All Chapters of August Rain: A Mafia Trinity Novel: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

8 pm - Elizabeth stretches and looks at the time. Not realizing she had spent her whole afternoon putting out fires and designing her new line, she switches off her computer and takes out her phone.51 missed calls?! She stares at her phone in shock then realizing she had left her phone on silent after her lunch with a potential client. She unlocks her phone and clicks to go into her call list.20 Calls from an unknown number and the rest from her mother. Sighing, she returns her mother's call. Her mother answers on the 4th ring. "This is just like her like she's not the one who was desperately looking for me." Elizabeth thinks"Elizabeth," her mother croons she groans inwardly. "Sorry I missed your call, Mother. I have been quite busy putting out the fires you've created for me," She responds curtly. Sensing her mother's anger, she continues, "Was there a reason for your call, Mother?""I've heard t

Elizabeth gets off her flight from Tokyo and heads to collect her luggage, afterward, she heads to the hotel. She pulls out her phone and calls Liza. "Hey babe, I'm back. Could you please do some house hunting for me? I need to find a place ASAP or all our savings will be going to this hotel suite!" she says, "No problem, boss. Will come back to you with the prospects tomorrow morning. Your schedule has been cleared for Ms. Gray today." Liza responds. Elizabeth has not been looking forward to this meeting for some reason. "Thanks, Liza. Chat tomorrow," she says and hangs up. After showering, she decides to dress casually in an off the shoulder top and tight jeans, accentuating her curves, With a satisfied nod, she opts for flats instead of heels today.*******She pulls up in front of Emily's address and parks her car. The villa is surprisingly quaint, not the Dereon flashiness at all. Elizabeth smiles and heads inside. She wa

August looks at her with a smile. Collecting all her things from the ground, Elizabeth stands up and says, "I'm sorry about that, Mr. Dereon. I should really watch where I am walking." August frowns at her formality. Why was she acting like this, when she knew how much he despises it. "No problem at all..." he responds and Elizabeth looks at him defiantly and turns to walk away. "If you'll excuse me-""Elizabeth wait, please," August calls out after her and grabs her wrist. Elizabeth looks down at his hand and swallows hard, "Mr. Dereon-""Please call me by my name. You know how much I hate formality." Elizabeth knew this, that's why she was doing it. She needed him to think of her as just another employee contracted to his fiancee."A-August. What is it?" she responds, he feels his heart tighten when she says his name. He looks at her with a broken expression. "I'm sorry for not introducing myself to you the other night. You were my only normality

The past two weeks fly by quickly. Elizabeth has been seeing more of Emily lately. The latter let it slip that August would be working out of town for the next month so Elizabeth decided to take advantage of the situation and get to know Emily better. Sitting in her office at 5 pm, Elizabeth closes her laptop just as her phone starts ringing. She glances at the caller ID and smiles."Lizzy, save me!" Emily exclaims on the other line, "The Dereons kidnapped me today. I've been at their mercy for 9 hours, jumping to boutiques along with the wedding planner. I am drowning in frills and lace!" She finishes off dramatically.Elizabeth chuckles before she says, "Wanna go out tonight? It will help you forget a bit. I promise not to tell August!" She jokes and can already see Emily making a face. "Yes! I would love that!" Emily responds. "Great! I'll bring Liza along. You two haven't met yet and I know you'll love her." Elizabeth was starting to get excited as wel

3 amAfter dropping Liza off at her villa to sleep off the alcohol, Elizabeth pulls up outside Emily's place intending to drop her off as well, but Emily was way too drunk. Elizabeth looks over at the passenger side and notices that Emily has passed out. Thinking back on the evening, Emily and Liza hit it off unexpectedly well, although a bit too well. The two of them danced and drank the night away, Elizabeth felt like the third wheel and resigned herself to being the designated driver."Emily, wake up. We need to get you inside, " Elizabeth tries to coax her awake while giving her gentle smacks. Emily eventually wakes up and Elizabeth bolts to the passenger side door. Emily gets out and leans on her for balance.As they walk towards the villa entrance, Emily is mumbling drunkenly, "Thank...Tank. You for taking out, Lizzy." She muttered. Elizabeth grimaces and continues to lead and drag Emily inside. "The Dereons will kill me if they s

Waking up with a pounding headache, Elizabeth sits up. She stares and takes in her surroundings and remembers that she slept at Emily's villa. She adjusts her dress, puts on her heels, and heads towards Emily's room. She must have had quite a bit to drink last night. If she did, she doesn't remember it at all.She stops outside Emily's door and knocks softly."Come in, " Emily responds and she opens the door. Sitting on her bed, freshly showered, and in her robe, Emily was sitting and starting wide eyes at her laptop screen. Elizabeth sensed something was wrong and walks over to her bed. "What's wrong, Em?" She asks and Emily points to her screen. Elizabeth looks and realizes that the cause for her discomfort was displayed there.Emblazoned on the screen was a caption,AUGUST DEREON, GET A HOLD ON YOUR FIANCEE!! It seems that the paparazzi have been watching Emily and waiting for her to slip up. They caught her dancing provoc

Three months have passed since the nightclub debacle and Emily has been dodging all Elizabeth's calls. She hoped that August didn't disclose what had happened that morning. She felt guilty enough already.It was this particular afternoon after trying to call her again, that Elizabeth had enough and threw her phone down in frustration. Just then, Liza walks in."Everything okay, Liz?" She asks warily and walks into the office.Elizabeth looks at her, exasperation clearly written all over her face. "It's Emily. She's been dodging my calls since the night we all went out and I don't know what I did wrong." Elizabeth hangs her head. After a minute passes and Liza not responding, she Feels a weird atmosphere between them, Elizabeth looks at Liza, whose head hung in shame and realizes, "But she's been talking to you..." Liza looks at her with guilt and nods. "But it's not what you think, Lizzy." She starts, but Elizabeth stops her. "I don't t

August walks over to her desk and sits down. Her throat feels parched and she's lost for words. What was he doing here?She clears her throat and starts, "How can I help you, Mr. Dereon?" August looks at her and sighs. "Don't you think we're past the formalities, Dragonfly?" He replies, and she's taken back to when he kissed her. Blushing, she says "Yes I suppose we are. " sighing she continues, "Why are you here, August?" He looks at her earnestly and replies, "I would like to discuss what happened over lunch with you. It has been over 2 months and I haven't seen you around Emily or over at the villa at all. " Elizabeth looks at him, surprise written all over her face. He thought she hadn't been over at Emily's because of him. He had no idea what was really going on...She clears her throat, "I am booked for lunch today, unfortunately. Maybe we could-""Dinner then?" August interjected. This wasn't going how she p

Elizabeth sat there, dumbstruck. Did she hear him right? Did he just admit to loving her? With tears welling up in her eyes, she finally speaks."August, we can't... This is wrong.." She started but couldn't bring herself to say the right words. August looked straight at her, not wavering. "I know you may think that now. But give me this week, please. I need to speak to my family and arrange for this marriage to be called off in the most civil way possible. Emily will understand as she feels the same way as I do." He finishes. At the mention of Emily's name, she's brought back to her senses. "Emily's family will disown her if you do call-off this engagement, August. She'll be ruined. I can't do that to her. " Elizabeth realizes, sadly that she could not do this to her friend. She was betraying her just by being here. The two of them might not love one another but they were still engaged.August senses her apprehension and quickly tries to reas

1 am.Elizabeth lay awake in bed. Thoughts of this evening running wild in her mind. Something felt... off. It felt like a betrayal. She was in love with August, that much she knew, but August was Emily's fiance, and Emily was her friend. Did she really lower herself to this level? The level her mother told her she was capable of. A mistress.Suddenly feeling sick to her stomach, she jumps up and runs to the toilet, her feelings being regurgitated. Dry heaving and exhausted, she gets up from the floor and walks to the sink. She looks at herself in the bathroom mirror and feels tears running down her face. No.As much as she was in love with August, she would stay away from him. This engagement was set in stone by powerful families, God alone knows what they would do to hers if she breaks this engagement. Having composed herself, she heads