A lil something, short and sweet for you all! Watch out for tomorrow's update. 😊
Paul took a deep breath. "Axel is terrified of losing you, Claire."Claire snorted. "Sure. That's why he's been acting like a big dickhead all day?"Paul gave her a slightly annoyed look. "You've been swearing since I came in, Claire. Is there something I've done wrong?"She rubbed her face with her hands. "I'm sorry, Paul, it's just… even Lisa has not driven me to wits end like Axel has today. Nothing I do is ever enough."Paul smiled. "I understand. He is a very tasking employer, but you should learn to take it in stride." He tilted his head towards her. "Could it be, my dear, that you have been expecting some kind of preferential treatment simply because you are his self proclaimed woman?"Claire turned crimson. She puffed her cheeks and blew out a breath."I just didn't expect him to be so real, so serious, you know."Paul placed a hand on her shoulder. "If he treats you this way at home, by all means, complain. But out here, you two are strangers, Claire. He's your boss, a CEO, a
Axel did not know what to do about the information he had just received. He knew it was no coincidence that a man who had been found to have a hand in killing him was right outside his door. He kept a very straight face as Leo greeted him."I'm in a conference meeting." He nodded to the seats outside. "Hold on for a few minutes." Leo gave him a beguiling smile. "Certainly, Mr. Lysander. I will wait."Axel shut the door in his face and pulled out his phone. He dialled Donald's number and he picked up immediately."Hey, I'm almost at the office. What's up?""Leo Morris is here." There was an edge to his voice that wasn't there before. Donald hummed. "What's wrong? Surely, you are not so upset by the scumbag's presence to have called me?""Jubril called me a few minutes ago. They found out Leo Morris had a hand in the bombing." He said curtly. "Now the son of a bitch who tried to kill me shows up at my door. What do you expect me to think?"Donald pressed his foot down on the gas pedal
Leo Morris sped out of the office premises and put his phone on the holder by the dashboard. He dialled the last contact he had called before going into the office."Hello?"Leo turned into the road to the airport. "It's done. What's the status?""Strike complete." The person on the other end sounded downright cheerful. "Do you think he would open the box?"Leo drummed on the steering wheel. "He's not an idiot. But the box has served his purpose. Let me know when the girl is confirmed dead.""Certainly. Are you leaving now?"Leo cackled. "Do you think I would get that far?" "So what are you going to do now?"He only laughed more. "Go somewhere no one can find me."**************Claire knew real terror the moment the men broke through the door. Bullets sprayed over the room, penetrating the thin walls of the changing corner they hid. Paul came up firing, and he got down two men. A bullet whizzed past his ear and he hunkered down again. "How many rounds are in this thing?" He yelled t
The drive back to the penthouse building was made in total silence. The coldness diffusing from his body sent chills through Claire's skin. He sat in front with Donald, as stiff as a block of ice, while she say behind with Jenise. They had left the mess behind for Jubril's men to clean, and piled into the car with Donald behind the wheelGoosebumps had spread all over Jenise's skin. Claire knew she was terrified, but she just didn't want to show it. Jenise had lost a very dear friend, from all indications, and she was immensely shaken by the violent way he had gone. Axel had ordered that the details of the shooting match be concealed as best as they could.A phone rang, disrupting the stifling silence. Axel stared straight ahead, not lifting a finger."It's yours, Axel." Donald prompted.He shifted unseeing eyes to him. "What?""Your phone." Donald nodded at his pocket. "It's ringing."He fumbled for it and pulled it out. Axel stared blankly at the screen before taking the call."Fath
Axel could not believe his ears. "What did you say, Father?""It's true." The woman, whose name Axel was yet to register in his mind, preened and wiggled her left fingers to show off her ring. "It was only after my wedding that I got my invitation to the council."Axel scoffed. "What kind of a rule is that? This isn't the 90's, for goodness sake." His eyes drifted to his father, but the old man gave him an innocent look. Axel did not buy it even one bit. He knew his father had somehow managed to manipulate things to turn out that way, but he was not in the right frame of mind to be patronizing."Why don't you go on the board, Father?" He retorted. "You're married." Silence descended on the room like a blanket. Axel made a tsk sound and excused himself. He made it to the car without remembering anything tragic that had happened that day, but the emotions came pouring all over again when his eyes met the sad ocean that was now hers.Axel did not know what to say to Claire. He did not
Lisa flung open the door to her father's office and marched in with rage."What is Leo Morris doing here?" She demanded.Her father lifted his head from the paper he was reading and regarded her coolly."I sent for him." He shut the paper and threw it down on his desk. "It's about time someone else started cleaning up your mess."Lisa gave him a look. "What mess?"He scoffed. "Did you think I would not find out about your sorry attempt to kill Claire McLennie?"She shut the door behind her. "How did you find out about that?"He waved her off. "Never mind how I knew you were behind the bombing. What I want to know is just how stupid you are to carry out an assassination attempt on the Lysander's son."Lisa pulled a seat across from him and plopped into it. "Axel was not supposed to be there. It was just Donald, and he was meant to be collateral damage."He clucked his tongue. "Look how that turned out.""I don't understand, Father. Why Morris? Why would you bring in the man who made me
Claire found herself shaken awake by Jenise at the crack of dawn. She pushed her hands away and drew the sheets over her head."Five more minutes," Claire grumbled.Jenise tore the sheets of her. "You had better get up now. The CEO is waiting in the car downstairs."Claire lifted her head and squinted at the onslaught of morning light assaulting her eyes. She glanced at the bedside clock."It's just 6am!" She whined. "I barely got any sleep.""How is that any fault of mine?" Jenise huffed and put her hands on her hips. "You're the one who stayed up doing funny stuff with your boss. The same boss who somehow managed to look well rested and is downstairs, waiting for you to take your lazy ass off this bed and go do your job as an assistant."Claire glared at her. "He sent you, didn't he?"Jenise smiled sweetly. "Up you get, now! The car leaves in ten minutes!"Claire groaned. "You're enjoying this.""Certainly." Jenise said with glee. "It's not everyday you get to meet an assistant to a
Claire was laughing inside. Even with all the theatrics she was making, she was not really upset. Jenise gave her a reproving look, but she too was smiling."I better let you know you're in charge today."Claire nodded and took a deep breath. Jenise bumped shoulders with her."Hey. No pressure.""Well, I do feel the urge to make sure everything is perfect today, at least to prove I'm not some kind of useless assistant." Claire confessed.Jenise frowned deeply. "Why would you ever feel useless? You're a very good assistant. Axel doesn't keep people who are non valuable around him.""He kept Lisa close." Claire pointed out.Jenise rolled her eyes. "That was the only exception. Seriously, Claire, you're good at what you do." She pushed open Axel's office door. "Come on, let's start with sorting the mail."Claire put her bag down on her desk with a loud thud and grimaced. "I'm not looking forward to that.""I agree, it's no fun. But we have to respond to each one." Jenise powered on the s
Okay, I'm in tears right now. I can't believe we have come full circle with this story. I'm proud of you all readers, and so grateful for all your support. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope this story has taught you a lesson on life and love.I can't thank you all enough. You have made it possible for Claire and Axel to come this far. Without your support, I would have given up on this story.I love you all. Thank you. Here's a truckload of hearts and kisses and love and flowers and everything beautiful for you all! 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🖤😘😘😘😘🧡🧡🧡Stay healthy, stay safe, stay loved! 😍😍
“You're still watching that?"Claire looked behind her from where she was curled up like a ball on the sofa. Axel stood by the pillar, his hair dripping wet. He was barechested, and Claire had a full view of his godlike body. It was one she had worshipped the night before, and the memories flooded her head. She felt her face go hot.“Why not?" She blustered. "As much as I am concerned about the trend of animal abuse, I get a kick from watching you tell them off.”Axel scowled at her. "That's a very mean thing to say.” His face brightened instantly. "I'm not complaining, though. Why are you blushing?”Claire touched her red face. He was coming closer to peer at her curiously. She squeezed her eyes shut.“You should put some clothes on."Claire felt the sofa dip where he sat down beside her.“No." His breath tickled her face. “I would rather not." Claire rolled her eyes, but kept them closed. "Fine, whatever.”He grabbed her jaw and roughly pulled her against him. "Look at me.”Her eye
Axel had planned the wedding just like Claire wanted, so they moved on straight to the reception in the same place. The dance floor was cleared for the couple to have their first dance, and open the floor. The orchestra struck up a tune, and Claire put her hands around Axel's shoulder.“I can't stop thinking about them."Axel placed his forehead on hers. “Maybe that's because it's about time we got rid of them. I don't want anyone spoiling your mood.”Claire sighed. “There's a little problem though." He whirled her around before holding her close again. "What is that?”She leaned into his chest. "I am finding it rather difficult to leave the comfort of your arms right now.”Axel grinned. "Then don't. We can go after the dance. Besides, we are making a lot of people jealous here. This isn't a chance you want to pass up.”"I've already put my mark on you." She smiled with belligerence and dug her fingers into his suit. “No one can take you away from me." That cracked Axel up, and he s
Axel stood by the altar, watching the heavenly beauty in white walk down the aisle towards him. His heart was beating erratically, and he found it funny how she still made his heart race after all this time. He made a mental note to thank Jenise for making the most beautiful wedding dress for his woman.With each step she took, he found it increasingly difficult to breathe. She stole his breath away, and she had not even said anything yet. Axel was watching her intently, so he easily caught the shift in her gaze and expression. He looked over at what had crumbled her face, and blinked, twice.“What the hell?"“What is it?" Donald was his best man, and was standing close enough to hear him curse out loud. He followed his line of sight to where Rose McLennie sat, and beside her a woman that looked like her older form. They were both wearing sneers on their faces, sneers that were at that moment directed at Claire.Axel turned to him. “How did they get in?"Donald shrugged. "No one got
"Don't stand me up."Those were Axel's last words as he had left the cafe the previous day. Now, as she stood in her flowing wedding dress, she could not help but wonder if his earnest plea was the reason she had put in this much effort to look beautiful.Myla had done wonders on her hair, packing it all to the back bridal style. Her face popped out at anyone that looked, and Myla was grinning at her over the top of her head.“Wow, Claire, just…wow!”Eric had just stepped into the room, and his eyes filled with tears.“I thought today is supposed to be a happy day." Claire said with a soft smile. “Let's save the tears for later, mm?"Danielle was standing by Claire's side, smiling widely. She had done her makeup, and there could be no other exceptional way to do it. Claire looked perfect, beautifully perfect. He took her hand and kissed it. “You have such gifted hands, Danielle." Jenise peeked out from the closet. "I made the dress, hand me my flowers.”Eric chuckled and pulled out
Axel shrunk under the gaze of the women. He saw the men around him do the same. They had had their bachelor's night out the previous day, and the prank had fallen on him. He couldn't get out of it like he had wanted. Earlier, he had tried dissuading the guys."What if she passes out?"Donald had pushed a mask on to his face. "All the more fun, then.""Tomorrow is the wedding!"Hunter snickered. "The worse thing that could happen is if she leaves you at the altar."From her thunderous expression, Claire looked like she just might. She had been terrified, that much was obvious from how her entire body was still trembling. Her legs gave way, and she fell into a chair and began sobbing again.Axel longed to go over to her and put a comforting arm around her, but the look Danielle was giving him stopped him. She looked ready to burn any male that came within a foot of where the women were huddled together around Claire. Eric was not excluded from the ostracization. He had tried to dissuade
It was the ladies' turn to exchange glances. "How can you not know what happens the day before a wedding?" Myla asked. "Even my Coco knows!" Axel raised a brow. "I do know about the bridal shower, but you already had one yesterday."Jenise nudged Danielle. "Tell him. Put them out of their misery." Her voice rang with mockery.Danielle and Claire giggled. "We are going to the spa and hair salon!" Hunter rolled his eyes. "For a second there, I thought something really important was going to happen."Jenise puckered her lips. "Getting a massage and your nails done is "something really important", especially if you are getting married the next day."Axel rose. "You should tidy up the rest of the invitations. Donald, make sure you send them out, along with the accompanying emails."Claire ruffled through the invitations. "I didn't accidentally put one for Croatia in there, right?""Claire." Axel extended a hand towards her. "Walk with me for a second."She reluctantly took his outstretc
Axel stared at Claire in wonder. "You stayed up for most of last worrying about my whereabouts, and now that I'm back safely, you find yourself something else to worry about?"Claire drew her lips into a pout. "I waited up for you because I already had that in mind! Then we couldn't reach you and I forgot what I was worrying about."Axel had to suppress his laughter. "Oh. I see. Well, I have not sent any invitations out yet."Claire sat up. "Really? The wedding is in two days!"Axel furrowed his brows. "Um, yeah?""How would the guests have time to ready their outfits?"Axel snorted. "If anyone cannot get a proper outfit for an occasion, even if it is thirty minutes away, that person would not be in my list. You know the circle I belong to, Claire. If I give them the invitation that morning, and tell them to dress a certain way, they'll show up at the wedding before you."Claire frowned. "That would not be very polite.""I am not polite, sweetheart. I thought you knew that."Claire bi
Danielle gently shoved her forward. "Don't worry about that. At the rate at which you're eating, you'll probably not fit into the dress by weekend."Jenise snorted out a laugh. "I guess that means we will need to do the fitting of the dress on Friday night."The ladies giggled in amusement, and Claire glowered at them."That's not funny, guys!" She grabbed Coco's hand. "Come on, Coco, let's leave them to their impolite behavior."Her reaction only made them giggle more. Claire was not particularly upset. She felt pretty good that they were at least having fun. She could not begin to imagine what they had gone through when she had been in the state of coma. She had not even properly thanked them yet.Claire could see Donald from afar, through the glass doors. He was leaning on the limo, speaking into the phone and smiling widely. Occasionally, he would draw circles with his toes or scratch the back of his head, an indication that he was speaking to his new girlfriend. His relationship