ONIKA'S POV Kent excused himself a while later and said he would check up on me again in the night so I concentrated on my work. Just when it was getting to 8pm, my secretary came in, her auburn hair pulled into a tight bun. “Miss Orion” She said, smiling brightly as was her usual work ethic. I was checking through the financial reports of the company after that last exhibition but I looked up at her, my eyes heavy with exhaustion. “Yes, Amara?” I inquired, wondering what she wanted. She dropped the files she was holding on the table and I eyed it suspiciously before I pulled it closer to myself, opening it up to see a few documents for the ownership of my paintings that were auctioned off. “Have the new owners been given?” I asked, confused as to why I still had the ownership documents of this particular painting. “Yes, the other owners have been given theirs and their newly acquired paintings have been sent to them which they have received” She explained professionally. I r
NATHAN'S POV It was already dark out and I realized that I should be getting home already. The office was closed for the day and I was still reviewing the documents that the shareholders had given me to go through. As I leaned back in my chair, my phone beeped and I saw a message from Damien. “On our way home, sir,” It read. I sighed heavily, putting my phone down before rubbing a hand on my face. At least now I could be sure of her safety when I wasn't with her. I had to do a lot to get the man to work for me. He was a highly sought-after bodyguard anyway after he left the special forces. I knew that I could trust Onika with him; he was also a very loyal person to his clients, according to the background check I did on him. There was a sudden rap on the door and I looked up from my work, wondering who was coming to my office at this time of the night. There were a few workers left in the building by this time so maybe there was a report or something. I stood up and pushed my
ONIKA'S POVThroughout the drive home, I couldn't stop stealing glances at the bike that Damien was riding alongside my car.Apparently he was not to be riding in the car with me but following me about like a stalker.Nice one Nathan.When I took a look at Damien, I knew he was just in his early 30s judging by the still youthful face despite the way he seemed to frown most of the times.When I pulled up in front of the house, he also stopped his bike right beside my car, quickly unmounting his motorcycle before opening my car door for me.“Thank you” I muttered, not sure what else I was supposed to say.He nodded and straightened up. “You may go back inside for the night. Good night” he said not bothering to look at me.Typical.I bade him a small goodbye before walking into the house. If I was gonna be stuck here for a while with him, I had to least get along with him even if he looked like he would rather not be here at all.I was beginning to wonder why he was, there was nothing el
ONIKA'S POV“Onika” Dion smiled as soon as he saw me. We were at a games and relaxation center and the place was just with a few people.My eyes strayed to the brunette hanging off his arm and I smiled at her, noticing the way she hung on to his every words too. Typical of every girl I had seen with Dion over the years, he had his way with women.“It's nice to meet you after so long, Dion” I smiled at him finally before smiling at the lady. “I'm Onika”“Brittany” she stretched a hand out and I stared at her perfectly manicured nails for a second before I took her hand, lightly shaking it.After a while, I pulled back and looked at Dion. “Shouldn't you go check out what Nathan is doing? He's taking a whole lot of time”Dion nodded and muttered something to Brittany, his lips brushing against her ear as he whispered to her, she nodded and he walked off to where Nathan had gone to get the things for bowling.Which meant I was alone with Brittany, I didn't know shit about her and I wasn't
ONIKA'S POVThe next morning, I was sitting in front of my mirror, staring at myself in it.Fuck. What was I doing?I rubbed at my face and sighed, grabbing my phone off the table to text Laura. “Hey”It was still really early in the morning so I could guess that she wasn't up yet so I decided to text Kent too. “Hey. Good morning”I dropped my phone to the table after that. I had a lot of work to do in the office today so I had to go earlier than intended.Grabbing my scrunchie off the table, I pulled my hair into a messy bun so I could start getting ready for my day.All through when I was getting ready, I couldn't help but picture the look on Nathan's face at the bowling game last night. It still unnerved me, the way he kept his gaze on me and refused to look away all through unless he wanted to do something. What was he looking for? Did he see through me? Did he know why I was here in his house? No, if he did, he would have confronted me and who would have even told him that anyway
ONIKA'S POVAmara was already in the office as I walked in and she quickly caught up to me before i could reach the elevator.“Good morning” she greeted cheerfully as she stood beside me as the elevator door closed slowly.“Morning Amara, push the button for me please” I nodded to it and she nodded, pushing the button for the top floor.“You look better today” I smiled at her cheerful demeanor.“Ah yes, I just got good news” She told me.My phone beeped and I brought it out while still talking to her. “What happened?”“Oh nothing much” she laughed and I decided not to press any further. She wasn't really an open person and she didn't like divulging out her personal information just for nothing.“Well, whatever happened, I'm happy for you” I said with a smile as I opened the message I had received from Laura.It was a photo of her at the spa that morning along with a caption. “Having a night shift so I decided to get my beauty treatment” followed by a smiling emoji.A smile crept up my
REGINA'S POV A few minutes ago, when I had arrived at the bitch’s place of work, I had run into a huge handsome man at the door, his face set into a deep scowl when he saw me. “Can I help you?” He had asked, his eyebrow raised while he looked me over like I was something dirty. “Yes,” I said haughtily. “Who are you?” I eyed him. “The person who's gonna be throwing you out if you don't state who you are and why you're here,” he said coldly. I wanted to retort with something witty but the look on his face made me know that he meant business and he would throw me out if I tried any jokes on him. What an insult. “My name is Regina, and I'm here to see your boss.” I managed to get my words out as calmly as possible, my heels tapping against the floor as I waited impatiently for him to say something. “I'm gonna need something to confirm your identity,” he suddenly said, and I almost lost it on the spot. “Don’t you know the name Regina?” I asked in disbelief at the sheer audacity of
ONIKA'S POV It was nearly afternoon and I relaxed in my office, biting down on the end of my ballpoint pen.Mr Sam has yet to reach out to me again, but I guessed that it would be a while before he did that; he probably got a whole lot of emails every day, so he wouldn't have the time to go through them immediately.It could even take weeks before he replied but I was honestly fine with it like that.At least he would reply. I desperately needed the funding for that project, I needed to get it finished by summer.There was a knock on my door and Damien poked his head in again, the same expression still on his face. “You have a visitor”My eyes felt heavy, and I felt tired, so I was almost tempted to tell him to tell the person to leave, but then I decided to at least know who I was sending away.“Who's the person?” I inquired.“Someone called Laura” he huffed.He had checked her ID already so it had to be her. What was she doing here?“Let her in” I sat up in my chair.He closed the
NATHAN'S POVI felt like a shell of myself the next day as I sat in my office.Believe me when I said I had tried to get some sleep but that was a luxury that I apparently couldn't afford because I had spent the night tossing and turning, my mind going haywire with thoughts. How was it possible that she hadn't checked into the hotel? I had gotten them to go to the nearby hotels but there was no trace of her. There was no way that she could have slept on the streets.Dread filled my veins and I felt true fear the previous night. I didn't believe that I could be this worried over someone but this was fucking Onika! Of course I would be worried about her! I fucking cared about her and now it felt like a part of me has been violently ripped out, leaving me without a vital piece of my life.I had spent the entire night waiting for a call—any damn call—from the people I had stationed in Barcelona, but my phone had remained frustratingly silent. Not a single update. Not from the men I sent t
NATHAN'S POVI pinched the bridge of my nose, sighing heavily, feeling my head ache as I paced across my study. The room was dim and it was dark outside already. I had a long day tomorrow, I had one more day to my wedding but my wife was still missing. Gods.I hit the dial button again, the phone ringing in my ear."Talk," I ordered the moment the call connected.A gruff voice responded on the other end. "We’re still looking, sir. One of our men is sweeping the northern districts, while the other is covering the downtown area."I halted mid-step, my brain short circuiting. "What?""He insisted that splitting up would be more efficient. Said there were too many areas to cover—""Goddammit," I muttered under my breath, gripping the phone tighter. "I gave a direct fucking order, and they’re already doing whatever they want?"The man hesitated. "I told him it’d be best to stick together, but—""Then why didn’t you stop him?" My voice was dangerously low now, my patience thinning fast."He
ONIKA'S POVI drew my hoodie harder over my head, staring at the phone in my hands.The shop keeper kept telling me the details about the phone but that wasn't what I needed to hear, I just wanted him to tell me the fucking price so I could leave this place and go find a place to stay.Apparently getting houses at such short notice in this place was near impossible and I would have to go to the elite part of town because they would have more reservations. I had the money, I just needed to get this phone so I could head next to the hotel.Maybe I could ask this man for help on which hotel I could pick but the way he kept blabbing, urging me to buy the phone and bringing new suggestion had begun to piss me off not to mention that he was constantly cutting me off before he would pull out a better phone, eager that I buy a more expensive one.I couldn't blame him, I probably gave off the air of someone who could afford all these.With a sigh, I tugged my hoodie lower, gripping the phone i
NATHAN'S POVI nodded at my assistant, giving her a slight wave of the hand before muttering. “Let her in”I had successfully kept my mum out because I knew what she was going to say but I really did hope that Regina wasn't here for something like that or I'd have to kick her out.I barely looked up when Regina walked in, but I caught the way she shot my assistant a sharp glare before plastering on a fake smile as soon as she walked in."That’ll be all, dear," she said sweetly, but I could tell she was pissed off that she had been kept waiting for about 5 minutes. Patience was just not one of her values. Even seeing her now as she had the guts to waltz in, made me sick to my guts when I remembered what she did.Regina turned to me, her smile widening. "Nathan."I leaned back in my chair. "Regina."She strode forward, sitting in the chair opposite me. She crossed her legs, dropping her small purse on my table, my eyes narrowing at the movement but I shut up about it unwilling to say an
NATHAN’S POVI gripped my phone so tightly it nearly cracked. My knuckles were white, my patience nonexistent as I walked back into my office."Barcelona," I muttered, rubbing my temples. Onika was in fucking Barcelona.Seriously? Once more, I found myself complimenting her despite my shitty situation because damn, she was smart.Who would ever think to go look in Barcelona? It was such an unlikely choice for her so I could understand why she chose it but the problem was I didn't know where in Barcelona and I had been sitting here for a few minutes, contemplating if I should go straight into action or just make sure I was right first of all. Make sure she was actually in Barcelona.I thought about the flight line that Mr Sam Damon had supplied to me when I had asked what flight she had flown so that I could keep a track on her so I'd know what time the plane took off to time when she would be back. Big fat lie.I forced myself to take a deep breath before dialing the airport. It rang
AUTHOR'S POV Regina leaned back against the chair, her eyes shut close as she hummed to herself.She immediately sat up as Willow came into the room.“Are you okay? You look tense” Gina pointed out, her face contorted into one of mock concern.Willow collapsed on a nearby chair, burying her face in her hands. “I'm not fine, Gina. That bitch has ruined everything for my son” She lamented.Gina smiled to herself, this was going exactly as she wanted it to but she couldn't let Willow know that right now, even though they were practically partners in crime at this point, Gina knew that telling Willow about her plans would only lead to more questions which she couldn't answer right now because as usual, it would mean exposing herself.Who would have thought that it'd be this easy to trick everyone in the city by spreading a bit of fake but not so fake news. She wasn't wrong about one thing in that article but she would rather die than tell that to anyone.“Oh, Nathan can at least see her
NATHAN'S POV“What do you mean she's not home?!” I yelled into the phone, my other hand running through my hair.Damien who was beside me looked just as panic stricken but he didn't show it, he was still as cool as ever but how I could be calm when Onika had suddenly disappeared. I didn't even know if she was safe and that was what truly bothered me.Was this what she was planning? That night…. Is this what she was thinking about? She was fucking smart and I would give her that. She had all of us fooled but I knew I couldn't blame her if she had actually chosen to run away. The pressure right now was too much on her but for her to not tell Laura? Damn, she was serious about this one.Laura could be in on it but as I saw her back into the store, tears pricking at her eyes as she looked at me with hope which quickly deflated when I shook my head, I knew she wasn't in on it. She looked just as struck on me.With a strangled sob, she leaned back against the wall, sliding down to the floor
ONIKA’S POV"This is insane." I muttered to myself, pulling my hoodie lower over my head as I walked through the busy airport terminal. If Paranoia was a person, it would be me right now. My heart was hammering in my chest and beads of perspiration rolled down my forehead as I pulled my hoodie lower to obscure my face more.I had done it. I had actually done it.No goodbye. No explanations. Not even to Laura. That was one thing I was yet to come to terms with yet because that was so wrong but I knew what would happen if I had told her that. She would be the logical one and tell me not to leave, she would be the one that tells me to stay and something in me told me that if she urged me to stay, I would so that's what I didn't tell her. She would be worried sick. And Nathan…I swallowed, shaking my head as I moved toward the departure gates. Nathan would be livid. But I couldn’t let that stop me. Not when I was one step away from doing what I wanted right now.I had to disappear.For go
NATHAN’S POV"Mr Nathan, this is madness."I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. Across the desk, Richard Foster, one of the event planners I had hired, was staring at me like I had just suggested we hold the wedding in a burning building. Why was everyone so worked up about my wedding?"It’s a wedding, not a business merger," he continued, tapping a pen against his notepad that was resting on the table. "You’re giving me less than two days to finalize everything. The media frenzy alone is making it impossible to secure vendors without doubling the cost, and half of them are hesitant because of the recent scandal and the fact that they won't want to be caught up—""Then offer them triple," I cut in flatly, arching a brow so I could look at him.Richard’s eyes widened. "Triple? Nathan, that’s not how negotiations work—""That’s exactly how negotiations work," I shot back. "You find their price, then you make it impossible for them to say no. That’s Business logics, Richard. I sugge