"He is..." Leonard trailed off as one of his guards came to whisper something into his ear, he nodded and placed a kiss on Emily's lips as he excused himself leaving Emily and Travis alone."He is going to find out soon who you truly are," Travis said."What do you want?""You should ask your side piece, he was the one that invited me.""Obviously for a reason, go straight to the point.""You are my woman, not his and he can't claim you.""So what? I am now an object that you both are planning on passing around?""Has he tasted you yet? Has he gotten to know that you are just a bitter fruit?"Smack!Travis felt Emily's hand on his face as she slapped him without remorse, he touched his face and burst into laughter."Still a stubborn bitch," Travis teased."If that is all you have to say, you should get the fuck out of here before I blow your brains off," Emily snapped furiously."I searched for you Thana but you just disappeared into thin air.""Was it after you told your girlfriend t
"While you are busy figuring that all out, get me Riverstone," Travis said.It had been a month now since he saw him, the last time he had given him a resounding slap and had his men beat him up, he hoped he was still in good shape to talk because they had a lot to talk about. He could have even freed him a long time but genuinely he forgot about him and Stone never brought it up.They had to talk about Emily, like how Emily became his daughter and how he adopted her because if Emily was Thana, it meant that Riverstone wasn't her biological father. Now he understood why the man didn't care about his daughters, he wondered if Chloe was also adopted, if she was he wouldn't be surprised because she didn't look anything like her parents and she was the ugly version of her sister Emily, well-adopted sister.Travis knew he made a mistake taking Thana for granted, he hurt her beyond repair and before he realized his mistake he came back to meet his little flower blossoming with thorns. She
"I suppose she is Ivy," Leonard laid his opinion forward hoping he was correct."Em...""If she is uncomfortable on her own, she can move in," Leonard suggested. If Ivy was Chloe, it meant that the both of them had cooked up some story of who they were going to be and they strongly stood by their characters for years even convincing their adopted parents and the world of who they truly were.Why was she hiding? It was the question that bugged him the most."She can handle herself," Emily replied."I was thinking of resuming work next week, I feel much better," Emily added.She was truly feeling better, although she still had to support herself once in a while but by next week she was sure she would feel much better and her work didn't require much movement that could make her feel worse, just sitting down and handling a lot of paperwork.She thought doing nothing would be fun but it wasn't, she would have died of boredom if Chloe hadn't shown up today and since Leonard opened a small
"Excuse me?" Emily said not understanding the current situation, yes she admitted to eating in the office and maybe when she left that day the office was a bit disorganized but that didn't mean she was incompetent or not consistent and efficient in her work. It was her hard work that got her this position and if it not for the fact that she was still thinking about being Leonard's woman she would have gotten a promotion or worse be transferred to another branch immediately.The last thing she needed was a newcomer making her look like a fool."You heard me right," Ariel replied rolling her eyes as she threw a file at her. "That is for one of our top clients, she is having a wedding and she wants Klar to customize her wedding gown."Customize? Were Klar now into that? It seemed she missed a lot when she was away, she wondered who suggested that idea because it was a very brilliant idea. She didn't bother to ask Ariel as it seemed the lady was having a bad day."If you are worried that
"You haven't given me anything useful Riverstone," Travis said placing a nail on Riverstone's hand. They brought the piece of shit out of the dungeon and tied him up to a chair, he narrated the story of how his wife brought two teenagers to his house and said she was taking them in as her own.Riverstone was against it but his wife was already known to be barren, he thought she would adopt a small child, not full-grown children. He explained how hard it was for him to adapt to the children but eventually he did but his story was bland to Travis, Travis wanted something tangible that could get him involved in Emily's life."I..I... have told you all I know...they...they are not my biological children," Riverstone cried out. His face was swollen from the random slaps he had gotten from Stone for answering a question wrongly or not giving vital details.Travis stared at him as he brought out a hammer, he placed it on the nail on his hand and hit it right on the head Riverstone stared at
"It is nice Emily," Bella said winking her eyes secretly at Emily. So her brother was a romantic? She wasn't one to see Leonard kissing his love interest publicly not that he wouldn't do it as he was a shameless man but it was a rare sight or maybe it had just been a while since she last saw him in something serious but were they like official, she had forgotten to ask Emily probably after dinner she would."It reminds me of your mother's cooking," Cam said to Bella but Bella only nodded her head and smiled, she couldn't remember the last time her mother entered the kitchen and even if she did she couldn't quite remember how it tasted like to now compare it to Emily's."How was work today?" Bella asked Emily, she heard she resumed."It was alright, I am taking online classes as going to school and working doesn't sit well with Leonard," Emily confessed."Why? Is he worried some fine boy would sweep you off your feet," Cam teased. He was with Bella going back to school but because of h
Emily got to work a bit late as she had wasted time making sure Leonard took his medication and was resting. She also informed Bella to keep an eye on him if she wasn't leaving so soon, and Bella was shocked to hear that Leonard ate crayfish. If she had been observant, she could have warned Emily against giving Leonard crayfish, but she had spent the whole time talking about Cam."I apologize for being late," Emily said as she stepped into Mark's office. They just finished a meeting, and she missed it."Emily, I understand that you have found favor in Leonard's eye, but you need to understand that this is an organization people are watching.""I am so sorry," Emily said. She knew very well that punctuality was key, and every time Mark let her off, rumors were flying.Mark didn't mean to scold her, but it was important that Emily knew what it meant to do her job."Ariel's plan was selected as I was unable to get yours during the meeting," Mark announced."I totally understand." If she
"Mark said that the client will be here very soon," Emily said, taking her seat."Yeah, has he assigned you with what will you do?""You can tell me what to do," Emily suggested as Ariel twirled in her chair."Well, you don't need to do much, since you are not working under my project, you can follow me around and learn.""Of course." This was really going to be fun. Was she out of her mind to be placing orders here and there? Emily thought, shaking her head in disbelief.* * *In an orphanage, a lady walks in wearing a dark shade and a face cap, if one didn't look closely, they would have missed that it was Chloe Riverstone. She walked through the reception like she had been here more than once and was familiar with the environment as she entered an office without knocking. She stared at the two ladies, who seemed to be busy talking in a low voice about God knows what. One dressed as a nun, while the other a cleaner.She removed her glasses and face cap immediately and sat down in
Riverstone gritted his teeth as he stared at Emily, he had not expected Emily to slap him hard across the face, he was tempted to slap her right back but he refrained from doing it because he knew his actions would come with consequences as everyone in the room seemed to be looking at him in annoyance and disappointment.Well, what did they all expect? They carried on with their life like he didn't exist, like he wasn't part of the family or that he didn't contribute one bit to them being where they were right now. He had tried to get on with his life but by the time he was back things had changed, his house rent had expired and he was forced to live on the street for days, he tried to reach out to his wife Rose but each time she turned him down. Eventually, he had to look for an alternative, one that could give him money and take him back to his comfortable lifestyle."Alright young man, let's go inside and check on the new toy Dada bought for you," Chloe smiled at Nathan as she hel
"What the hell is he doing here?" Chloe barked staring at her mother in annoyance, she didn't even want to look at Riverstone again, the sight of him brought back memories into her head that she had started to forget about because she hadn't seen him or heard from him for a very long time.How could her mother do something like this? What was she thinking about bringing this man here? Emily was not aware of this, neither was Leonard because if Emily was, she would have had him kicked out the moment she set her eyes on him.After everything he had done to them, especially her mother, her mother was still able to bring him here."Calm down Chloe, I was going to discuss it with you and Emily, I just hadn't figured out how to put it to you both that me and your father are....""Don't call him my father," Chloe interrupted angrily. "After everything he has done to you...even if you wanted to see him so bad why did it have to be in this house... how did you even get him into this house?""Ch
Bella walked down the stairs to the dining as she noticed the dining was set with all sorts of delicacies Matilda and Cam were sited waiting for her to take a seat. Cam stood up when she was close by and helped her with her seat."Thank you," she appreciated him sitting down. She didn't know why but of late she was becoming selective about what she ate and the cooks just had to make different dishes and hope she at least picked one.It was so bad that the last time she told Matilda to make her rice and when the rice was eventually brought to her she refused to eat it.Sometimes she would cry for no reason at all, it was comforting to her that Cam was now with her and keeping a close eye on her and when he wasn't Matilda was there. She wanted to ask him what had happened to Gary or what was the nitwit's name but she decided not to bother about it as she didn't want to upset him more. He seemed angry at himself about the whole situation.She still couldn't believe her father would do s
"Hey, careful," Stone motioned Chloe slowly holding her as they stepped into the house. He stepped in staring at Emily and Cam discussing, it seemed they were aware he had stepped into the compound but decided to not leave what they were doing until they noticed Chloe was in serious pain.Emily rushed to Chloe's side realizing the bandage on her waist, what the hell happened to her? They had been gone for over two weeks and she is back worse than ever."What the hell happened to you?""Kyle stabbed me," Chloe cried."Kyle?" Emily said not believing any of it"let's get her to her room."Emily said to Stone as they held on to her leaving Cam alone, when they got to Chloe's room, Emily informed them that there was a party going on as regards the partnership between Dark Age and Klar and that Chloe and Stone might be home alone but first she had to inform Leonard."I won't be staying over," Stone announced."Okay," Emily replied."No, stay here. Please.." Chloe said not letting go of his
- BACK AT IVY'S MANSION -"Where is Chloe?" Stone asked Astrid and hoped he wouldn't ask again; he didn't care about all the nonsense she had going on with Ivy. Now that he knew Ivy was alive, he had something to prove to Emily. He had spent his life taking orders from Travis, and he wasn't going to continue taking orders.Chloe was here for him even though she tried not to say it; she was here for him, and he couldn't just leave her like that after Astrid just told him she was stabbed by Kyle. Why would Kyle stab her? Didn't she have a thing going on with Kyle, and even if he didn't like her, it wouldn't have warranted him to stab her, or was there more to the story that he wasn't getting at all?"Stone, listen to me," Astrid pleaded as Stone dashed out of the bathroom, and it dawned on Astrid that her plan in her head wasn't going to happen as Stone was not going to pay any attention to her."Don't let me repeat myself.""She is in the warehouse," Astrid said as she watched Sto
- LEONARD'S MANSION -- LEONARD'S OFFICE -"Dark Age are willing to accept the partnership deal," Mark informed Leonard in his office. He had driven here immediately after he got the paper work.Leonard stared at the paperwork they had mailed to the company, and it was well-detailed. Whoever wrote it took their time in such a way that every offer that looked unprofitable had a comeback to back it up.Dark Age and Klar had been in the fashion industry for so long that, at some point, Klar had offered to buy Dark Age. Buying companies wasn't a new thing for Leonard, especially companies he felt were going to ruin his business or become a competition for him in the future.All he had to do was find out how much their company would cost and double the price. This way, the price was too good for anyone in their right minds to refuse it, but this company, Dark Age, had refused his offer without a reason, and even when he tripled it, they still rejected it, which only angered him.He had imm
"Hey!" Astrid yelled at Chloe as they pushed her into the ward. Where the fuck was Stone, and why wasn't he answering his darn phone? Hopefully, nothing will happen to Chloe, she thought. As she paced around in the reception with her blood-stain gown, she could see someone staring at her."What?" she asked as the person looked away. She rolled her eyes and tried to dial Stone's number again, and this time it went through, but she couldn't hear him properly; all she could hear were faint sounds of gunshots. Where was he? Was he okay? Did he even pick up the call, or was it a mistake?"Get Chloe out of the hospital now," she said, finally hearing Stone's voice."Hello," she said, but the phone disconnected. What did he mean by getting Chloe out? Was he in trouble? How did he know she was in the hospital? Astrid stared at her phone and dialed his number again, but this time the line didn't go through."Fuck!" she yelled, going to the reception desk to talk to the nurse. "How long will t
"Kyle," Chloe said, staring at him as they swayed around the dance floor swiftly. She kept her eyes fixed on him, but the young man didn't say anything, or was she wrong? She was not wrong because she knew what she was feeling right now, and only someone had that effect on her. How is he here now? She knew he was alive, but he had been in hiding for so long that Thana and she were forced to hide Nathan. At some point, they felt that he didn't even want Nathan, and he never reached out to them again.The music was finally coming to an end as the man pulled her closer to him. He placed his lips on her ear, and she could feel his breath on the tip of her ear and a tingling erupt in her stomach. It was Kyle."You shouldn't be here, Anna," she heard him say as the music came to an end before she could process what he had said. The music came down as the lights went dark, then back to its normal color as Kyle was nowhere to be found. Chloe stared around, perplexed, looking for any sign of
Chloe looked around through her lashes; she could see someone familiar again. She stared towards Stone, and he was dancing with Astrid, and the bitch seemed to know how to dance better than her. She watched Astrid sway her waist to the music as she leaned in, whispering something into Stone's ear as he burst into laughter instantly with his head laid back.Chloe wondered what Astrid had told him that was so funny that he wanted to cry from laughing. She could also be funny if that was what he was into."Someone seems to have your man on a hook."'He is not mine,' Chloe was about to say, but she couldn't because Travis thought that they were both here to spend time together. She had to play her part and keep Travis out of what was about to occur here, but from the situation, it seemed she had to get to that person because Stone and Astrid seemed focused on whatever nonsense they were discussing.The music tone changed again, and this time Chloe swayed into the arms of the person her in