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Azazel immediately ran back into the house, and his heart thumped in his chest. “Doll?” he yelled, and Athena came running into the living room, listening to Azazel’s panicked tone. “What happened?” she hysterically asked. “Pack your bags. We are leaving,” he grabbed his t-shirt that was on the couch and put it on. He doesn’t care if someone played a prank on him, and he is not willing to risk his doll’s life in speculation. His suspicions took life now. There is something wrong, and they are murdered. He called the deputy’s office, asking them to pull the records of her parent’s death while she was packing her bags. He took his gun, checking to make sure he had the bullets in it, placing it in his waistband. As she came out, Azazel immediately made her sit in the car. He scanned the locality to see anything suspicious, but nothing seemed like it. He got into the car and sat next to Athena. “Is everything okay?” she wasn’t sure why this sudden change of plans. She knows he is impu
He couldn’t process everything that was going on. All this information will change so much, especially for Athena. Does she have a clue that they might be alive at all? Should he dump this information on her? If they were alive, who abducted them? And amidst the chaos, his mother gained consciousness. He glanced up at the ceiling, “if you exist, you must be laughing your ass off, aren’t you?” he chuckled. “You might be getting your fair share of revenge on me now?” he rubbed his temples to ease the ache. He will sort out Athena’s mess later, but he must first talk to his mother. Maybe this will help him prove Athena’s innocence. This meeting with his mother will determine whether he wants to reveal his marriage with her to the world. He changed into his business outfit and opened his car door to get in, “Peter,” he called his bodyguard. “Yes, boss,” he bowed down, moving forward. “Stay here. In case of any danger, your first mission is to extract Athena and shift her to a safe loca
Azazel woke up to his phone’s continuous buzzing. He always attends his calls without missing, but this time, he didn’t want to, but the damn thing won’t stop buzzing. He turned around, lying on his back.Picking his phone, he answered, “Hello,” in his morning voice. He looked to the side, finding Athena not in bed. His brows furrowed, and he got irritated since he didn’t get to see her morning face.“Boss, I think you should come to your hospital right now,” Ethan’s panic-filled voice told Azazel something altering was about to come out of Ethan’s mouth.“Is something wrong?” Azazel bolted right up. Ethan said something from the other end. Azazel inhaled a deep nervous breath. “Are you sure?........... when?..........how did you?........ okay, I will be right there,” he was about to hang up.“Who else knows about this?” he inhaled a deep breath.“No one, boss. One of our men called me, and I am calling you,” Ethan stood before the hospital room, waiting for the next instruction.“Keep
Rustom stood on his balcony, feeling confused by everything going on. Did he ruin everything? But it wasn’t his fault alone, was it? His boss got sloppy over the years, letting his guard slip. Conceivably his boss had more confidence in himself than he admitted. Even though they made sure Damien didn’t know them, Rustom was still scared to admit it. In all these years of captivity, neither he nor his boss stepped before Damien and Iris. Perhaps they underestimated Damien and his thirst for freedom. Maybe they shouldn’t have forced Damien and Iris to have this child. If they had helped Iris deliver this baby and offered her the support she needed in time, her daughter might not have ended up deaf. Were those sins on him now? Damien never spoke a word all these years to anyone other than Iris. He and Iris kept to themselves. From what he heard from the guards, they incessantly tried to escape in the first two years of captivity, but later they gave up. Maybe this was him planning all t
The next day Athena was in Azazel’s mansion packing her stuff. She didn’t want to go back to Dubois’s mansion, but being with Azazel was wrong on so many levels. How could you be with your tormentor? The man assaulted her so many times. Giving in would be burning her self-respect and accepting his mistakes, and giving him another chance to carry that abuse. She cannot do that. As a woman, her heart does not agree with it. Arthur sat in the car, waiting for her to come back. She didn’t see Azazel after their interaction. He stormed off to God knows where. But, unknowing to her, someone in the ring was paying for her disobedience. She remembered how she came to that house, sad, scared, and beaten. She looked around once and sighed. The room saw her almost dying. That day changed her life for the better; she looked at the corner where she confronted Azazel about his wrongdoings. She then entered her bathroom to grab her skincare when her gaze shifted to that Tylenol bottle that al
A few days earlier… Athena walked into the kitchen to get some water and spotted the woman that was like another mother to her, “Miss. Claudia,” she jumped and hugged her from the back. Claudia smiled, turned around, and responded to Athena’s hug, “How are you, Thena?” Claudia smiled with affection. “Alive and kicking,” the girl hopped on the counter and grabbed an apple. Claudia pressed her lips into a thin line stopping herself from laughing. “I heard the good news,” Claudia resumed cutting vegetables, “and saw it too,” she chopped a piece of onion. “You and your mother are carbon copies of each other, and the bitch still hated you?” she scoffed. “Never seen the witch so happy,” she grabbed a stalk of celery and diced, throwing it in the pot of boiling water. Athena’s lack of reaction made Claudia speak her heart out, “You need to tell your mother the truth, Thena, how these vultures treated you,” the kind woman’s voice was full of distaste and hatred for her employers, if not
Athena stopped before Black Industries with August by her side, “Can I meet Mr. Black, please?” She asked the receptionist, who was busy doing something on her laptop. The red-haired assistant did not pay attention to Athena, royally ignoring her. She stood there for 5 minutes before knocking on the marble pane to attract the receptionist’s attention. “Excuse me?” she called again. This time, the redhead raised her head: "Have you an appointment?" She went back to her laptop, filling out everything that she was working on before. “No,” Athena answered automatically. "Then I fear you may not be able to see him," She seemed on the verge of calling security on Athena. “He knows me. Please tell him August is here to see him,” Athena pulled August close to her side as she was about to run away. The girl is energetic, just like she was as a kid. The redhead peered down at the counter and noticed August. Nodding her head, she called Azazel, “Sir, a woman and a child are here to see you,”
Azazel opened his drawer, took the file he recovered from her house, and undid it by unwinding a little thread in the front. He placed all the contents of the file on the table, spreading them evenly and examining them one by one. His eyes narrowed at the passports before him. Why did Damien have five different passports? All in his name, from several countries. This is not normal. Usually, people have multiple passports but with different aliases. His family also possesses various passports, but all under pseudonyms and other names. What is he hiding? And how does his doll tie into all of this? He sat there, blood pulsing and headache growing. But his pain isn’t significant now. Her life is. He picked up the certificates before him. Did Athena have another name? Or was it Iris? And who burned these? The possibilities of this situation are endless. Did Damien know someone was after him? Is it why he burned these? Why would he be careless and let someone abduct him if he knew? He cou
“Capo,” a strong man strode into the hospital room, his eyes glinting with concern.“Sir is in critical condition. We don’t know what to do,” Elijah, the head of security for the German mafia, informed him, his voice heavy with worry. “He was beaten black and blue, and the hole in his voice made it difficult for him to talk. The doctor says it might take him forever to speak again. Rustom is dead, and most of our men are gone. The responsibility lies with you.”The 13-year-old boy, Alex Knight, sat weeping in the room's corner, his shoulders shaking with grief. He may have been young, but he had a commanding presence and a ruthless stature that belied his age.“Who did this?” he gritted his teeth, his voice trembling with anger.“The French, we know that much,” Elijah replied, folding his hands solemnly.Alex’s bloodshot eyes widened with fury, and his fists clenched tightly. “I swear I will get my vengeance, and when I do, they will beg for mercy.” Elijah nodded in agreement. “We’ll
Everyone was invited to their wedding except the Black parents, Sophie and Blanche. Athena was pacing nervously in her room when someone knocked on the door, and she answered, “Come in,” when Narcissa walked in.“Cissy,” she hugged the girl.“How are you, Theia?” Cissy couldn’t help but admire how beautiful Athena looked in her wedding dress.“I am good. Where were you? We were so worried about you,” she sat on the ottoman before her vanity.“I found myself and love, too,” she winked. Athena looked bewildered.“Love?” disbelief coated her tone.“Yes, I will introduce her to you once you are done with your wedding,” she kissed Athena’s cheek. She was about to leave when Athena stopped her.“I am sorry for causing you pain, Cissy. If only I had known……” but Cissy stopped her.“Don’t worry about it, Athena. I am happy for you and my brother, and my adorable nieces and nephews, I love you all equally, and honestly, I should apologize for not trusting you,” she pinned her veil on her head.
Athena and Azazel hadn’t talked about their relationship much. Their relationship was evolving, but into what she didn’t know. She was sure that Athena had feelings for him, but to what extent? She couldn’t figure it out. “Athena,” Azazel yelled, coming home. “In here,” she replied, washing the milk bottles and setting them on the warmer. “Get ready. We are going out,” he turned her to his side. “No, Zae. We need to…” he silenced her by placing his fingers on her lips and closing them. “Not another word. You haven’t gone out since we had our little ones. Let’s go out, besides we have a village to watch, and you already pumped your milk,” he noticed the bottles on the counter. Knowing that there was no excuse, Athena gave in. She entered her bedroom and noticed a dress on the bed. She put on the outfit and put on some light makeup. Hearing the sound of heels, he turned around, and his heart skipped its beat. She looked ethereal in that georgette dress, “I look fat,” she adjusted t
After many months of speculations about what happened to Azazel Black, the world finally realized that he was alive. Since he was alive and well, his company was soaring, the stocks reaching the skies. The company celebrated, and so did the underworld. But there was no news of Hans anywhere, not in the business world or the underworld. He permanently cut ties with Olivia and Charles. After Tristan explained what they did to Cissy, he didn’t have it in his heart to call him his parents, they reached out to him, but he cut them off. As much as it hurt him to do it, he did not want his father to do the same things he did to him and his brother to his children. He wanted his children to become compassionate like her. He officially canceled his wedding with Sophie. The girl was furious and tried to blackmail him into doing what she wanted, but Azazel was ahead of her. He threatened to kill her career if she tried to disturb Athena or her family. He was still in touch with Arthur as he was
“Do you think I should come back?” Azazel asked, sipping his whiskey. “You should,” Tristan knew Azazel and Athena loved each other, but there was something holding them up from being together, he had seen both suffer being away from each other, and God knows they were stubborn. “Although if you come back, I hope she kills you. I am tired of your ass,” Tristan was eager to see Azazel getting ass whopped by Athena. “Do you think she will be angry with me?” Azazel had a worried look on his face. “Oh, I am sure she would end you, and I am so rooting for it,” his brother needs that for following this stupid plan. “Love makes people do things, Azazel. I have never seen you pine for anyone like this. If this isn’t screaming that you love her, I don’t know what does. And as for Athena, I have seen her try and eat flowers instead of apples. She is completely off focus,” Tristan remembered the times Athena forgot to focus and did things the wrong way. The girl put cabbage in the washing ma
Days were OK for her, but she felt the most sadness at night. It was her childhood all over again. But she wasn’t alone this time. She had her family, but his absence affected her the most. God took her parents and gave him to her, and now he took him away and gave her parents. She sat there and let the tears flow. Athena didn’t move out of her room. She still used the old space Azazel and her shared. This comforted her, as his scent was everywhere, particularly in his clothes. She stepped into the closet and took one of his jackets, hugging it close. She stood there, inhaling his scent. Another tear dropped when she heard a knock on the door. Wiping her tears, “Come in,” she announced to the person. Her mother walked inside. Looking at Athena standing there with a shirt, Iris sighed. “Penny for your thoughts?” Iris turned her daughter to her side. She formed her lips into a thin line and shook her head. “I am your mother, Theia, come here,” she opened her arms, and Athena ran into
A few months later..... Orange and terracotta hues of canopy lit the maple trees, announcing that autumn had hit her stride. The evening glow cast an orange hue on the beautiful path. The trees are blooming, despite knowing that their days are numbered, knowing that they will fall and turn to dust. The gold and scarlet of the autumn days remind you that there is beauty if you look for it. A lonely woman was walking down the path to the cemetery, honey boots covering her feet, a knit scarf wound around her neck, pretty and matching the autumn vibe. She crunched on the fallen leaves, walking down the street feeling rough cracks through thin soles, the wind moving as if she weren’t there at all, as if it were a ghost whisper, nothing more, nothing less. The woman’s pregnant belly showed through her knit sweater dress. The houses are decorated with pumpkins and apples. A fresh smell of baked apple pies and cider whipped her nostrils. Despite the children and the adults enjoying the bea
They made him kneel with his hands behind his back. Hans grabbed his gun and pointed it at Azazel while eyeing Athena. He grabbed her and made her stand before him. Athena’s heart shattered. He got into this situation because of her. He doesn’t deserve to be here. “Don’t do this, please,” she begged the monsters. “Aww, I love to see my granddaughter cry. That is what I wanted all these years,” Hans winked. “Besides, once I kill this bastard, my Rustom will keep you company, that is after we take care of the thing in your stomach,” Hans tapped the gun on Athena’s stomach, and Azazel growled. A sinister smile twisted across Azazel's face as he addressed Hans with a bone-chilling intensity. His voice dripped with menace and a promise of impending doom. His eyes were red due to the blood he lost, clouding his vision, but he didn’t have to see everything. All he had to see was her. “Hans,” he spat blood onto the floor, “pray, you better pray with every ounce of your fucked up soul that
“I could squash you all like bugs right now, but I am offering you all choices. Let Athena go, and I will let you all go,” but Hans gave no reaction other than to signal with his eyes to bring forth the girl. As one of the men forcefully placed Athena in a wheelchair, her mouth was cruelly duct-taped shut. Azazel's heart clenched painfully at the sight. His beloved wife had endured a lifetime of suffering, and now she was subjected to even more torment at the hands of this despicable man. Despite her dire situation, Athena's gaze remained locked on Azazel. He bore a visible bump on his head and a bruise on his cheek, evidence of the recent altercation. Yet, he exuded a strength that perplexed Athena, leaving her unsure of what he would do next. Surrounded by enemies who had sought their demise throughout their lives, she found herself experiencing an unexpected sense of protection, as she always did in his presence. “I will get you out of here, Athena. I will not let anything happen