Annoying the Stubborn

t h i r t y n i n e

There are a lot of questions running in Lauren's brain that her head was starting to hurt. The fact that she couldn't get the answers to at least one of it added to the pain, and now she couldn't close her eyes without feeling like her head was being cracked open, a constant drill trying to get her killed as she lay on her bed.

As much as she wanted to, she couldn't just stop Rick there and grab the files he gave to Mike. Her father would be suspicious and from there, she was sure there was no way she could run away from telling him everything no matter how complicated their relationship have been. She also didn't understand how Rick seemed to be ahead of them all the time. What happened back there didn't look like it was mere coincidence. The file, Rick's exact arrival just to let Y/N and Lauren know that he's up to something again, and Mike's invitation for dinner tomorrow. Based on their past occasions with Rick, nothing was ever just a coincidence with him. There was something missing though.

As Rick sat there in the middle of the living room, discussing important matters with Mike and Leila in a formal suit that made him look like a professional business man, Lauren didn't see a hint of deviousness or the certain look Rick used to have whenever he'd see Y/N. Had Rick learned to put on a mask to deceive them? Or was he done with going after Y/N and he was only there to deliver the files that wasn't related to them in any way? Perhaps it was just some confidential files that really had to be delivered personally.

Maybe that was why he had brought the limousine. Still, it didn't silent down Lauren's mind. It was too hard for her to trust Rick again. Hopefully, the prior theory she made was more correct than the other. She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, willing herself not to bring her guard down tomorrow.

————

"You haven't ditched me like this before," Cash complained as Y/N watched him plop down on her bed. The billionaire invited him to come over before the party, wanting to see him personally to excuse herself for not being able to come later.

"If I had a choice, I wouldn't have agreed to come," Y/N said flatly. "It's Mike, and Rick was there too. I can't trust him around the Jaureguis."

"Don't take this the wrong way but maybe you're just paranoid," he said carefully. "I mean, it came from Sean to Mike. They're both businessmen."

"Why's Rick involved, then?"

"It could be other things. And why would they send the pictures to him personally?"

"For alliance," Y/N said with remorse. "The Haydens want the Jaureguis against me, against the Ryfords."

"How are you even so sure about this?"

Y/N's eyes fell downcast, the bags under them getting bigger and heavier each day. She gritted her teeth as she clenched her fists, providing the message to Cash that it was more serious than he thought. The billionaire also didn't appreciate that he was apprehensive about her suspicions. It was only because he didn't know what was going on.

After leaving Lauren's house last night, she realized that she was doing something wrong. She felt lost and suddenly, everything didn't make sense to her—how Mike and Leila could be home again, why there weren't much family pictures in Lauren's house, why the green-eyed girl didn't know what was going on, how she was being protected from all the important information, and why Mike wanted it kept from her. There was a long list of questions Y/N didn't know and seeing Rick there, laughing with Lauren's parents, urged her to stop procrastinating and wait for the catastrophe to come. That night, she wasn't able to sleep at all. She talked to people, professionals that could have the least information she needed, and paid them as part of the deal. The tiniest details could help her answer everything and she'd get all the help she needed.