“Hello Diablo!” Francesca’s voice whispered as she pushed open the door. She appeared to be on a phone call and even if Annie and Sofia couldn’t see her, they made do with the sound of her approaching footsteps. The moment the handle of the door moved, Annie had swiftly roped Sofia underneath the table and now they were backed into the corner, trying their best not to make any sound. Annie had her hands across her lips and Sofia’s chin was tucked into her knees. They both looked at each other with a frantic expression knowing Francesca could never see them.Otherwise they’ll be doomed.The sound of her voice was off like she was nervous which was a new look on Francesca and she was low and very careful not to be heard. “I said i’ll get your money to you!” She gritted through her teeth next. “Just give time—give me tomorrow. I’ll have total control and fifty thousand dollars would mean nothing” She was agitated, pacing around the room which only meant Sofia and Annie had to be extra
"I've never seen you this excited for a Baron party."Annie entered from the door into the room and Sofia darted a look through the mirror back at her. She was dressed in a sheer burgundy gown that Oscar had bought for her back in Italy. If there was anything that the Barons were known for, it was how to throw a party.And tonight was officially the night that Aaron would take over the company. He would publicly announced as CEO and all the shares and stakes would be in his name. It was the moment everyone was waiting for and a time that could never be short of drama.Sofia hadn’t seen Oscar that night neither had she seen Theo but at least Annie checked in from time to time, especially with the information they both had that could very much change everything. “You look fantastic” She complimented, taking a seat by the edge of the bed and Sofia had a nervous expression across her face as she turned around. It was obvious the confidence was all a veneer for Annie herself who was dress
"Frances—" Sofia was halted by her hands in her face and Theo walked out of the room, leaving the two women alone. Francesca inched close enough that her lips grazed the lobes on Sofia's ears. "Don't try me tonight" She warned. "Stay out of my motherfucking business or you'll get hurt, Sofia""You try and be smart but you'll only wound yourself most" Francesca threatened before pulling away. Her jewelry glinted in the lights and Sofia followed them until both their eyes were locked in squarely and there was an evil grimace across her lips.Francesca cat-walked out of the room and was met with the flashing lights of the press, waiting on her. She was about to be crowned queen of the Baron empire and as outrageous as it sounded, this was more of her night than it was Aaron's. Sofia clutched her chest as the echoes of her vicious words flooded back to her.She needed to see Annie that moment.And although she had already made it abundantly clear that morning, there was absolutely no way
"It's been a really long time brother." He grinned.Dimitri’s raucous voice might have been overshadowed by the chaos which ensued in the halls but it was still as clear as day to Oscar. He arched his brows, unconsciously folding in his fists out of anger. He remembered denting Dimitri’s nose a while back and thought he’d at least spend some more time in intensive care.But somehow, here he was.And besides the few scars across his face, he was fairing even better than Oscar. “You won’t want to beat me in public” He gritted through his teeth, pushing into Oscar’s chest as he leaped forward. Both their eyes navigated the score of cameras and reporters at each post and corner of the room and then Oscar looked back to the gnarly smile across his lips.“They’re cameras everywhere.” Dimitri rubbed his hands together.“There’s no way you would be getting away with it this time if you hurt me” He brushed into his shoulders. “By the way—“ During his brief pause, Oscar threw another look at hi
“Oscar”“Can we sit down and talk?” Ronald’s voice halted his son in his tracks and Oscar couldn’t help but dart a worrisome look to his mother. He could sense the brewing tension in the air that could be cut by a knife.And everywhere fell silent as Cynthia picked her bags to leave.So silent that even as she closed the door, one could hear the soft noises that came from her sobs. Oscar’s heart jackhammered in the uncertainty of what his father had to say and it took a moment for him to calm. “I’m really sorry for tonight” Oscar muttered because even though they hadn’t been on the best of terms, he still knew how much this meant to Ronald and how much he wanted this. So putting aside everything, he still apologized and that brought a faint smile across his father’s lips, cementing the decision he was about to make that night.“I made a mistake” Ronald took a seat right to him.“It was doomed from the moment i realized i had to give everything to Aaron when it should have been you” H
One Week Later.The row of chairs were silent and the winds rustled the leaves of the flowers along the aisle. There were a few people, most of whom were the closest family to the Baron and then a handful of reporters. Everywhere was silent and the atmosphere was as thick with tension and grief.There was a coffin meters away from the front chairs where Cynthia alongside Oscar was sat. He was in a glistening black tuxedo which matched his mother’s dress. He was doing a better job at holding back his tears than she was. Cynthia was a wreck, having her head buried into her handful of tissue paper. The silence was deafening through her ears and she especially would have breathed a sigh of relief as the emcee finally mounted the stage.He grappled the microphone and cleared his throat.“I would like to welcome you to this celebration of the life of Mr Ronald Baron” This was the moment—this was the moment Oscar dreaded his whole life but somehow, here he was. He was in it.No amount of hop
“Theodore.”“Would you like to say something?” Cynthia, who was barely holding unto the microphone stood ahead on the stage and looked to the youngest Baron. At the call of his name, Theo lifted his gaze before subsequently looking around him. He was nervous and one could tell from the way he pointed at himself before falling out of the chair. It wasn’t rocket science to figure out he was a bit drunk—the bottle was even slightly peeking out of his pockets.He staggered his way to the podium but before he said anything, thankfully he was sober enough to realize he owed Cynthia an apology. Because she might not have been his birth mother, but there was no reason to disrespect her the way he did.“I’m sorry for the other time” He whispered and she let it go with a nod. She had bigger worries than something her already been forgiven for. Cynthia was his stepmother but she was the opposite of stereotypical given how she raised Theo like he was her child—like the rest of them.Things weren
“Shit.” That was never a good sign.“Shit!”“Shit!” Though Oscar knew the last thing he was probably supposed to be doing was driving himself across the highway, he still hopped into his Mercedes as the only way he could get out of there.The day had already began bad given it was his father’s funeral but there was no way he had an idea that it would turn out way worse.His fingers clenched around the leather steering wheel and he tried so hard to quiet the ravaging thoughts in his head. He was breathing heavily and on the edge of his seat. His eyes were blurred and his feet was still pressing into the gas out of anger.He sped at past a hundred and twenty kilometers per hour and even the building ls beside him had turned into a hazy blur. The sound of his revving engines were the only way to silence his thoughts and for a moment, Oscar didn’t care if he were to die then and there. The pictures of Sofia and all their moments flashed behind his eyes and he could feel himself grow angri
FIVE YEARS LATER.“Aunt Annie!” A child’s scream reverberated through the halls before a little girl of about five years scurried into the room in a bright yellow dress and the first thing she did was embrace Ann who was waiting with her usual open arms.“How are you, Mia?!” She lifted the girl into her arms, adorning her flustered face with kisses. “Where is your mommy?” And just as she asked that question, Sofia scurried right after, Oscar by her right hand. “Have you got the keys?” She asked, panting from her lips and looking around the room perhaps for anything they might’ve been forgetting. But just for a brisk moment, Oscar reached out to her hands.“You look beautiful.” He didn’t fail to compliment her whenever she did, in the last five years at that. Oh how time flies, truly. And to say a lot had changed would be a massive understatement but then again, not so much, I mean Oscar and Sofia were still so madly in love with each other.“Mommy, aren’t we running late?” Mia called
SIX MONTHS LATER.The sun was out on this chill Saturday evening and the winds filled the trees around the magnificent canopies. There were flowers of every kind and colors and balloons scattered across the garden fields. Everyone was seated with their eyes turned to the couple, the main reason they were here in the first place.“Theodore Baron and Victoria Freya Winters” The officiator called both their names and it was hard for a tear not to well in Sofia’s eyes in that moment. Her sister looked beautiful in that flowing white dress and it was exactly how they’d both envisioned everything since they were kids.Including her as her maid of honor and the same could be said about Theo who by his right hand side had Oscar beside him as well. In that moment, his eyes met Sofia ever beaming with a smile. Six months had passed since his very first surgery and all the events that came after. So did the second and the third, and now that the trial was over, there was only one final test left
Sofia was the never one to believe in miracles.Well that was until today. Three hours had passed since everything that happened, Dimitri’s arrest as the everything in context. And as she sat there, she kept replaying it all behind her eyes. She was wrapped with a blanket and Theo and Damien were right beside her.Of course they knew now of what had happened to Oscar and how Annie had dived in front of a bullet to save Sofia, falling off the building in the process. They were just as shocked as the person who unfortunately had to witness it all. It was no wonder she stayed quiet for those three hours, reeling in the aftershock and post trauma. However, the silence had to come to an end as the doctor came out of the room just then. She stood with aching feet, feeling like she’d always spent weeks in these particular hallway. Her lips parted but her eyes said the most words as the doctor heaved a sigh.“It was a success. You can go in now” The doctor broke the news and in that moment,
“We can’t let her leave” Dimitri muttered to David, whose name Sofia had only just come to know. The two of them were at a safe distance but she could hear the murmurs from their lips. They stood at the foot of the door so her only likely escape was jumping down down the five foot building and she couldn’t dare to scream because Dimitri had already assured her his non reluctance to shoot if she tried anything funny.And so she stood there, with her fingers intertwined with each other, playing it off as though she wasn’t genuinely scared for her life. Her skin was pale and her face was flushed off every color. A million thoughts ravaged her head, most especially the ones about how she could escape.She wondered how unfortunate it was that she’d walked into yet another predicament but in that moment, half the thoughts that roamed behind her eyes were about Oscar. And each time she stared at Dimitri, she was so full of vengeance that she wanted to pay him back for what he’d done.Howeve
As Sofia stood there, she couldn’t even utter a single word. Her whole mind raced with a thousand thoughts as the chaos behind the curtains echoed back to her. Her eyes were flooded with tears and there was a shooting pain that pierced up her spine.In a moment, her eyes fell to her open hands and he was all she saw. It was as though she had drifted back to the moment that she held unto him, begging him to open his eyes…to wake up. But the hardest part was she wasn’t even certain that he could hear her. She wasn’t certain that he would ever actually open those eyes again. And hers, well they darted to the piece of sandwich that laid capriciously on the hospital floor and before she could even start blaming herself for leaving, something she would have never done if she knew things would turn out this way. And for what, for food.Before she could blame herself or further immense herself into the guilt, an arm drew her back. “Hey hey” That shrill rang into her ears and Sofia had to ac
There was always something so terrifying about nightmares. Especially for Oscar and so that was why when he plunged his eyes open, only to find out that he was surrounded by an impaling darkness, the first thing he did was scream at the top of his lungs.The atmosphere was cold, sending a chill up his spine so much that he shivered. The hollow halls returned an echo of his voice as well and he was too afraid to move even an inch forward. He hated the darkness, he wasn’t scared or, although there was something quite eerie in the air.He just hated being lost and in that moment, he was.But that was until a shrill whisper crept up behind him and Oscar sharply turned around. He could swear that someone was here, was close to him but alas, when he threw his head over his shoulders, there was no one. Maybe now was the right time to get scared.His hands fell to his side, feeling the crisp texture of his scrubs and as he moved forward, the noises were all he heard. It was hard to move with
“It’s been four hours” A voice echoed from behind Sofia and it wasn’t until she turned around that her eyes fell upon Damien. His hands slipped into his pocket with an elongated gaze right next to her. She threw a look over her shoulders though she still clung to the stairwell.“It’s you” She happened to mutter plainly before he raised his hands into the air. “Well I’m no doctor,” Damien teased. “But I brought you a sandwich and a cup of coffee” He stretched out his hands and while her eyes to it, there was the ghost of a smile that made it across her lips.“I’m not hungry” Sofia heaved but by the look in Damien’s eyes, she didn’t have much of an option but to cave in, taking the food from his hands. Though she sipped the coffee, she kept the sandwich aside and for a brief moment, there were comforted by the shrouded silence between them. That was before Sofia suddenly piped up after a few minutes.“Thank you by the way” She said.Damien folded his arms with a shrill nod. “For this as
For the longest time, Ferdinand wanted to say those words to Theresa. It had even a really long time since we last saw him, rock bottom and fresh out of jail all while being handed divorce papers from his long term partner but just like everyone else, a lot had changed for him.And even more had come into perspective, like realizing how bad he’d been through the years, to Theresa, to Freya and then to Sofia. And now that he was all alone, he wanted nothing more than to finally tender his apology to those who he had hurt.But the fear that it might have been too late plagued Ferdinand, causing a few sleepless nights. There was no way he would have survived without Damien, who had come to the house to pick up some things and Ferdinand had told him everything that had happened.Damien didn’t have to do all of that including showing up at least twice a week but he did. He did because for him as well, everything had changed. Luckily, even as things weren’t as bad as they once was, he didn
The chilly rush of air breezed into Sofia’s face and through her hair, swaying it left and right across her shoulders. In case she drifted so far, the distinct scent of pharmaceuticals and the rapid beeping of the heart monitors both far and near were enough to remind her of where she was.She stood with her arms crossed in front of her, reminding herself by taking deep heavy breaths to calm down. Today was the day of Oscar’s first surgery which was a bypass graft procedure undoubtedly the most important and complex of the three he was recommended.The doctor might’ve said a million words to Sofia about how this was to repair the damaged blood vessels around his heart, both narrowed and clogged to improve his blood flow so it betters the chances of the trial working but it didn’t stomp her anxiety. It could be good but then again, she was well aware of the risks to know that it could also be terrible.So she stood still and even her deep breaths didn’t work so much. No one knew the am