I watched my father take the mic as he stood on the stage. His face glowed with a smile, and everyone could tell that he was excited. He was dressed in a dark blue tuxedo, vibrant and full of life. One could tell without knowing him properly that he was a wealthy man. The way he carried himself spoke volumes. At first, he addressed the public, telling them how happy he was that they could make it to the party on such short notice. Even I am shocked about that, just yesterday they were invited and boom! More than a thousand people are here. "Are you okay?" Liam asked from the side and I forced a smile at him. My fingers were trembling, my palms sweaty and I couldn't stop stamping my left foot on the ground out of nervousness. "I'm fine," I replied before inhaling and exhaling some air to calm myself. I have never been in such a position before and I am praying earnestly not to faint before I get on stage. "Just yesterday…" Father's words flew into my ears, "I found out that I had
Annalise's POV. My heart raced, and I felt the room spin as my father's words hung in the air. "The heir... Annalise George Smith!" The name echoed through the hall. Gasps of surprise rippled through the guests, their eyes turning toward me and I wish the ground to give way beneath me."Dad, what... what are you saying?" I stammered, the weight of the revelation sinking in. The life I had known, one of humble origins, shattered as the truth about my life was revealed. The gasps around me reflected the disbelief that clenched my own heart."You, my dear, are the one with the gift," my father explained, his voice resonating, his eyes holding a mixture of pride and expectation. The world I thought I knew crumbled, replaced by the new responsibility of inheriting an empire."But... But... I... You.." I stuttered, my heart on the verge of beating out of my chest.Good Lord! What's happening?!"Darling..." I heard a familiar feminine voice called and I slowly turned to see my grandma headi
It was like I had suddenly become intimidating to them because their eyes kept darting left and right. Grandma kept speaking about how she got to know the Walford family and how nice they are and I couldn't help but smirk. Nice, huh? No matter how well Grandma said she knew them, I can boldly say that I knew them better. I stayed with them and have experienced each and every one of them firsthand. I didn't want to cause a scene here in the party, my party so when Grandma finally said,"Mr. and Mrs. Walford, meet my daughter, Annalise George Smith," I quickly stretched out my hand for them to take in a handshake, acting like I didn't know them, I forced out a smile, "Hello, nice to meet you," Nice to meet you. Definitely not them The look on their face switched immediately from fear to confusion. I swear, they might be wondering if I wasn't the same Annalise they had sent out of their house a few weeks ago. My hand remained hanging as none of them had taken it yet and Grandma sq
"Security!" Grandma kept yelling, causing everyone to look our way. I almost shrank as I inwardly prayed that the ground open and swallow me. I saw Father rushing towards us, and Liam also had come from wherever he hid himself. I didn't know why Grandma loved to be the center of attention. I am not against it but can you not add me to it, Grandma? "Mother, what's wrong?" Father asked and I glanced at Grandma hoping she wouldn't tell the world that her granddaughter got divorced. I don't know how I would be able to look at anyone in the eyes I think Grandma sensed how I was feeling because she said, "This family here disrespected my granddaughter, the heir to the Smith family and I want them thrown out of this ball right this minute!" Her voice was loud and if you didn't see her, you wouldn't know it was an old lady speaking. "Security!!" She screamed again and Father said, "Don't shout. The security will come, do not stress yourself they'll be thrown out," I looked at my father
As father and Grandmother had said it was how it was because the next morning I woke up and went downstairs, I met half of the family staring at the TV as the newscaster explained how the Walford family had gone bankrupt. Even though I knew Father and Grandmother had the power to do so, I couldn't understand how that had happened so fast like lightning. Not only did they destroy the entire company, they made sure the news carried it. Oh boy! Don't mess with the Smith family. I stood there staring at the television, forgetting the reason I had come downstairs in the first place. My eyes were wide in shock as I watched how their trade status dropped so bad, it would take the grace of God to bring it back up. Not only that, many shareholders had suddenly begun to withdraw from the company saying they no longer had interest in the company anymore.Oh, daddy is harsh. He made it so public that it would be difficult for the Walford family to stop it from reaching every ear. This is so b
“Anna” I turned around with red eyes only to see Liam walking over to where I stood. Does he know our house? Right, he does. He knows more about my family than I do, I keep forgetting that. “Liam!” Mia screamed excitedly before I could even call his name. She sprang away from where she stood, passing me in the process only to go and hug Liam.My jaws clenched along with my fingers. Did they have something together? Their closeness since last night. I brushed the feeling away, not wanting to add to the anger I was feeling inside me. I doubted Liam would yell at me for what I wanted to do to Mia. I should have just done it, give her that dirty slap on her face, leaving my fingerprints on her cheek, red and rosy. Although I was standing in the midst of a lot of people, I was lost thinking of the pleasure I would have felt seeing the bitch cry. Spoilt to the core, she's the dirty bitch! “Are you okay, Anna?” I blinked when I heard Liam ask. He was speaking to me. With a shocked ex
“My gift?” I asked and he hummed,“Yes, yes, your gift,” walking from behind to come and sit at the other swing beside me, he searched his trousers pocket and brought out a box. My heart skipped multiple beats when I saw the box. A ring? What the hell! Was it because I had treated his legs and he could now walk? Why would he give me a ring as a… Oh no. Did he even know that I am a divorcee? I gulped when I saw him stand from the swing, he was coming to kneel in front of me. No, God, no… I shut my eyes tightly, my fingers clenched to the swing when I heard him say, “Do you like it?” Slowly I opened my eyes only to see a very beautiful silver necklace in front of me. It was so beautiful, my eyes twinkled. “Liam…” I called as I reached for it and caressed it. He let me have it before going back to sit on the swing, “I can help you wear it after you're done staring at it,” he said a little while after and I blinked multiple times. “The necklace is too beautiful, you can't blame me,
“Can you both please stop that?” I hissed after a few minutes. They could argue forever if I didn't stop them. There was silence for a while and I breathed out in relief before they began bombarding me with questions. “Oh my dear, Annalise. How are you?” “We watched the news. My darling is a billionaire!” Grandma yelled covering Mother's question. I didn't know what to say to both of them. How can I forget that the whole party was caught on camera last night? So definitely, they must have seen when I was announced the heir. I still haven't gotten used to it yet. Not only was I not used to it, but the family whom I just recently found out I was part of, hated the fact that I was selected as the heir. It was their continuous annoying talks that made me forget what I was wearing when Liam came. And that man couldn't even tell me!“Huh… Anna, are you there?” Oh shit!“Yes mom, grandma. I'm so glad to hear from you both again! How are you doing over there?” “We are fine. Just missin
Annalise's POVThe drive to the Smith family house was swift and quiet. That was because Liam was deep in thought about what I had told him. I shouldn't have but I didn't know when it slipped my mouth as I spoke about the stress I had been facing because of him in school. Well, I think it's because we haven't spoken for a long time and I needed to tell him a lot about what had been going on in my life. I had missed him. When we got to the family house, Liam came over to open the car for me like a gentleman, “Ready?” I sighed, “I don't think I can ever be” “That was what you said when you wanted to go for the reunion but see how it turned out” he smiled at me. I wanted to be positive so I nodded, assuring myself that I was here to only visit Father and Grandma then I'll go back home. “Ah, what's she doing here?” I heard one of the sons speak. What was his name again…? Jerry. “Big sist,” another one smiled as he came over to meet me then pulled me into a hug before I knew it. A fr
Liam's POVIf I say I haven't missed Annalise, I would be a big fat liar. I didn't know I'd get to miss a girl like I missed her. This only means that she had entered my system and had mixed with my blood because what kind of a man would drive from his house early in the morning only to come to stare at a girl's house for more than an hour then drive off? I've been doing that for the past three days. I'll go to her house and park my car there, staring at the house for minutes, and turn to an hour before finally going to work. I had tried as much as I could to put all my attention to work. And yes, I had bullied my employees because I had diverted my anger at them. They suffered it more. The project they were supposed to accomplish in a week, ended up doing within days, really annoying how I had transferred aggression to them. When I heard that Annalise was downstairs, I literally jumped up from my chair. My heart raced as I tried to put my office in order, not like anything was out
Annalise's POVI didn't get any call from Liam, it's been four days. I didn't know he was that hurt. I had stayed with Jared and his son, Alex, in the hospital for two nights. I expected Liam to call and ask how I was doing, but I never received a call from him. That was unlike him. “Anna, shouldn't you be home and resting since you don't have classes today or any emergency yet?” Grandma J asked. I was wearing my shoes as I replied, not looking at her,“Yes, but I want to go and visit someone. I will be back soon, I need the rest too” She didn't say anymore but I assume she got the message. It's also funny how none of them had teased me about Liam since the hospital thing. Did Liam ask them to stop? Within these few days, I also noticed that Benson's flowers and letters also increased and Professor Ken has been a bone in my throat. I wish I could just explode at him and tell him what I really think but I don't want to be disobedient to my professor. As for Mia, she's on a low and I
Annalise's POV “Liam…” I called, a bit shocked at the way he was acting. This was my office and Jared is a patient's parent here, he can't come and start acting like a jealous husband now. Jared held me by the shoulder to stop me from saying any more before he moved closer to Liam, “Hi, I'm Jared” he stretched his hand for a handshake. Liam looked at his hand and didn't bother to take it, he had a deep frown on his face as he looked away from Jared and asked me instead,“Are you ready to go home?” I watched Jared drop his hand, seeing that Liam wasn't planning to take it for a handshake. Damn you, Liam! What kind of jealousy was this? And how do you act this way seeing that the man wants to be friends? I folded my arms across my chest and said,“Liam, this is Jared, his son was rushed to the hospital because he took some poisonous substance” I tried to explain the best way I could. Maybe he would finally face Jared and give the man the respect he deserved. Liam looked from me fi
Annalise's POV. "Jared... What are you doing here?" I asked, my surprise evident in my voice. I never knew I'd see him so soon after the school reunion. "Hey Anna, it's so good to see you again." He waved and I gave him a half smile. "Yeah. What brought a star to the hospital, did you do any dangerous stunt while shooting any movie and broke some bones?" "Well, with a doctor like you at my service, I don't mind breaking all my bones cause I know you'll fix them, just like you fix my son." He chuckled and confusion settled in me. "Your son?" I asked in confusion."Yeah, the nanny brought him to the hospital before calling me, the boy you just finished treating is my son, he was rushed to the hospital some hours ago." He explained and my mouth and eyes opened wide in shock. "You... You had a son?" I questioned in awe and he let out a cackle before nodding in affirmation. "Wow, that's so cool." I found myself saying and he chuckled the more.Yeah, I'm overreacting but wow! "Looks
Annalise's POV. "Hey Annalise." I bullet my head towards the direction of the voice only to see professor Ken standing with two beautiful plastic cups of coffee. "Um, good morning professor, what brings you here?" I asked, my eyes fixed on him. He was cute but nothing compared to Liam."I guessed I'll see you here since you ain't in school, I've been looking for you." He gave me a cup and I nodded my thank you.He sat beside me and because of the closed proximity, I shifted, letting out a forced giggle.What does he want?"So how's the school treating you?" His eyes were on me and it made me very uncomfortable and conscious."Good, it's been great sir. Can I help you? I'm preparing for the upcoming test and I need my full focus." I smiled and he gave me a nod of understanding."It's alright, I was wondering if you're free this weekend." The fake smile on my face disappeared as I stared at the man, this wasn't the first time he was asking this week, "As I've said before sir, I am n
Annalise's POV“Grandma!” I gasped in shock as I looked around. The light was turned on for me to see properly only to find Grandma J, Mother, and Grandma Smith smiling at me. What the hell?!“Why aren't you all asleep?” I asked, staring at each of them. And why is Grandma Smith still here? “It's almost 12 in the morning, why aren't you all in bed?” “And miss all of that?” Grandma J asked, referring obviously to the kiss. Damn it! I should have noticed that they were watching.“This is so unfair spying on me!” I almost yelled when Grandma Smith silenced me, “Nonsense, child! We have better things to do than spy on our grandchild, right J?” She turned to Grandma J who grinned with both her hands in front of her like a kid, “Of course” I rolled my eyes at them before asking, “So what were you guys doing? If you weren't spying, how would you know about the kiss?”“Well…” Grandma Smith stated, “I wanted to leave…” “Yeah…?” “So we opened the door and saw you both kissing, we quickl
Annalise POVSince I left the hotel and got into Liam’s car, I have been smiling like a fool. I don’t know which of the events was making me smile so hard but I was happy, really happy, and relieved. All that happened tonight continues to fill my head and sometimes I end up giggling in the car. “Was the party that exciting?” Liam’s voice rang out pulling me out of my thoughts.“Why did you ask that?” I asked turning to face him and he raised his chin at my face,“You’ve been smiling since we left the hotel” and I pressed my lips together, the smile still lingering that my cheeks began to hurt. I wanted to hold it in but just couldn’t anymore,“You should see Elsa’s face, and Sasha just couldn’t believe I was the one who treated her husband. I can’t believe I feared those freaks while in school. They were just weaklings trying to use other people’s weaknesses and turn them into their strengths”“That’s the spirit” Liam grinned.The car suddenly went quiet again, everyone in their own
Liam's POVI stormed down the stairs with David at my heels, his fucking annoying protests falling on deaf ears. My eyes were locked on Annalise and the man who dared to put his hands on her. The sight of him embracing her so intimately fueled my jealousy and possessiveness to an uncontrollable level that surprised me so much. How did my feelings for her skyrocketed so much, I know I admire her, I love her kind of person and I respect her but all these? How? My feelings for her were just something I'm finding hard to understand and to make things more crazy, I don't know how to control it. As I neared the group, I could hear Elsa’s shrill voice cutting through the chatter, “You know, it’s funny how Annalise thinks she’s better than us now that fortune smiled on her, she can be a fucking heir but she's still the pathetic Annalise. Let me tell you something, everyone. That guy hugging her? He’s none other than her school crush! She was so pathetically in love with him that it was emba