It’s Your Turn To Cry and Beg, Dear Uncle

It was six in the morning. The sky was still dark outside, but the rain had receded. James stirred awake from his sleep and instantly felt an intense headache. How could he not? He drank quite a bit yesterday before coming home late, then had an argument with Kyra. 

Afterwards, he ran around searching for Kyra until half past two before going home. However, instead of feeling sleepy, he was more than awake with lots of things gnawing at his mind.

So, he headed towards the study instead and worked on some documents with the intention of calming his mind. Eventually, he fell asleep on his desk.

James was massaging his temple trying to ease the pain a bit when his cellphone rang. He quickly picked it up when he saw that it was his personal assistant, Henry.

"How is it?"

"We have cleared up most of the negative news related to Miss Kyra being an obsessive niece and anything that might arouse a scandal."

Henry's voice sounded tired. He had burnt the midnight oil with the PR team for this. The number of ridiculous articles and comments were astounding. Some were saying that Miss Kyra was jealous of Lila and even said that Kyra fell in love with Mr. James.

The comments that followed were all filled with scoldings and insults. If Henry didn't know Kyra well, he might also think that Kyra was in love with her own uncle by how confident these articles sounded.

'How the hell did things escalate to this point anyway? From plagiarism to forbidden love? Netizens are seriously idle,' Henry thought to himself.

"Okay, good. Keep your eyes on it."

"Yes, Sir."

"And replace me for today's meeting. I have something to do."

"Ah?" Before Henry could ask further, James had already hung up on him.

Henry immediately checked on James' schedule and saw nothing besides the weekly meeting in the morning and the meeting with a client for the new residential project. In the end, Henry guessed that something his boss had to do would probably be meeting his girlfriend, Miss Lila.

And he was right. James drove straight to Wordsmith Wonders at ten O'clock.

His figure immediately attracted everyone's attention, especially Lila's assistant who directly greeted him and brought him to Lila's office.

"Darling, you're here!" Lila was surprised by James' sudden visit. It was usually her who came to him but regardless, she was happy to see him.

"You look pale." Lila worriedly cupped her boyfriend's cheeks. "Have you had breakfast yet? We can go to The Palace for some dim sum. You love the food there or delivery is also fine."

James shook his head, then pulled Lila's hands away. Lila frowned at his action and even more so at his cold expression. That's when the question arrived.

"Why did you do it?"

Instead of asking if she was the one who did it, the man directly asked why as if he didn't need any confirmation, and the unhesitant accusation hurt Lila. She clenched her fists. However, a smile blossomed on her face. She tried to feign innocence.

"What do you mean?" She didn't want to believe that James would pressure her.

After all, he had been incredibly sweet to her. The man who was well-known for his indifference had fulfilled every whims she had since they started dating. Additionally, he let her publish the book and even remained silent when everyone said Kyra plagiarised her. They were practically in love.

James let out a long sigh out of frustration. He pinched his glabella. "I don't want to ask about you stealing the drafts because I was at fault as well. But, the nasty comments and articles…"

The man opened his eyes and his gaze was frigid cold on Lila. "I know paid keyboard warriors when I see one. If there were only one or two, it would be understandable. But, to exaggerate it so much that it hits trending topics?"

His fault? What? Lila bit her lower lip.

"Are you stupid, Lila?" He openly mocked her.

"James, please listen to me first." Lila reached out to hold the man's hand, but James smacked it away before she could touch him.

"I'm listening." His voice lowered a few octaves. The rage in his tone was palpable.

Lila froze. Her heart jumped at his oppressive presence. Since they started dating, Lila had never been faced with James' anger. But today, she saw his gaze that was like a sharp blade against her neck. Her whole body began to tremble under his powerful aura.

"I let you run like a wild chicken because you helped me achieve my goal, but who told you to smear her name like that?"

James continued to pressure Lila as he slowly took a step forward towards her. Meanwhile, Lila who was frightened by James moved back bit by bit until she hit her own desk.

Once they closed the distance, James towered over Lila with his overwhelming presence and before she could avoid it, his hand had already harshly grabbed her jaw.

"You better explain well, Lila."

Lila felt the pain from James' strong grip. But, she was even more frightened by the sudden change in her boyfriend's treatment that she struggled to speak. "I…I didn't mean…"

James squinted as though he was losing patience. Lila felt her breath stuck in her lungs. Her eyes began to water.

In the end, the thing that came out of her mouth was the most primitive feeling of a woman in love. "I was…jealous."

Silence engulfed the office as soon as she finished. But, the look on James' face remained ruthless. His savage gaze locked on the woman before him as if he was going to eat her alive.

Then, suddenly, just when Lila could no longer withstand the pressure, James opened his mouth but the words that came out of him stabbed her heart mercilessly.

"So, you really are stupid."

He let go of her before turning around to leave because he didn't want to lose his temper. But, Lila panicked and thought that he was leaving her for good so she bravely grabbed his hand.

"I'm sorry! Please don't leave! I was just jealous because you seem to care so much about her."

James pulled his hand out of her grip. "Lila, Kyra is my family. I have taken care of her since she was ten. Of course, I cherish her!"

"But, you two are not blood-related!" Lila exclaimed loudly. She got so emotional that she raised her voice.

"You talk about her when we're together. Every time we tried something, you thought of her. Kyra likes this and Kyra would love that. Traces of her exist along our relationship."

Lila began to tear up as she continued to whine, "She's not even there but it feels like she's present every step of the way!"

Thump!

James felt his heart jump, galloping uncontrollably, and no matter how much he tried to calm it down, it beat more and more. He never realised how much he talked about Kyra until Lila pointed it out now. Thinking back, Kyra's name did escape his lips more than a few times when he was with Lila.

But, he thought there was nothing wrong with it. Who didn't talk about their family?

Yet, Lila was right. Traces of Kyra overshadowed his relationship with Lila and it somehow made him realise how much time he had spent with Kyra.

However, James hid it well behind his poker face. "What kind of fucked up brain you have?"

Lila was dumbfounded by James' cruel response. Instead of comforting her like usual, the man insulted her further.

"You…" Lila stared at James in disbelief. "You didn't deny it."

"Ugh…" James cursed under his breath. He was so frustrated by Lila. The woman kept focusing on the wrong thing. In any case, he couldn't let Lila continue to smudge Kyra's name by her own weird misunderstanding.

 "What things do I have to deny? I told you she's my family. You talked about your parents too. Did I say that you're in love with your dad?"

"But, you two are not blood-related!" Lila screamed.

"For God's sake, Lila!" James shouted back, completely shutting Lila.

"If you can't consider Kyra, at the very least think about me. By smearing Kyra's name, you're also dragging my name to the mud. You turn me into an indecent man."

Lila shook her head in panic. "I didn't! I only focused on her!"

"And how long do you think the netizens will hold their tongue against me?" James was bloody amazed by how short minded Lila was. Now, he couldn't seem to figure out why he thought Lila was interesting in the first place. 

"Eventually, they will talk about me too."

Lila pursed her lips. It was true. After all, people loved to gossip and such a scandalous piece of news would be delicious to hype. Like they said, stomp them when they are down. Surely, the company's rival would take advantage of this scandal to attack James.

"Babe, I…"

Before Lila could speak, her assistant burst through the door. Lila was immediately angered.

"Giselle!"

"I'm sorry, Miss. But, you have to check the news!" Giselle interjected as she handed her tablet to Lila. However, James snatched it first. The headline immediately splashed on James' eyes.

"Kay Hammond Hits Back with a Lawsuit!"