Shorty after leaving Empire, Gadreel, Asher and Cameron arrived at their usual boxing ring back in the days. They rented the entire place out and Cameron and Gadreel got into the ring.“Why the sudden request though?” Cameron casted a look at Gadreel as he secured his gloves. “Any specific reason?”“I don’t think you should be worrying about that? Worry about what you’re going to lose.” Gadreel replied.Cameron couldn’t help but chuckle. “Alright Reel. But you best get ready too, I’ve had my eyes on that Vila of yours in Rome, for quite a while.”“Is that the only thing of mine you’ve has your eyes on?” The question had rolled off Gadreel’s tongue before he even realized it.Cameron was confused, rightfully so, but before he could even bother to ask, Asher spoke up.“You two sure about this?” He questioned, receiving a nod from the two.“Alright,” He sighed. “Then, the rules are, the first to be knocked down or give up loses. Any other means is invalid. No kicking, spitting, biting, h
Seated by the window of Sunset Bistro, Ivory stared down at her divorce certificate with a blank face.Her mind was unusually calm with only one thing going through it.She has done it, divorced at last, freed from Gadreel.It felt like a dream, one that was bad, as well as good. The bad part caused her heart to ache ever so slightly as she thought back to the years she had wasted and the hope that had chained her down to a reality that was never going to happen. It ached for that innocent and youthful part of her that has desperately craved love and affection and it ached for said love and affection that has never been reciprocated.But just as she thought of the negative part, she equally thought of the positive parts. Although it wasn’t much at first glance, but after deeper thinking, she realized she has gained experience, but In love, care, medicine and pain, and even after all that, she had a future ahead of her.A wistful smile crossed her lips.Those experiences, no matter how
Once again, the room exploded in whispers, shareholders present exchanged looks and stares of disbelief and horror.“Arrest?!” Tom shouted, as his face twisted in anger.“You’re going to arrest me? That’s absurd. Who’s the one who filed the charge?”He looked at everyone, but no one seemed keen on answering.“It was I.” Ivory answered with a sweet smile. “Me, Ms. Remington.”She stepped forward and flashed a smile at him. “I’ve recorded everything, from your insult, to the accusation you’ve thrown at me. Everything, and now,”She leaned back, arms crossed, and her smile became more mischievous.“You can rot in jail for slandering a person’s name and insulting her.”Tom’s eyes widened and his face turned beet red. “You!” He snarled. “You bitch-“Before he could finish, the law enforcement officers grabbed his arms and pulled him away.“Let go of me! Don’t touch me, you fools.”Ivory watched the scene before her with a small smile. This was just the beginning, there was a long road ahea
“Twerp?!” Emma glared at Cameron, at that very moment, she was ready to jump at him and butt heads like they usually did back as kids.Much to her dismay, Cameron completely ignored her and solely focused on the more important person in front of him, Ivory.She too, seemed to ignore Emma angry crying and for a split second, all she did was stare at Cameron, still a bit frazzled from the sudden loss of distance between their faces.Her trance like state was broken when Cameron smirked, pleased that his presence was having an effect on her.“So, which is it?” He asked.Ivory adjusted, putting distance between them once again, and turned away.“Are you normally annoying, or is this an exception because you’re what…” She paused and eyed him, making sure that he could tell she had called bull on his earlier words. “Pursing me? Which is it?”Cameron chuckled, amused. It wasn’t everyday he met a lady who wasn’t impressed by his charm and looks.“Perhaps both,” he answered, and although Ivory
Asher could sense the tension in the air. Minutes after Ivory had walked out and Cameron had followed her, the rest of them, Evangeline and Gadreel included, had settled in one of Golden Hours private room.But even after the drinks had been served, not one word had been spoken. Gadreel looked lost in his own thought, while Evangeline looked like she had several things to ask.And Asher...well, after a few more minutes, he couldn't take it anymore.Sighing, he stood up and decided to give the little couple of their group, some space."I'll go grab... something." He excused himself and without a second glance, walked out.The silence after that did not last a second longer. Finally given their privacy, Evangeline spoke up."You've finalized the divorce with Ivory? Why didn't you tell me?" She turned her attention to Gadreel, expecting an instant answer.However, he kept his gaze fixed on the content in his glass, swirling it around in constant circles without saying a word.He heard Ev
“Let me take you home.” Cameron has said and at that point in time, it both sounded and looked like a bad idea.But did Ivory really have an option?With her car broken down and all ride seemingly avoiding that area, or charging hefty sums, she was stuck.And so, after much debate, she finally caved in and accepted the ride, and that was how she ended up in the passenger seat of Cameron’s car.The ride had been going on smoothly, the silence between them comfortable in a way that no one rushed to break.But then, Cameron, being who he is, decided to speak up.“So, you were married to Gadreel?” He glanced at her, noticing how her temperament visibly changed at the mention of his best friend. “I’m still having a hard time believing it.”“Well, believe it,” Ivory responded, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “And drop it.”Cameron chuckled, but did not say a thing further, simply turning his attention back to the road, while Ivory shifted in her seat, crossing her legs, and looking out the
Ivory was rooted in place with her eyes wide.That…that unmistakably, was the sound of a gunshot. Did that mean someone had gotten shot?The thought sent a sick feeling down her spine.“Ivy,” Cameron suddenly tugged her along, pulling her out of her trance like state. “We need to get out of here.”He pulled her behind him and began leading her away from their current location in hopes that he could get them far away from whoever had the gun.Ivory on the other hand, although she knew this was the rational thing to do, couldn’t help her doctor side that kicked in.“Wait,” She said, pulling to a stop and earning a frown from Cameron. “We can’t just leave like this. What if…what if someone needs our help?”Cameron’s frown increased and he grabbed her hand again. “If we don’t stay out of the way, we would be the ones in need of help.”He began dragging her away, but Ivory resisted, not budging an inch.“You can’t possibly be serious.” He muttered and shook his head. After a few seconds of
Gadreel frowned at the doctor’s words. Taking a step forward, he seemed to totally forget about the conversation he was having with Ivory.“What do you mean by that? Earlier, you said she was stable, so why is she suddenly in danger?” He questioned.“Ms. Remington was indeed stable, but her heart suffered a sudden attack and for someone who suffers from a heart condition like Coronary Artery Disease, this could be fatal. That’s why I urge, the sooner we operate on her, the better.”Coronary Artery Disease? Ivory couldn’t help but frown at the doctor’s diagnosis.Evangeline doesn’t suffer from CAD, as most call it, but rather...“What she suffers from is Ischemic Heart Disease, IHD. It’s easily mistaken for CAD, but unlike CAD, it’s not caused by the build-up of plaque, but a sudden shortage of blood flow, due to an occluded vessel or narrowing.” Her words gained the attention of both men.“The best course of action in this case would be to-“ Before she could finish her diagnosis, Ivor
“…you don’t need to tell me what I already know,” Lucien didn’t mean to sound rude, but with his mother being on the other side of the line, hounding down on him about how he needed to get Ivory to see things from their perspective as soon as next week, was making it hard for him not to snap. “You’ve told me this plenty of times, now.”“Don’t speak like that,” His mother reprimanded. “This is important. I believe I’ve given you enough time to do the needful and I’m beginning to run out of patience, my time is almost up. So, this is your last warning, get the girl on our side, or I’ll do it by myself.”Without waiting for an answer, she hung up the phone, leaving Lucien to sigh out loudly.What a wonderful way to ruin the start of his day, he thought, turning and exiting the balcony, only to find that Ivory was no longer where he had left her.He looked in the direction of the living room, her second most seen place, then in the kitchen, finding no trace of her.His brows furrowed and
After spending two days in his house, Ivory had come to the realization that there was no way of getting that door open on her own.She had tried several things; banging, kicking, pushing, punching, setting a makeshift fire to trigger the fire setting and even trying to use items that Lucien had touched to recreate his finger print, but, nothing had worked.All of them were useless.Sighing, Ivory rested her forehead against the surface of the door, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.“This is hopeless,” She muttered.She was trapped here, wasn’t she?There was no way out.Her phone, was with Lucien.She had nothing.What should she do?“Ivory.”The sudden voice, had caused her heart to stop momentarily. Turning around, she saw him, leaning against the doorway.“What are you doing?”Ivory had to keep herself from frowning. He had asked her the same thing the previous day, and she had responded with the exact same words.“Trying to open the door.”“I can see that,” Lucien said,
“The number you’re trying to call, is currently-“The automated voice hadn’t gotten the chance to finish it’s message, before Gadreel hung up the phone.Still switched off? He wondered, frowning down at his call history that showed the number of times he had called Ivory.25 calls and 13 messages.That was the amount, and none of them had been answered.Frown deepening, he ran his fingers through his hair, his brows furrowing further.Something didn’t feel right.He couldn’t pinpoint the reason, or explain it, but his intuition was telling him, that something was off.Ivory wouldn’t just stand him up, or ignore his calls and messages for two whole days. In the past, sure, he would have agreed that she was capable of doing it.But now, things had changed between them. He could tell she was no longer as cold as she previously was to him. And even though she hadn’t completely forgiven him for the things he did, she had at least, decided to try and put the past behind her.So, this, this
Ivory woke up the following morning…to an awfully familiar remake of her bedroom back from when she still stayed with Doctor Elias.Witnessing it was so startling, that she shot up from the bed, a frown of confusion marring the space between her brows.What the hell was happening?!Last night, she had fallen asleep on the couch, but now, she was back in a room, her room, that was almost identical to her previous one, except the windows were barred, and there were no mirrors.And the fact that the entire room was a bit smaller than her original one, only added to her confusion.So, how did she end up here?Wasn’t she supposed to be on the couch, in the living room, trapped in Lucien’s house?“Ah, you’re awake.”The sound of Lucien’s voice, had caused her head to snap in his direction and she immediately frowned.He was leaning against the doorway, dressed in a pair of jeans and a white, long sleeved dress shirt. His arms were crossed, and the sleeves of his shirt had been rolled up, le
At around 8PM, a text message had entered Ivory’s phone. The device, placed beside the papers on Lucien’s table, vibrated, drawing his attention from the pile of work he was attending to.At first, he ignored it, knowing it wasn’t anyone important, but then, the phone had buzzed yet again, indicating that the same person, had tried to call, but failed.The frown on his face had deepened, before, with a sigh, he pushed away from his desk, his chair rolling back a few inches, before he stood up and approached the desk.He grabbed the phone and unlocked it. Seeing as he considered himself so close to Ivory, that he could easily guess her password, he easily opened the text and read the message.[Is everything okay? I’ve been trying to reach you all afternoon. Getting awfully worried.]The simple text, was from none other than Gadreel.Lucien’s expression hardened, and the frown on his face intensified.He couldn’t believe this bastard.He was getting worried.Ha! Was this his way of tryi
The broken plate had been cleaned up, a new food served and Lucien, locked away in his office, doing only God knows what, while Ivory paced the living room, her fingers interlocked behind her head.How the fuck was she going to get out of this one?She couldn't just stay here, trapped, waiting for who knows how long, and she definitely couldn't let Lucien do whatever the hell he wanted.But, she was stuck and she didn't have her phone, and there was no way in hell she'd be calling his name, asking him to let her out.So, what was she meant to do?Perhaps, she'd have to wait until he unlocked the doors himself? One of these days, he'd surely want to go out and get something, right?But the problem was, when would that happen? She had no plan of staying here for more than a day, so she'd have to try her best and think of something.A sigh escaped her lips and she stopped pacing, before flopping down on the couch and burying her face in her hands.God, her heart wouldn't calm down.Was i
The moment those words had left Lucien’s mouth, and before he could react, Ivory had marched straight up to him, closing the distance that had previously existed between them, and in seconds, her palm connected with his cheek, a slap that echoed throughout the entire house.His head had snapped to the side, and his cheek had reddened almost immediately.Lucien was silent, and his gaze was cast to the floor.“If you fucking lay a finger on Gadreel again,” Ivory began, her voice laced with so much anger and frustration, that Lucien, who had been silent since her slap, raised his head and turned to look at her, a deep frown, marring his face.“I’ll make sure that I fucking kill you myself.” She threatened.However, she got the opposite result from what she had been hoping.“Now tell me, why I actually, shouldn’t kill him. You’ve given me another reason, V. You’ve only ever raised your hand at me, today and it’s all because of him.”His eyes remained on hers as he spoke, and Ivory, still
Gadreel would be lying if he said that, as he watched the video of a nearby CCTV camera that displayed the outside of his house, showing as Evangeline reached into her bag and pulled out what looked to be the ledger of his company and handed it to a man inside a black car, his heart didn’t break.He already knew she was behind what had happened to his company. He had zeroed his mind that it was her doing. But, to watch it with his own eyes, was something else entirely.This, was the woman he had spent so many years believing he loved, no, he had loved her at one point, the very same woman who was his fiancée.A sigh left his lips and he hung his head, the disappointment, directed more at himself, than anyone else, all evident in his eyes.How had he allowed things get to this stage? How didn’t he see Evangeline’s true colors when it was still early and he could have prevented the mess he was currently in?Perhaps, he was too blindly in love.A bitter laugh escaped his lips as his mind
“No matter what you do, that door won’t open without my say so. So, that means,” Lucien smiled subtly, but all the gesture did, was make cold shivers run down Ivory’s spine. “You’re here with me until I say otherwise.”“Lucien,” She started, keeping her voice as level and stable as possible. “Stop this madness. Open the door, I have to leave-““And go meet that bastard?” He shook his head and Ivory could only stare in disbelief. “As long as that bastard is around, I don’t think I can let you out of here.”Ivory parted her lips to speak, but no words came out. She found this whole situation, no, to be more precise, she found the reason, why Lucien was refusing to let her leave, absurd.He was holding her here, not because he feared she’d report him for his misdeeds as soon as she got out, but rather, because he didn’t want her to meet up with Gadreel.That…that was absurd.“Lucien, this is nonsense.” She spoke, trying her hardest not to raise her voice, to keep the tone calm and levele