“My new life here,” Malcolm mentioned casually, his eyes still studying her quietly, wondering what she would say. Zoe tilted her head slightly, thinking and considering what she would say, “It is very nice, I think,” she mumbled quietly, with a modest grin that just reflexively graced her lips, and he instantly noticed just when he was about to thank her for her kind word. It surprised him almost to see that his suspicions were confirmed the moment he saw her gazing at the interiors and arts in his house in a different way from her usual demeanor. “You seem different from your usual self,” his eyes studied her expression, but Zoe was not looking at him again, her eyes lingering around the living room as if nothing else mattered. However, she raised a brow when she heard him say that, and a sarcastic laughter escaped her lips, as she raised her glass to the light which was a reflection from the chandelier above, and did a little swirl before mumbling, “More broken, I guess.”“No,
"Come back here! Where is the dessert I asked for?! And how many times have I told you that mother doesn't like her kiwis cut this way?! Are you going to be dumb forever?" Audrey, the first daughter-in-law of the Meyer family, yelled at the beautiful young lady who was multitasking as she served different dishes in front of different people at the same time and pace. The hardworking lady had woken up at 4:00 am to get started in the kitchen, while preparing the different dishes that were eaten by each member of the Meyer family. And she had to make sure she served it fast and got back to work, which included fixing Aaron's school uniform for the day and whatever errand they all wanted her to do. There were a variety of Fresh berries, Granola for crunch, Poached eggs on English muffins, Canadian bacon, smoked salmon, sautéed spinach and kale for general feeding, and on the other hand, for the saucy sisters, there were bagels with cream cheese, burrito, omelet, and baked buffalo win
Gossip was flying around the mansion of the Meyers and transmitting with the speed of lightning, as soon as one of the maids saw Malcolm making his way into Zoe's room, which was stationed in a hallway, different from the members of the family. They all wondered what was going on as they tried to think and figure out reasons, Malcolm would suddenly come back from work and go straight into her room. It had never happened before. For him to enter her room ever since they had been married. Their voices rose in speculation. "Is he finally seeing her as his wife?" One whispered as she scrubbed the same spot in the kitchen over and over again. "Or does he have something important to tell her?" The younger maid insinuated. "Could he be mad at her for something she did, and have decided to scold her secretly, unlike the rest of the family?" Another one guessed. "What could it be? Or does he suddenly need sexual relief?" The tallest of them smirked with a seductive grin tugging her lips,
"She must have clearly lost her mind.""Reject a hundred million? Can her family ever get a quarter of it till they all die?""But are you sure, Mrs. Meyer has not gone mad from the aftereffects of too much suffering? She suddenly looked prideful when she asked to eliminate the compensation part from the papers." "Is that not a foolish way to deal with things? Choosing her pride over millions?"The maids around nudged themselves and whispered into each other's ears as low as they could, wondering what was going on in Zoe's head. It was clear to them that she would rather become a penniless, divorced outcast than take the Meyers money. Malcolm was still sitting in his comfortable position like a king's figure, inwardly shocked by Zoe's request not to receive a dime from him. Though his face was cold and etched with an expression as stoic as ever, he smirked maliciously and thought to himself that she was trying to pull silly tricks. Edward met the eyes of his boss with uncertainty a
It has been two weeks since Zoe left, and the difference in the ambiance around the Meyers mansion was evidently palpable. The maids had returned to their post as usual trying to catch up with everything they had left for so long, and things became difficult because there were barely enough hands to handle all the jobs at once. It had them all wondering endlessly, how Zoe had managed to juggle everything by herself at once. It was difficult. The chefs had been unable to prepare meals to suit everyone's palate and taste buds, and they could not afford to set the table as early as Zoe cooked all meals because of the difference in everyone's preference. The maids that were hired hastily in a few days to cover up for the job, had broken almost all the precious glassware collections in the kitchen. There was always too much confusion in one morning, with vicious rages flying around from every member of the family, and the maids to be the receiving end of every complaint. They had no clu
Everyone was charmed and impressed beyond their expectations to see the stunning female stand before them and give her speech as the new heiress, while the entire family of the Meyers was about to lose their minds as they tried to comprehend the scene. It was too much for them to bear and handle at once. They couldn't even fully grasp the shock. Their breath hitched collectively caught in their throats in a suspended moment of silence as if the shock had momentarily stolen the very sound of their voice, when they realized the reality of their ex-daughter-in-law standing before them, and was introduced to everyone. Audrey and Ivy clamped their palms over their lips with their eyes widened in disbelief, while Irina lost her footing as she froze with her muscles locked in a momentary paralysis. Only Malcolm and Isla remained comported irrespective of how they were feeling, while Aaron was too carried away by his video game to even realize the disorientation his family had been plunged
Every member of the Meyer family alighted from the luxurious car in front of their mansion after the party in the same way they went, and they all sauntered into the living room silently with so much silence that was stifled with heavy tension, through the grand double doors of their opulent mansion which swung open.The family's footsteps echoed on the marble floors with their heels and shoes clicking rhythmically, with the force under their feet evident as they made their way in, each stride a confirmation of the restless anger coursing through their veins. "Do you all believe what you just witnessed at that banquet?!" Ivy, who never took her time to speak her mind among everyone in the family, suddenly lashed out as soon as they all got to the living room."Is it even possible for someone to suddenly change within two weeks, and go from being a wretched lady from the countryside to the heiress to the Sinclair wealth?! Can you even comprehend the possibility?!" She continued with a
In the hushed ambiance of the standard luxurious suite where soft rays of blocked sunlight filtered through the deluxe curtains into the room, Zoe lay in a peaceful repose on the plush bed, sprawled tiredly on every part of the bed. The soft sheets cradled her body into a gentle sensation of warmth and comfort, with her head buried into the huge pillows that decorated the bed in an opulent decor. And for hours since dawn, her eyes had been wide open and staring at the white ceiling. She couldn't sleep further no matter how she tried. The distant hum of the air conditioner was the only thing that she could hear in the deep silence that settled in her room, and it wasn't like the way she had lived her life in the past two years with constant buzziness. She tossed endlessly to the other side of her bed and shut her eyes tightly to find some sleep, but nothing was helping matters even if she tried and wished. Her sleeping pattern had become haphazard ever since she got married to Malco
“My new life here,” Malcolm mentioned casually, his eyes still studying her quietly, wondering what she would say. Zoe tilted her head slightly, thinking and considering what she would say, “It is very nice, I think,” she mumbled quietly, with a modest grin that just reflexively graced her lips, and he instantly noticed just when he was about to thank her for her kind word. It surprised him almost to see that his suspicions were confirmed the moment he saw her gazing at the interiors and arts in his house in a different way from her usual demeanor. “You seem different from your usual self,” his eyes studied her expression, but Zoe was not looking at him again, her eyes lingering around the living room as if nothing else mattered. However, she raised a brow when she heard him say that, and a sarcastic laughter escaped her lips, as she raised her glass to the light which was a reflection from the chandelier above, and did a little swirl before mumbling, “More broken, I guess.”“No,
The moment Zoe stepped into Malcolm's house, the door shut behind her with a quiet click, sealing her inside a space she never thought she would ever step into, as Malcolm walked behind her. It wasn’t just that the space was as familiar as hers, it also had similar interiors, exteriors, and dimension placements that it almost felt like she was entering her own house. However, the outlook was completely different. His, had a quiet, effortless luxury woven into every inch of it and smelled everything like him too. Her own house had remained untouched ever since she moved into the space she lived in but never truly settled into, but his own had undergone a completely crazy transformation. Even if it was painted in dull, lifeless hues of grey, cream, and black color in a way she used to hate, seeing how everything in his house blended so perfectly, warmed her heart.As Zoe further made her way to his living room, she noticed that the floors shone beneath her feet in a way that was poli
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 thr
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