Autumn touched her cheek as she remained on the spot staring at the lady who had just slapped her. It came as a shock to her because she had not expected it. Still trying to process everything that was happening, the lady had begun to rant once again. "You have no idea how rude you are!" She yelled at her. "Do you even know who I am?" Autumn scoffed as she dropped her hand from her face. "If you were someone important, you wouldn't be this bothered about other people. Instead, other people would be bothered about you. But look at you," she pointed at her, giving her a scornful look. "I won't go down this lane with you though, you don't deserve my time." This only angered the lady even more. She didn't have any comebacks, and it pissed her off. As she fumed with anger, she couldn't control herself anymore, so she raised her hand to lash Autumn another slap. Fortunately for Autumn, Jax was nearby, and he had already seen it coming.? As she raised her hand the second tim
Autumn could see the rage in Perry's eyes as he glared at her, expecting a reply from her. Her heart began to race now. She had seen him angry before, but not as much as this. Seeing that there was no option left, she spoke up, since she knew he'd eventually find out his way if she didn't talk. "I don't know her name," she replied honestly. She had only met her once, and this happened to be her second time seeing her in the firm. "Then describe her," Perry ordered. Right now, he was acting as her boss, and it was only appropriate for her to do whatever he ordered her to. "I don't know—" "Scratch that," he cut in and brought out his phone from his pocket, then began to dial a number. Fear crossed Autumn's face. She had no idea what he was going to do, but she could tell that it wasn't something good, so she asked him. "What are you gonna do? Who are you calling?" "The executive director," he replied to her and her eyes opened wide in shock, fear gripped her even more.
The hall was filled with murmurs immediately, as the lady began to beg Perry, not minding that she was in the presence of everyone. "I want your desk cleared by the end of the day," Perry replied to her, ignoring her pleas. "Also, get ready to become a liability, because I'm going to make sure you never get a job in any other company. You know what that means?" He asked her and she nodded amidst her pleas. "Good, you're blacklisted." He then turned to the audience. "I believe you all witnessed this?" "Yes, boss!" They chorused. "Good. That's the tip of the iceberg. The next time anyone dares assault or harasses anyone in the vicinity of this company, he or she would be dealt with accordingly. This doesn't apply to my secretary alone, but all workers, including the security men, cleaners, and of course, the juniors. Is that understood?" "Yes, boss!" "The meeting is hereby dismissed!" He said as he walked to the exit. The lady, however, didn't give up. She ran after h
After a while and Olive was done fantasizing about Jax, Lisa and Autumn began to tease her. They did that for a couple of minutes and when Olive couldn't take it anymore, she told them to stop. "I don't understand why you did that, though," Olive suddenly said to Autumn out of the blue, a serious expression on her face, making Lisa and Autumn look at each other and back at her. Wondering what Autumn did, Lisa was the first to reply to her. "What did she do?" She asked her curiously. "Yeah, what did I do?" Autumn also asked. "I think the only reason he invited us was that he felt you wouldn't go with him if he didn't invite us. He only felt obligated to invite us because you're here with us. If we weren't here with you, would he have invited us? No." She explained, looking a bit sad. Autumn chuckled lightly, before replying to her. "You're wrong, Olive. I don't think that's true. It's just your imagination and thoughts lying to you. If he didn't want you guys there, he wou
"What are you doing?" He asked her and she jumped. She had no idea he had entered the office. "Oh my God!" She exclaimed, placing her hand on her chest due to the shock. "How long have you been here?" She asked him. "Long enough to see you pacing around like someone whose landlord is gonna chase her out soon and she has no money to pay him," he replied as he walked into the office and closed the door. He walked to her seat and sat on the chair opposite hers. Still standing in the same spot she was before, she replied to him. "That was quite specific." He shrugged. "What were you doing?" "Nothing!" She replied curtly. "I was doing nothing." Then, she changed the topic immediately. "So, what about your friend, has he left? You accompanied him to the parking lot, didn't you? Why didn't you—" "Autumn," he cut in, knowing fully well that she was hiding something. "Yeah?" She replied, her hands sweaty due to the nervousness. "Stop with the unnecessary questions and tell m
"You're cheating, motherfucker!" Perry banged his hand on the table, which came as a shock to Autumn. "First, language, please. Then two, cheating?" She asked him with raised eyebrows, unsure of if he knew what he was saying or not. "Do you even know what it means to cheat?" She asked him and scoffed. "Weren't you the one who stated that neither of us is allowed to be seeing someone else as long as this deal is still valid?" He questioned her. It was pretty obvious that he was pissed, he was only trying to keep it cool and not get angrier at her. "So?" She shrugged. "Who am I seeing?" "Jax," Perry replied bluntly, and immediately, Autumn burst into laughter. This only annoyed him more, but he said nothing and waited for her to be done with her laughter before he tried to say any other thing. "Look," she started after she was done laughing, her face now carrying a serious look. "Nothing is going on between Jax and me, but if you choose to believe that there is, that's your
While their night out was ongoing, a lady in the group noticed Autumn's ring and admired it, making everyone notice it and admire it too. Some of them asked her when she got married, and she was forced to lie that she's been married for six months. Soon, drinks started flowing and their lips loosen, they started to share stories about themselves and gossipped about their colleagues, but Autumn made sure not to let anything slip out about Perry. Their happy hours ended much later than usual, and most, if not all of them were quite tipsy. A number of them offered to drive Autumn home but she refused, saying she'd call her husband. Olive, Jax, and Lisa offered to wait with her until her husband came, but she refused and they left not quite long after. When she was sure that every single one of them had left, she walked outside the bar and decided to call Perry. She almost already knew what his reply was going to be to her request, but she decided to try her luck. She dialed hi
As the guy was about to touch her clothes, they heard a loud yell, and they turned around to see Perry standing at the entrance of the alley with a bat in his hand. "Let her go right now if you don't wanna die," he said to them firmly as he walked further closer to them. When Autumn sent Perry her address, he became worried. He knew about the thugs in that area, and how people have always complained bitterly about them. The news has even carried several times that people shouldn't stay out late in that area. He knew Autumn had no idea about this, and the only way to make sure she doesn't get hurt by anyone was to get there fast. He had almost driven the car to the front of the bar when he saw some men roughly carrying her away, and he knew immediately that those were the thugs. He parked his car in front of the bar and followed them to the dark alley, unknown to them. "And who are you?" Their leader, who harassed Autumn, turned to Perry and said to him. "Someone big eno
Becky's surgery was done successfully, and Autumn was caught between working, taking care of her mom in the hospital, and her younger sister This made her quite stressed that she almost fell sick. Soon, her mum was discharged and they returned home Meanwhile, Perry had been thinking of ways to apologize to Autumn and urge her to return home as his wife. After much thought about it, Khalid gave him advice about what to do. He made some findings on where Autumn now works, and he found out it was with one of his business partners Immediately, he reached out to Marco, Autumn's new boss, and also her family and asked for their help in getting her back. He told her boss that he should send her on a business trip to Vegas, and her boss agreed. Autumn was very surprised when her boss told her to do this. She had just taken a leave from work to Los Angeles to take care of herself, and he had granted her the leave All of a sudden, he called her to come with him on a business trip t
"Do you not know that she's pregnant already?" Max chuckled. "I know quite well, and that's why I'm telling you this because her baby is mine and not yours." Perry paused for a minute and stared at him like he didn't just hear what he said. He scoffed, wondering if he was aware of what he was talking about. "Can you even hear yourself?" Max smiled. "I know you'd never believe me just by my words, so I made sure to gather my evidence to show you." "What the heck?" Perry stared at him unbelievably, as he felt his heart beating heavily. "Even if what you're saying is true, why are you telling me now?" Max let out a sigh. "You might call it selfishness, but my heart hasn't healed from the hurt she put me through. I know your engagement with her is very close, and I don't want to see her happy after everything she did to me." "And what did she do to you exactly?" Perry asked as he sat up in his seat curiously "What could she have done that made you despise her so much to com
"Autumn is my ex-wife!" "Excuse me?" Gloria responded. She heard him well, but she wanted to believe she didn't. "Autumn is your ex-wife? You married your secretary?" She scoffed. "Am I good to go now that I've told you?" "What the… you're serious?" Her eyes opened wide in shock. "Was she also the one at the party the other night?" "Yes," he simply replied. Only then did the realization hit her. She knew she had heard that voice before, but she didn't know where it was She had wondered why his secretary was rude to her the very first time they set eyes on each other, but now she could tell why she had behaved like that to her. "You dated that thing?" She asked, her face filled with irritation. "Watch your words, Gloria. I'm not in the best mood at the moment, and you know that" he responded. "Do you even know how I feel about that at the moment?!" He raised his voice at him. "You claimed to divorce her and now you're coming to pay her bills?" "Please—" "Oh, spar
"Where are you headed?" Perry asked his parents as he looked from Lucy to his dad and back at Lucy "Gloria and I are here to have a surprise dinner with you," he added, and Gloria simply smiled at them. Lucy rolled her eyes at him. "That's none of your business. We have somewhere urgent to go," she said and walked past him, but Perry was quick to drag his mum back by the hand. "Perry!" She snapped at him and yanked his hand off her arm. "Can someone at least tell me what's happening?!" He asked at the top of his voice, while Gloria stood there staring at them. Mr. Moore checked the time on his wristwatch, and seeing that arguing with Perry would only make them late, he decided to tell him what happened "Autumn's mother needs to go through an operation and the fee is a little high for her." Perry's eyes went wide open in shock. "Her sister called us for help, and that's where we're going. Is that okay now?" He then turned to Gloria "My dear, we won't be available tonight
Autumn rubbed her hands together anxiously as she awaited the response of the doctor. He cleared his table and sat on his office chair, while she sat opposite him. "What's going on with her?" She asked him with a look of fear on her face. The doctor looked at her, then at the paper in his hand, then back at her. He then started to explain his diagnosis. "She happened to have arrhythmias, heart valve problems, and high blood pressure in her lung arteries, which led to a heart failure that made her collapse." "Oh my God," Autumn gasped, as she covered her mouth with her hands. Her eyes were teary by now as she stared at the doctor. "Isn't there anything that could be done about it?" She added after a couple of seconds. "Will she survive it? What do I have to do to make her feel better? Will she get better? She won't die now, will she? Please, be honest with me," she begged with teary eyes as her heart began to beat heavily. She had arguments with her mother a lot, but she w
Autumn arrived at Biarritz Tech Company and rushed over to the receptionist's table. The young lady looked at her with an emotionless face, expecting her to say something since she had no idea who she was or whom she was there to see. "Good afternoon," Autumn said and stood in front of the receptionist. "I was called a couple of minutes back to come over to this company right away." "Name?" "Autumn." "Autumn?" The receptionist raised her head to look at Autumn again, giving her a disapproving stare. "Do you not have a last name?" "It's Dax. Autumn Dax." Confirming that 'Autumn Dax' was on the list of new employees, she gave Autumn a brisk nod. "Go to the office on the last end of the next floor." "Thank you," Autumn replied with false pleasantness and skipped towards the elevator. On getting to the next floor's waiting hall, a young lady stepped out of the office directly opposite her and called out, "Autumn Dax." "Here!" She replied and launched to her feet. The
A couple of weeks later, Lisa and Olive took a day off from work to see Autumn. When they noticed that she hadn't been coming, they reached out to her. They were shocked to hear that she had resigned from work. Seeing that there was no other way to see her, they picked a date and decided to meet up at a nearby restaurant. Autumn arrived there first and ordered a drink while she awaited the arrival of her friends. The television was on, and it was set to a news channel. She was lost in thought about her search for a new job when someone mentioned Perry's name, which jerked her back to reality. "Isn't that the billionaire CEO of Trek Tech?" A lady squealed from her seat as she pointed at the tv. "Omg! It's him! He's getting engaged again!" Another one exclaimed and murmurs aroused in the room. Autumn managed to listen to the news amidst the murmurs, to know what exactly was happening. "...and had divorced his ex-wife, whom he didn't mention her name to cover her identity.
Perry looked at his mum, who was stunned at how he shouted at her. "I'm sorry for raising my voice at you, mum. But I just want you to understand that nobody else has a say in my marriage affairs." "Your father and I have come to see Autumn as our daughter, and we knew how happy you were and how positively you changed in a couple of things," Lucy replied with a serious but concerned look on her face. "So I don't understand why you should divorce her over—" "The whole thing was fake!" Perry blurted out, while his parents just stared at him like they had no idea what he was saying. "Everything was fake from the start, mum. We signed a deal with each other when dad wanted me to get married at all costs." "Perry Moore!" His father growled as he shot a deadly glare at Perry. "You both deceived us all along?!" "I've said all I can. I'm off to work," Perry said and walked towards the exit. "Perry!" His father called, but he didn't turn back. He walked out of the house and slamme
Becky walked to sit beside Autumn on her bed. She looked tattered and rough, and Becky's heart sank to see her daughter that way. That was the first time she had ever seen her so bedridden over a guy. "Do you want to talk about it now?" Becky asked her calmly. Autumn reached for the cupboard next to her bed and picked up some papers on it, then gave her. Becky collected them wondering what it was about. She went through it and was shocked to see that they were divorce papers. She was even more shocked to see that Autumn had signed her part. "You signed these?" Her eyes were wide open in shock as she stared at her daughter like she knew not what she was doing. "I've made up my mind, mum. He sent these papers because he has moved on. I'm ready to do that too," she got up from her bed. "I'm going to drop the papers at the mailbox, so they can be delivered back to him." "Are you sure about this? Do you think you're doing the right thing?" Becky asked with a face filled with