The light in the club was low but blinding, Cade looked around trying to soak in the face of everyone there. This was his last night at Starlit Haven. He had spent the last six years of his life studying and partying so hard, that he could not believe it was finally over and that he had to return home. He had taken early admissions because the school offered admission to those less than eighteen years of age. He had gotten in with his brains and family influence when he was just sixteen years old and had spent the next few years completing his bachelor's degree and two master's degrees in business management. He was adamant and determined to take over his family’s company. He was twenty-three now and this was finally his escape from all the studying he had to do. He was a regular at this club and he always loved it here, there were always girls to pick up, especially those who willingly threw themselves at him because of his wealth. Yes, his family back home in Rosewood City were in
Ophelia lied but only because she did not see the need to let him know her real identity. She went to chill around there but it was not the same campus and every time she wanted to party hard she left her campus and travelled all the way to party. “Toria,” he said as though he was testing the name on his tongue. “Toria” he said again and this time his tone was telling her that he liked it. “That is a pretty name for a pretty girl like you” he said in a way of complimenting her. “Oh really?” she asked pushing herself forward and slowly taking her hand off his grip. She was used to men swimming around her because of her looks. She smiled briefly and it was suddenly replaced with a frown.“I have to say that is such a nineties thing to say” she added which made him shift uncomfortably in his seat. “Just joking” she finished raising her hand in the air.He took a deep breath and forced his teeth to show through a small smile, she was giving this off-putting air to him. “Should we have s
TWO YEARS LATER“Welcome young master, the chairman is in the study downstairs” Lisa said as Cade walked into the house. “Thank you… erm..” Cade lingered as he waited for the young girl to remind him of her name. “It is Lisa,” she said. She was used to it already, the entire family was basically the same, amongst them all only Cade even tried his best to remember the names of the staff. The rest only referred to them in condescending manners. Most times they were not even offended, they probably had better things to think about than to be thinking about the name of a house staff. Cade nodded and said. “Thank you, Lisa, please have someone prepare my room”“Would you be staying here?” Lisa replied with visible fear in her eyes. “Yes, is there anything wrong?” Cade asked confused why a house staff would show so much fear that he was finally coming home after three months. He had been living in the penthouse at the headquarters building all this while and had just come back from a bu
“I do hope you are happy, you finally found a way to drag me down to this hell” Ophelia said as she sat into the chair at the dining table.“Remember the deal we made before you left to study abroad?” Carter asked ignoring his daughter. “That was not a deal, you wanted to get rid of me because I was embarrassing you,” she said air quoting the last two words and tilting her head to the side “So you made me withdraw from school here and go there to start over just because of your reputation” her voice carried spite and she was not hiding it. “I told you that you would have to do anything I asked as long as I did not pry into your life during your stay in school and I think I did a good job at keeping the end of my bargain, now it's your turn to do the needful” Carter said taking his cup and siping the water in it. “You are forcing this on me, this is against human rights,” Ophelia said, she had agreed when her father had forced her but now that she had to do it she was feeling a litt
“What?”“What?”“Is the almighty Daddy’s puppet not going to tell me to listen to Daddy this time around?” Ophelia asked and he shifted to the edge of his seat. “What do you mean?” he asked before adding. “What do you daddy’s puppet?”“Haven't you always advised me to do things my dad wants me to?” she asked and he looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face. “I have always known”“And yet you still did them?”“Yeah because you asked and you are my friend so I did not think you would ever want me to be hurt soooo…” she trailed off. “You knew and you still them? That is shocking considering that you are so independent”“Hey, I never wanted to be independent, I was forced to become one” she said brushing her hair away from her face. “You don't think I should get married though why?”“I believe you should get married to the one you love, I think marriage is a big deal, I can't imagine living in the same house as someone who you don't like” “Then I guess the fortune of the Fros
Ophelia looked at this man, she remembered him all too well, she even remembered him from just seeing his name, he was the man she had spent the night passionately with when she was in her third year at college. She could never forget him no matter how hard she tried, she had always hated that he found a way to pop into her memories once in a while. She blinked her eyes at him multiple times, how did he remember her so well even up to her name? When she woke up that morning she had run away from the room before he could wake up and tried her best to forget about him.She never thought she would have a reason to ever encounter him ever again, considering the fact that she would be leaving the city behind anyway. For her own sanity, she never went back to that club in case she ran into him. How shameful it was for her that a girl who ran her mouth so much was a virgin. She did not think that her father's first choice for her would be this man sitting across from her, she did not know
“Your terms are?” Cade asked as they dug into the meal in front of them. “You want me to tell you now?”“Is anything wrong with now?” he asked looking around, maybe she thought the place was not good enough to discuss those kinds of matters. “Well, it seems rushed, what is the reason you are rushing?” “I have to get married before I turn twenty-five in August to take over the company or else my cousin or brother might be the one to inherit it”“And you are so interested in the company why?”“Do you know how much effort I have put into the company? I slept in the penthouse at work for three months, how can I let someone else take over? I studied business administration instead of engineering as I originally wanted because my grandfather wanted me to. Should I throw it all away after coming this far?”“Of course not, I can understand, I am sitting here now because my father already has everything planned out for my life” she sighed before taking a bite.”Maybe rich people do not have
Of course, the papers read, IS THE TROUBLESOME MS FROST BACK IN THE CITY FOR MORE TROUBLE. One of the reporters had caught wind that she was around and now her name was swimming in the news. She smiled at her phone as she thought to herself. ‘I still got it’ Maybe her father was the one who put the reporter on her tail but the fact that all the other reporters were eager to write on her showed just how influential her family was. Many of the reports were speculating that Cade and her were together and she knew from experience that now was the best time for her to jump on the news and make it work to their benefit. “Hello” “You finally picked,” Ophelia said.“Oh sorry about that i do not like to take personal calls during work hours” Cade replied. She had been calling so much he had no choice but to pick up and know what she wanted. When they had exchanged contacts he did not know she would reach out so easily.“And I am not really interested in calling you at all but you see this s
"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