Irina sat alone in her room in the most terrible state for the first time in a very long time while sipping from a glass of whiskey, her facade crumbling into shambles the more she tried to pick herself together, and her heart pounding louder with each passing second, because of Isla's sudden confrontation that left her cold with fear and unrest. For years, she had carefully guarded so many secrets away from her daughters, and had thought that there was no way they would ever know if she never told them. However, she was overthrown twice in the most shocking way, by her daughter, whom she even thought was most oblivious to what was going on in the house. It made her heart ache so restless, and fear gnawed at her heart, while twisting violently in her stomach. ‘How did she know? What else does she know? How much did she know?! How long had she known all this and kept to herself only to reveal them so casually?!’ Irina almost went crazy with numerous questions in her head, her mind
Ivy had been suffocated and frustrated for days, barely talking to any of the family, and had marginalized herself without giving anyone reasons why she had been like that. And since everything seemed to have turned upside down with the ongoing case with family, no one seemed to care too much because they all had a lot of issues going through their minds and heads. Her mind had been racing through a thousand thoughts, but it had always been revolving back to the same agonizing possibility, which was a truth she feared more than anything. ‘Were they really together? Was it even possible? Did it even make sense?!’ Ivy trembled as she bit at her nails nervously, again and again, the same way she had been doing for days. The thought of Marcel and Audrey being in a relationship was like a poison that wouldn’t leave her mind, and the memories of Audrey’s denials played on her mind endlessly for days. She said she didn't even know him at all! But then, thinking about it, the signs
Martin had been trying so hard to meet Zoe ever since the news of her involvement with an attempted murder came out, but it had been so difficult because she seemed to be busier than ever. She could barely reply to his text messages or come to see him, and he could barely give her an answer concerning what she had asked of him. That day, after she revealed everything about herself that she had been keeping to herself, he found it so overwhelming that he had not expected her to tell him at all. However, when she asked for his help to take her revenge, he chickened out because of fear of the Meyers, knowing that he had much less power compared to them. And ever since he told her he would think about it and reconsider, she has taken his answer for no, and quickly scrapped the part where he helped her by drawing her plan again where he wasn't involved. When he tried to get across to her to tell her that he was willing to give it a trial after days of putting thoughts together, it was
Dressed in a long, white coat, with her hair carefully and neatly tucked beneath a surgical cap, while having a white face mask covering half of her face and leaving only her eyes visible, Zoe slipped through the hospital corridors, and sauntered with confidence like any other normal doctors around. With her heart beating in unrest even if she managed to maintain composure, her hand tightened around the clipboard she had picked up to complete her disguise, as she continued to move tactically, with only one place in her mind. With a VIP card that belonged to one of the top doctors that could access the elevator which led to the floor where Audrey was admitted, she was able to scale through successfully without being detected, as she approached the room in her mind.Standing in front of the formidable door at the left row of the long hallway for a few seconds, she pulled herself together as she drew in a short breath, and with a glance down the hall, slipped into the room before closi
Zoe sat on the edge of her bed, her mind troubled with the weight of the news she had just heard at the hospital, and her heart raced erratically, the surfeit thoughts in her head, jarring her from the possibility of sleep. “Audrey is pregnant,” The forbidding words that the nurse revealed to the doctor had been echoing in her mind like two stones blasting heavily against one another.‘Audrey was pregnant? How? Since when?!’ Her stomach churned with anxiety as she paced the length of her room going back and forth.Restlessly, in the suffocating silence of her room, Zoe’s thoughts screamed at her louder than anything, ‘The news was not only a shocking one, but also dangerous as well.’‘The Meyers could never find out! If they did, they would do anything to twist the situation to their advantage if they found out. They might brand Audrey the worst name ever, ruin hers and Marcel’s reputation, and destroy so many plans that had been lying ahead!’ The thought of what they could do sent
Zoe sat across from Marcel in his private suite where they agreed to meet after her successful sneaking into the hospital, and her heart was heavy with guilt as she struggled to meet his gaze. She had a lot to tell him, and nothing much to say at the same time. It was the morning of the next day after she left Aaron at home since she didn't have any work to go to, and it had been weighing heavily on her heart that she just had to see him and give him feedback. She observed the tension that coursed through his body even if he tried to maintain maximum composure, his eyes meandering endlessly across the room even if he had nothing to look at, as if he was waiting for her to speak first. Marcel's desperation to hear something positive from her was palpable, and Zoe could feel it in the way he kept shifting in his seat, as she struggled with how to start the conversation in her head, in a way that would not end up ruining things if she divulged too much. “Were they able to clear the f
Amid the buzzing city in the evening, a piece of jaw-breaking news which took the city in ripples and caused an uproar suddenly stormed from nowhere, with a damning narrative that was so sudden and shocking, taking a swift turn in the most condemning headlines that the media had been weaponizing for weeks. It began with the breaking news at 7:00 PM at the top billboard spot and the media house news channel, as the main anchor’s voice, calm, and collected, captured the attention of everyone. “In a shocking twist this evening, newly uncovered footage from the most memorable birthday party of Irina Meyer has surfaced, revealing key evidence that casts significant doubt on the attempted murder accusations concerning the billionaire heiress of ANCLAIR conglomerate, clearing her of all charges…….”Instantly, tweets and hashtags went online as people began to share the news as fast as they could, and it began to spread like wildfire, the same way the accusatory news that almost destroyed Z
Malcolm sat at the study desk in his room, with his eyes fixed on the screen of the tablet that laid before him, while watching the evening news of the day with a deep sense of simmering satisfaction, and for a moment, he felt an overwhelming sense of vindication. He hadn't realized how badly Zoe's name had been dragged through the mud for too long until he returned to the country, and he was glad that he was able to do something about it, even if it had been too late. Leaning back in his leather chair, his eyes narrowed meaningfully, he contemplated his next move, as his left thumb hovered over the phone in his left hand, with a sense of restlessness filling his entirety.He hadn't spoken to her in weeks ever since she had warned him to stay out of her life, and he had tried so hard to be obedient to her. He had restrained the incite to call her all those while. But, more than ever, Malcolm felt the suffocating and unbearable urge to see her or hear her voice again as he stared at
But Zoe didn’t move. Instead, she just stood there, staring at the flowers with her mind tangled in a mess of resentment and something she refused to name as she rose to her feet. And somehow, her feet carried her toward the kitchen instead, as her eyes caught sight of the china and teacup. The ones she had planned to return also. ‘Goodness! Just why would he do all this without even asking her first?!’ Zoe screamed in her head even if her tired lips could utter nothing as she began a careful deliberation in her mind concerning how she would return it, knowing that she wanted to have no business stepping into his house.And just right at that moment too, the small green packet next to her microwave caught her eyes exactly where he had left it, and it was the herbal tea he had sent to her. The note he had attached to it lingered in her head and it made her scoff. ‘What business does he have with her insomnia?’And yet, her hands moved on their own, filling her kettle, lighting the
The black car glided softly into the estate as Dylan steered it through the silent, tree-lined road that led to Zoe's mansion, and pulled up smoothly to the front entrance of her house, his movements smooth and controlled, just as they always were. His eyes flashed to the front mirror for a few seconds as he turned the car off, before he reluctantly stepped out, and smartly walked around the car to the right side of the passenger seat. He hesitated for a few seconds before he pulled the door open towards his direction for Zoe, and then waited for her to step out as usual. And for a few seconds, Zoe remained sitting without stirring, as her eyes dimmed into a distant gaze as if her mind had pulled her entirety into an abyss. She was lost somewhere in her never ending thought, and Dylan knew that look. He had studied it more times than he cared to admit. His usual mask of indifference switched that moment for a few seconds as his gaze lingered on her, with a longing mixed with so
It was late in the night already, and Dylan was just driving Zoe back home. She sat in the back seat and slouched her back comfortably against the leather chair, with her neck hanging sideways against the closed window in the most elegant way ever. Somehow, she was trying not to think of it earlier. She was trying not to think of having to sit before Andre in her office, and talk so casually. It reminded her of Audrey. It reminded her of the woman whose dreams were stolen, and a woman whom somehow no one seemed to remember. It made her heart ache that even her husband seemed to have no ounce of sadness for her death. His expression turned even colder at the mention of her name. As much as Zoe tried to push the thoughts and triggering insinuations that kept creeping into her mind because of the silent investigations she had been doing, she couldn't help but remember what Audrey told her. That someone had threatened her after her encounter with Marcel, and sent an anonymous message
Despite the seeping feeling of cold air into the atmosphere in the office of the CEO of the RINASHONE art gallery, it did nothing to ease the storm that was brewing in Isla's heart, who sat slouched against her chair.Her eyes which had been narrowed by a disdainful glare stared again at the chart that was before her, and she could not help but scrunch up her face the more she read those numbers before her. ‘Ridiculous!’ She almost scoffed, ‘The gallery’s earnings for the month were barely enough. Barely enough!’ her eyes glanced through the pile of invoices again, and then glared at the final figure. “This is not good. Not nearly enough,” she muttered spitefully, the more she thought of her debts which loomed over her like a noose. The ones that had given her sleepless nights because somehow there was nowhere she could have pulled the funds from. Isla leaned back in her chair and gritted her teeth angrily, thinking of how the numbers were still low with the exhibition they held an
The bright lights of the city shone against the tinted windows of the car that drove through the highways of the city, but it didn't do anything to catch the attention of the man who sat back in the backseat of his luxurious car, while rubbing his temples absently with one another.As he remained mute without uttering anything all through the journey back home which was unlike his usual self, his mind momentarily flashed back to the event that happened earlier that day, as he steamed with the remnant of his frustration.It was the second time he had a face-to-face conversation with her. He had stormed into her mall straight from work with his pulse hammering with frustration without even thinking too much about it, the moment he realized that yet again, there was no reply. He was so pissed. For days, she had ignored his email. And when he was told that she asked him to be let inside at once, he was quite taken. He had expected that she would prove so difficult so that he would be ab
Her shortcomings. That had been her concern all afternoon. Not the great news Hepzy went back and forth about. Rather than the joy and excitement that usually came with it, she just felt relieved. Relieved that she was doing well. She wasn't happy about it. There was nothing to be joyful about. As she sat at her desk surrounded by neatly stacked reports and a laptop screen glowing with financial projections before her, the numbers stared back at her. Poor and unproductive in her dictionary. As much as it looked impossible, she had always aimed for every venture she had mapped out in the mall. It wasn't just a mall. It was an empire. The one that billions had been finished off on, and it would end up swallowing more if poured into it. Pulling off something that huge had taken so much willpower and mental strength even if every social psychology quotient of hers was always fluctuating. The ice skating rink and the luxury car exhibition space were doing the lowest. 8% returns was all
The faint aroma of herbal tea lingered in the air of the office, where Zoe sat uprightly behind her table, with her poised demeanor betraying no sign of the turmoil that had lingered over her for the past few days even till the night before.Across from her, Zara, who was holding a notepad clutched to her chest, continued to stare at her so overtly, while wondering what kind of woman she was. “You have been watching me like a hawk,” Zoe, whose gaze was fixated on what she was looking at on the tablet that was before her, “Spill it.”Zara hesitated before speaking, as she stared at her, with a concerned expression, “I don't want you to say I bother too much, but I really cannot help but be so worried. I mean you suddenly made me book a flight after the launching, and then left. You came back and told no one. You came in looking so sick and pale, and now you are doing so much work already. You are asking if things you've never……..”“Can you catch your breath, Zara?” Zoe cut her off ins
It was so dark in the night already, and barely anything could be heard around the estate anymore except the branches of trees moving in the movement of the wind, and the sound of crickets that buzzed amidst the gardens that were around. Malcolm was seen returning to Zoe's house after he had left many minutes ago, with big bags in his hands as he made his way to the front of her mansion. Slipping in through the front door now that he knew its password, he stepped in casually and locked the door behind it. Since he left the other inner door that led to the living room open without closing it when he left earlier, it was easier to just enter on tiptoe without disrupting her. Catching a sight of her still sleeping on the couch in her living room, he dropped the bag he was carrying on the cold, marbled floor, and walked over to her side to feel her temperature. He noticed that she was still burning with a fever. Carefully, Malcolm carried her the same way he had done the previous day,
Malcolm had stood by the window of his mansion all evening after returning from work, with his fingers tapping idly at the corners of it which he had never noticed before, but was as sparkly as ever because the cleaning services that usually cleaned his house were perfect at their job. His eyes had fixed on the road outside as he waited restlessly, with his thoughts sinking into a tangled mess of concern and yearning for the woman he had been bothered about more than ever all day because of the articles that were published. And just at the moment when his eyes caught the sight of a car which rolled into view and drove past his mansion, his heart skipped in relief, before he instantly turned away from the window and hurried out. ‘She was back.’He walked fast, and even almost ran, hoping that he would be able to still meet her outside before she entered her house. In the opposite direction, her car drove past him as he walked, and he didn't even mind anything apart from her. His ey