Alexia's POV Ethan did not come home last night. I arrived home a few minutes past 7:00 pm as the distance from my house to the mansion was about an hour's drive. On getting home, I was expecting to meet Ethan in the house, but he still wasn't back. I stayed up late into the night waiting for him to come, but he didn't. I tried calling him but the call keeps going to his voicemail. I left several messages for him but he hasn't responded to any of them yet.The only silver lining in all is that Linda wasn't also at the mansion by the time I got there. Ethan's Mom, I was told, retired to bed early. Thank God for small mercies. I don't think I would have had the energy for their drama tonight.I just want to explain and probably apologize for what happened in the car. I help but feel guilty about what happened in the car. I know Ethan has barely slept in our room since we got married, however these past couple of days, he started to put in more effort by spending time with me and now I
Ethan’s POV I woke up this morning with a massive hangover. My head feels like it's about to split in two. My eyelids feel like they are glued together. I take a minute to debate whether or not to open my eyes. After a few seconds, I forced my eyelids open only to shut them back immediately as the brightness of the room almost blinded me. The migraine seems to have increased in tempo by just that singular act. The next time I attempted opening my eyes again, I did it gradually and the discomfort wasn't as bad as the first time. I take a minute to try to get my bearings, as everything still appears fuzzy. I stretch my hand over the bed to where my drawer usually is, only to hit empty air. That's strange. My drawer is supposed to be at the head of the bed. Why is my drawer not there, am I not in my room? Forcing my eyes to focus, I take a good look around the room I just passed the night only to discover, that this isn't my room and it's certainly not Ryan's Guest room where I some
Alexia's POV The elevator ride was a quiet one because none of the people who entered were going to my floor and not being a social person, I haven't ever engaged in any form of conversation except for the conventional greeting. Immediately, the elevator stops at my floor; I step out, heading to my office. I ran into Bridget as soon as I turned to the corner leading to my office. She is standing beside a handsome guy. I think he works in the IT department of Blackwoods, though I am not too certain, being that I have only seen him passing, but we haven't spoken before. They appear super close and extra friendly. Not wanting to intrude, I decided to just walk past. However, Bridget, noticing my presence, waves me over excitedly. “Hey, Bridget!” I said by way of greeting “Hi Alexia! This is Ken from the IT department” she said. I was right about his department after all. Ken gives me a charming smile. With a smile like that combined with those cute dimples, I bet ladies will be f
Ethan's POV The sound of a door opening and shutting woke me up from a long siesta. I yawned and stretched to loosen my stiff muscles, climbing out of the bed. As I made my way to Ryan's sitting room, the aroma of a well-cooked meal wafted into my nose, making my stomach rumble loudly and making me realize how famished I was. I winced in embarrassment at how loudly it sounded. I remember I had not eaten anything since yesterday afternoon. I decide to make a detour to Ryan's kitchen, where I see him standing in front of his oven with a blue apron around his neck and tied back, pulling out a tray of freshly baked meat pies. He places the tray of meat pies on the countertop, before turning to face me. standing there with his apron around his neck, he looks so domestic at this moment. “Hey, Man! Didn't know you were up” he said. I walked fully into the kitchen, I pulled one of the kitchen stools closest to the table to me, before sitting down. “Well, you woke me up with all the ruc
The first thing I noticed the moment I arrived at Blackwood's mansion was Ethan's car parked in the garage. Ethan is home I thought, sighing in relief. I have this sudden urge to go to him so as to be sure that he is truly alright as Ryan claimed.After thanking Jeff for the ride and bidding him good night, I walked into the mansion. In my haste to reach Ethan, I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings until I almost plowed into Ethan's Mom who just happened to be standing with Matilda at the passage leading to Ethan's room. It is Matilda’s who called out a quick “watch out Alexia!” that halted my movement. It appears she and Mrs Blackwoods had been discussing something and it seems I just interrupted whatever conversation they were engaged in.“Good Evening Mrs Blackwoods! I'm for almost bumping into you, I wasn't watching where I was going to” I apologized.“Of course you were not looking at where you are going. How can you possibly be this dumb. Which is the reason I am still b
Alexia POVThe sound of my alarm blaring, woke me up from sleep. I blinked, taking a moment to orient myself. Stretching my hand to Ethan’s side of the bed, only to find the space empty. The space is cool which means it's been quite some time since he left the bed. Could it be that Ethan has left for work already? I picked up my bedside clock to see that the time was just 6:00am. Maybe wanted go to work this early, because of his skipping work yesterday. I thought. I am just about to stand up from the bed to go into the bathroom to freshen up, when our bedroom door opens, revealing Ethan in a black short and white T shirt, holding a tray of food in his hands and walking towards the bed. The aroma of coffee is the first scent to waft into my nose, before he even gets to the bed.He gets to the bed and places the tray beside me, before leaning down to place a chaste kiss on my forehead. The action is so sweet and unexpected that I couldn't stop blushing even if I tried.“Good morning s
Alexia's POV Ethan drove us to work this morning. The drive was relatively beautiful except for his driving like a maniac. We arrived at Blackwood's company a bit late and as Ethan and I walked into the company together, many of the staff who saw us coming in together, turned to stare at us, whispering amongst themselves as they pointed at us. It dawned on me that this is the first time Ethan and I have come to work together since we got married. Little wonder the whole office seems to be abuzz with it. I peaked a look at Ethan to gauge his reaction to the whispering and staring to our walking together. He appears relaxed and unaffected by the attention. I, on the other hand , feel like dying of embarrassment. The rational part of my brain knows I shouldn't feel embarrassed by the attention, after all as far as the world knows, Ethan and I married and it's quite normal for couples to walk together; despite knowing this, I still can't help myself. I struggle to match Ethan's lo
Ethan's POVMy meeting with Lukas Rodriguez took longer than I expected. Though it was quite a productive one. He is proposing some sort of partnership between Blackwoods and his firm on a web project they are about embarking on.I and Lukas go way back, due to the fact that we run in the same circle and often meet in some of the Elites parties we are sometimes invited to. We may not be friends, but I have always respected him for his integrity and intelligence that has been spoken highly of over the years. His father, Benjamin Rodriguez just retired from being the CEO of Rodriguez group of companies about two months ago, thereby making Lukas the new CEO. Benjamin is one of Dad's friends and they’ve done some business transactions together in the past. However this is the first time Lukas is approaching me for a contract of this magnitude. The project appears promising, but I said I will have to look into it and do some research on it before committing Blackwoods to it. He seems okay
Alexia’s POV “I don't want the pink dress. I want to put on the blue dress.” Amy pouted, shifting away from the pink dress like she found it offensive. My little girl looks beautiful with her red hair, Ethan's blue eyes, and a face so perfect “The pink dress is better and it brings out your eyes.” I tried reasoning with my 2-year-old daughter.Today is Allen and Amy's 2 years birthday and Ethan and I are throwing a party for them.The others will soon be here and Amy is still delaying us further.“No mummy. Blue is better because it's the color of my daddy's eyes. I rolled my eyes at her, not surprised by her response. Everything is always about Ethan, to say that my little girl and Ethan are close would be putting it mildly. I have been having this dress argument with her for the past 10 minutes and I'm about to insist she puts on the dress when Ethan walks into Amy's room.“Daddy!” Amy squealed excitedly as she ran at Ethan. I smiled ruefully as I watched Ethan pick up Amy and th
Ethan's POV “Look at my handsome grandson. Isn't he the cutest baby ever?” Mom cooed as she bent over our baby boy sleeping peacefully in his crib. A small smile played on my lips. I haven't seen her this excited in a very long time.“Yeah, he certainly is.” Dad, who is also standing behind her, agreed. “If only that dumb skull over there would allow us to see our granddaughter!” He added drily, shooting a furious glare at me. “I am not letting anyone near my princess, just yet. She needs to spend quality time with her daddy.” I repeated for the hundredth time today, scowling at my Dad and Mom. Just before they could retort, the door to our hospital room was pushed open and Nathan, Ryan, Stacey, and Grace walked into the room.“Great, the entire crew is here!” I grumbled surly. Amelia shoots me a dark look.“Ethan, be nice! They are here to celebrate with us and see the newest members of the family.” I shrugged. I know I was being an ass but can anyone blame me for wanting some alon
Alexia POV. “Come on Alexia, just one more push.” my doctor said for what must be the 20th time. “That’s what you said the last twenty times.” I groaned, glaring at the doctor. I know she is just doing her job but I can't help but feel frustrated. I have been in labor for the past thirty minutes and I still haven't pushed out a baby. I can feel my body tiring and the pain is like nothing I have ever felt before. “Darling just one more! I know you can do it.” Ethan who has been beside me this whole time said, still holding my hand. He looks just as frazzled as I look. I had the irrational urge to laugh as I stared at his rumpled look, imagining the reaction of his staff if they could see their prim and proper CEO looking anything but prim. As I imagined their faces, a fit of hysterical laughter burst out of me as both the doctor and Ethan exchanged twin looks of confusion, probably wondering if I had finally lost it, which just made me laugh harder. A high-pitched cry suddenly c
Alexia’s POV “You are the reason we are late for this dinner! So be ready to handle your mom's complaint.” I said, shooting an accusing look at Ethan as he helped me out of the car.“Don't worry! You can blame me, you can blame me.” He was laughing. I struggled to hold on to my anger as the laughter I had been holding on tried to bubble up at his playfulness. I love Ethan's playful side. It's a side very few people are privileged to see.He took my hand in his ass and ushered me into the mansion.The dining room was as grand as I remembered but it still looked cold and sterile. Our dining room isn't as big and grand as this but I will pick it over this one anytime, any day because of the warmth it exudes.The long table was elegantly set with silverware, crystal glasses, and ivory candles that cast a warm glow across the room. At one end, Ethan’s mom was already fussing over the placements, rearranging flowers and adjusting napkins, her excitement barely contained.As we entered the
Ethan's POV “Gentlemen, I think what you guys have come up with is good but if we want to truly broaden our space in France we could do better than this.” I said viewed the projections on the screen.I leaned back on my chair. One of the benefits of being the CEO is that you are privileged to sit at the head of the table and take in the reaction of your team. I noticed that at more comment some of my team members nodded their agreement while some were still frowning like they don't totally agree with me, which is actually okay by me. I am comfortable enough in my space to allow dissenting opinions so long as the reasons are good. In my view it helps in business.Liam lifted his eyes to meet mine like he was about to say something and just as I was about to tell him to go ahead, my phone buzzed quietly on the table. I glanced down, and a small smile tugged at my lips when I saw it was Alexia's name flash on the screen. This one she is calling me in the middle of work, she must be m
Alexia’s POV I thought about all I had learned this morning as I approached Nathan’s office. What she had found was more complicated than she’d anticipated, and she knew she needed Nathan’s support to get to the bottom of it.I tapped lightly on the frosted glass door, hearing the muffled “Come in” from inside. Taking a deep breath, I stepped in, finding Nathan behind his desk, absorbed in his computer screen, closing the door behind me, as I walked up to his desk. The sound of the door closing, jolted him as he looked up in surprise, his eyes lighting up when he saw her.“You are back so soon?” He asked, sounding surprised.I smiled at him. “Yes, at least for now. I have spoken to a few of your staff, and I think I will speak to the others later. I don't want to rush things so whoever is responsible wouldn't suspect we are unto him or her.Nathan raised an eyebrow, interest immediately piqued. “Did you find anything from the few of them you spoke with?”I nodded, settling into th
Alexia’s POV I munch on the apple Elsie placed in my front earlier. I feel restless as I sit here just eating food and watching TV. I wonder how those stay-at-home moms do it. I envy them because these past couple of weeks off work have me feeling antsy and restless.Our sitting room which was bathed in a soft, afternoon light, with the faint scent of her favorite lavender candle lingering in the air, would usually cheer me up a bit, but today the reverse was the case.I was just reaching for the fashion magazine Stacey brought when she came to visit last week when my phone buzzed.Seeing Nathan’s name flash on the screen, I answered with a calm voice, trying to hide the surprise I felt. This should be the first time I am getting a call from him. "Hey, Nathan! What’s up?""Alexia, sorry to call out of the blue like this," he began, his tone unusually serious. “I know you are on bed rest and shouldn't be doing any work, which is why I feel like shit calling you, but I have exhausted
Ethan's POV I leaned back in my chair, my sharp gaze fixed on the report in front of me. For the umpteenth time, I wish Alexia was here to help me with this. Fielding reports was her area of expertise, not mine.I glared at the series of financial graphs glowing from my tablet screen, if only I could magically wish them away, thought, sighing deeply.Despite the report's importance, my mind was elsewhere. I rubbed a hand across my jaw, lost in thought, wondering if I should take a rare moment off and spend some time with his wife.I have been on these reports for the past two hours and I haven't made much of a progress.Just when I was about to push the report aside and take some much-needed break, my phone rang, jolting me from his reverie. Dad's name flashed like a beacon on the screen and a flicker of surprise coursed through me. I certainly wasn't expecting a call from him. He seldom called unless it was about business.“Dad,” I answered, my voice sounding professional, though w
Ethan's POV I picked up my suit jacket from the back of the chair I had hung it earlier, ready to call it in. It's been one hell of a day filled with a series of meetings. I had barely catch my breath since I got back from my visit with Ken.As I strode out of my office, locking the door behind me, I noticed the lobby was nearly empty, which isn't strange seeing as I am almost always the last to leave the office. Chloe had gone home about an hour ago.I walked through the main hall keeping my stride calm but purposeful.I know looked more relaxed than heI had in the series of meetings as if I was shedding the CEO mantle with each step toward the exit.I took the elevators to the down floor today. I want to conserve the little energy I have left because I intend to play some fun games with Alexia when I get home. I already anticipated the thrill of playing with her would be elicited inside.Stepping out from the elevator I strolled to where my car was parked outside and opened the p