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 want to do? My heart skipped a beat, realizing that if I had been even a second late, I would've lost her forever. "Are you okay?" I asked her, but she just stared at me. Her gaze was like a child who had lost everything. She kept her gaze on mine until her eyes slowly shut, then she lost consciousness. "Rachel!" I called her, but there was no reply. "John! Start the engine." ... I stared at Rachel's beautiful face as she slept. She looked so peaceful, unlike someone who had just tried to commit suicide. It was my fault and seriously, I didn't regret what I did. Her eyes flicked open slowly; I panicked, standing up from my previous position, which was beside the bed where she lay. She sat up straight as soon as she saw me. "Where... Where am I?" She questioned, looking around in fright. "You're in my house." I calmly answered, walking away from the bed, even though I was anything but calm at the moment. "Your house?" She repeated looking at me suspiciously. "Who are you?" So she didn't even remember me. I scoffed, trying to fight back the surge of emotions that rushed through me when she asked who I was. "Your savior."I curtly replied, walking away from her. "Savior? Who said I needed saving? You should have just left me there." I heard her yell. Then I heard shuffling noises. "What are you trying to do?" I stopped her just in time before she could get down from the bed. "Leaving your house." She answered, shaking my hands off, but I wouldn't budge. "I doubt you're in the right state of mind to do something like that." "Let go of me." She struggled, trying to leave the bed. "What is your problem? Huh! You can't just stop me from leaving, or is this a kidnapping?" She yelled. Her tone told me she was beyond frustrated. "It's not, but you have to calm down, Rachel." I said trying to calm her down. She stopped for a moment, then raised her eyes to mine. What was she thinking? If only I could read her mind to know what she was thinking. "How do you know my name?" She asked, glaring at me. Then it was as if something clicked in her brain. She looked down and then at me, repeating the action a few times. "You know me? From where? What do you want?" She asked all at the same time. I looked at her amusedly. What was going on in that head of hers? Seeing my amused expression made her intensify her glare. "If this is a kidnapping, I promise you there would be no money, you just saw me trying to end my life, and trust me when I say I would've been happily dead if it wasn't for you." Rachel muttered in between clenched teeth. I clenched my jaw tightly. Is this how much she wanted to end her life? "Happily dead... Do you think that there is something called happily dead?" She rolled her eyes murmuring and obviously. I opened my mouth to speak when I heard a phone ring. Rachel looked around, my eyes caught her bag and I gave it to her. She brought out her phone. Fuck! I heard her murmur. Who the hell could it be? "Where the hell are you!!!" Despite how far I was from Rachel I could still hear the loud voice of the person from the other side of the phone. Rachel stretched the hand that held the phone away from her ear wincing at the loudness of her grandfather's voice. "Grandfather I..." Rachel tried to explain, but the man wasn't giving her a chance. "How dare you, child! Why would you agree to divorce your husband!" The man shouted again. Wow, that man had a loud voice, I could make out everything he said despite being so far away. Wait a minute, was she divorced? Was that the reason she tried to kill herself? "It was he who divorced me grandfather, after I caught him cheating." Rachel shouted back. Her husband cheated on her? My hands clenched to a fist I knew she was married, who didn't? The beautiful and resplendent Rachel Andrews got married to her high school sweetheart, that bastard David Hart Rachel went quiet, her grandfather was probably still talking. And by the look on her face, he was not saying what she wanted to hear. The emotion on her face went from anger, to hurt in an instant. "What should I do? Grandfather, he cheated on me; David cheated on me." Rachel's eyes turned red as she sniffled. My heart felt like it was being pulled. I hate seeing her like this. Her grandfather stopped shouting because I couldn't hear anything else he said. But whatever he said to her definitely hurt her because her lips trembled, and she shut her eyes tightly to hold back her tears. "No, I am not going to apologize to him; he should apologize to me," Rachel said defiantly shaking her head. Does her family want her to apologize to a man who cheated on her? "Arghh!" Rachel yelled, throwing her phone onto a wall as soon as she was done with the call. "What happened?" I came forward to ask. She turned to me sharply, her glare made me take a step back. "This... This is all your fault. If you had just let me die in peace, I wouldn't be in this mess right now. Like seriously, what the hell is your problem? Who in their right mind saves a stranger from committing suicide?"She yelled. She was almost at the point of breaking down, but when I went towards her, she pushed me away sharply. "By now I would be dead, free from everything. From my failed marriage, from the disappointment my family felt toward me, from the hate I feel towards myself, from the betrayal of my best friend and my husband, everything would be all gone, but you..." She pointed at me poking me in the chest. "...You just had to save me. Why would you save me? Who said I needed saving huh? Why?" She yelled and I suddenly lost control of my feelings. "You are no stranger to me, Rachel, and I would save you over and over again no matter what the hell you put yourself through." My breathing stopped realizing what I had just said. I almost admitted my feelings for her. Rachel raised her head to look at me, shocked by what I had just said. "Who the hell are you?" She asked stepping back a few meters away from her. I don't want her to think I was a stalker or anything; for God's sake, I just came back to the country today. It would be best if I just told her who I was, so I did. "Ethan... Ethan Wright, your favorite pastime." I answered with a hint of sarcasm. She thought for a moment before her eyes widened in realization. "No, you can't be, are you... goggle glasses Ethan?"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
Ethan's POVI stared at the pile of documents on my desk begging for my attention, but I just simply couldn't bring myself to work. Rachel had been on my mind since in the morning, all I could think of was her. I so badly wanted to know if she was alright, or at least back from her visit to her family home, but she didn't have a working phone a any longer so I couldn't contact her. Oh shit, I could just call home.The moment the idea came to me, I picked up my phone and called Victoria, my house manager. The old lady was elated when she saw I brought a lady home, she had been with me since I was little, almost like a mother. She answered in three rings. " Hello?" " Yes, Aunt Vicki... Em... I just called to ask, is... is Rachel back at home?" I asked immediately she picked up the phone. " Mr Wright, I can see you're very worried about Ms Rachel, and am I. She's yet to come back and I don't know how to reach her"Victoria answered me, her tone expressing how worried she was. "Oh
Ethan's POVI just arrived at the location John sent to me. I could see him pacing outside the car, beside a building. " Boss..." He respectfully bowed when I got out of my car.I walked over to him rather quickly. " Which way did she go? " He pointed towards a direction and I nodded." Go back home, I'll find her".I heard the doors of Rachel's family house open, two women came out. One, the older one, unfamiliar, and the other a much younger one, I knew. The girl that always followed Rachel everywhere claiming yo be her best friend, the same one that betrayed her Lana. She glanced at me, but by her expression I could tell she didn't remember who I was. I wanted so badly to make her pay for her betrayal to Rachel, but I had to find Rachel first. I turned my gaze back to John who gave me a nod and went to carry out my order. I also went back to my car, speeding towards the direction John pointed at. It has been a few hours now, and was starting to get late, but yet I saw no sign
Rachel's POVI heard the loud muffling and shuffling of objects waking me up from my sleep. Then followed by the shifting of the large curtains which made way for light to enter into the room. Someone was arranging the room, a young maid. How did I get here? I shook my head refusing to allow the memories of what happened yesterday come back to me fully to taunt me. I have a whole day to be taunted by them, but most definitely not now. I pulled the bedsheet over my head, blocking the soft sounds and the light so I could sleep longer. " Ms Rachel, are you awake?" I heard the maid who was arranging the room ask as she walked towards me. I was about to answer when I felt the pang of an headache. I winced in pain under the sheets. "Ms Rachel... Ms Rachel..." The maid continued to call.I had clench my teeth to withstand the pain. "Yes". I replied but it came out more of a whisper. Something was wrong with my throat. It felt rather dry and hoarse. I coughed to clear my throat. "Ye
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
Rachel's POVAfter the extremely awkward moment with Lenora, Joyce announced that I could be discharged today. I found the sudden information surprising and that was when she explained that the only reason I was still on the hospital as from two days ago was only because I would be immediately taken back to the station if I was discharged, so she just choose not to discharge me. Ain't that nice?I was all set to go back to Marina's house, when Ethan just grabbed my things and said: "You're coming with me."Judging from the look on both Joyce and Marina's faces, they had thought I was going to argue, and that would probably been the right thing to do. My brain was screaming red alerts. What if he was taking me back with him to avenge Lana's death? She was after all the woman he was in love with, but my heart and body refused listening to my head. I just followed him out like an obedient puppy, and we were now on the way to his car. " Hey, Rachel!" I heard someone yell my name, a
Rachel's POVI hugged myself with my hands sighing for the fifteenth time in the last hour. Marina and Joyce were in the room with me yet I still felt lonely. I missed Ethan, so much. No matter how much I tried not to think of him, or even to just forget about everything he did, I just couldn't, and hearing Joyce talk that he was around wasn't helping either.I mean, why would a guy cheat on you, then after his girlfriend dies (PS, you're being blamed for the murder ), start doing everything he could to get you out of prison?What the hell was that?Was he waiting for Lana to die or something?"Rachel what are you thinking about ". I heard Marina say, and I blinked, looking at her. " What? " I asked still feeling lost. Marina shook her head before looking at Joyce, and then at me. " Are you still thinking about the meeting happening in a few days? " She asked before speaking again. " Nothing is finalized yet. And you can't let that bother you, you literally have bigger issues on
Ethan's POV " Is it done yet?" I asked Mark as he walked into my office. Today was the fifth day after Rachel got arrested, and although I wanted to spend time with her at the hospital, my work back at the office were piling up and were not practically begging for my attention. Plus it was not like I really saw Rachel anyways. I would just seat at the waiting room all day as Joyce gave me updates about her situation. Mark had nagged me for hours to come to the office, and here I was seated there but I still couldn't get anything done. All I could think about was her. "Answer me Mark, did you do it?" I asked again as my best friend sat down on the chair opposite me. "If we want to do this the legal way without pulling any strings, I don't think there is a way to get Rachel out of prison". What? I scoffed in disbelief. I had asked Mark to find a way to get Rachel out of jail for the meantime while I focus on finding the killer and this was the news he was bringing back?
Rachel's POV"And what's that?" Marina asked looking confused. I took in a deep breath shutting my eyes. I had thought that I wouldn't have to tell anyone about this, but seeing Marina here, acting so... Marinaish... I just couldn't help it. "I want to tell you the truth about what really happened the night Lana was killed," I said with a grim expression, and Marina's eyes almost popped out of her head in shock. "What the fuck?"...THE NIGHT LANA WAS KILLEDRachel's POV "That fucking crazy bitch!" I cursed constantly hitting the steering wheel of my car. Lana was a bastard, and all she did was to get on my nerves. It was getting sickening and I was getting tired and frustrated about it. "Just you wait and see bitch..." Just as I said that I sighed. Lana's car left the mansion, and I smirked.There was no way I was losing her now. I started my car and followed hers all the way to the... Mall?Really?After everything she just said to me she went to a freaking mall?! To do wha
Rachel's POVWhat was Marina doing here?Although Joyce said she came to visit me, I didn't expect her to come in. Not after everything I said to her. The Marina I knew back then could hold a grudge for a long time, though she never did for me, but maybe I had crossed the limit. Who was I kidding? I did cross the limit."What are you doing here?"Marina rolled her eyes. "Can't I come to visit my best friend?" She asked sounding offended. I instantly shook my head. "That's not what I..."She smiled with a slight giggle. " It was acting. I was just messing with you; of course, I know you missed me." Marina said with a proud smile. My lips involuntarily hooked up. Despite everything I did and said to her, she was still here. Then my smile went down and so did my face. "I'm sorry," I muttered in a low voice but loud enough for her to hear. "I know you are," I heard Marina say and flashed my head towards her. "You just got arrested for something you didn't do, and then you find out
Marina's POVMy mind began to wander about after sitting in the waiting room for almost an hour. I was still yet to see Rachel and I was getting really bored. I couldn't just get on my phone because Lana's death was the most trending topic on social media right now, and I was afraid that if I even as much as glanced at it, I would get myself riled up. I leaned into my chair shutting my eyes as I breath in and out calmly. Just when I was about falling asleep the sharp sound of something vibrating woke me up. " Just who the hell is that? " I groaned, taking my phone out of my purse to check the ID caller. Fuck, it was director George Stone. Blinking my eyes in surprise, I cleared my throat severally before picking up the call. " Yes sir, "" Marina, you have heard the latest news, right? " The director's deep, stern voice came from the other side of the phone, and I gulped. ' Of course, I've heard. It took you almost four days to even call! '" Yes, I have, sir," I said instead.
David's POV" Have you gone crazy? That was Ethan Wright and you disrespected Rachel in front of him!" Jameson thundered as soon as we were out of the hospital. I wasn't fully listening to what Jameson was saying because my entire mind was clouded with anger at Ethan, plus the excruciating pain I was feeling from my finger wasn't helping matters. That bastard Ethan had the guts to break my finger, and that too very easily. Who the hell was he?Yes, he was a billionaire and the CEO of one of the biggest companies in the country, but how the hell was he able to break my finger so easily?" That man must be hiding something". I muttered to myself. " Are you kidding? Seriously David? And you're thinking that now?" Jameson yelled, his eyes almost popping out of his skull. " Yes, I am. " I growled, before shaking my head to get my emotions back in check. I held Jameson's hands frantically and made him look at me." Just take a look at it. Up until six months ago, we had never heard of t