memory?" 

"I did not because while they made sure that I drink the coffee, someone also help me take the antidote."

"It has an antidote?" Allie's eyes got wider as she heard this.

"Yes, it's in the flower of the same plant. Someone concocted it for me."

Before the two could get over from their shock, the phone in the office rang. Allie glanced between Shiela and Cherry as if the incoming had something related to their topic. Though none of them speak about it, they knew the danger behind the revelation, and Shiela's entanglement was not that simple.

Shiela looked back at her with the eyes of a trusting dove, and that moved her. Instead of picking up the phone, she stretched out her arms and pulled Shiela for a warm embrace.

"I understand you very well, Shie. Trust us, and we could be friends for a lifetime."

Allie's words were like a balm to her shattered heart that her tears began to flow. Ashamed of her uncontrolled emotion, she laughed and brushed her tears away.

"Thank you so much," she said, but suddenly, she became helpless and unable to hold back her urge to sob.

Cherry approached her as well and hugged her tight. "We can be a family, Shie."  

Allie then left the two of them and answered the phone. It was her secretary telling her that Ryan was on her desk, asking to talk to her.

"Let him in."

Cherry had just released Shiela from her embrace when the door to the office opened, and Ryan's big grin greeted them. His smile was contagious, and the ladies except Shiela greeted him back with enthusiasm.

"Hello, Mr. Ryan Neil Yu!" Cherry chuckled as she uttered his full name that she knew he hated.

Ryan feigned a displeased look before he chuckled back. His eyes were on Shiela while the latter looked away. "There's only one whom I remember calling me my second name." 

"Eheem. I should be guessing who," Allie laughed as she followed his eyes to the deeply blushing Shiela.

"Oh, you seem to be keeping a secret from me. It's unfair!" Cherry blurted while her eyes also strayed to Shiela.

"Hello, Miss Ferrer!" came the deep baritone voice of Ryan, highlighted by his twinkling eyes, which made Allie and Cherry smile.

Shiela forced herself to look up and tried to conceal her escape from the ladies' suspicion.

"Mr.Yu, I am sorry. I was a bit emotional a while ago, and my eyes are showing."

"Isn't Mr. Yu too formal to address your crush, Miss Ferrer?"

Shiela looked up and threw him an angry look, her face as red as a crimson cloud. Before she could rant out, Ryan laughed and walked closer to her and held her hand. "I'm only joking, Miss Ferrer. Please call me by my name, and I will call you the same. Just as how all of us here do."

"Ryan, if you don't mind, do you have a girlfriend?"

Ryan turned to her in an amused look, while stealing a glance at Shiela who pretended to check a message on her phone.

"I had."

"Had?" Cherry clarified, "And what about the present?"

"Dad always told me that I should stick to one woman only. So the women I have now are not my girlfriends; they are only flings." 

Cherry's eyes got wide and then pretended to get horrified. "What? Were you not in love even once?"

"Miss Shiela can answer that for me."