~Victor~It was a new day and a new week, and I decided to push Isabelle away from my mind because I had to work.There was a big business deal that my company had been chasing for quite a while now, and finally, they had reached out for a contract. It was like a victory, because I knew how hard myself and my senior team members had worked tirelessly to be able to achieve this. My mother was right; being with Isabelle, in as much as it broke me to admit it, had limited my company in a lot of ways. Getting deals had been the most difficult thing to do. In fact, over the years, most of my most hardworking and trusted staff members had left my company to secure at job with my adversaries. It had been a real struggle, which was why when the option of getting into a relationship with Sara had popped up, I had taken it without a second thought.I needed to save my company; we had been sinking for way too long.“Are we all ready to go and sign the deal that is going to change the face of th
~Isabelle~I could barely wait for Sasha to arrive as I fumed in anger. Laura had left some hours ago, but the effect of her presence still lingered, and it left a bad taste on my tongue and rage in my heart. What right did she have to find me and talk to me in that manner as though I was still living with her and subjecting myself to her cruelty? I fumed as I paced about, and something that even made me more upset was the fact that I had been too dazed to give her a better response.“And if you are pregnant for Victor, which won’t even stay anyway, you had better keep that thing away from my family…”Those had been her words to me, and I just stood there, looking like a helpless zombie until she glared at me to her satisfaction and left. It was not until she had left that I realized that I should not have acted as though I was still scared of her. She came onto me, and that should be termed as harassment, and I shouldn’t have let her get away from it, just like I had allowed her to
~Isabelle~Instead of me to have stood on my ground and corrected Laura’s impression about me and her attitude towards me, I had sat right in front of her like a drenched pussycat and allowed her to speak to me in a hateful manner, and that was exactly how I acted some hours ago.Four years ago, and I still could not stand up to her!“You shouldn’t have given her the impression that you are still that weak and simple girl she used to know!” I berated myself.“Isabelle, are you okay?” Sasha asked as she dumped her handbag on the couch and stared at me with concern in her eyes.I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn’t even know that she had entered the apartment.“Jeez, Sasha, you are back,” I said with relief.“Yeah, if you were looking at the time you would have realized that it is my closing time,” Sasha said. “I am sorry,” I said, even though I didn’t know why exactly I was apologizing.“Are you okay though? You look like you have seen a ghost and your face is ashen,” Sasha
~Victor~I arrived at Mr. Hedger’s mansion with an expensive bouquet of flowers that I just bought on my way to see Sara. Given that Mr. Hedge already said that I had only twenty four hours to make his daughter happy in order to get that important contract, I knew I had to act fast.“Who are you here to see?” One of the bodyguards asked from the security cameras.This was one of the reasons I detested coming to Sara’s house. No matter how many times I showed up here, they would still put me through the rigorous task of introducing myself and stating the exact reason I was there. This time around anyway, I was not angered or disgusted, because I knew that I was here for a crucial purpose. The success of my company and the positive result of the hard work of my dedicated team members rest heavily on my shoulders, and I could not jeopardize this for anything else in the world.“Miss Sara Hedge,” I answered calmly.“We have no information about your expected arrival,” the bodyguard said.
~Victor~“I will do whatever you want,” I said and meant it, even though my heart still skipped fearfully as I said those words to Sara, knowing that she could very well demand something that I might not want to give.“Of course, I know you would,” Sara said with pride and a wide smile on her face.“What do you want me to do to make you happy?” I asked, eager to get this over and done with so that I could get approval from her father, and eventually get the contract that we had been denied of getting simply because I had made Sara unhappy.“First of all, these flowers have to go. They made me sick,” Sara said.“Oh, okay, sure,” I said immediately; that was an even easier task.I turned to find somewhere around the living room to trash them, but Sara stopped me.“There won’t be need for that,” Sara said as she signaled on one of the maids standing by.Their household had so many maids and domestic servants and bodyguards that I could barely make out all of them by looking at them. Anyw
~Victor~I opened the door for Sara like a perfect gentleman and gently led her into the car with a plastered smile on my face. Meanwhile, I was literally bleeding deep inside.I had to accept Sara’s request; I had no other choice.“Have you made the reservation yet?” Sara asked me as we drove out of their mansion.“I am doing that right away,” I answered.I took my phone and began to check through luxurious and expensive restaurants that would suit Sara. All of a sudden, I could not remember any fancy restaurant even though I had been to virtually all of them. My heart was still beating, and my hands were becoming sweaty. I did not know what to do to get away from this situation. Sara could have asked for anything else. Heck, she could have even accepted the flowers, but she had just decided to be difficult and make things difficult for me.“Booked,” I told Sara.She looked at me and smiled. “Are you excited, Victor?” She asked me. With a wide grin that didn’t even reach my eyes, I
~Isabelle~“Rise, sunshine!”I heard the sound of Sasha’s voice in my room as she walked into the room and began to raise the curtains, allowing the sun to gush in.I had been laying in bed all day, not wanting to do anything at all, because I was still feeling sore about Laura’s visit.“Gosh, you didn’t have to do that!” I said, shielding my eyes from the blinding sun, and Sasha laughed.Then she joined me in bed and wrapped me around her arms as though I was a child to her. In return, I leaned into Sasha and basked in the warmth of her embrace.“Are you okay?” Sasha asked in her usual concern.“Yes, I am,” I told her.I wasn’t exactly fine before she came into the room, but now that she was here and we were sharing a hug, I just magically began to feel better than I had been since Laura showed her cruel and callous face at the door.“Sasha, you should be at work, not here,” I added.This morning, I did hear Sasha doing a couple of things around the house, and I thought that she was
~Isabelle~I kept thinking about what Sasha told me as I made my way to meet up with Barrister Andrew, and I realized that she was right, but aside from that, I was hurt.I didn’t say this to Sasha, not that she would not understand, but I just didn’t want to share this part of my emotion with her. It was bad enough that Victor told her to her face that she was with Sara now at the party, and also about her getting pregnant, but for him to do it for the world to see?“He never truly loved me,” I said to myself as tears filled my eyes.Thankfully, the cab driver did mind his business completely, which even made it easier for me to shed my tears. I had no idea that something about Victor with another woman could infuriate me this much, or more, break my heart. The only thing I ever did was love Victor Walters genuinely and deeply, but after they got married, he had changed completely.I could recall how it had been when I had gotten pregnant the first time and Victor had been all over t
~Victor~I felt like a complete zombie as I drove out of Sasha’s neighborhood. Things with Isabelle had gotten worse than I had anticipated, and that was way different from what I had hoped would happen. At the same time, I was more than grateful that I had followed my instincts, because the thought of what might have happened to Isabelle sent shivers down my spine.My heart and face hardened as I thought of Mr. Hedge.I knew he was a dangerous man, but I never anticipated that he would that dangerous enough to try to kill Isabelle simply because she seemed to be standing in the way of me and Sara. I was getting close to the house, and I knew that if I wanted to do anything, I would have to do it before I got there, so I took my phone and dialed the number of a senior cop whom I had once made his acquaintance a while back.Thankfully, he picked on the first ring. “Mr. Victor, it is such a delight to be getting a call from you,” he said cheerful the moment the call connected.Upon hea
~Isabelle~I squeezed my eyes in pain as Victor left. I did not even bother keeping my ears alert to be certain that he had left the apartment, even though he now scared the hell out of me; I was too broken and my heart was too pained to even listen to anything else.I continued to close my eyes tightly, because I was trying every means possible not to cry; that was exactly how I was feeling deep inside. It was bad enough that Victor had hurt me in more ways than one since I filed for a divorce, and if he had simply let me go, I would not even have seen or known about any of this.Was this why he pushed for the divorce to be readdressed; so that he could drag me back to Seagate City and torment the heck out of me?What was the story behind this attack? It was obvious now that Victor either knew something or was even involved, and I could not even explain how that made me feel. I would never do anything to hurt or harm Victor or even any member of his family even though I deeply hated
~Isabelle~I wondered why I hadn’t even thought of that to begin it. Usually, in situations like this, after knocking him down, Victor would have been concerned about holding the attacker down and instantly calling the cops so that he would be arrested, and whoever sent him would be known as well, because I had no doubt that someone must have sent him to me.First of all, Sasha had lived in this very apartment for more than four years, and there had never been a break-in; not in her apartment or any of the other apartments situated in the neighborhood, and secondly, he waited until Sasha had left the house before breaking-in to attack me. It was very obvious that he did not come to steal or rob us; he intentionally came to kill me.The thought of it even made me shiver.“Can you answer that?” I asked when Victor kept mute.I caught a flicker of guilt in his eyes before it was quickly replaced by regret and sadness, and it made me even more uncomfortable? Did Victor have anything to do
~Isabelle~I heard a loud thud as I closed my eyes, which even made me confused, because I had been dreadfully anticipating a painful slit over my throat, or a piercing stab to my stomach, but the thud came as a shock, and more confusing was the fact that I did not feel any pain.Then I opened my eyes.“Isabelle, are you okay?” Victor asked.I hadn’t known when Victor entered into the apartment or when he even did, and although I was surprised and still confused, I was more than relieved. I looked down and saw the man writhing on the floor, but almost immediately, he struggled to his feet and scampered out of the apartment without anyone of us chasing after him.“Isabelle, breathe…” Victor was saying when I continued to look dazed and confused.I tried to breathe, but I had held my breath for too long that it had become stuck, and so I didn’t even know when I slid into unconsciousness. I felt myself being carried in the air and laid gently, but I just couldn’t open my eyes or protest
~Isabelle~After taking a hot bath with the words of the doctor stuck in my head about the condition of my pregnancy, I came out of my bedroom.Since Sasha stalked off angrily, she hadn’t come out of her bedroom. Even when I made dinner and had a fill to my satisfaction, she did not show up, which indicated that she was very pissed off, but then again, this wasn’t her decision to make.I meant it when I said that neither Victor nor any of his family members would know anything about this pregnancy. The only persons that knew were Sasha and Jason, and I already made them promise to keep it a secret. Every time I got pregnant, Victor never wasted time to announce it with glee to his family, except the last one before this one anyway, and so now, I just wanted to carry this baby in secrecy.Then there was also Laura Walters who would not mind killing me if she ever found out just so that I would not in any way be connected to her precious little family anymore.I thought of going to Sash
~Victor~The choice my mum gave me was a crucial one, and with the fiery look in her eyes, I knew that she was dead serious. If I didn’t know her, I might have thought that this was just a mere choice, but there was no way I was going to get out of this.“Which is it going to be, Victor; your family or that woman?” Laura asked as she tilted her head, waiting for a response.My eyes went to the gigantic expensive and customized clock on our wall, and I was again reminded that time was ticking by really fast, and that if I didn’t do something, Mr. Hedge was going to get to Isabelle, and I would live the rest of my life in regret. I could have decided to call Isabelle right now and send a warning to her, probably ask her to leave Sasha’s apartment for now, but then again, there was no way I could achieve that while standing right in front of my mum, and more importantly, Isabelle was too upset with me that she would not even take my calls or read my texts.I inhaled and exhaled, knowing
~Victor~The thought of anything happening to Isabelle almost made me go insane, and I just knew that I had to do something. Running out of the house like a cat on a wild chase was crazy, but I could not think of something else. First of all, I wanted Isabelle back, and secondly, I would never forgive myself if anything happened to Isabelle because of me.I got into my car; there was no need for any driver or bodyguard, and I drove towards the gate, but to my utmost surprise and anger, the gate refused to open up for me, which was strange.“What is going on?” I asked as I came down from the car and proceeded towards gate.The security guard was standing by the gate, erect with a serious look on his face. Although it was an expensive gate, I had expected an excuse to the gate not opening that it was having some sort of fault.“What the heck is going on?” I asked. “I am hurrying out and you are just standing there,” I said, getting increasingly upset.“Mrs. Laura has instructed me not t
~Victor~This was the most difficult question I have ever had to answer in my entire life, and I just wished that things weren’t so hard and tight.The warning and dread that came with that question, although unspoken, was a clear message of what I would suffer, along with my family, if my answer was negative. Mr. Hedger would have my head on a platter, and just like he had said, he would make my company go away and never get back up again.I was conflicted and devastated.I wished that I had been more prepared before being crowned the CEO and handed the company to run, but then again, things had happened so fast in my family that I had had to step in. Right after high school and university, I had gone to one of the biggest business schools in the world to continue my education and prepare myself for the company’s takeover. According to my dad, he had wanted me to be perfectly ready to become the CEO.“I think you should start showing him the ropes of the company, Walters. He is no lo
~Victor~“How could I have made that stupid mistake? How could I have been that foolish?” I asked myself as I paced about my bedroom, confused.Actually, if I was being honest, I think I knew exactly why I had made the mistake of saying Isabelle’s name instead of Sara’s; it was Isabelle that I was thinking about deep down, otherwise, who mentions another woman’s name when proposing?I felt like knocking myself in the head, but then again, the only regret I had from all of this was the huge contract that I caused my company to lose. I never wanted that bloody proposal anyway, and it had all been Sara’s idea. If she had accepted, we would have been discussing wedding dates and venues and dresses by now, and it would have driven me insane.The only woman I wanted in my life right now was Isabelle, and no one else.Then my phone rang, and much to my dismay, I saw that it was Mr. Hedger, Sara’s father. I didn’t know what to expect of the call, and his call was not something that should not