As the heavy rain poured down, I made my way to my parents' house as the driver navigated through the storm. Although I was told by my parents not to come at this time because of the bad weather, I really needed them right now; they were the only ones who could comfort me. I had no one else apart from them.When we got home, the rain lashed against the car with a persistent force. As I got out of the car, a maid quickly approached with an umbrella, shielding me as we made our way inside. I met my mom anxiously pacing to and fro in the living room. As soon as she saw me, she rushed over, pulling me into a tight hug. I clung to her as I burst into tears, crying heavily on her shoulder while she gently patted my back, telling me that everything would be okay. But nothing would be okay right now.She disengaged from the hug and gently led me to the chair where I sat, with her beside me and my father sitting across from us, concern lacing his face while I greeted him. The maid brought a ju
EMELIA'S POVI could not stop laughing as I tried to fix my eyes on the road. May's confession and recounting of what happened at her house was absurdly funny. I found it hard to believe that she was actually dating Kingsley.Well, don't get me wrong, it was just that May had a big mouth and a reputation as a gold digger. Every guy she had ever dated was either the son of a wealthy family, a celebrity, or even a business tycoon because she always claimed she would never date an average guy who didn't have access to two or more companies. Kingsley, on the other hand, was just a secretary, so that was why I was amazed."But how exactly did the two of you fall in love when you are always at each other's throats?" I asked, still chuckling."Ahh, about that," she began, fiddling with her hair, twirling it around her finger as she smiled, "I wanted to meet a few friends, you remember my high school friends; Priscilla, Cassy and the rest?” She asked as I nodded. “I begged him to pretend he w
My eyes roamed the entire familiar, dimly lit room as I patiently sat inside the investigation room, fiddling with my finger as the image of the man replayed in my head. I had been summoned by the cops because I was the last person that he had called and was also at the scene of his death since he actually fell on my car.I closed my eyes and tried to stop myself from remembering what happened, but it was not really helping. It had been two days, but I still could not get it out of my head. Maybe it was because I personally witnessed this. I clenched my trembling hands together and took a deep breath.Maybe I really shouldn't have called him. Maybe I really shouldn't have tried to investigate this. Two people had already died as a result of my actions, all because of me. This was definitely the Aldriche family's doing; they are eradicating any trace left behind.Why exactly did I let my guard down?The door creaked open, and I raised my head only to see him again, wearing a wide smile
It's been hours since I had been locked inside this cell, a place where I had never for once imagined I would be. The thick air was filled with the stench of sweat, rusted metal, and tension; as this place was full of different kinds of criminals who had either taken lives or committed other serious crimes. Their cold gazes lingered on me, and I knew it was just a matter of time before I became their prey.The other cellmates all deferred to one huge woman, who seemed to command their respect and fear and if I guessed correctly, she was the boss of this cell. I just huddled in the corner near the door so I could quickly bang on it or scream for help if they made any move on me.They called this place a temporary prison, a holding cell for criminals awaiting judgment, but it did not look temporary to me as it really felt like a real prison. Although I had never seen a real prison before but I bet it wouldn't be worse than this.The walls were grimy, the floor sticky and cold with no si
CASSIUS'S POVI stared at the brown file in my hand, and a surge of pain coursed through my heart. My grip tightened as I found it hard to believe he could do such a thing. This hurt me deeply, as the people I always thought would never do such things actually did.“Were my family really the kind of people Emelia claimed they were, or perhaps there was some sort of misunderstanding?” I thought.There must definitely be an explanation for this, and I think it would be good if I heard his side of the story before I made any decisions.I sighed heavily as I opened the car door before the driver could reach my side.“Don't park in the garage, I will be back soon,” I told him as I stepped out of the car.I made my way in, and the headmaid, Betsy, quickly approached me as soon as her gaze landed on me as she was surprised by my sudden visit at this late hour.“Where is Dad?” I asked, not answering her questions. She told me he was in his office, and I headed there immediately.In this mansi
Without even greeting anyone or announcing my presence that I came home, I stormed out of the house while Betsy’s voice called after me, “Are you not going to see your grandfather?” She asked, but I didn't reply as I just headed straight to my car.Immediately the driver saw me, he quickly opened the car door for me with a bright smile in his face. I stared at the car and I suddenly felt suffocated and I think a long drive would do the work.“Just give me the key and go home,” I told the driver, and his bright smile suddenly disappeared, now maskee with a surprised. He looked at me with guilt and sadness on his face and I was sure that he might have thought that he had done something wrong to annoy me, but I really had no time for all this now; I owned him no explanation for my actions. I just snatched the key from his hand and slammed the door he had opened shut.“ Sir,” he called after me as I walked to the driver's side and slipped into the seat, driving off.Once I reached the hi
I stared at Cassius as he stirred in his sleep with his face peacefully and relaxed, making him look like a baby and I could not help but smile as I watched him. I gently used my fingertip to trail down his nose and saw a small curve at the right corner of his lips, which meant he was awake. I leaned closer to him and whispered into his ear, “I know you are already awake.”Cassius groaned as he pretended to just be waking up and stretched out his arm. He turned to me and then wrapped his arm around me tightly while we both faced each other on the bed with our faces inches apart.“Good morning, my shining mirror!” he said with a smile, which I returned. “How was your night?”“Well... it wasn't that bad,” I replied, and we both chuckled softly.Cassius and I had settled everything yesterday, and I was very happy that he had decided to choose me instead of his father. He had sent all the evidence he had against his father to my phone, and that brought me nothing but joy. But I promise hi
“Sweetheart!” I exclaimed as I rushed to the kitchen where I found May standing at the counter, crying as she chopped the onions.I hugged her immediately while she sniffled. “I really missed you a lot, do you know that?” I asked as I planted a kiss on her left cheek but she didn’t respond and just continued with the onions with tears streaming down her face.May really hates onions and I wondered why she was forcing herself to do this. “Let me help you with that,” I offered, reaching for the knife, but she refused my help.“Just have a seat. I’ll be the one to feed you this morning,” she declined in a sad voice and I knew she felt guilty for leaving me alone there.“May, thank you.”“For what? It’s not like I was with you when you spent time in that cruel place,” she replied, unable to even look up at me.“Yeah, I know... but you did a lot more to help than just being with me in there. You took care of the kids and informed Cassius about me being in jail. What if we were both in ther
“Okay, I can do this,” I whispered as the grand doors loomed before me.I felt butterflies in my stomach, and I was really nervous. I hoped I wouldn’t embarrass myself by falling because I was trembling.Do you know why? Because IT'S MY WEDDING DAY!!!The moment I had waited for and dreamed about for so long. The wishes and dreams of every woman, and now, mine was about to come true. Or maybe I should say it had already come true.But as I stood there all alone, the smile on my face faded as I remembered the reality; I would be walking down this aisle alone. With no father to guide me, no mother to whisper comforting words to me about marriage.Although Eunice did help with all of this as we spent three days talking about marriage, I still wished it was my own mother. I learned a lot from Eunice’s words, and her love for her husband was the perfect example of a wife’s love. Despite her husband's heart belonging to another, she stayed with him, even now, as she finally learned to accep
“You came faster than I thought,” I said as I entered the Chinese restaurant room, seeing Jamez already sitting down.“I can’t believe you asked me to come here and still arrived late,” he replied.“I’m sorry, I had to pick someone up on my way.”“Hmm, I’ll be quick. Since I helped you last time with Desmond issues, so you should help me this time.”“Of course, we’re here to help each other. So what exactly do you need?”“I want to launder some money, but that fool has been keeping an eye on me.”“You mean your wife?”“Of course, who else? She’s always trying to act like the boss. Lately, she’s been nosy about everything happening in the company, keeping me in check. So I need to take everything I want before she tries anything stupid.”“I find that hard to believe. Don’t you both love each other?”“Love?” He scoffed. “If she hadn’t kept control of the company, I’d have divorced her a long time ago.”“But I thought she gave you all her property. Aren’t you in charge?”“That’s true, bu
ONE YEAR LATER“Good work, everyone,” I said, lifting up my hand and high-five with Kira.Kira was now working with me and in team B department. She’s also part of the reason why today's show was a success.“Wow, I can't believe we actually did it!” Betsy squealed in happiness.“But what happened to your hair? Why did you cut it? Are you going through a heartbreak?” Alexasked, and she rolled her eyes at him.“But, why did you only praise Team B? Is it because they're your favorite team?” Kathy's loud voice echoes through the room as she enters.I smiled at her words.“Of course not. I was just making my rounds and visiting all the teams,” I replied, and then she grabbed my hand and dragged me towards her team.As we were heading to her department, I suddenly felt the floor become slippery, but Kathy caught me and stopped me from falling.“Who is the monkey that did this terrible job here?” she yelled angrily, and all the cleaners quickly rushed towards us.“I’m very sorry, ma'am. It's
With my mouth agape, I looked at Mary, who still continued laughing."Is that true?" I turned to Mary."What if it is?” She answered without a hinto of guilt. “ Do you think if I hadn’t lied, you would have married me? Do you think you would have even given me a chance?" She asked Cassius "Is that why you did all this? Because you wanted him, knowing I loved him?" My voice quivered."Can you please shut up? You liked him? Then why didn’t you tell him? Why does everyone always like you and not me?""What are you talking about? Mary, everyone loved you, even your parents.""Look at her, acting clueless. Do you know why I broke up with all my boyfriends? Because they all said you were beautiful.‘Oh, Emelia is such a goddess.’‘Look at her glowing skin.’‘I wish I could be her friend.’‘Can you at least be like Emelia for once?’Those were their words. They admired you and always said you were every man's dream, while I was right there beside them.""Mary…" I called softly, realizing sh
EMELIA'S POVChecking the news, I saw both positive and negative comments. Some people were happy about the news, while others criticized me for being with Cassius after almost ruining his entire family.“Stop looking at this,” Cassius said as he shut the laptop.I heaved heavily, feeling frustrated and unsure of what to do.“Just give it a while; everything will sort out,” he said with a reassuring smile, and I nodded.I shouldn’t have let the kids go to school today. Who knows if those reporters went to their school? I picked up my phone to call their teacher, but David’s call came in.I bit my lip, feeling tense because I was sure it was about the news of Cassius acknowledging the kids.“Let me talk…”“No, I will,” I declined, standing up from my seat and picking up the call.“Hey, sweetie. Did you miss me a lot?”“Did I? I don’t really think I did, but I miss those troublesome big heads,” he joked, and a smile flashed across my face..David and I had a conversation, and I asked ab
MARY'S POVThe smell of hospital disinfectant filled my nose as I slowly opened my eyes. Looking around, I realized I was in a hospital room. The memories of everything that had happened came flooding back.“Cassius,” I muttered in anger as my hand tightened into a fist.I should never have trusted him or signed the divorce papers first. Now, everything I had worked for all these years was gone. I lost everything; my family, my marriage, my honor, and my prestige. There wasn’t a single thing I could claim as a gain from this marriage. Cassius had used me as a tool until Emelia returned to his arms.I laughed like a crazy person, and my laughter echoed across the room. The nurses exchanged worried glances before one of them rushed out. A short while later, she returned with Linda.“Are you okay now?” Linda asked as she walked to my side. I continued to stare into an empty spot.“Your husband brought you here and left immediately. I….”“He pushed me, and I hit my head heavily on the gro
CASSIUS'S POVWearing my clothes, I gently placed a kiss on her forehead and tiptoed out of the bedroom, heading out of the house. I had something I needed to do urgently. I entered my car and drove to my house.On getting home, I picked up a brown folder and took a deep breath. I needed to settle everything today. Grabbing a recording device, I entered the house but didn’t find anyone, so I went to the bedroom. As I slightly opened the door, I heard Mary screaming at someone on the phone.“What do you mean by treatment? How can I get a treatment at this time?” she yelled angrily, and my shoulders slumped.What? She is sick? How could I not know about it?Different questions raced through my mind as I rethought what I wanted to do. What kind of husband asks for a divorce from his sick wife? Staring at the brown folder in my hand, I decided not to go through with it. As I was about to close the door, I stopped at what I heard next.“Don’t you hear what I’m saying? I can’t get any trans
I heaved heavily, my heart thumping as if it would jump out of my chest at any moment."Do you think he will forgive me?" I asked, fidgeting with my fingers, resting my back against the car.Cassius leaned closer to me and held my hand, stopping me from fidgeting with my fingers."I think he will, and if he doesn't, I am here for you," he said with a smile, which I returned.I apologized to Cassius and his family. Although it was very hard for them to forgive me for my actions, they still did. His father is being released today, while George has been sentenced to life imprisonment for what he did.Desmond's secretary actually went to deliver a message to a man that also lived in the dead cop building. I heard the man was very close to Desmond.The Aldriche family was still recovering from their loss, and I hope they really do. Betsy apologized for her actions, but surprisingly, Cassius's mom just hugged her, realizing she did so because of her only granddaughter's death. Every parent
"You called me?” I asked as I approached Bryan."Yes, I did because there is good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?""Just tell me. I've seen a lot in this life, and it really doesn't matter anymore. Whatever happens will happen.""Okay. The good news is that Lydia wasn't the culprit," Bryan said. I felt a small wave of relief, a smile briefly gracing my lips. Maybe I had hoped too much for her not to be the one."Her husband, George, is the one. That's the bad news," Bryan added, and my shoulders slumped.I tried to speak, but no words came out. What was going on in my head at this moment was still unknown to me. I know there was no different if the wife or husband was the culprit but it was still surprisingly.Bryan asked me to follow him, leading me to where Leonard was being interrogated. Trialing behind him with my grip tighten on the bag I was holding, my heart pounded heavily. I didn't even know if seeing him was a good thing because I was still trembling