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They gathered near the bonfire in pairs as the chef got their dinner ready. They chatted about random topics before the topic finally settling on yesterday’s competition. Lara and Sarah animatedly told Dana everything after they realized that Dana had no idea about yesterday’s turn of events. “That was nicely done.” Frank smiled. “Wife, do your designs have those nuances?” Ben asked curiously. “Yes. It is something Grandpa Michaël taught me.” Dana smiled “Grandpa Michaël used to be a famous designer back in the day in I2 country. But his best friend stole his designs and left him the infamy of plagiary; He had to leave everything behind and come here.” Dana sighed. “This was the first advice he gave me.” Dana shrugged “I didn’t think Gail pulling out was that straightforward.” She turned to pull Ben’s hand “Think about it… such a lousy excuse…. Ask her to bring me out with her and then break the commitment… doesn’t that smell fishy??” Ben nodded. “And to have someone make those d
Ben’s morning was packed with meetings. Shadow bought him his regular long black before the 11 am meeting along with the news from Jayden regarding Dana’s signature stamp timing. “Boss, should I pass the message to Madam?” “Um” Ben took a sip as he narrowed his eyes “What took them this long?” “Figuring out which transaction came from AE.” Shadow rolled his eyes. The transactions were often piggybacked to several different accounts and tracking the original account wasn’t as simple as the flick of a switch. “Wait. I will tell her later. What if she goes on a lone wolf crusade and gets in trouble?” Shadow shrugged; he didn’t mind either way. “What’s on next?” Ben asked as he signed the documents that he was reviewing. “Briefing with Tanzim representatives.” “Any issues?” Shadow shook his head. “Then you can run the show.” Ben stood up to leave. “Boss” Shadow called out with a frown. Ben arched an eyebrow. “Lou Lin seems to have cleared his diary for this catch up with you.”
Lara came to the Glitz club as pre-arranged with Gail. Gail was already waiting in a shady corner of the club. She watched Lara walk in on her own and taking a seat at the table where the booking was made. She waited for another 10 mins before walking out and towards Lara. “Ms Burton” She extended her hand politely in greeting with a fake smile plastered on her face. “What do you want?” Lara didn’t have time to be pretentious. “Can’t we have a friendly conversation?” Gail smiled charmingly. “Not with you.” Lara smirked with an unfriendly expression. “Lara, how much…” Gail sat down “Please call me Ms. Burton, we are not familiar to be on a first name basis.” Lara interrupted impolitely. She was not going to keep a friendly façade with someone like her. Perhaps she’d been friends with Dana for far too long. “Ms Burton, how much is Ed paying you for this role?” Gail’s lips curled up “I can see that you are enchanted with his performance but let me enlighten you” She paused deliber
Ruth paced uncomfortably in her living room. She couldn’t believe Theo’s audacity to ask for divorce. They had lived together for almost a decade and yet…. It was all going to be over just like that. She wondered if she could use her son as the bargaining chip. She knew that Theo was very fond of their son…. But at the same time, she didn’t want to use her son. She sat back with a tired sigh after walking off most of the resentment. “Ding” Her phone lighted up with a message. She read the message and was surprised. She knew Theo better than anyone. He was stubborn as a mule. He would never take a step back once he put his foot down. However, she replied with a simple ‘okay’. Gail was at her wits end having stayed in the god forsaken place for two nights in a row. At least her previous experience was not this shabby, she had used her connections and had quite a few people believing that she was still Mrs Evans. But this time, the complainant was Major General himself. All her previou
“Mr Carson.” Ben greeted, to break the ice. He knew Anna was very important to Dana since she decided to drop everything and come over and the man in front of him was important to Anna. “You better be worth the trouble I am in.” Osmond gritted his teeth as he shook hands. “Hurt her and I don’t care if you are the uncrowned prince of Dorsen, I will make you pay.” Osmond levelled his gaze at Ben. “You care that much about her?” Frank raised his eyebrows before Ben could respond. “Yes” Osmond paused before adding “My happiness depends on hers.” He spoke as he eyed the woman who was bossily ordering Dana and the others into the car. She didn’t wait for him to come as she drove away. “Your husb…” Sarah stared wide eyed at the four men standing outside with sour faces. “Let him deal with that stinky man.” “That’s my husband.” Dana pouted resentfully. “Sccrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeccccccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhh” Anna braked. She turned her head and looked at Dana as though she discovered a
“Seriously, thank you.” Irene eyes sparkled. “It was nothing.” Dana waved her hand. “No one would do it.” Irene pouted as she remembered feeling helpless after asking almost everyone she knew. Most of the people that usually fawned over her conveniently came up with “can’t squeeze with current commitments” as they were all aware of Ben’s announcement and knew Ben wouldn’t take revenge. “You are Ben’s sister and as such my sister.” Dana smiled shaking her head as if to say not to think too much. “I will owe you this one. You can ask me anything you want.” Irene promised happily. “No one knows.” Ben walked up to Dana and blurted. “Knows what?” Irene looked curiously at Ben. “Did you mean it when you said ask anything?” Dana looked at Irene with a sly smile. Ben shook his head and walked away. “Yes, I promise.” Irene raised her chin arrogantly “An Adalase never breaks a promise.” “Then sit with me for a counselling session.” “Huh?” “I want to help you and understand your prejud
“Come home when you are free in the afternoon, and we can start the counselling session if you want.” Dana told Irene once everyone dispersed for lunch. “Um” Irene nodded before asking curiously “Do you really not hate me?” Dana smiled and shook her head. “Yeah…” Irene smiled cheekily “I am so adorable; it is impossible to be hated.” “Puchi..” Dana giggled “How did you learn to be so shameless? From your brother?” “Nope… I have started taking lessons from Lara.” Irene smirked raising her eyebrows challengingly. The discussion at the dining table shifted to Christmas celebration that was coming up in 2 weeks. Helena declared that everyone would be exempt from the gathering for the next 2 weeks and had to make it home for Christmas eve and stay back till new year as was the tradition every year. “Sister-in-law, don’t forget my birthday is next month.” Bertie reminded Dana with a cheeky smile. Dana arched her eyebrows at Ben. “He is shamelessly asking you for the cufflink- tie cl
Theo’s grand plan of getting Dana to release their first batch from Lumier workshop was blasted off by Ben even before he pitched it fully. Theo sat back dejectedly. His grand plan was destroyed even before it saw the light of day. Dana had informed Ben in the morning that she wanted to go to the workshop after work this week. Ben agreed with a long face. He could not bear to refuse her and didn’t have an outlet to vent. Theo presented himself at the most inopportune moment by himself. “How are you going with Ruth?” Ben was back to his normal self once he vented. “She’s thinking.” Theo sighed before explaining their last conversation. “Um” Ben didn’t have much to contribute. Ben accompanied Dana at the workshop in the evening. Dana worked on her projects as Ben worked on his laptop. Dana sat thinking what to get everyone for Christmas. She was going to get the men a tie. She remembered the ruckus around the cufflink set she gave Ben and decided to do the same. She had already fi
“That is not up to you.” Marken, one of the high counsellors disdained. Adalases was not Ben’s to stake at will; There were other Adalases who could refute this stake.Sherman knew Marken’s ambition was no less than Herten, but he also knew that unlike Herten, Marken would never betray his country and was in a good mood for watching a show although he knew what decision he would ultimately make.“That is a fair point.” Sherman nodded thoughtfully before saying “If the entire Adalase can be staked on this man, then I agree.” Sherman chuckled “With resources greater than the reserve bank, it won’t be hard to rebuild our facilities even if we are compromised.”No one could refute this point.“The Weldons won’t shy away from responsibility either.” Frank didn’t know why the commander had changed his colors, but he stood shoulder to shoulder with his brother.Shadow didn’t have anything to offer, but he stood beside Ben. His expression unwavering.Tyrell slowly got up from his chair and wal
Lara delivered a baby girl as her heart’s desire. She only saw her bundle of joy for a minute before her vision blurred. She also saw the joy in her man’s eyes. These were the two things she remembered before she fainted. She didn’t know if she would wake up again or whether this was eternal sleep, but she was gratified.The Evans and Burton elders had just returned when Amy came out holding the bundle of joy. They didn’t have time to process everything before they were handed the little bundle.“She is so sweet.” Megan smiled as looked over Marjorie shoulders.“My daughter-in-law is indeed pretty.” Dana laughed. She knew the minds of the elders were not calm. She was trying to lighten their moods.No one knew when Ben, Frank and Shadow appeared behind their women.“How can it be so easy to snatch my granddaughter?” Marjorie retorted proudly.“Yes…. yes…yes...” Abigail laughed happily as she let the little one hold her finger tightly. Dana’s retort had pulled the elders mind back to th
Ben and Dana’s days were filled with love and tranquility. Ben felt like he was in a dream; his life was everything he dreamed of; his beloved woman was his wife; she would cook and wait for him; his house was filled with the laughter of the precious treasures his wife had given him. He was truly grateful to the heavens.Ed’s days were getting hectic. Between the challenges of his official duty and a pregnant wife, he was almost ready to retire. He wanted to spend more time with his wife and child. Seeing Ben’s cute little babies, he couldn’t wait to have his own little treasure.Frank and Sarah didn’t know whether to laugh or cry; their little Lu would run almost every day to see his little wife, especially now that she was becoming prettier. The babies were becoming chubbier with fair skin and rosy cheeks. Their features were becoming more prominent and dashing, melting the hearts of everyone around them.Dan and Don were like a mother hen defending their younger siblings from everyo
The next day, the Williamses landed and rushed to the hospital. Dana had rested well and regained most of her vigor.Ben was changing nappies while Dana was sleeping peacefully when they arrived.“She can still sleep?” Dana’s younger sister asked in surprise as Ben gestured for them to lower their volume. He handed one baby each to the stunned Mr and Mrs Williams and led all of them to the adjacent room.“Sorry… Dana has just rested.” Ben apologized sincerely for his rudeness.Mrs Williams shook head, her eyes were misty. She was truly grateful to the heavens for her daughter’s fortune to have met such a man. Even though he was rich and powerful, he loved and doted on her without bounds…. This was truly her fortune. It would be a lie to say that they were not worried. On the way back after the wedding they had met a lady who was crying pitifully. Mrs Williams didn’t feel comfortable and lend her a shoulder to lean on; She didn’t know who they were and told them that she was fleeing fro
Ben sat next to Dana urging her to wake up. He was scared out of his wits as he had seen the amount of blood that she lost during the delivery… he feared that she wouldn’t wake up and all his happiness would disappear in the blink of an eye even though Steve repeatedly reassured him that she was fine and just sleeping from exhaustion. He sat next to her telling her how much he missed her.He told her how he felt that a portion of him was missing without her by his side; He told her how much he loved her…. He begged her to wake up… He sat by her side never taking his eyes of her pale face… holding her hand … and begging her to wake up….He started to tell her their story from his perspective. He told her how she disturbed him from their first encounter. How he thought that she had approached him with a purpose, He told her how he shamelessly wanted to see her even if he knew that she had approached him with a purpose.He told her how he used to follow her like a shadow just to feel her
Ben was on edge now that Dana was full term. He kept following her nervously like a shadow. One evening just as they finished dinner and were heading upstairs to retire, Dana stood still on the stairs and called weakly “Ben….”“What is it?” Ben looked affectionately at his wife who had stopped walking and became stiff.“I…. my …. I think my water broke.” Dana barely managed to mumble as she held on tightly to Ben.“You…. you….” Ben froze.Alexa was the first to react. She ran downstairs to alert Shadow and Mrs Bentley before running back upstairs to get the baby bag that Dana had prepared beforehand.“CEO” Alexa called out helplessly as she saw a frozen Ben.“Huh?” Ben looked at the panic-stricken Dana and came to his senses. He carried her and ran downstairs carefully. Alexa informed him that Shadow was waiting downstairs with the car. Shadow had informed Steve as soon as Alexa came running downstairs. Everything at the hospital would be set by Steve.Shadow sped towards the hospital;
Shadow had been getting along fabulously with Ruth and decided that he wanted to get married watching Ben’s bliss. He had decided on Ruth, then what was the point in delaying… but the problem was he had no idea how to…. he was also worried if Ruth didn’t have the same intention… then wouldn’t he be making a fool of himself?Shadow walked around with a constipated expression. He would have asked Dana’s help if his boss wasn’t so petty…. But what could he do… his boss was!“What’s wrong?” Dana finally asked as she couldn’t bear to watch his miserable face.“I …” Shadow suddenly felt tongue tied. He was waiting for Dana to ask…. But when she did, he didn’t know how to vocalize his problem. He lowered his head with a frown on his lips.“He wants to propose to Ruth but doesn’t know how to.” Ben didn’t give Shadow any face when he mercilessly pierced through his wall.“Oh….” Dana nodded perceptively “You are worried that she doesn’t have that intention and she will reject?”Shadow nodded alt
The ladies went shopping happily without realizing that none of their actions were missed by their men.Dana wanted to see how Ruth was going so she decided to stop by her shop. However, she changed her mind when she got to Ruth’s shop and pulled the others and ran. Granger was at the store pestering Ruth. It was most certainly a crime to stop someone’s fortune and she didn’t want her husband to have another enemy…..hehe…hehe… she was quite clever!“What are you laughing like a fool for?” Lara asked looking at Dana’s silly smile.Dana shrugged keeping her silly smile but didn’t enlighten the two.“Sister-in-law...” A sweet sound called from behind as the ladies were immersed in their world of freedom.The three turned in unison but Dana’s face darkened as she saw Lizzie walking towards her smiling like a flower. She had almost forgotten her promise to Bertie.“When did I become your sister-in-law?” Dana folded her hands looking arrogantly at Lizzie.“Soon… soon we will be family.” Lizz
In a condemned cell in B country, Pigle read the news of embezzlement of 10 million in public funds from Pigle enterprises. He begged the prison guards to let him see his son one last time.Jefferson indulged him considering he had inadvertently helped Ben get closure to the mystery that was haunting him for more than 15 years.Pigle junior arrived promptly to see his father once he was granted visitation rights.“Son, this is all Mr Adalase’s doing. You have to become strong and hit him hard.” Charles eyes were red with anger.“Dad, I know all about the cause and effect of this incident.” Pigle junior lowered his head in shame. His father was his pride. He looked up to his father but now…. looking at all the shameful things his father had done, he didn’t want any part in it. He wanted to take his mother and run far from all this shame.“Son…” Charles called; his eyes widened as he lifted in eyebrows.Pigle junior showed the video that was sent to him soon after the incident broke out.