"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
TWO DAYS LATERCade had discussed with Abigail, and she had used her mole in the company to find some dirt on anyone around. She then used that information to manipulate a ton of people to testify and pull out a massive train of evidence against Sue. Even though it was fake, they were so thorough that it would be difficult for her to wiggle her way through it."Woman, what do I owe the pleasure of you crawling your way into this place?" Charles was harsh, but Abigail did not mind because she knew that she had all she needed to make sure that this plan went through smoothly."I am here to see you about your grandson.""For the final time, if you ever come to me for this kind of request, I would have no option but to throw both you and Cael into the hard, cool floor outside and bring in his mom instead. I will not make Cael my successor until I have seen that he has what it takes to even be a son worthy of the Vale name," Abigail rolled her eyes.He had been saying he would take her out
Carl had come to meet his grandfather earlier. He was tired of his mother's games and how she kept trying to put him in the middle of it all. He knew he was incapable of being the good chairman the company needed, and amongst all the grandchildren, only Cade had been preparing for this moment his whole life.The rest of them sat with their hands folded because they believed that since they were affiliated with the Vale family, a responsibility was going to drop on their laps soon, and they could get on with their lives. Even without the jobs in the company, they could live good lives on the return on the shares they owned because they all owned a lot, and the company was always doing well."But Grandpa, if we do that, the prices of the shares?""See this," Charles said, showing an electronic tablet that had been resting on his lap since he came in. "This is supposed to go up tomorrow, so are you saying we should do nothing about it?"Cade took it up and read through it. His face chang
"I did not think that you would help me out," Harper said to Green with a smile on her face. She had called him about a week ago to tell him that Ophelia and Cade were now locked in. Green had been so angry about it. He waited years for Ophelia, only for her to end up Cade. He had expected that he could pull them apart, but now he was hearing that she was together with Cade and they loved each other now.When they kept telling the public that they were deeply locked in, he could tell that she was doing this just because her father asked her to do it. He waited, hoping that there would be a time when they went their separate ways and then he would swoop in to save the damsel in distress."I refuse to lose to Cade.""I like how you think," Harper said, and her phone began to ring. She took up her phone and stared at the screen. "Ophelia is calling me?" She murmured, looking at the screen, her eyes growing wide and wider."What are you waiting for? Pick it up," Green urged her."I should
Frances was sitting in a coffee shop; she had gotten a message from Ophelia that they had to meet up. As much as she did not want to have to go out there to meet her, she was curious to see her face after reading the news. She had not thought to publish the news like that because she did not want to do anything that might affect Cael, be it directly or indirectly, because she still believed that they would be able to get together soon.She was however happy for whoever had taken that news and ran with it; the entire city was buzzing while waiting for a statement on the family. She felt that now that Cade was so put in the public eye, Charles might consider Cael as a better-suited candidate for the position."Did I keep you waiting for long?" Ophelia asked as she sat down.Frances swallowed as she saw how good she looked; she was tempted to almost comment on it; she did not look like she had seen the news. "No, I just sat down a minute ago," she said, and Ophelia nodded."Have you orde
THREE DAYS AFTER THE WEDDING TUESDAY MORNING "Honey" Ophelia sat by the side of the bed shaking Cade; his eyes opened slowly as he wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her in."Good morning, darling," he said and pouted, waiting for a kiss. She closed her eyes and bent down to kiss his lips. "That was so short," he said, his eyes opening wider. "Something is wrong; what is wrong?" he asked, his eyes catching a glimpse of the frown on her face. "What happened?" he asked, sitting in bed quickly."You might want to see this," she said, taking her phone and giving it to him. He took the phone from her hand and sat up straight. He read through the screen as his eyes widened with each statement he came across."What is this?""The number one trending news in the city this morning.""From what source?""Apparently it started as a rumour from a blog but when the reporters reached out to Abigail yesterday evening for an interview, she did not confirm or deny it so they are just carry
"My mom wanted you here, but I never did, so it is crazy that you are trying to force me to sleep with you," Cael scoffed as they sat on the bed in the room. They had been so preoccupied with other things that it was the night of the wedding that they all realized that they did not have a house, so they went back to the mansion.Charles had taunted them for their poor planning; Cael could not believe that his grandfather had not stepped up to do anything concerning the wedding even after he had leaked the secret to him. He was feeling overwhelmed by the situation and was now convinced that his grandfather was doing the right thing by not allowing him to be the next in line for succession. Even when he had leaked the secret of the wedding to Charles, he did not do anything about it.Even this evening, when they got back to the house after the wedding, Charles was not shocked to see them back at the mansion; he just nodded his head at them and retired to his room. He did not know why he
"You look so beautiful," Fiona gushed over her daughter as she entered the room."I do?" Frances asked, and her mother nodded."Like the star of the show that you are," she murmured, and Frances smiled.She had been so busy stressing and preparing for the wedding that she feared she might not look good in any of the images because of how stressed she was. She felt good to receive a compliment from her mother considering how shallow she was; she would be into complimenting something or else she found it appealing to the eyes."I hope you remember all I have been telling you." Fiona said, and Frances nodded.Her mother had basically turned it into an anthem that was engraved in her mind. She had told her to make sure to get pregnant between the first few weeks of pregnancy so she could have an edge over Ophelia, who was still yet to show any signs of having a baby. She also told her to make sure she sucked up to Charles, even though they all knew how almost impossible that might be."Do
THE FAY OF THE WEDDING Ophelia's eyes fluttered open as she turned to Cade sleeping beside her. She felt his hand that had been holding her head up all night. She snuggled into him and felt his hand pull her in closer."Are you awake?" she murmured, trying to look at his face from her position."No," he drew out, and she laughed."You are asleep yet talking?" she said, and he tried to nod but was failing badly because of the pillow."I talk in my sleep," he added, and she gave him a frown."Then sleep and talk some more. I want to go get myself a cup of tea," she said, trying to stand up from the bed, but his hand on her wrist pulled her back, and she dropped to his chest."What are you doing?" she asked, propping herself up with her hand on his chest."I think you forgot something," he said with a pout and his eyes closed.She traced his pouted lips with her fingertip. "And what can that be?" she asked, feigning ignorance."I know that you very well know what I am talking about," he
A FEW DAYS TO THE WEDDING"I have something to report," Paul said, coming into Charles's office. He had been working in the background to make sure that Aigail and Cael's plan did not work. He knew that they had been so busy with the board meeting, and he had to work too. He was not going to sit down and assume that since he was the chairman, everyone was supposed to be automatically loyal to him.He was meeting with all of the board members and directors while trying to know their stand on the matter; for most of them, they kept trying to play both sides and see which side would favour them. Charles lowered the glasses from his face and dropped them so they dangled by a rope on his neck.The entire company was so tense that even a child could tell that something was up. The staff were trying their best to be careful not to choose sides so they did not find themselves jobless after the board meeting. Everyone was walking on eggshells since the chairman was no longer working from home
Harper stared at her phone in hand; she could not believe that they were trying to discard her. She read the message over and over again, and she could not lie; it did not make any sense to her. What was she supposed to do? She had just boasted to her housemate about how well her plan was going, and now she had to abort the mission. And for what reason?Hello Harper, Abigail does not need your help with Cade anymore and she would like you to move out of the house within a month.-FrancesShe had closed her lease and moved into the house, and now they wanted her gone within a month? She was not going to allow them to bully her; she dialled the number once again and pressed the phone to her ears. The dial tone rang once and then beeped dead as if it were cut from the other end. She tried calling Abigail and Cael as well, but they were both not picking up.She could tell from her interaction today that Cade had finally realized his feelings for Ophelia and this was going to be the end fo