Chapter 15The next morning, Arnold was waiting by the door when Hayley woke up. It didn't take her long to figure out that she was not in her room back in her father's house. How could she forget with all the comfort that this place offered? It was safe to say that nearly all her problems went away by the time she fell asleep on that comfy bed, and the chilling air condition. Without having to worry about being taken advantage of by Alex, not like she would have minded, but even her mind was at rest knowing that his wife was back."Good morning, Miss Hayley." Arnold greeted with a cheerful smile.She stretched lazily on the bed and returned his smile, "Good morning Arnold. Can I sleep some more… please.""I don't know if you realize it, Ma'am, but today will be your first day at work. Her eyes widened, but he continued, "You will have the luxury of driving to work with the Master. So hurry up and get ready."She sat forward immediately and rubbed the drowsiness from her eyes. Then
Chapter 16The ride was awfully quiet as Hayley sat next to the window with her eyes constantly following the buildings and cars they were zooming past. She wished her thoughts were not as organized as those buildings, but she knew better than to expect good things always. Alex watched her from where he sat just a few feet away from her, he could tell she was angry or maybe worried, but he couldn't understand why. Was it the kiss? He tried to think about it too, because he was already feeling guilty for it. Had he not said he would not regret it? "Is something bothering you?" He asked suddenly, she did not respond, because she had not heard him. He reached out and tapped her lightly, just like yesterday, she jumped up at the sudden contact. "Don't tell me I scared you again." Hayley sighed and fell back on the seat, "I get scared when my thoughts are interrupted like that." By my very problem, she wanted to add, but she stopped there. "Hm. So what is bothering you?" She shook her
Chapter 17Hayley was rounding up her art when Alex came in later that afternoon, she barely glanced in his direction as he walked into the room. But she was all too aware of his burning eyes which were following her as she packed the brushes into it's container. "Can I see what you made?" He asked nicely. But he was already reaching out to touch the neatly covered board. She reached out and slapped his hand away, then she realized what she had done and straightened, "I'm sorry, sir. I just… I don't like my work being seen before I'm ready to show it." He frowned, "But I'm your boss and I would love to see." "Yes, but this is a test and I would love for it to remain a surprise."He actually grinned, "So you are preparing for a big reveal. Uhm, I trust you will blow our minds tomorrow." "Tomorrow?""Actually, yes. I came to tell you that Rosewood had an important meeting to attend so he will not be here, and if he's not here, your presentation will have to wait till tomorrow." "O
Chapter 18It was impossible to remain in her seat. Hell it was impossible not to fret. Leaving work before time was not a good start for a new employee, not even if she had nothing to do at the moment. Laurel squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, unable to think. If she tried to leave, would he not ask where she was heading to? She would take her chances, she decided. She opened her mouth to speak, but Alex's voice silenced her, "We should head to the hospital now." He told her."Hm? What?"He frowned, "You seem lost. You wanted to go to the hospital with me, right?""Ah, yes." Alex waited to be sure she had run down, then hid a smile behind his wine glass. Whoever had called her to make her giggle so much and look so uneasy now would have to wait. "Then let's go. I think I'm done here for the day."Not wanting to arouse any suspicions, she grabbed her phone and her purse and made for the door. But before she reached it again, someone opened the door and walked in, it was a fancily
Chapter 19Her only luck was that Claire Xander was nothing like her eldest brother, Larry Xander. It was the only reason why Alex had even allowed her say half the things she had said in front of Claire. As he sat there waiting for her to show up to work, Alex thought of all the bad places Hayley would probably be in now if she had made that mistake she made yesterday in front of the wrong places. But he was somewhat glad that she cared about who he screwed. He chuckled at his own stupid thoughts, her revelation to Claire had done more good than the harm she intended. For one thing, he now had Claire visiting the girl at the hospital. It was a relief for him, really. He was going to tell Claire anyway, but she had helped him. And in so doing, she had gotten into Claire's good books. "Good morning..." Hayley started to say the minute she opened the door, but she paused when she saw Alex.Alex looked up from his coffee and flashed her a grin, "I believe the word you are looking for
Chapter 20Hayley hurried towards down the corridor, her pulse racing. She was angry, but not with Alex, she was angry with herself for allowing her emotions to get into her head. Even as she arrived at that conclusion, she pondered on the kind of emotions she was referring to, what could she possibly be thinking of? "Hey." A voice she could not recognize called her from behind.Hayley stopped walking and turned to see who was calling her. "Hi." She greeted with a warm smile when she turned.It was a lady, she could tell by the wrinkles on the side of her eyes that the lady was older than her, but she couldn't help but miss the heavy amount of makeup that this lady wore. Her hair was tied up in a bun while some part of it fell on each side of her face in scanty curls. "You are the new girl, Hayley right?"She nodded and offered her hand for a handshake, "Yes, I'm Hayley. And you are?"Surprisingly, the lady refused to take her hand, she asked instead, "What did you do to let him t
Chapter 21The presentation hall was filled with workers, both the ones she had met before and the ones she had not. The fact that Alex was the only person she recognized there did nothing to pacify her, his wicked smile. If anything was making her legs go weak underneath her.She scanned the faces around her, the majority were serious looking men in suits with mean scowls in their faces. Others were either looking at her with or a frown, there was no encouraging face in that crowd. She could tell Mr Rosewood apart from the rest, he was a gray haired man with round lenses and his face held this unimpressed frown that seemed not to be wavering. He was sitting on a very reserved table where other men dressed as smartly as him sat, topping the head of that table was Alex, and on each side of his hands sat two men and a woman. She assumed they were the team that made up the Board of Directors. When the last piece of the three paintings she had made was hurled in by the two men whom Bet
Chapter 22Hayley woke up in a dark room. The only thing she was certain of in those first slow minutes was that she wasn't in her bed back in her parents home, neither was she in Logan's bed, or even any of her siblings' own for that matter. The luxury of this bed was felt even before she opened her eyes, the scent of the sheets, the texture too was too smooth. She didn't have to be rich to recognize the difference between luxury and average. Neither did she miss the faint, restful scent of a familiar cologne that clung to the pillows in which she'd buried her face. As an uncomfortable thought formed in her head, she stretched out a cautious hand to make sure she was the only one on the bed. To her relief, the large bed was empty except the soft throw pillows that surrounded her and the smooth sheets and cozy blankets. "This large cozy bed all to myself, Sweet Jesus, dreams do come true." She muttered as she rolled over to the center of the bed. As she struggled to piece images to
FOUR YEARS LATER~~~~00~~~~~(Had to give y’all an epilogue because I’m missing Alex and Hayley already.) "Come on, Klaus! Your dad is going to be late if you keep doing that!" Hayley chided her son as he ran into the bedroom."Dada!" Young Klaus called as he ran into his father's embrace. "Huh huh. That's not fair. You are supposed to say Mama." Hayley scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest as she eyed her husband and son. "Someone is jealous." Alex grinned as he kissed his son's forehead dottingly, "But you have to try to get in Mama's good books if you want her to feed you today until I'm back."As if understanding his father, Klaus clapped his tiny hands and said some baby words which ended in, "Maama!" "Yes! He finally said it!" She shrieked with joy and collected him from Alex, "He finally called me!" Alex watched both mother and son with amusement until a soft knock on the door interrupted them. As she handed the boy back to Alex and walked towards the door to open it,
Chapter 100"That was cold, telling them about me like that." Hayley chided Alex later that night as they lay in his room. Alex frowned, "Why?" She sighed, "Because you just lost your wife, Alex. And announcing that you are expecting a child with another woman and confirming that you have been cheating on your wife with her for the six months prior to her death is not cool at all." He rolled his eyes, "My wife was an ass. Everyone knows now.""Yes. But they didn't know she was an ass six months ago." She reminded, "You realize her people might try to use this as evidence against you in the court of law?" With a sigh, he held her face close to his, "I'm expecting that. I have a pretty good lawyer and he knows just how to handle things like this." He propped himself on one elbow and sat up, "You know, actually, I'm anticipating just how much money this court case will fetch me when I eventually win." "Pretty confident, huh?" "Yep. And I actually think suing me is a very foolish thi
Chapter 99The police came in on time to find Smith holding the gun while Hayley was retching all over the place from all that sight of blood and splattered brain. Smith was instantly handcuffed, even though he kept screaming like a mad man that he should be allowed to see his one true love. Alex was trying to hold Hayley, who didn't look like she could handle everything that was going on because he was sure that there was nothing left in her stomach that she could throw up. Smith had shot Sandy, and she was lying there dead with her brains scattered all over the floor. Everything happened in a flash, to think that the woman had narrated how he had used her for ten years and even confessed her feelings for him all those years only for him to end her life in a split second with a second thought. That only went to show how obsessed Smith had been with Ursula. The family had witnessed two murders in one day, heard the chilling confessions from two people they just didn't expect to be
Chapter 98It was only Hayley who was still herself among all of them. Alex had sunk into a nearby seat and was currently holding his head in his hands, silently staring into space. Claire herself was leaning against the wall and looking so downcast. Allan and Arnold looked like their tongues were tied and the doctor was only waiting for a go ahead from Alex to do what Smith had just said. "You have strong reasons to believe that Finn is your son?" Hayley asked Smith with an inquisitive frown. "I believe so.""And if you are wrong?" "The test will prove that." The confidence with which he spoke was that of a man who knew absolutely what he was saying. The doctor looked at Hayley and then to Alex, who looked like he was currently questioning all his life decisions. She gave the doctor a nod of approval to carry out the test, "I guess the result will have the answers." She stepped back as the doctor nodded and went into the ward, he returned with the necessary things needed to dr
Chapter 97Even though the shock of hearing Alex say he didn't want anything to happen to his child was still making Hayley's mouth hang open, she realized that seeing him being overprotective of her was better than any feeling in the world. But before she recovered from the shock, Alex was out the front door and was half running the rest of the way to his car. She ran after him and caught up with him, only to have him roll his eyes at her. He opened his mouth to tell her to go back but she shook her head, dragged the car keys from his hand and opened the car door, where she sat comfortably in the front and waited for him to join her. He did join her after sulking for three minutes, "You are too stubborn, Hayley. This is not good." "You said your son was in a critical condition, would you rather we remain here and argue than go to find out what is wrong?"He nodded his agreement and started the car, they drove out and covered the rest of the journey in an awkward silence, with Alex
Chapter 96The room she was out in had all the comfort, any other thing including food and water was brought in for her by a rather burly man who never smiled for once. There was a comfortable bed, a small seat and table with notebooks and a biro for her to write with, probably to keep her from losing her mind. But any gadget like mobile phone, laptop or even telephone was not allowed in her custody room. After the day he had caught and held her hostage, Claire had only seen Larry once after that and that was the evening of that day when he had come to tell her she should be comfortable but that he couldn't let her out. But she was losing her mind, not used to being locked up like this and certainly not used to being idle for so long. How did Larry expect her to remain locked up here and for how long? Surely he knew that the only way to keep her from talking was to kill her, and at this point, she didn't know if he would kill her. If he had managed to lock her up here for three da
❗️Trigger Warning❗️❗️This chapter talks about possible harm to a child and some other things that some might find upsetting! ❗️Chapter 95It didn't take up to a day for Sandy to find the paternity of Finn Xander. She sat in the car staring at the hospital she had just come out from, it was the same hospital in the paper that Smith had sent her, and she had been lucky enough to meet the same doctor who had attended to Ursula still working there. The bitch, she thought idly. She had managed to fool everyone all these years, thinking that no one would find out about all her evil schemes, she had smartly managed to get away with all that. But certainly, nothing is hidden under the sun, not even her stupid schemes. Fortunately, that doctor who had attended to her all those years ago knew too much, being that she had actually helped her carry out all her previous abortions and given her medical advice, Finn was her last hope for a child.Thanks to all that, even if Alex wanted to try fo
Chapter 94Smith stalked down the hotel hall with a very neutral mood. Ursula was away, which was one reason his mood was not so nice, he could already imagine all the things she would be doing with Alex while she was with him and none of that made him happy. But he was consoled by the fact that she had left a good portion of her belongings here, which was a clear indication that she would be back soon enough. So feeling bored himself, he decided to go to her room and make the most of the beautiful scent of her cologne which was still lingering there. The first thing his eyes caught was the pile of clothes on the bed which she had scattered in her haste to leave. With a sigh, Smith started folding and arranging the clothes into her traveling boxes all while humming a beautiful tune to cheer his mode. With Elizabeth this close to finding all the evidence that was needed to complete their plan, the thought of what would happen to Alex when all his plans fell into pleasant places was
Chapter 93Ghost That was all that kept ringing in Hayley's ears as she lay there on the cold floor, feeling the chill seep deep into her ribs. She had seen a ghost because she wanted to do something bad. How did she think she would attempt to destroy another person's home and get away with it? She could only hope that she was not dead at the moment. The irony of it, who would have thought that hell was this chilly? As she felt the sudden stab of pain in her abdomen, she winced, so she still had emotions too.Wow, hell was much more real than we thought. She managed to sit up, ignoring the thousand pains shooting up her body. By the time she was finally leaning her back against what felt like a cold metal, she shook her head and groaned. So she did finally end up in hell, Huh? Well, at least the punishment was better than damnation in eternal fire. "You are awake."That voice, Hayley's eyes shot open immediately, her vision was blurry but she waited until they adjusted to the blind