Chapter 103

CHAPTER 103 A few days later.

The time for the premiere of ‘El Man’, Jacob’s superhero movie, had come. A-list actors, producers and top professionals from the industry graced the event.

Jacob couldn’t watch the movie with his family because he had other things to take care of, but every other Sterling family member watched it together, and they loved it. After the movie ended, Selena was in tears. “This movie is going to rock the world,” Elizabeth told her husband. “You were worried for nothing, dear.”

“Well, it’s indeed a masterpiece,” Shawn opined. “Most superhero movies don’t keep the villain hiding for so long, and the twist at the end was too good.”

Lisa and Roshan were of the same opinion, but they had many more things to tell about the movie.

“The wait was worth it,” Roshan said. “When it releases, I’ll take all my friends. They are going to have a blast for sure!”

Lisa thought of Nate but then also thought she should move on. Veronica was eating ice cream because it was the favorite food item of the woman El Man fell in love with. “If I get a lover like El Man, how wonderful it would be, but I know such characters exist only in movies, and not in reality.” “When is the movie going to be released?” Nolan asked George. “In a couple of weeks.

They are going to release a worldwide trailer tonight,” said George. “I can’t wait to watch it now that I know the plot.” He glanced at Rebecca who seemed like she was in her own world.

Watching the movie did help her forget the reality for a few hours, but the fact that the superhero story also had a love sub-plot didn’t quite help her, either. Without Benjamin around, she felt like she lacked more than what she had. She had been distancing herself from others and was spending time alone all these days.

George barely saw her smile in the past few days, and even when she smiled, her eyes lacked the shine. Her smile never seemed alive. It was too obvious for him to see that she had fallen in love with Benjamin, and his betrayal had broken her heart.

Rebecca was already a woman of few words, but then after the huge shock Benjamin gave, she almost stopped responding to others. Most people would lean back to one of their bad habits during this situation, but Rebecca didn’t have any bad habits, except maybe she began to eat without worrying about maintaining her figure. George also tried joking with her, but she never smiled at his jokes. Maybe her guard against him was still too high. So, he tried the other route by going up to her and saying, “Don’t let your negative feelings get the better of you,” he said, “or they’ll cause you to lose. A great dialogue from the movie, don’t you think?”

She didn’t say anything. As they went to the parking lot, an old beggar approached them. Elizabeth and her parents scolded him and shooed him away. Even Lisa and Roshan’s faces contorted by seeing how dirty and ugly he was; however, Rebecca went up to him and gave a few hundred dollar bills to him and said, “Buy a decent pair of clothes.”

The beggar, Alfred, said, “May God bless you with a happy life.” After the Sterling family’s cars left, Alfred shoved the dollar bills in his pocket and scratched his jaw rather aggressively. The divorce file he had given to Benjamin was torn by Benjamin by running his fingers on top of the files. He had called Benjamin and asked why he didn’t sign the papers, and Benjamin replied, “She’s my laughter. She’s my disaster. She’s my lady of love and woe. She’s my everything. My world won’t be complete without my wife in it, and I believe she feels the same way about me. If I run away from her when she needs me the most, there won’t be a bigger fool than me.”

Coming back to the present, Alfred was still scratching his jaw.”This thing called love... is it the most powerful thing there is?”

Somewhere else in the city.

Ashley was driving her car, while smoking a cigar. She remembered Arlo’s words: Just this one client. Please him, and I’ll make you the manager of one of the beauty parlors I own.

“Just this once, he said,” Ashley didn’t seem all that happy.”He better be telling the truth. I’ve already done so much for him, even washed the toilets in the Sterling villa.”

She stopped her vehicle at a lodge near the highway, and she entered one of the rooms. Soon, a taxi stopped at the lodge, and Benjamin got out. “Why this place?” he wondered and looked around. “If someone sees me here with her, they might get the wrong idea.” He went to the receptionist and asked, “Do you have a hooded jacket?” She looked at him from top to bottom. “This isn’t a store, mister.” “I know. Do you have it or not?” Her expression froze for a second. “Of course, I don’t have one. Can’t you see I’m not wearing one?”

“Too bad. You missed the chance of making a grand.” “A-A grand?” she immediately stood. “Are you serious?” Benjamin took out hundred dollar bills from his pocket. “I can give you more if you want.” Her eyes lit up. “Just wait a minute here. I’ll be right back!”

she ran upstairs and then returned with a jacket in two minutes.

Benjamin gave her the money as promised before wearing the jacket. She couldn’t believe she really received a thousand dollars, and she ended up laughing a lot after that.

Meanwhile, Benjamin was roaming outside the lodge, walking outside the room Ashley had entered.

The door was locked, and the curtains in the windows blocked him from seeing what was happening inside, but he could hear unpleasant sounds coming from inside. “She’s doing it with someone, surely. But how do I get a scoop? Is breaking in the only way?”

“Do you need a hand, lord?” Shadow appeared behind him. “No, I don’t.” “No.You do from what it looks like.” He took out tools from under his sleeve and skilfully unlocked the door without making little to no noise. “There you go. You can thank me now.”

“If I had the tools, I would have done that, too,” said Benjamin.

“I wish you good luck, Lord.” Shadow turned into a blur and vanished from there in a second.

Benjamin then opened the camera app on his mobile and began recording before he slightly opened the door. Ashley was moaning hard as she got plowed by a big dude, and his identity dropped Benjarnin’s jaw.