AUTHORS NOTE I am so sorry that I was unable to post this chapter yesterday as promised. I had a technical difficulty, and hopefully it has been resolved now. Thank you for your patience.
Evangeline let out a loud cackle and turned to him laughing and doubling over, touching her knee as if she had received exciting news. "You think I do not know what you did to Lila?" she asked, cleaning off the tears that had formed in the corner of her eyes. "So you think I would just come into this relationship without any sort of insurance on my part?" she added, standing up with her hand on her waist. "What are you saying?" "I'm saying that I have evidence that you were the killer, not Lila," she said, cackling. "That is impossible; you possibly cannot have any evidence," he said in a faltering tone. He cleared his throat and held his temple in shock. "How?" he said, taking a step back. "I know you would do the right thing," she said, walking to the bed, picking up her bag, and winking at him before she walked away. "Wait!" Gavin said, trying to go after her. She was already on the stairs when he held her hand, stopping her from going any further. "What is it?" she trie
"We can finally meet," Joseph said as they settled down in Lila's room. They had been planning to meet all week, and it was finally the weekend, and they were in Lila's room on a Friday night, ready to d******d each other's lives for the party. "Do you think a few hours is enough to get us through ten years worth of absence?" Lila asked as she sat down in bed beside him. "I definitely know that it is not enough time, but we have to try. I have a luncheon I have to attend tomorrow. I am deeply uninterested in it, but I have to go anyway," Joseph said in the most uninterested tone. "It must be difficult fighting with your brother for a spot,” Lila said sadly. She could into imagine having to have fought her brother for the chairman position. She might have given up so he could have it. "It is exhausting, and I do not want to do it, but my dad keeps insisting that this is the only way that the person who ends up with the company would value it and do all within their power to keep it,
Lila watched Joseph dance so well on the dance floor. She had never seen this side of him because they had never been to the club together before she left home. He was such an animal on the dance floor and it was surprising to watch. She watched him take rough steps as he pushed through the crowd and finally stopped at her table. "I did not bring you here for that" he said panting as he took a bottle of water from their table and chugged it down. "What then did you bring me for?" she screamed so her voice could somehow travel to him who was standing at a table away from him. "To get out of that chair and find a new man to get you over your old failed ass man" he said dropping the half drunk bottle to the table. "I'd rather observe from here" Lila said in a dismissing tone. Clubbing has never been an option for her so she did not know what to do. It was not because she hated clubbing but just because Gavin has constantly told her that good women were not found in clubs and bars
"Do you want to get out of here?" Zach asked her and she nodded. For other reasons apart from his facial beauty she found herself being drawn to him. She swallowed down and went back to her table to take up her bag which she now knew was dangerous to just keep by itself in a busy bar like this, Because no matter how sophisticated everyone looked there were still wannabes there who were there with the hopes of hooking up a rich man and changing the course of their life. Joseph has wished her luck and pushed her out of the bar even when she voiced concern that she might be a victim of kidnapping he said that no one would dare do that to do. She believes him and just went with this stranger who suggested that they go to a more quiet place so he could give her advise on ways to forget an ex. "Good luck with getting some" Joseph screamed as she walked away. She looked back to see him now fully engaged with his tongue down a woman's throat. She was going to ask him a ton of questions as so
"Talk to me," Damien said as he walked into the room. He had asked Gray to keep an eye on Lila and report everything to her so he knew what to do and when to do it."I have something to report on...""I know that Damien cut him off before he could finish the statement. "You called me and said that you have something to report to me on Lila Carson and that is why I am here," he tilted his head."Yes sir, so the men I put on her reported that she went to a bar last night and left with a strange man.""And what did they do?" Damien asked, sitting on the chair behind his table as he moved the chair forward."Nothing but it seemed from their interaction that she had picked up an interest in him.""A club huh?" Damien said, nodding his head as his eyes swayed from side to side. "I did not peg her as a club person. She seems to have many tricks up her sleeve," he added."I will update you with more information about her.""That is good," Damien said, biting his lips. None of the ways he had t
Lila walked down the stairs to go get breakfast. She received an official message from her brother stating that she needed to get ready to go for an event in the afternoon. When she got the mail from him, she laughed to herself because she could not understand why he had to send a letter instead of coming to knock on her door to give her the information.By the time she got to the kitchen, the staff were still on breakfast; she took this as an opportunity to talk with them and straighten out any misconception they might have against her. She did not want to be seen as a bad person as much as she tried to act like she did not care what they thought about her; deep down she knew that she cared too much."Hi," she said, feeling her throat tighten and the words being forced out of her mouth as she said it.The two young girls were startled, and they turned around to face her with horrified expressions on their faces. "Am I scary?" Lila asked as the words were forced out of her mouth; she
Lila walked in with Joseph, but she could not find him anymore. He had sworn to charm all the old ladies in the luncheon because he knew that most of them may seem weak, but they held the will of their husbands in their hands and could cause a lot of things to happen. It was the same for her parents; she had seen her father make decisions and critical ones at that at the advice that her mom had given."Come to this luncheon with two men, only to be left all alone," she said to herself as her eyes scanned the entire floor with the noise streaming and the low, soft jazz music playing from the speakers. She stood in the corner all by herself, no matter how many.When she came here, she could understand the need for such extravagant parties so many times in just a week.Her eyes caught the figure that was all too familiar to her. She could tell that it was Gavin even if she was blinded; she had spent so much time with him to know that he was the same person. He had grown out his beard, an
Gavin knew that not accepting to the terms of Evangeline was going to be drastic and difficult for him. He was already getting used to this life; how could he go back? As hard as it was getting used to living with Evangeline, he was glad he chose her as opposed to Lila, who could not better his life.What he could not understand as he stood with three other people at his table with Evangeline holding onto him like her life was in danger and he was the solution was Lila, who stood at the corner table with her hands firmly wrapped around the champagne bottle. He had seen her and was dismayed at the fact that she could be the one because she did not have the connection to make it in here, so maybe the woman he had seen was just someone who looked so much like Lila.When his eyes met hers, he could tell that she was the one. Her lovely eyes stared at him, and even with a blank expression on her face, he could not get over how beautiful she looked. He was going to escape the non-stop chatt
"Damien?" Rosa said as she saw him walk towards her in the garden. "I did not know you were coming over today," she added, and he smiled sadly, sitting beside her in the chair. "I also did not know that I was going to come over; it was kind of an impromptu thing," he confessed. "What is it with that expression on your face?" she asked. "What expression?""You look sad, but it is a different kind from the one I am used to," she said. He always looked sad, carrying around a gloomy face since Amber died. She always thought that it might be a good idea if he found someone who knew and loved him, but somewhere deep inside her, she wanted her daughter to be remembered a bit more. She was afraid that if she told him to do that, he might take it so seriously that her daughter would be a forgotten memory faster than one could think. That was the reason she never suggested it to him. She feared that the expression on his face was him coming to tell her that he had found someone and was goin
Tessa smiled at her daughter's report, and then she put the phone down on the table. She raised her head to meet Damien's gaze. "What do I owe the pleasure of meeting with Damien Calloway?" Tessa asked, leaning in and using her to trace the edge of the table. "Would you like anything to eat or drink?" Damien said instead of answering her. "It's already past ten; I had breakfast," she replied and then added in a low tone. "I am not an animal after all." "I am yet to have breakfast. I guess I must be an animal, but I need breakfast, so I will get you a cup of water and a few pastries for the table," he said, standing up and going to the counter to order. Tessa wondered why he had so much confidence. She knew him and his father when they suddenly rose to fame and how he changed the history of everything around him. He had been so influential that his past suddenly did not matter to everyone around him. Those who would have nitpicked at everything were comfortable with it all. Damien
Tessa smiled at her daughter's report, and then she put the phone down on the table. She raised her head to meet Damien's gaze. "What do I owe the pleasure of meeting with Damien Calloway?" Tessa asked, leaning in and using her to trace the edge of the table. "Would you like anything to eat or drink?" Damien said instead of answering her. "It's already past ten; I had breakfast," she replied and then added in a low tone. "I am not an animal after all." "I am yet to have breakfast. I guess I must be an animal, but I need breakfast, so I will get you a cup of water and a few pastries for the table," he said, standing up and going to the counter to order. Tessa wondered why he had so much confidence. She knew him and his father when they suddenly rose to fame and how he changed the history of everything around him. He had been so influential that his past suddenly did not matter to everyone around him. Those who would have nitpicked at everything were comfortable with it all. Damien
Lila wanted to check on Damien to see if he was hurt in the fight, even if it was most unlikely that anything like that would happen. She was still worried, but how would he believe anything if she was calling him up to check on him after brutally breaking up with him and even going the extra mile to try and convince him that she was done? "I never even got to tell him that I liked him," she murmured to herself. She did not know why it was so important to her, but she wanted to tell him at least once that during their time together she had begun to fall for him before she had to do what was right for herself and her family. THE NEXT MORNING"Damien is asking to meet with me," Tessa said as if she were giving morning updates to the group on the table"Why?" Lila choked out, trying not to sound too excited or curious to hear it. She had to first convince herself that she was capable of getting the job done before she could convince anyone else. "I don't know; I guess we have to meet
Gavin looked at his face in the mirror of his car before turning it off. He felt pain surge through his body. Damien had only punched him once yet but felt like he had gotten beaten up. He walked into the house hoping that Evangeline was already asleep and he did not need to go back and forth with her today. "Why are you just getting back?" "Since when did you care what time I got back?" Gavin was startled by her voice because he had looked around when he got in and had not seen anything but majorly because the entire place was dark. She watched him look around like a criminal ready to steal something when he came in. She wanted to stand in front of him and rain down cursed but held herself back. Tessa had called her and sent images of Gavin with Lila. She told her that she was against it but her daughter was going back to Gavin. If Tessa had not told her to calm down then maybe she would have gotten all rilled up and thrown him out of the house. Tessa promised to get back at Gav
Gavin is barely able to recover from the punch that Damien landed on his face when another one cuts across his face so brutally. "What do you think you are doing?" Gavin screamed, tasting blood in his mouth. He spat out what he had been able to pull and moved up to Damien. He knew that he would not be able to win against this man, but the pride he felt in his heart was not going to allow him to back down. "What do you also think you are doing?" Damien asked, closing the gap between them so that they were now touching chest to chest and their faces so close to each other that if they tipped a bit, they might be kissing. "I asked you first; why don't you answer?" Gavin asked. He knew he should not be doing anything like this, but maybe the confidence that Lila was beside him now was giving him some kind of push. "What?" Damien let out a surprised laugh. "You must think that you are a big shot now," he added. "You punched first, and for what?" Gavin's eyes darted around, trying to f
"You are here with him?" Damien asked as if she had spoken in an unknown language. "Yes," she said We had so much confidence that it was even scary to her. Where did she see such confidence from, and how did she develop it?"With your ex? With the man who married another woman? Are you with a married man?" Damien's voice came out as a mixture of anger and concern for her. She could see that all was wrong, but she had to defend herself. What if Damien began to see her as a loose person who did not care about herself? "It is just a friendly date, and I do not think any of this is your business," she murmured, trying to look away. "You do not think any of this is my business?" He said, taking a deep breath as if to stop himself from exploding. "And what is a friendly date?" he asked with a puzzled expression on his face. "A friendly date; we just met to have dinner; what is so difficult to understand about that?" she asked. She knew she was not supposed to be there holding a conversa
"Why? I thought you two looked together," Gavin said. He was brimming with so much joy, but he could not show it. He was supposed to be a married man. How did he show so much happiness just because she was going to be with him if all went well? "We were a good match, but he liked me more than I liked him, and in relationships like that, it is hard to keep up, and as I said earlier, I still loved you; I liked you so much that I could not move on," she lied, and her throat felt itchy as she lied so much. "I am a married man," Lila wanted to call his bluff; he was acting hard to get, and to what end? He had been brimming from ear to ear, and now he wanted to act as if he were faithful to his wife. "I know this is wrong, but are you saying that all of the feelings you have for me are all gone?" She asked, and he stood there, watching her. "If you tell me that you do not have a single feeling for me again, I will not disturb you again." Gavin sat there and watched her without a word. "
"You are here," Gavin said as soon as the door opened and Lila stepped in. The door closed behind her, and she moved into the room. "I hope I did not keep you waiting too long," she asked."Of course not. I got here early," he said, moving from where he stood to help her get the chair. She looked at him shocked at his actions; she wanted to ask him why he was acting like such a gentleman and standing up when she got into the room. Pulling out the chair for her? She remembered their dates as a couple and how he was always nonchalant towards her. She licked her lips and shook her head, trying to act as if it were normal for him to act like this. "Thank you," she murmured instead of asking him what had come over him. She slipped into the chair, and he put it on a bit before going back to the seat opposite her. She hated the way they had to sit opposite each other and stare into their souls as if nothing was wrong with it. "You are welcome," he replied, taking up the menu and giving it