Isla had left her sister to go talk to Mr. Smith but got caught up talking to her aide instead."Hi, hello, can I talk to Mrs. Smith? I have something important that she would need to know," Isla said when she met the man standing alone. "I have looked everywhere for her, but I can't seem to find her, so if you can lead me to where she is, I would really appreciate it," she added."Hello, nice to meet you. I am Marcus," the man said instead with a smile at her. She forced a smile and tilted her head."I am guessing you already know who I am, so there is no need for us to waste our time with instructions," Isla said. She had to admit that the man standing in front of her was too handsome to be an aide. He looked like the kind of man that is cast to play the richest man in the city in movies. He had a clean finish and looked more like a rich man than someone's assistant. She was not there for that reason; she was there to talk to Mrs. Smith, and she did not want to get sidetracked by an
"What are you doing here? Wait, did you just take a picture?" Elara asked as she took a step back from Ezra."Yes I did, and I should be asking you what you are doing here.""I am just out here to take some air.""Yeah right, I am sure the air was in Ezra's mouth and you were just using your tongue to bring it out." Isla had a judgy expression on her face, and a frown followed it. "I thought you weren't in a relationship with anyone.""I never said that.""Every time I caught you going on a date, you always dismissed it and told me that you were going on a solo date, or did you decide to stick your tongue down his throat just because?" Isla asked. She was going to pull the truth out of her sister no matter what it took."Well, I could have been going on solo dates for all you care, and I could be kissing him just for fun," Elara retorted."Kissing him just for fun?" Isla scoffed as she crossed her hand over her chest and pushed her head forward. "You aren't the kind of girl who would
"I can't believe you right now," Elara said with a surprised expression. "Your answer to that is that he is cute?" Elara lifted her eyes to Marcus, who stood in front of her with reddened cheeks. She scoffed as she crossed her hand over her chest. "There is no need for you to blush that hard; she thinks a lot of people are cute," Elara said, bursting his bubble.He coughed to try and cover the fact that he had been blushing. Isla looked to him and threw her sister a questioning look. "Yes, I do think a lot of things are cute, but I don't know, Marcus is just cuter.""Marcus?" Elara asked."That's his name.""You are on a first-name basis? What is wrong with Mr. Marcus?" Elara shot back."You don't call Ezra Mr.,' do you?""I am dating Ezra, and you just met this man today!""Once you meet your soul mate, you'll know!""Oh my gosh, you little brat. How dare you?" Elara was not angry at her sister. It just felt weird that the little one she wanted to protect forever now seemed to know a
"Are you and your sister usually like this?" Marcus asked as they walked in the same direction they had come from."Like how?""Bickering and at each other's throats," Marcus said, shocked that she did not understand what he was asking."Oh yeah, but don't worry about us; that's the way we are. Very soon we would be back to normal," Isla replied with a laugh. "It's all part of being a sibling. I did not let her get my brother earlier because I knew that he would take her side, and they both would gang up against me," she added."So rich siblings act the same as normal people.""What?" She didn't expect that to be his conclusion. "I mean, why not? We are just like every other sibling; we were born as children and grew up together, so yeah, if siblings who are poor act one way, I can bet that we would act the same way," she said."That is kind of cool. I mean, I like the dynamic of your family and all," he replied. She almost laughed, but she decided against it."So do you have siblings
Ephraim had been trying all night to get to Chloe, but she seemed to know his intention because she moved even further every time he moved closer to her. He would not let her get away with him having a chance to talk to her. He watched her leave the table where she had been chatting away to the snack table to get something to eat, and he saw that as his opportunity so he jumped right into it without a second thought."You have been ignoring my calls and messages," he said slowly and silently as he stood beside her."And for a good reason too," she said without looking up at him. She could tell by his voice."Good reason? What good reason?""Ephraim I really do not want to talk to you because if I do, then I would be screaming my lungs out and at the end of it there would be a big screen here where we wouldn't be able to explain what happened." She smacked her lips together and pushed one cake roll into it, biting off at the edge."Is that all you are going to say?" he asked, and she n
Chole walked away from him as fast as she could; she hoped she had made herself clear about the matter. They were done, and there was nothing he could do to turn back the hands of time. If he wanted her to stay with him, then he should have either made sure she never found out his intentions or told her the truth from the start. If she had known from the start, maybe she would not have felt so played. She walked into the hall and looked around. She had been seething with anger when she saw Ronan come in with his dolled assistant, but she was not surprised. After all, she followed him everywhere, and if they had still been together, then they would have had to come together, but now the case was different.She straightened her long black dress and walked over to him. She stood by the table and greeted everyone around the table, stopping at Ronan and ignoring Noelle. Noelle did not even care about her actions because she truthfully did not want to be out there; she would rather be in be
Noelle got back to the table just when Ronan had finished talking; she could tell that things were different from how she had left them, but she had no idea what had happened. She gently slid the drink to Chole and stood where Chole had left. The smug and extremely proud expression that Chole had before seemed to be missing. The table was silent as no one was saying anything."One more thing," Ronan said, breaking the silence as she started to feel uncomfortable with it. "This is a self-service party, meaning you do not ask people to get your drinks for you, so you should do that yourself," Ronan said."Oh, please, Ronan, you are definitely not going to nag me for that. We might all be at the self-service party, but the truth is that not everyone is on the same level, and those lower than us should serve the rest when we feel a bit tired," Choel said. The other three people on the table knew that this was an outright attack on Noelle but they were even shocked that she had the balls t
Noelle looks up to Ronan and giggles. "Of course I am drunk; if a person drinks a ton of alcohol, then they become drunk," she murmured as if she was disappointed in him for not realising how alcohol and drinking were supposed to work. "Do you know that if you drink a lot, then you would be drunk as well?" she asked. Her speech was still understandable, but her body swayed from side to side."I know that.""Good, because I think it is important you know that.""Why did you get drunk?""I was not planning on getting drunk," she said with a pout and then shook her head. "Well, I intended to get drunk; if it were you, the one, I am sure you'd be looking for a coping mechanism too," she said.Rona wished he could help her but he knew that taking her side in front of all those people at a time like this was going to backfire for them both. He was not going to be like Chole and spread gossip angrily. "I am sorry; this is my fault," Ronan said."You know your girlfriend really does not want
"Ezra, what on earth is going on? Why did I just get a ransom call? I thought you were on a date with Elara; now I am hearing that if I want her alive, I must do as they ask," Elliot said over the phone.Ezra stopped in his tracks as he allowed silence that was loud enough to deafen to fill his soul. His worst fears had been confirmed. He was on his way to see the CCTV footage when Elliot's call came in. He did not want to deliver bad news but he knew that it would be unwise for him to keep them in the dark about the situation. Hearing that there was a ransom call-out, then it was sure that she had been kidnapped."What happened?" Elliot's voice broke him out of the trance he seemed to be in."We were watching a movie and she said that she had to use the restroom. It seemed weird that she had been gone a long time so I went to check on her but she was nowhere to be found and I was on my way to check the footage from tonight in the control room when you called," Ezra explained."Who co
"You look beautiful as always," Ezra said as they sat in the car. He had picked her up after work, and they were going on a date. Since both parents knew about the situation between them, they decided to date as freely as they could. Just as Elara had predicted, Jacob had asked them when they intended to get married and proceeded to show Ezra the pictures of the mansion he was going to gift them as a wedding gift. Relanda had been so joyful that she said that she was going to start the wedding preparations as soon as she could and that all they had to do was tell her their preferences, and she wouldn't fail to get the best for everything they wanted. They had found a way around it and assured them both that they would do it by the right time. Jacob had not been too impressed by their answers, but he had no choice but to let them be."You always say that," Elara said with a smile. She tilted her head and laughed. "But I like it," she added with a shy smile as she tried to avoid his eye
Micah hated that he had to spend time sitting in the prison cell without anyone attending to him. It was like the Quinn family had totally forgotten about him at this point. Anytime he asked the officer, they all responded as if they were uninterested in his case. He did not know if it made sense for them to do this to him in any sense."You have a visitor." One of the policemen tapped on the metal bar of his cell. He looked up and pointed to himself, and the man's expression was all the answer he needed."Who is it?" he asked as he stood up from the hard concrete floor and walked to the gate of the cell where the officer was waiting."You'll see" was all the man said, opening the door and letting him out. He held his hand in case he had the crazy thought of running away and led him to a room where he would meet his visitor. As if on cue, as his door opened to let him in, the one on the right opened as well, and his mother came in. His mother, too, had somewhat abandoned him, as she h
Zara received a notice from the court that since both parties signed the divorce papers without any issues, it would all be resolved without them having to go back and forth to the courthouse. She had mixed feelings about the entire situation. While all she tried to do was marry Micah because she fell for him, she knew that her methods were wrong but still hated how easily he signed. What did she expect, though? His mother must have convinced him to sign.The knock on her door dragged her back to reality. She gently looked up at the door, knowing it was probably her mom on the other side. Since she signed the papers and moved back to her mom's house, she had been stressing about every little thing. She had told her that her constant moping and crying around was not going to do the baby good. She sat staring at the door until another knock jolted her back."Zara, are you in there? Are you awake?" Sarah's voice came through. Zara sat up straight and cleared her throat. She looked down a
"I am only wondering how you and Isla met," Elliot said as they sat down to drink. Clara had instructed the staff to bring out a bottle of wine for them to share. It had been quiet with each person sipping on their wine before Elliot broke it off. Marcus had been expecting the question so he was not surprised."We met during the party last time; she needed help with something and now that I think about it, she never told me what it was that she needed help with." Marcus trailed off as he looked at Isla, maybe wanting an explanation. Her response was a quick shrug as he sipped from the wine in hand."Oh, I see but I wonder what took her so long to introduce you to us," Clara chimed in. "I don't mean this. in the wrong way so don't take my words too wrongly but Isla can barely sit in one place for things like this," she said.Isla choked out as she began to realise that this was a wrong idea; she should not have invited him over, as her parents might do all they could to try and embarra
They all sat down to dinner; Isla seemed tense as her guest was yet to arrive. Elara was able to put two and two together to know who was coming. After the party, she and Isla spoke, and she could not deter her sister after she had confessed to falling for him. The truth was that it was possible to fall for someone at first sight, but she knew her sister was wise enough to make sure that she knew him well enough before they committed. When she had not heard an update as regards the matter, she had asked Isla, but the response did not seem encouraging, so she let it go; after all, Isla did not seem like she wanted to talk about it either."The guest is here," a staff member announced and Marcus came from behind the young girl. She bowed her head and walked off. Marcus stepped forward and Isla stood up. She searched her family's face to see the confusion written all over it; it was as if they were asking her what was going on."Come sit," Isla gestured to the open space opposite her and
"Elliot," Clara said as she rushed into the room they shared. "Elliot!" she screamed, entering the closet and stopping when he was nowhere to be found. He had just gotten home from work, and she received the news from a staff member. She had been waiting on him since she got information from Isla that she was having a guest. She was out in the garden, relaxing, trying to relax because her mind kept spinning as she thought of who her daughter could be bringing home. She had to admit that having three grown children and trying to keep in tune with them was quite taxing."Elliot," she said with a frown as she approached the bathroom; the door opened before she could reach for the handle, and Elliot stood between her and the door so she could neither see inside nor go in. "What are you doing here?" she asked, and he shook his head."Nothing? Then why...?" She trailed off as she realised he was intentionally trying to block her view. She frowned and tugged on his hand. "Why are you blockin
Isla did not think she would have to wait about a month after the party to hear back from Marcus. She did not want to reach out first; all she knew was he was the one who thought she was worth talking to first. She hated that her mind kept on going to him all day, but he was nowhere to be found. She leapt to pay attention to every news surrounding Old Mrs. Smith, and in each picture or video, she tried to see if he was in them, and he appeared missing. Sometimes she was angry that he had come to shake things up when she was dealing so perfectly with herself, and other times she was worried that something might have happened to him and no one was aware. Mrs. Smith had not announced him as her successor yet or even as her child, so if anything happened to him, no one would probably know."Why am I spending my day thinking about a man who did not care enough to reach out to me?" She asked herself with annoyance as she lay on the bed. She let out a deep breath and looked around before lan
TEN DAYS LATERChole is out for dinner with her friends. They dragged her out after hearing what had happened very recently to her and how sad everything turned out to be in the end. They kept on blaming her for losing Ronan after he had chosen her over the crowd of people around. Chole knew it was her fault, but she did not need a herd of people to tell her what she already knew. However, even though their accusations against her were a bit too much, she found the space to be relieving. She at least had people surrounding her. Her mood also improved slightly, especially when they spoke about other things.She had spent almost two weeks coupled up in her room; she only thought about how she was too proud to go back to Ephriam and how her father would try to disown her if she did and how Ronan had completely disregarded him. Her father's plan to humiliate him and Noelle had completely failed without a second thought. After a few days of gossip, everything was restored, and everyone was