Thank you for reading. The next chapter is tomorrow. Ladies, I am renewing my passport tomorrow. In case it takes longer, I will publish late. The next chapters are Scarlett's first court battle.
“The court is in session. Presiding in this trial is Judge Susan Roberts.” Two months had passed since the court agreed to hear the appeal of Vlad Cross. Since Kaleb refused to give Vlad the requested amount of five billion dollars, he used his influence to get an earlier schedule in court. His family’s power was not enough to sway the judge against listening to Vlad’s petition, but he could at least get the matter resolved as soon as possible, assuming the judge will rule in their favor. Present in the courtroom were a few members of the Wright family: Samantha, Ethan, and Gaby. On Vlad's side, Lisa was there and his manager. After giving their acknowledgment to the judge, the plaintiff began their opening statement. Mina greeted the judge before reading out on paper what she had drawn up for that day, “We all know Vlad Cross being the famous actor who starred in recent action movies. Mister Cross’ fans know him as a person who lost his parents to divorce. His father and mother s
“I think you did a good job today, kitten. You might actually upgrade to becoming a lioness soon enough,” Kaleb teased while wrapping his arms around Scarlett’s waist. He was sitting behind her, relishing in her scent. They were at the Longhills and Hogans Associates Law Firm, deliberating on their next action plan. Scarlett giggled as she felt Kaleb’s lips land on her cheek. She turned to him and replied, “Lisa seems to motivate me.” The two wound up chuckling, all while shaking their heads at the thought of Lisa. “I also thought Scarlett did a fantastic job,” Yael agreed. He was sitting across the table drinking his coffee while checking his paralegal’s research. “So, where are we at right now?” Kaleb asked. He returned to his seat, wanting an update. On day one of the hearing, Scarlett and Yael felt they successfully tainted Lisa’s credibility. After she spouted baseless accusations, their party also submitted evidence of how Lisa had asked for money in exchange for leaving
“Mister Wright? Can you describe to the court how was it that you lost sight of your son?” Mina asked while taking a full turn, her brow raising in Scarlett’s direction. “Are you really that responsible father you claimed to be?” It was the third day of the trial and while Kaleb’s party had seemingly gained points over the past two court sessions, Mina brought up the time when Liam disappeared. She had earlier introduced a witness, the former receptionist of the Herbal Twist Restaurant, the same establishment where Scarlett had previously worked for. Unfortunately, the receptionist exaggerated the turn of events that led to Liam being missing back then. Now Mina was grilling Kaleb, trying to make him look bad in front of the judge. Shaking his head, Kaleb sucked in his irritation for the woman. He repeated, “I turned away from him, just briefly, and he disappeared -” “You mean, you were too busy looking at your future wife, Scarlett Barnes at that time, that you lost your son? Yo
“Yes, that’s her. She goes under the name of Monica Smith every time she collects the money,” a Western Union employee confirmed, having seen Lisa claim money sent by Vlad’s assistant. Each time she secured the money, Lisa used a fake ID. It was with Yael and Scarlett’s second to the last witness that they introduced money remittance receipts provided by the financial service company. “And based on the number of remittance documents on file, how many times did Monica, AKA Lisa Hayes, receive money from the same name?” Yael asked. “As per record, she had claimed twenty remittances in over six years,” the employee replied. “And can you mention in court the amount Lisa had received per remittance?” Yael sought, and the witness went on, mentioning the values of each. “Fifteen thousand dollars each, except for the last one, which is only valued at five thousand dollars,” the employee replied. When the said employee was under cross-examination, Mina pointed out that Vlad’s name was
“Your honor, before you make your decision today, our client, Mister Kaleb Wright, would like to make a statement,” Yael said before turning to Kaleb, verifying that his decision to speak was final. “Go ahead,” the judge approved, her hand welcoming Kaleb to the front. Getting up from his seat, Kaleb took a deep breath. He turned to his right where Vlad Cross was seated. He was folding his arms against his chest, his jaws clenched tightly. Supporting him in this trial were his manager, a few of his friends, and Lisa. Till the very end, Vlad and his attorneys insisted that the video presented by Bronze Cafe was tampered with and that it had everything to do with the influence of Kaleb Wright. The video also did not change the fact that Kaleb and his party were not able to disprove how Vlad had no knowledge of Liam’s existence. It resulted in both parties presenting their arguments to the judge, reminding her of the pieces of evidence presented over the past month that they had com
“Please. Please check again, I really need to leave Braeton,” Lisa pleaded with the airline reservations agent at the airport, hoping to catch a flight for Europe, where her parents had long relocated since Kaleb learned of her deceit. “I’m sorry, miss, but the next flight is at midnight. That is the best that I can offer you,” said the female agent. “I can put you on standby for any cancellations to an earlier flight, but as of now, there are no other seats available.” “The other option is to book a flight to London and from there, you can catch several flights to your destination,” the lady suggested. Lisa gulped. She really did not have enough money to book multiple flights, not when Vlad took the money she had stashed in her bag right before she ran away from the hotel. Now she feared what Vlad might do to her. Vlad was worse. He was an addict, and he had many friends who would do anything to get a pack of cocaine. Any threat from Vlad was deemed serious. Swallowing down h
“Wow! This is amazing!” Liam dashed from the driveway going into the vast front lawn of the new estate that Kaleb and Scarlett officially called 'home'. He practically ran around and covered the entire lawn with his arms spread wide open, as if he was flying while delighting in that free space. When Liam was done measuring the yard with his feet, he ran back to his parents and asked, “We will live here? Is this our new home?" “Yes, buddy! We will live here - well, there are still some renovations that I have to make, but after our two-week vacation, the entire home should be ready,” Kaleb revealed. Liam’s eyes widened. He asked, “After our vacation?” “Yes, baby. We are going to have a vacation.” Scarlett carefully put her hands on her waist, telling, “Your daddy and I thought we could use a good reward after going through so much lately. We badly need to go on a holiday - you know, the one that got postponed months ago?” Raising both his brows, Liam’s eyes rounded. For a second,
Nestled in coastal vegetation, overlooking peaceful beaches of Northwest Point Marine Reserve, Kaleb’s family, together with Boris, finally arrived at Matara Resort Turks and Caicos. Undoubtedly, the resort offered the most private accommodations, all while featuring modern design villas and boasting over-the-top service. After traveling by SUV through thick vegetation and winding tracks, they reached the resort’s reception area and from there; they rode on a buggy to their four-bedroom villa. “Oh, my god, Kaleb! This is amazing!” As soon as they entered the villas' gates, Scarlett blurted. The breathtaking views widened her eyes. The villa was like a mini-compound. Each of the four bedrooms was built separately with a good two hundred square feet of distance to the next bedroom, or structure. In between the bedrooms were the spacious living area and the in-room kitchen. At the very front was an enormous private swimming pool that faced the wide beach. “Beach! Beach! It’s beaut