Hello readers We've finally gotten to the end of Henry and Ashley's live story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I would love to hear your thoughts, leave it down in the comment section. If you are looking for something else to read check out my other books, there is a whole new world of adventure awaiting you. Till next time... Love, Author.
Henry Allen was having one hell of a time, and the continuous wails from his wife did nothing to ease it. On the contrary, it increased the wave of panic in him, bringing him almost to tears.He crouched in front of her, grabbing her sweaty hands in his trembling ones. "Look at me, babe, look at me." He moved her face so their eyes would meet. "You have to push, please, you need to listen to the doctor, our child’s life and yours are solely dependent on it." He pleaded in a panicky tone, he was fidgety.Her eyes rolled back. "Just go away, Henry!" Her screams resonated past the ward she was in, and she bit her lower lip until it bled. "I want this thing pulled out of me at once, I don’t care if it lives or not. This pain is unbearable." Her breathing was laboured, and sweat trickled down her forehead as she clenched against the sheets, trying to cushion the immense pain she was feeling. Listening to her broke his heart to bits. Asking him to go away hurts. He would never leave her sid
Angela’s hospital room looked more like a gift shop and less like a hospital. The room smelled of fresh flowers. Teddies of different colours and sizes were positioned everywhere. The small bedside table was occupied with different well-wishing cards. Gift boxes were littered around the room, beautiful coloured balloons were strapped together, and there was hardly room. "Congratulations, Angie!" "Congratulations, my friend. Your baby is a cutie” a lady said excitedly. “You are one lucky girl, my friend!" The next few days after her delivery, friends and family came trooping in to visit her and the baby in the hospital after the news of her baby’s arrival circulated. She was taken to a private room well situated and up to par with her expensive taste. It was visiting hours and as usual, they had visitors. Angela’s mother had come to see the child every day since the day of her delivery. Today, a couple of her friends from back home came to see her. However, Angela didn’t seem to sha
"I earnestly regret the day you came into my life," he said with a tone of finality. His voice was calm but the anger in his eyes and the way his jaw ticked told a different story. Her voice faltered for a bit. "What...did you say, Henry?” he had dealt with her patiently up until now, it seemed like his patience was thinning. She was shocked to hear those words from him. “I was as clear as day Angie. You are a terrible person, you always have been...” he shook his head. “No...you are way beyond terrible. I have tried my best to treat you right, I have given you everything you ever wanted. You have never lacked. I am married to you because I am in love with you...” "And what does that matter?” she asked. He shook his head, “It doesn’t, does it?” “Yes because you’re not making any sense...” “What is not making sense is you!” he interjected, “It is us!” He pointed between them, “This! Whatever it is we have.” “I am asking you to get me a new phone to replace the one you smashed on
Ashley Olden?" "Yes ma'am!" she stood up abruptly. "You may go in now, the boss will see you immediately." She nodded. "Thank you, ma'am" She inhaled deeply and ran her clammy hands over her plaid skirt. The receptionist stared at her “Ma'am you can go in.” “Ye...yes" her lips quivered. She walked up to the door and knocked on it, she opened it and walked in. A fairly large man sat behind the desk, he peered at her briefly from above his glasses “Good morning sir." He merely hummed his response “Have a seat" he gestured towards the chair. She pulled it out and sat on it. “Can I see your documents?” She nodded and handed it over to him. He opened it and began to flip through it “Name?” “Ashley Olden.” “How old are you?” he inquired. “23” she simply stated and looked away, there was something about the way he looked at her. It was slightly uncomfortable. She brushed the thought away. “You do not live in the city?” he questioned. “No sir, I live in town, on the outskirts o
She bowed her head as she walked through the doors of the hospital. She mumbled her greetings. She was a regular here so most of the workers called out to her and waved at her. She brought out her phone and dialled a number, it rang for a moment. “Hello Ash, how are you?” “Leo, I am fine" she answered in a small voice. “Good time?” she asked. “Yes,” he answered. “Rooftop.” “Meet you there." She entered the escalator and thankfully it was empty. She let out the air she has no idea she was holding. She shut her eyes and leaned backwards, she noticed she was still visibly shaken by what had happened. She inhaled deeply. She arrived at the rooftop not long after Leonard arrived. “My best girl" he opened his arms to welcome her. She embraced him relishing in the feeling of his strong protective arms around her, she sighed audibly. “My favourite person". He smoothed her hair with his hands, and when she pulled away, he held her shoulder staring at her, “Are you okay?” he held her han
In the heat of the moment, she had failed to notice his strong arm that was wrapped around her waist as he supported her from falling. What made it weird was the beautiful smile that never left his face. Her eyes studied his every feature like she was putting it to memory, his almost too-perfect dentition and the deep dimple on his left cheek. She did not know when she smiled back at him, showing him her pair of dimples. The sight before her was blinding. That was the right word to describe him, He was blinding! Looking at the man, one could tell that he was not just anyone. "Ashley?" While still lost in the deep gaze of the stranger whose hands were around her waist something clicked in her head drawing her back to reality, she hastily detangled herself from the hold of the stranger. Everything was wrong about this, he was a total stranger, she told herself repeatedly but she could not be angry. It was such a hot scene. She looked around in shame and then she noticed how people had
Henry poured water on his face repeatedly as he stared at his reflection in his bathroom mirror, he sighed audibly. His handsome face was not all that handsome anymore. He was beginning to have dark circles under his eye from all the stress he was under, stress from work, sleepless nights taking care of Asher all those lonely nights. He stared at his reflection for a while, his baby was coming home today. They received the best care from the doctor. He was supposed to feel joy in his heart but an overwhelming feeling of dread overshadowed him. He was excited to have his son back but he couldn’t say the same about his wife. Many times he wanted to brush the thought of her aside and move on but he couldn’t. He was in love with her, she was the mother of his child, and he cared for her. He couldn’t just ignore her, it wasn’t that easy. He ruffled his hair with his fingers. He grabbed a towel and wiped his face, then a thought crossed his mind. The incident was from earlier in the day. De
The next morning, when she woke up, she squinted her eyes as the heavy rays of sunlight streamed through the open windows. She stretched forward, closed the curtains, and plopped back on the bed. Her eyes were puffy from all the crying at night. She reached for her phone and peered at it; it was past 10 in the morning. She had missed calls from Leonard. She made a mental note to call him later on. She finally got out of bed and walked up to the mirror; she still had tear streaks on her face, and her mind went back to the argument she had with her mother. She decided to brush it off. Her hands raked through her tangled, long blonde hair. She brushed her teeth and proceeded to shower. She gingerly applied shampoo to her hair and rinsed it off. She slipped on a big blue shirt and red shorts and absentmindedly ran a comb through her thick locks before she exited her room; the small corridor appeared quiet, and then the spell broke: “I thought you wouldn’t come out of your room." She sig
A FEW WEEKS AGO... Leonard stared at Ashley. She was on the couch staring out the window lost in thought, he had only just managed to calm her down. The altercation with Henry had upset her more than he imagined it would. He wanted to help so bad, he wanted to make her forget everything about Henry, and then a thought occurred to him. “Hey Ash,” He walked up to her and sat beside her on the couch. She flashed him a wide smile. “Hey, Leonard.” “How are you feeling?” He asked. She shrugged. “I think I might have an idea of how to make you feel better.” Her eyes lit up and it caused his heart to swell in excitement. “It is going to be Christmas very soon and I will be going home for a family vacation. We do this thing where every member of the family comes back home and spends time together. It would be a lot of fun, I want you to come back home with me.” He explained. “Leonard...” “Don’t say anything.” He cut in. “You are going to love it there, my family is amazing and they ar
Adrian peeked into the rear seat of the police car. A look of triumph on his face. He held their gaze. “You should know this is only the beginning. I have more in store for you” The grin on his face was wide. He straightened up and walked up to Henry. “You did it!” “Man, it was too easy. How did you know they were going to show up?” Henry asked with a look of bewilderment on his face. Adrian shrugged, he was beaming with pride. “Common psychology I guess. I was sending subtle signals to them, to unsettle them. It was only a matter of time before they showed up. I predicted sooner but that was the time for uncertainties...” He noticed Henry’s shocked expression still. He explained. “The other day at the restaurant, I spotted the paparazzi and although Ashley was terrified I told her to smile and laugh for the cameras...” “What purpose would that serve?” “It was just the day after Ashley was attacked, of course, I knew it would set them off. The pictures of us played a role too, the
Henry rolled his eyes when he saw Adrian walk in. “What are you doing here?” “Olivia told me you’d be working late...” He checked his watch, “But this late...Henry...” “Adrian, why are you here?” Henry asked sternly. Adrian pulled out a chair and sat across from him, “I cracked the case, Henry” He furrowed his brows in confusion. “What case?” “The Mason case and what Eric and Angela are up to" Henry got to his feet and began packing his bag. “Adrian, I am not in the mood...” Adrian stood to his feet. “I promise you, this isn’t like other times, I finally have all the evidence I need against them.” “Frankly, I don’t care” Henry retorted. “None of this matters and Adrian please just leave me out of it...” “Henry, I promise you, you’re gonna want to hear it. They were lying! They were all bloody lying...” Henry rolled his eyes. “About what part exactly?” Adrian sighed. “That’s not important. Henry, forget whatever problems are there between us. This is beyond us! Mason is alive
“Adrian...” the waitress said with a look of bewilderment. “Yeah, I want to have a quiet dinner, I do not want to be bothered by anyone, not even the press. Can you do that?” he dipped his hand in his pockets and flashed her crisp dollar notes. “Can you do that?” She nodded silently. “Good” He handed her the notes and entered the enclosed dinner area. “Why didn’t we just have dinner at your place?” He shrugged, “Well my house in the city doesn’t quite look like a habitable place at the moment. I thought of going to a hotel but I can’t escape the press there either, I was making plans to leave the city until you called and said you needed my help” Ashley stared at him with sad eyes. “How are you holding up?” He cleared his throat. “Do you want the version of the story that ends with me bawling my eyes out pathetically or the one where I act smug and unbothered afterwards?” “Adrian...” He shook his head, “This isn’t about me Ashley, this is about you, don’t make it about me. You
Things had been looking up in Henry’s household. Ashley coming into their lives was the best thing that ever happened after Asher’s birth. Adam was grateful for her, he was grateful for the change in the atmosphere in the house, it radiated through everyone and in every part of their lives. Henry always had a radiant smile on his face when she was sitting across from him at the dinner table and talking about her day. He had a smile on his face when he was alone at breakfast. Asher was not left out, he loved Ashley like any boy loved their mother. He was a sweet child.Things were great and then they weren’t. The radiant energy dissipated quickly and was replaced by a dark looming cloud above their heads. Henry was hardly around but whenever he was, his awful mood could be felt from a mile away. Ashley was sad, he hated that she was but she was.He sighed deeply before knocking on the door and letting himself in. Henry reclined on the chair, he was lost in space, and he didn’t notice
Henry lay sprawled on the sofa in Club Dazzle. He owned the place so he had access to the exquisite suite, the walls were soundproof and padded so it drowned out the noise from the crowd. Soft music played in the background, he had an empty glass in his hand, and he beckoned to the bartender. He rushed towards him and filled his glass.Just then Adrian walked through the doors, no one stopped him at the entrance because they knew who he was. Adrian took a long look at him. Henry was spotting a stubble on his chin, his eyes were sunken and drowsy. His hair looked like he had run his hands through them a couple of times. The top buttons of his shirt were undone, and his tie hung loosely around his neck. He was sat in between two beautiful ladies, they were scantily dressed and dancing to the soft tunes of the song. They whispered something to each other oblivious of his presence. He could see Henry smile but it didn't reach his eyes. Adrian signalled to the DJ who turned off the music.
Angela was lost in her head. Victory was sweet, it left a lingering taste on your tongue, it makes you forget everything else, makes you blind to your enemy's counter-offensive response. Everyone else would be fooled by victory’s sweet lingering taste but not her. She had been a victim of it in the past, she had relished her victory so much that she was oblivious to her enemy's attack and her victory had been spoiled almost as soon as it got to her hand. So she had to learn, the hard way and learn she did. So while Eric was off to wherever he was celebrating his newfound victory in the small publication she had influenced she was still plotting. No, it didn’t matter that a man was writhing under her, his face contorted in what undeniably pleasure, it didn’t matter that she was riding him. Her small mind wandered, so far away.The man gasped under her, he pulled out and shuddered violently as he released. Angela watched him with a blank expression on her face.Beads of sweat formed on
Leonard’s head was in the clouds as he listened to her. He would be wicked if he admitted out loud to anyone that he enjoyed this but it was the truth, for Ashley he was willing to be wicked. If it meant that in the slightest chance, she would be his. He loved her, he had loved her from the moment he had laid his eyes on her and no he didn’t think she deserve to suffer all she was suffering with Henry. He could give her better and he would.It wasn’t about the money, it was about how she deserved to be loved, wholly, truly...She looked up at him from underneath her lashes. “Do you promise me you wouldn’t tell anybody about this?”He took her hand in his and brought it to his lips, “Ashley, everything you tell me today will stay between us, this I promise you...” he noticed her slight resistance but he was patient and willing to wait. This was what he had waited for all along. At first, she had refused to even look at him, then she refused to speak with him. Yet he had persisted becau
Henry unlocked the doors to his house and walked in. He sighed when he spotted Adrian reclined on a sofa, his legs crossed. “What are you doing here?” he asked. Adrian shrugged. “I am here to see my friend.” Henry shot him a glare before sitting down opposite him. “I saw Ashley earlier.” His eyes lit up at the mention of her name. He frowned and looked away trying to conceal his desire. He had not laid eyes on her for a while, she was doing a thorough job of avoiding him, he couldn’t blame her though. He rubbed his palm on his face. “What are you doing to yourself, Henry?” Henry got up from his seat immediately, “I don’t have that time Adrian” “You’re hurting yourself, you’re pushing the people you love away, that’s not...” “Adrian, spare me whatever advice you think you have for me. I do not need it, I do not need anything from you. You do not care about anyone else but yourself, all you do is lie!” “Your family is behind all of this, they are trying to ruin you, they are tr