The car stopped at the entrance of La familia Caza.


    Benjamin tightened his grip on the steering wheel and frowned at the phone in his hand. Only then did he realise that it was almost eleven o’clock. At thiste hour, Vanessa should have gone to bed.


    He picked up the phone and hesitated.


    His fingertips hovered over Vanessa’s business card for a long time, but in the end he did not mark it.


    In the dark of night, Benjamin sat dishevelled in his car, lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. He had been smoking in the car all night. When dawn broke and people started moving, Benjamin opened the window to disperse the smell of smoke.


    Early in the morning, at 6 am.


    It was still very early and I was nning to call Vanessa until around 7:30 to exin face to face what had happenedst night.


    However, unbeknownst to him, the scandal about him and Isabel, as well as the photos, had spread all over the Inte and the news itself was published in the main newspapers in Pacifica.


    Even the above quote was from Isabel, who said that she and Benjamin were childhood sweethearts and that the two families had a deep friendship. She would marry Benjamín as soon as she finished university and the rumours of a wedding between the Tassis family and the Caza family were false…


    -Now hurry back and think about how it will be handled.


    It was clear that Isabel was behind all of this. Fromst night’s suicide threat to this morning’s newspaper, she was determined to set Benjamin up and establish that the two were in a close rtionship.


    -I got it.


    News of the incident spread and had a major impact.


    Benjamin had to give up exining himself to Vanessa and immediately turned the car around and drove away.


    Shortly after he left, the man who delivered the newspaper to the Caza family arrived, and after dropping it off, the maid appeared promptly to return it as usual. It was ced on the table by the floor-to-ceiling window and would be read when Mercedes got up.


    Vanessa didn’t sleep well all night so she felt a headache when she woke up.


    When he went downstairs he didn’t see Mercedes, who was watering the flowers as usual, and he sensed that something was wrong.


    -Mum!


    In a panic she called Mercedes and no one answered.


    -Mummy! -Her voice rose a little higher, with a tremor.


    Vanessa rushed towards Mercedes, who was sitting in a chair, lying motionless, and ran towards her, holding back her panic.


    Only then did Vanessa realise that Mercedes was not speaking to her because she had fainted, with a newspaper still clutched tightly in her hand.


    -Mum! How are you doing?


    -Help, help, call a doctor! Call a doctor to the house.


    The maid outside, hearing Vanessa’s scream, ran in and rushed to call the doctor.


    Vanessa joined the others to help Mercedes up and carefully ce her in the downstairs bedroom.


    There was a medical professional just inside the vige area, so he came quickly.


    The doctors in white coats rushed in with their cases, followed by the nurses in a hurry. Vanessa stood in the doorway, her mind nk.


    Suddenly he thought of his father, who had fallen ill and died, and of the doctors who were trying to save him.


    Vanessa leaned against the door, drained of all energy. Her face was frighteningly pale, staring into Mercedes’ face, her hand hanging at her side clenched so tightly that she didn’t even notice her nails breaking.


    Dear God, please bless my mum.


    Nothing should have happened to mum!


    If anything happened to Mercedes, Vanessa thought she would go crazy.


    The good thing was that it hadn’t gone so badly.


    -The patient was no longer in good health, and the stimtion he had just received caused him to faint. It’s not a big problem, he will be fine when he wakes up. But in the future, you must be careful not to stimte the patient.


    The doctor, aware of Mercedes’ previous exnations, did not tell Vanessa her true condition.


    And Vanessa, who was full of gratitude, did not notice the doctor’s hesitant look, for he had been the doctor in charge of Mercedes’ condition when Felipe Caza was still alive, so Vanessa trusted him and had no doubts about him.


    -Then we’ll go first. When Mrs. Mercedes wakes up, you can spend more time with her to talk or go for a walk.


    -Okay, I’ve got it, thank you doctor.


    Vanessa thanked the maid for sending the doctor. She went to her room to check on Mercedes and was relieved to see that she no longer looked so ufortable.


    -Mum, get some rest,” Vanessa turned to leave, speaking softly.


    The moment he closed the door, the relief on his face was instantly reced by a cold sternness.


    -What happened this morning?


    Coldly questioned by Vanessa, the maidens were quick to respond.


    -Nothing different from usual, thedy came downstairs and did her usual reading of the day’s newspaper, then sent us all off to do our work. Then the next thing was to go downstairs …


    The newspaper!N?velDrama.Org holds ? this.


    Vanessa left the men to their own devices and hurried to thending to grab the newspaper from the table.


    The reason for Mercedes’ emotional swoon became immediately clear when she saw the above news item about Benjamin and Isabel and the subheading


    -The marriage of Mr. Benjamin and Miss Vanessa is originally a fake. It’s fromst night!


    Vanessa clutched the newspaper, her heart hardening.


    It was all her fault.


    Mum was so irritated by what happened to her that she fainted.


    Again! Every time it happened. Just when she thought she could be happy, it was reality that had to hit her hard and make her see once again how na?ve and ridiculous she was.


    -Dn, are you satisfied with this now? -Vanessa said to herself.


    Vanessa is convinced that Dn had something to do with this and hates him with a passion.


    Just then the phone rang and Vanessa picked it up without looking.


    -Have you seen this morning’s papers? Now everyone in Pacifica City knows that Benjamin and Isabel are childhood sweethearts.  And you’re nobody, is that clear? Nobody’s going to ept you but me, you understand? -Ondo grimaced in triumph, his voice full of malice.


    -Ondo, what have you done? -Vanessa picked up the phone and asked.


    -I have just told Isabel that her childhood sweetheart is getting married soon and I have helped her in the process. I can’t believe such a naive-looking girl could do such a thorough job. Not only did she threaten suicide, but she was thoughtful enough for the newspaper to put together such a story on her own.


    The more Ondo talked, the more jealous he became. The very idea that Vanessa was with this Benjamin made him feel especially sore.


    One Dn was enough, why involve anyone else.


    Anyway, it was an entanglement between the three of them from the beginning, and it was better not to join the others casually.