Paul squinted at her. He was well aware of how daring and mischievous Ashley could be, but he couldn't understand what her intentions with joining the business was about. Ashley and the family business were two worlds apart that could never liaise.“Who are you?” He blurted out.Ashley, who had returned her attention to her meal, without raising her head, lifted her eyes and looked at him.For a moment, her stare caused the hairs on Paul's neck to rise. He thought she was behaving strangely, like a possessed being.“Ashley?” He called as though testing if she would answer the call.“Paul.” She returned as she forked the last piece of her meal into her mouth.She picked up her napkin and wiped at the corners of her mouth, watching him while he stared at her in wonderment.“Can we start now?” She raised her brows in question at him.“Start what?” “You have to brief me on how the company works, remember?” She said. She was unfazed by the way he was looking at her.He stood up from his s
Ashley and Paul were jolted by the knock on the door. Ashley eyed Paul as she fixed herself and tried to put on a normal expression. “We are far from done. We'll talk about this later.” Paul said, rounding her to get to the door. “Yes? What is it?” He spoke in an irate tone to the maid who had interrupted them. The maid bowed her head. She was frightened by his tone. In a low voice she responded to his question. “Mr Dax is here to see ma'am Ashley.” She announced. Paul's facial expression notched up in annoyance. “She's not around.” He said dismissively to her. “I'm here!” She yelled from behind him. She poked her head over his shoulder so that the maid could see her. “Tell him I'll be with him shortly.” The maid nodded and excused herself. Ashley tried to wiggled her way past Paul's huge frame blocking the path of the door. “We are not done talking.” His tone was hard and commanding. “I think we are. And there's nothing more for us to discuss. As it is, I'll ask dad to ass
Ashley's face was flushed by the time DJ freed her from the kiss. Her lips were big, swollen and tingled deliciously. As much as she had other motives, she couldn't deny the fact that she had enjoyed the kiss and had not wanted him to stop.Never had she been kissed with such fiery passion. Never. Not ever by Bruce who she had loved with everything she had at some time in her life. But she didn't need this now. Romance was not a part of her mission.DJ was very distracting. A distraction she shouldn't allow move her away from the course of her plans. She needed to still her heart to him even though he was proving to be so easy to fall for. It made her wonder why the old Ashley never fell in love with him.She smiled sweetly at him. “Sorry I kept you waiting.”“If you apologize like that every time, then I'll always forgive you.” He told her, returning her smile. It was obvious he had not been expecting Ashley to welcome him with a kiss. He had always been the one to initiate a kiss ev
It was undeniable that DJ was pudding in Ashley's hold. She could make him thick or soften him as she pleased.A triumphant smile tugged at the corner of her lips as DJ put a call through to his family to schedule dinner with them.Ashley was convinced that it would be different this time. There would be no headaches, no fainting and no weaknesses. She didn't know who she was the last time, but now she did and that was her greatest strength.They finished their meal and sat there in the restaurant lightly conversing. It was only until late in the evening that DJ brought Ashley back home.“Thank you for the outing. It was lovely.” She thanked and kissed DJ as they stood on the front porch of their house.The sun was at the early stage of disappearing into its horizon and it cast its bright orange hue over them, making Ashley's white skin glow against the light and DJ thought she looked ever beautiful.He swelled with pride and a sense of accomplishment resonated within him. He was gett
Ashley was humming to herself happily as she walked into the house. She felt DJ's eyes trail her until she closed the doors behind her. She couldn't refute the fact that she was loving the attention he gave her.The look in his eyes told her that she was everything to him. But again, she pushed the idea of romance to the recess of her mind.Romance had almost killed her and had brought her here assuming the identity of a different person, living the life of someone she may have never known in the entire span of her lifetime. She wouldn't let love sway her. Not anymore. But it wouldn't stop her from enjoying herself.“You look happy.” Ashley was startled by the voice. She hadn't been expecting anyone to meet her at the door. She raised her head to see Mr Knox, her father walking down to her.Her lips spread into a smile and Mr Knox enveloped her in a hug. He gently kissed her cheeks and she returned the gesture.“Any reason why you are so cheerful today?” He asked her.“You don't like
The day went by quickly. Ashley spent most of it in her room planning her grand comeback. Her new identity was her greatest strength. No one knew who she really was and she could shoot her targets without anyone ever knowing it was her. She decided to clad herself in a knee length, red lace evening dress, adorned with glittering silver sequin bordering the deep V neck line and the same design around the slim of her waist. The colour, chosen to reflect the vengeance in her heart. She had found the dress in the closet, no doubt belonging to the late occupant of this room. It was hers now. The room and everything else and the dress fit perfectly just like she fit into the late girl's life perfectly. Her outfit was a little too much for just dinner with family. She knew this, yet she chose it because she wanted to make a statement. She let her curly hair curtain her face and applied a swipe of mascara to define her long lashes, a dust of blush to her rosy cheeks and two swipes of v
“I'm sorry. Paul was just saying something to me.” Ashley apologized as she got into the car. “Right. I was beginning to get worried.” DJ said, holding the door to the car for her. She smiled apologetically to him. He shut the door, rounded up to the driver side and got in. Forty-five minutes later, they were parked in front of DJ’s parent's house. Unlike the last time, the building was very familiar this time. She recalled the first time ever she had been here. Then, it was as Bruce's fiancee. That was four years ago. Now, she was here again. Still as a fiancee but for a different brother. She wondered if she would receive the same welcome. “Baby?” DJ called. Ashley jolted. His call had pulled her out her thoughts. She hadn't realized he was holding the door open for her to step down. “Are you okay?” He asked, concern lacing his voice. “Yeah. Um, sure.” She laughed nervously. “Just a little nervous.” She admitted. “You know you just have to say the word and we're out of her
“What?” Rachel squeaked. Confusion adorned her features. She didn't understand what Ashley was talking about. The simple words were ambiguous, possessing multiple facets and meaning. Was Ashley seeing someone else? Rachel wondered. It was obvious she must have been referring to someone else, but who? “Never mind it.” Ashley told her dismissively. “It’s just a weird expression.” “Oh! Okay.” Rachel commented, laughing eerily. “It's very weird.” “What about you?” Ashley smoothly fed their conversation. “Me?” Rachel asked puzzled. Ashley smiled. “I mean you and Bruce. How's marriage life? How long have you two been married?” Her tone feigned interest. “Oh!” Rachel rolled her eyes, feeling somewhat inadequate for not getting what Ashley meant. “Well, marriage has been wonderful! We've been married for over a year now and it has been the best time of my life. I couldn't have asked for a better partner.” She beamed proudly. Ashley paid no attention to her yapping. She waite
“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