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The day of the annual Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) meeting had arrived and Ryan was present as promised. "Are you sure you're not busy?" Lora asked worriedly when they arrived at the children's school. "No, I'm not... I'll be going on leave soon so I've delegated most of my work," Ryan replied. "And I wouldn't miss this important moment for anything in the world. My father stopped showing up when I was young and it affected me... I don't want our kids to go through the same." Lora bit her lower lip, her heart feeling full. There was just something attractive about a responsible, present father. Right at that moment, Lora loved Ryan a little more. Ryan and Lora entered the school auditorium, holding Ethan and Ella’s hands. The hall was buzzing with a low hum of parents and teachers chatting as they filled the seats. Ethan and Ella immediately spotted their friends and waved excitedly. They wanted their friends to see that they came with both their parents to the PTA meeting. “
Days later... Lora was having an interview for a business magazine. The interviewer glanced at her and asked, “Miss Davis, you’re so young and already so successful. How did you manage to become the CEO of Davis & Co. at only twenty-eight years old?”Lora smiled. She looked at the interviewer and replied, “Well, My daddy is the boss... so...”The audience laughed and Lora chuckled, her words lifting the tension in the room. It was a live show with a few guests in the background while Lora and the interviewer sat in front, facing the audience. “Are you saying you got your position because of your father?” The interviewer asked. “Yes,” Lora admitted. “How would I manage to rise so fast if it weren’t for him?” She took in a deep breath and continued, “My father saw potential in me... he believed that I could lead the company to greater heights and that’s why he gave me this opportunity to take over from him. I did get the position because of my surname... but I work hard every day
“Mommy, would you like to go on a date with us?” Ethan asked Lora over the weekend. Lora arched an eyebrow. She was seated in the garden, relaxing on a swing and reading one of her favorite books.Ryan had gone on a business trip to seal a deal, so he wasn’t around to keep her busy. She looked at Ethan and laughed, “A date? Can you afford one?” “Of course!” Ethan responded and took out a black card. “Big Grandpa gave us our allowance and we want to spoil you.”Lora’s eyes widened as she stared at the card meant for VIPs. Who gives a five-year-old an unlimited card as an allowance?Lora sighed, stretching her hand to cup Ethan’s face. She replied, “Thank you, sweetheart. But this is your allowance… you get what you want. Mommy already has money.” “I know you have money, but we just want to do something special for you… please?” Ethan remarked, batting his eyes. Lora chuckled, amused at Ethan’s attempt to act cute. It was rare to see him like this, so she gave in. “Fine… but we won’
Days earlier. Ryan went to the Davis mansion to see Freya Davis when Lora was at work. “You didn’t waste time, huh? Thirty days on the dot,” Freya remarked as she held a mug in her hand, stirring her tea. “I’ve come for feedback,” Ryan replied confidently. He smiled and said, “Honestly, I wouldn’t blame you if you still don’t want me in your daughter’s life. As a parent now myself, I can’t even imagine someone hurting my children.”He took a sip of the tea he was served before he continued, “But I do believe people change for the ones they love… I might have been indifferent to Lora back in the day but now, I know what she means to me. I know she’s a treasure that I can’t lose. I know that without her, there’s no me. I would lose myself completely if I lost her again. This is why I will never do anything to hurt Lora again, I promise.” Silence fell over the place and Ryan waited patiently for Freya’s response. His heart was galloping wildly in his chest, hoping for a positive answ
Lora’s heart fluttered, butterflies in her stomach going wild. Tears rolled down her cheeks when she looked into Ryan’s eyes. She knew he would propose to her soon, but she had no idea he would do it this way. When she was in the helicopter, looking down at what Ryan had prepared, she thought she was dreaming. The effort he had put into the proposal was out of this world. She felt like she was a princess in her own fairytale movie. “Thank you, Ryan. I really like this surprise,” Lora remarked, sniffing away her tears. Ryan smiled and wiped Lora’s tears away before saying, “I’m glad you love it, baby.” The crowd soon joined the couple to congratulate them and wish them well. Charles Kingsley was the first to hug his grandson. He patted his back and said, “What you’ve done right here, sonny… this is what a real man does. I’m so proud of you.” Ryan smiled, hugging his grandfather back. He replied, “Thank you, Grandpa. I’m glad you were always there to guide me and make me realise
“Is this some kind of joke?” Bianca questioned, glaring at the man in front of her. “No, it’s not. I’m here to be your partner-”“You’re not a model-”“For today, I am,” Adan responded and silence fell over the place. “I’m done here,” Bianca hissed, turning to leave. “Miss Jones, where are you going? We have a contract!” The director yelled. “Well, then you better sue me for breach of contract. I’m out of here!” Bianca yelled back as she left. The staff members glanced at Adan helplessly. “Sir, we-”Adan raised his hand to stop the men from speaking. He chuckled and said, “Let me talk to her.” He ran after Bianca before grabbing her arm, saying, “Hey-”However, Bianca flung his hand away viciously, spitting, “Don’t touch me!” Adan was taken aback by Bianca’s outburst. ‘I probably deserved that,’ he mused, knowing he had messed up when he let his emotions get the better of him the last time they talked. “Why are you tripping?” Adan asked, looking into her eyes. Anger flared th
The bridesmaids tried on their dresses and the men tried on their suits. The women would wear peach while the men would wear grey suits with peach bowties. “I love the dresses so much! As usual, you have a good eye for beautiful things, Lora,” Bianca exclaimed and Diane agreed with her. “That’s right... the dresses are comfortable and easy to dance in. I can’t wait to see your wedding dress-““I’m the only one seeing the wedding dress, the rest of you can see it on the wedding day,” Ryan remarked, his words making Diane pout. “That’s not fair, bro. You guys saw our dresses,” she complained. “That’s because it’s our wedding and we need to make sure you guys look good. As for the bride, I’ll help her choose the wedding dress she likes,” Ryan proclaimed. The rest of the guys chuckled. Adan said, “I guess we are no longer needed here.”“We still need your opinion on the wedding cake. So you can wait as I try on the dresses and then we can pick the cake,” Lora replied. She glanced at
Ryan and his two groomsmen sat in a private room at the club, drinking whiskey and playing poker as soft music played in the background. Adan threw the stack of cards on the table in frustration and said, “Come on, Ryan! When you said you wanted to have a bachelor party since you never had one before you got married, I thought it was going to be wild man… Drinks, women- all the fun stuff. I can’t believe you want to play poker during your bachelor party.” Ryan frowned at his friend and replied, “Did you just say women? I’m a married man… I can’t hang out with other women. What if Lora leaves me again?”Adan rolled his eyes. “You won’t be cheating… it’s just to liven up the environment. This is boring, man.” “Of course, players like you would find this boring. Have you seen Aiden complaining?” Ryan asked and Aiden arched an eyebrow. He smirked and asked, “Shouldn’t you call me Uncle?” Adan laughed out loud. He exclaimed, “Yeah! Ryan, you’re supposed to respect the elders of the fam
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