I woke up to a severe headache, reaching out to the clock on the stand, I checked, It was pass 6: 30 am. I slept very late, and woke up early, I wasn't stunned. I'm used to doing it while I was married to Ethan, I guess it will take some time for me to adjust to waking up eight in the morning.Stepping out of the bed to go do some activities before preparing for work, I heard noises coming from downstairs. It's too early, who could it be? If the maids were up to do their chores, I shouldn't be hearing it from my room, and besides it doesn't seem like it was coming from the kitchen.I made my way downstairs, exiting quietly. As I stepped into the living room, a sudden flash of light almost blinded me, causing me to glance away. The room was dimmed, but there was enough light for me to find my way around.Turning toward the couch, I heard my father's voice. "I'm here. Should I turn on the lights?" His tone was low, almost heavy."Father?" I called, walking over to him. "Isn’t it too ear
I watched each manager in turn, waiting for their response. After what happened this morning, I became even more determined to check the records they submitted to the general manager. It’s been over forty minutes, and still, no one has spoken. I imagine it's difficult to redo everything for the second time.Glancing into my cup of coffee, I realized it was empty, yet they were still not done. Without looking directly at my secretary, I handed her the cup."Do you want more?” she asked.I shook my head slightly, not wanting to overload my system with coffee. She nodded and quietly exited the room. I like how smart is she, she must have gotten the message.I'm grateful that Ethan called this meeting, even without my consent. I had planned to address this today, and thanks to him, I'm already on it.It's being five more minutes, I was lost in thoughts, wondering here and there, when I felt someone tapping on my hands. Looking down, it was my secretary."I'm sorry about that. I called but
Ryan"When is my next schedule" I asked, picking my keys from the desk, ready to leave the office.. I can't get my mind off how my mother had treated her. I need to find out if it's true. It's something she can do, but I need to know why, what were her reasons for going that far?"In the next two hours, you have a meeting with a client coming in from India."I almost forgot I spoke with him. I should book a hotel and treat him to lunch."Alright, take care of everything. I will have lunch with him. Send the address to his secretary, so he doesn't come to the office." I instructed."Okay, boss."As I turned to leave, Jasper stopped me."Have you seen the news?" I paused, furrowing my brows, waiting for him to continue. He talks a lot for an assistant, but he's a valuable asset to the company. "I saw something about Ms. Emily this morning. She accused the general manager of embezzling money."A smile crept on my face. She just resumed yesterday, and she’s already suspecting the manager.
EmilyI stare at the beautiful lady seated in front of me, on a call with her recipient. I have seen numerous elderly women who still look young, but this one is different. She looks like someone still in her late twenties. Her pink jumpsuit makes her look even younger, with her hair styled to the side of her neck. She's been on a call for more than three minutes, while I sit, waiting for her to finish."Okay. I will see you later." She says, dropping the call and turning to me. "I'm sorry about that. Where did we stop?" she apologizes.I smile. "We had concluded before your call came in. I will send you the designs. Please go through them and get back to me."She nods slightly. "Alright! I will do that." She picks her bag, getting ready to stand up. I follow, extending my hand for a shake."Thank you. It was a pleasure to meet you." I say, my hand still waiting for hers. Instead, she surprises me by pulling me in for a hug. My eyes widen, but I quickly replace the expression with a s
I grabbed my bag, ready to leave the office and call it a day. I would rather not stay late and get scolded by my father. I have some unfinished work, I will take it home instead, and get it done.As I pulled the door handle and stepped out, I was about to head toward my secretary, who was already standing when I walked out. My eyes landed on the manager striding to his office. I've been wanting to see him. Since he's been avoiding me, I might as well go to him instead. He must feel too important to come to me. He's not just older than me but also older than Ethan. I guess that's why he won't make the first move."I think he would rather not meet with you." my secretary said, but I didn’t turn to look at her. I already know that’s the case, so I’m going to him.Turning on my heels, I leisurely made my way to his office. Standing in front of his door, I knocked, waiting for his permission to enter. A few seconds passed, and I was still standing there. I knocked again, and this time,
I hurried downstairs, rushing to the kitchen to ask my mother if she had any pads or tampons. I wasn’t expecting my period this soon, but here it was, catching me off guard. It must be from the stress of the last two days and not getting enough sleep. Pushing the door open, I found her standing with the housemaid. "Mother, do you have any pads or tampons?" I asked, waiting for her response. But she didn’t answer right away. It was like her mind was elsewhere. Before she could respond, the maid spoke up. "I have a few pads. I will get them for you." She offered, turning to leave the room."Thank you, I will be waiting." She nodded and walked out, leaving me alone with my mother, who still hadn’t said a word, her gaze fixed on me."I thought you were pregnant, just hiding it from me. Perhaps you were scared to tell me."Not this again. I had already told her I wasn’t pregnant, but she still didn’t believe me. I can't believe she thinks I'm trying to cover up a pregnancy. If I were pre
RyanIt was late evening. I had just concluded a meeting with my client and was about to leave the lounge when my phone began to ring. Zara’s name flashed on the screen. She had crossed my mind earlier today, and I had considered stopping by to see her at home. Now that she was calling, I figured I should visit her before heading home. I pressed the answer button and placed the phone to my ear."Hey, Zara. Where are you? I’m coming over to the house." I asked.She sniffled at first, mumbling something I couldn’t hear. Just as I was about to ask her to repeat herself, her voice came through clearly."I'm not at home! I got into a little trouble at Shop Rite, and now I can't leave until I pay for it."Did I hear her correctly? What was she talking about? Did she steal something? What kind of trouble could be keeping her there? I would rather not get involved, if the media caught wind of this, they would come after me, but I couldn't just leave her to deal with it alone."Okay, I don’t
EmilyA WEEK LATERToday is the day I have been anticipating. Either I get a valid explanation about what happened to the money, or I take matters into my hands. Mr. Adams can’t fool me, even if he thinks he can fool my father. Since the incident at his office, I haven’t seen him, not even a glimpse. He’s probably been avoiding me. I have never met anyone as arrogant as him.Sure, they are influential, and his father being the Mayor’s closest friend doesn’t give him the right to do whatever he pleases. I know how to deal with people like him, who think power is everything. If they are powerful, let’s see if they have the money. I will make sure he faces consequences. And dragging my marriage into this only fuels how far I’m willing to go.I walked into the boardroom, where everyone was already waiting for me. I had called the meeting earlier this morning, so I expected everyone to be seated. As I entered the room, I noticed all the managers were present, except for the general manager,
I arrived home and made my way upstairs to freshen up before thinking about grabbing dinner. It had been months since I last cooked, but making something tonight didn’t seem like a bad idea. I dropped my phone on the bed and proceeded to strip off my clothes. While reaching for my T-shirt, I thought I heard some commotion outside. The voices sounded distant, and it would take a minute to get downstairs to check.I ignored it and turned to walk into the washroom when a knock on my bedroom door halted me."Jasper, is that you?" I asked, waiting quietly for a response."Yes, we have a problem." He replied, and I immediately thought about the voices I had heard. "Anderson showed up and refuses to leave until he meets you."Anderson? What does he want? Could the police still be watching us? Does he want to get dragged in for questioning? It’s only been a few days since his accomplice died—why is he showing up at my house now? I need to warn him."I will be downstairs." I responded.Heading
Ryan It was late in the evening. I had been indoors working all day, but an idea suddenly popped into my head, prompting me to step out. The death of the figure we held hostage still lingered in my mind. I decided it was time to find out more about the kind of person he was and the people he worked for. If Anderson was truly one of them, then it’s likely they worked together before he was killed. I recalled keeping a business card belonging to one of the men from the abandoned estate where the figure resided. He had claimed he wasn’t a killer, and if he was telling the truth, then I needed to uncover who he really was before that bastard ended his life. I have tried every possible way to catch the perpetrator, but nothing has worked so far. What other avenue is left for me to explore? I was a peaceful young man during my school days, with no issues or conflicts with anyone. Yet here I am, entangled in a web of betrayal and violence. In my line of business, there are many who have
We spent the entire day moving from one orphanage to another, distributing the items I had asked Ethan to arrange for me. I hadn’t been to the office all day. Though it was the weekend, I still had work to catch up on. As soon as I left the house, we headed to the store where the items were packed.Father was kind enough to hire some guards to accompany me on the journey. I went out with a convoy of vehicles, which I hadn’t expected until they showed up at the location where the goods were stored.The guards helped load everything into the cars, and we set off to deliver the items to the orphanages. It had been a fun and fulfilling day since morning, though I had overheard some of them complaining about being hungry.We had breakfast before leaving, but I guess going there and here, had made them all exhausted. They made a great team, I wasn't just going out with them, they were all entertaining and fun to be with.We were headed to a Christian orphanage run by a group of reverend sis
As we arrived at the courthouse, I spotted the lawyer outside, engaged in a conversation with an elderly lady. The area was slightly crowded, making me wonder if the session had already concluded.Stepping out of the car, my gaze shifted to Adams, who was emerging from the courthouse exit. His expression was dark, and moments later, his father followed behind him, both looking tense. I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to put them in such a mood.I walked toward the lawyer, who waved me over. As I approached, I noticed Adams heading in my direction. Ignoring him, I focused on the lawyer."Don’t tell me I’m late. I left as soon as I called you." I said, standing beside the elderly lady he had been speaking to, exchanging greetings."When you called, we were about to enter the courthouse. The evidence you provided was strong enough to wrap things up quickly." He replied."Emily, I need to talk to you." Adams interrupted, his voice firm."I'm sorry, you can't see her. Please lea
EmilyIf I hadn't grown up a bit before Father left us, I wouldn't have believed what Mother told me a few hours ago. I had a rough childhood, and he was never there for me. Mother wasn’t allowed to show me love, which I guess was why she lied to me—saying he had died—and ran away with me.But did he really tell her he wouldn’t come home unless she sent me back to the orphanage? Did he divorce her because of that? How could he have trust issues when he knew she liked his friend before he made his intentions known to her?Two best friends fell in love with her, but she ended up with him. Such a miserable man I call Father. How could he even think Mother slept with his best friend when she was married to him? Was he that insecure because he was lucky to wed her instead of his friend?Mother did the right thing by leaving him. I'm glad I didn't grow up with him. Who knows, he might have killed me by now and claimed it was an accident. I have a father who cherishes me, I should hold him d
Ryan I sat in the car, waiting for Zara to come prove she was in her hostel and not somewhere else. The clip my men sent me played on repeat in my head, a video of her walking out of Empire Company. What was she doing there? I had warned her countless times to stay away from Emily. The last time she interfered in Emily’s business, she got a punch for her efforts. And now, she had the audacity to go all the way to her company. For what exactly? I sent Zara to this school for a reason, to study and, most importantly, to stay away from Emily. But clearly, a two-hour drive wasn’t enough of a deterrent for her. If she needed anything, why couldn’t she have called Jasper? Or me? Instead, she chose to disobey, as if my warnings meant nothing. She had claimed she was in her hostel over an hour ago, saying she needed to freshen up before coming out. But the timeline didn’t add up. It was clear she hadn’t been in her hostel, at least not the whole time. And now I was left to wonder how man
As I swiped it open, a video clip popped up, and I proceeded to play it. The sight of what I saw almost made me drop my phone. Remembering I was still in the reception area, I hurried down to my office and shut the door behind me. Watching the clip, I clutched my chest, struggling to breathe. This has been happening right under my nose, and I’m just finding out? How long has he been sleeping with her? Did he really sleep with her? Unable to take it any longer, I let the tears roll down my cheeks, crying out the pain that surged through me. Is this why he never looked at me with love? I tried for four long years, was I never good enough for him? What did I do to deserve this? Was liking him my mistake? Has he been with her all these years? Where? How? And why am I just finding out now? I reached for my face and wiped my tears away. He’s not worth it. Why should I cry? It’s been months already, but I still can’t get over him, no matter how much effort I put in. Fine, we are divorce
I woke up to voices drifting from another room—or so I thought. It wasn’t until I jumped out of bed and made my way downstairs that I realized the voices were real. Following the sound, I marched into the living room, only to find Father and Ethan fully dressed, with Biggy standing beside them, arms folded.I froze, furrowing my brows as I scanned the room. They were deep in conversation, so much so that none of them noticed me standing there."You are all dressed? Are you heading somewhere? It’s still early to go out." I said, breaking the conversation and drawing their attention.Father turned, smiling faintly as I stepped closer. I wrapped him in a quick hug. "Good morning." I greeted, pulling back."Good morning, sweetheart. Did you sleep well?" He asked."I did," I replied, then turned to Ethan, who patted my hair lightly."Hope you are okay?" Ethan asked.I nodded but kept my focus on them. "Where are you all going?"Father cleared his throat. "We are heading out. Mr. Lincoln wi
It was time for me to go home, but there was still no sign of Biggy. He said he would be back, so why hasn’t he shown up yet? I didn’t bother asking where he was going earlier, and now his number isn’t connecting. What could be wrong? I just hope he’s okay.Instead of waiting around, I decided to leave and take a cab home. He had gone out in my car, so I couldn’t use the company vehicle to leave. As for driving a bus… maybe I could, but I have never tried it before.That shouldn’t be an excuse, an emergency could force me to drive it someday. But for today, I will just take a cab home. Picking up my bag, I made my way to the lot to hail one.As I stood outside, Ethan’s car came to a halt in front of me. He rolled down the window, lowering his head to meet my gaze."Hop in; I will drop you off at home." He said.Without hesitation, I opened the car door, settled into the passenger seat, and buckled my seatbelt.“Why are you the one picking me up? I can't reach my guard.” I asked.“He c