Green could not understand what was happening to him; he was sitting one moment and the next he was being held by the collar, and Cade's grip was strong. "Cade," Ophelai let out slowly. He looked at her; the sleeping pill he had slipped into her drink was already working, and he wondered how his carefully thought-out plan was failing so woefully."Ophelia?" Cade said, leaving his collar and turning to her. He held her before she could slip off the chair. "Open your eyes," he said, shaking her gently.She shook gently in his hands. Cade lifted his eyes, and they met Green, who just stood in the corner watching Cade hold Ophelia in his hand. "What did you do to her?" Cade asked. His tone was harsh and low."What do you mean?""I mean, why does she like this?" Cade followed up, squaring his jaw."Like how? You mean drunk? We had a few drinks, so she is drunk," he said, thinking it was the most obvious thing in the world."I have seen her drunk at least two times, and she had never once p
"I can explain," Cade said, stepping out of the room."And you better do." Ophelia had woken up and downed all of the water that was left for her. Knowing that she might be thirsty later, she decided to get water when she heard some kind of muffled noise from the living room. She could not remember how she got home, so she wondered if Green had decided to crash here after dropping her off at home, and she stumbled upon Harper lying on the sofa. She had panicked because she did not expect to see her there so she ran upstairs to meet Cade."So last night, I got home to meet her and you were out.""You brought her in here? Why would you bring your ex to our matrimonial home?" she asked in a hushed whisper."Do you want to come in?" he asked, opening his door. They were going to have a serious conversation, and even though it was impossible for anyone to be lurking around at this hour, they still had to be careful around the house in case anyone heard anything and began to use it to their
Ophelia could not sleep the rest of the night; she wanted to meet Harper to hear what she had to see. She wondered if the story would be the same coming from Harper. At the crack of dawn she was out of bed. She had to play the role of the dutiful wife. She was going to make breakfast for them and then ask Harper to join, and then she was going to ask her questions about last night."You are making breakfast?" Cade said. She turned around to see him standing in the doorway. "I was going to come make breakfast.""Why are you shocked? I wanted to make something for you, my husband.""Oh, okay," he mumbled as he walked to the pot of coffee that she had brewed."I left yours black because I know you like bitter things," Cade knew from the way she spoke that she had another meaning to her words. She was definitely not talking about the coffee."Good morning," Harper said from the doorway. She looked like an overworked raccoon."Oh my, you are awake? I did not want to wake you up since I saw
The breakfast was silent, and this was not the way Ophelia had planned it. She had gotten Harper riled up that she did not want to talk again, but she had to get her talking about yesterday, and she had to do it quickly."So why did you come here yesterday?" Ophelia asked, taking a bite from the pancake on her fork."To see Cade boo," Harper said, shaking a bit and trying to hold Cade's hands. He dropped his hand from the table; he did not like the situation he was in, and he knew that this was not going to be easy for him at all."Why would you come to see a married man in the night?""The same reason you went to see Green at a bar.""How do you know I went to see Green?" Ophelia asked, dropping her fork to the plate and intertwining her hand over the plate. "And at a bar at that?"Somehow, even though the conversation was greatly uncomfortable. Cade was happy that Ophelia was getting to hear this from Harper directly."Oh, he told me," Harper raised her shoulder like it was not a bi
"Why are you just coming back? Imagine my shock when I came back to an empty house after my shift," Rose said as Harper entered the house. Rose had not gotten a message or call from Harper that she was going to stay out all night."Why is this a big deal? Can I not stay out all night?" Harper groaned as she sat in her bed. She was still hung over but had pretended like everything was fine just to have a heated conversation with Ophelia."Well, you are, but you are always in bed, so it was strange, and I was worried; I thought something wrong had happened.""No need to worry about me; I finally had alone time with the man I told you about.""You did?" Rose was intrigued and impressed. She had not been in support of Hsrper but what could she do about it? This girl had abandoned all she had and knew just to come out here to be with this man, and even though he was married, she still believed that he was going to come to her. "Now that you have spent the night there, you have to tell me w
"Oh wow, fancy restaurant? Fancy small portioned meals," Harper said after a while. She had been sitting with Frances and Carl at the table. It was like they were so obsessed with making small talk that they did not go into details about the reason they had brought her out there."I told Cael that we had to treat you to dinner," Frances said with a smile as she gestured to the table. She and Cael had spoken and they knew that they had to take Cade down no matter what. Frances barely had a proper position in her father's company but now Ophelia was a CEO and they knew she was going to climb higher on the ladder and even become stronger. They were sure that this was going to be an advantage for Cade and Ophelia if they did not find a way to ruin them.Charles would definitely give preference to the person who had more connections; they needed connections for the company to grow more, and the more power their in-laws had, the more power they had. Everyone knew that marriages like these w
"So let me hear your plan."Cael had promised that they would sign on a document that would make sure that Cade still remained in the company after she had helped Cael become the chairman of the company."A plan?" Cael stuttered. He had been more invested in the conversation when it seemed like Harper, who was from his brother's side, was willing to help him. That should be great news. His mother would be happy to hear this development even though she would go on and on about how they should not fully trust Harper as she might switch on them too soon."So no plan." Harper took the glass and downed the entire thing. "What do I need to know about taking over the company?" She followed up, dropping her empty glass. Frances took it upon herself to fill up the glass immediately."Grandfather wants the new chairman to be married; he's basically a family man so with kids, he wants a happy home.""Does that mean that if Cade were to divorce or to have a mistress, then he would be taken off?"
Ophelia was meeting with Cade that evening. He had asked that they talk after the way things went down with Harper that night. He was going to tell her about the result he had gotten and also ask her what had gone on with her and her dad. Ophelia had accepted the meet-up, even though he could still think that she was probably mad at him before he left the house."Hi, you made it," Cade said, standing by the door of the restaurant. He had waited to be with her so they could walk in together."You asked me to, and I am not that mean of a jerk to hurt your feelings," she said. He was not sure if she was being real with me or if she was taking a jab at him."Still, thank you for coming," he said as they walked inside.They sat down and ordered theirs. While they waited for their meal to arrive, Ophelia had to know the reason why he was asking them out of the house when he knew things were not all rosy and peachy with them."So what is this about?""Are you mad at me?" Cade was not sure if
"Meeting with investors is tiring," Cael murmured, sitting in his chair, after the person they had been meeting with walked out. None of the members had said that they were giving them their support, and yet his mom seemed full of energy, as if the day had only started."You have been a good sport and on your best behaviour all day; just one more person and we can call it a day," Abigail replied, turning to him and tapping his thighs gently."Can't we just call it a day now?" He groaned, feeling tired. All he had done since lunch was sucking it up to different old bald men who did not seem interested in helping him anyway. He wondered how long he had to continue doing that with them."As I said, this is really important, and it took me so much to get to agree to see us under such short notice; the best you can do here is just do the right thing," Abigail murmured, losing her patience. After what had happened, she was not ready to allow all of these men to trample over her for no reaso
Frances was left alone; she had a lot to do, and she did not even know where to start. Abigail had told her that it was important that they kept it a secret from the entire family until the night before the wedding; that way, there was little to nothing they could do to stop it. If they knew of the plans they had to level up with Cade, she was sure that Charles would try his best to stop it in some way.She knew that with that she had to call a lawyer; all the vendors to be used would be mandated to sign off on an NDA; that way, no secret would be lost if they thought there was something to lose. She called her mom over the phone."My darling daughter that can not seem to settle down, you just left the house, and you are already calling me? How difficult is it for you to stay over at your in-law's place for a bit?" Mrs. Gates said over the phone. "If you screw this up, you would be doomed," she added under her breath.Frances rolled her eyes; it was as if her mom could get rid of her.
"Mom, you called for me?" Frances had waited till Abigail had finished her meal. From the way she fumes all the way from downstairs to her room, Frances could tell that she was very angry and that this meant serious business."I did, but first things first, can you fight?"Frances could not understand the question; it was not the kind that someone would ask you just randomly. "Fight?" she asked, causing Abigail to give her a questioning look."I mean are you willing to do what I want you to do?" Abihail clarified. "It is a dirty fight are you willing to go all in?" she added."Of course," Frances said, shifting till she was at the edge of her seat. "Why else would I stay with Cael like this until now?"Abigail beamed to herself; she was so glad that she had picked Frances. She made a good choice; at first, she was worried that she would be too calm, but she was also as power-driven as she was. It made sense for her to fight this much at the end of the day; she would enjoy it as well.
The breakfast table was very lively. Ophelia did not know if Charles had always been like this; she would have thought that he was just a stuck-up old man who liked to get rich and play matchmaker; however, that morning he was the one making all the jokes and talking at every chance that he got.After breakfast, Charles invited them to his study to sit and have tea with him. "I know you are going to work, but there are some days that you have to take it easy," he said to Ophelia.She had said that she was going to work when she had gotten there earlier, even though she was not. At lunchtime, they were going to meet her father, and then they said that they were going to spend the rest of the day together. Ophelia had asked countless times what they were going to be doing, but Cade had said it was a secret. She wondered what secret or surprise he had planned and when he had the time to plan it.Cade had called Harper; he was going to use this opportunity to pass on to her a very firm me
Ophelia had woken up early and she was ready to go to work. She stood in front of Cade's door, wondering if he was enjoying his break. She had expected to see him come to her room and even stalled all morning, but he did not show up at all, which was a bit of a concern for her. As she raised her hand to knock on the door, it flew open with him standing there, a huge smile plastered across his face."Ophelia," he said, excited to see her since he was going to her room to meet her."You are dressed," she murmured, looking at him from head to toe. She had been expecting to meet him still dressed in his pyjamas. "You are dressed," she said again, raising her head to hum, wondering if he did not hear her the first."Yes, I am," he nodded, and she took a step back to inspect his clothes."Are you going to work?" she asked, and he shook his head. "Then?" she needed answers, and he seemed to be taking his sweet time with responding."We are going to see my grandfather and your father," he said
Frances got to the house at the crack of dawn. She had gotten a message from Cael that his mom wanted to see her, and it was urgent. Frances was happy that Abigail called for her, which was a very rare thing for a woman to do. It was always as if she was independent and did not rely on anybody, but seeing that she was the one to reach out first, she was ready to do what she could do for it to work out. She made her way to Cael's room. She was no stranger there, as she had spent many nights with him. The staff who saw her did not bother to stop her from asking questions. It was like she blended right in. She stood and knocked on the door; when she did not get any response, she let herself in and sat on the bed. It was only when she was inside the room that she noticed he was in the shower. She wondered the reason he was getting up so early. He always stayed in bed till the last minute and spent the day on his winning terms. He never allowed the things happening around him to influenc
"Mom, I heard what had happened," Cael said, going into his mother's room. The staff were already gossiping that a strange woman had come home and had lunch with Charles. They did not know the true tale, and no one could say what it was but Abigail's screaming and throwing of things, who seemed to be enraged."What did you hear? Did you hear the full story or did you hear the gossip from the staff?" Abigail screamed as he got into the room and closed the door. She knew that her energy should have been directed toward someone else, but she could not help the way she felt at that time."I heard what the staff said," Cael said in a careful voice. He had seen his mom get range a few times, even with the way Charles treated her sometimes. All she did was take it with good faith. It was the first time she had made bad gossip on the lips of the staff, and it was bad. Usually, the sons and cousins were the topic of discussion amongst the staff."Okay then, that means you do not know what happ
"I will make dinner for you," Ophelia murmured. She felt bad that he had waited to eat with her only for her to come home with a full stomach."You will cook for me?" he asked, staring at her."Of course," she said, trying to wiggle her way out of his arms that were now firmly wrapped around her. "Let me go; I would love to make a meal for my husband.""I like the sound of that." Cade's voice had suddenly gone down from the tone he had and was now sounding deeper than usual."That I am going to make you dinner?" She asked confused. It was not the first time she cooked for him, so what was so fascinating about it?"Not that," he whispered, shifting closer to her with his arms still wrapped around her."Then what?" She said her face scrunched up as she replayed the conversation in her mind. "Husband?" she asked, realizing that maybe that was what he meant, even though she hoped it was not."Yes," he said, trying to nod his head in that position."This is not the first time I have called
Cade got into the house, his mind thinking of how chaotic the day had been. The drama and how his grandfather handled the situation were very foreign to him. His grandfather had never reacted so childishly ever. He was a bit afraid of what his teacher could do. After all, she had the advantage of being publically declared the madam of the Vale family.He was going to make dinner for Ophelia since she was so busy they could not go out for dinner, but it seemed as if the events of the day drained him so much that he decided to lie down in the living room for a moment, and somehow he fell asleep on the spot.Ophelia felt so drained as she walked in through the door; she had been on her feet all day and had barely had any time to sit down and rest. It was so bad that she had gone from one meeting to another without fail. She was working so hard to show her dad that aside from giving him an heir to take over his company, she was more capable of taking care of it herself as well.She walked