My CEO Bestie And Me

21, Sending Lerisa away

Anthony approached the sitting room door and pulled it open, finding Lerisa standing there, looking beautiful in her brown long gown.

The gown concealed her figure and the curves Anthony had noticed the previous morning when he visited her family to check if she was alright.

Lerisa smiled sweetly at Anthony, unable to explain why she had come to his family home instead of simply sending her regards through his mother.

"Good morning," she greeted him.

"Good afternoon, Lerisa. Why are you here?" Anthony asked, staring intently at her face, puzzled by her happiness, which contrasted sharply with the sad expression she had worn on previous days. Her cheeks were red like a tomato back then.

"I came to see you and apologize for leaving your birthday celebration early yesterday. I wasn't myself, so I had to go home and rest," Lerisa explained as Anthony stepped aside to let her into the sitting room.

"Did my mother say anything strange when you arrived?" he asked.

"No, why? I only met your mother at church. I apologized for leaving the party early, and she wasn't angry with me," Lerisa replied.

"Hmm," Anthony hummed, standing beside the sitting room bar. "What would you like me to serve you? Wine or canned drinks?"

"I'm fine. I need to head home to wash some clothes and prepare for work tomorrow," she said.

Anthony's face twisted in annoyance. "That's fine; you can leave."

"Anthony, what's wrong?" Lerisa noticed the way he was staring at her, as if she had done something wrong.

She sensed his anger, but it wasn’t related to his ex-girlfriend.

"Nothing is wrong, Lerisa. I thought you said you were going home?" Anthony asked.

"Yes, I did, but that’s not why you should be staring at me like that," she said, still standing in the sitting room and not yet taking a seat.

"I'm not angry with you. I'm just upset about what happened last night. I can't believe Clara would cheat on me while pretending to love me. What if I hadn't found out? Would I have married a liar and a cheat?"

Lerisa felt guilty for not telling Anthony the truth.

Seeing him heartbroken made her feel bad, and she apologized, "I'm sorry. I saw Clara yesterday morning with that guy, but I didn’t know he was related to you. I saw them kissing but was afraid to tell you the truth. I took pictures but wasn’t brave enough to show them to you." She looked down after speaking, and Anthony stared back at her, shocked.

"You did what? You caught them kissing? Why didn’t you tell me? I thought you were my friend. Damn it! Have I been surrounded by fake friends all this time?" Anthony glared at Lerisa, but she quickly defended herself.

"No, Anthony. Don't say that. I’m sorry; I just didn’t know how to tell you. I confronted Clara, but she denied knowing me. She told the guy she didn’t know me and mistook me for someone else."

"That's enough. You can leave," Anthony dismissed her, and Lerisa's face fell at the sight of his anger directed toward her.

"I should leave?" she asked him sadly as he turned his back on her.

"Yes, Lerisa." Anthony poured himself another glass of wine. "Just leave me for now. I need some time alone to recover from all this. I’ll be fine, but you need to go home and give me some time to recuperate on my own. See you in the office tomorrow."

Lerisa frowned as she felt Anthony sending her away.

"I'm sorry, Anthony," she muttered softly.

"It's fine, Lerisa. Just go home," he replied casually, still not looking back at her. She left his sitting room, feeling dejected, and went downstairs.

Mrs. Beatrice was in the living room, having instructed Sandra to prepare something for Lerisa and Anthony to eat. She hadn’t expected to see Lerisa leaving the mansion so soon.

"What's wrong, Lerisa?" Mrs. Beatrice asked, curious about what her son had said to her.

Did Anthony tell Lerisa that he couldn’t marry her?

"Nothing, ma'am. I'm fine. Anthony just wants to be left alone because he’s heartbroken over Clara cheating on him, so I need to go home now," Lerisa replied.

Mrs. Beatrice sighed in relief upon hearing her response and invited Lerisa to join her at the dining table for lunch.

Lerisa walked back to the dining room to join Anthony's mother and greeted Anthony's father, Mr. Joshua, as he approached the table for lunch.

"Where is Anthony? Why not send him downstairs to join us for lunch? Or has he eaten? He didn’t go to church today, and now he’s still in his bedroom, wanting to starve himself because of a woman. Go and call him, Sandra," Mr. Joshua said, and Sandra nervously headed upstairs to summon Anthony.