The Rebirth of a Scorned Heiress

Lily froze up as she took in Mark’s stunned expression. Her hands became clammy as her heart rate sped up.

“I… Uhm… I was only talking to myself. I just remembered a scene from the novel I read online,” she stuttered, hoping he never heard the parts where she had just outed herself.

It took Mark several minutes to recover from his surprise, and by the time he did, she was already packing to leave.

He grabbed her by the arm and raised a brow. “Leaving after you dropped such a bomb?” He asked, not knowing whether to be amused or angry.

“What bomb?” Lily asked, deciding to play ignorant. “It was a scene from the novel I was reading to pass the time,” she repeated, and Mark rolled his eyes.

As Celina returned to their table, she was met with a scene that was interpreted as two lovers arguing.

“Oh? Did I come at the wrong time?” She asked with a raised brow as her eyes strayed towards Mark’s hand holding Lily’s arm.

“It’s nothing, I was just leaving,” Lily replied with a flushed face while trying to avoid meeting Mark’s eyes.

“You can’t just leave after saying that,” Mark injected with a frown, earning him a glare from Lily.

Celina cleared her throat and took a seat while smiling from ear to ear. “I support your relationship; there is no need to hide it.” She announced, and Lily blushed harder.

“You don’t have to worry about Uncle and Grandpa too; you have the perfect qualifications to be with their son. In fact, I’m going to take you to meet them this weekend!” She added excitedly while picking up her phone.

“Grandpa will be so happy to have a granddaughter-in-law that you approve of!” She rambles as she types away on her phone. “As for Aunty? We can convince her to give up on the arrange… Give it back!” She screamed as Mark took her phone away, stopping her from messaging their grandfather.

“I’m not ready to inform them yet; can you give us some time before you announce it to the world? Besides, you and I know my mum won’t agree and I’m not ready to go through that right now,” He explained calmly, as if the accusations were true.

Lily gaped at the two, not knowing what not to say.

She could tell there was nothing she would say that would erase the foolish mistake she made by outing herself the way she did.

However, she is grateful that Mark is ready to play along with his sister just to keep her secret safe.

Celina pouted as she took her phone back from Mark. “Fine. I’ll wait,” she grumbled, turning to Lily with a glare.

“What was that about him being in a different world when you are already his girlfriend?”

“I’m not his girlfriend,” she replied hastily, and Mark raised a brow. “I mean, I haven’t agreed yet,” Lily corrected, and Celina grinned.

“Hehe! It’s nice to know Mark Watson is still human. You still don’t know how to properly pursue a woman. Don’t worry, as your favourite cousin, I will teach you all you need to know about how to win my friend’s heart,” she declared proudly.

Mark massaged his nose bridge in frustration as he glared at Celina. “If you don’t cut it out, I’ll tell your mom you’ve been sneaking off to eat unhealthy food,” he threatened, and she kept quiet.

Checking his time, he held Lily’s hand and stood up, ready to leave. “I’ll have Ted pick you up; I need to speak with Lily, and it’s important,” he announced, and Celina frowned.

“You can just drop me off at Lily’s studio. My car is parked there,” she suggested.Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.

Once the bills were paid, Mark dropped Celina off at Lily’s Studio while he drove to Alpha Tech with the quiet Lily in the car.

Halfway through, Mark decided to break the ice by starting a conversation.

“Just so we are clear, I’ve never had a hard time pursuing a lady,” he voiced.

Lily let out a laugh as her tense shoulders relaxed. “I can’t imagine you having one; you are every lady’s dream man,” she replied.

“Including yours?” He teased her, making her blush as she looked out the window.

“No comment,” was all she said as the car once again went silent; however, this time it wasn’t as tense.

“I did a bad job outing myself, right?” She asked while still looking out the window into the bustling nighttime city.

“Well, for me, the timing couldn’t be more perfect. I was just surprised you were right by my side all this time, while I’ve been trying to figure out your identity,” he confessed.

Lily shrugged, a smile dancing on her lips. “Of course, if you want to hide something, hide it in plain sight. Although our meetings have only been coincidental so far, I was trying to make you not suspicious of me,” she confessed.

“The building name was even registered under other people’s names just to be sure you would not go snooping around; that way you wouldn’t suspect.” She explained.

“I did get it checked after it was occupied. I realised the name wasn’t registered, so I left it at that. How did you get through all the civil checks and everything?” He asked, “I’m bewildered,” he added as he continued to drive.

“Not to brag or anything, my designing skill is nowhere near my hacking skill. I’m yet to meet my rival,” she bragged and Mark laughed.

Soon they arrived at their destination, and Mark led her to his office, where he set up the computer. Without needing instructions, she logged into the company’s firewall and began to do some checks to see who had logged on outside the company building.

As her hands flew over the keyboard with several unfamiliar interfaces showing up, Mark, who had been doubting, finally believed the young lady sitting in front of him was the dude who had been behind all his recent breakthroughs and even the one who launched the revolution in the tech industry.

He pursed his lips, staring at her face, while several thoughts danced through his mind.

“There were no outside interferences,” her voice cut off his thought process, and he tilted his head, showing he hadn’t heard what she said.

He picked up the water bottle and drank the contents to quench the immense thirst he was feeling.

‘How long has it been?’ He thought to himself, only for it to be cut off once again by her words.

“The person who leaked the details is an insider, someone familiar with the firewall, but they aren’t too familiar since they left traces of their operation.” She explained.

“Their location is pointing to the basement right now; do you have a CCTV there that can be checked?” She asked.

Mark walked over to the other side of the office, pressed a button on the wall, and a huge flat screen appeared. As he turned it on, he manoeuvred through the settings until he got what he wanted.

The screen lit up, showing the video of a man sitting in a dark corner of the basement while typing away on the computer before him.

Mark cussed slowly, his clenched hands digging into his pocket. “You know him?” She asked, and he hummed.

“He’s the assistant team leader for the team that works directly under me,” he replied.

Lily gave a nod but said nothing as she went back to work.

While she worked on reorganising the codes, Mark made some calls.

“So, you really are Sinful?” He muttered as he noticed all the red dots that had been on the screen previously were cleared.

“Were you having doubts?” She asked in amusement.

“You can’t blame me; the Sinful person I’ve met so far was a man. Not a pretty lady with a fashion design trophy under her belt,” he replied with a smile.

“Oh, please, as much as I love my job, I hate having to do the dress-up part. Too stressful.” She chuckled. “To an extent, I’m relieved, but can we keep it a secret between us?” she asked.

“What are you worried about?” He asked, and she groaned.

“Your cousin has sent out several people to look for me-any trace of me. I’m not sure I want to get pulled into your feud.” She confessed, “I might end up betraying you and choosing your cousin over you if he treats me better.” She winked.

Mark’s lips curled up into a smirk. “Well then, I will have to take up Celina’s teaching classes,” he replied seriously.

“For what?”

“To start learning how to treat you better.” He joked. “I’m afraid my cousin would steal away my precious woman.”

His expression turned serious as he took the seat in front of her. She was sitting on his chair, looking as though she owned the place, while Mark sat in front of her, like an employee waiting to be chewed off by their boss.

Mark ignored the not-so-innocent thought that surfaced in his mind and continued to say what he intended.

“For my safety, your secret is safe with me. However, we have to keep playing lovers in the meantime.”