After Zoe left the golf course, she couldn’t bring herself to go home because of how she was feeling, and the surfeit amount of thoughts that were running through her mind. Instead, she drove to a faraway beach to clear her head, parked her car miles away, and walked down to the edge of the ocean where water could sweep her feet. She stood on that spot for a few minutes, her mind racing through many conflicting thoughts and emotions, before she finally turned back and sat down, wrapping her arms around her knees as she gazed out at the relentless waves from a distance while lost in thoughts. The disturbing revelation Martin had told her earlier made her so worried, as she slipped her phone out of her inner coat, and swiped across the screen to her gallery where the picture of the card she took was. It was an innocuous-looking card, plain blue, embossed with simple red lettering. If not for her curiosity about everything that was in Irina's safe, there was no reason for her to both
Zoe threw her phone back into her pocket, her hands trembling with rage as she got on her feet, straightened the rumples on her clothes, and stormed to where her car was parked. The drive to the six-star restaurant was almost at the speed of light, as she gripped the steering wheel so tightly, and floored on the accelerator so keenly with her eyes fully on the road, while navigating through the city’s evening traffic. The memory of Marcel, arrogant, disrespectful Casanova, who had asked to see her burned in her mind, and she knew she would not let unwelcome reappearance go unanswered in the right way. As she pulled up to the opulent restaurant, the valet took her keys with a nod after her orders, as she strode purposefully through the lavish lobby, her heels clicking sharply against the polished floor. She was on her way to see him on the very last floor that was said to have been reserved for just the both of them, to resolve their differences.‘Ah,’ her lips twisted into a wicked
The information that Zoe had been on a blind date set by her grandfather when he was out of town, and the one she had been asked to go to again that day, drove Malcolm crazy when he heard that he lost every sense of reasoning at that point as soon as he dropped the call. He had not bothered to change his clothes, and just stormed out of his room, picked up a car by himself, and drove out without employing the help of a chauffeur. His hands gripped the steering wheel as he floored hard on the accelerator, his anger fueled by thoughts of betrayal from Francis Sinclair. The imagination of Zoe going on a blind date arranged by her grandfather and meeting another man played repeatedly in his head, with each version of his mind scene inciting the flames of his rage.‘Just why would he do that?! Why?!’ Malcolm was so enraged. His fingers trembled with fury as he dialed Zoe's incessantly, without any sign of response. “Fuck it!” His jaws clenched hard as he threw the phone onto the passeng
Malcolm drove out of Francis Sinclair's mansion still in anger, while trying Zoe's phone unsuccessfully with no one to pick it up. Though unfazed by Zoe's grandfather's words before he left, his mind could not help but drown with concerns about what the old man could be planning to do. “You will not be able to say this once she regains her memories,” those words flashed through his mind repeatedly, and overwhelmed him with some kind of unsolicited fear.He knew the kind of person that Francis Sinclair was, and could never say he trusted what he was capable of beyond business terms. In fact, he preferred not to know what he could do. The only person he was interested in was Zoe. Roaming through his head and mind, he thought of the perfect place that she could be even if she had gone on a blind date, and hoped that he would really be right, so he confirmed that she wasn't home either. Even if he knew he was supposed to be respecting her space by not arousing suspicions between the tw
Zoe didn't return home with Malcolm that night, and told him strictly that she had some unfinished business at work and had to go back to it. He succumbed and took her back after he stopped by a Michelin-star restaurant and made her eat. He knew that there was no way she would have eaten something all day. And about an hour after he dropped her back at the office, she drove her car to one of her private villas to go and spend the night there. It was the perfect way to find her thoughts. The next morning, she returned to work looking even better than the previous day, as she made her way into her office with Zara following behind her from her office. She was so excited that she had been delegated almost all of her duties as Zoe's secretary that morning, and was eager to start working as efficiently as possible. “I trust you had a great night?” She sounded happy and enthusiastic as she spoke to Zoe. “I think I did,” an awkward smile curved Zoe's lips, as she took her seat, knowing t
Malcolm had parked in his Bugatti Centodieci in the underground parking lot of ANCLAIR the same way he did the previous night, and had texted her the same way, hoping she would reply to his message as she promised that she would, so that he would not have to go up again to convince her to come with him. As he sat patiently and awaited a reply, his fingers drummed anxiously on the steering wheel of his car, his mind filled with extremely disturbing thoughts and unsettling questions. The previous day’s conversation between them replayed incessantly in his head like a staccato of dilemma, his heart thumping in unrest at the slightest possibility of it being real. “I think my accident was not accidental but intentional, Malcolm,” Zoe had informed him with an impassive and soulless gaze. “Why.. why? What…do you mean?” He had stuttered confusedly when she surprised him with a strong allegation such as if she had a piece of solid evidence already. “I think someone was trying to kill me,
Malcolm's phone buzzed, jolting him from the thoughts that had engulfed him, as he glanced at the screen only to realize that Zoe had replied with three big angry words in capital letters, with numerous exclamation marks after them to lay emphasis. It made his lips curve into a broad grin as he read it again. ‘I AM BUSY!!!!!!’ ‘I will come up to meet you then,’ he texted her back immediately, waiting to see her reaction. ‘Then I will tell the security guards to tell anyone that I am not up, so you can't come in, Malcolm!!!’ She laid further emphasis and even added an angry emoji, but it only made him chuckle more. It was better than her not replying to his messages all day. ‘And I will wait till you come out and meet me,’ he typed back immediately, his fingers grazing his lips, his eyes fixed on his phone, his mind predicting what she would text next. ‘Then you can stay there. I don't give a damn,’ She responded again, and he snickered so much because he had already speculated
Malcolm sat behind his table in the office the next morning, staring blankly at the beautiful scenery of the city from his office through his floor-to-ceiling window, as Zoe's words from last night echoed endlessly in his mind like a storm. He wanted to believe that it was a lie that she was in love with her friend Martin, and that it was an attempt at her end to push him away from her. However, her eyes seemed so stern when she said those words to him. It was hard to tell if she was telling the truth or not. “No,” he muttered to himself, his hands fisting in anger as the veins popped out, “She is lying and is just saying that to break whatever we have,” he tightened his fists restlessly. The thought of Zoe loving another man twisted his insides with jealousy, as his thoughts raced through his memories, trying to think if he truly saw any affection in her eyes for Martin on the day they met at the party. Though he had been so uncomfortable and restless about the kind of rela
What?” his eyes widened in surprise. “You ruined me,” she repeated, her voice breaking the more it felt like someone had physically ripped her heart out, “You don’t even know what you’ve done. You…” She couldn’t finish, the sobs wracking her body too powerful as she fell to her knees again, the sound of her sobs cutting through the stillness of the late evening. “Do you know I can never be happy no matter how hard I try?” She continued, as she shook violently as if her soul had split open.Malcolm's face became frozen with pity and anguish as he watched Zoe break down before him, in a way he had not seen in a very long time. His heart ached so much when he watched her so broken, as he instantly squatted beside her. “What is wrong?” His voice trembled with pain, as he reached out to her tentatively, his hands fearing that she might not like that he touched her, “Please, Zo,” he beckoned, “Talk to me.”Suddenly, as if compelled by those few words, Zoe raised her face to meet his eyes
Zoe returned the same day after the most traumatic news from Emily hit her, and was barely in her mind when she boarded the plane back to California. Instead of calling Zara to meet her at the airport on arrival with a chauffeur as planned, she boarded a cab instead and arrived at the estate very late that evening. As soon as it dropped her off in front of her house and turned back to leave, she stood for a few minutes, her mind blank about what to do or where to go, with those haunting words echoing in her mind. “I am so sorry. I never should have taken you. You do not deserve all of this.” The pain and grief of being told the darkest truth of her life was too much for her to bear. It shattered her heart so much. ‘Goodness! How could… How could this even happen to her? How?’ Zoe couldn't stop thinking about how miserable she had been her entire life. She wondered how things would have turned out if had gone to her real mother and father. Then she would have been showered with so
The rain had just begun as a soft drizzle in the evening, and Malcolm was there when it did. He was sitting on a chair in the balcony of the rooftop room in his house where he hadn't been for the longest time since he moved in, and realized how beautiful the entire estate from that view was. He also realized how palpable the amplified loneliness and unusual serenity of the place was, just from staring at the entire view from where he sat, but couldn't dwell in it as usual because his heart was burdened by the thought of someone. Her. The person he had worried even more about ever since his encounter with Andre. He wished he could call and talk to her. He really wished he could. But at the same time, he wanted to respect what she wanted too. However, it was hard doing that. What Andre had said couldn't evade his heart. He knew he might stop at nothing to get to her just to get back at him. As the drizzle turned to an increased droplet of rain, Malcolm's eyes continued to fix on the
A low, choked sob escaped Emily's lips and she struggled for breath, while tears began to spill down her wrinkled cheeks, as her eyes, watery and unfocused, locked onto the figure in front of her. “I… I am so sorry,” she whispered with a voice strained with pain, as her gaze trailed across Zoe's face as if searching for something. “I didn’t mean to do it, okay?” Emily blurted out again, as her voice trembled with misery, “I was jealous and was so stupid, so I ruined everything. I ruined our years of friendship, and ruined your happiness too. I made you miserable,” she reached out to Zoe with a trembling hand, as her hands cupped her cheeks. “Jasmine,” she choked out again, “I'm sorry for coming between you and Fred. I…..I.. tried to covet him for myself and I agree. But, it was because, I thought… I thought he was everything. And to be honest, he was. He was kind, he was rich, and he was changing your life. And I… I hated it,” she began to confess, her words raw and unfiltered
Her steps were heavy, slow, and hesitant as she walked through the hallway that led to the VIP ward that her mother had been transferred to, with her heart thumping erratically as if it would jump out of her chest anytime soon. “Make her tell you,” her grandfather's words echoed in her ears again, the more the sound of her heartbeat increased its volume in her ears. Zoe continued to move closer to the room, as she swallowed hard, the fear of what she might hear, suffocating her mind the more she continued to conjure thousands of scenarios in her mind. As soon as she got to the door and grabbed the handle, she paused for a moment and closed her eyes tightly, and drew small sips of breath. ‘Whatever she was going to hear, she just hoped and wished it wasn't going to be a cruel twist in her already shattered world.’Pushing the door open, Zoe's eyes caught the sight of Emily, who was sitting upright on the bed with her back facing the wall, with her thin frame swaddled in a hospital
Dressed in a stunning black, corseted lacy dress, that danced around her in a big umbrella of gathered flaring net, Zara stood beautifully at a corner of the party, while subduedly drinking from the flute of champagne she had in the grasp of her fingers. While basking in the beauty of the launching event and carefully observing all that was going on around her, her eyes barely left Zoe, who was on the other side of the open-roof room still holding conversations with people. However, Zara noticed that after she held a conversation with a man that seemed to break the conversation she was having with a group, she picked a glass of champagne and drank from it in a single gulp. ‘Strange. She hadn't been drinking all evening,’ Zara thought to herself, as she looked away, wondering if she was finally loosening up from being so uptight and restless since the day before. But, she could not ignore it when it seemed like she had counted three glasses already, and it seemed like Zoe wasn't go
Languidly, Malcolm made his way into his living room right after he arrived home, and left all the lights in the house off, the same way it usually was, whenever he was having the worst day ever. Today was one of them. He was able to find the stairs because of the dim lighting that hung on the walls in the living room, as he slowly climbed upstairs, and entered the first room on the left, slamming the door shut. Instantly casting away his coat, tie, and briefcase to where they should be, he pulled his suit, socks, and shoes, and walked into the bathroom to stand under the shower to wash the day's stress off him. He stepped out shortly and changed into clean clothes, before he immediately collapsed on his bed, his mind storming endlessly with worry. As Malcolm remained on the spot for a few minutes, his eyes deeply buried into the gold-colored ceilings that were above his face, because he couldn't stop thinking about his encounter with Andre almost an hour ago! He couldn't stop
Unable to book a flight to where Emily was admitted, was the hardest thing for Zoe to do in the past few hours after she left her grandfather's place. There was just a day left until the launching of her newest jewelry collection, and she could not afford to miss the launching party. Not as the CEO. Curiosity had made it difficult for her to focus on work throughout the office the next day, because she just wanted to know the truth about her birth once and for all. The only hypothesis that was ringing in her head after putting so many pieces together as a possibility, was a reality that was enough to drive her insane just at the mere imagination of it. It was too heavy to even accommodate her thoughts. She had asked Zara to plan her entire schedule for the day and next, as well as book a flight for the night after the launching party for her. She planned to get to the root of her confusion once and for all. There were still many answers she had unanswered already. As Zoe che
Marcel struggled against her tight, feisty grip as he grabbed her hands and overpowered her, before jerking himself free from her grip, almost causing her to fall back. His breath came fast, his chest rising and falling with fury, “I have nothing to say to you,” he said calmly, as he began to straighten the creases that formed on his shirt because of the way she had grabbed him. “What?! You have nothing to say to me?!” Isla lashed out angrily, seeing that he was about to enter his room, as she dragged him back from leaving with every ounce of her power and might. “After what you did to me? After you betrayed me and joined forces with my enemy to take over my company?!” she spat with a fireball of fury, her eyes threatening to scorch him on the spot, “You, of all people, knew what that company meant to me. Why would you do it?! I had to travel miles just to come and see you in this rat hole you have pathetically hidden.”“Do what exactly?” he continued to speak with a low, enthusias