The grand front door of the Meyer swung open with force and rattled against the wall as Isla stormed into the grand lobby, and then the stairway, her heels striking the marble floors with a force that echoed through the long hallway, revealing the intensity of her anger. Her face was scrunched up in anger and despair, and her voice was loud and quivering with frustration, as it dissipated into the air before anyone had even noticed her arrival, knowing she would definitely find them there. “She is back!” she cried out in frustration, as her fists clenched her sides, and her body quivered with anger, as she strode into the living room where her mother and brother sat, “Zoe is back, mother!” Ever since Andre returned home and the family ended up dividing, the only person who was not shocked by the announcement or new arrangement was Isla. It was as if she had known what had been going on behind the scenes before the plan finally became public, and couldn't help being bothered like
It was impossible to miss. The newest, grandest mall which stood in gleaming glass and steel splendor of great luxury and opulence, with its gigantic structure, stretched so wide, and covered an almost unimaginable number of square meters. The intricate details in its architecture whispered of wealth and exclusivity, and every floor was rumored to be filled with unique boutiques, lavish dining experiences, an indoor oasis lined with lush greenery and trickling water fountains, an entertainment area with a cinema of virtual reality lounges, and a rooftop garden overlooking the city below. The construction of the mall had been shrouded in secrecy for months after the redevelopment of the area was instantly announced, and now its opening and launching event was the talk of the town, flooding every news outlet and social media platform. Everywhere, people wondered what conglomerate owned the huge work of art. #Mall of century #Biggest in the city #Magnificent Mall #Top entrepreneu
The golden air at the moment, which held an air ambiance that opened the world of grand luxury and sophistication, filled the nooks and crannies of the new mall where its launching event was being held, whose name had just been announced a few hours ago. ZOELVATop elites began to saunter into ZOELVA mall, where every inch was polished with fine marble, and was designed with mind-blowing architectural expertise that exuded grandeur, designed to leave them thoroughly marveling and awed by the sight that stole breath from their lips. The glass walls had clear panes that were interspersed with opalescent beams that captured and reflected light in all directions, and giant tiers of diamond chandeliers hung in the main atrium, each crystal strand swaying subtly with a familiar melody, while casting the most artistic light pattern on the marble floor below. The huge ballroom for the event was alive with whispers, laughter, and small talk from the elites that were in attendance, ranging fr
“I am sorry to inform you, but the blood test results of persons A and B did not match. They are not biologically related.” Zoe stepped into her house after the launching party had ended, and somehow the excitement she had in her all night after her grand launch became the talk of the town, died instantly. As she stepped inside her new home, an unexplainable heaviness washed over her.Her phone vibrated just as she sauntered in and slouched upon her favorite chair in her living room, and as she glanced at the screen and picked up, she heard the most confusing words she couldn't even grasp almost immediately. “What did you say?” she pressed the phone closer to her ear to be sure she heard right, her eyes twitching uncontrollably. For a moment, she didn’t breathe.“I am sorry to announce to you that the two people in the results that have been forwarded to your email are not biologically related. Therefore, the bone marrow transplant cannot proceed.” A few weeks ago, when Zoe finally
Isla bolted out of her room almost at the speed of light as soon as her eyes caught the most shocking news of her life while surfing the internet, and getting prepared to leave the house. Her face instantly flashed with an overwhelming shock and a mix of disbelief after she had checked more than ten media outlets to confirm the news, and scrolled endlessly while watching videos from the launching event from the previous night. Her lungs dropped to her heart and her stomach sank with fury and a profound shock that stole her entire breath away, as she charged down the hallway of her room toward her mother’s room while holding her phone tightly in the grasp of her hand as if she was going to crush it. Her thoughts tumbled over each other, each one more impossible than the last, as she tried to process the news that had shattered her world and left her almost insane with hatred. As soon as Isla abruptly parted the grand doors to her mother's room open and left them swinging with a ter
In just a few days of Zoe having her hands so busy with signing deals and contracts after the launching of ZOELVA, it was already becoming the busiest, most-talked-about destination in town.Shockingly, some of the most iconic foreign brands began to set up their flagship stores with massive storefronts and bold displays, their designs extravagant yet tasteful there, as if they had all been waiting all along. Top-tier local designers and retailers held their own space also, blending a cosmopolitan elegance with a touch of local charm. From the management to the customer service desk that began work in just two days, every employee worked with an intensity that matched the mall’s electric energy, and quickly adapted to the pace, which was astonishingly fast given how new everything was.With their unique uniforms and all of their movements conveying confidence, they smoothly guided people, answered questions, and handled endless transactions with ease. Media houses, and top magazines
“You are around,” the gloomy and almost fading voice mumbled with a heavy heart, as soon as he heard the phone click on the receiver of his call, just a few minutes after dialing. It was at the most unexpected moment when he had tried the same line he had been trying again and again in futility for the past months, that it went through and the owner of the phone answered. It took him willpower to hide his shock. “Yes,” Zoe's voice came out placidly, devoid of any overt emotion as she answered curtly. Malcolm's eyebrows arched so high in astonishment because he had expected a sarcastic reply from her or a brutal hangup, as his brain ran out of the right words to articulate as a response to the answer she gave him. His voice crackled through the line of sullenness, laced with an uncharacteristic mix of vulnerability and hesitation as he said the most random thing that came to mind, “Your things are still in the room as you left them,” he informed her as if she didn't remember. “You
The small studio apartment Ivy sat in was dimly lit, because she left the lights off, with only a small table lamp to illuminate the room. The air of the surroundings was heavy and filled with the staleness of days-old dishes in the sink as well as the faint scent of spilled wine on the threadbare carpet. Every surface of the apartment bore the weight of her gloom with stacks of unopened bills, piles of dirty laundry, and empty bottles left lying on the floor which portrayed too many lonely nights. For weeks, she had lived this way. Isolated, enraged, shrouded in bitterness, and sinking in despair, ever since the incident with Isla that made her get on Malcolm's bad side, and Andre's sudden return which she never expected in her life to see coming. And even if she had been so joyful to see her brother who was back from his supposed death, after they had mourned him for years, she could not believe her mother would quickly replace her with Isla, who she had condemned just a few w
As Zoe drove through an unfamiliar street, something in a store window caught her eyes which had not, even when she walked around her mall. It was a massive, intricate diamond chandelier, with its glass crystals catching the light in a way that made them look like frozen wings of butterflies. It was huge and extravagant in the way she had never wanted her things, but she wanted it. It didn't have to be from her mall. She didn't have to preorder it. She just wanted it right at that moment. And without a second thought, she pulled over, walked in, and bought it. On her way home too, she stopped to do a fifteen-minute grocery shopping that she could have done at her mall in the neighborhood store and purchased a lot of things she wasn't even sure she needed. By the time she got home by evening, she regretted not asking for help carrying the chandelier in. The lightning fixture was so heavy in her arms when she tried to pull it, that she knew there was no way she could wrestle it throu
It was late in the evening already by the time Zoe finally decided to clock out from the office, and she just took her private elevator to the underground parking lot of the mall to avoid attention since the mall was usually more parked in the evenings and also nighttime when people were just leaving their workplaces. Dylan, who had been waiting by the side of the car, straightened at the sight of her and instantly walked to open the door for her, as he stood by the other side waiting with one hand holding the door and the other resting around his stomach region. However, he noticed as she got closer, that there was something a little different about her manner of walking and her demeanor. Usually, his keen eyes could decipher when she was not in a good mood, times she was glad about something, and times she was sad. Most of the time, she was usually distant and beyond sad. But now, he saw that her lips, which were always pulled into a thin straight line of seriousness, held the fa
“You don't call me anymore,” The voice of the lady on the phone filled with a silent and low resentment, questioned with a very low tone, as if what she was talking about was not brewing fierce anger within her heart. “You know I told you I have been busy,” the voice came from the other side of the phone.“Fuck you and your silly busyness,” Isla scoffed, the softness in her voice suddenly dissolving, “You pick up my call after days only to tell me bullshit? You think you are too important now? Too good to pick up the damn phone?!” A bitter laughter rolled out of her lips again, as if trying to understand the absurdity of the situation. “You are my plaything, remember?” her lips curved into a derisive smirk, as her voice went low while dripping with a menacing reminder, “I own you, and every damn thing you own! Every damn thing! And you are going to be doing every fucking thing I ask you to do every time I call. I shouldn't be the one chasing you,” she spat. A deep suffocating silen
Andre sat rigid in his leather chair at the office, as his fingers tapped with a furious beat against the desk before him, with his eyes burning with frustration as his face contorted into an embodiment of rage. Reports, flight logs, surveillance photos, and some other files were all scattered across his desk, some torn or crinkled at the edges from where his furious hands had gripped them too tightly. A half-smoked cigarette remnant rested in the ashtray, and beside it was a half-drunk glass of whiskey. Gritting his teeth so hard and unable to hold himself from the worries that had been storming through his head and mind, he grabbed his phone which had been lying idle on the table for hours, and dialed the number of his investigator as fast as he could. “Sir,” the investigator spoke up. “Tell me you have something positive already,” he demanded, his voice dangerously quiet and low. The investigator’s heart plunged into fear, as his voice stiffened a bit after hesitating for a
Barely processing what she had just heard, the beautiful young girl with stunning and distinctive shining, glassy blue eyes looked up at the person her mother was talking to, and was about to ask the question. “Who is she?” However, the child's eyes widened with recognition, her eyebrows furrowing in surprise, as she pointed directly at Zoe and blurted out with innocent certainty, “I know you!” It made Zoe’s eyes squint in confusion as they wondered what the child meant because she didn't remember any scenario of meeting a child, and it made her wonder if the child had seen her on TV or in a magazine before. Jasmine was equally taken aback too. “Raine. You probably had the wrong person,” she quickly cautioned her daughter, her heart thumping a little fast how Zoe and her daughter had met before. The girl, however, was already bouncing on her feet, as she freed her hands from her mother's own instantly, and moved to home Zoe's hand, who instinctively flinched, not expecting such
The day had drained her. From the moment she stepped into her office that morning, it had been one endless cycle of rescheduled meetings, unanswered emails, and entire reviews of files and documents. By midday, fatigue had crept deep into her bones and lodged fully there, and by late afternoon, she barely had the resilience to push on working further. And for the first time in weeks, Zoe decided to clock out of work early. Not work per se, but she decided to clock out of the office, because the next place she had in mind instead of home was to go sightseeing around her mall. She wanted to buy something for herself as a shopper and not the CEO. It had been a while since she enjoyed the amusement solely for herself and not strictly business. Taking the general elevator, she pressed the button for the second floor where big top restaurants had their flagship stores stationed, and the first wave of air that whooshed past her nose was the scent of fresh pastries, coffee, and delicacies
“Do you not think we have to remove Malcolm now? He seems so incompetent now, and it does not seem like he is ready to do anything concerning the situation on the ground. We are the ones that would take the fall for it!” a voice rose angrily in the room where some women and men were seated around a polished oak table with hushed voices and nervous glances. It was a man with silver-threaded hair in his fifties, who was a renowned top-investor in big companies. His eyes narrowed into a sharp, and angry gaze as he continued speaking, with his fingers tapping hard against the table, “We need to remove him. The stock is falling, the company is in turmoil, and he has done nothing to clear his name from those slush fund accusations. That silence. It is dangerous. I cannot hold on any longer,” he made his thoughts known to the others in the room. Some of the people in the room leaned forward with conviction, while others shifted uneasily in their seats, wondering if their discussion which h
Malcolm sat behind his imposing office desk with his mind a little lost in the thoughts of Zoe, as he equally worried about her, while wondering if she was doing well. He had not seen her at all the previous day, and arrived home later than he usually did because of some things he had to set out at work. He knew she would be probably home by the time he arrived, but he didn't have the guts to go and knock on her door. He just sat on the balcony of the room where he could see the roof of her house until he saw the lights to her house go off. He had been thinking hard and pondering on the excuse that he could use to go and see her again, and he also wondered how she felt concerning the few things he had done. He was curious and wanted to know her reaction to it. If she had angrily trashed everything- The food, tea, china, flask, lamp, and purifier, or she just ignored the fact that it was there and didn't even care, or perhaps, didn't mind that he did and had no strong feelings towar
The day Zoe had met with Jasmine and had embraced her with all her might, and drowned in the sweet scent of the body as well as her warm embrace, she left with a few strands of her hair. She felt so terrible doing that with her consent, but she wanted to be sure. She didn't want her life to be a lie again even if everything and traits about Jasmine pointed out that she was no doubt her mother. She just wanted the hope that truly she wasn't just misguided by a few coincidences. But instead of calling her and having nothing to say to her when she was probably bitter towards her thinking she was Emily's daughter, Zoe let herself sink into the memory of the woman she longed to call as the loneliness around her pressed in, and filled every inch of the luxurious, soulless space around her. While she continued to wallow in her deep concern, she scooped a spoonful of cereal that had sodden miserably in her bowl into her mouth, and forced herself to keep chewing, even if she wasn't sure sh