Location: No 123, Cedarwoods estate "Caleb, I need to go," Melanie said, her mind already made up. "But why? We just got here. I thought we could spend some time together," he pleaded. "I need to see Ryan. It's urgent," she replied, her tone firm. "Can't it wait?” he asked, trying to convince her. We didn’t get to spend much time together in Pearl Coast," he explained. “We didn’t go to Perl Coast to spend time together, we went there to find Shirley,” she said as a matter of fact, but Caleb’s face was a mixture of shock and utter disappointment. "You helped me find Shirley and I appreciate it but I really have to go now," she said, cutting the conversation short. “If you don’t want to drop me at his house, I can Uber there,” she said and that got him angry the more. “This issue is not even that deep, I will just drop you off since that is what you want” Caleb just had to offer to drop her off because even though he was angry, he couldn’t bear the thought of allowing her to
Caleb did not think of picking Alistair up before, but on getting to the junction of their office, he just thinks about it and calls Alistair to join him with a few bodyguards from Iron Clad Security Solutions (ISS), Alistair's father’s company, and he waits for about thirty minutes for them to get to him. After waiting for them for 30 minutes, It takes about five minutes for everybody to put themselves together, and throughout the time they try to organize themselves, but the kidnapper keeps on calling consistently but stops after a while. When they are like 15 minutes into the journey, the unknown caller who called Caleb’s mom and informed her about the kidnapping keeps on disturbing Alistair with calls, urging him to send the money otherwise they are going to torture Benjamin to the point of making him unrecognizable. “Collect the account number and Make the wire transfer,” Caleb gives Alistair instructions but there is a faint squeal in the background of the distorted voice a
“Who orchestrated the plan?” Caleb asks just and he points his finger at Ben and his three friends. “The two jolly best friends planned it and that was why Ben took 50% of the money, Trent took 30% and their lapdogs shared 30% among themselves” he answers. “So they didn't give you anything?” Caleb asks to be double-sure “ You can confirm from your dear brother, I am a Christian, and lying is not something that I will do,” Justin says. “But being a kleptomania is accepted by Jesus right?” Trent asks and he suddenly goes cold “I have a class so I need to go now,” Justin says as he leaves the room without carrying a single book. Even though Caleb doesn't understand everything that is going on, he can see the power dynamics going on in the room and why his brother and his friends consider Justin as less of a human. “In case you haven't read in-between the lines, you are deferring this semester and by implication, you are going to have an extra year,” Caleb declares Alista
“Have you forgiven me?” Ben speaks up, asking his brother “What do you think?” Caleb asks him. “Just to be sure, we are not going to black wood again?” Ben inquires “Of course we are…” Caleb answers. “I need to deliver you to your mother in one piece’ so we will go after your test tomorrow,” Caleb says. “So are you still going to Blackwood today or not?” he asks “We will all go together after your test…or was the test an excuse?” Caleb asks “The text is not an excuse” Benjamin answers him. “What about my punishment?” he asks “Have you waved it” he inquires. “Never!” Caleb insists. “I may have forgiven you, but the bargain that I and Alistair adds was that the other punishments get to stay but I take out you deferring the semester” Caleb states “ I don't that I am not in a position to talk but can you just review my punishments? Even if it is a tiny tiny bit, I will die if you freeze my card, withdraw my car, and make me stay off campus then mom will know what I did”
“Do you think we should invite her to dinner tonight?” Caleb asks after a while and Alistair shakes his head “No please” Alistair disagrees. “So how will now arrange a hook-up section with someone that you hooked up with too many years ago that you want her to hook up with your best friend ?” Caleb asks because it doesn't just make any sense to him “Now that you put it that way, it does sound really bad but I will do it if that is what it will take for me to hear it stop hyping the second with Melanie that I feel is mid asf” Alistair expresses “Do you want to go for a threesome to prove that it is not mid?” Caleb asks him and his face scrunches up in disgust “Ewwww Caleb you such a disgusting pig he says shooting Caleb a bombastic side-eye. “I am your brother so why will you suggest such a thing to me” Alistair says, refusing to get over it. “Calm down idiot...you said that the sex with the woman of my dreams was mid and I just wanted to get back at you.” Caleb clari
“She is on her way now,” Alisiar sends Caleb a text. "Shall I join you to talk to her for a while so that you can establish a sort of connection?" Alistair asks “No, I've got this." Caleb shakes his head. “Just take the other room, Venita is likely to stay till day break” Caleb tells Alist-air and he agrees with him. "Good luck." Alistair smiles knowingly. Five minutes later, Alistait texts Caleb to come down because Venita is waiting at the lobby and as Caleb enters the lobby, scanning the area until his eyes lands on Venita. She is sat on a plush couch, sipping a cocktail, her curves accentuated by a fitted red dress and Caleb's pulse quickens as he approaches her. "Venita," he says, his deep voice drawing her attention and her eyes lock onto his, a sultry smile spreading across her face. "Caleb," she purred, setting her drink aside. He sits beside her, his proximity igniting a spark of attraction. "You look stunning," Caleb compliments, his gaze roving over her. "T
As Kalin, Melanie, and Martin prepare to leave Bistro Bliss, Ryan suddenly halts as he remembers the nurses who traveled with Melanie, whom everybody seems to have forgotten about "Wait," Ryan says, his brow furrowed. "We can't leave yet." He emphasizes "What's wrong?" Melanie's eyes narrow "We left the nurses at home. They were resting in the guest room when we left the house, and it didn’t cross our minds to invite them," Ryan says as he pulls out his phone. "I completely forgot about them…we should check on them." Kalin's expression softens. "I'll order food for delivery…they must be hungry." Ryan nods, already dialing one of the waiter's numbers "That's thoughtful, Ryan." Melanie smiles. "Yeah, we can't forget about them." Martin nods in agreement. Ryan speaks into the phone, ordering various dishes from the vacation menu. "Let's get them some dinner," Ryan says, hanging up. "I'll make sure it is ready in 30 minutes so that we can have it delivered to the mansion s
Ryan pulls into his driveway, the sound of gravel crunching beneath his tires. He steps out of the car, stretching his arms over his head. As he enters the house, he is greeted by the warm aroma of freshly baked cookies. "Hey, sweetie! Welcome home." His mom, Karen, stood in the kitchen, a hint of a smile on her face. "Hey, Mom. What's up?" Ryan kisses her cheek. "We need to talk." Karen's expression turns serious. "What's going on?" Ryan's instincts tell him this wouldn't be a casual conversation. "I know you spent the night at Melanie's house and you guys shared the bed." Margaret leads him to the living room, gesturing for him to sit. "How did you...?" Ryan's eyes narrow. "That's not the point. The point is, you're a grown man, and I trust your judgment. But I want to remind you that Melanie's been through a lot… She deserves respect and care." Margaret's stern look silences him. "I know, Mom. I care about her deeply." Ryan nods, feeling a twinge of guilt "I know you
Melanie’s eye widens in horror as the truth of everything that happened in the last five minutes that she got to Caleb’s house sinks in. The baby girl, Dawn is not just from any of Caleb’s one-night stands, but her flesh and blood, the child that she didn’t look at after birth because she didn’t want to get attached to, but now she is expected to just deal with it like Caleb instructed? “How could he do this to me?” Melanie’s voice trembles with rage and frustration. It just feels like she has been punched in the gut, her breath knocked out of her. “It was one of the hardest decisions of my life not to get attached to the stranger in my belly, and when I finally did, I had to just give her up because I know that giving her up is way better than having her stay with a mother that can’t cross the mountains and swim the oceans for her, but now I am expected to just…take care of her like it is no big deal?” She scoffs, her mind reeling with emotions. She had thought that she closed tha
Melanie steps into Caleb’s grand Mansion, her eyes scanning the opulent interior as a mix of nostalgia and unease washes over her. It has been a year since she last stayed in this place, and she can’t help but notice how much she missed the warmth and comfort that radiated from its walls. As she walks alongside Caleb, she pants in surprise at how natural it feels to be back here, almost as if she never left, but her reverie is short-lived. They enter the foyer and are greeted by a sea of smiling faces. The stewards, who had been like family to her during her brief stay, are all lined up, eager to welcome them back. Melanie’s eyes wide as she takes in the scene, feeling a sense of disorientation and then, her gaze lands on a tiny, chubby baby girl, dressed in a white onesie and a baby pink headband, being held by the dog, Mia’s nanny. Melanie’s heart skips a beat, and she feels a jolt of both surprise and confusion because she thought that Caleb was kidding when he said that he had
“What do I need to do to make you divorce me?” Melanie sighs before she questions Caleb because she has realized that arguing with him will not bring any positive results.“Now you are speaking the language that I want to hear,” Caleb admits with a sly smile.“…which is?” Melanie prompts.“Stay with me for a whole year, and then if you don’t fall in love with me within one year, I will let you go,” Caleb proposes, and Melanie goes wide-eyed.“Are you insane?” she questions him, and he shakes his head.“No, I am not,” He answers as if he didn’t just utter the most outrageous thing that there is to utter.“Am I a trophy that you need to secure?” she asks him while still trying to wrap her head around why he will suggest such ridiculous terms, and he shakes his head.“This cannot be a bet with Alistair like it was when you matched with me on the dating site, right?” she asks, giving him a calculated look.“How did you find that out?” Caleb inquires.“Alistair and I were in close contact
“Is this man trying to get revenge on me?” Melanie wonders after waiting for hours without hearing a word from Caleb.She silently thanks God for giving her the wisdom to convince Ryan to leave when she asked him to. No matter how understanding he might have been, sticking around her while she faces Caleb probably sets her divorce in motion. On a second note, she thinks it might be for the better because they got there around 4 p.m., and now it is 8 p.m. with no sign of Caleb.“Should I just go now, or should I keep waiting?” She silently contemplates as she looks around the reception hallway that also doubles as the waiting room of the corporation.Melanie's eyes scan the waiting room, her gaze drifting towards the passage that she feels leads to the elevator for what feels like a hundred times. She hasn’t achieved everything that she was hoping that she would achieve today, like editing the videos that she recorded earlier and posting on tiktok and her patience-wearing thing.Sudden
“Hey man, guess who just unblocked and texted me,” Alistair texts Caleb before forwarding the screenshot of Melanie's message to him. ()“Coincidentally, I just got off the call with the receptionist and apparently she is at my office with that brother of mine to see me which is not so surprising because after she ghosted me but remained in contact with Ryan” Caleb replies his best friend. “We didn't really talk about her because I could see how everything was getting to you, but you mean to tell me that she was in touch with Ryan throughout her pregnancy?” Alistair inquires and Caleb just calls him immediately “She didn't tell me that she was pregnant, but Ryan who isn't the father of her child knew that she was pregnant,” Caleb hisses. “How are you so sure that the child is yours... that if the child belongs to Ryan?” Alistair argues. “Melanie can be a lot of things, but a liar? No, she is not and she said that nothing was going on between her and Ryan,” Caleb informs Alistair.
Melanie meets Ryan at the parking lot. As they drive down to the spa, the warm morning sun shines brightly around the windshield, casting a relaxing glow over the car. Melanie, feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness, chats enthusiastically with Ryan because she knows that she has missed so much in his life because of how self-absorbed and insensitive she has been, but she is determined to change that moving forward.Ryan fills her in on the details of what she needs to know, and Melanie, smiling and attentive, listens patiently as he wraps up the details of Ryan Wellington scandal with his mom and switches to discuss his plans for her to have a rejuvenating day at the spa.“You will be having a full body massage, a facial, and a hair treatment,” Ryan goes ahead to list, and Melanie just nods.“And of course, we can't forget the nails and make-up,” He adds, and Melanie tries to hide her smile because having someone like Ryan who pays so much attention to detail is not enough, she
As soon as Ryan ends the call, Melanie tries to get out of bed to put a few things together, like taking out her outfit and putting her bags together since Ruan insisted fo take her to his mom's house, but a bright idea occurs to her to do something that she has not don't in almost one year, which is to film. She even deleted her TikTok account after she left Orion because everywhere she went on TikTok, one person or another had something or the other to say about her marriage with Caleb, and there were just a whole lot of speculations going around the internet with the videos that she watched, so she just had to let the app go. This morning, she decides to get back to the routine of filming because filming is just one of those things that she genuinely enjoyed doing, but she hasn't done it in over a year. “Since I let my business go and I am trying to find myself again, what better way is there to go about it than trying to explore the things that I used to enjoy doing before to s
Melanie takes a deep breath after she rushes out of the cramped Airport toilet that she has been hiding away, smoothing out her clothes and attempting to compose herself. She is still telling from the unexpected and uncomfortable encounter with Ethan and her mind is racing with thoughts of what is to come. As she makes her way through the bustling airport, her eyes scan the signs and directories, guiding her toward the gate where her flight is departing. She quickens her pace, her heels clicking on the polished floor as she navigates through the crowds. Finally, she reaches the gate and presents her boarding pass to the attendant, who scans it and hands it back with a smile. Melanie takes a deep breath, steeling herself for the long flight ahead, and she steps onto the plane. As she walks down the aisle, Her eyes adjust to the dim lighting and she scans the rows of seats, searching for her designated spot. She booked a seat in the second-class coach, and she is determined to find a
Melanie is in her new house in Mytrle Circle where she disappeared to when she suddenly decided to go to the day she got back to Pearl Coast because after Caleb pulled up a whole lot of resources to locate Shirley for her, she could just tell that he will find her daily if she just stopped at running away from Orion. Instead of continuing with the lies, she books another flight to Myrtle Circle where she goes to meet her mother and confesses everything that has been really going on to her, including the real reason why she and Alex broke up. Her mother felt really bad because she felt like she couldn't tell her what was really going on, and she was suggested that she should stay with her during her pregnancy, instead of aborting the baby. She encouraged Melanie that they could always give up the baby after the child was born and that was exactly what she did with the child. She didn't even bother seeing the child's face, nor holding the child before giving the child away or breastf