Chapter 5 Betrayal

"What would you like to drink, Miss Yang?"

"A cup of coffee would be nice.

And is the bathroom far away? Why haven't they come back?"

Audrey glanced at the clock. It had been almost half an hour since Kyler took Harlan to the bathroom.

She was beginning to worry, so before the secretary could respond, she said, "I'm going to go look for them." Then, she left in a hurry.

She walked out of the reception room and wandered around the corridors. After a few turns, she decided that she was lost.

She frowned and looked around, hoping to find someone to ask for directions.

It was then that she saw a beautiful, painfully familiar woman walking toward her.

She was wearing exquisite clothes and makeup, and she walked with the kind of grace and poise that belonged to the stage of prestigious beauty pageants. She was dazzling and intimidating all at once. She was Alia Yang.

Alia had come straight to He Group from the airport to sign an advertising contract for the next season. But Joe, who was responsible for signing the contract with her, had not shown up yet. Eventually, she got bored waiting and decided to look for the bathroom to freshen up.

While she was looking for the restroom, she ran into a woman who looked awfully familiar. Her jaw dropped when she realized who it was. She stared at her in disbelief.

"Is that... How is she still alive?" As the hairs all over her body rose, Alia blinked madly away.

Was she hallucinating? She must be. That was the only plausible explanation why she was seeing Audrey in front of her. Or maybe it was not even her. Maybe it was just someone who looked exactly like her.

Alia gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. It did not matter if the woman she was seeing right now was really Audrey. She could just make her disappear again and for good this time.

She fixed her eyes on her long-lost half-sister, and her lips curled into a wicked smile.

Audrey halted at the sight of Alia.

Their eyes met; silence filled the corridor. 'It's indeed that woman, ' Alia thought.

Audrey remained where she was as her half-sister walked over to her with a contemptuous smile on her face.

"So you're still alive after all," Alia jeered.

Audrey raised her chin proudly and retorted, "Alive and kicking. You must be very disappointed." 'Your good days are coming to an end, you evil bitch, ' she thought.

Alia threw her head back and cackled.

Then, she looked Audrey in the eye and said, "You shouldn't have come back, my poor, naive sister. There's nothing left for you here. The Yang family is mine now as well as Kase who I will be marrying next month. If I were you, I'd spare myself the heartache and crawl back to whatever hole I climbed out of. Otherwise, I'll make sure that the last hole you call home is an unmarked grave in the middle of nowhere. Believe me..."

Audrey stopped her yapping with a forceful slap across the other woman's face.

She put six years' worth of wrath into it, and it left her sister's pretty little face red and swollen.

"How dare you slap me?" Alia put her hand over her face and looked at her in shock. It was obvious that she was not expecting her to lay a hand on her.

Suddenly, someone spoke in a low, surprised voice behind Audrey.

"Audrey?"

The familiar voice made her turn around slowly.

Kase stood there in a crisp gray suit, his eyes full of mixed joy and disbelief. After all these years, his handsomeness still startled her.

"It's really you!" he exclaimed.

"Kase..."

Looking at the man she once loved, Audrey could only sigh. Her mind exploded with a myriad of confusing and complicated emotions.

"Audrey!" He strode toward her and reached out to hug her, but she took a step back.

He stopped and dipped his chin as a sign of respect. He asked anxiously, "Where have you been all these years? I've searched far and wide to find you but to no avail. Why didn't you call? I was worried sick."

She stared at him for a while and sighed, "You were looking for me? While you're engaged to my sister? Why?"

That acting would have worked on her before but not anymore. If he wanted to fool her into getting back together with him, he would have to do better.

She was no longer that silly little girl who believed every flowery word that came out of his mouth.

"I..." Kase stammered and struggled to find the right words to say, but Alia snapped at him, "Kase!"

He glanced at her and realized his mistake. Unease twisted his handsome face.

Alia stared at Audrey in awe. She had changed a lot over the years. She had come a long way from being a rich, sweet, innocent girl to a strong, assertive woman.

Six years ago, any sweet-talking moron could manipulate her.

But now... She seemed to have gotten sharp as a tack, and it was a bit unsettling to think about.

All these years, Alia had tried her best to replace Audrey in Kase's heart. She thought she had already succeeded when she got herself engaged to him, but seeing him so happy to see his ex-lover again made her want to tear her to shreds.

She blinked the anger and recognition in her eyes and said to Audrey, "Who are you? Why do you look so much like my half-sister who died six years ago?"

"Alia, it's Audrey. Don't you recognize her? She's alive, and now she's back. You got your sister back." Kase tilted his head at her in confusion.

She ignored him and kept her eyes on her sister. "Are you really Audrey? Do you have any evidence to prove it? I don't know where this imposter came from, Kase. She's a fake. Don't be deceived by her."

"No, she's not a fake. I recognize her, Alia. She's really Audrey. She finally came back to us. How can you not recognize her? And why aren't you happy that she's back? Audrey, come home with me."

"No way! Unless this woman can prove that she's really my sister, she's not going anywhere with us! Give it a rest, Kase!"

Audrey stood there with her arms crossed over her chest. She watched with glee as Alia desperately tried to manipulate her fiancé into taking her side.

A few moments later, Joe arrived and found them in a standoff. Alia rolled her eyes at Audrey and then turned around and smiled at the man she was scheduled to meet.

"Hello, Mr. Zhang. I'm ready to sign the contract now. Where do you want me?"

Before Joe could answer, he noticed two people headed toward their direction and muttered, "Mr. He..."

Hearing his words, everyone looked in the direction he was staring at. They saw a tall, elegant-looking man followed by a cute little boy with dark hair and pink cheeks. They looked like carbon copies of each other, and they walked hand in hand and in perfect sync. They were Kyler He and Harlan Yang.

The expression on Kyler's face told Audrey that they had been around the corner long enough to catch most of her conversation with Alia and Kase. As usual, Harlan just looked curious.

"Mom..."

He let go of Kyler's hand and walked over to her.

Audrey was so happy and relieved to see her son again that she quickly scooped him up in her arms and held him.

"Mom? You have a son, Audrey? And is this man his father?"

Kase eyed Kyler and Harlan with way more intensity than could be expected from a man meeting another man and a little boy for the first time. By the appalled look on his face, Audrey could tell that he was blaming her for betraying him.

She thought, 'Sure, my son is not yours. But what makes you think that my son's father is this man?'

But seeing the sad, betrayed expression on her ex-lover's face, she said instead, "So what? It has nothing to do with you."