Anxiety crept into the cracks in her heart, she hadn't seen her friends in quite a while. And for some reason she felt a sudden hesitation, but then she went on. Aliyah took a deep breath as she stepped into the club which Clarice had told her the reunion would take place. Her eyes scanned around the surroundings and for a while, she hesitated to step in as the poor music wasn't pleasing to her ears—nor were the shouts of people partying or even the strong stench of alcohol that hit her nostrils. For a while she stood by the door, unsure of where to head to—Clarice didn't give her the room number so she was uncertain about where they might be right now, and she also didn't have a phone to call and ask her about it. Her gaze traveled around the crowd again and this time, she decided to step in. A large body collided with Aliyah and it had her staggering and almost falling but she was quick to stand straight and regain herself. The man that had mistakenly hit her didn't bother t
"Where did you say you are heading to ma'am?" the taxi driver's voice pulled her out of her reverie. Aliyah seemed lost for a while when she realized that she didn't know the address to Ben's house and the time he had given her to return home was already thirty minutes ago— the chauffeur was supposed to come pick her up but she couldn't wait till then. Looking up, her gaze wandered around and her heart dropped when she couldn't tell where she was.She wanted to be as far away from them as possible, she hadn't felt this insulted in a long while and it hurt even more knowing that they were from people she thought were her friends even her cousin was part of it. "Can you just take me to any bar close by?" Back at the club, minutes after Aliyah left, Clarice face palmed herself as she finally made the trio before her calm down "I'm for real disappointed at how you guys behaved. I can't even find Aliyah anymore and don't know how to get to her," she cursed as she stood up from he
After painstakingly searching around for a while, Ben drove to the front of a nearby bar and there she was staggering in her wake, embarrassingly drunk to a stupor, as she tried to keep herself from falling. He took a quick look again and noticed three shady-looking guys standing close to where the exit was with one of them pointing towards a lady's direction to his friends.As soon as started down the path out the door, they followed suit with obvious intentions and Ben cursed under his breath. “Hey there, beautiful lady," the first man said as he walked closer to where Aliyah was barely standing without falling over, she wasn't paying attention until one of the men grabbed her by the shoulder.“Hey, we're talking to you, " the second man said with an evil grin sweeping across his face.Although she was drunk, Aliyah was a sensitive person especially when touched, and without warning she turned swiftly and slammed her heavy bag across the face of the man who had just touched her, m
Aliyah's eyes flickered open slowly and for a while, she had to shut them back before opening them again and slowly adjusting to the bright light piercing through the windows. She tried to grasp her bearing and her brows creased as she realized that she was tucked in on her bed. Aaahh! She felt a sharp pang on her head like she had been hit by a truck, not remembering much of what had transpired the night before. Her eyes darted across the space before her gaze fell on her hands, still surprised about how she ended up there. The last thing she could clearly remember was when the taxi driver dropped her off at the bar and she walked in— and how she had been attacked, after that, she had no memory of whatever occurred, not aware of how she got home, into her room and even on her bed, it didn't seem like something Ben would do, but other than him there was no one around last night with her.With a wince, she stood up and strode into the bathroom, turning the faucet on and splashing
By the time Aliyah arrived at the mansion, she stepped out of the car and was greeted with the sight of Cecile watering the flowers in the garden—her brow creased cause Cecile didn't seem like the type to want to work around the house, looking up Aliyah saw Mr. Vawn standing by the balcony and staring down—she smiled at him with a nod of acknowledgment and he smiled back also before she walked over to where Cecile was."Didn't think you were the type to volunteer to do house chores," Aliyah muttered and was welcomed with a sharp glare directed at her."Why are you here today? Again?" Cecile asked, her face twisted into a frown."Your cooking lessons start today, and that's why I'm here. Depending on how eager you are to learn, we could get on with this as quickly as we can and have nothing to do with one another. So when you are done with watering the fl—" Before Aliyah could complete her sentence, Cecile interrupted her with a scowl."I never said I'm ready to learn under you, talk m
After hours of lecturing and nagging with Cecile on things to do and things to not do while cooking, Aliyah finally left. She spent up to four hours at Mr. Vawn's place but was unable to see him throughout the time there—the butler had informed her that the Old master was busy and wouldn't be able to meet her till she cokes the next day.She couldn't wait to get home and narrate the whole thing Aliyah released a breath and closed her eyes as the car drove down the busy street, she was able to teach Cecile up to three meals along with how to boil eggs which they had a problem with at first. Cecile wasn't interested when they just started, but she ended up getting the hang of things and seeming more excited about everything they did. Aliyah wasn't expecting that excited gleam in Cecile's eyes—but seeing it made her want to teach the young lass more—hopeful, that the remaining days she had with Cecile would be as therapeutic as the first.Cecile's demeanor became more lax as they
Her heart dropped as he said those words she tried to consider all she had done that would have led to this, and although she was unsettled she was even more eager for Ben to pick up the phone and then he finally did.His brows creased into a frown and Aliyah's skin crawled with fear as his eyes flicked back at her in obvious disdain. "I've decided that rather than making Aliyah come around every day, Cecile would come over instead and stay there for a while."Ben's brows creased into a frown, he had not been okay about leaving Aliyah around his Grandfather and sister, but now his sister, whom he wants on the best of terms with, was coming over to stay here, they would butt heads day in and day out. and as much as he could handle things he didn't like the hassle it would cause. he immediately opened up."I'm not sure she'd want that and I don't think that's a good idea," Ben stated in disapproval—growing furious at something Aliyah knew nothing of but was curious about."Well, she a
She heard what he said loud and clear but it took a second for Aliyah to process what she just heard and the ramifications of it. "What?" She blurted out in disbelief "Y-Y-You are joking right?" Aliyah immediately uttered, with a stammer, before she could stop herself. She didn't know him to mess around yet she asked.She searched for any glint of joke in his eyes but she saw nothing that indicated that. "I'm dead serious," Ben said and with one straight look into his brownish eyes, Aliyah saw the heavy seriousness in his eyes."Why do I have to do that? For what reason do I have to do that" She muttered again, visibly not comfortable with what he had said. It sounded strange and suspicious that he would say that.There was a brief silence before he opened up to speak."In case you've forgotten," Ben paused, he glanced upstairs before staring back at Aliyah, " Cecile is here and I don't want her sniffing around and thinking we are just pretending to be a—" he paused "A couple," he
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