6 months later Eric's POV ‘What are you doing with the Rotmans’ invite?’ Dad asked Mum as he came into the living room ‘Mrs Rotman herself sent it to me,’ Mum answered smiling. That was the first real smile I had seen on her face in months. We were staying in our house but things weren't as rosy as they used to be seven months ago. We would have been living in abject poverty if I hadn't taken it upon myself to sell our cars and cunningly invest them into shares at the company Daddy manages, which was our former company. The company had been renamed Crystalized Pearl. It was an irony that the name had Crystal in it. Hearing the company's name sometimes gave me a headache, so I just avoided listening to anyone calling out the name. I sold my house where I lived with Crystal to pay off debts and I had to burn the clothes she left behind just to keep her off my mind. I still loved her even after everything that had happened. Dad was doing fine with the company. He w
Midas’ POV I smiled happily as clapping erupted in the hall where Mr Rotman was having the party. I couldn't take my gaze off Crystal now Pearl as she smiled confidently at everyone waving her hands like the true princess that she was. No one could have known that she almost had a nervous breakdown a few minutes before her father called her to the podium. ‘I am so nervous Midas. I feel like turning around and running away,’ she had said to me when I was about to leave her alone behind the podium so that I could watch her walk up there. ‘Running away right now is a good idea but we both know that is cowardice. Didn't the therapy work?’ I asked, looking into her eyes. ‘It did Midas. It is just that …’ ‘Use everything you have learned to get through this night, my love. By the way, you look stunning,’ I said before pulling her into my hands and kissing her lightly on the cheek. I didn't want to tamper with her perfect make up that was why I didn't give in to my urge to kiss
Pearl's POV I was feeling so powerful as I got down from the podium after my father introduced me to everyone as Pearl Rotman. It sounded so good to the ears. Yes, it had taken some time getting used to it but I loved the new name and the new me. It was strange at first when people around me called me Pearl. Sometimes, I forgot that I was Pearl and did not answer. It was weirder when my grandmother or Midas called me Pearl. I was used to being called Crystal. But I needed another identity when I decided to start a new life. Everything about my former name was wrong. Even my mother, who was also Crystal, died tragically. I might be paranoid but I believed that something was wrong with the name. Besides, the name Crystal brought with it the memory of a naive and helpless version of me. I smiled at the young man who had been trying to get my attention since I stepped down from the podium after my father introduced me. He took that as a green light and cautiously approached me.
Crystal’s POV After we got out of the room, I allowed Midas to walk back into the hall while I stood back making sure he was back in the party properly before walking back into the party. I looked around to see if anyone noticed the slight wrinkle on my dress, but everyone was either dancing, eating, or too wrapped up in their discussions to notice me. My eyes met Midas’ where he was standing beside Edmond at the bar stand, and he winked at me, making me blush. I quickly looked away from him before anyone could notice that something was going on. ‘There you are; I have looked for you everywhere,' my father said from behind me, and I turned around to see him standing with a woman who was almost his height. Her eyes were looking brilliantly blue and they were swollen. It looked as if she had been crying. ‘I am sorry, Dad, I was just looking around the place, so I went down the corridor,' I said, smiling at that. ‘You shouldn't be walking around like that; it could be dangerou
Eric's POV ‘I have never been so embarrassed in my life,’ I fumed as we got into the house. Mum slumped into a chair and threw her head back with her palm placed on her forehead. ‘How can Crystal treat us so badly? She is your wife,' CC said sounding like an idiot. ‘Sometimes I wonder if there is a brain in that head of yours,’ I said turning to her in disdain. ‘Have I said anything wrong?’ CC asked looking confused. ‘Crystal is no longer my wife; she is my ex-wife,' I said angrily. ‘That isn't Crystal. That girl is Mr Rotman's child,’ Mum said with her hand still placed on her forehead. ‘What I don't understand is why she looks so much like Crystal,’ Mum said the last part as she sat up properly. ‘I guess I can now see where CC got her dumbness from,' I said gritting my teeth. ‘Don't you dare talk like that to me, Eric? I am your mother,' Mum said with anger burning in her eyes. ‘Nobody is disputing the fact that you are my mother, but when you think the way you a
Crystal’s POV I smiled looking at the shocked faces one after the other as my smile broadened. First, it was shock on Eric's face, then it became anger so, like his mother. The difference in their look was the fact that his mother had a mixture of anger and hatred in her eyes but I wasn't moved by it. My smile didn't falter at all. ‘Are you seriously telling me that Crystal is the owner of this company now?’ Eric asked as he shook in anger. ‘Who is Crystal?’ I asked him raising a brow at him. ‘Don’t you dare pretend as if you don't know what I am talking about? You are Crystal so stop the pretence. You can change your name, you can change your mode of dressing but your voice and your hair are still the same,’ Eric said harshly. ‘I see. From the way you are talking, you must have known Crystal. Anyway, I am sorry to break it to you that Crystal is dead. I am Pearl. I would have loved to meet her too, you know, get to know who she was, but she died before we could meet,' I s
Crystal’s POV ‘She is awake; get the doctor,’ I heard my stepmum say the minute I opened my eyes. I had to close my eyes again as the light coming into the room stung my eyes. My stepmother got the hint and raced to the window to lower the curtains. I opened my eyes again and I looked around when I realized that my senses could tolerate the light. The whole place looked strange. ‘Where am I?’ I asked with a patched voice. ‘You are…’ My step mum was interrupted by the influx of the doctor, the nurses, and my dad. The doctor helped me sit propped on a pillow then examined me for a while and asked several questions until he was satisfied with his findings. He lifted his head and nodded pleadingly to himself as if he was having an internal conversation. ‘I think you are out of danger. But you still need to rest,’ the doctor said. ‘What happened to me? Why was I in danger?’ I asked looking from one face to the other. ‘You don't remember?’ Dad asked and I was about to te
Midas’ POV ‘What the hell is going on?’ I screamed as Crystal started struggling against the doctor's hold on her. ‘She is crashing; get everyone else out of here,’ The doctor barked. A nurse got hold of my wheelchair and then pulled me out of the room, not minding the fact that I was cursing seriously as she wheeled me into the hallway.‘You can't get out of the chair for now, Midas; please calm down,’ Edmond said as he came running down the hallway. He caught me just in time before I could stand on my feet and made me sit down again telling me repeatedly the disadvantages of standing up before the doctor gave the go-ahead ‘Shut up Edmond. The freaking doctor said Pearl was crashing. What the hell does that mean?’ I said. I was going out of my mind ‘What? Crashing? How is that possible? She was fine just now?’ Edmond said in surprise‘So did I think. She suddenly fell asleep, placing her head in an awkward position. I tried waking her, but she wouldn't wake, so I raised an alarm
Pearl's (Crystal's) POV ‘I still feel embarrassed about the fact that my grandfather is getting married,’ Midas grumbled beside me as he came to sit, and I laughed, making people close to us glance our way. We were in the garden of his grandfather's house in Paris. Midas had not wanted the outdoor wedding. He had said his grandfather and Karen should just go to the registry, sign the wedding, and be done with it, but his grandfather had insisted on having an outdoor wedding. ‘What are you so uptight about Midas?’ I asked smiling teasingly at him. ‘Getting married at his age and making a hell of a noise about it. He is getting married to a lady half his age, for Christ's sake,’ Midas said, gritting his teeth. ‘I thought you were already used to that idea,’ I said. ‘Yes. But the idea of getting married this way totally takes a whole lot of getting used to,’ Midas said ‘Look at him Midas. He is happy,’ I said pointing at Midas’ grandfather where he stood before the officia
Six months later Pearl's (Crystal's) POV ‘The auction is about to start, ma'am,’ one of my staff came to the backstage and said to me. ‘Yeah. We are set,’ I said casting another glance over our model. My company was having an auction for our latest jewelry designs. Designs I had made myself during the most depressing month of my life. Midas wasn't joking when he said he was breaking things off with me. He cut off all contact with me and returned to his main office in Paris while he left Edmond in charge of everything in Roseville. I tried to contact him several times to no avail. I went as far as traveling to France, but I was told he had gone to London for a business meeting. I went to his grandfather for help, but the older St Clair only pointed out that he had talked to Midas about his decision, but he doubted that Midas was going to bulge. During the hearing of the case of attempted murder and murder that my stepmom and her cohort were charged with, Midas di
Pearl (Crystal’s POV) ‘I still can't believe that your adoptive sister was a part of your kidnap,’ Karen said as she replaced the lid of the bottle she was pouring water from. I was back in the hospital for loss of blood and malnutrition. Two days after I was kidnapped, I started spotting and it got worse. I was practically bleeding by the time the police arrived the day I was rescued. ‘According to her, I made her father's company sink along with the Conners, so she was doing everything she could for money,’ I said, hissing. ‘The Martins are horrible people,’ my grandmother said. She has been in the hospital with me since I was rescued. No matter what everyone said, she refused to leave. Midas made sure I was in a private ward so that a bed could be moved into my room for his comfort. ‘Mrs Martins called me telling me to remember everything her husband has done for me and drop the case immediately. I simply told her that I had no power over the case. She can call the pol
Midas’ POV ‘I can't sign these damn papers. What does she think she is doing? How does she intend to get away with this?’ Mr Rotman said fuming as she paced Agent Kendrick's office. ‘Left to me? I will ask that we keep quiet. They wouldn't understand what we are up to. That will confuse them,’ Agent Thomas said. ‘We can't just decide to say or do nothing. They can harm her,’ I said in frustration. It has been three days since Pearl's stepmother took her from my house. The only thing we heard from them was the documents delivered to her father's house the previous day, accompanied by a letter demanding that he should sign his properties and businesses to his wife within the next twenty-four hours or lose his daughter. We have searched so hard and we had less than five hours to the end of the ultimatum. We had paid media houses to announce that anyone who provided useful information would be greatly rewarded. ‘How did I not see beyond the facade my wife put to the front? I am
Pearl’s (Crystal's) POV I didn't have a choice but to let Midas leave. Whatever Agent Kendrick called him for must be very important. I sighed and lay on the bed. I wondered what Midas was about to say before his phone rang. What could he be hiding from me? I got out of bed to get an answer from Karen; at least she was there all through my stay at the hospital. I got up but stopped just before I turned the knob. I changed my mind and went back to sit on the bed. I decided that I would wait till Midas returned so that he could tell me himself. I didn't know for how long I was sitting on the edge of the bed browsing through my phone, but the door suddenly burst open, and my stepmom walked in looking as if she was nervous. ‘Mum, is anything the matter? You look nervous,’ I said. ‘Why won't I be nervous? I was half expecting your self-acclaimed husband to stop me from seeing you,’ she said, walking into the room properly and closing the door behind her. ‘You know he wou
Midas’ POV ‘You won't believe it, grandma. Midas was in the arms of another woman when I woke up,’ Pearl said, glaring at me while I smiled at her, making her glare harder. ‘I was the one, Pearl; stop being dramatic,’ Karen said as she placed the tea cup in front of Pearl. We were back in the house. Pearl was discharged three days after she woke up. Her vitals were fine and the doctor didn't see any reason why she should not be discharged. And the best news was that she had remembered everything. Pearl kept saying I was declaring my love to another woman who ran out the moment she realized she was awake. Karen had tried telling her that she was the one Pearl saw but Pearl kept insisting that Karen wasn't the one. ‘Eat your food and use your drugs, miss. I was talking to Karen, and you know II, but you are just trying to punish me for something I don't know,’ I said, I was inking at her playfully. ‘I am not eating, and I am not using my drugs until you confess to your
Midas’ POV ‘We might be having something massive on our hands right now,’ Agent Kendrick said. I was in the office to see him because he called about the things he observed at the Rotman's mansion. ‘What do you mean?’ I asked frowning. ‘All the security cameras in the Rotman mansion have not been working for two days before the incident. So there were no recordings on the CCTV tapes,’ Agent Kendrick said. ‘How was that possible?’ I asked. ‘Now here is the real deal, one of the house helps put Mr Martins at the scene on the day of the incident.’ ‘What? Mr Martins? Pearl's adoptive father?’ I was surprised. ‘The same,’ Agent Kendrick answered. ‘What was he doing there?’ ‘Apparently, it was not his first time coming there. According to the help, he comes only when Mr Rotman was away on a business trip and the madam always made him come through the back gate.’ ‘That means they are having affairs apparently,’ I said thoughtfully. ‘But Mr Rotman was around that day.
Pearl’s (Crystal's) POV I watched in dread as Eric came into my hospital room. He had never done that before. Each time I landed in the hospital, he jetted away somewhere and would not come back until I left the hospital. ‘Hello darling,’ Eric said and I frowned. Since when did he call me that? What happened to whore, slut, fool, idiot, and the other names he could come up with according to his mood. ‘Hi,’ I stammered. ‘The doctor said I could come in. Where is Karen?’ He asked. ‘She went to get me fruits,’ I answered him in bewilderment. Eric sat on the bed, and I would have moved away from him, but I was too scared. I didn't want to be battered again with the pains I was already going through. I was sitting with my back propped on the pillow. ‘I brought you this,’ Eric said handing the bag he brought with him to me. I collected it and thanked him. ‘Aren't you going to look inside?’ Eric asked smiling at me. ‘No. I will do that later,’ I said. ‘Okay then. So ho
Midas’ POV ‘What is going on doctor?’ I asked the moment the door closed. ‘I think we should have this talk in my office,’ the doctor said and we all followed him into his office. The doctor sat down and then sighed heavily. We quickly sat anywhere we could. The doctor looked worried making my insides tighten. ‘Doctor, what exactly is going on?’ I asked once we had all settled down. ‘At the look of things, I think she has amnesia,’ the doctor said. ‘Amnesia? What is that?’ Karen asked looking confused. ‘Amnesia is a post-traumatic condition that makes you forget things, and in the case of Miss Rotman, I think it is partial amnesia,’ the doctor explained. ‘Which means it could be worse,’ Pearl's stepmum asked. ‘Yes. Now, she has only forgotten a part of her life. Some people forget everything including their names. Her fall was quite fatal, so it is expected to happen,' the doctor said making my insides tighter. ‘If she forgot who she is in recent times then she