"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
"Are you feeling nervous?" Zara asked her husband-to-be, who sat beside her; his legs were shaking vigorously. It seemed like she needed to ask him that. "Of course not," he said, shaking his head. They were in the waiting room waiting to be called in. They were going to march in separately since her father was not there to march her in; she felt a bit sad that she was depriving Carlos of the opportunity to walk her down the aisle but if she was going to give him a better life by marrying this way, then it was best for her to do so."Tell that to your legs and your face. You look like you are constipated," she said and then laughed at him. The situation was supposed to be reversed after all; she was the one who was deceiving him into getting married; she should be afraid to go out there in case she was embarrassed. The door opened and standing there was a staff member; she had a smile on her face; she was there to call Micah. Sir, you can come out now while we prepare to come out to
"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