The elderly man shook his head as he gnashed down on the morsel of food and Aliyah couldn't tell if that was a positive sign or not. She gulped down the lump that was forming in her throat. The suspense was killing her. "Mmmm.. This is good, I didn't think you'd be such a wonderful cook," He smirked at her, after ingesting the chunk of food, as his cutlery danced on the plant of food. As soon as she heard those words a bright smile seized her face, lightening up the entire room. Ben seemed to be staring at her but Aliyah didn't even seem to care about him at this moment, deposited the fact that it was his own judgment which could determine if she had a good day or not. Still in the middle of chewing, Mr. Vawn took another spoonful to his mouth and there was no other way to see that he meant those words but that. It was clear as daylight that he was enjoying the meal. Aliyah felt like she had won the lottery or a million bucks having him compliment her this much over the meal. She
Ben walked to the study hastily after having spoken to her out of anger, he was going to have time to give her an earful later but now he had a seemingly more pressing conversation to have with his Grandfather. He could pretty much tell why his Grandfather was here, but there was no need to jump to conclusions, he'd hear personally what he had to say soon. Just as he entered the room, he halted as he noticed the old man going through his shelf of numerous books.He turned quickly as he noticed Ben, and dangled a piece of literature in his hands."Ah, this used to be one of my favorites back in the day." The elderly man's hoarse voice echoed through the room, and a faint smug appeared on his face as he let his hands down, seemingly perusing through the crisp pages of the hardcover. "I noticed your books are re-arranged alphabetically, that's an odd way to organize books, That's this many."Ben's mind flashed back to the incident, "Yeah I only had it done recently." Wondering why the
"I can't believe how he ruined everything for us. All the board members backed out of the meeting last minute. That bastard cousin of ours, does he think we are going to allow him to keep hugging the whole damn company for himself?" Mark said as he paced angrily around the room, his fist tightened and he bumped it heavily into the table with a curse. Panting heavily from the heat of the situation,"We are going to have to find another way to force his hand about this. If we do not do something about his influence, he is going to ruin us and leave nothing for us at all.""You need to be careful about this Mark, we still don't know how he orchestrated all those things 5 years ago, if you force his hand you might just end up in a ditch somewhere like Dad, he's shown us just how dangerous and scheming he is and we just have to find a way to match him," another man said from across the room. He wore a calm expression as he closed his eyes and took a seat in the swivel chair. Weariness to
Alexander stepped out of the building, leaving his cousins behind. He picked out his phone from his pocket, and checked the time, seeing that it was almost time, he ruffled his hair and strode to his car which was parked by the road. Stepping inside, he dialed a number before gearing the car on and driving past the City's Highway. A subtle ring from his phone diverted his attention as he checked who the caller was, a frown crept on his face but was quickly replaced by a smile when he answered the call. "Hi, Dad." "How was it?" a firm voice asked from the other end of the call, Alexander gripped the steering wheel and then answered. "It was okay. It went well. We heard a few conversations and are working on a straight line for better results," he said, glancing out the window for a brief moment before looking ahead of him. "That's good to hear and all I wanted to know. I have some business to do now, let's talk more another time," before Alex could answer, the call ende
Aliyah was feeling really good about herself but something about Ben's look from earlier unsettled her, she decided she was going to wait till evening, when she had a chance to face him, maybe by then he'd have cooled off, but he was never around. Waiting in the living room, her mind wandered far and back as she thought about where he had gone off to. Maybe he was somewhere out there clobbering someone to death, she shook off the thought as it would only bring forth memories she had been trying hard to keep locked away in her mind. If she continued to think about all that it would be the same as playing directly into Ben's hands, since he relished in the thought that she was deeply scared of him. Her thoughts drifted back to his Grandfather's receptiveness toward her. If Aliyah played her cards right, The opportunity she could gain from gaining his grandfather's affection would be endless but that was something she could only start exploring when she would finally be seeing him arou
Earlier: In a cozy well-furnished living room, a man who appeared to be in his late fifties sat with a stern look directed at his daughter, a noticeable displeasure was obvious on his expression "That night when he came to that party with that girl that should have been you." he paused trying to catch his breath. "I spent all my life and hard earned money trying to bring you up to become the perfect lady and here you are losing a man to some other nameless girl. Huh?""As I told you, Dad, she just works for him," Jennie said in a low, her voice was laced with frustration from having emphasized that countless times, but every time she repeated that, she was beginning to doubt the veracity of those words. The lady practically followed him anywhere he was going. "Oh really? then why did I catch a glimpse of them holding hands like a couple at that party? if she was just nothing but his staff, would they be close to such an extent? surely he seems to be a man who respects work boundari
An awkward silence engulfed the room, Ben was just busy on his phone and Jennie thought of all she could say and do to get him to look at her, to get him to pay attention to her with keen unswerving dedication just like he was staring at the screen of his mobile.If she didn't make any move whatsoever there was never going to be any form of progress between them, and she knew that. Jennie recalled her father's words to her, more than just what he had said about his ambitions and advantages that would come from associating with Ben, she wanted him for herself, badly.Noticing the heat of her eyes on him he turned to her."What were you saying about having something you need my help with?""Oh, actually now that I think of it, it's nothing major or severely important, we can always get to that or maybe I could just do that when Karl comes back. I'd rather trouble him since it isn't that serious."Ben stared at her, a hint of suspicion in his eyes but then he returned his gaze to what he
Aliyah tried to make sense of the whole thing but she was having a stroke of awful luck with that. She was confronted with the great dilemma of how to interpret Ben's words. Jennie suddenly took her bag and dashed out of the house in anger after the altercation. Aliyah remained where she was because she knew that if Jennie had spotted her she would transfer all her annoyance and displeasure onto her. She didn't see why anything concerning her would escalate such an argument between them. At least she knew that she was not going to be seeing Jennie's face for a while, with the way she left in anger. She went back to her room and got changed before going back to the kitchen. "I thought you said you were going out somewhere?" Viola asked"Well apparently not anymore," she walked up to the island at the center of the kitchen and rested her stretched arms upon them. "Guess that's good then, you didn't seem pleased about it in the first place," Viola stated. "Yeah." Aliyah smiled faint
Chloe stepped into her room and went on a frantic search for her phone. Her father barely threatened her but she was sure that whenever he did, it wasn't a joke—this annoyed her to the core. She picked up her phone, intending to make a call, and scrolling through the call log, she dialed a number."Hello, Clarice," she spoke abruptly. "Hey, Chloe it's been a while. How are you? you don't sound so good." Clarice detected immediately that the unease in Chloe's voice was clear."Is everything okay with you?" She asked with great concern.She drew in her breath to recall herself before she spoke. "I'm fine, umm...remember the last time we had a reunion and you invited Aliyah?" Chloe went straight to the point.Clarice was puzzled by the direction their discussion was going since Chloe never tried to hide her contempt for Aliyah. Hearing her start with something that concerned her was off-putting."Y-Yeah I do" she stammered, her lips curling to one side as she waited for her friend's
Dave Thompson sat down in the living room of his opulent house, looking disturbed and worried as he angrily slammed his phone on the table—he was heavily disoelws3d from the news he just heard. Mark was just not anyone to their organization, he had a lot of resources and was like a brother to him, so the news reaching him about the death of his friend shook him to the core, but what disturbed him more was how Mark was killed and tossed in the street close to one of their underground business headquarter—he was certain that whoever killed Michael was not just powerful but daring and he was after something that without a doubt had something to do with him as well. He cursed under his breath before standing up, pacing around, and thinking deeply about something—he would have to get Akiyah out of Ben's territory sooner and not later, cause there was so much time. If he wasn't careful, the next death would be his and maybe it would be more cruel compared to what his friend suffe
Ben held a blank look at her before he shut the door, and the last thing she saw was his lips slowly pulling into a smirk. She zapped out of the room like a scaredy cat, his eyes trailed to the item that was placed stop his table, a small parcel that was no bigger than a brick.His eyes flicked as a thought seemed to extinguish in his mind. he turned his back to carry on with what he was doing.What was that about? She wondered if she could still feel his breath on her skin even though she was away from him already.Aliyah cursed him in a low voice before heading down the stairs. Cecile was nowhere to be found and Aliyah assumed she was already getting ready in her room, so she went straight to the kitchen.She still couldn't find Viola, so she decided to just start preparing the dish, she wanted to do it alone without assistance, so this was fine. Just as Aliyah brought out the ingredients she needed, she stepped over to the refrigerator and opened it, bringing out some vegetable
Cecile might have tried to hide it but getting a compliment from Ben pleased her.She was a little girl at the end of the day and even though she was so against her brother she still sought validation from him, to be seen and to be heard.Viola and Aliyah observed as she came by to drop the plates that had been lined in the room for a while."You are lucky Master Ben didn't get angrier than that, that was a crazy stunt you tried to pull. how could you do that?" Viola stated Aliyah rolled her eyes at the endless nagging she was receiving from her makeshift older sister."Don't worry about it, I was just about tired of his attitude that was why I did that, okay?" Viola only pursed her lips.She took a long probing gaze at Aliyah's and then suddenly relented since she seemed to be getting nowhere with the scolding.With all that had happened and how Ben had reacted to the whole thing it all made Aliyah wonder if he was trying to seem softer to his sister, if that wasn't the case there wa
A black Mercedes drove into a dark alleyway across the street, a narrow way in between long buildings, and after a while, it came to a slow stop. Chris stepped out of the car, and brushed his hair to the back, with closed eyes, he took in a deep breath and ruffled his hair, a smirk seized at his lips. Rolling the car keys in his hand, he approached a door, opened it, and stepped into a dark room. As soon as he walked in, the lights flickered on, his skeptical eyes scanned the surroundings, and he muttered, "Let's get down to business, Ernesto. Unlike you, I have other things to do rather than stay hidden in a dark alleyway while planning an attack on my rival." Chris pulled out a chair, wiped it off with a napkin on the table, and sat down, crossing his legs to sit in a relaxed state. Nearly two minutes after he welcomed himself in, shoe clicks echoed through the small room and a man came into view. Standing tall, emanating a thoughtful presence, his angular jawline was mark
The heat that exploded in his body due to the spice in the food was unimaginably painful, he felt it in every inch of his body as he experienced severe heart burn, he knew for a fact, that beyond any reasonable doubt, this was a malicious orchestration. Heavy beads of sweat formed and trickled down his forehead as he held himself in place with shere will, if he wasn't used to the sensation of pain he'd have been rolling on the floor like a goddamn child.Cecile had a knack for getting back at him but he knew for a fact that she'd never pull such a trick. Already knowingly, there was only one other person who would have done it and he knew.Ben leaned his back against the wall for support, still reeling from the near-death experience he just had before he'd go back into the dining room, if she was trying to play a fast one for him for petty revenge, even if she won he wouldn't let her see that or get the pleasure of her success.Aliyah's eyes scanned around and there was still no sign
Ben left Aliyah seeking clues about what the hell he meant about all that.She was beyond confused wondering what she could possibly do to get through to him, to appeal to that rock-hard heart of his.She suddenly heard the door swing open, and Ben strutted slowly into the room looking ready to go to bed."You have told me to try to earn the privilege but you have given me no clue on how to do that whatever I do, you are just going to have to bear with it then. Until I figure it out.""Whatever I don't care," he replied casually before nestling on the bed.His answer was expected, she grinned as she watched him turn his back to her."Fine then I'll just do whatever I can since he asked for this she thought to herself."With the answer he gave, she was going to find a way to get on his good side one way or another, but before all that, there was something she needed to do first.Something that had been burning within her since the incident, her urge for vengeance, Whatever his reason
Ben pulled his car to stop, right by the corner of the road as a call came in. It was from Levi, and he had been expecting him to call sooner rather than later. He had handed Mark over to him and there were answers that he required."Hello Levi, what has he told you?" he went straight to the point."I got him to tell me all he knew, and as you suspected the Costello family seems to be involved, but I think it's more than just that, there was some sort of connivance, we've also been able to locate Riccardo's sister."He gave a deep sigh and brushed his hand through the loose strands of his hair."Find her and make sure she regains her freedom, do whatever you need to do, and bring her back.""Alright, Sir," Levi replied affirmatively"One more thing, boss, It has to do with your lady," he knew exactly who Levi was talking about."What is it?" Ben asked as his face contorted into a frown."All I could surmise is that a big player in politics seems to have been involved in a series of ki
A tall dark brooding man dropped out of his car, the entirety of his attire was black, as if he had just come from a funeral. His darkened gaze was that of a cold murderer, it was Levi, Ben's right-hand man. He tapped gracefully on the side of the cigar pack and swiped up the first one that popped up, sliding it between his fingers he lit it up and took a long, and deep breath, feeling up his insides with the thick smoke oozing from the burning cigar, he swiped it between his fingers and released a puff.Levi stared around briefly before he ambled into a seemingly abandoned building, his shoe clicked gracefully in the alleyway.tossing aside his half-finished stick of cigarette.Levi took a quick look at the battered man who was sitting on the floor with his hands tied behind his back, clear bruises lining every corner of his swollen face, hardly being able to move around because of the cruel torture he had been through. Sitting and looking pathetic on the floor, with blood oozing ou