Troublesome Love with My Wicked President

Chapter 2: Betrayal

Chapter 2: Betrayal

Lucas walked back into the room, sighing with growing exasperation. He collapsed into a chair to continue working on the tasks in front of him.

Just a moment ago, he had felt irritated after receiving a call from Merline Kazzeri, who had called to tell him she was flying to visit the US. He didn't feel anything for her at all, except considering her like a younger sister. Merline was the youngest daughter of her uncle, Nathan Kazzeri. She often showed clear signs of liking him, which was one reason Lucas volunteered to work in the US. Even after escaping, she still intended to follow him. He couldn't bring himself to directly reject her because he didn't want to offend his uncle, so Lucas could only avoid directly rejecting her.

After hanging up the call, he walked out of the room to make himself some coffee, planning to work late into the night. But he found he was out of coffee, and Lucas unintentionally snapped at an unsuspecting employee, Maria, who happened to walk by. Now, he felt quite guilty of his rude behavior towards her.

Suddenly, the phone rang, and Lucas made a face of annoyance. He thought Merline was calling him again, but when he picked up the phone, he found it was Walter, his close friend, whom he had known since their university days.

"Hey, Luke, what are you doing?"

"Luke? Who's Luke? My name is Lucas! Lucas Kazzeri! You keep calling me Luke," Lucas complained, because his friend always got his name wrong.

"Yeah, I know your name is Lucas, but I used to know another Lucas who is really hateful, so I call you Luke. It's easier for me," Walter said with a playful laugh.

"Fine, call me whatever you want. So, why are you calling? It's almost 10 PM."

"Let's go drinking."

"You called just for that?"

"Yeah, just that. Meet me at the usual pub. Hurry up, or I'll be drunk before you get here."

Ring... Ring... Ring...

Walter hung up immediately, leaving Lucas shaking his head at his friend's impulsiveness. He called on a whim and hung up just as abruptly. Nevertheless, he closed his notebook to get ready to meet his friend right away.

———

At Aaron's T Condo

Maria stood in front of the condo, still holding the phone to her ear, talking to her best friend, Annie.

"Yeah, I'm at Aron's condo. Honestly, I didn't want to come," Maria kept grumbling, but she came as her friend advised because her friend said she was too aloof with her fiancé.

"Come on, it's your anniversary today with him. You should definitely go, Mari. Just do as I say, and I guarantee he'll be happy to see you."

"But... is it really okay? What if he tries to do something to me?"

"Just lie and say you're on your period. Who would want to do anything with you for the first time during your period?"

"Really? Okay, okay, I'm getting in the elevator. Honestly, I wasn't going to come. Even though Aron gave me a spare keycard to his room months ago, I still didn't want to come."

"Honestly, Mari, do you love or even like your fiancé?"

Maria frowned at the question from her friend. That's true, she wasn't sure if she liked him. She only knew he was the only man who treated her well, cared for her, and eventually proposed to her.

Probably...

"I guess I like him a bit," Maria replied.

"Hey, you can't just 'guess' your feelings."

"I don't know. Okay, okay, that's it. I'm at his door now."

"Alright, sneak in with the keycard and enter his room quietly. By now, he should be in the bedroom. Just surprise him."

"Okay, that's it. I'll call you later." Maria whispered before hanging up on her dear friend Annie. She slowly followed her friend's advice, starting by quietly using the keycard to unlock the door.

Maria slowly stepped inside the room.

In the dim light of the room, her foot stumbled over a bright red piece of clothing on the floor, making her pick it up in surprise.

"Whose red dress is this?" Maria murmured, before she heard some noises from the bedroom. She slowly walked in, still clutching the red dress tightly.

"Ahhh, harder, darling!"

"Mmm, yes."

The moans and the sound of bodies colliding continued relentlessly. Maria unfolded the dress with trembling hands, realizing it was a tight red dress belonging to a woman, undoubtedly the one under her fiancé.

"Oh, no!" Maria gasped, covering her mouth.

"You're amazing, Peach," the man said, still on top of the woman.

"Well, can I compare myself to your plain fiancé?"

"That girl with glasses? I can't stand her. She's so bland and old-fashioned, like an auntie. I'm only engaged to her because my parents insisted. If I don't agree to the engagement, they won't give me the assets. So, I just have to play along."

"Really? You're not interested in that plain girl at all?"

"Not at all. Just think about it, if I were with that auntie, she'd probably just lie there like a log. Could someone like her even know what to do? She can't compare to you, with your beauty and allure. Let's go for another round and forget about that glasses-wearing auntie."

"Aron, this is the third round already. Peach can't handle it anymore. Oh, Aron, ah, ooh."

It seemed Aron didn't want to hear Peach talk about anyone else anymore. He immediately lowered his head to kiss Peach's chest.

Maria raised her hand to cover her mouth, her eyes wide with shock at the sight of her fiancé. The heated scene in front of her involved her fiancé, who spoke of her with nothing but disdain. Maria trembled, causing the red dress in her hand to fall to the floor.

The sounds of passion continued from the room, oblivious to any noise from outside. Maria felt numb, her mind in a haze. She quickly left the room, half-walking, half-running to the elevator, still in a state of shock, unsure if she was more hurt or just surprised by what she had witnessed.

Maria reached the ground floor and quickly called a taxi to head straight to Annie's condo.

......

"What!!!!!"

Annie, who had just learned about the events, was shocked. She had suggested her friend surprise her fiancé, only for her friend to encounter an even bigger surprise.

"Yeah, that's what happened," Maria said with a grimace. "He called me an auntie, a nerd, plain, outdated. Am I really that bad?"

Maria adjusted her glasses slightly and looked at Annie, who returned her gaze with sympathy and nodded slightly.

"A little, but... you're not that bad," Annie said with a dry smile, reaching to remove Maria's glasses.

"Hey, what are you doing? I'm nearsighted, 750, you know. If you take them off, I can't see."

"You and I aren't that different, but I wear contact lenses. Let me tell you something, you're actually beautiful, very beautiful, even more than me. You just don't dress up. See, just by taking off those thick glasses, you look like a different person."

"Nonsense, that's not true. Don't flatter me. Give me back my glasses," Maria quickly put her glasses back on.

"Then you need to show them what you're made of. Tonight, I'll give you a total makeover, and we'll go out together. Let's see how many guys will hit on you."

"Oh, come on, I don't know about this..."

"Don't you want to get back at your jerk of a fiancé? You need to prove him wrong for the way he insulted you. You should find a new boyfriend who's more handsome and richer, and then break off the engagement with that guy." Annie couldn't help but still be angry at Aaron for cheating on her dear friend.

Marie listened and felt persuaded. Deep down she was hurt by the betrayal.

That's right, she needed to prove herself!

"Alright, fine, okay friend. Let's do it. Transform me. Tonight, I'm going guy hunting." Marie raised her fist to encourage herself.

"You, going guy hunting? Haha."

Annie couldn't help but laugh at her friend's usually so prim and proper demeanor. Even though Marie had just caught her fiancé fooling around with another woman, her friend hadn't shed a single tear. It seemed like Marie was more upset about being insulted.

"Alright, let's do this!"

Annie dragged Marie into the room, sat her down in front of the vanity, and took out several pairs of spare contact lenses she had stored, along with a pile of high-quality makeup.

"Are you ready, girl?" Annie smiled and dragged Maria into the room..

"Yes, ready as I’ll ever be," Marie smiled broadly.

Her eyes gleamed with determination as she prepared herself for a completely new transformation. She would leave behind her old self, the one that had been hurt and rejected. Tonight, she will prove everyone wrong.

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