“Oh my God!” Emily sprang up immediately a strange text hit her phone, and she stared at it with shaky hands, her rate instantly going up. It was a location pin from a strange number with a text attached to it‘Don’t tell Ethan’ it saidConfusion clouded her brain, she stared at it long enough waiting for her brain to click.Who could it be? And when it finally clicked like a lightbulb suddenly coming up and lightng up the grey areas in her brain. Could it be - it had to be, it was the only logical explanation.It was Jackson! She looked around her, she was still in the Hatton family house and this time Mr. and Mrs. Had retired sadly to the bedroom.Immediately she bolted for the door but just as she stepped outside she came in contact with Ethan and she stopped abruptly,“Where are you off to?” his eyes didn’t meet hers, and she didn’t want to look at him either not after the spectacle he had caused earlier.“Emily?” he called again when she didn’t respond “Where are you going, it’s
The heaviness – her head. Even her eyes felt heavy as she tried to force them open, the realization of the cold hard floor that she lay on suddenly hitting her, but she didn’t bolt upright immediately. She waited, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness before she moved. The dizziness engulfed and took all of her willpower not to give into it and go back into a dreamless sleepJacksonHis name rang in her head as she sat up slowly, turning her head around when she found him just lying down just a few inches from her“Jackson” she whispered softly, inching towards him and she touched his skin and it was burning hot. She called his name again, shaking him a little until he stirred and he turned around to face her, his eyes suddenly going wide when he realized it was her.“Emily – what are you – ” his words came out in broken bits “How did you – ” he moved closer to her and cupping her face in his hands, the hotness of his hands warming the iciness of her skin and she relished in his
A gunshot! It was loud and blaring, it rang through the air and a scream followed, quietness followed as Emily clamped her mouth shut with her hands. Her eyes widened by the loudness of the sound and also Jackson writhing on the floor, his hands holding his knee in pain.“Jackson oh no!” she exclaimed rushing to his side as the blood pooled out slowly from his burst knee. Jackson grunted in heavy pain, it was difficult to understand the kind of pain he felt, his vision blurred and he had began to see dark spots until Emily face came to focus, her concerned eyes drilling into his as the tears gathered in her eyes.Confusion settled amongst all of them, and James saw it as a distraction to push Ethan out of the way and gaining possession of the pistol. He aimed it at Ethan who now backed away slowly.“You stupid idiots!” Emily yelled “He’s bleeding, we need to call an ambulance!”“Nobody is calling anybody” James ordered “Not until I get my money”“He’s going to die” Emily cried out l
*Some many years ago*It was a time in the fanciest part of New York with modern estate mansions lined up eagerly – beautiful and luxurious and it wasn’t quite uncommon to find kids riding their bikes up and down the empty street sometimes up to the busy streets if they were lucky to get away from the watchful eyes of their babysitters and nannies but at that time Ethan and Jackson were old enough to go off riding on their own without anyone breathing down their back anxiously.Everyone was used to their running off, sneaking off in the hot spring afternoon with their helmets latched on their heads while they ran off with the other neighborhood kids but that afternoon had been different. Ethan was in the mood for a swim in their large in built swimming pool but Jackson had been riddled with adrenaline he needed to steam off, he wanted to bike race with their yet again new bikes“Come on Ethan” Jackson pleaded impatiently “First down the hill and you get my desert for a week” Jackson w
Ethan had seen Jackson seated on the floor, both of his knees scraped and bleeding with his bike broken beside him while he cried softly. Quickly he ran over to him, placing his bike softly next to Jackson’s broken one.“What happened Jackson?” Ethan asked “Who did this to you?”“Frank and Junior” Jackson cried referring to the Weatherbee brothers “They pushed me down to hill to win the race and they ran away - those little shits”“What!” Ethan was angry now, as he looked up the winding hill that Jackson might’ve rolled over and his face clouded with anger because if he had come along, it wouldn’t have happened.“If you came along, they wouldn’t do that. It was two against one, I didn’t stand a chance with them” Jackson said angrily.“Well we’re not going to let them get away with it”“What are you going to do? Push them down the hill? Frank on his own is twice both our sizes” Jackson said loudly, clearly exasperated and still annoyed at Ethan’s betrayal but Ethan bent over to help hi
Jackson came to, vividly conscious of the feminine hands that held unto him softly but firmly. His eyes fluttered open slowly, his eyes adjusting to the white lights above him, his eyes blinking and his nose itching at the distinct smell isopropyl. Suddenly he could feel the sharp pain shooting up his leg and when he looked down, he saw that his knee had been bandaged and he could hear the gunshot again – loud and clear like it was happening all over again – he closed his eyes, fighting within himself to push it all behind him.“It’s over now” he repeated it a thousand times in his head, but even at that it was hard to believe it.He felt Emily stir beside him in her sleep and he didn’t want to wake her. He watched her sleeping face, the peacefulness calming the storm that was already brewing within him. Her fair skin – smooth and so beautiful and when he looked at her wrist, she was wearing the red crimson bracelet. He ran his hands over them – his mind going over the time it first d
“What about Ethan?” Ethan walked in briskly, his gaze moving slowly from Emily to Jackson, the jealousy encompassing him and the excesses flowing out of him that he could barely contain. He had been watching them, Emily had never kissed him so passionately, or stared at him so lovingly or told him she loved him but those three words were easy to say to Jackson – of course it’s always Jackson. How could he not be jealous?His chest tightened at the sight of the both of them together.“Ethan - ?” Emily spoke and he saw her try to pull her hands away from Jackson but Jackson was unwilling to let go, he held on now holding Ethan stare – daring him to complain.“Honestly what about Ethan, because I’m dying to know what’s going to happen to Ethan” Ethan said now“Stop speaking in third person – it’s annoying” Jackson said and Emily threw him a look but he shrugged in response.“Stay out of this Jackson, this is between me and Emily – ”“She’s carrying my child now, so I’m pretty much involv
When Ethan finally arrived at the towering gates of his father’s modern city mansion, he wasn’t surprised to find Frank waiting for him, eyes bloodshot and lingering around – unsettling. Ethan smirked, walking towards him confidently, his shoulders squared and his head held high.“What do you want Weatherbee?” Ethan countered first and Frank followed suit.“Leave Amanda alone” he said and Ethan chuckled.“No?”“Why? Why are you going after her? Why now? A few weeks to Junior prom” Frank argued“Oh yea Prom, I totally forgot about that but now that you mention it, I should get something going” Ethan said and turned to leave but Frank held him back.“Ok I’m sorry man, I didn’t mean to hit you earlier, I was just so furious okay – you can hit me back and we can call it even – then you leave her alone”Ethan chuckled again “It’s not that simple Frank, I wish it was but it’s not. You took something of mine and I have to do the same”“What?” Frank looked confused now, his brain racking diff
Immediately, Emily made her way to Hatton Tech and went straight to Jackson’s face, she barely knocked before she pushed the door open and coming face to face with Jackson and her heart stopped, almost forgetting how much impact he had on her. She saw the look of shock on his face, she didn’t think she’d be seeing him for a while, not after he had brutally ended things with her.“Emily” he called and she walked into his office, straight to his table and she slammed the pen recorder before him, ignoring the rapid pounding of her heart.Jackson looked from the recorder to her fatigued face, confusion clouded his eyes and he hoped for more words from her but Emily didn’t say a word instead she clicked play and fast forwarding the recording to the particular part she wanted him to hear.“Did you plan Jackson’s kidnap and also try to kill my baby?”“Jackson knew – ”At that point, she clicked it shut and looked into his eyes now, the pain doubling in her chest from what she perceived to be
Emily stood outside the door to Ethan’s pent house while she rang the doorbell twice. It was impossible to explain how she felt but a seething anger was very much at the top of the list. She was very sure of how bedraggled she looked, her hair was tied back in a messy ponytail while she still had on the clothes from the previous days, her eyes had dark circles and she was very much tired but there was one thing she understood, Ethan was indeed the enemy and Ethan was the only reason why she would never be happy.Her head raged with thoughts that felt strange to her, evil thoughts that came from the anger that festered within and she needed to let it out, whichever way possible.Soon enough, the door sprung open and she came face to face with indeed Ethan’s handsome face. He was dressed casually in sweat pants and a t shirt, his hair ruffled like he had just rolled out of bed and his eyes roaming her as he took her in.“If you’re here to ask for forgiveness, you’re a few months too lat
Emily’s world was shattered, her eyes were swollen shut from crying all night from Jackson stomping on her heart in the least way that she expected. Her hands went up to necklace dangling freely on her chest and she wanted nothing more than to throw it off as far as possible but she held unto it, remembering Jackson’s words to her No matter what happens between us, you’re always going to have my heart – and truly she always wanted to have his heart.Her frail fingers tightened around the pendant as she felt the tears fall freely from her eyes, the pain radiating all over again. Her mind went over the times they spent together, the way he held her stare and captivating her with his charming eyes. His daring kisses in public – at the red carpet and every single place to let every one know that he was in love with her and she relished in the thoughts while she sat in her mother’s hospital room as the woman laid unconscious on the bed. Emily held unto her mother’s hands, cold and clammy
Later that night, Jackson stood in front of the Hatton family home as he watched Ethan drive into the building. He stood still, his face void of any emotion whatsoever as he waited for Ethan to highlight his car and walk up to him. He could smell the cockiness from where he stood, and the dirty smirk that was plastered on Ethan’s face as he made his way over to Jackson.“Hello brother” he greeted with a simple wave “How about we go inside for a drink?”“I don’t think that’ll be necessary” Jackson responded, his expression hard and stoic which was just a front for the deep sadness that festered within him.“Fine” Ethan shrugged in response “I didn’t plan on staying that long anyways, so what’s it going to be brother?”Jackson remained silent as he fought to say the next words but Ethan was impatient “Which is it going to be?”“You can have Emily, I don’t want her. She’s your wife after all but I’m going to keep my inheritance. Father chose me for a reason and I’m going to respect his d
Billionaire Heir Jackson Hatton accused of sexual assaultThe walls began to cave in and Jackson’s world began to spin as he read the headline repeatedly till the words began to dance before him.“Shit! Shit!” he cursed underneath drawing Anita’s attention to him and she gave him a look“What’s wrong?” she asked but Jackson sprang up immediately and walked out of the emergency room, immediately he called Ethan and he picked on first ring.“Let’s talk” he said into the receiver “Meet me at the house in a few hours” and he ended the call immediately.**Meanwhile Emily still felt shattered while she sat next to her mother who still laid unconscious and had IV’s running through her vein with the automatic beeping of the heart monitor interrupting Emily’s thoughts but she held her mother’s hands tightly until the doctor walked in.“You must be Emily” he said as Emily stood up to shake his hands “Mr. Brown explained – ”“Is she going to be alright” Emily cut in immediately and the somber l
The silence stood awkward between the brothers for a few seconds, neither willing to speak first but Ethan still had that cocky smile plastered on his face while Jackson couldn’t believe his ears.“What are you on about now Ethan?” Jackson broke the silence first, his demeanor was calm but he was seething inside“You heard me brother, I killed the story and now you owe me. So you have two options, give back everything you’ve taken from me, my wife inclusive or you face the consequences and maybe subsequently a judge for sexual assault, it’s your choice really because at the end of the day everything comes back to me”“You’re insane Ethan” Jackson scoffed.“Right” Ethan said “So what’s it going to be?”“I’m not doing either of that, so you can go to hell”Ethan laughed this time but he wasn’t done “Fine, you’re stubborn but I’ll give you a better offer. You pick between your inheritance and my wife”“Get out of my office Ethan, don’t you have better things to do?” Jackson pointed at t
A few days of strained silence with his brothers and the media blowing up about their fallout over their inheritance with Jackson seeing stringent of information about him on the internet that even though didn’t seem true, had some element of truth in them from his past life. He sat in his office at Hatton Tech that morning scrolling through his media feed, he didn’t want to look at it but yet his phone stayed transfixed to his hands. The different girls, the lies with the element of truth in them –Jackson Hatton is an ultimate abuser – Jennifer HenzOne time at the club, he tried to run his hands up my skirt – MiaJackson took me to a hotel one time and he never called me back – LeahHe’s such an asshole, tried to sleep with me and then my best friend – he did though - MerylI would have never pegged Jackson Hatton to be an abuser but it all makes sense – he groped me at the club – Jane.Jackson stared at his phone wide – eyed, his eyes sweeping through every comment on every post w
Ethan stormed out of the room with his eyes wide with rage and anger that his body couldn’t control. He ignored the frantic call of his mother as he stormed outside. The walls closed in and his heart pounded fast, he couldn’t believe his ears; his father had betrayed him, played him the long game and ended up giving everything to Jackson; his favorite son.He tried recalling Mr. Stanwill’s words even though he never wanted to remember those words but they were stuck in his brain, etched on the walls and unwilling to let go.“ – and to Ethan Hatton my first son, I leave you in charge of Hatton Tech and finally to Jackson Hatton, I leave you in charge of all Hatton Enterprises globally”Globally? In charge of all Hatton Enterprises globally?If Ethan calculated properly this meant Jackson was in fact in charge of him. How outrageous? How insulting? He kicked at the ceramic statue angrily, smashing it further with his foot and even more when he realized that it was his father’s favorite
Jackson stood pensive with his eyes on the ground as the casket lowered to the ground, his eyes weren’t clouded like the dark clouds above but his mood felt just as grey. The silent murmurs, the sad faces that looked like they were staring at him, questioning him or worse still judging him. He looked over at Ethan and those red eyes weren’t deceiving anybody, father wasn’t Ethan favorite person. Father wasn’t his favourite person either, but he was in fact was one of his father’s favorite people and yet there was nothing he could do for him at that moment, not while he was being led six feet under. Jackson wasn’t sure how he felt, he wasn’t exactly broken or sad but he knew there was war ahead and when he glanced at Ethan again, they shared a look that mirrored his thoughts exactly.“You okay?” Emily slid up to him while everyone exchanged pleasantries or condolences, he wasn’t exactly familiar with what was going on because he had managed to escape everyone who looked like they wante