Rachel's POV "I'll be seeing him after a very long time. I have to make everything perfect." I told my best friend Lana over the phone. Today was the day David and I were finally going to consummate our marriage. We had been married for three years, three fucking years, yet that man had never touched me. As surprising as it sounds, it's true. Starting from the day David and I got married, he had begun to act strange. On our wedding night, he just left and came back the next day. We didn't even have a honeymoon. Well, all that was going to change today. He would be coming back after his long business trip that took almost six months, and I was ready. "Just don't stress yourself out. I know how much you want today to turn out perfect, but..." Lana tried to say, but I'm not hearing any of it. "Lana, if everything goes well, you'll be a godmother in nine months. Isn't that exciting?" "Rachel... " I could feel the way Lana would be shaking her head right now at my overexcited attitud
Rachel's POV "You gold-digging, two-faced, stupid..." I was about to rain down insults on Lana when David stopped me. He shoved my hands from his legs and backed away. "I don't want to hear another word of insult from your mouth to Lana again!" He yelled. "Now sign those papers and let me be free from this bondage called marriage." His words hurt me more than anything. Bondage? He thought our marriage was a bondage? We had known each other long before we got married, he took my fucking first time, yet he called what we had bondage? I clenched my teeth tightly. "No, I'm still not signing those papers." I said firmly, getting up from my kneeling position, which I had kept for a while now. David smirked. Something about the way he looked at me made me shiver. "You are going to sign those papers; if not... the alliance between Hart Industries and Andrew Corporation would be annulled." David stated, going to stand next to Lana, who kissed him on the cheeks to spite me. "What?"
Ethan's POV I came down from the airport putting on my shades. I'm finally back in the country; I have been gone for over seven years. "Boss." My driver and also right-hand man, John, walked up to me and bowed. "Everything is ready for you, Sir." He said and I nodded. "Let's get going, it's getting dark, and the wind is picking up." John rushed to the backseat to open the door for me and closed it back after I was seated. "Boss, it would be faster if we followed the bridge." He advised, and I gave him a goal ahead. We were driving across the bridge when I saw a thin, frail figure climbing onto the bridge's railing. "Stop the car." I ordered and immediately got off, rushing to meet the said person. The figure was just about to jump off the railing when I got to her, taking her thin body in my arms. Looking down at her, my eyes widened in shock when I saw her face. Rachel Andrews. Who also happens to be the main reason why I came back to the country. What the hell did she just
Rachel's POV The gorgeous stranger just said he was my favorite pastime. What the hell could be my fav... Holy shit! I shook my head, as it dawned on me who this familiar handsome man could be. "No, you can't be, are you... goggle glasses Ethan?" My eyes widened even more when he nodded his head. This was goggle glasses Ethan? What? "But you're not...This..." I became really confused. Ethan Wright, as he called himself, was my favorite pastime, and he was right. Back when we were in high school, there was a boy who I always picked on because of his big glasses, which were always on his face, and that happened to be the gorgeous man in front of me. "Unbelievable." I muttered my eyes glued to his strong biceps budging out of the tight t-shirt he wore. The Ethan Wright I knew back in secondary school was a normal-looking, thin, scrawny-looking nerdy kid with a tidy uniform and big glasses, while the man staring back at me was a huge, muscular, handsome god! "Surprising isn't i
Rachel's POVMy eyes widened in surprise. Ethan's words kept ringing in my eyes. Be with meI want you to be with meWhy would he want to be with me?Hello... I was his nightmare!We should be enemies, seriously if I were him I would gloat at me in a situation like this, but instead he wants to help?I was about to say something when I felt a slight discomfort in my throat, and I..." Archeeeew". A huge sneeze escaped from my lips. Breaking the weird silence between us. " Are you okay? How long were you standing on the bridge before I found you? You must have caught a cold".I stared at Ethan confused by his questions. Few seconds ago, he was so close to me that I thought he would do something, but now he's so concerned about me that it was scary. As if to answer his long lost of questions, my knees gave away and I lost my balance. I braced myself for the fall, but Instead of my face harshly hitting, I felt a warm embrace. My heart beat increased as I looked up at him. " I onl
Rachel's POV. I groaned awake shifting on the huge really comfortable bed. My eyes finally flipped opened after turning around for a while. All what happened yesterday to this morning flashed before my eyes and I remembered everything. I got down from the bed to inspect the room properly, I didn't have the time to do that when I first arrived. It was huge, and beautiful and blue and... My phone went off with a ding. I picked up my broken screen cellphone to check who it was. "Why!" I suddenly screamed surprising even myself. The door opened with a bang and Ethan burst. "What's wrong? Did anything happen?" Ethan worriedly asked coming to stand next to me. My chest went up and down as I heaved for breath. I shook my head to answer his question."It's nothing". From Ethan's expression, I could tell that he didn't believe me. He reached for my hand which held the phone and took it from me. He read the stupid message which was just sent to me aloud. " Come to the house right
Rachel's POVFamily? Did my mother just call that evil jealous bitch Family! I couldn't believe my ears. My mother was indeed clueless about the situation, and they were using it against me!I'll have to tell my mother the truth later, for now I had to face the bitch who destroyed my marriage and almost my life. " Get away from my grandfather you conniving whore!" I instructed. " What are you saying Chelle? " My eyes widened like I was in a TV show or something. Lana put on a pitiful expression on her face, her eyes were already so red making it look like she was at the brink of tears. I scoffed. Never would I imagine that my actress of a friend would try to put on an fake pretense act on me. " Still that rubbish, what are you even pretending for?" She already got David, and by the look of it, he was madly in love with her, so what's with the pretense?" I don't understand". Her eyes began to water and one by one the tears came down like a cascading river from her eyes. She l
Rachel's POVI felt my entire body quiver in pain. My face shifted to the other side. The slap sounded so loud that my ears began to vibrate. I raised my hands to my face, holding it in shock. I heard shocking gasps from everyone in the room. Some even placed a hand on their mouth, their eyes widened at what had just happened. My grandfather, just slapped me. The thought rang in my head before I finally came to terms with it. " You slapped me... For her?" I said in disbelief pointing at Lana who stood at a corner behind my grandfather. Did he not hear anything of what I just said?" I've been your granddaughter for over twenty years, and yet you slap me for someone you just met?"My body shook in anger, and pain.My lips trembling with unspoken words. " Grandpa, please, don't hurt sister anymore..." Lana said coming to stand in front of me.I couldn't say anything, still holding the cheek I was so mercilessly slapped on. She just called him grandpa. I could never call my grandf
Rachel's POV"Hi guys." I greeted as soon as I sighed Joyce and Marina seated in the living room. They were both discussing something and looked up to me as I came down from the stairs. "Rachel..."I frowned at Joyce's nervous voice. Why was she nervous? I wondered and my curiosity deepen even more when I noticed Marina nudge Joyce in the stomach. " What's going on here? " I asked raising my brows at them while giving them a skeptical look. "What... What do you mean?" Joyce scratched the back of her neck letting out a little laugh before shaking her head. " N... Nothing". Marina face palmed herself looking embarrassed at Joyce acting skills. It was terrible. Marina was a movie director so she knew when a person was a bad liar, but it didn't take that much to notice. " Seriously guys what is it?" I sat down beside them, my eyes darting the both of them. For a split second my mind went back to whatever could have happened yesterday with me and Ethan that I didn't remember.Coul
Rachel's POVI blinked multiple times to adjust my eyes light in the room before opening them back again. It was so bright. Why was it so bright? I groaned turning around on the bed. "Fuck". I exclaimed as I sat up, holding my head with both hands. "Ouch... Why do my head hurt so much" I felt like it was being pounded upon and gosh that hurt. What happened anyways? I wondered wincing as I opened my eyes again to look around. I was in my room, in Ethan's house. But how did I even get here?The last thing I remembered was that I was in this room, seating on the bed when I suddenly felt thirsty so I got up and left. I went to the kitchen, drank a bottle of water, and was about coming back to this room, when... When I met Ethan. I blinked as the rest of what happened last night came back to me bit by bit. He was seated by the counter with a bottle of alcohol, and I went to seat by him... And I drank!From there every thing else was fuzzy and blurry. " Rachel you drank". I repeated
Ethan's POVI stayed in my study for the rest of the evening meditating on everything that had happened today at the office. Rachel was the lost daughter of the Nielsons. She was Emerald Nielson, and her parents wanted her back.The information was just so surprising. What baffled me now was, how did Emerald, or Rachel end up in the hands of the Andrews?From what I knew, the Nielson were in Europe when their daughter went missing, while the Andrews were a family established in the states. " I need a drink ". I sighed standing up from seat and walking towards my mini bar.My eyes instantly surveyed the numerous amount of bottles there but couldn't find any bottle of bourbon. What?I had made sure to always stock up, and I don't drink often. But this past few weeks had been terrible. I couldn't sleep until I had at least a few glasses to take my mind of things. "I don't even know if I'm drinking to celebrate Rachel finding her parents or to get rid of all these questions revolvin
Ethan's POV" Mr and Mrs Nielson are here to see you ". Mark announced as we walked through the halls to my office. They are here?My brows furrowed together in confusion. 'This could probably be related to Rachel '. I thought. Two days ago the woman met me in my office and offered to help, and just yesterday she interfered in Rachel's case and got her freed. But the question was why?" Do you think it's about the help Lenora rendered to Rachel yesterday?" Mark asked the exact question in my mind and I looked up at him. "Probably". I shugged as we proceeded. Mark read out the some of what I had to do today and I listened keenly. This last few weeks I had been so behind on work, that it was starting to have an effect on the company. "Also, I've gotten all the CCTV cameras footage in Lana's house checked and even all the cameras within a one mile radius ". I stood walking, just few metres from my office. " What then? " So far, Lana's death was one issue that got me on edge.
Rachel's POVI froze as I stared at the older woman. Ethan? In love with me?" How can you lie so freely?" I asked after a while. Why can't I believe it? Why can't I just tell myself it's the truth and actually believe it?Maybe it was because I had seen what really was real, and I couldn't even allow myself to pretend anymore. "Lie? " Victoria looked shocked as she stood up from the bed. " Why do you think it's a lie huh?" She argued. "Isn't it not? " I retorted before releasing a sigh "Ethan can't be in love with me. He probably doesn't even like me that much ". I felt my heart sink into my stomach as soon as those words left my mouth. Why was I feeling disappointed with my own words? They were the truth. The sooner I began telling myself the truth, the better it would be for both me and... Well me. I'm the only one suffering anyway. Victoria shook her head and looked down at me with pity. " You really are a fool, Rachel, since you can't see what's right in front of you. "
Rachel's POVI had been avoiding Ethan all morning since we came back from the hospital. What was I to say to him?The man was strange, really strange. If Lana was the love of his life, why was he still acting all nice and sweet and kind to me? Was he bipolar?If it turned out he was, that would explain a lot of things. I threw down the book I was reading with a sigh. Just to reduce the probability of bumping into Ethan, I had cooped myself up in my room since morning, and right now, I was so bored that even reading wasn't helping. Guess getting out of the hospital and jail wasn't too good. At least in the hospital, I had Joyce and, lately, Marina to talk to.The way Lenora just came in and me magically being released... It all remained a mystery to me."For fuck sake Rachel, stop thinking about that now. You're out and that's it."But wasn't there a catch?There had to be a catch, or at least something someone was not telling me. How could I just magically get released from jai
Lenora's POV I rushed down into into my mansion, where Simon, Owen and Raine where seated in the living room, probably waiting for me. " I've found her, I finally found her ". I nodded my head, a huge smile plastered on my face as I sang." I've actually found her ". " Found who? " " What's going on mum? " Owen and Raine asked at the same time. I just couldn't help myself from grinning as I danced around happily. Today was officially the happiest day of my life. " Len, what's going on? " Simon asked walking up to me as he held my hands. " And why are you crying? " Tears? I blinked, realizing that tears had begun to flow from my eyes again. " This... This are tears of joy Simon, joy ". I answered, enjoying the suspense in the room. " Could you tell us so we can be part of this joy? " Owen remarked sarcastically while standing up from his chair. " Some of us had to take a quick two hours flight down here in a jet just because you mentioned that it was really urgent ".
Lenora's POVShe raised her head up and pointed at herself "Me?" She said in a high tone before blinking twice to compose herself. "I recently turned twenty six ma'am." Twenty six. I repeated to myself nodding my head. "Did you test if you are my daughter? Is that yours?" I asked, rasing the tube up and she instantly shook her head. "No..." She laughed putting out her hand. "I know my parents. I just went to the lab and found this one there" She explained.I pursed my lips handing the tube over to Joan who took it with both hands. "You do this one, I'm off to check on some of the patients". Joan looked at me in surprise, and I couldn't blame her. The past few years, I had always been the one conducing the test alone and she knew it. But she had been working for me for over ten years, and I knew her very well. She was trust worthy enough, plus there was no guarantee that it could or could not be the right one. I gave her a tight smile before walking back to my office. I had sa
Lenora POV...Few days ago ..."Today is the day for the test Mrs Nielson." Joan Jett, my friend and the manager of the hospital said as we both walked back to my office. I had insisted that we do a round check on some of the patients in the top floor, something I started to do after the lady, Rachel Andrews was admitted her. I found myself being drawn to her in many ways than one, and was extremely dishearten after I heard she was arrested for a murder crime.It even became worse after I heard from my niece who was her doctor than she was rushed to an hospital after gotten almost beaten to death by a jail warder. She did look like a stubborn lady, but what could she possibly have said to a jail warden for the person to want to kill her with a beating?"... Mrs Nielson". "Huh?" I asked in confusion after I head Joan call my name. " Are you alright ma'am? I've been calling you for the past few minutes". She said looking worried and I nodded. "I'm fine, just thinking about stuf