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“Ivy, what are you doing?” Ryan asked when he returned, his voice bringing Ivy back to the present. His eyes lowered to the file in Ivy’s hand and she placed it back on the table before smiling at him. She had wanted to go through it but Ryan returned before she could. “Ryan, can I work in your new jewelry company?” Ivy requested. Ryan frowned. He took a seat on his swivel chair and said, “Ivy-”“You’ve always been taking care of me… I’m a jewelry designer too and I would like to be of help to you.”When Ivy said that, the folds between Ryan’s eyebrows tightened. He thought about her condition and a complicated feeling crept into him. “Do you think I can’t manage to work in my condition?” Ivy asked in a soft, pitiful voice. Guilt filled Ryan’s heart and he didn’t know how to say no to her without making her feel bad. He cleared his throat and answered, “Of course you can work. You can join the company as one of the designers.” Ivy’s eyes lit up when he agreed. She smiled and rep
“How did you know about this place? Aren’t you new in this city?” Lora looked around the fancy restaurant and asked.Jason smiled. “I asked around about the best place to bring a beautiful lady on a date,” he remarked. Lora froze and her eyes slightly widened. When Jason saw her expression, he laughed heartily. He said, “Look at your expression. I’m just joking. I wanted to bring you here to celebrate your first partnership.” Lora came back to her senses after Jason clarified. She secretly let out a sigh of relief and replied, “Thank you, Jay. You’re always good to me… whether it's out of the country or here. I’m so grateful.” “It’s not for free… after this meal, you will owe me dinner too,” Jason uttered. Lora giggled. She shook her head before promising, “Of course, I’ll treat you to dinner next time.” The restaurant had dim lighting with some soft music playing in the background. It was giving off a calm but romantic vibe which was somewhat relaxing. As they continued to eat
“He still thinks the world revolves around him,” Lora muttered under her breath. Ryan had already left but anger was still bubbling up within her. She returned with a new identity to put her past behind her and start anew but it seemed she became entangled with Ryan and Ivy once again. Lora’s eyes flashed when she recalled the thug’s words before they set the warehouse on fire. Someone wanted her out of the way and Lora could only assume that it was Ivy. Now that Ryan was giving her unnecessary attention, Lora knew it was only a matter of time before she became Ivy’s target again. ‘I have to avoid Ryan at all costs to protect myself and my children,’ she mused. If Ivy knew Lora had Ryan's kids, only the heavens knew what she would do to them. Jason saw her expression and asked, “Do you know Ryan?” It was strange how the man kept following Lora around. Lora came back to the present after that question. She smiled and said, “How can I know such an important man? I was just an orp
“I promised to marry her, Grandpa,” Ryan replied. Ivy got hurt because she was going to meet him. If he abandoned her, he didn’t think he could live with himself. Charles Kingsley frowned as he stared at his grandson. He couldn’t understand how someone so smart could allow a woman to trick him. “As long as I’m the elder in this family, I’ll never allow it,” Charles commanded. “Ivy Williams can never become a Kingsley.” He spoke with authority and Ryan didn’t dare try to convince him. Even though Charles was old, he was still the Chairman of the Kingsley Group and still carried an air of dominance and authority. “Grandpa, she got hurt because-”“I don’t care about what lies she’s told you to make you this way. Ryan, if you want to end up like your father, continue entertaining that woman. I was already disappointed with how you treated Larisa. She was such a sweet, kind woman and you blew it,” Charles remarked. Silence fell over them. For Ryan, the mention of Larisa caused him so
"Mr Kingsley, it's rude to come into my office without knocking," Lora said in a clipped tone. "Lora Davis," Ryan emphasised Lora's full name, "I have something to confirm with you. ” "What's the matter? If it's work-related, I'm already working on my first design and I'll let you know when I am done," Lora answered. "Lora. No, Larisa to be exact. I want to talk about your identity," Ryan said, looking intently into Lora's eyes. Hearing Larisa's name again, Lora couldn't help but roll her eyes. She didn't understand why Ryan was so obsessed with her identity. "Mr. Kingsley, I've explained it many times. If you have mental problems, please go to the hospital for treatment, I am not a doctor. ”Ryan seemed to expect Lora's response. He looked at Lora with a smile, slowly took out his phone, and showed her the picture on his phone.Lora glanced at the picture on Ryan’s phone but her face did nothing to betray her emotions. “Mr Kingsley, I don’t know who this Larisa you keep talking
“Lora…” Ryan said through gritted teeth. “How dare you call me a scumbag?” Even though he was just teasing her after she accused him of stalking her, he didn’t expect her to call him that. Anger bubbled up within him as he glared at Lora. “Isn’t this what scumbags do?” Lora asked calmly. “You have no reason to get so close to me, Mr Kingsley. Please respect yourself and be more professional.” Ryan’s jaw clenched before he stepped away from Lora. He scoffed and replied, “Don’t be so full of yourself, Miss Lora.”Lora let out a sigh of relief. With Ryan getting so close, it was hard to keep her hatred in check and she didn’t want to expose herself. “I’m not full of myself but I expect the both of us to act professional and not cross the line,” Lora stated firmly. Ryan frowned but he didn’t say anything as he tried to calm down from the embarrassment of being rejected. “Why did you come back to my office anyway? I’m on my way out,” Lora said. She didn’t like how Ryan kept giving h
“Ivy, what happened?” Ryan asked anxiously the moment he walked into Ivy’s hospital VIP ward. He had rushed over the moment Ivy called and said she had been injured. Looking at her legs covered in bandages, guilt crept into him and squeezed his heart. Ivy lay on the bed as the doctor tended to her. “Ryan, you’re here,” she said in a soft pitiful voice. “Don’t worry, I’m fine, the injuries are not serious.”Hearing her say that when she was clearly in pain filled Ryan’s heart completely with guilt. He glanced at the doctor and inquired, “Doctor, tell me her condition. How is she?”The doctor who happened to be Ivy’s physiotherapist, Richard Hart, looked at Ryan and sighed. “Why was Miss Williams left alone without help? It could have been dangerous and life-threatening,” Doctor Richard said. Ryan’s heart jumped into his throat. Life threatening? He never wanted to experience someone dying because he couldn’t protect them again. It was the worst feeling ever. “Is she ok?” He aske
“Lora, you came just in time, dinner is almost ready,” Freya Davis, Lora’s mother, said the moment Lora walked into the mansion. Lora smiled and replied, “I’m so lucky, can’t wait to have dinner.” She had been working overtime to finish the design on time, so she had asked her parents to pick up the kids from school. “Mommy, you’re back!” Ella threw herself into her mother’s arms and Ethan did the same. “Hey, my sweethearts,” Lora hugged her two children and a warm smile crossed her lips. Whenever she saw her children, her heart felt at rest. “How was your new school? Do you like it?” “It’s the best school!” Ethan replied with a serious expression. “Don’t worry about us, Mommy. We are well taken care of by grandma and grandpa and the teachers at school are so kind.” Lora let out a sigh of relief. She had been worried her children would get bullied at school but luckily, all went well. Looking at her parents, Lora remarked, “Thank you so much, Mom and Dad.” “You don’t need to
Hello, lovely readers, We have come to the end of this book and I'm so grateful for the support I've received. Please if you can, support this book by leaving comments in the chapters and showering it with gems. It will help to make it get noticed faster. If you're new to my work, you can check out my other books on my GN profile, I'll highly appreciate it. I will be coming back soon with a new book. I hope you continue to support me even as I challenge myself as an author. Please find me on my socials using my penname. We can interact and get to know each other, haha. Thank you once more and I hope you like my next book. Love you lots. Kisses. Natie.
Months later… “Is it ok if we leave the children with you?" Ryan asked his family. It was the weekend and Ryan and Lora had decided to take the children to the Kingsley mansion so that they could spend time together. Charles Kingsley was already holding little Lucas while Miles was holding Riley. The twins had grown so fast and could now toddle around all over the place. “I don’t mind staying with them if they are this cute,” Charles remarked while making funny faces at little Lucas. Ella and Ethan were already following Diane around, asking her to take them shopping. They seemed not to care that their parents were going to leave them there. Ryan and Lora shared a look before laughing. Lora said, “It seems we are not needed.”“That’s because they know they are in safe hands,” Ryan replied. He called out to Diane, “Sis, you can use my card-”“Come on, I have my own money to spoil my niece and nephew,” Diane replied. “Besides, the only friend I have went abroad and is yet to be ba
Three months later... Adan carried Bianca into their villa. They had just arrived at the place they would spend their honeymoon at and Adan wanted to carry his wife into their villa. He went upstairs and placed her gently on the bed. Looking down at her, he grabbed her left hand and kissed her wedding ring. “I’m happy to be here with you, Mrs Nicholson,” he said in his deep velvety voice. Bianca’s face flushed pink. The last couple of weeks had been nothing but wonderful. Adan had taken her on several dates, they spent a lot of time together and had grown closer during that time. What was supposed to be an arranged loveless marriage turned out to be a marriage that they both wanted, the contract long forgotten. They held a grand wedding in the city and after the reception, they immediately got on a flight, not wanting to delay their honeymoon. After all, tonight was the first time they would make love to each other. Biting her lower lip, Bianca remarked, “I’m happy to be you
Bianca stood face to face with the woman who had run away earlier. She gulped, feeling a lump in her throat as she studied Serena Pierce’s facial features. Bianca had to admit she was beautiful. She had dark brown hair with captivating brown eyes and her body was to die for. “How can I help you?” Bianca asked, sounding a little stiff. She had no idea why the woman who had run away earlier was suddenly in her ward, so she had her guard up. “Are you worried that I’ll steal Adan away from you?” Serena answered with a question. "I heard you're having an arranged marriage."Bianca frowned, irritation flaring through her. She glanced at Serena and replied, “Look, if this is a confrontation about me staying away from Adan then please, save yourself the embarrassment and leave my ward. I don’t want to fight with you. After all, your parents saved my life.” “Do you love Adan?” Serena suddenly asked. "Or are you marrying him because you were forced to?"Silence fell over the place. Bianca
“Say that again,” Adan requested, looking into Bianca’s eyes. His heart was racing at a thousand miles per second and he could feel electric currents coursing through him, an aftereffect of the passionate kiss they just shared. Bianca’s face reddened. She bit her lower lip and sheepishly said, “I have feelings for you.” Adan felt like his heart had jumped out of his chest and soared high up into the sky. A grin formed on his lips, his eyes lit up with joy and he pulled Bianca in for a hug. “I know it will take some time for you to fall in love with me. But I’m willing to wait…” Adan remarked. The two continued to share a hug until someone at the door cleared their throat. “I see you lovebirds are getting closer.” The two pulled away from the hug and glanced at the door to see Lora and Ryan walking into the ward. Lora wore a smile on her face. She looked at her friend and was genuinely happy for her, knowing Bianca already had a crush on Adan but she didn’t want to accept it beca
"What?" Bianca blinked, her heart racing in her chest. Of all things, she didn't expect Adan to ask her such a question. "Didn't you say I wasn't your type?" She questioned, furrowing her eyebrows despite the millions of butterflies that were fluttering in her stomach. Adan chuckled. He cupped Bianca’s face and replied, "I lied. Why wouldn't you be my type? You're gorgeous. You're the most beautiful blonde, green-eyed goddess I've ever seen."Bianca’s face flushed pink. She bit her lower lip and said, "I now know why you're a playboy. Your game is smooth... if I didn't know you, I would have fallen for your charms."Hurt flickered through Adan's eyes. He sighed and replied, "I'm not a playboy. That's just what I made everyone believe." "What?" Bianca laughed. "Come on, Adan. I'm back and ok now. You don't need to come up with lies because you feel guilty for what happened. I already know why you never wanted to get married." "Bee... I don't know how to say this," Adan responded. "
Hours earlier. Bianca felt like she had been hit by a truck. Every cell in her body hurt. Breathing felt like she was swallowing molten lava. She hadn't eaten in the last two days, so she was very low on energy and her injuries were taking long to heal. "Have some soup. You're going to feel better and gain some strength," the elderly woman who had been taking care of Bianca offered. With difficulty, Bianca propped herself up and accepted the bowl. She then ate the soup quickly and the elderly woman watched her with a warm smile on her face. Bianca’s face was still swollen and bruised and it was hard to make out her facial features. "Thank you," Bianca said when she was done, her voice hoarse. "Oh don't mention it," the woman remarked. "My name is Rita Pierce. The man who saved you is my husband, Josaphat Pierce. Don't worry, you're safe here. We live with our daughter, Serena and our three grandchildren." Bianca nodded, looking around and realising she was in a modest bedroom
“Sir, we've found something.” Adan’s heart jumped to his throat at those words. He turned sharply to face one of the IT men, asking, “What did you find?” “Although we can’t see the kidnapper, we can see Miss Jones being forced into a second car on a camera near the blind spot. The license plate was fake, but we are working on tracking the make and the model to know who owns the car,” the IT man reported. “What about the thing I asked you to look into?” Adan inquired. He was referring to the background check he had ordered on Cheryl. “Yes, we did find something,” the IT man replied. “She had withdrawn about a hundred thousand dollars from her savings account two days ago. However, since she didn’t use digital transfer, we can’t trace where the money went. We just have to wait until we find the owner of the second vehicle.” Adan’s jaw clenched and Ryan placed a hand on his shoulder before squeezing it. He said, “We are going to find her, bro.”“I swear, if Cheryl has anything to do
“Are you telling me none of you were able to find my fiancee?” Adan yelled. “Then what the hell am I paying so much money for?” “We are working on it, Sir,” the IT man said. “We need time-”“Time? Does my fiancee have the luxury of time? Each second that she’s out there, she’s in danger. I need to find her as soon as possible,” Adan hissed, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep. It had been two days since Bianca went missing. Two days since the one who had tampered with the CCTV at the club disappeared and two days without any news about Bianca. Adan was going crazy. Who would dare kidnap his fiancee? He didn’t remember having any enemies recently. Could it have been someone with an old grudge? Grudges were not a new thing in the business world. The competition was stiff and winning certain projects meant being hated by the others who wanted the same projects. Adan hired the best hackers in the city to track Bianca. However, they were only able to find the first vehicle she was t