RyanHer words played repeatedly in my ears. But why don't I believe her? There's no way she's moved on that fast. We spent four years together, she can't throw everything she had for me just like that. It doesn't seem like she was telling the truth, she must have said that to make me stop bothering her.No, I can't believe what she said. When I held her, I'm sure my touch had an effect on her, the way she reacted, she still feels something for me. I need to act quickly, before Anderson takes his chance and makes his way into her heart.I pushed the thought aside, trying to get back to work. As I typed on my keyboard, her face was all I could see. I couldn't get her out of my mind."Boss." I slowly lifted my head to see my manager. I don't recall hearing a knock on the door, how did he get inside?I raised my brows, waiting for an explanation. "I'm sorry, I knocked, but you didn't respond, so I had to come in.""You should have gone back to your office. Next time, wait until I give yo
I paced back and forth, thinking about what had just happened in the blink of an eye. That was fast, it could have cost me my life if I hadn’t moved quickly. I don’t know where or how the figure was able to reach me.For the past few years, it’s only been threats. I have never received a call before. I must have crossed a line this time for him to actually contact me. But why does he want me to stay away from Emily? In four years of marriage, nothing like this has ever happened. Why now?He doesn’t have a problem with me but with Emily? What has she done to put her life at risk? Whoever this person is, he knows I met her at the launch. But the real question is: was he there? Did he pass by me? How did I not suspect anything? This just proves how dumb I'm for not being more wary.Where do I even start? I can’t trace the call, it came from a burner phone. I need a skilled hacker, someone who can track down this figure.The door to the room swung open, snapping me out of my thoughts. I tu
Emily I stared at the mirror, reapplying my lip gloss. I hate having dry lips, especially after lunch. I made sure to keep it subtle, and once I was done, I turned, ready to leave the restroom. As I reached for the door, a memory of Ryan pushing it open crept into my mind. I couldn’t stop imagining how he pinned me against the wall, and how I had reacted to his touch. What if something had happened between us during our marriage? Would I have reacted the same way? I couldn’t believe I was having these thoughts. I needed to bury the past. Grabbing the doorknob, I pulled it open and walked out, striding back to my office. I had stayed out of the news until this afternoon, and now, Ryan was caught up in a scandal about being gay, and somehow, I was part of it. My only offense was falling in love with him and proposing marriage in exchange for giving blood. There was no reason to drag me into this mess if I never married him. But wait, was he gay all along? Is that why he never felt
Who does he think he is? He comes into my work environment to order me around because of his son? A father who should be scolding his child and trying to settle things amicably is instead adding fuel to the fire. What a jerk he raised as a son. I’m certain that Father would have let this slide if his son had come clean and shown remorse. I will make sure he hears the recording. His friend supports whatever his son has been doing and perhaps has been aware of it all along. A knock on my door diverted my attention. Lifting my head, I saw my secretary peeking her head inside. "You have a call from your father." She informed me. I looked at the office telephone on my desk, wondering why he didn’t call my cell phone. "He seems really pissed." She added, closing the door behind her. I picked up the phone and placed it to my ear. "Hello, Father," I said, waiting to hear his tone. I'm not sure why he's angry. "What did you do to Mr. Michael?" He roared, his voice harsh. I didn’t know wha
As soon as my client left the room, I hurriedly grabbed my bag and followed behind. I needed to get to the address on time, before Anderson left. I received another text from him, stating I was the only one he was waiting for.Once outside, I hopped into the car and settled into the seat, quickly fastening my seatbelt."Where to, ma'am?" Biggy asked."The address I gave you. Take me there." I instructed."Okay, ma'am." He started the car and drove off. For some reason, my heart kept racing as we drove further.I had tried to find out who was in the car and where the person had been taken after the accident. But even the emergency responders who came to the rescue said they didn’t know what happened after the body was removed from the scene.I had spoken to Anderson about it before, and he asked me to let it go since I was trying to be discreet. But now that he had found out more, I wasn’t sure why he had investigated further."We have arrived, ma'am." Biggy informed me. I looked aroun
"What do you think I should do? I can’t leave her here like this, knowing I’m the cause of all this. I need to find out what happened."I was determined to uncover the truth. It would feel selfish to walk away without understanding what led to this. It’s clear that I was the target that day, there’s no way she would have driven onto the highway without seeing the truck heading for the car.I caught a glimpse of Anderson watching me, his arms folded across his chest."How sure are you she’s here because of you? I didn’t look into this to make you blame yourself." He said, almost in a whisper.I sighed, understanding his point. He is right, I might be overreacting, blaming myself for something beyond my control. I needed to take things slowly.I felt a hand on my shoulder, and when I looked up, I met Anderson's eyes."We don’t have much time. Let’s go. I promise to dig deeper and find out who’s behind this. If it has anything to do with you, I will let you know." His words felt like an
RyanI sat across from the sheriff, waiting as my manager signed the papers presented to him. They had agreed to carry out further investigations and try to find out who was responsible for the damage. While I doubted they would find anything, it was better for them to try than do nothing.I had come to the station after receiving my X-ray results, which thankfully showed no internal injuries. The doctor had prescribed some medication to help relieve the pain. Alex, always looking out for me, had driven me to the station to meet with my manager.Once my manager finished signing, he slid the papers across the desk to the sheriff, dropping the pen on top. The sheriff picked up the documents and added his signature."That’s all." The sheriff said. "You are free to go. If we find anything about the car, we will make sure to contact you.""Alright, we will be on our way then. I hope the culprit is caught soon." I replied, rising from the chair to leave.My manager followed behind as we wal
Nothing made sense to me. If he’s a computer genius and a hacker, why aren’t there any pictures of him from school on his Instagram page? He’s got over twenty million followers, but it’s all just images of him with clients. He doesn’t seem like the type who has friends or even keeps them.Does he keep his personal life completely out of the media? His profile just says he’s a businessman. How am I supposed to believe he’s a genius based on one old photo? Was he involved in the hack on the hospital server the day my divorce went through?Damn it, I barely know anything about him. How am I supposed to confirm if he’s really a hacker? A single picture doesn’t prove anything."Boss, you should believe it," Jasper interrupted, breaking my train of thought. "Stop having doubts. I’m sure he’s the one who hacked the server."I looked at him, trying to hide my frustration. "It’s just a picture, Jasper. How do I believe he’s a genius based on that?"He paused, considering my words. "I get it, b
WARNINGEXPLICIT CONTENTI stared at the ceiling, lost in thought for what felt like an eternity. The words still echoed in my mind, almost as if I hadn’t heard them properly the first time: I’m pregnant. And not just with anyone’s child—Ryan’s.Freya had been right, though I hadn’t wanted to admit it. Perhaps she noticed the symptoms before I did, the subtle changes in the way I looked or acted. If Mother had been around, maybe she would have agreed too.I was relieved that no one pressed me further about it. Everyone believed I wasn’t involved with anyone, so the idea of me being pregnant likely didn’t cross their minds. For now, at least.Reaching for my phone to check the time, I noticed a missed call I hadn’t seen earlier. As I unlocked it, I realized there was a message from my father.I knew it. I had been right all along, he has Mother with him. She must have gone willingly, trying to protect all of us. That’s just who she is. Despite everything, I believed he wouldn’t hurt he
I couldn’t stay mad at him for long, even if I wanted to. It was a relief that he had woken up, but what about Mother? Has he asked of her whereabouts? I thought, but didn't utter a word."Father, how do you feel? Any pains? Should I get the doctor?" I asked. I didn’t want him to feel worse when he learned Mother was missing.I find it challenging to believe she was gone, there was no way she had been kidnapped. One thing made sense: she had gone to them willingly.I knew Father must have threatened her, and this could be her way of protecting both of us from harm. The same thing had happened before, that’s why she ran away with me."Your mother has been kidnapped?" He said, but it sounded more like a question. Biggy must have told him everything. That shouldn’t bother him, though. I would find her.I looked at Biggy, who quickly cast his gaze downward, apology written all over his expression. I couldn’t blame him for letting Father know."My father has her with him, but I promise to
I was still frozen, everything he had just said was playing in my head, when I felt a hand on my shoulder, pulling me out of my thoughts. As much as I had endured in Zara's hands, Ryan was no exception. The messages he had received and kept from me were enough proof that he had been enduring this torment for years."I'm still in shock. My mother… I still don't want to believe she has anything to do with this." He said. You could hear the hurt in his voice, but as a man, he wouldn’t allow himself to show his emotions."What about your sister? Is there any news about her?" I asked. He hadn’t said anything to me about her since this ordeal began.He shook his head. "Since we lost her, there’s been no further contact. The threat messages that led us to where we thought she was being held captive stopped coming.""I also tried tracing the messages." The guest said. "And it turned out they came from this Zara you're all talking about.""So, she was the one who kidnapped her?" I asked, my vo
EmilyI couldn’t believe this man was actually taking us to where he claimed he usually met his boss. It had been half an hour since we started driving, and we still weren’t there. He’d promised to lead us to the location, which was the only reason Mr. Liam had stopped the torture.Even before we set out, he had acted stubborn, forcing Mr. Liam to order the guys to bring a cement sack and bury his head inside it.The men carried out every instruction without hesitation.I wasn’t part of the mafia. Inflicting pain on someone wasn’t my forte. The last time I’d tried to use metal, it was just an idea I’d seen in movies. But using water, and even a cement sack? That felt like the worst of all, or maybe not. Either way, it was terrible."Is this the place?" I heard Liam say, his voice sharp and laced with suspicion.I turned to him and noticed he was glaring deadly at the twin brother, his expression a warning.Looking out at the surroundings where we had just parked, I couldn’t help but f
I was calling her phone, but she was on a call; the line had been busy. Who could she be speaking with? Isn’t she supposed to be alert for what comes next? I can’t stay out here doing nothing, I should go into the hospital. If her mother is missing, who’s staying with him? "Let’s go inside; we can’t keep staying out here." I said, glancing in my guest's direction. He nodded, and we stepped down from the car, striding toward the reception. "Do you know the room number?" I paused as it dawned on me, I didn’t know the room he was admitted to, not even the floor. "I think we need to ask the receptionist." I said, halting as I realized I was already getting stares from the ladies at the reception desk. "Mr Ryan, you’re famous. Just come with me while I do this." He insisted. I followed his lead reluctantly. Standing at the reception desk, I lingered behind, waiting for him to make inquiries. Suddenly, I heard someone call my name. "Mr. Ryan." I turned to the direction of the voice
RyanI had stopped by the hospital to see Grace, hoping there was some improvement. The guest insisted on coming with me to see her condition, and we both left for the hospital.He's been suggesting I move her to India, which I don’t think is a good idea. We have good doctors here in the country, and this hospital is among the best.I can't move her when I know she can be treated here in the hospital. I know she's in a critical stage, but moving her has never crossed my mind, and now that he mentioned it, I'm not making an attempt."I don’t know why you don’t want to move her, but don’t you think you should give it a thought?"There's nothing to think about, I prefer her here, where I get to see her every day, and whenever I choose to come over."She's better off here. I can’t move her there." I responded, a smile tugged at the corner of my lips. "Let’s go to his office, I want to see him briefly."He shrugged, gesturing me to exit the room. I turned on my heels, descending the stairs
It had been ten minutes since we arrived at the clubhouse, parked a safe distance away. We were still outside, waiting to hear from the men who had gone in, pretending to party with some women they had hired. I hoped they’d catch him, if we get him, we could finally get to the bottom of this.Minutes stretched into half an hour before my phone buzzed, breaking the silence.I reached for it, it was them calling. "Hey, what’s going on?" I asked as I quickly placed the phone to my ear."We have got him. Meet us at the house, we’re on our way there." The voice said firmly before the line went dead, leaving me stunned.I turned to Liam, puzzled. "When did they get him? We were still here waiting for them. How did I miss that?""They followed the plan." Liam replied, his calm tone only adding to my confusion.I frowned, unsure of what he meant. Liam had spoken to them briefly before we got here, but I didn’t know what they’d discussed. What plan was he referring to?"Is there something I'm
"I couldn't bring myself to inform anyone about it. I hadn't expected it to make the news." I explained to Father's friend, Liam, who had flown in as soon as he saw it.He seemed devastated. I didn't know what was going on between Father and him, but the way he looked so pale after hearing the news made me think he wouldn't leave the country without some good news.Since he had walked into the room and asked why I had kept it from them, he hadn't said another word. I believed I was wrong; I wasn't in denial. But the way everyone was making it seem, it felt like I had no right to do what I did.Ethan had already clarified that I was excluded just because I was adopted. But at that point, I wasn't going to let anything stop me from doing what I intended to do."Where's the doctor's office? I need to see him." Liam finally said, looking in Mother's direction."He went out, but I believe he’ll be back soon. You could leave and return, you need to rest; you just flew into the country." Mot
Heading back to the hospital, I noticed my phone’s screen light up briefly before going dark again. I wasn’t sure if it was a call, but curiosity got the better of me. I reached into my bag and pulled it out. There were missed calls from Ethan, along with a message that read: What the hell is going on? Why aren’t you picking up my calls? I frowned. I didn’t recall putting my phone on silent. Why hadn’t I heard it ring? Without overthinking, I dialed Ethan’s number, pressing the phone to my ear as it rang. He picked up almost immediately. "What took you so long to pick up?" He roared, his tone startling me. In all the time I had known Ethan, I’d never heard him yell at me like this. What could have made him this angry? "You’re shouting, Ethan. Can’t you just talk calmly? Yes, you called, and I didn’t hear it. That’s no reason to use the word ‘hell,’" I shot back, my voice laced with irritation. If something was wrong, he needed to talk to me calmly, I would understand. It wasn’t r