THIS IS A FREE CHAPTER
Hey, here's a list of characters in the story:
Lucian Caldwell - Blade/COO of Caldwell Incorporated/ loves one night stands and has different kinks / has a childhood OCD.
Latton Ripley - Sieve/childhood trauma and abandonment issues/force to wed an old man.
Alicia Caldwell - Lucian’s mother
George Caldwell - Lucian’s father
Albert Ripley - Latton’s father
Thalia Smith - Latton’s mother
Catherine Peterson Ripley - Albert’s 2nd wife/Latton’s stepmother
Malena Taylor - Lucian’s conservative girlfriend, love of his life. Has issues with intimacy with Lucian but has a secret lover who was married. Fake being pregnant with Lucian’s child
Charmel - Malena’s friend/Malena lives in her apartment
Maisie - Malena’s friend
John Rowe - Lucian’s best friend/co-worker
Vivian Bloom - John’s girlfriend
Thomas Sinclair - Latton’s fiancé/from chapter 1
Lucius Vaughn - Latton’s cousin
Chloe Muriel - Lucius’ secretary
Kirby Johnson - Albert Ripley’s right-hand man
Derek Ripley - Latton’s Brother
Dr. Laura Lane - Latton’s Psychologist/Dolan’s Aunt
Dolan Lane - Latton’s new Psychologist/Crush
Jenny Larson - Lucian’s secretary
Melisa - The concierge/ Malena’s friend
Tim - John’s assistant
Alana Miller - Derek’s mother
Garette - Butler in the Ripley Manor
Steven - Derek’s friend
Victor York - A major investor in C.I owner of Shance, Texas warehouse (First mentioned in CHAPTER 52 - Failed Execution). C.I's new COO
Adam Gallanger - Malena’s other guy
Zane - Derek’s friend
Karson Kent - Owner of Hamilton
Tamara Scott - Proposal Manager in C.I
Jacob Denvers - Collaboration Manager in C.I
Eugene Cross - Accounts Manager in C.I
Sandra/Sandy - Viv’s assistant
Owen - George’s assistant
Alison Gardner - Latton’s bully/soon to be step mother. Allergic to pineapples.
Alexander 'Alex' Stone - Lucian’s friend/Lawyer
Melody - Driver hired by Lucian
Xavier Vaughn - Lucius brother
Bree - Adam’s fiancee
Dominique Akron - Latton’s assailant from 12 years ago (The guy from CHAPTER 5 - New SIM he is nameless at that time)
Sophia - Thalia’s secretary
Jonathan and Charles - Servants in the Ripley Manor
Angeline Vaughn - Lucius and Xavier’s mother/Albert Ripley’s half-sister
Airo Vaughn - Lucius and Xavier’s father
Jane - New concierge. She replaced Melisa.
Ricky - The man Lucian paid to follow Latton
Magnus Claire - Lawyer, that handled Latton's case against Malena
Howard Gilberts (H.Gilberts) - The police officer who handled Catherine’s case
Malcolm - New head of the Circle of Hope Foundation.
Joseph Pols - Founder of Circle of Hope foundation.
Karen - Latton's nurse
Boris - Russian Cartel
Igor - One of Boris' men
Sarah - Maid in the Ripley Manor
Thanks for supporting Hey, Stranger!
MALENA was comfortably sitting in a chair enjoying the food prepared for her by the person who saved her from the plane. "I never thought it would work, and I would fit inside the luggage," she remarked while cutting her steak. "I guess that's what the Police officers also thought." She added as she smiled eerily. "Do you know why I saved you?" The man asks. She shook her head. The man smiled and then said, "You'll know later." - Meanwhile, in the Ripley manor. Derek watched as Albert and Thalia left the manor to drive to their separate companies. He hastily marched to Latton’s room to bond with her but made a short detour as he saw Thalia's door was ajar. He thought of something, and it made him smile. After a few minutes, he walked to Latton's room. Without knocking, he opened Latton's door only to see her sitting on her bed drawing on her sketch pad. He sneered, then yelled in annoyance, “You can move your right hand!” Startled, Latton almost messed up her sketch of the
JOHN visited Lucian in the hospital and was greeted by Alicia. John could tell that she hadn't slept in a while. There were dark circles in her eyes, her cheeks were sunken, her lips were dry, and her face was pale. He lowered his head and smiled faintly at her. Shortly, he marched towards Lucian's bed and his eyes instantly widened in horror to see how bad the accident was. And, just by looking at it, he knew far too well that this was not an accident. “How are you?” He asked while glancing at the room, making sure Alicia wouldn’t hear their conversation. Luckily, after a few minutes, Alicia bids them goodbye as she needs to go to the nurses' station. When John was sure no one could hear them. He then asks Lucian frankly, “Seriously, this doesn't look like an accident." Lucian coughed, then replied in a low dry voice, “It isn’t.” John gasped. “What happened? Do you know who did this?” Lucian smiles bitterly, “Latton Ripley,” he mumbles gently. “Why do you think it's her? I kno
AFTER Latton runs away from Thalia, she hastily locks herself in her room, and as soon as she closes the door, her knees weaken. She leans on the door, slowly slouches into a sitting position, hugs her knees, and starts sobbing. "I believe in her again, and she never changes." She mutters to herself. Shortly after, she heard Thalia knocking on the door. With every knock, she sobbed louder. Amidst her tears, a foul smell entered her nostrils and it piqued her attention. She soon ignores Thalia’s frantic voice and knocks. She starts looking for the source of the smell. She sniffed the air and noticed the smell coming from her bed. She saw the box and remembered that Sarah mentioned a package she had left at her bedside. She slowly walks to the package and opens it while fighting the urge to vomit. “What is in this package they should have put a sticker that says it needs to be refrigerated,” she mumbles to herself. She heaves deeply and then opens the package. As soon as she opens it
AT THE hospital, Alex enters Lucian's ward. "Alex, any news from the police about Malena's whereabouts?" Lucian asked. Alex shook his head, "None at all. Based on the police report, they checked the plane from tail to cockpit. There is no sign of her." Lucian coughed and it pained him. "Can you make sure my name is not dragged into this?" He requested. "I don't want Latton to think that I helped Malena escape." He thought to himself. Alex nods, "I'll see what I can do." - Meanwhile, at Ripley International, Alison’s face contorted while listening to the manager's report. She kept glancing at the CEO's chair, but it was empty. "He ghosted me last night, now this? He did not give me a heads-up that he would stay home. How dare he do this to me?" She yelled internally. After the meeting, she drove directly to Ripley Manor. At that time, both Thalia, Albert, and Latton are still asleep. Jonathan, one of the servants, then asks Derek if they will let Alison enter the manor. He inst
LATTON walks out of the interrogation room, her face flustered. She marched to Derek who was sitting on the bench, head lowered, hands covering his face. When he saw Latton’s shoes in front of him, he lifted his gaze. Done with the… Before he could finish his sentence, Latton slapped him hard. “Why?” He asks while holding his throbbing cheeks. “Why didn’t you tell me that the trial had ended? I look stupid still waiting for the trial when it's already concluded.” She yelled in anger. Her loud voice started to gather people's attention and it bothered Derek. He held her left arm and whispered in her ear, “I’ll tell you everything in the car. Let’s go,” he stated. In the parking lot, both of them hurriedly entered the car. Latton couldn’t stop breathing rapidly. “What’s happening to you?” Derek asks worriedly. “I’m scared. I’m terrified, and I can't think clearly, Derek.” She says as she shivers in fear. “Your meds might be wearing off.” He explains while holding her hand. He cou
INSIDE the LAPD, Officer H. Gilberts and J. Peralta are inside the briefing room logging all the information they have on hand. "This is the weirdest case I've ever handled in my life. We have two ladies, the victim and the assailant. Now both of them are victims." Officer J. Peralta mumbles as he arranges the crime photos on the board. "One billionaire heiress that was targeted multiple times and a commoner whose hand got chopped off, we don't know if she's still alive, or is it safe to call it a homicide." "Let's summarize everything we know," Officer H. Gilberts said. "Let's start at the Royal Ascent incident." He added while holding the report. "March 10, Royal Ascent. It is where Miss Taylor attacked Miss Ripley but told everyone that it was the latter who attacked first. Miss Ripley then filed a lawsuit where Miss Taylor was detained by the LAPD but soon got released when the lawsuit was withdrawn. The next incident was on March 31, at the Circle of Hope. When Miss Taylor shot
“I CAN’T live like this,” Alison says with teardrops on her face. “Your daughter keeps on disrespecting me and there’s nothing I can do about it, because what am I even to you? I can’t even get inside the manor without being shooed away like an animal.” She added while holding Albert’s arm tightly. “Don’t say that. We need to wait for my daughter to recuperate and everything will be back on track. Our wedding plans, moving to the manor…” “What if she didn’t recuperate? Will I just wait?” She shouted. Albert’s gaze darkens instantly, then unintentionally grabs her thigh forcefully, “Don’t you ever say that. Latton will recover from this.” “She will. I will do everything, so she won’t end up like her grandma. I will institutionalize her if needed,” he said to himself. She starts wailing loudly. He closes his eyes, holds the bridge of his nose, and heaves deeply, "How about we take this one step at a time?" He said with exhaustion. She lifted her gaze, "What do you mean?" She asked
AS HIGH as a kite. Latton marched to Albert's home office only to see Kirby seated in the foyer. Patiently waiting for his boss's next commands. She smiled at Kirby, and the latter smiled back. Concurrently, Derek saw her and was about to speak to her about the gossip he heard from the maids about Alison moving to the manor. Something that he too doesn't want to happen. "Thalia inside the manor is bad enough. Adding Alison to the mix, a total stranger would be chaotic," he said to himself as he followed Latton's movements. Before he got to her, she had already entered Albert's room. He gasped, "This is bad," he mumbled to himself. He tried to open the door, but it was locked. All he could do was sit beside Kirby and wait for what would happen next. Inside Albert's home office. He was busy reading through the documents he missed while he was staying with Alison in the hospital. "Happy to see you are back. Thought you already forgot about us." Latton says mockingly. Shortly she s