Thanks for reading. ❤️😘 Got the first 3 support of gems for this story from itwasntmelove2000. It warmed my heart and made me smile so much. Thank you
“Sorry I kept you waiting.” Ashley apologized as she stepped into her office. Bruce stirred, his eyes gleamed with admiration as he watched her walk in and round her table to her seat. “It's fine. I didn't tell you before coming. In such short notice, I can't blame you.”Ashley scoffed and rolled her eyes without getting noticed. Bruce could easily fool any one with his courteousness, making someone believe he was well mannered and considerate. Anyone but her.She forced a smile. “You're not a stranger. I can always make time for you.” She didn't miss the proud glint in his eyes. He felt important.Idiót! Two can play this game of pretence. Only this time, Bruce was getting beat at his one game.“Thank you.” Bruce said sheepishly.She smiled and darted her eyes to the man seated beside Bruce. He understood the cue and immediately introduced the man.“He is with me. He is Alex, my designer.” Ashley nodded her greeting to Alex before peeling her eyes on Bruce.“Yes. Straight to busin
Ashley was very supportive to Bruce. At least it seemed that way and Bruce bought every bit of her act. She helped him. From offering advice to ensuring the right location for the event was picked, down to decorations, she helped him.“I can't thank you enough, Ashley. You've been more than a big help to me.” Bruce said in a soft low tone, his gratitude, deeply ingrained in his voice.“It pains me that you won't be attending the exhibition after all the effort you've put into it.” He added.She smiled with regret. “Me too.” She murmured and her eyes gleamed with subtle mischief. Because deep down, she wasn't sorry. It was just how it was meant to be. She'd be away on the day his feet would slowly begin sinking down, deep into the mud pool she had prepared for him. Her alibi was too convincing. No one would suspect her.And on the D day, like every fashion show, low background music, dimmed lights, and a runway stage, the models filed out, clad in the new designs intending to wow the
Mr Leon was admitted to a hospital. His heart attack had been serious and he was in critical condition.“Why didn't you tell anyone you were having troubles with the company?” Bruce's mother questioned him. She and Helen were seated outside on one of the benches along the hospital hallway waiting for the doctor.Bruce stood beside their bench. His back inclined against the white wall. One leg bent backwards, his foot folded against the wall, his weight resting on his other foot. He crossed his arms over his chest. His head hung down and he stared fixated at nothing on the white tile.“Did you know about this?” Sarah Leon turned to her daughter-in-law, her eyes sought to extract the answer from her as there was nothing forthcoming from Bruce.“Why did neither of you say anything?” Sarah queried, seeing the guilt that fell over Rachel's eyes. The doctor's arrival at that moment saved Rachel from any more of Sarah's drills. They stood up in a rush, stood before the doctor and listened
Just seeing Bruce so withered in front of her brought Ashley so much satisfaction. But she wasn't done. “Don’t fret over it. We'll work it out.” She assured him. “I can't even look at you.” Bruce said. His voice dunked in heavy self berating. As it should be. She agreed with him in her heart. “I don't know how I ended up plunging myself into this trouble. Now I'm being labeled a thief. My whole reputation is on the brink.” Ashley looked over his face as he flogged himself. The look of shame and regret. This is the look that should have been on his face when he smacked her head. This is the look that should have been on his face when he tossed her body over the bridge. This is the look that should be on his face for the rest of life knowing he tried to murder her in cold blood. But no. Not once did Bruce wear this look for what he had done to her. Not once did he feel this much shame for killing someone. Not once. And here he was clothed in remorse because his reputation w
DJ, Sarah and Bruce had gotten permission from the doctor to go in to see Mr Leon. Ashley occupied the seat Sarah had previously sat on since Sarah had left. Ashley settled onto the seat with extra grace as Rachel's glare did little grazing to her confidence. She felt Rachel's hot gaze on her, but she did not flinch. “You'll grow old and ugly if you wear that frown for too long.” Ashley spoke without turning to Rachel. She casually adjusted the bracelet on her wrist, running her fingers over the expensive, delicate jewelry. “Can't help it when there's a stubborn stench following me around.” Rachel sneered. “The smell must be coming from you if it follows you everywhere. Have you checked yourself?” Ashley turned to her with a gentle smile. The scowl on Rachel's face deepened. She cast a scornful look over at Ashley, her eyes dripped with disdain as she muttered cusses under her breath. Ashley shook her head at her and rolled her eyes. “All that venom will kill you.” She warned. R
Rachel froze. The hair on her skin brittled. Her eyes went wide with horror. Slowly, she peeled her eyes from the wall and fixed them on Ashley.“What did you say?” “Your sister's case is being reopened.” Ashley repeated.“For murder?” She asked, fearing that Ashley could hear the loud thudding of her heart. She was out of breath. They had everything taken care of. They erased all the traces. There was no way anyone would consider Lilian's death a murder.“I never said it was murder.” Ashley pointed and she saw the realization of her flop flicker in Rachel's eyes.“They're reopening the investigation, that's all I heard.” Ashley slanted her a glance. “You don't seem too happy about it.”“No- Yes- I mean, I am. I'm just wondering why now after all these years.” She said nervously.“Does it matter? Don't you want justice for your sister?” Ashley probed, watching Rachel tense. “Her body was never found. That's something to be worried about… I hear they'll bring everyone in for questioni
“How did it go?” Pamela asked Ashley as she walked into the office. “How is Bruce?” “What do you expect? He's a hot mess, whining about his damaged reputation.” Ashley responded, settling into her office chair. “Does he suspect you?” Ashley laughed. “Suspect me? He has no reason to suspect me… Yet.” She added. Her expression turned brooding as she recalled Bruce's attitude towards her at the hospital and Rachel's confident smile. “What is it?” Pamela didn't miss the change on her face. Ashley shook her head and pushed the thought to the back of her mind. “It's nothing.” “I can't believe this worked out so well. For a moment I feared that the plan might come back to bite us. I can't believe Bruce went through the whole damn thing without checking once to see if things were going right.” “Alex is smart and Bruce is a fool.” There was no kindness in Ashley's words. Pamela giggled, finding Ashley's comparison amusing. Ashley swiveled her chair, turning her sides to Pamela while
Pamela got the answer to her question. Ashley wasn't going to abort anything. Especially not with what they had tried to do. Bruce and Rachel had to be the worst humans on earth with the blackest of souls. And Pamela couldn't fathom how they lived with themselves. With so much wickedness in their hearts. “Have you contacted Alex?” Ashley's voice pulled Pamela from her thoughts. Her brows quirked as she got her mind back into the room. “Uh yes. He is safe and in hiding. Bruce wouldn't be able to find him even if he searches under the sea.” “Good.” “So what do you intend to do about this?” Pamela asked, referring to the information they had just received. “I'll go see the DSC myself. I need to ensure that he doesn't switch sides.” Her voice tinged with a smooth hardness. A hardness she developed when she first discovered their deception. If they were so heartless, she could as well return the energy. Pamela nodded in understanding. “Then what next?” Ashley's eyes glazed with an
“It's done.” Pamela scurried behind Ashley as her wide eyes trail Ashley's back as she enters the office and beeline for her seat. “So quickly?... Did he see you?” Pamela asked. “No.” Ashley took her seat. “I didn't go as me. I used a proxy.” She said with a satisfied heave. “Wow! So now you own the company?” Pamela asked with incredulity. “Now I own, Bruce.” Ashley smiled. “But he doesn't know it yet.” Pamela gasped and let out a chuckle. “Oh my God! You finally got what you wanted.” Ashley's gaze fixes straight past Pamela. Her mind, brooding and brewing. “Not yet. I still have many scores to settle. One of which I haven't been giving a lot of attention to.” “What's that?” Ashley raised her eyes to meet Pamela's. “Rachel.” “That bitch!” Venom dripped from Pamela's voice. “She won't be one for long. I intend to strip her of that snarky attitude of hers.” Excitement flicked through Pamela's eyes. She had always, always hated Rachel and her ‘better than everyone else's atti
A towel wrapped around his waist, Bruce dried his damp hair with another towel as he walked out of the bathroom. His head still ached from his drunkenness last night. Rachel entered at that moment and Bruce smiled. His erection springing back to life very quickly. Ashley had stirred a lot of steam in him the previous night. He had wanted to let some of it out on his wife after the party. But he had slept off waiting for her. There was a lot of cleaning left to do and Rachel had deliberately stayed back to supervise the maids that night. She didn't want to be anywhere near Bruce as she was still very mad at him. She wanted to talk to him but needed to simmer down. Bruce smiled and tugged the towel around his waist loose, freeing his díck. He walked towards her with a smug smile. “You came back late last night.” He said as he made his way to her, hoping she would welcome him like she always did. “I didn't think you'd notice.” Her voice was tight. He reached her and spread his ha
Ashley left DJ's place floating on cloud nine. She headed straight to the office after making a stop at her house for a change of clothes, all the while pleasantly humming to herself. She reached her office and paused at her door when she heard movement from inside. She had earlier met Benita on her way up and was certain it couldn't be her inside. Slowly, she peeled the door open. “Pam?” Pleasant surprise adorn her tone. Pamela, who had been busy setting down files that needed Ashley's attention, raised her head, glanced at Ashley and continued her work. “Good morning.” Pamela muttered under her breath. The telltale of annoyance tinged her tone. “I thought you said you wouldn't be coming in today?” Delight coursed through her voice at the sight of Pamela. “You need to sign these.” Pamela responded in a tight voice. “They are due next week.” Ashley strode into the office, her gaze fixed on an unsmiling Pamela. She placed her bag on the table and walked up to stand in front of
Ashley wakes up to a pair of eyes watching her with love and admiration. She scoffed and chuckled groggily. “Don't tell me you stayed like this all night.” She said in between stifling a yawn as she stretched her muscles to wake. DJ grinned. “What if I did?” Ashley rolled her eyes. “Creepy.” She twisted her head to check the digital clock on his nightstand. DJ rolled his eyes. “Lemme guess, you have to go.” Ashley chortled. “Accurate guess. I just need to handle a few things. And I need to see Pamela too.” DJ furrowed his brows. “You see Pamela every other day.” He said pointedly. Ashley sighed. “This is different. We had a fight last night after we left your brother's.” DJ lifted his brows and whistled. “That bad?” “Yup!” She responded, pulling the covers off her body to reveal her nudity. “She already texted last night that she wanted the day off today.” “Can she just do that?” DJ asked, his eyes raking the perfect symmetry of Ashley's body, feeling his member ha
Ashley shut the voice in her head constantly scolding her for spitting hurtful words at Pamela. Pam had been right. Maybe she was controlling, acting like an overbearing mother. And even though she didn't trust Thomas, she couldn't have at least respected Pam and tolerated him. All he did was help them. Grateful for the walk, she had enough time to reflect and simmer down. She would apologize to Pam. She reached her house and saw the car parked in front. She recognized the car as DJ’s. She glanced around and was pleasantly surprised to find DJ, but stunned to see him seated on the cobblestone step. “DJ?” She quickened her steps and met up with him. “Why are you sitting out here? Why didn't you go inside?” She asked, her gaze darting to the house, wondering if someone had asked him to stay out. “The maid who answered the door said you weren't in but would be back soon, and I didn't want to wait inside alone.” “You could have called me.” “I didn't want to disturb you.” She passed
Pamela's heels clicked angrily as she matched past Ashley. “Pamela.”. Ashley stopped her. “You should see these.” she dug her hands into her purse to fetch out something. “I got my hands on Bruce's financial record. And you won't believe what they contain.” “Good for you.” Pamela said sarcastically, not bothering to take a look at what Ashley had in her hands. “Are you alright?” “These damn signals.” Pamela muttered cusses under her breath. Her finger punched her device as though she was in a fierce battle with it. Frantically trying to book a cab, the reception on her cellphone was in opposition to her wants. “What are you so worked up about?” Ashley asked, catching up to her. Pamela ignored her, kept pressing on her phone, exiting and re-entering the app as she received the same service unavailable response. “Argh.” Pamela groaned in frustration. Ashley stole a glance at the screen. “Let's get to my house. I'll ask a driver to drop you off.” Ashley suggested seeing that P
Pamela eagerly got in the front seat, her interest in Thomas no longer subtle. “Thank you so much.” She buckled her seat belt, her gaze not once flickering off the young man. Thomas glanced at her. “It's no problem. Where're you girls headed?” “Up East.” Pamela answered. “Up East?” Thomas exclaimed. “That's on the other side of town.” He pointed out. Pamela chuckled. “Yes. Ashley's father lives on that side. And she lives with him.” “So what brings you all the way out here?” “Business. We are expanding our horizon, moving our business this way.” Pamela responded genially. “Oh!” Thomas nodded, understanding flooded his mind. “Yeah. We had our debut exhibition here sometime last month. A small awareness about our brand.” Pamela chortled. “I heard about that and I wouldn't call that small. Although I didn't attend, I saw a glimpse of it all over the net. It was a great show… Awesome designs… I couldn't get over the number two collection.” He chuckled. “So much so that I place
Ashley went back down. Her mission for attending the party had been a dead end. But not entirely unproductive. For one, she had Rachel in a messed up corner. That alone was enough to make up for the night. And it brought her great joy. The other, she got her hands on something very important. Something she could use to bring Bruce down. As she reached the base of the staircase, she weaved her gaze through the crowd to where she had left Pamela. She hissed. Pamela had moved. No longer in the same place. She would need to find her. She plowed ahead and blended into the crowd, darting her eyes through the small cluster of people, looking for Pamela. It didn't take long before she spotted Pam, intently focused in a conversation with a strange man. Ashley walked up to them. She heard Pam giggle girlishly as she closed in on them. Who was this man? And why was Pamela entertaining him? “Pamela.” She called, but her call went unanswered. “Pamela!” Ashley called forcefully. This tim
Bruce smiled at her. “I'll see you down stairs.” He gave her one long last look, his eyes lingering on the flesh of her exposed cleavage. With great effort, he peeled his gaze away. He adjusted his tie, tugged his jacket before he stepped out. Not once did he consider he was leaving a stranger in his bedroom. Not once did he think she should have gone out before him. As stupid as they came, Bruce went down, back to his party, leaving her there, in his room. Ashley had never seen a more fóolish ídíot than Bruce. It made her wonder what she ever saw in him before. Now alone, Ashley looked around the room. It felt like a cemetery. Everything in it was dead. It was nothing like the home she had created with warmth and love. The room had been restructured and repainted to suit Rachel's preference; bland. But of course, what could she expect from Rachel who knew nothing about love and warmth. She sighed. Her fears, confronted and defeated. Now only a painful memory. Taking one las