"Sir, I have something important from the PR department to report." Elliot looked up and motioned to his assistant Jack to get on with the reporting. "I just heard from the PR department that a lot of media bodies and journalists are calling to confirm the wedding of your daughter to one Mr. Micah Swanson.""Oh really?" Elliot's head came up again in amazement. "Can you give me a moment?" he asked and Jack stepped out, leaving him alone. He took up his phone and called his wife. Could this be her doing? Was she so desperate to humiliate the girl because she stole from her daughter? Clara had commented on how she did not like the way he reacted to their daughter's grief but he thought that all was well since she was okay. It could have been worse and she escaped a man who only gravitated towards material things. She would want a man who loved her and she was not going to get that in Mr. Swanson. "Clara" "Elliot," the relationship between them was now just a few words. Clara was conv
"Ms Richards?" Ronan said it in a low voice but loud enough for Noelle to hear. She tried to match her step with his and walked by his side. He had always told her to walk behind him at all times but she was barely able to keep up because he walked fast, always as if he were in a hurry to go somewhere. She was to stay behind him and then walk towards him when he beckoned on her. She tried her best to make sure they were walking in sync but it was too hard for her. Luckily, he slowed down almost as if he had heard her silent plea. He suddenly stopped and turned to her. The two bodyguards following them stopped making sure to give enough distance for them to speak privately but still close enough for them to jump into action. "Are you walking as I suggested?" he asked and she gulped the knot in her throat. "Are you?" he asked when she left him with silence."No, sir," she said, ashamed of herself. When he first gave her this job earlier in the year, he had told her that he walked fas
"Are you sure you will be able to let go of him and come to me?" Ephiram asked as his hand was under Chole's head. She was turned into him with her hand tracing his chest. "Why won't I be?" Chole asked, raising her head to try to capture his face. Of course I can," she added, but he said nothing. "Why did you ask that?" "You and Ronan have been known as a couple for a very long time and from what I gather, you both love each other," Ephiram replied. "Ronan loves me." "What about you?" "I only love one man and trust me, I am going to break up with him when we meet tonight." "You love one man? What man do you speak about?" he asked, holding her body close and trying his best to stare into her eyes even though it was one of the most difficult things he had tried to do. "Oh, the man sure knows himself and there is no need for me to try and explain it to him," she replied and he chuckled. "I am so glad that you took that trip," he said and she raised her head. "Same here; at first
Ronan was a bit too excited; he had not seen Chole since she left the country about a year ago. At first, they spoke over the phone constantly but then after a while, the communication reduced so much that he did not know what to do. He tried his best to continue reaching out and sometimes all her responses were one word. He was fine with all of that as long as he was able to know that she was doing fine. He wondered why she reached out to his assistant and not him but he was glad to know that she was doing okay. He stopped over at a flower shop and picked up flowers. She had made the reservations so he did not need to worry about anything regarding what they were going to eat. He got to the restaurant early and sat to wait for her. Since she was back from the compulsory trip she took, they could finally get married. He remembered how it all happened a year ago; she had been caught red-handed and high on drugs in a club during a police raid. Somehow images and videos got out and so
"I want to break up." The words rang in his ears continually and he could not shake it off. He shook his head, hoping that his body was playing a prank on him and making him imagine all of this. "What?" His voice came out croaked. He looked around and the restaurant was packed. Maybe this was a prank and she was doing this just to see his reaction. He touched the ring box in his pocket; he planned to give it to her today and demand that they get married as soon as they could. "I said we have to break up," she said again, not shaking; it was almost as if she had planned this before now. "That is not possible. how can we break up? We are set to get married," he said, shaking his head. "See, I even got a ring for you," he said, his hands shaking as he reached out to his pocket. He took out the box and she read the name across the box. Timeless vows.Any woman would want to be proposed to with a ring from them. She looked up at him slowly. "Why are you bringing out a ring when I am tel
Ronan finally was able to gather all of his courage and walk out of the restaurant after sitting at his table for a while. While sitting there, he had gone through all the emotions that felt negative that he could feel. He had first of all thought that this was a prank and that she was going to come bursting out the door any moment later and then point out the cameras and laugh in his face. He would feel a little bit hurt but he would understand why she had to do it even if she said it was for fun. When it was obvious that it was not a prank, he felt his throat feel tighter than ever; he held his hand by his side and shook his head. How was he supposed to continue his evening after hearing such a piece of news like this?He began to feel a kind of sadness as he began to think of what he might have done that could cause her to want to break up with him so easily like that. He bit down on his lips, hoping to feel some kind of pain. Maybe if he was able to make his lips bleed, the pain
"What took you so long to get down here?" Clara asked as Ronan finally decided to join them down for breakfast. "I guess we can start now." Elliot had stopped from beginning breakfast until Ronan joined them downstairs. Clara had been a little bit angry at his actions; she sent three different house staff to go check on him and even went by herself yet it took him a while to get down. She was a bit worried but it was all laced with anger. Ronan was not one to delay them like that in the morning; in fact, he was the one who always waited on them the other morning, and Eliiot made them hold their hands and say grace before they started eating. Ronan cleared his throat; he knew that Chole was going to be fast to let the media know about what had happened and even though he felt like his mind was spinning out of control, he had to tell his family about it before they heard from somewhere else. "I want to say something," he suddenly said, causing everyone to pause as if someone was cont
"What are you saying?" Elliot looked up. If he was being honest, he was glad that his son was free from her grip, but it was still sad to see both his children heartbroken at almost the same time. He bit his lips and held his head down."She came back and told me that she fell in love with a man she met out there while she was volunteering and that she cheated on me with him and she does not love me..." "As if we did not already know that," Isla murmured. "Isla!" Clara said, trying to caution her daughter. It was true but now was not the right time to say anything like that. Ronan truly loved her and it must be hurting him deeply. "It is not as if I am saying anything that is a lie," Isla mumbled, dropping her phone to the table and raising her head to her brother. "I know that you feel like shit now but..." "Enough!" Elliot said, stopping her before she could get to the end of that statement. "Okay if you say so," she said, raising her hand in the air as if it were their loss fo
Noelle had successfully avoided Felix all week and she owed it to how much Ronan gave her. Not to mention he dropped her off at home every day because he was worried and no matter how much she said not to, he was not listening to her. He stopped coming in with a driver and would drive across town just to drop her off before heading home himself.She had stayed in all Saturday but she had to get to the store to pick up a few groceries and necessities for herself and the house. She was afraid that Felix was lurking somewhere outside and that she would not be able to avoid him. She did not know what he wanted but she was sure that it was money.After a few hours of mental preparation and encouragement, she decided that she had to go. She felt a strange feeling, as if she had to call Ronan to continue to be her bodyguard, as he had been doing. As she walked down the street, she could feel him following her, but she tried not to look back. The streets were barely filled with people; she kn
Elara rolled over in bed. It was evening, and her sister had come in a few minutes ago to call her for dinner, but Elara said she was going to get fruits instead. Her phone vibrated, and she took it off the nightstand. She had tried her best all day to stay away from her phone in case Ezra tried to reach out. Occasionally, she had checked the phone, and even though she had asked him to stay away, she could not believe he listened so well. She had asked herself countless times how much her words might have hurt him She was the one who spoke harshly, yet her heart was heavy."Should I bring up the fruits?" Isla asked. Her mother had told her not to ask any questions, so she decided to listen. Since it was quite strange for her to lay in bed all day. She knew that Elara would tell her what was wrong as soon as she came around."I have to move at least," Elara replied, and her sister understood what she meant by that. She was going to walk downstairs later by herself to get the fruits.It
"Micah? Are you going to let your mom speak to me like that?" Zara called as she followed him out. Micah rolled his eyes; he thought he was going to get a moment of peace away from them but it seemed like both women were determined to frustrate the life out of him."What do you want me to do?" Micah asked, stopping and turning to her. She stopped a few meters from him and crossed her hand over her chest."Are you asking me that? If I were Elara, would you let your mom speak to me that way?""Why on earth would you bring her up?" Each time Micah heard her name, he remembered how foolish he was. If he was patient enough, he would have been as rich as he wanted to be. He believed that Elara was head over heels in love with him and she would have taken him along to meet her parents when he went."Why wouldn't I bring her up? Wasn't it somebody like her you wanted to marry? Your mother is trying her best to constantly shame me for marrying up when that was your intention the entire time. I
"Micah," Cora called as they sat on the table eating breakfast. Zara thought that confirming she was pregnant would make her mother-in-law treat her better but Cora did not care about the child; she had repeatedly told her to her face that she did not care about the baby she was growing and that if she could, she would try her best to get her out of the house in a heartbeat."Mom, it's too early in the morning to start. Today is the only day where I can take a break and I don't think you are allowed to ruin that for me.""Ruin it for you?" Cora scoffed. She hated that her son made her sound like a devil that was on a mission to kill. She opened her mouth to counter whatever it was that her son thought when Zara strolled into the kitchen.She looked from Micah to Cora as she walked to the refrigerator. "Cora, I have told you time and time again that I hate the smell of fish; it is not good for the baby," she said as she squeezed up her nose."And I have told you that the doctors told m
The days of the week passed in a blur. Elara was unable to point to something she had done each day, but by the time the weekend was there, she was glad that she did not come from a family of workaholics who liked to work all the time. On Saturday morning, she lay in bed without plans to get out early.After all, she did not have any plans for the rest of the day. Her mother popped her head into her room out of concern. She was worried that the job was too much for her and that she might need to tune it down. Elara had yet to tell her family that things were not going to work out between herself and Ezra because she had not found the right time; it was either too early in the morning or too late at night. She wondered if now was the right time to go at it with her mom."El? Are you okay?" Clara asked as she walked into the room and sat on the bed.Elara turned to face her but was still lying with the covers up to her neck. "I am; I just had a really long week," she said in a tired voi
Ezra stood in place for a long time; he could not believe this had happened to him again. Strangely, that night was nothing like that day eight years ago but it felt the same. The air as she walked away from him and for what reasons? For reasons he thought he could control.Things would still be going smoothly with them if Olivia-Marie did not show up that night. Maybe he would have gotten her to accept her feelings for him, the one he believed she had hidden and neatly tucked away somewhere. He was finally able to pick himself up and go to the room. It was only when he had changed out of his clothes and said on the bed did he realize he had not put away all of the ingredients he had bought to use.The grief in his heart seemed too much for his body to handle so he was not sure if he would have been able to make it successfully downstairs. He tossed and turned all night, unable to find a moment to slip into sleep. He did not know how or when but his heart began to ache as he thought
Ezra managed to get Olivia-Marie to leave and Elara did not know what he did to do so. She seemed so adamant at first that she thought this was over."I am sorry about..." He stopped abruptly when she turned suddenly in the direction of his voice. He has sent her in and then got Olivia-Marie to leave before he joined her in.She pressed her lips and pushed them to one side of her face. "You want to say something about this and I feel like I would not like it," he said as he saw her expression.He knew it all took well; it was one he was oddly familiar with. "You know me all too well, even after all this time." "Well, you haven't changed a bit; you only grew." She did not know if it was supposed to be a compliment but she pushed that aside."Your silence is killing," he uttered after a while. He has kept quiet, hoping that she would spill whatever was bothering her. He knew this would be about Olivia-Marie."Do you think we are doing the right thing?" She asked, taking a deep breath.
Before Elara could process what was happening, Olivia-Marie held her by the neck and was strangling her while shaking her back and forth. Ezra rushed to them, but no matter how much he tried, he could not seem to pull them away from each other. Elara could somewhat understand the grief that Olivia-Marie was going through, so she allowed the girl to do whatever she wanted to do with her. "You did this; this is all your fault," Olivia-Marie kept chanting as she shook her. After a long while of shaking, her grip finally lessened, and she fell to the ground with her legs beneath her as she wept heavily. "Why did you come back and ruin my life? Why did you think all of this was okay? My life would not be the way it is if you had just..." She muttered as she trailed off. Elara could not help but see the truth in her words. After all, Ezra has only wavered after she mysteriously showed up all those years. Would things have been different if she did not return like this or if she had retu
"So where are we going?" Elara asked as soon as Ezra got back into the car. She did not want them to settle into any uncomfortable silence between them. She liked the gesture of him showing up at her office and taking her out, but she did not know if they should be doing things like that. Their image was still actively being painted black by his ex-fiancee; the only reason it was not so much of a big deal was because both families seemed to be blocking all of the news before it got out. "Let me first off offer my congratulations to you," he replied, glancing at her and then back at the path he was taking. "I was going to tell you, but I could not find the right time," she confessed as if she had done something wrong. She did not know why, but it felt that way to her. "I am not mad," he said, knowing that was what she was trying to imply. "I was going to bring it up the other night, but I just did not find the right time to do so." "You have to believe me when I say I am not angry