RUMORS

"Thank you." Sumire was about to open the car's door when Mort locked it and suddenly grab her nape. He pull her for a hot and breatheless kiss.

"One ride, one kiss. That's my rule. Enjoy your day." He huskily uttered between their parted lips and let go of her. Mort then opens the car.

When the hunk finally left the place, only then Sumire came back to her senses. "I didn't ask for his ride." She utters in her mind, shaking her head, and went to Eiryss waiting for her.

The two maidens arrive at the little paradise and the sun is now in full control in the serene heaven. Its effects can be felt by everyone. It’s warm, and the air is filled with moisture from the sea. The ground is mildly warm, and the fine sand particles are glittering like scattered pieces of silver. The spectacular, flawless white beach stretches with no limit for the eye as it goes across the ocean so amazingly. Just gazing at the endless sands, as the sun’s rays rest on the waters freshly emerging from their resting place is truly picturesque. The clouds serenely cruised across the sky like the scene emerge out in a painting.

The sun is at its peak, Eirysss is currently preparing for Sumire's bikini to be worn for the photo shoot while the maiden is resting under a large beach umbrella while enjoying herself in the beautiful scenery. The light kisses from the coastal breeze stirred her hair and caresses her skin. The team and cameramen are also bustling around preparing the equipment for the shoot.

Wearing a big hat and sunglasses, Sumire was about to sip on the coconut juice while watching the series of waves curl up and down, rolling in white tipped shapes, spreading like fine silky laces over the beach when suddenly Victoria came to her place and looked down at her with raised eyebrows.

"Have you read the recent news the MBC outlet released about you?" Victoria asked and looked at the newly sharpened nail that was as red as maroon. She was wearing a revealing lucent bikini that could almost see her soul.

"Oh, that media outlet known for being biased, spouting lies, and spreading disinformation. Well, I don't give a damn care." Sumire responded unenthusiastically and completely unconcerned. She didn't even bother to throw a glance at Victoria.

"Well, you should now because they have evidence against you. You being a murderer." Victoria intentionally said it aloud that other staff around turn to face them.

Sumire frowned at what she heard and cursedly lowered her sunglasses and stood up. She shot Victoria a penetrating look but the second actress gave her a wicked smile. Eiryss, saw the commotion, immediately went to their place.

"If I were to become a murderer, you would be my first victim on the list. But too bad, I don't want my polished nails tainted with your filthy blood." Cold as ice, Sumire said with no trace of emotion can be seen in her eyes.

"Oh honey, why don't you see it yourself so you can confirm what I said is not a lie." Victoria challenged her, turned around, and start walking away from the maiden with a smile of victory on her lips.

Eiryss immediately searched what Victoria said and she was not wrong. The news spread like a contagious virus about Sumire's involvement in the death of Lukas, a tv host who interviewed Sumire at the KCA building back then.

"This can't be! Who the hell spread this nonsense!" Eiryss could only exclaim and the series of notification sounds of the cellphones of the staff around them can be heard. Eyes widened in surprise at what they read, they cast a skeptical look at the maiden.

Sumire opened her phone and within a second, she was flooded with bashes all over social media, being accused of false accusations and constantly receiving death threats. All the content of tabloids, news, and other media platforms is all about them. Hers and Sam's modelesque faces appeared on her phone and were featured in a different media outlet. It was a photo of them when they confronted the tv host in his dilapidated home who ordered to kill her and sell her on the black market. But fortunately, she met Mort, the man who saved her that day from the goons.

"He's dead? Who did it?" Sumire asked herself in a low tone, frowning, and fell into deep thinking. The maiden quickly read the nasty comments and heavy accusations against her. Lips tightly pursed in concentration, squinting into a thin line.

"Ah, maybe she was offended by the poor tv host's question during the interview."

"That's why she kills him after the show ends. No wonder I don't see him anymore."

"I heard that she has a sugar daddy in the underground."

"Maybe that man helped her to clean up her mess."

"She used to be my role model. Never had in mind she was a bad person."

"She's a murderer!"

Sumire read some of the negative comments from the hardcore bashers. She turned off the phone and sighed. Eiryss went to her, eyes filled with concern, and the staff around gave them a defiant look. They backed away whenever Sumire cast a glance at them. Victoria, on the other hand, was standing in the corner with a big triumphant smile plastered on her lips with a glass of wine in her hand.

"It's time your reign begins to an end. And the spotlight is all mine.' Victoria uttered sinisterly at the back of her mind as Sumire looked cautiously around.

Within a minute, Eiryss was flooded with notifications from the biggest people in the entertainment industry and was shocked to read the messages making Sumire turn to face her. The big agencies and investors pulled out their shares and the contracts of her biggest projects that had lined up were all terminated. They were all gone in just a blink of an eye.

"I think we should leave now," Eiryss suggested without letting Sumire utter a word. She dragged the maiden back to her car and together, they left the place.

When they got back to the Brethren city, the faces of Sumire and Sam appeared on the giant billboards in the city streets and towers from all over the place. The two of them are the headlines of the global news.

"This is madness! Who is instigating this nonsense accusation against you?" Eiryss angrily hissed while driving the car's wheel while Sumire was just calm about the situation in her seat.

"Hmmnn, we look good in the picture though," Sumire commented as she looked at the photo of her and Sam from the big screen outside. They look like classy criminals.

"Are you crazy?! This is a grave accusation. Someone is trying ruin your name and bring you down. We have to find that bastard and pay for it!"

Eiryss' face flushed in anger and Sumire was just sitting silent, even though she was worried sick. The downfall of her career that she has worked for a long time had just begun and will definitely affect and tarnish their family's reputation because of a grave offense against her.

After a minute of driving, they arrived at the maiden's private villa. A huge crowd of reporters and paparazzi greeted them, waiting for the maiden's presence at the majestic silver gate of her home.

"These maggots! Can easily smell rotten meat within just a second." Eiryss throws a disgusting look at the crowd. She then swerve the car to drive away from the place but the reporters blocked the ingress, completely trapping them in the middle of the crowd. The cameras immediately flashed from the outside and their car shook slightly due to the volume of people around.

From not far from their place, a white car loaded with Victoria parked in the distance who had been following Sumire's car after they left the beach photoshoot. She's grinning from ear to ear at the sight. 'Let's see if you can still hide that rotten core beyond that pretty fake face...'

"Ms. Massoullève, what do you have to say about the issue of you killing the tv host Lukas that you are accused of?"

"Is it true? Is there a powerful man behind you to cover up your crime?

"Ma'am please answer the question."

Waves of questions came one after another. Series of knocking bombed on the car windows while the cameras flashed around non-stop, they obviously wants to ruin Sumire for good.

"These fools! Sumi, don't open the window." Eiryss said, she was having trouble getting into the gate. The crowd restricted them to get inside.

The reporters became even more aggressive when they couldn't get an answer from the maiden inside the car that they almost broke the tinted window shield from knocking hard where Eiryss and Sumire were boarded.

"Damn it! They're breaking the windows!" Sumire cussed and was about to open it when suddenly a phantom Cadillac limo known as "The Beast", the most expensive car that only one person in the world she knew owned, arrived at their place. The aggressive crowd surrounding Sumire's car suddenly dispersed. They are all running for their lives away from the phantom car with its constant speed and don't care who gets run over in his way.

"Mort..." she utters softly beneath her breaths and sighs in relief. A smile curved on her lip as her gaze follows the driver of that car.

"The hero is saving his damsel in distress. Aww, what a fairytale!" Eiryss teasingly said Sumire and poke her side. But her eyes almost pop out of their socket when a parade of black expensive cars headed to their place.

In a diamond position, the hordes of luxurious and expensive black vehicles range from 50 parades. Such cars were identical limos, Mercedes-Benz S600, BMW 7, Audi A8 L security, Bently, SUVs, and other high-class vehicles making a pompous show in the road, ruthlessly dispersed the large crowd and immediately formed barricades around Sumire's car and placed her in the middle to keep and block off the swarms of paparazzi and reporters from approaching her car.

When Victoria saw the man's car's entourage her whole body runs cold. She was now sweating profusely in her seat. The traumatic memory she had encountered with that man came flashed to her mind. No doubt, Sumire hooked up a powerful man. 'I hate you, Sumire! I hope you die and rot in hell!'

When the gate is free from the crowd, it opened and the car where Sumire boarded drove in and Mort's car tailed her inside. When the two cars finally got inside, the gate shut closed while the paraded black cars were left outside and now people are throwing eggs at them.

"They're a bunch of idiots! I said Sumire should be stoned by the eggs, not that man's men!" Victoria hissed angrily and drove off the place before anyone could see her.

From the living room, Sumire and Mort watched the widescreen TV luxuriously mounted to the wall while Eiryss prepared their food in the kitchen. Sam returned to the control room to monitor the surroundings of Sumire's villa after watching himself as the main subject of the crime and the headline. The news of the TV host's death has spread all over the world and the prime suspects are Sumire and Sam. Their face is all over the news and internet, people are now feasting on their names.

"They are spouting lies! Why would I stain my hand with his filthy blood? I am not a murderer..." Sumire said, standing, worried frown while eyes darted on the screen.

"I know." Mort strode next to her and grabbed the back of her head and one of his hands snaked around her waist. He pulled her into an embrace and buried her face in his chest.

"Please, don't believe them..." Sumire mumbled at the hunk's massive chest. Her clutch tightened on Mort's clothes.

"I believe no one but you," Mort responded, his manly palm gently petting her head and making a mess in her hair.

"What do I do now that they have strong evidence against me?" Sumire asked anxiously and buried her face deep in his chest. Mort then raised her chin and stole a quick kiss on her lips.

"Leave it to me."

............

Chaise and Lunaire are on their small date in the living room, having a movie marathon alone inside their palatial home. Chaise intentionally let their maids go on vacation so he could be alone with his wife. Lunaire was sitting on her husband's lap, eating a scoop of limited ice cream while her husband, Chaise was munching a popcorn. Wrapped in a white blanket while watching dark romance on the sofa, they are in the steamiest part of the scene.

Lunaire's face turned red as Chaise kissed her exposed shoulder and his lips traveled to her neck, teasing her.

"When will Sumire give us grandkids or should we make another one?" Chaise flirtatiously whispered on her wife's neck and planted a soft kiss on Lunaire's earlobe, making his wife chuckle mischievously. "Our home is very lonely after our baby girl left." Chaise added with a hint of sadness can be heard of his tone.

"Honey, we are old. Besides, sooner or later, Sumire will give us grandchildren. Let's just be patient." Lunaire sweetly said and cupped her husband's face, tracing the stubbles on his chin making him darkly handsome even in their middle ages.

"Happy anniversary, my love." She smiled sweetly and encircled her hands on his neck. Lunaire leaned in and was about to kiss Chaise when the couple interrupted their steamy session by the breaking news. The face of their unica ija and her bodyguard who was involved in the murder case appeared on the screen.

Pupils dilated, the couple was stunned, completely petrified in their place. Lunaire stood up abruptly on her husband's lap and focused her attention on the news while Chaise scans on his phone and looked at social media platforms that contained vile accusations about their beloved daughter.

"Is our daughter associated with some mafias or gangs? What's with these black car's motorcade?" Chaise uttered in disbelief while watching the footage on national tv the expensive cars guarded Sumire's gate. This is no ordinary.

"Oh my God. Does our Sumire got a wealthy sugar daddy?! We can't let this happen!" Lunaire wildly exaggerated and shook her husband's arm relentlessly. "What got into her brain to have a relationship with someone who is older than you?" She added making Chaise's eyes widen at what he heard.

"Am I that old in your eyes? I can make you scream on the bed several times---" Chaise was cut off when Lunaire answered him with a smack kiss on his lips that left his question hanging in the air.

"Come, let's go see our daughter." Lunaire said, hurriedly left the living room and ran to their room to get dressed.

Less than an hour later, the couple arrived at Sumire's private villa. The crowd of reporters grew in number and remain outside the black car's barricade. Mort's men gave way towards them and Sam opens the gate. The couple then drives inside.

Mort and Sumire were in that position, hugging each other when suddenly Lunaire came rushing towards the living room, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped at what she saw.

"Are the rumors true? S-sweety, is he y-your ugly s-sugar daddy?" Lunaire asked in disbelief, eyes slightly misty with tears while covering her mouth with her hand, looking at the massive back of the hunk who was holding her daughter.

"Mom?" Peaking with one eye, Sumire frowned when she saw her mother at her home.

The gorgeous hunk of a man turn around, Lunaire felt her heart hammered out of her chest. She was squealing inside. A very tall, dark, and incredibly handsome man oozing an ominous and oppressive aura was hugging Sumire possessively. His presence screams power, authority, and danger. With his strong build and defined muscles, the man stood next to her daughter built bigger than anyone else, bigger than her husband, Chaise. The man formidably appeared to her with messy midnight hair and was wearing an expensive big charcoal black trenchcoat with black faux fur around his neck. A pair of emotionless glowing deep-emerald eyes hovered down on her, thick brows that knitted into a frown and lips pursed.

Lunaire's degrading look vanished in just a second after facing the man her daughter's with and her gaze landed on the hunk's arms around Sumire's waist.

"Iiiihhhhh!!!!! So, this is my son-in-law. When is the wedding, son? Have you planted your seeds in my daughter's womb? I want to see my grandkids as soon as possible." Shrilling loudly, Lunaire asked the hunk and flashed a teasing grin on her daughter who was now blushing in crimson red.

"Mom! Stop it!" Sumire screamed out of embarrassment.

A loud footstep thundered on the floor coming in their place caught their attention. With a stern look on his face, a middle-aged man strode a very sophisticated and well-mannered person. He had the aura of a tiger and his strong presence make anyone in the room cautious and respectful to him. Sumire slightly stiffened in her place and hold Mort's arm tightly. The man sauntered with a slight frown and stood next to his wife, Lunaire. He narrow his eyes out of skepticism and gave Mort a cold blank stare.

"MORT DMITRIV ASLANOV."