‘Shit! When will this guy leave?’ Zoe thought to herself as she laid still on the hospital bed, trembling and almost breaking out in sweat while trying hard to stall for as long as she could. ‘She was tired of pretending!’The moment she saw the guy that appeared before her whom she had no recollection of, she quickly thought of the fastest means to get out of the situation. And the only thought that came to her was, pretending to faint, forgetting that she had a dramatic secretary. “Goodness! What is wrong, Miss Zoe?! What am I going to do?!” Zara screamed as she watched her boss fall unceremoniously to the floor, as she quickly rushed to hold her, while panting so fast and almost at the point of tears. ‘What would she tell people if they asked her what happened to Zoe?’Thanks to Martin, who took the cue that alerting people's attention to them would be a terrible idea, he told Zara to put her emotions in check in order to stop people from taking pictures or a video. He carried Z
“What?! You are not taking back the engagement?!” Zoe yelled furiously as she glared at Malcolm, the moment he made his intentions clear after she asked him. He arrived shortly after Gary left, and had driven at a high speed when he was told that she was in the hospital. Entering the ward, he was bewildered to see her pacing around instead of lying on the next like someone who was truly sick, and her next question surprised him as soon as she saw him.“You and I know that this engagement thing is bullshit. So, clinging on hopelessly to something that is not there is not nice for the both of us,” Zoe tried to convince Malcolm further with calmness, even if she was trying hard not to lash out at him too. “We can make it work better. You are like this because you are yet to regain your memories, but trust me, this is for the best,” Malcolm answered her demurely, feeling a little guilty that he was going along with the agreement he already had with her grandfather to tell her the exact
What are you suddenly getting at?” Zoe questioned with a sneer, feigning ignorance. “Is that jealousy I sense?” Malcolm teased with a chuckle as he gazed at her, tilting his head amusingly. “You must finally be losing it. Can you please be on your way now? I would like to have my peace without having to share the space with you,” she sneered and dropped the cup of unfinished coffee as she stood up, and made her way into the bathroom, without waiting to hear anything he wanted to say.Upon entering, her eyes observed how neat and organized the bathroom was, even if Malcolm had used it moments ago, which showed how snazzy and intricate he was in his doings. She stared at the huge, deluxe space for a long while, before taking her seat in the bathtub. She hung her head languorously as she tried to think of what she would do, since things seemed not to be working in her favor now. ‘Her grandfather wanted to marry Malcolm at all costs, and the only solution she thought of was not worki
Zoe returned to her room instantly and slammed the door forcefully after ushering the maids who were cleaning the place out instantly. She began to pace back and forth every corner of the room, while thinking hard of what she would do concerning what had just happened to her. Of what was going on.‘She needed to know what was going on!’ 'Did these people treat her like that in the past? Or were they treating her like that now? What did she not remember?’ Zoe's body trembled uncontrollably as she continued to think so hard. It frustrated her so much to her guts that she was in the dark about what happened in the past just because her memories were gone. It was more confusing that no one was telling her more than she knew. ‘What the heck happened?!’ Zoe continued to wonder restlessly in fear and confusion. Her hand quickly grabbed her phone as she checked the internet to check for any news about Malcolm, and the only news article that popped up was the one from an event he attended
“Sir. The meeting is in about thirty minutes. We should be on our way now,” Edward informed Malcolm as he entered the large, expansive suite, whose attention was fully buried in the numerous files that were before him. “How far is the investigation into the cause of Zoe's accident going?” Malcolm questioned, instead, with his eyes still fixed on what he was going through, like he had been waiting for him to come around so that he could ask. “They said that there was nothing off and that nothing had been tampered with in the car that could have caused the accident. The truck driver who drove the car died a few weeks ago because of complications from an underlying illness, which made the investigation more difficult because there is no one to question,” Edward explained, the same way he was informed by the officer in charge of the case. “So there are no leads? Nothing to tell us if the accident was premeditated or purely accidental?” Malcolm's eyes were in irritation, evidently
Thinking through everything and how Zoe had been insistent on breaking off the fake engagement she had no idea of, Malcolm didn't know why he wanted to keep her around, when it was so glaring that she wasn't willing to be with him even with her lost memories. ‘For what was he even doing this? The proposal? The increased power he would attain if their marriage was announced?’ he pondered endlessly, as he tried to search in his heart why he was still trying to hold on to something that didn't even exist between them. “The ANCLAIR collaboration proposal has been prepared again, sir. The only thing required is your final review before it is sent out to the head company. Mr. Sinclair would give the final approval as discussed,” Edward reminded Malcolm, when he noticed that he seemed to have calmed down a bit. “Not Zoe?” Malcolm questioned surprisingly. “Her grandfather takes care of a part of the review because she cannot do it all by herself due to the accident,” Edward explained, and
“Thank you. Thank you so much,” Zoe showed her gratitude to the maid who had helped her into her room. The young maid had come out of the storage room she was cleaning, and saw that her boss's fiancé was struggling to get up from the floor. She told the lady not to call anyone or a doctor and just take her to her room. As a new maid with no knowledge of what had happened in the past and had no friends in the mansion, she picked Zoe up in no time even if they were almost the same body size, and scurried up the other grand stairs which led to Malcolm's room quickly as instructed. “It is nothing, ma'am,” the young lady answered with her eyes looking at the floor, unable to look at the face of the person who was talking to her. It was like that with the other members. “Can I know your name?” Zoe asked, as she took the seat on one of the plush couches that was inside the incredibly huge and luxurious room. “Erin. It is Erin,” the lady answered with a slight trepidation, as she wondered
Audrey was standing in the mansion’s private kitchen on the afternoon of the next day, while lamenting grumpily because of how tough her life had been lately. She was so bored out of her mind since Isla had been hanging out with her mother for days now, and decided to cook something she learned on an online chef she usually followed because she was left out. While trying to find everything she needed for the food, she felt the presence of someone in the room which made her turn instantly like a jolt of electricity surged through her body. “Hi, Audrey,” she heard the voice call to her, and she froze startled to the spot, “How are you?” Zoe asked again, as she sauntered into the kitchen and began to work closer to where she was standing. “I'm.. I'm good. What are you doing here?” Audrey stuttered anxiously as her words became incoherent, with her eyes growing impossibly wide as if waiting for an explanation. She became suddenly restless to the fact that Zoe was standing in the same s
The air in Malcolm's office was filled with so much tension the moment he let his sister, who had come to momentarily disrupt his schedule, in. It had been days since they saw each other, ever since the unfortunate incident that almost cost her life. He had been expecting that she would come to see him after the information he had gotten about what she had been up to for the past few days, and unlike before, he didn't even give her the chance to speak first, before he lashed at her. “Do not come and shout in my office like you have been going around doing!” He warned gravely as soon as she stormed into his office, with all of her entirety quivering uncontrollably. “You know well that I should not keep calm at all!” She glared at him, “You of all people, know that I deserve to rant. At least if you treated me like trash, I should have one thing for myself!” “Why, in the name of everything sane, do you keep running back to fight with them?!” he demanded, his words seething with ange
Malcolm Meyer sat on the plush leather armchair in the living room of his new home in a faraway estate from the city that whispered wealth in every detail, from the vaulted ceilings which held huge modern diamond five-tier chandelier whose lights art reflected on the ebony floors of the huge mansion, to the floor-to-ceiling windows and perfect walls that were lined with first editions arts and rare artifacts.For the first time in what felt like an eternity, he allowed himself to sink into the quiet of his living room right after he returned from work and took a warm bath, instead of retiring to his room as usual. As he swirled the colorless wine in the wine glass he was holding and took a slow sip at each unconsciously calculated rhythm, his thoughts could not help but drift to the one person he had seen by chance earlier that day at a conference meeting. And even though they didn't get the chance to talk, and he just got to watch her from afar, he was relieved that she had risen f
Dressed in a white silk robe that blinked and waved smoothly in the direction of the wind, Irina Meyer lounged on the chaise longue in her private suite at Le AVARSON wellness resort, as she basked in the lights of the sun's rays that seeped in through the wide, floor-to-ceiling windows. On her right was a crystal glass filled with freshly pressed grapefruit juice on the side table, and right before her face was a fashion magazine which she buried her eyes in, as her right hand occasionally flipped to the next page. However, her mind was barely on what she was reading. It was deep in the thoughts of the confrontation with Andre earlier in her room that morning, and the words she hadn't expected that she would say to him. Though she felt a little guilty that she had smacked him hard with the bitter truth, her face scrunched up with the unwillingness to go and appease him as she continued to enjoy the peaceful repose of her environment. Irina was just beginning to let the peace of t
The door to the room slammed open with a crack like thunder, and Andre emerged from his room, his face a storm of furrowed brows and clenched jaws. The sound of his shoes clacked so hard as he strode down the hallway that led to Irina''s room, his breath coming out in uneven huffs, and his hands balling into fists at his sides. There was a wild urgency in his eyes amid a simmering frustration that seemed to radiate off him like heat, as he burst into his mother’s room without knocking. Irina, who was in her dressing room while getting ready to step out for an anniversary event, was visibly startled by the noise of the abrupt entrance in her room, as she rushed out instantly to see what the ruckus was all about. “Mother!” He called sharply, “Who else had been to that room?!” He demanded heavily, his voice heavy with anger and anxiety. “What do you mean?” Irina scrunched her eyebrows up in confusion, as she stared at him with questioning eyes, almost stumbling against the large s
Sitting slumped in his high-backed chair, with the city skyline stretching out beyond the window behind him, Andre’s hand rested heavily on the armrests of his chair, his chest rising and falling in shallow, controlled breaths, even if the storm that was brewing inside him was anything but calm.He had gotten yet another rejection. Another blow to his pride. He had poured days into crafting the new proposal, painstakingly aligning every detail with the vision he thought Malcolm wanted for their flagship company. And yet, the same words were delivered to him again. “It doesn’t fit our strategy.”The words rang in his ears, colder than the polished marble of the boardroom where they had been uttered, and he swore he almost punched Malcolm right at that moment in his face. He made him feel like a fool again! He effortlessly dismissed his proposal yet again. “You have to be very cautious. Though Malcolm is sitting back, he is watching you with his might! Do not make mistakes. Just wai
“You want to find out the truth too, don't you?” Zoe stared at the cryptic and blunt sentence that flashed in her eyes as soon as she slipped her phone out of her purse, when it sounded with a soft chime signaling the arrival of a new message. She had just stepped out of her car after they arrived at the underground parking lot of the mall, when she received the message that had her pausing on her tracks. Her heart skipped a beat and a cold shiver traveled down her spine immediately she read it, as her head turned sharply to the left and right, to see if the person who sent the message was somewhere around her. ‘Who could have sent this?’ She wondered, her eyebrows furrowing high in worry, as she tapped the screen on her phone, ready to reply to the message and ask who the person was. However, she restricted the urge to do that, cautioning herself that it was not the time for impulsiveness, as she slipped the phone back into her bag, straightened her blazer, and made her way t
Zoe returned home late in the night after a long day at work, had her bath, and changed clothes, before she went to the most quiet place in her house, which was tucked away in the farthest corner of her house, while carrying a bowl of neatly cut fruit in her hands, shortly after she went over some office papers in her study desk. Though feeling tired and stressed out with her entire body extremely sore, she knew she just had to visit the room to do a review of the last discovery she made. Turning on the light in the room, she moved to the wall by her Eastside, and instantly raised the white veil she had pulled over the series of photographs which were pinned in neat rows and newspaper clippings. Each was marked in red. Some had the letter ‘X’ written on it boldly and definitively, while others had circles drawn around faces in the pictures, and were connected with taut strings of thread that crisscrossed like a chaotic spider’s web.Carefully, Zoe sank onto the plush armchair that
Seated in her new office, which was a masterpiece of modern elegance, was Isla, whose aura of calculated grace radiated strongly in every corner of the room. Rather than the usual custom-made suits she usually donned to the office when she was still the CEO of Hila jewelry, she was wearing a stunning turquoise blue dress, with its off-the-shoulder design this time around, revealing her delicate collarbones which were adorned with a simple but exquisite diamond necklace. However, regardless of how stunning she looked, her face was bunched into a disdainful mark, her left fingers tapping rhythmically on the table and her mind momentarily lost in some other place, as her eyes constantly darted to her phone which was before her. Barely a few minutes later, while still seething uncontrollably, her phone began to ring, and she quickly snatched it from the table. Instantly, her lips, which were painted in rich, pepper-red lipstick, curled into a smirk, as a hint of malice instantly flicke
ZOELVA’s luxurious structure, erected tall, reflected the shining bright lights of the afternoon sun from the east, with its luxurious designs radiating across the core and surroundings far and beyond the huge city. Inside, shoppers went from floor to floor, wandering wide corridors that were lined with top-tier brands, with staff moving around to guide and direct everyone in the most orderly manner. Groups of families made their way to food stands, their laughter and shouts mingling with the savory scents of sizzling burgers, crispy pizza, and sweet, sticky treats. On another side, fashion enthusiasts, elites, and socialites were gathered around numerous designer boutiques, their eyes fixed longingly on the glossy displays of haute couture, while others anticipated getting their hands on the most sophisticated top-notch tech devices. Amid the crowd’s awe and excitement and the hubbub of purchasing endlessly and engaging so many sections in the mall, a moment of stillness fell int