I was overwhelmed.
A week had passed, yet all I had been planning wasn't reflecting. In only one week, I had lost two offers. I didn't know what was happening, but it kind of seemed like someone was plotting against me. Who else could that be, other than Becca and Jan?
I wasn't sure if they were the ones that were really behind this problem, but all I knew was, I would never give up. Giving up was never a solution, but a pain.
"Ms. Warren, do you think we should try working with another Asian company? I heard Singapore is a very good place for doing businesses," Rachel suggested.
I slammed my laptop shut, hunched out a shaky breath. "I'm so confused. Why is this happening? And, if we aren't careful, in a few months from now, our company will run at loss."
"What about your offer with GSF? Any help from that?" She asked, evidently worried.
Seth••••••I was so shocked to see Louella bleeding. I had been waiting in my car, waiting for Mom, feeling upset about the fact my lost mom had been coming to see me stealthily. When I had seen this car moving roughly, I had fretted a bit, knowing fully well that the car would have an accident. To my surprise, it was Louella who was in the car.She had passed out already. I didn't even know how to react, cause I was quite shaken. Because I knew I had to do something as soon as possible, I held her arm, shoved her into my arms. Was I to call the police or what?She gasped, still awake a little. "Mom, are you fine?" For some reason, she squeezed her face like she wanted to cry. "Don't worry, the cold won't kill us. We'll be fine. The sun will rise in the morning."I wrinkled my face, so confused. Had she gotten a menta
Leo and Neo put their eyes down as I threw glowers at them. If they had been more careful, I wouldn't have had an accident. Also, I wouldn't have been helped by someone like Seth. Only because of that one thing Seth had done for me, I got teased by him while we had been working together at his office."I could've died!" I snarled."We're so sorry," Neo apologized for the one hundredth time."You both should leave here now. If this happens next time, I'll slaughter your heads, and send it to an abattoir."Erin shook her head at me. "Calm down, okay?""Leave now," I ordered. Saying that, they both turned around, left here.Immediately they shut the door behind them, someone knocked. I rolled my eyes before asking the person to come in. Seeing the police, I stood up, walked to them even before they reached me."
I was so perplexed. What if he was truly my brother? Mom was hugging him passionately, smiling between. Had mom also had another child? When? How? Where? Gosh, what was this?!"I missed you," he said."I missed you too."I gawked. "Mom, what's going on? How do you—""Oh, Louella." They both pulled away from their hug. Seth stood beside mom, pulled his arm over her shoulder, kind of smirked at me. "You don't know him. This is Seth. He's the boy who I used to take care of. I was his nanny.""His nanny? This man?" I gawked harder.She smiled. "Yes, dear. Do you know him?"I nodded. "This cruel man. Yes, I know him! But, I don't want you to know him. He's a crazy person."She chuckled, and took his hand. "Well…" She pulled him closer, walked closer. "He's a good boy to me. Since I was coming, I to
Rachel who had forced me to come out here with Seth, wasn't even here. Halfway here, her mom had called her over the phone, saying she was sick. Rachel had been so worried, so I had asked her to leave to go and meet her mom.I glimpsed at Seth. To be honest, I had a great feeling this man wanted something from me. Some of his workers had informed me that the great Seth Lee never did anything without gaining from it. Did he really wanna… hookup? If that was it, he had to know he was only daydreaming."Am I that cute?" He smiled. Oops, I hadn't known I had been staring at him.I looked away, but my eyes caught him gazing at me from the rear-view mirror. Shit, he would have seen me staring at him."Cute my butt," I choked out."Well, if you don't say the truth, I'll tell you the truth." There he went. Babbling. "To me, you're cute."
Debating with myself for a while, I turned to Louella. She looked as shocked as I was. It took her a while to observe what was going on, and in a few seconds, she began throwing scowls at me. I gulped. I wasn't uneasy because of her threatening look, I was this way because this was all about my reputation.Speaking of reputation, after the day I had told the social media that Louella and I weren't a couple, they had begun gossiping that they had a strong feeling I was being a bad dude to her, which was maybe the reason she denied our relationship. If she had to reject this fake proposal, their gossip would seem like the truth. They would really think she had rejected my proposal because I was a really bad person to be with.With a blink of my eyes, I gestured that she should take the ring from me. That was supposed to be more like a plea, but it only made her frown even more.I almost pouted, nodding gently.
I shook my head crazily, really confused. "No, no, no. That can't be possible. This rumor is fake. We can't be tagged as a couple.""Don't know how it happened." She shrugged. She walked to my kitchen counter, kept her purse on it. Taking a glass, she got herself an orange drink from the fridge, sat on one of the high stools by the counter. "But ma'am, I think it's a nice idea. We should use this as an opportunity to begin working with them.""No." I sipped from my coffee, sighed cause I enjoyed its nice taste. "You know I don't like using stuff like that to achieve my aim. I'm an independent woman. Using our fake relationship as an opportunity to get the offer, isn't nice. And, if Seth knows about it, he'll tease me.""Ms. Warren." She dropped her glass on the counter, walked to me, her face wrinkled like a pitiful puppy. I'd say she was being dramatic. "Please, go with Seth. It's not like you're taking advantage of the
Erin••••••My feet gently tapped against the asphalt concrete, fright washing through me as I leaned my back over the Lexus Jeep behind me. I wouldn't say I was scared. Specifically, I was nervous. It was time to express my feelings. Now or never.I looked up at the dark, cloudy sky, and sighed. If I didn't go in soon, I'd end up being drenched in the rain. But, the thing was, was I confident enough to go in there? Could I face him?After a long, crazy, disturbing thought, I had decided to flow with what Louella had prompted. Crazy, right? But yes, I was ready for this.It had been days since I had seen him. During that interval, we hadn't texted each other, nor had spoken over the phone. I had debated with myself a couple of times on whether or not I should have called him. But, the thing was, why call him when he hadn't called as well?
Louella••••••••••I quivered as I froze in my tracks. I turned around, and that feeling of someone or something attacking me rambled back in my head. I really hated this. Whoever had locked me in here, was going to pay for it. I knew I shouldn't have come here alone.I gulped in a painful lump, shut my eyes tight. My fingers trembled, shaking like a wrong impulse had travelled through me. My legs were also starting to turn weak, proof that I'd fall to the floor soon. The groan, the hard and painful one, jerked out of my throat. This pain was as if I was turning into a monster.Sweat profusely seeped on my forehead. The moment I shut my eyes tighter, those sad nights came back haunting my head. The night I had almost been raped, the night mom and I were sent out of the house, the night I had had an accident.
The entire hall was silent. There was no doubt that everyone present in the great crowd in front of me, was in awe, feeling the intensity of the words I was speaking. I smiled a little, pacing around the stage. I stood behind the podium, and cleared my throat. "Now, this goes to the younger women in here." My hands settled on the podium, my shoulders raised proudly. "You see, people still tend to underestimate the power you have. But, I have good news for you. You're capable. What a man can do, you can also do. It's only about the mindset. Anyone can become successful. Don’t let anyone intimidate you." "Yeah," someone from the crowd agreed. I just smiled. They concentrated so much, as if their lives depended on my words. I continued, "Many ladies have lost
Seth laughed at me as I groaned and acted like a child. That was pretty annoying, but well, how could an adult be so scared to take an injection? I hated that thing so, so much.The doctor finally got rid of the syringe, and took care of the injected part of my skin. As soon as he was done with that, he arranged his box, and stood up. I kept squeezing my face like a crying child.He cleared his throat, and started, "Mrs. Lee, you're good to go for your trip. After all the tests we've done, I can confidently tell you that your body system is back to normal. The effects of the poison are completely diminished."I finally smiled. "That's good news. Thanks."Seth held my hand as he sat beside me. "Thanks, do
I sobbed. The pain I was feeling obviously wasn't as crazy as hers, but it felt like mine was worse. She gaped, groans leaving her mouth. Her lips quivered, quite obvious that she wanted to say something. Blood kept gushing out from the left side of her chest, as well as her mouth. Tears left her eyes, the gun dropping from her hand. Her body shook, seeming as if she'd lose her stability soon.I was shocked. Being shocked was an understatement.She was battling to live; battling to save herself.Alarmed, I cried, "Celina!" The moment I attempted to grip her arm, her body impelled backwards. Her legs tripped over each other, and like a weak mango tree, she fell off the cliff.Seeing that, my heart s
The beam of the rising sun shone against my eyes, making me blink slowly. I yawned, the sore pain in my head becoming quite worse. Trying to sit up, I noticed how uncomfortable I was, my hands and legs feeling stuck to something. It took a while for me to open my eyes, and to even notice all that was going on around me. The moment I realized where I was and what was happening, I gasped. I tried sitting straight on this old, dusty floor, and also tried moving away from the ray of the sun which was attacking my eyes. I looked down at my legs which were tied, struggling to help myself out of this bandage. This was already a new day, yet I was still not seen by the police. Were Becca and Celina stronger than them or what? But, I could not remain here, right? If they weren't going to come and get me, it seemed like I would have
I knew I was supposed to run over to him, and cuddled him crazily. Instead, all I was doing was to stare at him. I was really happy. To be honest, in the past few days, I had missed him a lot. There was really no point in denying that."Seth." Gently, I walked over to him, giving him a small smile. He was also smiling, but wasn't saying anything.He cupped my jaw when I reached him. "Sweetie, where have you been?" And pecked my cheek."Gosh, I've missed you." A tear left my eye. What was making me emotional? In such a terrifying situation?He leaned close, hugged me, pecked my forehead. "Oh yes, I've missed you too.""This is really hard for us." I returned his hug, weeping on his chest. "Becca and Celina are doing all this. They really want to have me killed. They're taking it too far.""I know it all. And, most of all, I'm glad you have no
Louella••••••••••I packed the last set of files into my backpack, ready to head out. Spotting a red file on my table, I narrowed my eyes at it, and grabbed it. The moment I skimmed through it, I couldn't help but gape. How in the world had I almost forgotten such an important file? This was the most needed file of all the files I had taken from here.I kept the file in my backpack, slung the backpack over my shoulder. I took a glance at my wrist watch, feeling a bit disturbed and puzzled. I had to leave here soon, before anyone would see me. If Seth had to come now, there was no doubt that he wouldn't want me to leave.First, I had to ensure that I was set to leave here. Once I got back to the beach house, since my phone was already turned on, I would book a flight online, and leave the country for a few months. In the meantime, I would ensure that I
Celina••••••••Becca's complaint was getting too annoying. Why was it so hard for her to understand that we only needed to be as patient as possible? It wasn't as if I wasn't trying my best. Here she was, complaining about her father's betrayal, while I was here, thinking of how to get Seth attracted to me.Days had passed, yet Seth wasn't willing to be close to me. I had gone to his office, and had apologized to me. Yes, he had said he forgave me, but how was I supposed to believe that if he hadn't even called or texted me? It just seemed like my effort to get him was nothing but a waste."Where the heck is Rita?!" Becca barked, smashed her phone against the floor, breathing hard like an insane dog.I rolled my eyes. "Girl, chill. She'll be back soon. I only asked her to grab some files from Louella's office. If we find Louella before
Seth••••••I wasn't feeling so well. Before Louella had come into my life, all I had been doing was to work. But, now that she had gone, it was really hard to work without her. This was so upsetting.Indeed, you only missed your lover when you let her go. To worsen all this, no one knew where she was. I had called her, had texted her, hard searched for her, but it was all to no avail. Maybe I had to file a missing report at the police station. This was too frustrating for me.Dayla walked into my office, a couple of files tugged to her chest. When she dropped the files on my table, she stood in front of the table like a mango tree, looking down.I wiggled a brow at her. "Hey, you need something? Why stand there?""Oh, sorry. I was a bit lost." She laughed weirdly. "Um, someone's here to see you. She says her name is Rita."
Louella••••••••••Staring up at the hazy sky of the evening, seated on the small stool on the porch of this old beach house, I sighed hard. I felt a heavy pain in my chest, feeling the need to cough hard. I knew I was supposed to begin my treatments, but how would I do that when I wasn't willing to go back home?It had been days since I saw anyone. After I had left Seth, I had decided to come to this beach house. This was a place Dad, mom and I used to have a vacation, just before Jan and Becca had come into our lives. Though the place gave me bad memories, I really still liked coming here. It was always filled with serenity.I stared down at my shaky fingers, felt really bad for myself. I didn't know the decision to make. Was I really going to let myself die?In a few days, I would run out of food. I had had some money in my