"Elara, you need to see this," Isla burst into her sister's room. She was seated by her desk with a canvas in front of her. It was a small one; she and Isla had gone out and gotten all the art supplies she needed and even though Isal wanted to buy clothes, Elara had been able to successfully convince her not to buy clothes and that they would be back. "Did you throw all your manners away?" Elara asked, not turning or reacting to her sister frantically barging into her room. Elara knew it was just some kind of gossip and she did not appreciate it. When she was just about to get into the spirit of drawing, Isla came in and made all of it go away. "There is no time for manners," Isla said, walking to the table and sitting on the edge of it. "Really, when has there been any time when manners did not matter?" Elara asked, dropping the pencil in hand to the table and swerving her chair so she could face her sister. "Well, I understand what you mean but if you saw what I saw, then I am s
"Why do you look so sad?" were the first words that came out of Micah's mouth when he opened the door for Zara to come in. He studied her face and could tell that something was wrong with her at one glance; her face was bent in a frown and worry lines had appeared on her forehead. "Sad? I am not sad," she replied. She had come to his house today ready to tell him that they could not live in the mansion or any luxury house. She did not have the capacity to provide that for them, but she was sure that if she could overcome this hurdle, then she would be able to do anything. Finding housing was important, and she was sure that this was how she would get caught."Well, your cheeks look as if they have seen better days and your eyes—your eyes are just..." he trailed off. He did not want to upset her; if she said that she was not sad, then it was wrong of him to keep pushing her. "If you say it's nothing, then I am probably overimagining things," he added.She did not like that he stopped
THE NEXT DAYElara had been able to successfully delay going shopping another day but when her mom stood by her door before breakfast time and told her to get into any clothes available to her and get down to the car immediately, she knew that there was no escaping it this time. Her mom was not the one to play the mini-games she had been playing with Isla. She was going to the kitchen to pick up an apple or any fruits she could lay her hands on. Her mom had informed her that they were getting breakfast at home and that after the shopping they would grab brunch somewhere after shopping. She could not question her or fight her, so she agreed. By the time she was at the end of the stairs, she met an unfamiliar figure in the house. She had been in the house three days now and had never seen anyone like this before so she wanted to know who he was. "Good morning, sir," she said when she stopped by the base of the stairs. The man reeled in shock as if he were greeted by a ghost in white
Carlos sat down in the garden outside with his hands on his chest. He was the reason that his daughter knew that Elara was not in the house and that she had not been in the house for a long time. Zara had told him that she was coming to tell Elliot and Clara about her wedding by the weekend, and now he did not think he could stand allowing her to come to the house to meet Elara there.Maybe he should not have cheered her up when she wanted to impersonate the Quinn daughter. He knew that if any of this was out, then he was going to lose his source of livelihood and that Zara would never get married at this rate. He could not call his wife to solve this because she was avoiding it in the first place. He called up his daughter; he was angry a bit that his wife was right about things like this. "Daddy, good morning," her voice sounded like she was just getting up. "Did I wake you?" He asked, and she grunted in approval, followed by a muffled yes. "I am sorry that I did but something urg
SUNDAY MORNING"You have a visitor," a staff member announced as she stood in the living room where Elliot and Clara sat. They usually took time to sit around since they both usually had busy weeks. "A visitor, who is it?" Clara asked, turning her head in the direction of the voice. They were not expecting any guests; usually, they did not allow anyone into the house on Sundays so the entire family could rest and be ready for a new week by the end of the day. "Who could it be?" she whispered to her husband but he responded with a shrug. "It is me," Zara said, popping her head from behind the staff. The staff bowed her head and left the room quietly; she knew that if they needed anything, they would call her. "Zara!?" Elliot exclaimed in a questioning manner as she stood there with a smile on her face. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you in a long time," Clara followed up. "Well," she said, coming to sit beside Clara, who rubbed her back with her hand fondly. "I have been pre
Elara blinked, looking at the face in front of her. She could tell that Zara recognised her and even though she wanted to act as if it did not matter, her face was imprinted in her head. She smiled at her and moved closer, taking her hand. She had too tortured her a bit; she was going to act as if she did not recognise her and then drop the ball on her later. "Hi, I am Elara," she said again before adding in a louder voice. "Elara Quinn" "How many times are you going to introduce yourself?" Isla asked, following Behidn and then standing in front of her. "I am Isla and the younger sister to that girl that keeps saying her name." Isla didn't bother to stretch her hand for a handshake since the girl stood stunned, leaving Elara's hand in the air. 'Maybe she does not recognise me,' Zara wondered to herself, but she was not going to let her guard down until she successfully left the place. She wanted to scream at her and ask what she was doing. There must have been a mix-up. Why was she
Elara followed her out and went to stand in her path, stopping her from going forward. "Do they know that you are their daughter?" Elara asked, pretending to check out her nails. Her mother had been on her case and made her do a full spree. They had gone shopping for clothes and she had made her get a new haircut and done her nails as well. "What do you mean?" Zara murmured. "Do I know you?" "Zara? Are you going to act as if you do not know me when you claimed so much to my face that you were Quinn's daughter and you were going to make Micah rich by marrying him?" "I think you have gotten the wrong person." "How do you know my parents?" "I said you have gotten the wrong person," Zara said. She felt as if she had burst into tears any moment from then. She felt as if she was being interrogated by her. "Should I call up Micah and tell him everything?"I mean, I deleted his number but I am sure that I can get it within record time." Zara gulped hard and felt tears line the corner of
Isla took out her phone and scrolled through the message between herself and her sister and she gasped at what she saw. "Oh my god, she is the one, that b**ch," she said again. Her parents had heard her the first time and ignored her, but they could not ignore her again."Isla!" Elliot exclaimed, shocked to hear such language from his daughter. "Why would you refer to her like that? Isla, explain to us this instant why you think it is okay to use such language so freely," he added, and she bit the corner of her lips. "Daddy Mommy, I am sorry; it is just that I had to say that woman is the one that..." she trailed off, looking towards Elara. She did not know if the girl wanted to tell them or if she was keeping quiet about it. "Go on, what did she do?" Elliot urged."You both seem fond of her; who is she?" Elara chipped in. "Zara?" Clara asked, and both her daughters nodded their heads. "She is the daughter of Mr. Winter, our gardener." "Our gardener's daughter?" Isla asked, unable
Ronan went to the bar that the bartender was able to give him over the phone. After leaving the office, he called Chole back because he realised that she did not give him an address, and the bartender picked up instead, telling him that she had passed out from drinking. He gave out the address and asked him to come pick her up before she made a scene there. As he drove there, he could not help but wonder why Noelle had not stopped him; he wondered if she was truly not interested in him. He knew that if he had heard her ex was calling her and she had taken off like he did, then he would have tried all he could to stop her by all means. She did not seem moved at all by his decision to go and do whatever it was with Chole. She stayed professional till the very end, which annoyed him a little.He wondered if it was wise of him to continue clinging to her when she was clear about her feelings; maybe it was time to let go. His thoughts were cut short by the navigation system that was signal
Ronan went to the bar that the bartender was able to give him over the phone. After leaving the office, he called Chole back because he realised that she did not give him an address, and the bartender picked up instead, telling him that she had passed out from drinking. He gave out the address and asked him to come pick her up before she made a scene there. As he drove there, he could not help but wonder why Noelle had not stopped him; he wondered if she was truly not interested in him. He knew that if he had heard her ex was calling her and she had taken off like he did, then he would have tried all he could to stop her by all means. She did not seem moved at all by his decision to go and do whatever it was with Chole. She stayed professional till the very end, which annoyed him a little.He wondered if it was wise of him to continue clinging to her when she was clear about her feelings; maybe it was time to let go. His thoughts were cut short by the navigation system that was signal
It was the first Saturday in a long time that Ronan had made Noelle work. He wanted to spend time with her, and he knew that if he asked her outright, she was going to refuse. She saw the hidden intention behind his cations but could not call him out. She was going to ignore him and whatever he did with hopes of it going away with time. He was going to get bored and begin to focus on other things; soon he would have to get married and have children, and she did not see herself in any of it."We have been working for a while, so I ordered some Chinese takeout, and it will be here soon. Let's take a break to eat it as soon as it comes," Ronan announced. He had made her sit in his office to work, and she agreed because she wanted to prove to both of them that he did not have any effect on her. At this pace, she might have some free days later in the moment as she was able to finish up some tasks before the deadline, leaving her with little or nothing else to do during the month."Okay, s
“An asshole? Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?” He said, his voice rising in annoyance. “You do not like being called that?” She asked," “Then why on earth do you act like one?” she asked, raising her voice to him. “You were expecting a love story? Is this a book or a movie? You're not a child, and you should grow up,” he replied. “I agree I was a fool for allowing myself to be fooled by you, but you are an asshole for trying to play me. I have invested all I have to try to get married to you. I went to my father because I believed that we shared something great between us, but what did you do? You only saw me as a tool to make your family great. You wanted to be chairman, and I was supposed to be your stepping stone,” she said, tears flowing freely from both eyes. “Did you ever love me?” She asked again. “I just told you that I did; I only approached you because you caught my fancy.” “If I weren't rich, would you have slept with them and then dumped me with no p
Micah squeezed the phone in his hand angrily; his mind could not help but run with ideas as he wondered who it was that had picked up Elara's phone. He had not been sure up until now if he wanted to pursue Elara like his mom said, but somehow the idea of her being with another man sent anger through his body. He had thought somehow that she would end up alone, and he did not know why he thought that.Elara being out with a man at this time meant that she had moved on easily. He sat behind the desk in the ministudy he had crafted for himself. He needed to get work done from home and had changed one of the rooms to that. He swept everything on the table to the floor, everything in glass crashing to the floor with a loud smashing sound."What was that?" Cora asked as she pushed the door open. She was in the room too quickly, as if she were just around the corner. She looked at her son standing over a heap of files and shatter glass. "Don't move," she screamed when he tried to walk away.
They finished eating and retired to the car, where they stayed talking and Ezra was constantly trying to sneak kisses as much as he could. When it was already getting late, they both knew they could not be out any longer. For Elara, it would look weird that she spent the entire day out of the house for a solo date. She was shocked that when she was about to leave the house in the morning, her mom did not make a fuss about it and just let her go. She had expected at least a few calls checking up on her, but they never came. She was not sure how she was supposed to feel about the situation."Shall we go?" Ezra asked, and she nodded. They had both tried to avoid leaving, but eventually it came."Should we do this again tomorrow?""What? Sneaking around on a date?" he asked with a smirk on his face, teasing her."Yeah," she responded with a smile, facing him in the car. "Let us sneak around tomorrow again," she said, and he laughed. "What is so funny?""At first you thought it was a bad i
Elara gets to the parking lot; she settles in her car for a moment before walking over to Ezra's car and getting in. She had warned him not to get down to get the door or anything gentlemanly like that. She kissed his cheek as she settled into the chair."Is that all I get? After waiting a week?" he asked in a grumbling voice."What?" she asked with amused fits of laughter breaking from her."I mean, all week you kept cancelling our dates.""Because I did not want to get caught," she cut him off to explain. She would be sad if he got the wrong idea, and she knew that he knew and was just trying to throw a fit for a kiss."I know but now that you've seen me for the first time all week, shouldn't you be happier and kiss me better?" He asked plainly, causing her to blush. She planned to kiss him later but his asking outrightly made her stomach twist with joy."Ezra!" she gasped as she hit his hand gently. "How can you be so brazen to say such things without thinking too much about it?" s
It was finally the weekend, and Elara was happy because they could go on their date in peace. Ezra had somehow found a way for them to go together. He told her to drive her to the nearest station, and he would pick her up from there. She did not know if it was a good idea, but he had made her see reason. That way, after the date, he could drop her off at the station, and she could take her car with her and be on her way home."Don't you think you'll be tired after driving a long distance?" Ezra asked her when they spoke on Friday evening. She wanted to tell him that she could easily make the trip to and fro, but she was not even confident in herself, not because she could not drive, but because for her, driving was only a wanted skill and not a needed one. She was more inclined to sit in the passenger's seat and act calm while someone else did all the heavy moving."I had thought of it too," she began, as she could not believe that all it took for him to convince her were a couple of
"You are here to apologize to me?" Elara repeated her words back to her in a question form. "Why? Is Micah not good to you? Do you want to return him back because he is not exactly what you saw on the outside?" the questions left her mouth faster than her mind could comprehend.She did not intend to be mean and even though she was grateful for her breaking them off she could not help but still feel a little hurt. As at the time it happened she did not know that it was going to be a favour for her so her feelings at that time were valid. "Elara...""Oh does my life that looked so rosy from the outside not look as good as it did anymore? Is Micah unbearable? And his mom? Do you not like her anymore? Just because she does not want you around?" Elara wondered where she was getting all of the words from and how easily she was able to articulate herself to him."I mean most times poeple's life look like a dream when you are looking at it from the outside, once you are in it you get to know