She turned and looked at her parents with pleading eyes, " please mum and dad, let me stay with brother Luke for a while." " If you promise to be good, you can stay for a month with your brother." They loved her too much to deny her anything. She jumped and hugged him again then thanked her parents and hugged them. "I'm really hungry, let's eat first then I can go and pack my stuff." She couldn't hide the excitement. They all settled down and soon dinner was served. " Mum, there was someone you wanted me to meet, who was it?" Luke asked. "She left in a hurry before you arrived. She said something urgent came up. Son, you will love her when you two meet. I have made a reservation at White Jade restaurant tomorrow evening for your first date." "Mum, we talked about this already, I can't keep on going on dates with girls you like, I can only marry someone I love. Stop forcing me to do this to please you. Besides, I have a wife." "You have what? How comes you have a wife and we don't
Luke left his office early, he headed directly to the hospital. He was going to meet Anne's father. He had also promised Luna to take her to the movies. Being a Friday, he also wanted to get some rest from the busy week he had. He went straight to Sage's room. Anne was folding a bedsheet while her father was busy reading the newspaper. They stopped what they were doing and showed him a place to seat. Few minutes later, Anne excused herself to give them time to speak. " I don't know how you have convinced my daughter to marry you, but I want to be assured that she's in good hands. I don't want anyone to take advantage of my daughter. How can I be sure that she's safe with a total stranger?" " Sir, I can never take advantage of your daughter. Even though you don't know me, I promise to take care of her.." For some reasons, Luke felt the need to reassure him. He felt at peace talking to Sage. He knew he could trust this man. Sage too trusted him. He was also gratefu
Luke was woken up by a bright light coming through the window. He looked at his watch, it was already eight in the morning. He looked at Megan sleeping peacefully beside him, he had not felt so happy for a long time. He leaned and kissed her forehead. She woke up and pulled him into a hug. She had really missed him. When she left, she swore never to return but as the time passed, she healed and move on. When the company she worked for sent her here, she was hesitant at first not knowing how he will react, but she decided to come. "Where have you been? I looked for you in the whole city, I thought I'll never see you again." He wanted to know where she run to. " I got an offer to work abroad, our company was just starting, I thought it was a great idea, so I left. I'll be going back in two weeks time." "So soon?" He asked "Yeah, I still have a lot to do at work." He did not know what to say
In the morning, Anne took a taxi to Lindon apartments. She was taken to the ones she had chosen. After carefully inspecting them, she chose one and paid for it. She then spent the whole morning furnishing and decorating it. She made sure everything was well prepared before going back home. She explained everything to her father and he agreed to move out to their new home. Things had been working well. She spent less time regretting on the contract and was glad her father was well now. "" Luke's" Luke woke up and decided to go check on Megan. He wore a t-shirt and shorts. He drove to the restaurant and headed to her room. When he opened the door, his eyes fell on scattered clothes on the floor. He then froze where he was, was he in the right room? There was a couple on the bed, so much engrossed they could not even hear him. "Ahem," he coughed. Startled, the couple looked up. It w
"Hello, this is Anne. Are you okay Mr. Maxwell?" She couldn't connect what he was saying to her. I shouldn't have come back from where? Maybe he wasn't calling me. The phone disconnected, he had already hung up. She wondered what might have happened to him but decided not to worry about it. She was packing their belonging to move out to the new apartment. There was a picture in one of the small boxes she had hidden. This box contained her private and valuable items. Each item had a memory that she cherished. She took out the picture and looked at it for a long time. It was her mother. She wondered how it felt to have a mother and how it would have been if she was still around. She was still thinking about her mother when her phone rang. She looked at the screen and it was Luke's number again. What does he want this time? She wondered. She picked up the phone and pressed the receive button. "Hello, is this sister-in-law? I
It had been eight hours in the same room without talking to each other. Megan thought it was over now. How could I have forgotten to lock the door? She was now afraid of losing everything she had worked for for the last two years. How could she explain that invasion earlier by Luke? Why didn't he call? She looked at the man lying next to her, how will she explain who Luke was? She remembered how two years ago things had changed between them when his mother rejected her without giving her any chance to prove herself and her love for Luke. Things had turned bitter forcing her to move to another city where she knew no one and had nothing to call her own. She had wondered along the streets and in companies in search for a job and a place to live until she met Jason Wynne, the CEO of STARWOOD TELECOMMUNICATIONS. Jason who listened to her story was compassionate and kind and offered her a job and accommodation. He also gave her some money to help her get settled. A year later he fell in l
"wow!!, what's that smell? Mmmh..." He traced the smell, pointing with his nose to the dinning table. The table was set with four serving dishes and two tureens. "Did Luna prepare all this, I thought she did not know how to cook." He wondered. The food smelled delicious and he could tell the cook was an expert. He opened each dish. He could not wait any longer. He sat down and served himself. He started eating enjoying the taste of the food and taking time to allow his tongue to absorb the taste fully. He had not eaten something so delicious in a long time. "Having a great time?" He turned to see Luna looking at him. "Haha, just enjoying the meal. Since when do you know how to cook? This meal is delicious, have you been attending cooking lessons?" " I would love to learn in future but today someone else prepared the food." She sat down without waiting for the next question and served herself. "Who cooked?" He asked curiously. "Sister-in-law di
Tears blurred her vision as waves of anguish washed over her almost drowning her in despair. She remembered how Jason had helped her and how her life turned for better when she met him. She also thought of how Luke had treated her when they dated and how he had loved her. He was her first love, how could she forget that. Her heart ached.She thought of running after Jason but her knees gave way and she fell on the floor and covered her face in distress and sorrow. She wasn't sure what Jason will do next. She was afraid of losing her job and going back to the streets, yet she wanted to have Luke too for herself. In a moment she became more interested in securing her future than she was on what was best for her.Moments later she stood up and wiped her tears. She had found a solution to her problem. What if she went back and pleaded for forgiveness from Luke? She could have both love and a secured future. She thought of the life sh
Luke's pov The morning sun filtered through the windows, casting a warm glow over the mansion, but the atmosphere was still thick with the tension from the days before. Anne hadn’t said much since her mother’s press conference. Her emotions were a tangled mess of relief, anxiety, and anticipation. As I sat across from her at the breakfast table, I could see the exhaustion in her eyes. She looked up at me, offering a small, tired smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “What happens next?” she asked softly, her fingers playing absentmindedly with the edge of her mug. “We fight,” I said firmly. “We fight Sinclair, and we protect our family.” The weight of the situation hung heavy over both of us, but before we could delve deeper into the conversation, the sound of the doorbell interrupted us. I frowned, glancing at Anne, who shrugged. “I’ll get it,” I said, standing up and heading to the door. When I opened it, I was greeted by a group of impeccably dressed individuals, their pre
Luke's pov The next morning was quiet. The calm before the inevitable storm. Anne hadn’t left the house since the news broke, and I could feel the weight of everything crushing her. She was barely holding it together, and despite my best efforts to reassure her, I knew that every headline, every comment, every call was slowly chipping away at her strength. I couldn’t take it anymore. As much as I wanted to protect her, I felt helpless. The media wasn’t letting up. My parents were still furious, and Sinclair’s threats lingered like a shadow over us. But then, something happened that I hadn’t expected—something that would change the course of everything. The doorbell rang late in the morning, and I got up to answer it, expecting it to be another delivery of hateful letters or packages. Instead, when I opened the door, I found myself face-to-face with Anne’s mother, Margaret Devlin, the celebrity idol whose face was known worldwide. Today, though, she wasn’t the radiant, glamo
Luke's pov The world as I knew it crumbled overnight.I woke up to my phone vibrating relentlessly on the nightstand. It was still dark outside, and Anne was sound asleep beside me. When I grabbed the phone and glanced at the screen, I saw dozens of missed calls and messages, all from people I hadn’t heard from in years, along with the names of close friends, business associates, and—most concerningly—my parents.My stomach twisted as I opened one of the messages from Calla.**Calla:** *We have a problem. Check the news. Stay calm.*The words made my heart race, and I immediately swiped over to my news app. The first headline I saw hit me like a punch to the gut.**BREAKING NEWS: LUKE MAXWELL’S SECRET CONTRACT MARRIAGE EXPOSED! WIFE ACCUSED OF BEING A GOLDDIGGER.**I blinked, trying to process what I was seeing. It couldn’t be real. But it was. Below the headline was a photo of Anne and me, walking out of the courthouse on the day we signed the marriage papers. The article went into
Luke's pov I didn’t sleep much after the call from Sinclair. How could I? His words echoed in my mind, a sinister taunt that made my blood run cold. The way he so casually threatened Anne—and the baby—was a reminder that I was dealing with someone who had no moral lines. Someone who wouldn’t hesitate to destroy everything I cared about. By the time the sun rose, I was still sitting at my desk, staring at the half-empty glass of scotch in front of me. My head was pounding, and every muscle in my body was tense, ready to spring into action. But what action? That was the problem. I had no idea what Sinclair’s next move would be. The only thing I knew for sure was that I couldn’t let Anne find out about the call. Not yet. She had enough on her plate—dealing with her mother’s secrets, mourning her father, and now, the pregnancy. She didn’t need the added stress of knowing that Sinclair was threatening her life. I was going to have to handle this alone. --- Later that morning, after
Luke's pov I’ve faced plenty of high-stakes situations in my life. Boardroom battles, complex negotiations, moments where millions of dollars rested on a single decision. But nothing, not even the pressure of running Maxwell Industries, and the Blue eagle companies compared to what I was facing now. Anne is pregnant. It’s a fact that hasn’t fully sunk in, no matter how many times I’ve turned it over in my mind. My wife—no, my partner—is carrying our child. A life we created together, in the middle of all this chaos. I never thought fatherhood would come to me like this. Hell, I never thought about fatherhood at all. But now it’s happening, and I have no choice but to figure it out. The moment Anne showed me that pregnancy test, something inside me shifted. A primal need to protect her, to protect our unborn child, kicked in. It was like every other concern I’d had before—the company, the threats we were facing, Sinclair—became secondary. The most important thing in the world was
Anne's pov The days that followed our encounter with Victor Harlan were a blur of covert meetings, endless strategy sessions, and moments stolen away in quiet corners with Luke, where the tension between us was always just below the surface. But beneath all the chaos, something was changing in me—something I couldn’t ignore any longer. I had been feeling off for days now: an unexplained exhaustion that lingered no matter how much I slept, a queasiness that came in waves, especially in the mornings. At first, I chalked it up to stress. After all, my life had been nothing but a whirlwind of danger and revelations lately. It made sense that my body would react to the overwhelming tension. But then came the missed period. I tried not to think too much about it at first, brushing off the realization as just another sign of stress. But the days continued to pass, and the nagging suspicion wouldn’t leave me. Something inside me was changing, something more profound than just the weight
The name Charles Sinclair weighed heavily on my mind in the days that followed. It was like a puzzle piece that had always been missing, the key to the labyrinth of my past. But knowing who he was didn’t bring relief—it only deepened the sense of dread that had been building inside me. Luke was more vigilant than ever, and our home felt like a fortress. Security cameras, guards, and encrypted communications—he had spared no expense in keeping us safe. But even with all the precautions, the knowledge that a man like Sinclair was out there, possibly plotting his next move, made it hard to breathe easy. We kept in close contact with Calla, who continued digging deeper into Sinclair’s history. She uncovered that he was a man of influence, with ties to both legitimate businesses and underworld dealings. He was known for his ruthlessness—anyone who got in his way tended to disappear, either through financial ruin or far darker means. One evening, as the sun set behind the horizon, Luke
Anne's pov The locket felt cool against my skin as I fastened it around my neck. It was a weight I didn’t know I needed—a piece of the past I was now willing to carry. It didn’t absolve my mother of all the years of silence, but it was a start. A fragile bridge between us. As I stood in front of the mirror, staring at the small silver pendant resting above my heart, I wondered what came next. My life had been a series of unpredictable events ever since I signed that contract with Luke. What had started as a desperate deal to save my father had led me to uncovering the hidden legacy I never asked for. And now, it seemed I wasn’t just navigating the complexity of love—I was also running from shadows. A knock on the bedroom door pulled me from my thoughts. Luke stepped inside, his eyes catching on the locket immediately. He walked over and gently lifted it between his fingers, examining the delicate piece. “It looks good on you,” he said quietly. I smiled, though it didn’t quite re
Days passed since the envelope had arrived. I couldn’t shake the feeling that my entire life had been built on lies and shadows, but at least now, I had a semblance of understanding. My mother had sacrificed everything to keep me safe, but the safety had come at a cost—a lifetime of absence, of missed moments that could never be reclaimed.I stared at the letter again, its edges already worn from the number of times I’d read it. Luke had caught me with it more than once, but he hadn’t pressed me to talk. He had always been good at giving me space when I needed it, even though I could tell he was worried. Finally, one evening as we sat together in the quiet of our home, I broke the silence.“She didn’t have to disappear,” I murmured, more to myself than to him. “She didn’t have to let me go like that.” Luke looked over at me, his expression gentle but filled with understanding. “She thought it was the only way to protect you.”I nodded, my fingers tracing the outline of the wax s