Kiss of Destiny

Flora Evans stood quietly, looking forlorn and grim as she stared at her father's tombstone. Tears fell from her glistening eyes.

Somehow, she still hoped that her father was just in a deep sleep. But the cold, harsh nightmare seemingly never ended.

The thought that her father was gone forever had left a gnawing void in her chest. However, she had to endure. She couldn't afford to fall apart.

Beside her were her father's best friends, relatives, and colleagues. All of them were staring at his grave. After the service was finished, they all began to leave one after another. But she stayed, for she wished to spend as much time with her father as she could.

As the hours passed by, it began to rain. The butler came to Flora, in hopes of convincing her to come home.

She hadn't had a moment of respite throughout the whole day, and now, she had a splitting migraine. Feeling that she was about to burn out, Flora bowed to her father's grave, turned around, and left.

The moment she got home, she went upstairs to the second floor. There, she heard the faint sound of panting and moaning coming from one of the rooms. Flora's sleepy eyes popped open. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on inside the room.

She wanted to open the door and find out who was so bold as to do something like this. Just then, she heard a familiar voice from inside the room. Her heart skipped a beat, and she froze from where she stood.

"Baby, I've missed you so much these days," said a man, breathing heavily.

Flora's eyes were filled with disbelief and the blood from her face drained.

"I really missed you, too, honey," said a sultry woman's voice. The way they spoke to each other made Flora's heart sink. "What time will Flora get home?" asked the woman.

"Oh, don't worry about her. She's still at the cemetery. I'm sure she's too busy to notice us. Damn, baby, you look so hot in your dress. You want me to fuck your brains out, don't you?" The way he spoke sounded like he was raring to fuck her.

The sound of their moaning voices were like a pitter-patter of harrowing sounds to Flora's eardrums.

Her eyes flared up with angers as she tried to open the door, only to find that it was locked from inside.

Annoyed, she repeatedly kicked the door down until it opened up.

Upon hearing the sudden noise, the two people inside the room quickly turned their attention to the door.

Dante Lowell, Flora's husband, panicked when he saw her standing at the door, looking like she wanted to devour them whole. "Flora? What are you doing here?"

Compared to Dane, Renee was surprisingly calm. She just sat up leisurely while staring at Flora. Moreover, she was naked, and seemingly had no intention of getting dressed.

"Oh, you're already here, Flora? What a surprise." Renee put on a smile.

Flora saw everything clearly as she stood frozen at the door. Her beloved husband, and her sister betrayed her. She clenched her fists, struggling to control her body from shaking, and suppressing the pain in her heart.

"Dante, she's my sister! Why did you have sex with her?" she roared with eyes blazing with ire.

Dante put on his trousers and walked towards her.

"Flora, it was an accident! Renee and I are just..." He then tried to hold her hand.

However, Flora raised her hand and slapped him across the face.

"Do you think I'm stupid, Dante? Didn't it ever cross your mind that you have a wife?" Flora glared at him, her nostrils flaring with fury.

The smile on Dante's face disappeared, and he looked somewhat apathetic.

Renee went to his side, leaning against his chest intimately.

"Flora, you can't satisfy Dante, so I took the liberty of doing it for you," she explained.

"Renee, you bitch! I've always treated you like my own sister all these years. All this time, I was thinking that you were depressed over what happened, so I told Dante to send you home. I never expected you'd fuck my husband!" Flora slapped her as well with hands trembling with anger. "You're going to pay for this!"

Having said that, she rushed towards them, ready to attack again.

Upon seeing her reaction, Renee quickly hid herself behind Dante.

He grabbed Flora's hand, and threw her to the wall.

The pain of hitting her head against the wall made her struggle to get up as tears streamed down her eyes.

"Dante, you and I are done, you hear me! We're getting a divorce. And as for you, Renee, you are no longer welcome in this family!" With that, Flora turned around and walked towards the door.

Before she could even reach the door, she felt a sharp pain coming from her nape, and she soon collapsed. Struggling to keep her eyes open, she saw Dante and Renee standing side by side. A devious smile appeared on Renee's lips as she held a syringe in hand.

Slowly, Flora's eyes closed, and soon, she lost consciousness.

the pungent smell of medicine wafted into her nose. She wanted open her eyes, but no matter how hard she tried, they just won't cooperate. Even her limbs were unable to move.

"You sure this will work?" asked a familiar voice.

Tears welled up in Flora's eyes once more when she heard that voice. Her beloved husband was having an affair with her sister behind her back, The more she thought of it, the more tears rolled down her cheeks.

"She's crying. I think she can still hear us." With a faint chuckle, Renee said, "Flora, you'll soon be an invalid forever. Dante and I are going to get married. It's a pity that you can't come to our wedding."

Dante was standing at the bedside, staring at Flora's delicate yet pale face. There was tinge of pity in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by indifference.

"Let's get out of here," he said before turning around and leaving.

Renee leaned closer to Flora's ears and whispered, "Goodbye, sister."

With that, she sauntered out of the room, feeling triumphant.

After that, everything around Flora returned to eerie silence. Her heart began to ache. She felt as though she was a puppet who couldn't move at all.

"Mr. Lowell, you are much more ruthless than you look. Your wife is going to be paralyzed forever, all thanks to you," said a woman.

"Well, you know what they say; 'animals die for bait, and people die for money'. Who wouldn't covet all of the Evans family's wealth? Three more shots and she'll be sleeping for all eternity. Come on, let's go kill some time. The next injection isn't for another half hour," said a man.

Afterwards, Flora heard their footsteps fading away.

Pretty soon, her heart was filled with relentless hatred. It never occurred to her that her husband would hook up with Renee, much less that he wanted to get his hands on her family's money. As those thoughts plagued her mind, she was overcome with rage. There was no way she would let them have the satisfaction of winning!

Right now, she was feeling sleepy, and it was getting harder and harder to keep a lucid mind. If things were to go on like this, she would definitely fall into slumber. Flora kept telling herself to stay awake, fighting her yearning to fall asleep. The minutes passed by, and she finally managed slowly prop her eyes open. The first thing she saw was the white ceiling, and she felt like her heart was lodged in her throat.

With difficulty, she turned over, and tried to get up, only to realize that her limbs were far too weak to support her body. She bit on her lower lip until blood oozed out of it, and the sharp pain sobered her up. After getting out of the bed and planting her feet on the ground, she staggered out of the room. Her body felt heavy, and all of her muscles felt sore.

Flora looked around and saw no one. She then lowered her head, and used the wall as a support to walk faster. When she arrived at the elevator, she suddenly heard an agitated voice coming from behind her. "Mrs. Lowell!"

Flora didn't have time to think about it. She entered the elevator right away and pressed the button for the ground floor. From the panel of the elevator, she could see a reflection of her nearly bloodless face, knowing that she had been caught escaping, and Dante could come at any time. When that thought crossed her mind, Flora panicked. 'I cannot be caught here!' she resolved.

Not long after, the elevator door opened. She took one step forward, but soon noticed someone from afar. Her eyes widened in shock. Dante was walking through the gate in a hurry. He was going to catch her yet again! Her heart was thumping, and her mind completely went blank.

Fortunately, there was a man who happened to come by. Without thinking twice, Flora threw herself into his arms.

"Sir, help me!" Flora said in a trembling voice, gripping his suit with both hands.

The man was named Louis Dexter. A frown appeared on his face just before he could shake her off. But when he saw her face, it seemed as though he remembered something. The following moment, Louis pulled her into his arms.

Dante hurried to the elevator and looked at them curiously while passing by.

Upon noticing his gaze, Louis calmly embraced Flora, placing a hand on her face. "Don't be afraid. I'm here."

A faint fragrance wafted into her nose, slowly soothing the tension she was feeling. Luckily, Dante didn't recognize her and left. Once Flora was certain that he was finally gone, she moved away from Louis.

"Thank you for your help, sir." Afterwards, she turned to walk towards the door, but he grabbed her wrist. Flora turned around once more, staring at him in confusion.

"Come with me," Louis said flatly.

She was contemplating what happened in the past few days.

For the past two days, she had been bedridden and comatose in a hospital. Dante told everyone that because of how much grief Flora was feeling over her father's death, she fell down the stairs in a daze, passed out, and that she might never wake up again.

And once she had become an invalid, the Evans Group would finally fall into Dante's hands.

As Flora recalled his hypocritical face and how she was deceived by his sweet words in the past two years, all the heartbreaking pain came back to her.

And as for Renee, she wasn't Flora's biological sister. Flora had always treated her with kindness, and even thought of her as a real sister ever since the day Renee had been adopted from the orphanage.

Whatever Flora's father bought for her, she would always share it with Renee. And if anyone ever spoke ill of Renee, Flora would stand up and defend her. She would tell Renee all of her secrets, worries, and inhibitions. But sadly, she never imagined that Renee was an ungrateful traitor.

The thought of losing her father, and almost losing the company that he founded made Flora shed tears of guilt.

"Dad, I will never let those two bastards take over the Evans Group! You put your blood, sweat, and tears to build it from the ground up. There's no way I'd let it all go to waste!" Flora declared through gritted teeth.

A second later, she heard footsteps coming from behind her. She looked behind her and saw a man approaching.

"Mr. Dexter, may I ask why did you save me?" Flora asked, still confused about it.

She could tell from the location of this villa, as well as the grandiose villa itself, that Dexter was a wealthy man. But for some reason, she just couldn't recognize him.

"I just did what I wanted," Louis replied calmly.

His answer left a frown on her face. Flora's intuition told her that this man in front of her was not as simple as he seemed to be.

"I've almost recovered. I can't trouble you anymore, and I'd hate to take advantage of your kindness. I'm leaving tomorrow." Flora gave him a faint smile.

"If you have a death wish, then be my guest," Louis replied, sounding indifferent.

His words made Flora feel nervous. "I can't let Dante get his way! The Evans Group belongs to the Evans family. He will never get his hands on it."

Louis held her chin with his hand, and lifted it slightly.

"As far as I know, Dante Lowell has been managing the Evans Group all this time. More importantly, he has the entire Lowell Group behind him," Louis said with a smirk.

Flora fell silent as regret dawned on her. She had never had any interest in business. Whenever her father would ask her to run the company, she would always refuse. After getting married, Dante took her place as the general manager of the Evans Group. Dante was the youngest son of Elton Lowell, the chairman of the Lowell Group.

Upon realizing how grim her situation was, Flora's face turned ghastly pale.

"You can help me, right?" she asked, staring into the eyes of the tall, handsome man in front of her.

"Why should I?" he asked back.

Taking a deep breath, Flora calmly replied, "If you can help me take back my company, I'll give you twenty percent of the shares of the Evans Group."

"Pass," Louis said lazily.

The look on his face infuriated Flora to the point of clenching her fists.

"Then, what do you want in return?" Although she had no idea who he was, she could tell that he was a man of means, and that he had the power to help her.

Silently, Louis bent over, inching closer towards her face. Flora leaned back, nervously avoiding him. Her back was now against the railing as she watched him close the distance between them.

"That depends on my mood." The way he said those words made it seem like he was flirting with her.

His warm breath sprayed over her face, and Flora soon felt her legs turn weak like jello.

"Well, what do you feel right now?" Flora asked cautiously.

Louis didn't say a word. He put his finger on her cheek, running it along her radiant skin. Flora felt embarrassed by this, and her face soon blushed.

"Not bad," Louis said in a deep, hoarse voice.

Upon noticing how close they were to each other, Flora pushed him away and turned her back to him.