Not far away from the event, two unsuspecting men stand and one of them was listening to someone over the phone.

"Let's give some shocker to Clifford and Ingrid to announce my intrusion in their lives later. Let them have taste of my hate." The one who uses voice changer was the one who spoke.

"Which of it should we do, boss?"

"I heard that children still loves to play hide and seek and let's teach this child this game with a twist. Ohh, and I love the thought of it!" the person's voice is thrilled imagining the child's parents' anxiety as Clark 'hides' from them. "take a video of their worried faces okay? I'll be waiting..."

In that dim lit room, the person puffed the cigar in his hand. "Ahh... this cigar is relaxing..." the person sank on the chair and breathes deeply."...I'll see you, soon.."

...

"I think you should watch over your mouth, you're old enough for gossip. And for all you know, you can be criminally liable for it." She stood up and left the group with surprise.

She heard the women murmured among themselves.

"Who does she thinks she is?"

"So bratty! She behaves as if she's the girlfriend and luckily she isn't, she'll make the life of the man she'll love a living h.e.l.l. She's possessed over with something." And they all laugh mockingly on Vanessa.

Vanessa ignored them and went straight ahead to where Clifford is. She wanted to ruin to distract Ingrid's merriment. Their intimacy as a couple and as a family is an eyesore to her.

'Hmmm, let's see if you could still smile, Ingrid, if I ruin your mood.' She smiled menacingly as she approached them but she changed her smile to something sweet and innocent.

"Clifford! Congratulations honey! You look so cool out there! I love it..." she obviously wanted to make a scene by making her voice louder than her normal tone to catch some attention from the scandalmonger.

And as she predicted, some of the women started to look at them. So she made a scene by embracing him and she intentionally rubbed her breast to his chest and moaned seductively near his left ear.

Clifford, without more ado, pulled himself away from the woman's s.n.a.t.c.h.

"Wait... What are you doing? Why are you behaving like an ill-bred woman today, Miss Reiley? It's not what I've known of you." Clifford's eyes let Vanessa see his disgust on her manners.

"That's... that's harsh, Cliff... I'm just being nice and sweet to you. We're partners, I mean, business partners and we're friends, too, right? I was just happy for you." Vanessa shed crocodile tears.

"We're business partners, but we haven't reached to a point that we need to be friends, and I don't think we can do both..."

While Ingrid's brow rise upon seeing that the woman is faking it and just wanted to make a scene. She decided to make some scene stealer scheme with a mischievous smirk on her lips.

She reached out her left hand to seductively caress Clifford's arm.

"Can we go now, Cliff? The next game will about to start, let's not waste time here, alright." Ingrid said with tenderness in her voice. Hearing Ingrid's unusual voice tone and feeling the touch of Ingrid's hand on his arm, he looked at it before he s.h.i.+fted his eyes to her face.

But his eyes were glued to the woman's long slender fingers who gracefully stroke his arms and...

'She wears the ring! She's wearing our engagement ring! This is... surreal' his mind screamed, his breathing becomes unsteady as though he started to have an asthma attack.

He's thunderstruck and unhurriedly he traced the woman's slender fingers, then to her smooth forearm, her slim arms up to her face, thinking that it might be a daydream or he's just imagining things. And there he saw, the woman smiling and he felt that her hands squeezed his arms gently, as though she's confirming it.

He could not believe that Ingrid will answer him like this. He didn't notice that Ingrid wore the ring earlier because he was too preoccupied with concern before they arrive.

"When did you..." he didn't continue what he was about to say because Vanessa is just near them.

But it seems to him that they're the only people at that time. The thumping sound of his heart is deafening that only Ingrid's answer could push it aside and bring his hearing and breathing back to normal.

"Just now..." she grinned.

Clifford wanted to embrace her but Ingrid becomes aware of what he was about to do she shakes her head and she whispered,

"No. Not here." And Clifford heard the firmness and finality in her voice.

The man wanted to scream right that very moment so that he could let out what he felt but the queen had already issued a decree. Funny, but he obeyed and controlled what he felt even though he wanted to announce it to everyone that they're getting married.

Their engagement is way too unusual and unexpected.

'This woman really is unpredictable and if I had a heart failure, I could have died before our wedding. She does everything with a surprise! Goodness!' Clifford reflected in bewilderment.