AvelineI have accepted a lot from the Harrington family lately, but today was a bad one, like every other day, or maybe even worse than the others.When I secured the previous deal, I thought Draven failed to recognize my support and the role I played in doing it all because Emily had her way of putting herself in the limelight, but this time, it was clear that no matter how hard I tried, I would never get the recognition I deserve. First, Emily took the glory upon herself and now it's Sophie. I guess it's high time I stop putting in any effort. My deal with the family would soon be over anyway, so I guess there's no use in putting in any more effort. After all, I'd already paid all my debt to them; there was nothing left for me to do, so I just had to act like every other person. "Good day ma'am," a man with a brown moustache greeted me immediately I walked out of the building. "Yeah," I held the file across my chest tightly. "A good day it is."We were some distance away, he wa
AvelineWhy would he need my help with such? There are other people who he could have called to get the job done; the maids that he employed, for example, can get it done. What Grace was thinking seemed to be quite different from what I was thinking at that moment, given what she told me. She placed her hands on my shoulder. “You see, the reason why Draven might have called you to get this errand done for him might be because he sees you as the only person who can get the work done for him.” I know Grace is trying to make me see the good sides of everything; the only thing I know that she should know is that there aren’t any good sides any longer. I just hope she can see what I am talking about and see the logical side of things from now on. “I don’t think so any longer; there are other people that could have gotten this work done for him, and there is no good side to this errand he is sending her on. No matter how hard I think about it, I just can’t see it,” Roy said. Finally! He
Draven Draven was surprised by the way Aveline responded to him and threw questions at him. Lines appeared on his forehead as Aveline kept throwing questions at him in an angry tone. From her expression and the look in her eyes, you could tell she had gone through enough already, and she just couldn't take it anymore. It was evident in her face…in her eyes."You do not even hesitate to do something that would hurt me, and I keep asking myself what my offense was, but I can't even find one." She raised her index finger. "One!" "You are talking outside the box and it's not in a positive way," he fires back at her. "It's in a stupid and negative way.""I'm not mad because you chose someone over me but you don't have to treat me the way you do!" She pointed towards Emily. "You can do whatever you want with her, but why do you seem to treat me this bad, why?!" Draven squinted his eyes and took a step forward. His gaze was plastered on Aveline, but she did not seem to be fazed by the
AvelineThat's dumb and very stupid of me to think that Draven might harbor even a tiny seed of feeling that has a chance of blossoming. "What more does he have to do to me for my dumb self to finally realize that there is no single atom of feeling for me inside that rock-hard heart of his?" I asked myself immediately. We entered the room where Grace wanted to restyle me."The party isn't over yet; maybe Draven is just acting out of stress and not in his right senses like he should be," Grace said just like other times, coming to his defense. "Nah, I can't take it any longer; I am too exhausted for this. Trust me when I say that I have been drained," I said to her, shaking my head slightly. My voice was filled with conviction, and slightly, you could sense tiredness in it. For the first time, I feel like Grace finally understands me; she inhaled deeply and let out a slow exhale. "I know and I understand," she said, going on with her restyling. Putting effort into making me look as
AvelineStill staying in the bathroom with a shattered heart, shattered more into dust already, and a tear-covered face. I pulled out my phone and entered into my contact app, strolling through it. I was searching for a number—not just anyone's number, but my best friend's, Sabrina's, to be exact. I scrolled up and down endlessly searching for the number but failing to find it. I don't know why it was proving hard to do. Why can't I just find one goddamned number?! I was frustrated and pissed, I won't lie. After what was obviously a minute but had felt like an eternity, it was like my brain hadn't been working properly the past minute after hearing what Sophie had said, and it just clicked right now. I tapped on the search space in the contacts app, then inputted what I had saved Sabrina's contact with; before I even tapped the search button, her contact had already pulled up, and I just tapped on it and dialed her contact.She picked after the second ring, "What's up, Ave?" She
Aveline.Emily fell to the floor with a loud gasp and I saw blood flow from her right shoulder. Was this how she was determined to take complete charge of Draven's heart?It's not like she does not have complete control already, but…this is beyond my expectations, and I can't help but wonder.Why did she run in the first place?! What was she trying to do?!"What happened just now?!" A woman with blonde hair screamed beside me and I shot her a deadly glance. She bent her head low. "A bullet was sent into someone's body," I spoke in a low tone and she nodded. "I'm sorry for shouting that way," she apologized and I just nodded. My gaze went to Emily again. I warned her, but she turned a blind eye; she was plotting something against me, I know that, but I never knew she could lay down her life all in the name of shredding me and Draven apart. What if she did it knowing she would survive? What if?Different questions flooded my head, and I just gasped and swallowed hard; my knee
AvelineI looked at the phone til it stopped ringing and a hiss escaped my lips. "Why is he calling?" I poured the milk into the cornflakes and walked out of the kitchen with the plate in my hand. The sigh that escaped my lips was a relieving one and I crossed my legs after taking a spoon from the plate. My phone rang again and I tapped my forehead lightly. "What the fuck is wrong with him right now?" I picked up the call and placed it close to my ear without saying a word. "Are you there?" His voice was calm over the phone, and I just squinted my eyes. "State your reason for calling," I spoke in a rash tone. "I don't have all day.""By the way, I have somewhere I need to be," my words tumbled out in a rush. He just chuckled over the phone and I scoffed. "We need you at the office right now." Was that a command or a plea?"There are times when you pretend like I'm important Draven," I paused after calling his name and drew a long breath. "But in the end, you just put me
AvelineI watched as Draven's mother walked past me slowly. A file was in her hand, and she shot me a deadly glance, but I just tightened my jaw. "You have been absent," she took her seat on the brown couch. "I don't need you to tell me anything apart from the main reason." My hands were folded across my chest. "Is that what we are supposed to be discussing right now?" Her thumb and index were under her chin and she stroked her beardless chin before scoffing loudly. "You can tell me what we are supposed to be discussing. I heard Draven stifling a chuckle, he controlled himself from bursting it out. "We can't discuss anything with her. I mean, she's not even in the top place, so I don't think there's a reason to discuss important issues with her." His mother smiled and flushed her hair above her shoulder and it went behind her. "Things that are not relevant will be discussed with you, Aveline Nova."For a split second, I shared a look with Draven and he seemed to enjoy watching me
AvelineHappiness and relief were completely an understatement to what I was feeling immediately after my gaze landed on Betty. "You are not hurt Betty, you are not." "Mom?" She forcefully took her hand out of the cop's hand, and just as he was about to follow her, our eyes met, which made him pause. "It's fine." She jumped into my arms and I took her far above the ground level with constant chuckles. "I was worried about you." I kissed her on the forehead. "What really happened?" I turned to my back, and I saw Draven smiling at Betty. I felt guilty for a split second. I lied to him about his child, but it was for her safety and nothing else. "There…there was this man who gave me gifts at school," Betty's serene and innocent voice pulled me back to reality. She had started to stutter in fear, and I noticed that her grip on my hand tightened, which made me hug her. "It's fine," I patted her on the head gently. "All that matters now is that you are safe." As we were in each other's
AvelineFollowing slowly like a snail wasn't doing much to help my anxiety but the hope of seeing my daughter again made the slow drive worth it.Emily's car was ahead, and the two bikes were behind her, freestyling on the road like they were in some race competition even though I wouldn't know that I was being followed. Then I was the last vehicle in the line. I drove slowly so that Emily wouldn't see my car and it was killing me.My phone rang and I connected it to the car's speaker. It was Sabrina. "Hello, any update yet?" Her worried voice inquired. I could tell that she was tired.She decided to go from house to house on the other side of the city with Betty's picture to ask people if they'd seen her and I could tell from her voice that she was exhausted and worried out of her mind.She blamed herself for letting Betty out of her sight and no matter how I tried to convince her, it was like pouring water into a gasoline explosion. "Nothing solid for now, but Emily came by the o
Aveline"You don't have much time to waste. Your daughter's life is on the line, except she doesn't mean anything to you of course, you can let the cold hands of death snatch her from you but remember, she will never forgive you if you do." Emily's voice sounded once again, making me more aware of my situation. I was caught between a rock and a hard place, with a very difficult condition to be met, I was at my wit's end.My struggles to build the Nova empire were for the sake of my daughter, Betty, I wanted to make sure she wasn't going to have a tough childhood or a tough time settling down when she came of age like I did.I wanted her experience to be the opposite of mine, she was the fruit of the only thing that mattered to me in the past but, I wasn't going to let the same people who almost ruined my life years ago ruin my daughter's life.'There has to be another way, there has to be some other way I can get back my child without having to give up a large amount of my shares or
Beatrice"What happened to you when you confronted Aveline?" Beatrice asked Sofia the moment she saw her seated in the living room."What are you talking about Mom?" Sofia asked with a fake smile, trying to act as casually as possible but it was too late.Beatrice already knew what happened, she only wanted to confirm that Aveline wasn't bluffing and Sofia's silence just proved that Aveline wasn't bluffing.Beatrice exhaled slowly as she settled into the same sofa Sofia sat on."Tell me everything that happened that day. Don't leave anything out." Sofia nodded at her mother's words, there was no hiding things from Beatrice. She was always so meticulous with whatever she was doing.Sofia knew that it was better to tell everything to her, especially as it had been confirmed that she was no match for Aveline."Are you sure that's what happened? Aveline is a wolfless werewolf." Beatrice asked with doubt after Sofia finished narrating what happened. "I still think about that night, somet
Aveline"You must be Kade Pierce," Emily stretched forth her hand with a smile on her face. "I've heard a lot about you." Kade turned to me and I shrugged. "Thank you very much." He replied with a smile that did not go as far as his throat not to talk of his heart. "I don't think it's bad to admit that you are the one behind the success and massive growth of this company right?" She rolled her eyes at intervals whenever our eyes met. "It is, in my opinion, though; I don't know about others." The way Kade looked at me showed that he knew Emily and I knew each other. "In my opinion, I think it's Ms Nova; I've worked with her for three years, so yeah. She's the main person behind the success of this company." Emily scoffed in disappointment before taking her hands out of Kade's hand abruptly. "I'm sorry that I was not able to notice it sooner." I looked at the hand she stretched towards me in disgust. "Go straight to your point," I looked her in the eye. "I know you are here for so
Aveline"You must be Kade Pierce," Emily stretched forth her hand with a smile on her face. "I've heard a lot about you." Kade turned to me and I shrugged. "Thank you very much." He replied with a smile that did not go as far as his throat not to talk of his heart. "I don't think it's bad to admit that you are the one behind the success and massive growth of this company right?" She rolled her eyes at intervals whenever our eyes met. "It is, in my opinion, though; I don't know about others." The way Kade looked at me showed that he knew Emily and I knew each other. "In my opinion, I think it's Ms Nova; I've worked with her for three years, so yeah. She's the main person behind the success of this company." Emily scoffed in disappointment before taking her hands out of Kade's hand abruptly. "I'm sorry that I was not able to notice it sooner." I looked at the hand she stretched towards me in disgust. "Go straight to your point," I looked her in the eye. "I know you are here for som
AvelineThe thought of the next thing Beatrice would do disturbed me and as much as I tried to, I could take my mind off the threat she gave me. Sophie had Beatrice and Draven to help her, but there was no one for Betty except for me and maybe Kade. Just maybe. "Good afternoon, ma," one of the computer scientists greeted, but I took my eyes off him without giving a response to his greetings. I was weakened and infuriated at the same time after I found out about what would happen if I terminated my contract with Draven. 'No matter what happens, I'm here,' I understood that V was trying to be there at all times for me, but this was not something she was needed in, and sounding it to her would be rude, so I remained silent. I heard creaking sounds from a distance; it was the door that led to the conference room if I was not mistaken. The indistinct chatters I heard made me sure that they were the one. The flower vase was shattered on the wall by me and I screamed in anger after slam
Aveline"What do you mean by it's not possible?" My face twisted in confusion. "Why can't I terminate the contract?" "I'm ready to do whatever it takes, no matter how far I have to go or how long it takes," I said, my determination and resolve evident in my voice. "I want you to tell me the steps I need to take to terminate the contract with immediate effect, so I can start making preparations."I paused, my eyes locked on theirs I knew it may take months to get some of the documents from the court, but I was willing to wait. I was willing to do whatever it took to make that happen. But what I didn't want to hear from them was that I shouldn't terminate the contract. That's not an option for me.I've worked too hard to get to where I am today. I've built Nova Empire from the ground up, and I won't let anyone or anything threaten its success. Beatrice needs to know that I'm not someone to be underestimated. She needs to know that I'm a force to be reckoned with.I took a deep breath,
AvelineI pushed the double door of the conference room, and the board of directors, along with the shareholders, all rose to their feet; I noticed that they were more than the people I knew. As I racked my brain, I remembered that I asked them to come along with their lawyers, and it seemed every one of them came with a lawyer. "You can have your seats," I gave everyone a copy of the files that were in my hand, and the sudden expression on their faces showed me how surprised they were.The only one who was not surprised was Kade and it was very clear to me as to why he was not surprised. "Please–" "Once we start you can say anything you want," I interrupted one of the shareholders who raised his hand. I saw the impatience in his eyes. "You need to wait, and while you are at it you can go through it." I finally sat down before heaving a heavy sigh. "This is sudden." I heard the voice from my left but I could not make out the name of the person that said it. It was not something stu