Adele's Pov I was happy to be home early. The past two days I'd worked late had been annoying, I had missed spending time with Jay in the evenings. To me that was important. Dan came home just as dinner was ready. “Am I late?” He asked as he came in. “Just on time.” I smiled. “I am glad you came home early today. I was meaning to speak to Dad about it.” “The accounts department kept bringing work in just as I was about to go home. But thankfully they brought it much earlier today. But it wasn’t so bad, your dad was a big help. He walked me through everything.” We sat down to dinner and talked about Jay’s upcoming birthday party. “Will Grandpa Jason be there?” He asked. I looked uncomfortable. “I don’t think so honey. He is busy. But your Grandpa Chris will be there.” I said. “What about grandma and Aunt Karen?” “No they can’t make it.” I said gently. “But Uncle Craig and Aunt Zoey will be there right?” It was Dan’s turn to look uncomfortable. “Yeah they wi
She looked at him in surprise, not sure she had heard him well. “What did you say?” She asked. This was the first time he had said those words while sober, so she knew he meant them. “I love you.” He whispered softly into her ear. “I have loved you right from the first time I set eye on you in the mall.” “You didn’t show it then.” She teased, then gasped as he nibbled her ear. “I was fighting the feeling but I don’t want to fight anymore. I love you and I don’t want to hide it.” “I love you too.” She smiled. “And I will make sure nothing comes between us.” She kissed him and they fell onto the bed and continued making love. She woke up in his arms again and it felt like heaven. Things were finally going the way she had always dreamt of. She had a great job and family, except for her family who hated her. And she confirmed it that morning when she tried calling her dad to tell him of Jay’s birthday party, hoping he would attend. It was a waste of time. As soon as she be
“That was great, I know Jay really had a great time.” Dan said that night as they got ready for bed. “Thanks to you, Zoey, and Chris. I really appreciate it.” Adele smiled. “You both deserve it.” He kissed her and went to take a shower. While Adele waited she logged into social media. There were some messages from Jack. Hey Jack! Sorry for the silence. It’s okay. I am happy about it because it mean things are going okay for you. Lol. Even then I should chat you. I don’t want our friendship to be selfish. How are you doing? How are your kids? “Great. Really good. And you? How is your little guy? Exhausted. Lol. Today is his birthday. My father in-law gave him a blast. Lol! I am glad. It is great for a kid to celebrate such a special day with family and friends. Yeah but my family weren’t there. Dad isn’t speaking to me because I have refused to join him in his horrible plan. Ignore him, you are doing the right thing. But there is something bothering me Jack. S
Even though Jack had told Adele not to tell Chris about seeing her dad and Vera together, she felt he had the right to know. So that afternoon while she waited for Dan so they could go to lunch, she went to Chris ‘office. To her surprise Vera was there. “Vera, meet Adele my daughter in law. Adele meet Vera a friend of mine. I think you saw her at the gala?” Chris introduced them. “Yes nice to meet you.” Adele said uncomfortably. “Me too and remember you at the gala. You looked really beautiful.” Vera smiled. “Okay I have work to do, I will see you later.” Chris told her. “Sure.” She said and walked out. “Adele, is everything okay?” Chris asked noticing her discomfort. “Yeah everything is fine. I just wanted to take to you about something.” “Go ahead.” “I know it is none of my business, but how well do you know Vera?” She asked. “Not so well. We have been seeing each other for about three months. Why do you ask?” She hesitated, wondering how to tell him without ex
Karen dialed Craig’s number for the fifth time and again it went to voicemail. Damn! She thought. It was two weeks since she and Craig had spoken. She hadn’t heard anything from him and Adele and Dan were still married. It seemed Craig was going to be as useless as his sister. Maybe it was time her mom got involved. As she stood up to go and join her in the living room, she saw her dad drive in. He jumped out of the car and hurried into the house. She frowned, wondering why he was so excited. It may have something to do with business and she wasn’t interested. Her only interest was getting Dan to herself. She stared at the swimming pool while she thought. No plan was working. When Lucy had come up with her plan to ruin Adele it looked like it would work. She had gotten pregnant and been kicked out of the house. Karen had hoped she would end up on the streets then kill herself or get killed, but no. Somehow she had pulled through. Then the stupid Chris had brought her back to
“Stop being crazy Zoey!” Dan snapped. “How can you think such a thing?” “What else do you want me to think? She is with him all the time. She was deliberately working late beside him, and how do you explain what happened at the birthday party?” “She went to get balloons.” Dan said weakly. “In Dad’s bedroom? Earlier when she asked me where he was I told her he was in his room dressing for the party. And we didn’t need balloons, we had enough downstairs, if she really wanted more why not ask me or you to get them? And I saw her when she went upstairs, she was acting like she was afraid of being caught. Besides, when you met her was she holding balloons?” Dan had thought all this too and had been frightened by the obvious answer. Something was going on between his wife and his dad. No! He was being crazy and so was Zoey. Nothing was happening. His dad won’t do that neither would Adele. “You are wrong. Adele can’t be interested in him, he is way older than her.” “So? She was
“Can this wardrobe take all our clothes?” Adele asked. “I doubt it.” “In that case we will put mine in first then yours, if it can’t take it we will hang yours on the window.” Dan teased. She playfully punched him in the chest and he laughed. It was a hot Saturday afternoon and she and Dan were moving their things into their common bedroom. Jay was assisting, although he was getting in the way. As Adele walked back to her room to get more of her clothes her phone rang. “Hey Zoey,” she answered. “Hi Adele, please we need you to come in and sign a document.” “I can’t Zoey Dan and I are really busy. Can’t it wait till Monday?” “It can’t. If it could I won’t bother you, but it is important for the TGT deal. Please, you won’t spend more than a couple of minutes.” Adele sighed. She knew how important the deal was. “Okay. I will be there in a couple of minutes.” She said. She went to join Dan and Jay in the bedroom. “I have to run to the office. I will be back in no t
Dan saw his wife in his Dad’s arm and went crazy with anger. He fell like grabbing a chair and hitting his Dad over the head with it. But he controlled his anger and left. No need to make a scene inside here, he thought, he had seen all he needed to see to confirm that Zoey had been right, these two were sleeping together. They would go into one of the rooms for a quickie then come back acting like nothing happened. How long had it been going on? He thought furiously, how long had they been making a fool of him? If Zoey hadn’t tipped him off he would still be in the dark. He sat in his car, burning with anger. He would wait until he saw one of them come out then confront them in the street. He prayed it would be his dad so he could punch the bastard in his jaw. As for Adele, he was through with the whore. She was just like Candice, they were all the same, he thought bitterly. Zoey called him. “Zoey, you were right. The bastard is sleeping with Adele. How could he do that to me?”
Adele’s Pov “I am letting her go that’s what. What you are doing is crazy Tina! And I won’t support you.” Dad said. “You idiot! I am trying to help you solve a problem!” Tina yelled. “Just like I did with her useless mother.” “What?” I asked wide-eyed. “What do you mean? Did you have something to do with Claire’s death?” He asked. “Yes I did dumbass! What else was I suppose to do. You said you couldn’t be with me because you didn’t want to divorce her so I had to kill her. You mentioned she was going to Palo Alto to see her stupid friend so I waited on a quiet part of the road pretending I had engine trouble, when the fool stopped to help, I hit her on the back of the head and drove her car off a cliff. So your problems were solved.” “How could you be so evil Tina?” Dad asked shocked. “Shut up! I did it to help you. You should be thanking me! Now lock them up and stop being an idiot.” “Never! You have done enough. It ends now. I was an idiot to have had anything to do with you
Tina met Jason the same place she had met Adele. “What took you so long?” She asked suspiciously. “I went by a longer route. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t being followed.” He explained. “Okay, so you have everything?” “Yeah,” he said pointing to his case. “I heard you kidnapped Adele too?” “Yes to increase the ransom.” They began walking to the beach house. “She was the target, I used her son to get her. Tell me about Adele being Chris’ daughter, Claire cheated on you? I am not surprised. She was as useless as her daughter.” “There isn’t much to tell. Chris just told me she wasn’t my daughter, it explained a lot of things.” They got to the house and met Karen having lunch. “Dad! I was so happy when Mom said you were joining us. I hope you aren’t mad I didn’t tell you I was leaving?” “No. I wish you had though. Where is Adele and Jay?” “There.” Tina pointed to a door. “Let me see them.” Tina picked up a bunch of keys on the table and opened the door. Adele and Jay were s
“How could we be so stupid?” Dan groaned. He was pacing the living room very upset. “I was the idiot.” Chris said. “I should have known what Tina was up to when she didn’t want Adele around. In fact I should have had bodyguards here the minute this happened.” “It won’t have helped. From what the housekeeper said Tina didn’t rush in and kidnap her she lured her away.” Rachel said. “Jay and now Adele have been taken. What kind of an idiot am I not to have seen this?“ Chris asked helplessly. “Beating yourself up won’t help. We have to find a way to get them back.” Rachel said. “I am going to talk to Jason, he is going to tell me where his crazy wife is hiding.” Chris fumed. “I will come with you.” Dan said. “No. You two stay here and let me handle it.” Rachel said and left. Jason was staring at his dinner when Rachel walked in. “It is time to come clean Jason, where is Tina? Chris is right, you know where she is and you are hiding it from us.” She said. “I am not in t
The phone call had shaken Adele and Dan, but Rachel told them not to get upset. “Tina is trying to get to you guys, don’t let her win. You have to be strong.” She said. “I'm trying but it isn’t easy,” Adele cried. “Tina is crazy, what if she hurts him?” “She won't, she needs him to carry out whatever evil plan she has. Don’t worry, she will call again.” Two days later, Tina called Chris during lunch time. “Hey Chris, how are you? I'm calling you because you have what I need.” She said. “ You evil bitch! Where is Jay?” “The brat is fine don’t worry.” “If you harm him-“ “Why should I? I need him. I have no intention of hurting him. I just want to make a deal and I will let him go. Having him here is annoying.” “What do you want?” “Money.” “How much?” “I will tell you, but first call Dan and Rachel to your office by 4 pm. I want them to be there when I call. Do not call Adele.” “Why only Dan and Rachel? And why 4 pm? What are you up to?” He asked suspiciously.
Tina called Jason as he drove home. “Tina, what is going on? Is Karen with you?” He asked. “Calm down she is. I know you didn’t want her to know about our plan, but I couldn’t help contacting her. I hope you are not mad?” “Not really, although I wish you had told me first. Did she take Adele’s son?” “Yes, the brat is here.” “Tina that is kidnapping! She could be in big trouble! Why did you get her mixed up in this?” “Relax, no one is getting into trouble. We are going make money from this. I needed her help to pull it off.” “Money? How?” “From the ransom of course.” “Tina this is a bad idea.” “No it isn’t. Just calm down and leave it to me okay?” “Sure, take care of Karen, and please keep in touch.” When Jason got home he sank into a chair feeling tired and upset. He had guessed something was wrong when he tried to call Karen and couldn’t get through, then when he'd come home Marie had told him Karen had packed her bags to go on a camping trip. He had guessed s
Adele’s pov I couldn’t stop crying. Dan sat beside me trying to console me. Brenda was crying quietly in the armchair and Chris was on the phone, calling everyone he could think of to help find Jay. “This is all my fault,” Brenda said “No it is,” Dan said. “You didn’t get there on time because an accident delayed you, and I am very sure the accident was caused by Tina.” “It is my fault.” I cried. “I caused this. I brought Karen into our lives. You warned me Dan but I was stupid enough to trust her!” “Stop blaming yourself. It’s not your fault she turned out to be a witch, you couldn’t have known.” “Dan is right,” Chris said, None of you are to blame. We will find Jay, and arrest Karen and Tina, I promise.” The housekeeper led Dad into the room. “I got your message,” he said, “what’s going on? You said Karen kidnapped Jay? That’s impossible why would she do that?” “Because she is a psycho just like her mom and she needs to be stopped!” Chris fumed. ‘It is time to come
“Calm down Brenda, there must be some mistake,” Adele said trying to control her panic. “No! I got here and I couldn’t find him!” “Okay, I am on my way,” Adele said. She was trembling as she hung up and told Dan what had happened. “Calm down babe there must be a mistake somewhere. We will go to the school together.” He said. On the way to the elevator, Chris called him. “Dan I need to see you.” “Not now Dad-“ “It's urgent.” “I will wait in your car,” Adele said. Dan almost ran to Chris’ office. The man who had been with Karen was standing next to Chris. They were listening to a recording on a mobile phone on Chris’s desk. “Dad please make it snappy,” Dan said rushing in. “Listen to this.” Chris said. “I am in a hurry dad, tell me what it is.” “I found out where Zoey and her mom are living, somewhere across town. I sent one of my people to them to see what they were up to, and found out they were planning to hack into our company and steal millions, so I sent this guy to
She thought about the lunch and laughed, did the stupid Adele believe she was trying to be her friend?She is dumber than I imagined, Karen thought.She went to her room to wait for her mom’s call. It came an hour later.“Mom, I have been waiting.”“Sorry honey, I wanted to make sure you were back, how did it go?”“Better than I expected, I have the information.”“Meet at the usual place.”Karen hurriedly drove to the beach. Tina entered the car as soon as she stopped it.“I have everything Mom. I went to Adele and pretended I wanted to work with her, the fool believed my good girl act. I was able to get the info you wanted about her son.”“Smart girl! I knew I could rely on you. I have been gathering some information too and now have an idea of his routine.”“But why go through this stress, Mom? Can't we go straight to Adele?”“We can but it’s more difficult. Using her son to get to her is easier.”‘Okay, you said Dad is not to know about it?”“Not yet, till I'm sure he can be of hel
It was past dinner time when Karen came home.“You are late for dinner.” Her dad said.“Yeah I went for a walk. I have thought about what you said and you are right, Adele heading the company isn’t so bad. I want to work with her.”“I am glad you see things my way. I will call her tomorrow and tell her you are coming over.”“I hope we will be able to mend out relationship.” Karen smiled falsely.The next afternoon she walked into Adele’s office.“Dad told me you would be coming.” Adele said.“Yeah. I need a job. Sitting around waiting to hear from mom is driving me crazy.”“I am sorry about what happened. Chris has promised to help if she gives herself up.”“Dad told me. We are grateful. And I am sorry for all the awful stuff I did and said.” Karen said sounding remorseful.“Let’s move past that. I have a job for you in the media department, would you like that?”“Sure. I would love it.”“Okay, you can start tomorrow.”“How about you tell me a little about the job.” Karen said.“Sure.