CHAPTER 174Minutes after Marcus revealed all he knew, dozens of patrol cars as well as two helicopters were despatched to the location Marcus had given.One of the helicopter pilots sighted the house from above and the officers, including Caleb quickly moved towards it.They kicked the door of the building down without hesitation and as Caleb ran in, his gaze immediately fell on Jane's weak body sprawled on the bare floor. Caleb rushed to her and wrapped his arms around her. This time, he did not hold back his tears.Her body and clothes were covered in dirt, some parts of her body was swollen and there were a few cuts in different places, but still she didn't lose her beauty.Jane muttered something with her eyes half closed.“I'm here, baby, I'm here. You're gonna be okay. It's all over, you'll be fine,” Caleb didn't mind that some droplets of his tears fell on her face, all he knew was that he had finally found her and he was never going to let go ever again.Some medical attenda
CHAPTER ONE“You need to sign these,” Jane Roberts almost dropped the frying pan she had been carrying across the room in fright. She glared at her husband who was still standing in the doorway, a brown envelope in his outstretched arms. “What is that? You scared me.” He didn’t apologize or respond to her question. He simply walked out of the room.Frowning, Jane walked out of the kitchen, frying pan in hand and followed him into the dining room. “What is that, Marcus?’ Marcus dropped the envelope on the table and sat down on one of the chairs. “Divorcee papers. I had my lawyers draw them up last week so they are ready and all you have to do is sign them.” Jane was stunned. “Did you just say divorce papers?” Marcus raised an eyebrow, an irritated look on his face. “Did I stutter?” He got up from the chair, picked up his briefcase from the ground and walked away without sparing her another glance. The sound of the door slamming jolted Jane out of her reverie and she immediately to
CHAPTER TWOJane knocked twice and waited for a response, leaning on her bag for support. It hadn’t been easy locating this place especially since it had been a long time she had been here. Abigail wasn’t picking up and she knew a hotel was out of the question not because she didn’t have money but because Abby wouldn’t hear of it. She raised her hand to knock again when the door burst open and her cousin Abigail’s form appeared at the doorway. “Hey cuz, I missed your call. I was in the kitchen.” She made a move to hug her and then paused when she spotted the bags close to Jane’s feet. “What’s this? Are you leaving town or what?” She frowned when Jane didn’t laugh at her joke and tugged her arm, pulling her inside before grabbing the bags. Half an hour later, Jane was sitting on the couch with a cup of hot cocoa in her hands. “Thanks for letting me stay here Abby, I can’t thank you enough.” Abigail Warren sighed and stretched her hand out to touch Jane’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry b
CHAPTER THREEJane stared at the familiar office building in front of her and sighed. Somehow, she had ended up here. Abby would have her head if she told her about this, but she needed to confront Marcus once and for all as he seemed to be avoiding her. She eyed the building and spun on her heels, her back to it. “No, I shouldn’t go in,” “Are you coming in?” A woman in a well-ironed suit asked as she brushed past her and Jane just stood there gasping like a fish, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly. “Well don’t just stand there, come on in,” Wordlessly, Jane followed the woman unsure of what was going on. She looked down at the simple yet decent black gown she had slipped on and smiled grateful for her choice. They walked together to the elevator and the woman held the door for her. “Thanks,” Jane said as she got in, moving to the back to lean against the wall. “So what floor are you going to?” She asked, raising her eyes to press a number. She suddenly stopped and turned to
CHAPTER FOURThe driver parked the car close to the house and Jane looked out the window at the house she had regarded as home for two years. Tears pricked her eyes but she held back intent on staying strong. Caleb sighed and reached for her head forcing her to look away from the window and at him. “Whatever you do, never show how much this all affects you in public.” He paused to gauge her reaction before he continued. “You can cry all you want when you come home but never show them how much their actions bother you, ever.” His tone took on a stern, hard quality but Jane nodded understanding what he meant. “I would come with you but I feel you should do this on your own.” Jane smiled gratefully, unshed tears shining in her eyes. “Yes, I need to do this on my own but I must thank you for the support.” She brushed away the tears. “You are right, I can’t let that bastard see me at my weakest.” “Here,” Caleb said, stretching out a brown envelope and Jane smiled accepting it from him.
CHAPTER FIVECaleb held the door for her and she walked into the massive space, her eyes bulging out.“Make yourself comfortable while I go get us drinks. We should be celebrating.” She walked over to the window to look outside and gasped at how high up they were. “You won’t fall if that’s what you are worried about.”She spun around a little too fast and found herself staggering a bit.“ I…” “Take it easy,” Caleb warned, catching her by the hand and dragging her away from the window. “Here,” Jane cleared her throat and pulled away from him, accepting the glass of wine. “Thank you,”. “Let’s talk in my office,” He told her and led the way to the office which was on the other side of the room behind a small door that she hadn’t noticed before. When Jane stepped inside the office, she was amazed. Seeing the small door on the outside, one would think it was similar to what was inside but the office was two times the size of her bedroom, almost the size of the living room area she ha
CHAPTER 6“Thank you,” Jane said shyly, and sullenly as they got to the door of her room.“It's nothing,” he said firmly. “You've said more thank you's than you've actually had a normal conversation with me,” he pointed out.A smile tugged at her lips. But it was a dry, sad and lonely one. “Go on ahead, get some rest. We have a long day tomorrow,” Caleb said. “Goodnight.”She opened her mouth to speak but closed it the moment she saw him walking down but his aura lingered. She slowly turned away and swiped her card. The moment she was in her room, she kicked off her shoes and threw herself on the bed, wondering how people who cut you deeply when you weren't watching were the same ones who treated your wounds. Because they knew just how to break you and fix you.As she took off her clothes, a part of her wished she could be in her fathers arms now and sob in his chest and tell him he was right. She wished she had listened to him back then but the damage had been done. And there is not
CHAPTER 7It was a bright morning and Jane was awakened by the slight knock at the door. She yawned and stretched from her bed, then looking around the room. It appears unfamiliar and different from the apartment she has lived in for three years. While she was still trying to recall where she was, the knock came again, disrupting her thoughts and she had to stand up and walked toward the door to see who it was. "Good morning, Mrs. Lockwood" the maid nodded politely. Jane blinked, her brow arching in confusion. "You must have the wrong person. Call me Jane," she said, still trying to shake off her grogginess.The maid's smile softened. "Breakfast is ready. Would you like it sent to your bedroom, or would you prefer to have it with Mr. Caleb, your husband?”At the mention of Caleb's name, Jane's hazy memory cleared. She remembered everything—the court, the marriage certificate, and the overwhelming emotions of the previous day. She asked the maid, "Is this Caleb's house?”"Yes, ma'am,
CHAPTER 174Minutes after Marcus revealed all he knew, dozens of patrol cars as well as two helicopters were despatched to the location Marcus had given.One of the helicopter pilots sighted the house from above and the officers, including Caleb quickly moved towards it.They kicked the door of the building down without hesitation and as Caleb ran in, his gaze immediately fell on Jane's weak body sprawled on the bare floor. Caleb rushed to her and wrapped his arms around her. This time, he did not hold back his tears.Her body and clothes were covered in dirt, some parts of her body was swollen and there were a few cuts in different places, but still she didn't lose her beauty.Jane muttered something with her eyes half closed.“I'm here, baby, I'm here. You're gonna be okay. It's all over, you'll be fine,” Caleb didn't mind that some droplets of his tears fell on her face, all he knew was that he had finally found her and he was never going to let go ever again.Some medical attenda
CHAPTER 173“He's a lying bastard! How can you believe all that?” Xavier asked Ross who had asked to question Xavier immediately Lorenzo told them everything.“It's not something we would want to believe as well, Mr Xavier, but he showed us the millions of dollars as proof,” there was a look of disappointment on Ross's face. “You do know that drug trafficking is a really serious offence, right?”“There is nothing to prove that I'm involved with this man!” Xavier yelled. “How do you know if someone didn't pay him to lie against me?”“He gave us a perfect description of you and said you came around every week to collect the profits that belonged to both you and coincidentallly Marcus Dreame.”“This is outrageous, Ross.”“Trust me, Mr Xavier, the whole situation has also left me totally dumfounded, but it's also helping to put the pieces together.”“What pieces are you talking about, Ross? What the hell is all this? I deserve more respect than this, don't I? How and why would I get mysel
CHAPTER 172Four days and there had been no word from either Xavier or Mann, no newspapers to tell him what was going on outside, and they were running out of food. And he still haven't received a cheque from the weekly profit as usual. Marcus was totally losing it.He paced from one end of the house to another.“That fucker!” He said through his teeth, imagining Xavier amassing all the money to himself. He reasoned that Xavier had probably withdrawn himself from situation and had left him and Jane there to die of starvation. And probably enjoying all the money and profit from their illegal business. The thought of that sickened him. Xavier had probably come to his wits end and had decided to keep his slate clean.But Marcus was not one known to easily let go.He knew he was eventually going to go down, and he would stop at nothing to bring others involved down with him.“You'll be a dead man if you step out of that door,” Jane said weakly as she watched him put on his camouflage.
CHAPTER 171Lorenzo sat at his desk, brooding.Two days had passed and neither Xavier nor his scary looking second hand man had come to collect their weekly profit.He looked down at the stack of money in the bag on his desk. If he took even a note from it, Xavier would know and would kill him without thinking twice. He was a man not to be conned and also a man to be feared. But as he constantly stared at the pile of money, he felt his walls of restraint breaking down. The sight of money always enticed him but tampering with Xavier's money was like signing his own death warrant. He quickly zipped up the bag, swallowed some sedative pills and then looked up Xavier's address on his computer. It was better to get the money to him instead than let it stay another day in his office.___Lilian was wrapping her wet hair up in a bun and preparing for lunch when she heard the knock on the front door.“Don't worry, I'll get it,” she said to the house worker who was setting the table.“Hi?” She
CHAPTER 170Lilian, who had heard from Caleb about her mother and uncle's arrest quickly returned back to the state to see them.Rose on the other hand, had just spoken to the detective and was still in a state of shock. Tears rolled down her face as she stared at the photos of her and Xavier sprawled on the table. She had initially thought that Stella was bluffing when she said she had kept some clues for her lawyer to give the police if anything happened to her.The door suddenly opened and an officer popped his head in.“Ma’am, your daughter is here to see you,” he informed.“What? My daughter?” Rose asked with surprise and began to clean her face while stacking the photos together hurriely. “Take everything with you,” she told her lawyer. “Leave immediately.”Lilian stepped in just as her lawyer walked out.They both stared at each other for a long time and Lilian's steady gaze was like hot iron searing her heart. Every second of silence that passed reminded Rose that she had now
CHAPTER 169“You're lucky my lawyer is already on his way. You'd better start preparing an explanation for why you had the guts to touch me!” Xavier ranted as the officers led them through the station.Rose on the other hand did not even try to struggle because she knew they were guilty, and her conscience kept battling with her. She did a very bad job concealing the shock expression that was spread across her face. As she watched the officers lead Xavier to one end of the hallway, her eyes landed on two familiar faces and her eyes widened with shock.Stella's parents! Stella's dad was consoling his wife who was shaking and sobbing uncontrollably.“Rose… you…” Stella's father said when their eyes met, but before she could respond, the officers led her away. She could still hear Stella's mother's voice.“I told her to stay away from their family, I warned her…”Xavier was taken to a dimly lit interrogation room, the room was hotter than usual and Xavier swiftly adjusted his tie, the
CHAPTER 168“I'm sorry… what? What's that supposed to mean?” Xavier asked with his brows furrowed in annoyance. Fear flickered in his eyes but he squared his shoulders and maintained an annoyed visage.“Mr Xavier you have a right to remain silent. Anything you say now can, shall and will be used against you in the court of law…”“You can't arrest us!” Rose said. “What the hell did we do? What's all this about? This is an insult to my person!”Caleb watched with his spoon frozen in his hand. Things were happening too fast for his brain to process and he almost thought he was hallucinating when an officer walked to his mother and ordered her to stand.“Hold up! Hold up!” Caleb finally said to the officers as he stood up.“What's all this about?”“They are being arrested as prime suspects in the murder of Miss Stella Rosman,” the officer explained. Rose and Caleb exchanged glances and while Xavier was able to maintain his composure, Rose visibly went pale.“This is crazy! I barely even k
Chapter 167It had been two days since Marcus was revealed to be the prime suspect in Jane's disappearance. And the forensic tests came out fine that Marcus was the owner of those male accessories as some combs in the bathroom had his hair samples which were tested. The police officers had combed the woods for two whole days yet there was no sign of either Marcus or Jane and there was also no clue left that could lead to them.“They couldn't have just disappeared,” Rose said one morning as they were having breakfast.Caleb had only taken a few slices of his toast and then walked to the living room with his coffee. His mother had been trying to make conversation with him for the past few hours but talking was the last thing he wanted to do. He was preparing to step out one last time with a few officers to search deeper into the woods. He turned on the television.“Have they found out if there's an insider yet?” Rose was speaking only on the topics that related to Jane because she kne
Chapter 166“I still don't understand why it's so difficult for you to put a call across to him!” Marcus shouted. “We've been waiting for hours for fucks sake!”They were now in a bigger house with lesser windows and only one sofa as furniture. Mann was staring out blankly from one of the windows.“You know, Mr Dreame, you complain too much for a man.”“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Marcus scowled and lunged towards him.“You come in at the middle of the night and sweep us all away without explanation and you want me to be quiet and act like nothing happened?”“No, I'm only asking you to be patient,” Mann replied cooly.“Don't tell me that bullshit! My patience expired hours ago. Now call up Xavier.”“Boss is the one who would make the call to us. I'm in no position to call him unless in a serious emergency…”“This is a serious emergency!”“No, it isn't, Mr Dreame. This is just you acting like a scared little girl. Even the woman's doing better than you.”They both turned t