CHAPTER 167 : A Trick Or A Treat. ( In The Carribean Ocean. ) The grand bedroom was more beautiful and different than the others in the fort. Aside the Master, no one had ever even stepped foot in there until the Mistress came. The room was delicately designed to reveal a peaceful setting, a tranquil touch. The decor was obviously orchestrated by a female and it was clear who. The Mistress of the fort. Natalia laid patiently on the bed, with a peaceful aura dressed in white. She could've easily been mistaken for an angel but Louis wasn't sure anymore. An angel who suddenly turned mean to him in a few days. The junior chef took a step away from the cart and submissively lowered his eyes like they'd been taught. His heart was racing because a single mistake could send the elite guards running in and dragging him down into one of the hell rooms which all the workers dreaded! The few who had made it out alive did so with their lives hanging by a th
CHAPTER 168 : The Unholy Hour. ( In The Carribean Ocean. ) "Miss..." Draco shook his senses back to order and flinched when Natalia crazily ran her fingers through her hair and slapped herself! A red spot formed immediately and another one appeared when she hit herself again on the other cheek! Draco grabbed her to stop her. "What the hell are you...." She yanked away from him and fell of the couch, tearing her nightie jacket to shreds! Fearful she'ld get hurt again under his watch and terrified of what the Mafia Don would do to him, Draco reached over to stop her and to save himself from the Master's fury when the Mistress of the fort started screaming and hitting herself all over again! Her screams must've been too loud or perfectly on time because the door burst open and the steely eyed Mafia Don walked in with his lieutenant following closely behind. Leonardo paused on his tracks. And suddenly, the whole room turned several degre
CHAPTER 169 : Audacious. ( In The Carribean Ocean. ) Morning slowly came. Yes, it did. But Natalia had woken up long before then. She couldn't sleep all through last night and it wasn't because of guilt. Guilt that she'd deliberately and awefully ended the life of a man. No. The Royal couldn't sleep because of the repeated sound of gunshots echoing through the hallway at every hour! Since Natalia's bedroom wasn't the only room on the master floor, she'd endured the sound disturbance as it also contained HIS study. She groaned in irritation and slammed her head with a pillow when another gunshot echoed again. Soon, the rhythm followed suit. A gunshot => Footsteps hurrying through with the body => Maids rushing by to clean up the mess => Then silence before another unlucky soul makes another mistake => And the cycle repeats itself again... After much tossing and turning, Natalia managed to fall asleep before the sun came up. The
CHAPTER 170 : Don't You Dare! ( Beverly Hills, California. ) Nicky stared at the Campbell's mansion and took in a sharp breath to control her temper. 'Only Christ will be able to deliver you from me if I find out you purposely ignored your calls!!' She gritted silently and made her way in. Nicky noticed that nothing much had changed in the house....except the happy aura attached to the arrival of baby Danielle. She met nanny by a hallway who was cheerfully organizing the clean up staffs. After promising to catch up later, Nicky ran up the stairs two at a time. Old Butler Bernard was on his annual leave so nanny had no spare time to check up on Jeffrey. Nicky got to his door and hid her arrows and daggers. She knocked once, twice, thrice but there was no response. "Oh, come on!" She snapped and pushed open the door rudely! And lo and behold, Jeffrey Campbell was in bed, neatly tucked in... A volcano almost erupted in Nicky's ch
CHAPTER 171 : Why Did You Do It? ( Beverly Hills, California. ) Nicky called a doctor over instead of an ambulance because Mom Felicity would freak if she found out. Thankfully, the Campbell's family doctor didn't do much other than apply some first aid and antibiotics. Though he rebuked Nicky's insistence on not taking him to the hospital, he understood her worries. The challenging part was tending to his cut as Jeffrey kept struggling with them, even in his ill state. Later, he fell into a more peaceful sleep with his burning fever reducing. However, Nicky's name never stopped escaping his parched lips like a silent summon. The strawberry blonde tiredly let her hair down and retied it again. She properly placed the wet towel on his head. She had returned Mom Felicity's call and told her the truth. Well, in a less detailed manner. The new mother was as intuitive as ever and literally made Nicky swear to be his wet nurse! Sighs
CHAPTER 172 : Go! ( In The Carribean.) "You're going in there with a wire." Jake said as soon as he got to Naomi. "The last Kelion ship smuggling the new batch of recruits is about to leave. Somehow, we have to get you on that cargo ship with them. Once you're on the island and you're sure the Empress is in there also, press this button and place it in your ear." "Keep it somewhere safe but accessible. It's an advanced nanotech. It won't be recognized easily even though they conduct the regular security body scan. Just try to remain calm and it'll do the rest." "Lastly, always wear your hair down and try not to bring attention your way. Be normal." He attached the device which looked like a regular cloth button to her shirt. "There's nothing normal in being kidnapped." She murmured silently. Jake ignored it. "You have to make contact in twenty four hours. That's enough time to blend in and reconnaissance. If by then we have no news, w
CHAPTER 173 : The Night Would Change Things... ( In The Carribean Ocean. ) Natalia took deep breaths to control her hydrophobia. Ignorant of her state, Louis climbed up the edge of the roof and looked down at the ocean which was some metres below. A lot of metres below. The waves was peaceful unlike the usual and the current was mild. A particular island stood some distance away and by the looks of it, contained a city. The full moon was slowly coming out, sending gentle rays to the surface of the earth and posing as a threat to their plans. But through divine providence, a heavy layer of dark clouds glided in giving the exact camouflage. Unable to hide it any more, Louis turned to Natalia with the most confused face ever. "Okay. We got out of the fort safely, but where are the boats we're gonna have to sneak into?" He asked. "At the other side of the island." The Empress replied shortly... *** "
CHAPTER 174 : Forever More. ( In The Carribean Ocean.) Because the Kelions couldn't come close to Natalia, she remained on the pool chair to buy Louis more time to escape basking in the moonlight as it might seem. An hour later, the Mistress madame gingerly picked up her wrap dress and threw it back on over her white bikini. Jackson remained with her without a word but Natalia knew he was suspicious. Deeply suspicious. His stoic gaze her way told her everything. But unfortunately for him, her problem wasn't the doubtful right hand but the spiked man she had left on her bed. She silently worried as she was escorted back to her room. As it turns out, the Royal didn't need to worry because the spiked man, Leonardo De' Luca was already wide awake!....drinking the rest of the wine. Natalia froze like she'd seen a ghost! The sedatives she spiked his wine with was more than enough to knock out an average human for eight hours straight!
CHAPTER 185 : Final Epilogue. ( Beverly Hills, California. ) "What are you doing?!" She bulged her eyes and moved away. "What?" Arian sheepishly groaned. "Don't 'what' me! You know what I mean!" She stated, playing their usual nightly 'what' game.....which usually followed the same pattern. Arian seductively wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. "We have the rest of the night to ourselves." He deliciously bit his lips and swept down to capture hers.But Natalia stepped away. "I need to check if the twins have yanked their heads off already." She tried to escape but Arian blocked her. "You're just coming from the nursery." He sexily pouted and Natalia almost gave in. She shook her head to reject the temptation. "I think it's time for Adrian's milk." She tried again but Arian easily caught her. "Adrian's asleep and his milk isn't until midnight. So..." He kissed her and slowly
CHAPTER 184 : Epilogue (2). ( Beverly Hills, California. ) "By the way, where is Jake?" Elva curiously asked. "He had some work to do and promised to be here this evening." Naomi answered. Natalia had set up a special committee of her most trusted ministers to hold the Empire for a few days. Jake was among the members so he had a little delay. "I really admire you." Naomi continued, taking the attention away from herself. "Being an Empress, a wife, a mother, a philanthropist and also a role model, all in one package!" She dramatised. "It's no wonder you haven't changed much with three kids! On the contrary, it made you hotter. I'm just expecting my second child but I feel like a granny!" Nicky joked and fondly rubbed her huge baby bump. "No! You're not a granny. You're my mommy." Louisa raised her head and pouted.The girls giggled when Nicky blushed. "It's no wonder you don't miss Jeffrey whenever he goes away on b
CHAPTER 183 : Epilogue. ( Beverly Hills, California. ) "How was your night?" Arian kissed Natalia as Adrian rubbed baby drool all over his face. Natalia stretched lazily and closed her eyes. "Stressful." She pouted. "I know, right? This champ is quite a handful at night.'' He tickled Adrian who hung on his neck like King kong. "Da-da! Da-da!!" He squealed happily which echoed arouund the room. "As if you weren't a handful yourself." She scoffed and turned away, pulling the duvet closer around her. It made Natalia a little jealous that Adrian hadn't yet learnt to call her mama. In fact, Dada was the only word he knew! Arian noticed it and chuckled, pulling her back to face him. As usual, he was shirtless wearing only sweatpants. Some habits were just so hard to break! Not that Natalia was complaining though. It made her husband look uncontrollably sexy! Adrian grinned down at his mama in his diapers. Fa
CHAPTER 182 : The Seal Of Their Love. ( Astheria, Australia. ) Still sitting on the floor, Naomi slowly arranged her things inside a cardboard box. She shivered a bit because she was still wearing her clothes. But Naomi didn't care. There was more important things to be done than caring if she had gotten a cold by wearing her wet clothes for so long that it'd dried still on her. A knock sounded on the door. "Please go away. I'm a little busy." Her hoarse voice sounded. Naomi knew the visitor wasn't on an official business. If the Empress or the royal assistant needed her, they'ld have easily sent an email. And so far, they hadn't. Naomi couldn't blame them though. She felt embarrassed and hated her family's history. And after everything they had done to the Santianas, she couldn't bare to look at anyone anymore. After a while, the knock sounded again and this time, the person walked in without consent. Naomi didn't bother to l
CHAPTER 181 : Where's Naomi? ( Astheria, Somewhere in continent Australia. ) ( Hours Later. ) "She's not in danger but I still recommend a lot of rest. You can see her. Just make it as quick as possible." The aged doctor whispered and walked away. Elva Thompson and Jake Buniz nodded before walking into the Royal study. They found Natalia leaning on her desk, gently running her fingers over her grandmother's diary. Louis had kept it safe like he'd promised. "You should be resting. Doctor's orders." Elva let out a small frown in displeasure. "I'm fine." Natalia curtly said and stood up. The thick sweats she was wearing matched with her pale skin. She returned the diary to one of the drawers and faced them back. "Tell me. The casualty report?" She ordered. "We lost a good number of our men while the rest are being taken care of." Jake reported. "And Max?" Jake lowered his cold eyes in hes
CHAPTER 180 : The Battleground (3). ( In The Carribean Ocean.) The Mob boss snickered which sounded like something made in hell and back hugged Natalia, erotically pulling her closer. Arian fought the impulse to take a step and lunge at him! He was purposely riling him up to draw him into the sensors! "Tsk! Don't make her feel bad!" He clicked his tongue. "You were smart, my love. But sentimentality was all I needed to sneak into your lives.... And you gave it to me." He nuzzled her hair and possessively trailed kisses down her neck. Arian's insides cringed feeling his control slowly snap while Natalia's self hate increased each passing second. "Let her go!" Arian snarled, running out of patience and clenched his fists. "And you expect me to ask 'Or what?'." Leonardo cocked a cocky brow. "Look around you, fool! We ain't in some shitty movie. This is my turf! I run this freaking game!" He viciously barked. "What do you want?" A
CHAPTER 179 : The Battleground (2). ( In The Carribean Ocean.) Meanwhile, the automatic doors trapping Arian De' Argent in the hallway reopened after the lights had suddenly turned off and returned after five seconds. Arian turned to continue the search for his love but stopped when Naomi froze....and then fainted. He hastily caught her before she could crash land. "Hey, hey!" He called seeing her drowsy eyes. "What..." The French heir froze on his interrogation when he saw four darts pierced into her pretty brochette and a fifth one stuck on the skin of her neck. Naomi had thrown herself in front of Arian when she noticed the danger he was in without thinking. Arian pulled them out and tapped her lightly. "Hey, stay with me, okay?" The timid spy tried to nod but the snake venom was working tremendously fast, already at the second stage of the symptoms which was total paralysis. "Hey!" Arian yelled. "What?!" Max yelle
CHAPTER 178 : The battleground (1). ( In The Carribean Ocean.) "Who do you want to go first?" He casually, but deviously asked. The gunshots continued more fiercely and through the cameras, Natalia and the few in the room could see the gory battle going on. As observers seeing the whole battle ground, anyone could bet that Astheria had an upper hand! "The only game we'll be playing is the one you'll be losing." She seethed in confidence. Leonardo coldly smirked which gave her goosebumps for some reason before placing his hand on a screen which scanned his fingerprints. "Good evening, Master. How may I be of service?" The voice of an artificial intelligence echoed from thin air. "Ava, place the fortress on lockdown." He ordered. "As you wish, Master." A moment later, metal doors sprung up trapped everyone in. Those who were fighting outside couldn't get in and those who were in couldn't get out. Natalia's heart skipped a be
CHAPTER 177 : Let's Play A Game, Shall We?... ( In The Carribean.) "Something is wrong." Jake Buniz stated, pacing restlessly around the communication tent. The geniuses among the little battle squad was in the same tent, doing what they did best with the gadgets and devices in there. They were all dressed the same with silent and serious features. "She should've made contact by now." The Captain of the army continued. "Let's think more positively. It could be that Naomi hasn't yet located the Empress.... Even though it's not really a positive thought. However, you above everyone else knows how shady these Kelions are. There's still a few hours till midnight. We should give her a little more time." Max offered, more relaxed than his superior as as he typed away on a computer. "I trust my instincts. And right now, something doesn't feel right." Jake stopped behind him and leaned over with a hand on his chair and the other on the table.