Twenty years old James Scott settled on a chair in his bedroom flipping through a magazine about 'Traveling around the world'. He felt so content just sitting there, immersing himself in what he really had an interest in. His twenty-first birthday was in four months' time and he knew his mother would come nagging once again. James sighed, he was tired from all the ways his mother stressed him.He must have seen a vision because his mother barged right into his room with a frown on her face. Judith halted her steps and peered at him, her eyes narrowing when they landed on the book he was holding. James could already see the imaginary steam seeping out of her ears as he stood up to greet her."You're reading these irrelevant travel books again?" She hissed, wrinkling her nose in disapproval "Is this what you should be focusing on? You're supposed to be studying business books and resources. Not this nonsense""Why should I read business books?""How many times must I repeat myself befor
George turned around to face Rachel after successfully convincing his mother that they would get to 'work' about those grandchildren she wanted. She smiled happily, in approval of their agreement before leaving to attend an event. George could see that his mother had warmed up to Rachel and was beginning to like her, he was thrilled to notice that.He studied Rachel's face and noticed she was smiling "A penny for your thoughts? What's the happy event?"Rachel snapped out of her daydream, the smile on her face disappearing as she turned around, preparing to leave. "Uh, it's nothing at all""Are you trying to avoid me again?" George grabbed her hand before she could walk away and pulled her closer. He slid his hands around her waist, pushing her body to meet his, his face hovering just a few inches from hers."What are you doing?" Rachel tried to move out of his grip, but he only held her tighter.George stared at her, his eyes focusing on her full rounded lips, tempting him to lean in
George dragged himself up to his feet and strolled out of the hall used for holding meetings in the company. He had mentioned that he wanted the manufacturing team to release their newest body wash quickly, but instead of focusing on his words, more than half of the board members decided to bring up the topic of how unfit he was to be the CEO of the company based on how he looked. "You are embarrassing and downplaying the brand of this company by choosing to show up to conferences and events looking like that" one board member had remarked, making a reference to how everyone was staring at him at the last event he went to. George shook his head, in an attempt to clear his mind from these unwelcome thoughts. He could see that his stepmother was working hard to kick him out of his position, by bribing the board members to frustrate him. She obviously wanted James to become the CEO, which his mother — Patricia, would never allow. To make things worse for Judith, the company's profit ha
WINTER, 2003Patricia reached for the wrapping paper by her side for the Christmas gifts she had bought for her nine years old son, George and her husband, Morris. Lifting her head to observe the huge Christmas tree she had decorated standing near the wall, she noticed through an open window — the snow was pouring down heavier than yesterday, Patricia hoped that George wasn't playing outside. He liked the winter season.The door knob to her bedroom opened and Nanny Juliet, her personal nanny, walked in dragging George by his hand. "Mrs Patricia, here he is" The nanny said as she pulled a 'stubborn' George closer to his mother."George, come over here…" Patricia voiced out firmly, making George stand still. "...I said, come over here, quickly" she moved the wrapped gifts aside and pulled him when he stood a few steps away from her. "Are you going to scold me again?" George whispered, frowning at his mother."Of course not, I know you want to play outside…" Patricia rubbed his head gen
George held Rachel's hand tightly as they strolled around the wide expanse of land surrounding the villa. Early this morning, she had voiced out how she would love to take a walk with him, so here they were, doing just that. As they walked hand in hand, Rachel's mind drifted to her recent conversation with her father. The one about George liking her for a long time and keeping his promise by marrying her. She felt the warm heat rush to her cheeks as a smile graced her lips."What's making you smile?" George asked. Could taking a simple walk make someone so happy?Rachel halted her steps and moved to stand in front of him, with a playful smirk on her face "So…you've liked me for a long time, huh? Since we were teenagers?"George blinked hard. Where did she hear that from? Did his mother tell her? "Who told you that?""My father." Rachel laughed, getting ready to tease him "From his words, you were drowning in a sea of love and affection, waiting for me to give you a kiss and save your
"George.." Rachel whispered after a whole minute "...when did you get back? How long have you been standing there?"George fixed his gaze on her, watching as she shuffled uncomfortably on her feet. He could see she was avoiding his eyes. He had heard enough of everything from her end to know what her call was about. Even though he knew from the very beginning that she only married him to get access to this company, so she could keep an eye on everyone, it didn't change the fact that it hurt to know he was only a 'tool' to her. He must have been crazy to think she would have feelings for him, crazy to think that she would love him as time went by.He was probably too ugly for her, or too scarred. Staring at her, he answered "I've been standing here since the beginning of your phone call"Rachel gasped slightly, stepping forward to hold his hands, she muttered "It's not what you think. I don't —""Just stay where you are…" George responded in a very low tone, he didn't feel like being t
Spring, 1994Patricia hummed softly as baby George dozed off in her arms. She cuddled him and walked across the room to lay him down in his cradle bed. She stood by the cradle and watched him as he slept. She was so happy to have him, to be his mother unlike his father.Morris Scott…Patricia remembered the look on his face when she broke the news of her pregnancy to him. He was displeased, very unhappy about it. He didn't even try to hide it and till now, she still wondered why. Was he still angry about what her parents did to him? Did he hate her? She hoped not. She wanted Morris to love her and she was willing to do anything to change his mind about her.She didn't want George to grow in an environment like this, with a father that despised him. That wasn't the future she envisioned for him. George was 3 months old, yet, Morris hardly glanced in his direction, he would rather use 'work' as an excuse to hide his distaste for his new son.She didn't know what else to do to make Morri
Rachel edged closer to the end of the open hallway and waved at Sophia who stood in front of the massive villa, looking confused. Clearly, the villa had too many hallways and Sophia couldn't find her way. Rachel had asked George if he could help her friend enter the villa easily by instructing the bodyguards to give her access. He had done that.Sophia ran to where she was and they hugged each other tightly. She pulled back and slowly moved her gaze over Rachel "You are glowing more since the last time I saw you. I can see they are treating you well.""Of course" Rachel answered "It's good to see you again. Let's go inside""Lord, have mercy" Sophia gasped in wonder when they stepped into the sitting room in George's villa. "Lord, have mercy" she repeated again, making Rachel to burst in laughter."It's amazing, right?" Rachel smiled at her"Are you kidding me?" Sophia stepped forward, moving around the sitting room, her eyes filled with wonder and awe. "It's magnificent. It's terrifi
Five months laterRachel wadded slowly across the sitting room, placing a hand on her round waist for support. Her legs felt slightly heavy and she felt like a big whale that was about to push out a whole nation.Yes, a nation! She was absolutely losing it at this point.She rubbed her rounded belly, a frustrated frown on her face. All the baby birth books she read so far said the normal gestation period for babies was nine months. What exactly was this baby still doing inside of her?The baby was already due, why wasn't her water breaking yet? At this point, she could faint from exhaustion.Thank goodness Sophia was coming over today. She needed someone to talk to before she lost it.Has it been just five months since they got married? Ugh! It felt like five years!Because of this pregnancy!After this round, she needed at least four years to get herself back to normal, before deciding if she wanted baby number two.Her favorite food disgusted her, the back aches were almost driving
Rachel stood up from her bed slowly, not sure she heard what Sophia just said clearly.George was here? For what exactly?Did he come to officially announce their divorce to her parents? Or was he here for another reason unknown to her?She wore her slippers and turned to head out to the sitting room. At the same time, George was walking into her room.Rachel paused when she saw him. The atmosphere in the room felt different all of a sudden. How could he even open his mouth to say he wanted a divorce only to look like this a week later?He was a reflection of her right now. It was obvious he was not eating well or sleeping well either. The bags under his eyes were enough proof. And was it just her eyes or was he slimmer than just a week ago?Her normal self would have shut him out in anger by now, telling him to go away for putting her through so much emotional torture in the past week but after hearing Sophia's advice, she felt like she could understand him now….He must have had a
"Rachel told me everything that happened between the both of you…" Arthur Reeves voiced out to George sitting in front of him."Uhm…." George mumbled not knowing what to say in response.Arthur watched George fidgeting in his chair and rubbing his fingers together. George was nervous and uncomfortable around him….It was something he never thought would happen. George had been very close and dear to him in the past. For the most part, he had watched him grow from a lad into a young man. George used to talk to him comfortably more than he talked to his own father, Morris.Watching him sitting across, avoiding his gaze and mumbling words was strange to him.But he couldn't blame him….He could see that George felt guilty on his father's behalf. He felt that somehow he was linked to his father's nasty actions and had to pay a price too. That was why he was being hard on Rachel and cutting her off instantly.Because he believed she deserved a better husband from a 'clean' home….Arthur si
"You are not my son anymore. Don't ever call yourself that again!….." Judith yelled through the transparent shield as she glared at James.James sat in front of the woman who was supposed to be a mother to him….But who had never been. Not even for once.You would think that locking her up in here would break her back but no! She was made of steel.Staring at her fuming angrily, he realized that he didn't have a lot of good memories of her. From a young age, she made his life miserable but he had to take it all because that's what children do, right?They take all the nonsense because they have nowhere else to go.He still remembered everything clearly….How she had frightened him as a child, threatening to kill George if she saw him playing with him again.He had been so afraid of losing his dear brother that he stayed away for so long until they were grown-up and there was no longer any bond between him and George.He remembered the countless slaps and beatings she would give him if
Rachel stood still and gasped in shock. It felt like a cold wind blew past her as she stared in surprise at the man who stood before her.Did she hear him correctly now or was she hallucinating? He wanted a divorce. George wanted to divorce her.If anyone had told her that the moment she came back from the villa this morning after spending some time with her father, she would hear a ridiculous statement like this, she would have just stayed back!Had he been drinking? What nonsense was he saying?Rachel was so shocked she didn't even notice the tears already trickling down her cheeks. As she stood in front of him with the divorce papers in her hand, what even annoyed her more than anything was the fact that he had already signed his part of the divorce papers.So quickly….Did he want to get rid of her so fast? She had already told her parents and Sophia that she was not putting an end to their marriage. She had also made it clear to George that she loved him….Why was he suddenly de
"Are you expecting me to apologize to you? Have you lost your mind, you crippled imbecile?"George rubbed his hands on his forehead as Judith hurled different words at his mother, Patricia who just stared at her.He despised this woman a lot. No, the word was 'hate'. He hated her….Ever since she got arrested five days ago, he had been replaying different scenes from the past in his mind, feeling different emotions….All the nasty things this woman had done to his mother for years and gotten away with. All the times she had made his mother cry behind closed doors. For the moments when she rubbed it in his face as a little boy that he meant nothing to his father and her son, James was loved more than him. For the moments when she never failed to remind his mother that she was an unloved wife….And many other things he didn't want to remember right now.He couldn't for the life of him understand how his mother accepted her into the villa in the first place! That was all the push she nee
5 Days LaterNothing would have prepared him for the way he felt the moment he entered the main villa of Imperial Hub Limited.What used to be Morris's villa….Arthur Reeves walked through the familiar pathway that led to where Morris used to stay. He used to go here to talk to Morris in his personal library. They would laugh, talk and joke around about different things.In the midst of their laughter and conversation, he never suspected for once that Morris despised him and was looking for a way to get rid of him.Till today, he still couldn't understand why Morris didn't just let him go….He knew that Morris felt uncomfortable about all the board members saying he was a better leader and businessman compared to Morris. He decided to leave because it made perfect sense to do so at that moment.He was already packing his things, making it known that he was resigning and would have nothing to do with the company anymore. Was that not enough?What else did Morris want? What else was he
Sophia held out a piece of tissue to Rachel and rubbed her back gently. They stood at an empty section of the toilet. The floor above them was the room where the final court case was to be held. "Everything is going fine. Why are you crying?"Rachel dabbed her face with the tissue and sniffed "Don't worry. They are not sad tears, I'm just so happy. I can't believe that the day I've been waiting for since the last six years is finally here…."Sophia smiled. "That's true. I still remember when you were leaving to get married to George. I thought you were crazy back then. I thought you would be harmed over here or that something huge would go wrong. I couldn't understand why you would choose to take this path but I'm glad that everything turned out for the best.""Yea…I'm so glad nobody died in this process unless it would have made things worse. It wouldn't really feel like a victory after all"Sophia switched on her phone and checked the time. "We have about an hour left before the cou
Rachel sat quietly at the dining table, eating her breakfast of waffles, scrambled eggs and bacon. She peeked at George who was eating at the opposite end of the table.Something was off. Maybe he had a lot on his mind or maybe he just didn't feel like talking. It felt like he was keeping his distance from her, avoiding her.During this period, precisely since the evidence showed Morris was behind her father's case and when Morris also tried harming Sophia, George had been acting strange. He was distant.He didn't treat her poorly or anything like that but he wasn't himself like the way he was when they first got married. He answered all her questions whenever she asked any but he never really 'talked' to her.Most of their conversations so far were either about her father in prison, Mrs Patricia who was receiving treatment privately or Morris and Judith…..They hardly talked about 'each other' these days.Was it because they were in their twelfth month of marriage and they only had