The next day, Liam visited his Uncle regarding the corpse. He was sure that wasn't a coincidence, someone must have planned it out. But who could it be? He was seated in the living room waiting for his uncle when a maid marched inside.
"Good morning Mr. Liam, he will be with you shortly." She informed, and just then, his uncle came into view before she could leave.
He rose and pulled his uncle into a hug.
"Good morning, I hope you had a good night rest?" Liam inquired.
"Yes I did, all thanks to your fiancée's. We had a good conversation, and she seems intelligent. You should fix a date for your wedding." That was sudden, Liam didn't expect his uncle to say that, when he had only met her yesterday.
"Common uncle, you know that's not why I'm here. About the corpse what should we do, we both know he didn't just died."
"Last night, I carried out some investigation, and you know the security in this mansion is tight, there's no way he would have gotten poisoned. I checked, there's nothing suspicious." The Mayor responded.
Liam didn't argue, his uncle has never been wrong when he says he carried out an investigation. And there's no way they must have erased it from the footage.
"I know what you are thinking, the footage didn't get tempered with, nothing was erased. There's no way something happened in that room without the knowledge of those three."
Liam was certain, the three figures in charge of the security room are giant's, and they are his trusted guard's, no way something happened without their knowledge. But his mind was still not at peace.
"Uncle what happened isn't a coincidence, do you think Kay...." He was cut off even before he could finish his statement.
The Mayor Rose from the chair he was resting his back. "This should be the last time we have a conversation about Kay. I don't want to know if he is alive or dead." That's how much he despises the name.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't think of why the sudden death. What do we do about his family? The public can't find out, it will only cause an uproar."
The Mayor sigh, that's the disadvantage. The guard has a family, and they will have to reach out to them before proceeding to lay him to rest.
"Your mother and I have agreed to visit his family. We will get things sorted out, just don't think of Kay please."
"Alright. Let me quickly get to the office, I should be on my way." He stood up, ready to leave.
"Stay and have breakfast before you head to the office." He insisted.
"Some other time, I need to get to the office." Liam declined, his mind wasn't at peace.
"Okay. Inform Ms Laylah to come pay me a visit, I will love to know more about her."
'When will everyone stop uttering Laylah? There's something about her that makes them want her more' He thought.
"Okay. Have a wonderful day." He bowed his head, and walked out of the room. He got into the car, and his assistant drove off. As they hit the road, Jerry passed him some list of documents.
"Those are the findings, but I find something strange about her. There appears to be no trace of her identity."
"What do you mean her identity isn't known? How did my mother get to know her." His tone sounded pissed already, and Jerry could feel it.
"This is her first time in Los Angeles. She's known your mother for the past four, getting to five months now, and they have been friends ever since."
"What about her parents? Where's she from? Her siblings, someone related to her, there should be something."
"I'm sorry, boss, there's nothing much about her. If you go through the documents, you will see she's an orphan who came all the way from Italy to Los Angeles."
Liam couldn't believe what he just heard. Among the ladies his mother has urged him to marry, she's the only one Rose was persistent about.
Each time she introduced him to someone, after their dinner, he turns down his mother's quest.
But this particular one, his mother insisted there will be no date, he should proceed to marry her.
"Do you know where she works? Take me there, I need to know why she wants to do this."
"She works at a coffee shop, her stipend is barely enough to pay her bills. Mrs. Rose paid her to marry you, that was their agreement."
Liam didn't get to utter another word, he stayed quiet, until they got to the coffee shop.
Jerry opened the car door for him to stepped out. He fixed his blazer jacket, and march to the entrance of the shop.
"HELLO sir! Good morning…." Laylah trailed off when she saw it was Liam. She quickly diverts the shock on her face into a smile.
"Good morning Ms Laylah. Please a cup of coffee." He said. "My mother's favorite." He added, and offered himself a seat while anticipating for her return.
Three minutes later, Laylah showed up holding a cup of coffee, and placed it on the table.
"Here's it, enjoy. If you need anything else you can call on me."
"Where do you think you are going? Seat down, we need to talk. No excuses, I can talk to your manager if it pleases you."
Laylah sat down, and mustered the courage to speak.
"What is it you want to talk about?"
"Who sent you? What do you want from me? Why do you want to marry me?" He queried.
Now that Kay is involved, anyone could be working for him.
"Do I have to answer that? Obviously, I'm one of those girls who love you from a distance, and thanks to your mother I will be your wife soon."
"Lies, you got paid to marry me. How much did my mother pay you? How much do you need? I will double it."
Mrs. Rose asked her to keep it a secret, no one should know about the transaction between them.
"I never got any money from your mother. If this is your way of pissing me, then I'm sorry you failed. You can't buy me with money. Please excuse me." She stood up to leave.
"I'm not interested in you, I don't like you, make sure you send the money you collected back to my mother."
Laylah didn't listen to him, and walk away. She hasn't even named her price yet, so earnestly she never received any money.
After what she witnessed at the banquet last night, it gave her more reason to want to proceed with the wedding.
Liam paid up, and walk out of the coffee shop. He hopped into his car and instruct the driver to take him home.
Upon arriving at home, he met his mother having breakfast in the dining, and stride up to her.
"Good morning Mother, I need to talk to you."
With a smile, Rose halted from her breakfast.
"Go ahead, what is it you want to say?" She tilted her head, staring in his direction.
"I'm not interested in Ms Laylah, you should stop her from coming over."
Rose dropped the cup of tea she was holding, and stood up.
"I won't turn back to my words, make sure you pick a wedding date if you still love me as your mother."
"Mother, don't you get it? I can't marry her. It will only put her life at risk. My step-brother is out there, we don't know when he will show up."
"I will protect her, that should not be a problem."
"Mother once he finds out about my wedding, he won't hesitate to show up."
Rose didn't get to respond, and left her breakfast and excuse herself out of the room.