Best Actress
A FEW DAYS PASSED and Elisa successfully manipulated Kazimir in letting his guard down. They would go out everyday, and the guards with them would lessen as the day passed. Elisa created an illusion so that Kazimir would think that Ezio is not after him anymore.
And as usual, Jacob disagreed on Kazimir’s decision and Elisa’s suggestions. He always made arguments everytime he can see something that might put them in danger. However, Kazimir was just too blind on Elisa’s plan.
Aside from decreasing the number of his guards, Kazimir also shared some information to Elisa that only him and Jacob knew. This made the assistant furious, thus, he decided to confront Elisa.
“Madame,” Jacob spoke with indifference to her while blocking Elisa’s way towards the ground floor. He stopped her midway on the stairs.
Elisa looked at him with puzzled expression. “Oh, Jacob! Good morning. What can I help you? she asked before stepping down on another step, just for her to be stopped by the assistant.
“Can I go down on the living foom first?” Elisa asked with politeness even though she felt annoyed on the man in front of her. “Let’s talk on it while sitting down.”
Since the first day of her stay in Kazimir’s mansion, Jacob always do the opposite of her wishes. He also tried to convince Kazimir to be stricter to her. She was just fortunate that she has her fingers around Kazimir’s neck.
“I’m afraid I can’t wait for such formalities, madame,” Jacob answered before getting straight to his point. “I just want to remind you not to interfere with Signor Kazimir’s business.”
Elisa feigned ignorance looked at him with questioning reaction. “What do you mean?” she asked and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t meddle with Kaz’s business. I don’t remember doing such thing.”
“Don’t fuck with me, madame,” Jacob spoke through his teeth, obviously losing his patience on the woman in front of him.
Elisa raised her right eyebrow. “Don’t cuss at me. I hate people with dirty mouths,” she scolded him with widened eyes, sending a warning.
“Don’t change the subject, madame. You know what I’m talking about,” he responded before pulling his hands out of his pockets. “Do you think I’m fool enough not to know what you’re doing? You’re playing with Signor Kazimir with your fingers. You’re manipulating him.”
Elisa shook her head before standing straight and with confidence. “I don’t know where you got those hunches, but I assure you that I am not manipulating Kaz,” she responded before chuckling. “Can’t you just be happy that your signor got what he wanted for several years?”
“I can be happy for my signor if you’re genuine,” Jacob spat out and glared at the woman. “But from the looks of it, I’m sure you have hidden agendas. Your daughter-in-law just died, and now you suddenly showed you, saying that you want to give Signor Kazimir a chance? Only a fool would believe in you!”
“So your saying that Kazimir is a fool?” Elisa asked and grinned. “You seemed to be too confident of your position as an assistant that you dared to insult your boss.”
Jacob gulped. It wasn’t his intention to indirectly insult Kazimir, but his words already proved it. The woman in front of him sure knows how go twist everyone’s words so that she will be at the advantage.
“My signor is just blinded with his feelings. Once I opened his eyes out, he will see what kind of woman you are,” Jacob grinned before insulting her. “I don’t even know why Signor Kazimir wanted to settle to a second-hand woman like you.”
Elisa was about to open her mouth to reply when her eyes spotted someone coming to their direction. Suddenly, she slapped her own face before pushing her own body to fall down the stairs.
“Aah!” Elisa let out a cry as she fell down on the bottommost part of the floor. She touched her cheek with her right hand, while her other hand went to touch her ankle.
Jacob, on the other hand, was shocked and taken aback by her sudden actions. He doesn’t know why she did that, and he almost thought that she’s going crazy.
However, his eyes widened as he saw a man emerged from the door. Jacob panicked, as he looked for words to explain the situation.
“Belleza!” Kazimir shouted while running towards the woman who is crying in pain.
He touched her face to make her look at him, and his eyes landed on her swollen cheek. It was so red and Kazimir knew that it hurts so much, as Elisa jolted everytime he touched it.
“What happened?” he asked the crying woman while checking her body for wounds. Then, he looked up at the his assistant still standing on the stairs. “Jacob! What happened to my wife?!”
Jacob stuttered while trying explain the situation, but he was still shocked, and it gave Elisa time to steal the spotlight. She clung into Kazimir’s arms and cried louder.
“Belleza? Tell me. Where does it hurt?” he asked with worry. He doesn’t know why Elisa was crying. All that he heard earlier is the sound of something heavy falling. When he arrived, he just saw Elisa on the ground.
Elisa looked up at him with tearful eyes. Slowly, her finger pointed to the man standing on the stairs. “He… he pushed me, Kaz,” she spoke with a weak voice before hiding her face on his chest. “He hurted me.”
Kazimir’s eyes darkened upon hearing her words. He turned his head to Jacob and glared at him. “What did you do?!” he screamed, making his voice echoed inside the living room. Even the maids cleaning in the other parts of the mansion heard his loud voice.
“I didn’t… I didn’t push her, signor!” Jacob immediately defended himself. “She fell on her own!”
Elisa cried louder that her body started shaking in Kazimir’s embrace. Her cries easily dominated Jacob’s words, making his explanation fell on deaf ears.
“He slapped me… He pushed me… He..,” Elisa spoke between her cries when suddenly, her body became limp. She fell down once again while sitting, and Kazimir caughter her unconscious body.
“Belleza!” he shouted while gently tapping her cheek with no slap mark. “Belleza!”
When Elisa didn’t respond, Kazimir hurriedly carried her body. “Damn you, Jacob!” he screamed at his assistant while glaring at him. “I’ll make sure to give you a lesson! Idiota!”
Kazimir ran towards his cars to send Elisa to the hospital. Unconsciously, Jacob followed them because he doesn’t know what to do, or how to explain the situation to his signor.
Suddenly, Jacob saw a small smile from Elisa’s lips. She knew that she won, and it will just take a few more times before Kazimir decides to remove Jacob from his life.
AFTER ALMOST HALF AN HOUR, Elisa “woke up” inside the hospital with Kazimir on her side. She turned her head towards him and asked with a weak voice, “Kaz? What happened?”
Kazimir hurriedly checked her. “Belleza, you passed out. Do you feel better now?” he asked before silently tapping her cheek that was slapped.
Elisa jolted at his touch, acting as if it was hurting. “My cheek hurts,” she answered before biting her lips.
“That bastard Jacob,” Kazimir spat out with hatred in his voice. “How dare he to do this to you!”
After hearing the assistant’s voice, Elisa’s eyes widened, as she acted scared. Tears fell down on her eyes again, but it was not as much as the amount of tears she released earlier.
“He… He hurted me, Kaz,” she whispered while clinging to his arms. “He told me that I was a second-hand,” she told him with a pitiful voice.
Kazimir’s jaw tightened as his knuckled turned white. “He told you that?” he asked, his blood boiling inside his body.
Elisa slowly nodded her head. “He’s right, though,” she looked down while looking embarrassed. “I don’t deserve you, Kaz. I’m already a second-hand, and you deserve a woman who is mush younger and fresher than me. I’m sorry.”
Knives stabbed Kazimir’s heart while listening to Elisa’s voice. He can’t bear hearing her insult her own self.
For him, Elisa is perfect. No one can be compared to her. She might be old for some, but she remains young in his eyes. His ears couldn’t believe that Jacob told her those things.
From the start, he already noticed that Jacob hold grudges on Elisa. He noticed how his assistant tried to oppose her. Now that he hurted her physically and emotionally, Kazimir couldn’t just sit still. He has to teach him a lesson.
“Don’t say that, belleza. Don’t mind his words, okay?” he talked to her, trying to calm her down and cheer her up. “You’re the only one I deserve. You’re not second-hand.”
“I’ll make sure he will not repeat it again. I’ll punish that bastard!” he added while gritting his teeth. “I won’t let him get away from his acts!”
Elisa touched his arms and pleaded. “Don’t be too harsh on him, Kaz,” she spoke. “He might just be confused right now. Let’s give him another chance.”
Kazimir shook his head. “No, belleza. I will punish him. He hurted you, and he will pay the price.”
Elisa didn’t urge him more, instead, she rested her head on chest and changed the topic. It was random at first, until she successfully shifted it to Kazimir’s business and connection without him noticing.
Now that Elisa is in a fragile situation, Kazimir spoiled her by answering all of her questions truthfully. Elisa used that opportunity to know more about him, especially about his resources.
In just under an hour, Elisa found out the names of the companies that were backing Kazimir in Poland and Italy. He also revealed to her his new identity as Augustine Severino in Poland, and how he was able to build a huge company and his connections in that country.NôvelDrama.Org © content.
She heard the names of the politicians and businessmen that have a connection to him. Kazimir was too focused on Elisa that he didn’t notice that he already oversharing.
On the other hand, Chiara saved the recording and sent it immediately to Ezio. It contains all the names and businesses that Kazimir mentioned, together with his confession that was called Augustine Severino in Poland.
That same day, Ezio received another email from the same sender: his wife.
“Subject: Bring Them All Down
From: carahasahugebelly@gmail. com
Message: It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. – motivational qoute for today.
The list of his connections is in the recordings. Make sure to wipe them all out. I don’t want any pests. Te amo. “