Debby was silent throughout the short ride to the airport building. As Richard had only one carry-on luggage, he had nothing to pick up, so they directly headed out of the building where a car from his family was waiting to pick him up.During the car ride to their destination, Debby had a lot of questions to ask, but thanks to Richard being so busy taking one call after the other, she didn’t get the opportunity to speak to him until they arrived at his family’s house.It was still on the same street where she used to live in the past.Being there today brought a lot of memories from the past back to her line of vision. It made her feel nostalgic.“Are you, okay?” Richard asked when he noticed her eyes glistening with tears just as their car pulled over in the driveway.Debby quickly covered up her emotions with a smile. “Don’t mind me. I was just reminded of the past; how we used to all live here together.”“Oh...” Richard drawled. He had completely forgotten about all that t
Richard and his mother walked back to the living room together. And he had totally forgotten that he had come with someone until he followed his mother’s surprised gaze to Debby who sat with her back to them.At the same time, she heard their steps and turned around. Instantly, her eyes were filled with surprised as she stood up on her feet.“Mrs. Cooper,” she called excitedly.On the other hand, Richard’s mother was taken back. She squinted her eyes before resting her gaze on her son as if to ask him to explain the identity of their guest.---It’s been more than ten minutes since Richard reintroduced Deborah to his mother and they sat down to chat after sharing a tight hug.Debby was touched that the old lady still remembered her and almost teared up, and since then, they have been chatting.“I’m so sorry about Mr. Cooper, I’m sure he’s going to have a speedy recovery,” she said with a smile“Thank you, Dear.” Mrs. Cooper appreciated her food wishes with a smile before askin
“You remember my childhood friend, Deborah whom we met during Christmas in Scotland?” Richard asked.Bella replied with ‘yes’ as there was no way she would be forgetting the other woman in a hurry.“Coincidentally she called me on my way to the airport and immediately asked to join my flight after she heard about my Dad,” he explained.“Really?” Bella didn’t know what to feel or think after hearing that Richard took another woman to his family’s home even if that woman was a close friend from childhood.She didn’t know if she was thinking too much or just being overly jealous, but she wanted to stop feeling the way she was currently.Richard seemed to have noticed something wrong from her end and asked, “Is everything alright?” “Yes,” she replied. “Please, go ahead.” Even though she was still upset, she still wanted to hear the full story.“I couldn’t say no to her since she might never get another opportunity to see my parents again given how close we all were in the past, so
A few minutes, later, Richard came down to join his mother and Debby at the dinner table where they laughed and chatted about the good old days.Later after Debby bid them goodnight and left for her bedroom, Richard found some privacy to speak to his mum who seemed to have a lot on her mind."The last time we spoke on the phone before now, you mentioned that you had a girlfriend, is Debby the one?" his mother asked, looking at him with a smile.Richard was stunned into speechlessness as his brows creased. He was beginning to wonder what part of his body language might have dropped that ridiculous hint."No!" he countered immediately. "She is not my girlfriend." Now, it was his mother's turn to be surprised as the smile on her face slowly disappeared."Really?' she probed, begging for some explanation.A sigh escaped from Richard's lips. "Mum, please don't tell me you were treating her as my girlfriend when I left?" He begged for a 'no' but instead, he got the answer he didn't want."I
Richard was still on the phone with Bella when he saw a figure lurking behind him through the reflection from the wide transparent glass that connected to the garden he was currently facing.Lo and behold, it was Debby. Richard could not begin to imagine the shock he felt knowing that Debby was actually hiding behind the pillar and listening to his conversation with Bella. That was shocking considering what that meant.He was so surprised that he was distracted from his phone conversation until he heard Bella’s question. “Are you still there?”“Of course,” he managed a smile. “Would you be having lunch at the cafeteria or outside?”Bella sighed softly. “Outside. I have a business meeting.”“Wow!” He drawled proudly. “Bring in more money baby.”As soon as those words left his lips, Debby walked out from behind the pillar and cleared her throat. “Richard, your Dad asking of you,” she announced with a sweet harmless smile. “Also, your brothers are here.”Richard turned around and covere
By the time Bella phoned, Richard was left alone with his mother. His brothers had taken their father back to his bedroom to get some rest.“Hello, Mrs. Cooper,” Bella greeted the old lady as soon as her face popped up on her phone screen. “Hello, Dear.” Mrs. Cooper smiled immediately after she saw Bella’s beautiful face, and she couldn’t resist keeping her thoughts to herself. “Oh My God! You are so beautiful!”Bella blushed. She didn’t expect the old lady to be so honest and as if that wasn’t enough, she heaped another praise on her, talking about how beautiful her name was as well.“I actually love young women that work hard for their money. It reeks of girl power,” Mrs. Cooper said to her.From Bella’s background, she could tell she was still sitting behind her desk in the office and couldn’t help admiring her.“I really have no idea why Richard has been keeping you away from us. He should have brought you sooner…”Slowly, the older woman’s voice faded in Bella’s ears. It
Richard didn’t think that he would be forced to grace Bella with bad news even though he had long been preparing for a time like this a long time ago.Before talking about the important matter at hand, Bella served some food and after they had finished filling their stomach, she kept Isla busy with some mind games so she would have the privacy to discuss with Richard where their eyes could reach her.“In her words, no one would mind our relationship if you once dated my nephew and our intention wouldn’t be likely opposed if you were only once married to him, but you two have a child together, that’s a different story.”Bella sighed disappointedly. Despite knowing that reasons would all boil down to this aspect, she couldn’t help revealing her emotions.Of course, it was no one’s fault that their relationship was weird. It was something not commonly seen, so many people were bound to reject that idea.Mrs. Cooper had asked Richard, “How often have you heard of an uncle or an elder
Bella took a leap of faith to speak to her parents regarding her relationship with Phillip, but that didn’t mean she would get the type of results she hoped for.Just like Richard’s family, her parents were sceptical about the connection between the uncle and nephew.“Bella, it’s true that your father and I wanted you and Richard to have a thing together. We prayed and hoped for such a relationship but right now, we regret it,” Mrs. Smtih had said while looking upon her with pity.“My daughter, Richard is a good man unfortunately, we can’t accept him for the reasons you are already aware of,” Mr. Smith chipped in.He felt bad for his daughter, but he truly did not know what to do and hearing from her as well that Richard’s family were still contemplating their relationship was enough reason for him not to consider it even though it concerned his daughter’s happiness.---It’s been two weeks since Bella’s parents disapproved of her relationship with Richard, and it didn’t look li
Bella didn’t know what to say or how to feel when she saw the news. While her friends were talking about it, she stood up and walked away.Instantly, the chatter died down as the three women exchanged glances before quickly following after her.“Bella, what is wrong? Can you speak to us?” Rosie asked as she soon matched her steps.“I just want to be left alone for an hour. Is that not okay?” She said without stopping in her steps.Venita and Caro glanced at each other before moving their gazes back to her.“Actually, that is not a bad request. A little bit of privacy is not much to ask for but you see, the fetus in your womb is still unstable and the doctor wants us to make sure you are never left by yourself.”To avoid her slipping into depression, her doctor had given them an instruction to follow.Even though Bella might seem to be in a better mental state now than when Miriam died, the child she was carrying was still in danger.Bella’s friends were worried that she woul
Seeing her true colours, Mr. Rowland was grateful to his children for beating the hell out of her some months back otherwise, he would never have thought about monitoring her movements.It was all thanks to them that the thought dropped in his head.He had indeed married himself a gold digger who spent his money on men younger than he was.It was only recently that he found out and when he planned to file for a divorce and chase her away, Richard came to him to ask for help, as his good business partner, he decided to return the favour.He pushed back his plans a bit to help him gather enough pieces of evidence.Richard literally had no idea that Mr. Rowland had already done the basics on how to catch Debby otherwise he wouldn’t be worried right now wherever he was that the investigation on Debby might take too long.“Go ahead and start eating,” Mr. Rowland instructed as he quickly averted his gaze.His eyes burned at the fact that he had been living with a criminal for almost
Richard was not the only one carrying out the investigation. He had the help of his best friend, Matteo.“How is it possible for someone who has been hiding from the police for four months to suddenly jump out to drive into Bella’s car?” Matteo asked. Even he didn’t believe that was an accident.“I’m glad this matter is under both government and private investigations,” Richard said to him.A thought came to Matteo as he complained about what intentions Kareen might have had.“The police are still trying to investigate where that woman has been hiding.”The question was, how did Kareen survive for four months without being caught on any CCTV camera or stepping out to buy anything?The answer was right in front of both men. It was very obvious that she had help.“That woman had help,” Matteo suddenly said. “I think I know who it might be,” he added with a straight gaze on Richard.There was only one known person from their side Matteo thought would want to get rid of Bella.It
“Why did you take me back home?” Bella inquired as their car pulled up in the driveway.Richard threw her a glance before climbing out of the car. He managed to get her out and sighed in relief when Isla appeared.He let the little girl distract her until they got into the master bedroom before sending her away.“Bella, I’ve got some bad news to share,” He revealed as every fake emotion disappeared from his eyes.He looked a little sad and that scared the shit out of Bella. Plus he called her by her name.“Did anyone die?” She managed to ask as she felt her heart racing in her chest. She almost couldn’t breathe properly.Richard didn’t answer that question. He let out a deep sigh, confirming her fears.Bella quickly rose from the bed as her eyes turned red. Tears formed in her eyes as she stared down at him.“Who died?” She asked as a tremor wrecked her lower lips.A deeper sigh escaped from Richard’s lips as he rubbed his hands together. “Miriam got into an accident with you
It’s been two weeks since Bella and Richard found out they were pregnant.Richard’s excitement knew no bounds as he did everything beyond his power to ensure that Bella was comfortable getting over the horrible morning sickness.To think that thing was powerful enough to drive him out of their master bedroom for a week simply because Bella couldn’t stand the smell of his bathing soap.The man was forced to change it seeing that things were serious.How could he forgo cuddling his wife every night just because of his bathing soap?Richard literally employed a live-in nurse but was forced to sack her the very next day after Bella threatened his entire being.He was really scared of his wife this time around since her hormones were on the high side. Fortunately, he learnt to adjust quickly to the new situation. He wanted a baby with her, so this was the other side of it which he was very much willing to experience.Bella soon returned to work. On the first day, she slept all t
How was Bella supposed to answer the question she hasn’t confirmed yet?Mrs. Cooper couldn’t understand the thoughts running in her head as they continued to stare at each other, but she could see the signs, so she raised her brows, prompting Bella to answer.“I think so, but I haven’t confirmed it yet.”She and Richard started trying for a child in December and if she was pregnant, the signs and changes to her body would have started by now, especially depending on the date it happened.“That’s good news then! I shall help you get some pregnancy test kits,” Mrs. Cooper announced and sat down next to her, taking her hand gently with her eyes filled with gratefulness.“Please don’t mention any of this to Richard. I only want to break the news to him when it’s been confirmed. I don’t want to raise his hopes high and then flop it if the result turns out to be negative.”Even though Bella was still mad at him for no reason, she cared about his mental health and wouldn’t like for him
Caro made a V-log at the end of their Switzerland Christmas trip and posted it on her page for all eyes to see.The majority of Bella’s fans knew she was her friend hence, some of them were already following her Instagram page since they got to see the fun side of Bella all thanks to her.So, while everyone was wondering what was up with Bella since the last time she posted on her page, they got notified about Caro’s latest V-Log and went to watch it.Two hours later, the video went viral as blogs reposted it. Everyone interested got to see how cute and interesting Bella and Richard’s marriage was. The side death glares from Bella and the grin on Richard’s face as he tried to pacify her after annoying the hell out of her.Richard’s playful side also got exposed to everyone, especially with the stunt he pulled after the group lost their way and ate ice cream before he called his bodyguards to come show them out.No one knew that millionaires could have this sense of humour.Of
Bella stared at him wide-eyed. “You...”“Shhhh.” He shushed her. “If you don’t want us to get caught, don’t scream,” he said and continued to use his fingers to tease her down there.Bella whimpered. How was she expected to keep her mouth shut when he was doing those things to her?She wasn’t a tree but a real woman whose hormones and neurons were functioning properly.Unless she covered her mouth, she wouldn’t be able to hold back her moans, so she covered her mouth to stifle the sounds.She would have suggested for them to draw the curtains, but that would even attract more attention as everyone would know what they were up to.Fortunately, Richard didn’t torture her for a long time before letting her go. Also, no one left their seat during the event.Several hours later, they touched down in Switzerland and two luxurious Mercedes vans came to pick them up from the airport along with four security cars that accompanied them.Everyone settled in the big mansion that Richard h
Venita and Caro giggled as they climbed the stairs to the private jet. They couldn’t believe they were going on such an expensive and interesting trip to celebrate Christmas.The flight attendants treated them like Royalties and showed them to their seats.Bella figured that the two friends would need to keep each other company during the flights, so she arranged for them to be given a space where she could join them for a chat as well.Richard finally managed to bring his father on the trip along with his doctor. The old man’s time was almost up and according to the doctor, he had only a few years left.Richard figured that he might actually help his father travel out to enjoy Christmas once even if he wasn’t in his best healthy state.Bella’s parents got onto the plane and were assigned seats before they were helped to secure their seatbelts.They were happy to enter their son-in-law’s private jet once again as their wedding had been the first time they ever got to experience