“What do you have on my mother?” Those were the first words Amelia spoke to Ava. The only reason Ava was in the house was because of the information she had. The sooner Amelia could get the information, the sooner she could dispose of Ava altogether.“Good morning to you, too, sister. What’s for breakfast?” Ava strolled past her and moved to the dining table. “Are we not having breakfast today?”Amelia cared nothing about breakfast. “You will have breakfast at your working place. We are busy people here?”Ava frowned, “Are you guys not supposed to be in your honeymoon phase or something? I get that you have that secret wedding and stuff, and our parent was asked to sign NDA, but you guys deserve a honeymoon, right?”Amelia hadn’t heard anything about her parents signing NDA. “Dad signed an NDA. Why?”Ava smiled and made small noises with her throat. “Amelia. Amelia. There are so many things you have no idea about. Do you think our parents married you into this home because the
The tying of the keyboard and random ringing of phones kept cutting into Amelia’s thoughts. All she could think of was the picture Ava had shown her. What was it all about? Ava was ruthless that she hadn’t told her any more information. She had insisted on her offer, and Amelia knew Ava would go to any length to achieve what she wanted regardless of who was hurt in the process. Amelia sat down with her head in her hand; the constant random thoughts were beginning to show signs of a headache. She was used to being alone in her room with only Loveth as her only company.A shadow loomed over her, causing her to lift her head up involuntarily. Florence wore a smirk and thrust different folders toward her. “You came late to work, and you haven’t been doing anything. Since you have all the time in the world at your disposal. How about you work on making photocopies of these files?”Amelia blinked, trying to stand upright to meet Florence's level, but the other thrust the files at her
The day was busy for Amelia and Mike. Amelia had no idea that the duties of a secretary were that much; no wonder Christie was always busy with her system. She had made sure to separate the documents Mike had sent to her according to how he had instructed her. She felt as if her bottom was already attached to the chair she was sitting on. She wondered how much Mike's work was going to be if hers was this much. It was exhilarating.“I see you finally know what you are in for.” Florence's voice sounded behind her head. She smiled down at her. “I need you to do the copies of those files I told you earlier. Don’t think you are going to escape it because of the little work you are doing.”Amelia could hardly believe her ears, she already had work that she couldn’t finish in a day pilled in front of her, and Florence was thinking about adding more to it. “I’m sorry, but I am busy. It’s best if you do your work yourself.”The response didn’t meet Florence well. “Are you refusing to g
Loveth: I jus hear ur mada name, Mis Amelia. Ha name is Anne Devano and she waz ur step mada best fend. I hear ha talking to ur fada about it. I hope diz wil hep yu, Miss.Amelia had to read the message twice to understand what she was saying. For the first time, she knew her mother’s name; Anne Devano. She remembered asking her father for her mother’s name and picture, but he had ignored her, claiming she didn’t need to know. Her mother was gone and out of their life, keeping anything to bring back her memory was only going to hurt them. He had burnt all her pictures, and Amelia could barely recognize her.“Anne Devano,”“What!” Christie asked. She had forgotten that there was someone else beside her. “Who’s Anne Devano?”“Sorry. I didn’t know I said that out.”Christie nodded, already forgetting about it. “What do you say to us eating together?”Amelia hadn’t planned to go on a break, as she had lots of work to do, but her stomach grumbled and gave her away. “I am fine with it
Amelia paused where she was; she was just a few steps from his seat. She frowned not saying a word, as she was still deciding if she had heard the word or her ears were deceiving her. Just the second day in office and her husband was already flirting with some guy, and to think he trusted her.Noticing the sudden silence, as Miss Florence was rather chatty, Mike lifted his head to stare at his wife. She stood still like status with a bag clutched in her hand. Mike cursed, he had mistaken his wife for some strange woman. He closed the file in his hand, “Amelia, what are you doing here?”She raised her brow in mockery. “Not the person you were expecting to see. You must have been disappointed.”He shook his head. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have mistaken you for that woman. I got carried away with the work at hand.” He tilted his head at the bag in her hand, “What’s that for? Is it mine?”Amelia's gaze fell on the bag in her hand, and although she had packed it with him in mind, the last
‘I’m sorry, Phoenix, but there was nothing much about Anne Devano. It was as if she ceased to exist twenty years ago, and most of the information about her was being erased. Did you get the name of the school she attended with your stepmother?’Amelia stared at the message Vold as sent to her. After listening to Ava's words, she could barely sleep, and that resulted in her asking Vold for help since he was the only other person that knows about her mother. Why would anyone erase information about her mother? Was it her father, because he had made sure there were no traces of her mother left in the house?“What are you staring at?” She heard Mike’s voice. She had thought he was asleep as they had divided the bed, and she lay on her side of the bed. But his voice was as clear as day. She closed her phone and hid it under the bed. No one was to know that she was looking for her mother. “Nothing.”Mike sat up, “It doesn’t seem like nothing. Did something happen with Ava before I
“I need to know more about this Anne Devano,” Mike told Steve. Steve leans on the chair, opening magazines and paying attention to Mike. “Who is this Anne Devano?” Steve's curiosity got the best of him, making him close the magazine and focus on Mike. “You already have too much to do, and now you are giving yourself an extra duty to look for some Anne Devano.”He frowned. Phoenix had never asked him of anything, this is the first favor she had demanded from him, and he knew how desperate she was. She had always talked about the mother she had never met, and how she wanted to know about her, even if it was just a little. “You can’t understand, Steve. I am doing this as a favor to a friend. She is an important friend.”Steve narrowed his eyes, making sure to make eye contact with him. “Are you cheating on your wife, Mike?”Mike shook his head. Sometimes he could hardly believe the way Steve thought. Yes, he was a playboy, but that was only to get his mind off things that bother
The party was supposed to be modest – that was what Amelia had heard, but judging from the extravagant cars outside, and guards protecting most of the guests, she knew it was more than just a party. The hall was lavishly decorated and big enough to occupy lots of guests, but the guest was restricted to simply by invitation. Chairs were arranged in groups, and the stage holds one podium. Some goods were neatly arranged at a corner of the stage until they disappeared into a room close to the stage.Amelia looked down at her herself; she was dressed in a simple black skirt and a button-down shirt. She was undressed for the occasion, even though she was only there as her husband's secretary. She didn’t dare stand next to him afraid she would look like a maid beside him, as she hurriedly follow behind him.Mike noticing his wife’s falling footsteps, stopped for her to catch up with him. “Why are you walking behind like some kind of guard?”Mia frowned at him glancing around; most of t
Epilogue Amelia had slept all through the trip; being pregnant only makes her wants to sleep all the time. By the time she felt a little nudge by her side they were somewhere far from home. She could barely pinpoint exactly where Mike had taken them to, but the bright sun and the beach side felt strangely familiar. The air was different too. More natural and makes her lean more into him. She felt like she had seen this numerous time, but it also felt like she hadn’t seen it before. Mike assisted her from the car, and it all hit her like a wave. She had the picture of this in her room for a long time. She had sigh looking at him and thinking it there was heaven, this would be it. It seemed so out of reach then like she could never get here no matter how much she tried, but here she was with her husband. She jumped on Mike. “Are you serious?”He nodded, “Of course, I am serious. I bought this place for you.”Her heartbeat raced. It was a different thing visiting the place she had
The whole room was silent as everyone anticipated the next word out of the newscaster’s mouth. In front of the newscaster, in the left corner of the television was an old picture with five young men and women, with some children sitting on the floor in front of them in a chain. It was easy enough to tell the relationship of the children with the adult. They looked so good while the children looked like they could barely stand without falling. They looked malnourished. The headline was the most captivating; Child Trafficking exposed.They had exposed the names of everyone involved in the trafficking and declared them wanted. Apart from those in the pictures, the journalists were able to fish out more people backing them up behind the scenes. It was a bigger syndicate than Mike expected. It might be one of the reasons; that it was easier for Alfred to cover up the death of his parents.The picture made it easier for Mike’s man to find out a lot about Alfred and to get more vital infor
The news spread faster than Mike had expected, and his wife’s phone had continued to ring non-stop since the announcement. It was mostly from her foster family. He was certain there would be more calls from the company, but there was no finding out because he had forbidden them from reaching out to him. If they couldn’t handle those calls, they don’t deserve to be paid the amount they were. The families were spread out in the main mansion, all seated on the couch listening to the news. Every station talked about the sudden appearance of ‘Anne’ and the ownership of D&D, which suddenly brought back the hidden fraud cases. No one could get closer to the Afonso’s mansion, so they were perfectly at ease at home. Mike held Amelia’s phone, thinking she would be tempted to pick it up if the call was too much. If there were something Mike would thank the journalist for, it was their speed of linking up gossip. In a short time, they were able to figure out about Amelia’s identity and link her
Florence had displayed different emotions with her eyeballs within those few minutes, and at last, she settled for fake tears as she gripped the edge of his table, “I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t know much about him. He barely says important thing in front of me.”Mike narrowed his eyes at her, barely moved by her tears, “Seems you just decided your job isn’t precious to you. I’ll ask the HR to type your…”“No sir,” she screamed. Mike raised a brow at her. “I’m ready to talk.”And she did.She split every little thing she knew about Alfred; most she had gathered illegally, maybe hoping to threaten him when they had a misunderstanding. Anyway, it would work well for Mike without putting much effort into finding things about Alfred.After she had split her gust out, he dismissed her and called the H.R. to fire her. Someone who could be so greedy was of no benefit to the company; she could easily tell others their company secrets to gather favors for herself.Glad from all he had gathered f
As Mike checked his phone, he shared a look with Steve, and they both smiled. It was time to go home. Mike made a call to get a new car before they went home.Amelia couldn’t hide her anxiety after waking up and she didn’t see Mike by her side. He had just gotten hurt, and she knew he might be on one of his dangerous missions. If only he could tell her about it; he keeps trying to protect her.She stood beside the door and called him numerous times, but he wasn’t picking up, which only scared her more. Her mother had tried peeling her away from the door, but it was useless.When Amelia heard a car moving into the mansion, she ran out with Anne hot on her leg. She was super excited until she saw it was a different car, and her legs faltered on the way. The car stopped directly in front of the main mansion, and Sharon came out before Mike’s aunt.Guilt filled her as she watched his uncle come out of the car. Ever since she had gotten her mother out of the hospital, she hadn’t gone back
Mike woke earlier than the previous day, and although his hand hurt like crazy, he unbound the bandage and tried some hand exercises he had seen online last night.Amelia was sound asleep, which was the best. He knew she suspected things, which was one of the reasons he needed to act faster. Thankfully, her foster father had fallen into his trap after his short visit to his house, and the accident was somehow a blessing in disguise. To them, he was in a serious accident. They thought he was still unconscious. He had made sure that the hospital said that if anyone called to ask of a Michael Afonso apart from his wife.It made it easier for him to carry out his operations without them suspecting him. He dressed quietly and called Steve to join him.During their previous investigation, they found out that most of the children would be shipped out of the orphanage today because they already suspected Mike was up to something. Now, it was up to him to save the children, and recuperating
The sound of the ambulance and the continuous shouting matched Amelia’s heartbeat. Sharon ran beside her, trying to calm her down, but Amelia pushed through every person and thing until she got to the hospital reception.The disadvantage of her speed was that she couldn’t say a word as she tried to catch her breath. Thankfully, Sharon was quick to ask the receptionist, “Michael Afonso.”The nurse nodded and started typing on her laptop; by then, Amelia had regained her breath, “Where’s my husband?” she screamed, gaining the attention of others in the hospital. Sharon ran beside her, trying to calm her down when another nurse walked up to them. She spoke with Sharon for a while before leading them towards the V.I.P. section of the hospital.As soon as she saw Steve outside the ward, Amelia rushed towards the room, ignoring Steve at the door. Sharon stopped to talk with Steve,Mike lay on the bed with a bandaged arm, but he seemed alright.Amelia ran towards him and started touching ev
When Mike woke up the next morning, Amelia was fast asleep. He moved out of the bed as silently as he could, trying to avoid waking her up. She looked so lovely asleep, so he planted a kiss on her forehead. Her forehead wrinkled, and he almost beat himself for waking her up until she sighed, turned, and went back to sleep. Mike let out a breath of relief.He knew Amelia was already suspicious of whatever was happening, but he didn’t want her to wake up before he left. He did everything as silently as possible before exiting the room.The moment the door closed, Amelia opened her eyes and jumped out of the bed as quickly as she could with her baby bump. She picked the first dress she saw and wore it quickly. She waited to listen to Mike’s car sound before she ran to the nearest car to follow him.She didn’t think about anything as she jumped in the car and drove after him. Hiding from someone while following them was easier in a movie, but to her, it seemed Mike knew she was following
Amelia paced in the room with her phone in her hands. She kept trying to call Mike, but he wasn’t picking up her call. “I told you to sit down. I’m sure Mike’s fine. He might be driving.” Anne tried to reassure her.She shook her head, “You don’t get it, mum. Mike did all he could to prove he’s worthy to led company. Can you imagine how he might feel knowing he had been dismissed as the C.E.O.”If it weren’t for Anne, she would have been on the way to the company now, but her mother blocked the way, preventing her from going out, which resulted in her calling Mike multiple times. But Mike wasn’t picking up her call.“He must be very devastated right now, Mum. As his wife, I should be beside him in times like this. I should be where he is.”Anne closed the gap between them, stopping her from pacing around the room. “Fine, Amelia. If you want to see him that badly, I can drive you to the company.”For a second, she thought it was a great idea but suddenly shook her head. “No, mum. Hav