GENERAL POVIsabella watched Aunt Susan in the kitchen as she nervously placed the frying pan on the gas cooker and switched on the burner."It looks like you're just starting, Aunty." Isabella queried with folded arms."Yes, my dear, I'm so sorry I missed my alarm by 30 minutes. Sleep robbed your aunt's old bones. But don't worry about it, darling; Aunty will be done in less than an hour."Then she paused to squint at Isabella. "Or are you hungry already, darling?""No, Aunty, I'm not; I still have some excess burgers to snack on in my school bags.""Are you sure, dearie? You know, I could order some pizza for you guys before continuing with this spinach.""It's fine, Aunty, take your time; I'm not even that hungry, by the way.""What about your brothers? Have you asked them?”Isabella let out a quick cackle, then placed both her tiny hands over her mouth and reduced her voice a little, like she wanted to tell a secret."My brothers? They're worse; those could even wait till tomorro
ELLIOT POV Sophie and I landed at 6 a.m. on Wednesday at John F. Kennedy International Airport. We departed from New Zealand at 2 p.m. on Tuesday after resolving the office issue on Monday evening. The journey had lasted for about 16 hours, but it felt so much shorter than it really was because I had spent all my time watching Sophie and meditating, or should I say we had spent the journey watching each other from the corner of our eyes, our expressions full of so much hidden meaning that words failed to describe. She was sitting at an arm's length from me in the business class section of the plane.I couldn't help thinking about the Monday evening experience over and over in my mind: how brilliantly she had resolved the case that brought us to New Zealand, and how, at the end of everything, I had finally summoned the courage to tell her how much I truly felt for her.I thought of how we had shared our first kiss an
Sophie POV I took a sip from the glass of water on my desk, directing all my attention to the computer screen gleaming before me.The traps I set up for those treacherous informants within our company were beginning to yield results.About three of the cloned email addresses received messages from the suspects agreeing to my terms and conditions; all I had to do now was extend my hook, and the silly baits would catch on to it."Should I inform Elliot at this point?" I reasoned."No, I preferred making my kill first before letting him know of the situation." Immediately I thought of Elliot; memories of yesterday flashed before me. Elliot had appeared so tense when I had gone back to his office later that afternoon to pick up my kids, and I had asked him what the matter was, but he had only responded from the top of his head as he rushed out of the office, mumbling something like:"Just go home with t
OLIVIA POV I picked up my phone again to dial the new number Gerald had given me when I requested his boss’s New Zealand contact; it rang out and returned unanswered yet again for the fifth time."Is this really Elliot's number?" I muttered to myself impatiently. "Because he can't say he hasn't been seeing my calls for the past 20 minutes. I deliberately called by 5 p.m. so he wouldn't have any excuse. It's still noon over there, or is he ignoring me on purpose?" I continued to vent silently to myself, hissing and tapping my foot repeatedly. When I could no longer contain my irritability, I sprung up to my feet and made for Gerald's office. "Good evening, madam. I was just about to leave when you came in." Gerald stood on his feet, clutching his briefcase with one hand. "Oh," I said, taking the guest seat before he could even offer me a seat. He turned and went ba
General POV"Please guys stay indoors till she comes back. Your mom really emphasized that when she called."Joseph implored after discharging the triplets from school prematurely, as instructed by Sophie, and bringing them back home. It was one of the rare occasions when he would follow them halfway into the house to be doubly sure that they had entered the house in his presence."Owen, Nathan, please come and lock up the gates," Joseph said before turning to leave again."Bye, Uncle Joseph." The boys waved at him as he exited through the pedestrian opening of the gate and got into his car."What's going on, though?" Isabella asked, standing with folded arms on the balcony after they heard the sound of Joseph's car zooming off."I guess the two lovebirds in our lives may have decided to go on an outing again," Nathan suggested with an uncertain shrug that stopped halfway, which meant he was not confident."I don't think so; it doesn't add up. I mean, do they really have to pick us up
ELLIOT POVI arrived at work today looking distraught, letting out a tired sigh as I pushed my office door open.I have been like this since my last encounter with Sophie, hating myself for how I reacted to the allegation made against her. I dropped my briefcase on the desk weakly and took a seat to think clearly about the issue.I remembered that look of genuine surprise on her face when I handed the document that indicted her to her and how she had pleaded her case, saying it was a set-up and had not sounded like she was guilty in any way.I rubbed a hand over my forehead wearily."Gosh, I was too harsh on her. What if she didn't do it? What was I thinking? What would she even do with that amount of money?”I took a deep breath and leaned back on my chair, still trying to wrap my head around the situation, when my phone beeped on the desk. I stretched a hand to pick it up, and my eyes shone bright when I saw that the sender was anonymous. I sat up immediately to read the content of t
ELLIOT POVMy head swelled when our culprit, Robert Maverick, was done with his confession. I gazed at him without words.I felt sweaty, lowered my eyebrows, and bit my lip guiltily."Is everything alright, sir?" After Robert revealed Olivia's involvement in the theft, Michel waved a hand and asked when he noticed that I hadn't said anything else."I'm fine; just keep an eye on him. I'll be right back." I said weakly as I trudged outside awkwardly.The level of guilt I was feeling now had doubled after the revelation."So Olivia set Sophie up? And I had sided with her without even knowing? How could I have been so blind and stupid? Fuck!"I jumped into the car, and my convoy pulled out and exited the police station premises as we headed back to the company headquarters.Immediately after we arrived, I saw Joseph's Hyundai parked in front of the gate, with all of the car doors open except for the driver's door. Then my eyes lit up when I saw Sophie’s kids outside the car; one of them w
SOPHIE POVI leaned back on the passenger seat and had my eyes closed for a moment, in a bid to compose myself.Joseph was a seat away, driving me and the kids back home after a really tough and confusing day at work.I opened my eyes again, allowing my mind to recede to hours ago when Elliot stopped by my office, pleading for forgiveness and, funny enough, a second chance.I couldn't help but let out a smirk."Make things right, indeed," I muttered beneath my breath, keeping my voice inaudible enough to be heard only by me.My memories receded farther back to a few days ago when it had been my turn to plead for his understanding and trust, but what did he do? He sided with his mistress, accused me of being an opportunist, and even went ahead to mention my kids without any measure of restraint whatsoever. I remembered how that judgmental stare on his face had left me traumatized; it had stripped me of sleep as I stayed awake the preceding nights with my mind preoccupied with only thou