She's My Sleeping Pill

Cayenne's life went on as usual. She would do her vlog and upload at least thrice a week while spending time at the foundation office every once in a while. She visited the people according to the list that her team prepared and atop all this, she made sure to spend time with her children.

She brought them out as much as she could and even visited Stefan at work with the kids.

She never considered herself a celebrity, but because of her work as a social media content creator, and a charity foundation owner, plus the fact that she was Stefan Dumrique's beloved wife; Cayenne already got used to people taking pictures with her, creating gossip and whatnot.

Just like that, a few months had passed.

Christmas was finally coming around and everyone was busy decorating their places; be it their home or their stores – no matter the size of establishments.

This was something that Cayenne was looking forward to.

This year, she would be spending Christmas with her children.

Practically speaking, it was still October, and she should have been excited about her birthday, but she was more excited for Christmas.

She even scheduled two working days for Christmas decorations alone.

"Madam, where should I put the Christmas tree?" Nikolai asked while unboxing the huge box where the detachable Christmas tree was kept. It was the same Christmas tree that she bought with Stefan last year.

"Let's assemble that here," she said while guiding her bodyguard to the spot close to the staircase. In that way, it would be easier for them to decorate the upper part of the tree by taking the stairs.

Nikolai followed her instructions and started assembling the tall Christmas tree.

Other bodyguards came with several boxes of decorative materials as well.

Looking at the boxes, Cayenne wondered if they would finish decorating the mansion in two days.

Other people, as long as they have the money, would usually pay someone to decorate their homes. However, Cayenne wanted to be hands-on as much as she could, so she decided to do it her way with the assistance of her bodyguards and helpers.

While she was decorating the Christmas tree, Cayenne remembered something about Nikolai.

"Nikolai, what are your plans for Christmas?" she asked without stopping her movement. "Do you wish to go home and spend time with the Sloan family?"

"No, I won't be coming home. We already agreed that they would be visiting me for Christmas. They can take it as a family vacation, too."

Cayenne raised her eyebrow instinctively, but she didn't say anything against him.

"That's a great plan. By the way, I wanted to organize a party for my friends and staff along with the household employees, do you think it's appropriate for me to invite Isabelle?"

Cayenne stole a glance from Nikolai, and she saw the surprise on his face from her words.

"It should be time for me to meet Eli's girlfriend formally as well as the fact that she's been helping Luiz. I haven't been able to express my gratitude for her." Cayenne added while guessing what was running in Nikolai's mind.

Ever since Nikolai was employed by Stefan as her bodyguard, Cayenne noticed that he had been spending more time with Isabelle. She wasn't sure if it was pure coincidence or something he planned in advance, but wherever Isabelle went to, Nikolai would be there as well.

She didn't want to suspect him, but given her relationship with Dr. Eliezer Rivera, Cayenne was worried that her employee was making a move on the man's girlfriend.

"You should communicate with your brother first," Nikolai answered after a long silence.

"How about you go and send her my invitation later?"

"I'm tasked to stay by your side most of the time unless it's my day off."

"Alright. I'll send you when it's your day off."

Nikolai frowned, but he stayed silent and just nodded his head in agreement.

He was aware that Cayenne was suspecting his relationship with Isabelle, but it didn't matter to him. As long as he could spend time with her as a friend, even when he was hurting when she talked about Eli, Nikolai wouldn't care about Cayenne's suspicion.

As they busied themselves decorating the mansion, an unexpected visitor came.

"Yen!"

Cayenne turned around in surprise and not wasting another second, she put down the Santa Claus ornament and walked toward her visitor.

"Sab! I didn't know you were coming today. My house is a complete mess at the moment," she expressed while giving the woman a hug. "Did you just arrive?"

"Yup. I decided to come here right after unpacking my things. I'm staying at the Dumrique's family villa, by the way. Stefan said that he sent you a message about it already."

"He did?" Cayenne retorted while looking around for her phone. "I don't know where my phone is. It should be around here somewhere. Anyway..."

"You guys are decorating for Christmas already? What about your birthday? Do you have any plans?" Sabrina questioned while putting down her bag on the couch. "Where are the kids?"

Cayenne didn't know if she should still answer the first three questions, but in the end, she chose to answer the last one. "The kids are upstairs."

"Sleeping?"

Cayenne looked toward the wall clock and shook her head. "They're probably playing right now."

Sabrina looked around and found that everyone was busy and there were so many things littered on the floor. She couldn't bring the kids to the living room because it was dusty, and she couldn't go upstairs because Stefan didn't like it when people went into the kids' room without his permission.

[That's germ freak!] Sabrina thought and sighed dejectedly as she picked up a decorative material and placed it on the Christmas tree. "I'll play with the kids once you're done with the decoration.'

"It might take a while."

"It's okay. I will be staying in the country for quite some time."

"Really? Erwin must be very happy about that."

"Oh! I forgot. He has no idea that I am here. Stefan will be bringing him later for a surprise."

Cayenne just smiled while watching Sabrina's beautiful and expressive face. She could tell that the woman was head over heels for Erwin. To think that she was jealous of her when she visited Tuscany before. She still couldn't believe that they had become close friends now.

*

"Mom! Why did you agree to let Sabrina stay here?!" Julia asked her mother exasperatedly as she stomped her feet on the floor. "Did you forget that she's a close friend to Cayenne now?"

Celestine continued to flip the pages of the magazines as if she didn't see her daughter throwing a tantrum.

"Mom! You have to persuade Stefan to make Sabrina leave!"

"Why?" Celestine asked uninterestingly.

"What do you mean why?"

Celestine finally put down the magazine and looked her daughter in the eyes. She knew her very well. Even if Julia would turn into ashes, she would know it was her.

"Julia, every time something happens that doesn't go your way, your true color shows up. I know exactly why you don't want Sabrina here, but this place is owned by Stefan. He can allow anyone he likes to stay here."

Julia's face contorted in anger as she listened to her mother talk. She could tell the underlying meaning in her mother's words. "I just don't like Sabrina anymore," she said in surrender and sat on the couch. "How do you expect me to face her every day?"

"Don't worry. She won't be staying here for long, Stefan told me that Sabrina will be here for three days at most."

Sabrina clicked her tongue in distaste, but she no longer said anything.

Outside the door of Celestine's room, Dylan was listening to the conversation. Just like Celestine, he knew his wife very well. No matter how nice she acted in front of him, he could tell that she disliked Cayenne.

[I must protect you. I can't allow you to be foolish.] Dylan thought as he left and returned to the room where he stayed with Julia.