DEVONIt's still uncertain if the pregnancy is mine, and even if it is, it won't stop me from hating her. But at the very least, since she is possibly pregnant with my child, I thought that many things had to change. At least for the meantime.I had a busy day with a client who had an import and export company in South Africa and was well-connected in the country. We had done business before, and he was reliable. But this time, it was a little difficult. I managed to expertly handle him. I wasn't called the most talented man in the Grey family for no reason.In the whole of America, even without the backing and support of the Grey family, I can easily stand firmly in the top fifty most influential men in the country.With the problem solved, I felt like I needed a break. Just when the thought crossed my mind, my phone rang. I looked at the screen and saw it was one of my best buddies, Michael."Where are you, Devon?" He asked."Nowhere," I replied nonchalantly."What do you mean by no
DEVON"What benefits had Lucas given you? Or was it George? Two of them are in cahoots anyway," I said directly. Derek looked shocked; his face told everything. Michael was confused and didn't know what was going on. He looked between me and Derek."I thought you knew better, Derek. I am so disappointed in you. And I give you my word I will make sure that you have no footing in New York," I declared. Before he could say anything, I turned around and walked to my car. Derek was persistent and hurriedly came to me."It's not what you think; they tried to poach me, but I didn't agree. I was just playing along with them," he whispered.I didn't believe him one bit; I could see the desperation in his eyes. He was just trying to find an excuse. Perhaps right now, he's confused. Without saying a word, I hopped inside my car together with Michael."What happened back there, Devon?" He asked curiously."I think he is with Lucas now," I replied."What will you do?" He asked curiously."I may no
DEVONInside my car, Karen was seated in the front passenger seat, nervously holding her hands. After beating Lucas's son, he had retreated in fear when he learned that I am his father's archenemy. Even his father had to tread carefully, so he couldn't be so careless.But he didn't look like he had given up. "I won't run away just because you are powerful. Any woman I have set my eyes on must be mine one way or the other," he had said before leaving. I felt like giving him another beating but was stopped by Keran.The worst part was that I found out I was jealous. Yes, I was indeed jealous. When I saw them talking with each other at first, I thought he was her lover. I had been so angry and ready to confront them, that was before I heard their conversation and realised that I was wrong.The bastard had the nerve to force himself on my woman. I decided that this wasn't over."What happened back there?" I asked after calming down a little."It wasn't what you were thinking, Devon. He wa
KARENThe afternoon was very busy. I came back exhausted. The first thing I did was wash up, after which I lay on the bed to recuperate. The door opened, and Devon came."You're back?" I said in surprise. He looked at me but didn't comment."We're going to the hospital tomorrow," he announced."I thought you said it's next week?" I asked."I changed my mind. Do you have any issue with it?" he questioned."No, nothing at all. It's just that I want to visit my mom tomorrow.""You can go after the test," he answered. I nodded before lying back on the bed. He glared at me before taking his shoes off."Only a wicked wife will watch her husband come back and won't even lift a hand to help him," he snorted. I ignored him and continued sleeping. Seeing that he got no response, he became even more angry and left for the bathroom. I slowly drifted off to sleep.The next morning, I woke up naturally. The weather was good this morning; it didn't snow heavily like yesterday. Today I was going to s
KARENI arrived in Cumberland Valley by four o'clock. It was my community where I was born. People here are mostly farmers raising corn and soybeans; some also do dairy farming."Phew, home at last. It has been a long while now," I commented after parking in front of our house. Someone came out; it was my junior sister still in junior high, Aria."You're back, sister," she said happily and helped me with the luggage. "How was it in New York?" She asked curiously."It's great. I'm sure you will like it when you come," I said."Mummy said I will go to a boarding school in New York for my high school just like you," she announced."Wow, that's great," I praised as we walked inside the house. It was a duplex, quite modern; our family could be considered well-off in Cumberland."Where's Mom?" I queried."She went to see her friends.""And Derek?" I asked again."He went to the farm," she replied."Oh, that's good." Derek was my immediate younger brother, the only male in our house, and he
KARENThe sky was getting dark, and the sun slowly made a retreat. I guess it was already evening. I lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. I had imagined Devon breaking in to save me. With time passing, I learned how naive it was for me to think like that instead of finding a way to escape.The door opened, revealing Wigan in a black wedding suit. A smile appeared on his face. Two young girls were standing beside him, holding a wedding gown."This is the gown I got for you. It's beautiful, right? Wear it now; the priest is waiting for us." He signaled the two girls and watched gleefully as they got rid of my old clothes and helped me wear the white gown."You demon, you will regret this," I cursed bitterly. I hadn't yet lost hope; Wigan would never expect that somebody within his rank would help me, and that was my greatest trump card.The girls escorted me out of the room after dressing me. We walked down the long corridor and arrived in a wide garden. The garden had been decorated
DEVON"Sir, your phone," one of my men brought my phone closer to my ears."Hello.""Mr. Devon, it's me, Ken. I think Mr. Derek is into something big. I found him today selling white powders to the Crow groups," he reported."The Crows, the ones that I had dealt with in the past?" I asked."Exactly, sir. It's like they believed you had softened, or rather, you are no longer scary," Ken replied."It might indeed be the case. I've kept quiet for too long; maybe it's time for the New York underworld to hear my name again. And Lucas, he still thinks he's winning with the new product that is better than the stolen one. Even if he was the one who stole it, so what? It couldn't beat the new product. Now he wants to run the underground business with my men and revive the Crow. New York underground world doesn't belong to me, true, but the fact that he revived the Crow and even used Derek clearly shows that he wants to directly defy
KARENIn the evening, I met up with my friend Juliana, living in Pennsylvania. We grew up together and went to the same junior school."You look so pretty, Keran," she praised."Thank you," I replied."But you are not a good friend; you haven't asked about me, your best friend, for a long time. I was really missing you. And, oh yes, tell me, do you have a boyfriend or a fiancé now?" she asked."Non, but I am married," I answered."Oh my, how come? What about Wigan? You know he loves you," she exclaimed."What Wigan? That local thug. Don't mention him again," I scolded."But he really loves you; he is such a perfect man and comes from a wealthy family. I heard his family runs a diaper company, and they make lots of money every year. You should see how he changes cars," Juliana insisted.I was amused. Diaper company? That's bullshit. Anyone from Devon's company could buy all his family
KAREN“Yeah, my mom told me that during her time, she craved chocolate so much that she ate so much chocolate. Really,” I said to Alice.“Really?” she asked. I nodded.“Well, I’m glad to hear he is good with you. I hope everything would be best for you,” Alice said with a smile.“Alice, thank you for always being there,” I thanked Alice.“Ma’am, your order,” when our order came, we started having our lunch together.After lunch, we went to Alice’s car.“I am dropping you home. Get rest, don’t worry for the salon. I would check again there in the evening,” Alice said, and she drove me home while she went to her salon.After walking into home, I went directly to the room. After taking a shower, I decided to take a nap.I lay on the bed. After some time, I drifted into deep sleep.
KARENRelief washed over me as Alice confirmed what we had thought. The lady who had complained about her facial treatment looked shocked.“I… I had no idea. I’m sorry for causing a scene earlier,” she said in a low tone.“It’s okay. We’re just glad that now you know about this, so you should not use this cream again,” I replied to her.“Now that everything’s fine, can we go back to the salon?” Alice asked from behind.“Yeah, let’s go,” I said to Alice with a smile.The lab technician handed us the test results, and we thanked him before leaving the lab. While Alice and I went in her car, the lady said she would go by cab and left from the lab.As we reached the salon, Linda and Diana were walking in, waiting for the results. Seeing Alice and me coming into the salon, they came towards us.“You’re back! What were th
KARENBut she wasn’t having it. “I don’t care about your investigations!” she said, her face filled with frustration. “If you don’t fix this right now, I’ll make sure everyone knows about the terrible service at this salon. I’ll leave the worst review of your salon!” she said angrily.“Ma’am, please have a seat. Please, calm yourself,” Diana said to her, trying to soothe her anger.However, she was too agitated to listen, her anger boiling over as she threatened to leave a bad review of the salon.Listening to her words, I felt anxiety. Negative reviews could be damaging to our reputation, and I knew I had to find a way to make things in our favor and also make her calm down.As I attempted to understand her complaint, the door swung open again.I looked at the direction of the door and saw Alice there.“Hello, everyone!&
KAREN“Devon, thank you for taking me out for ice cream,” I said, my voice filled with happiness.He glanced at me briefly, then nodded.“It doesn’t mean you can have ice cream instead of a meal every time,” he said in a rude voice.“Yeah, I know,” I replied.I was so into enjoying my ice cream that I didn’t even notice a bit of it had dripped onto the side of my mouth. When I looked at Devon, I could see he was smiling a bit.“There’s a little ice cream on your lip,” he said, pointing to his own mouth.I got confused and tried to wipe it off myself, but Devon shook his head, still smiling. “No, not there,” he said, leaning closer.Before I could say anything, Devon’s hand gently wiped the ice cream off the corner of my mouth. It felt nice when he did that, and I blushed a little, feeling shy.He sat on his
DEVON“That’s why she became unconscious?" I asked the doctor.“Yeah, she will be back to her senses after some minutes. Don’t worry,” the doctor reassured me before leaving the room.When I entered the room, I saw Karen was already awake. She looked at me, confused, and asked, “What am I doing home? I was at the salon. What happened?” She seemed disoriented and weak.“I brought you home. You fainted at the salon,” I explained gently, feeling bad for causing her trouble.“I’m sorry, Devon. I suddenly felt dizzy,” Karen said, embarrassed.As I looked at her feet, I noticed they were red and burned from the spilled coffee. I knew I had to do something. I sat up and went to the cupboard, taking the first aid kit. I sat beside her and took out the ointment from the box.“Let me apply some ointment on your feet,” I suggested g
KARENThe next day, I woke up when the sun’s rays hit my face, causing me to struggle in the pillows. I decided to wake up, and upon opening my eyes, I was greeted with the best view in front of me: my husband’s face.I gazed at him for a while, his words from the previous night still echoing in my mind. His apology had meant so much to me, bringing happiness to my heart.I got up from the bed and made my way to the bathroom. After taking a refreshing shower, I headed downstairs to make breakfast for us.As I descended the stairs, I noticed the maids already at work in the kitchen, preparing for the day ahead. Their presence reminded me of the privilege and comfort that surrounded us, and I couldn’t help but feel grateful for all that we had.I went to the kitchen.“Ma’am, do you need anything?” the maid asked.“Yes, please. Could you get me some fresh eggs from
DEVONAfter arriving at the office, I tried to focus on my work, but thoughts of Karen lingered in my mind, disturbing me. Her teary eyes kept haunting me, making me feel like I was in the wrong. I decided to investigate further and made a call.After a few rings, he picked up the call. “Yes, sir?” he replied from the other end.“I need CCTV footage of Karen’s salon and her street from today,” I said to the person on the phone.“Okay, sir. You will have it by evening,” he replied.After the call, I opened my laptop and started reading my emails. Once my work was done, I decided to visit Laura.I went to her home and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, she opened it.“Well, well, well, look who decided to show up,” Laura teased me, leaning against the doorframe.I chuckled, stepping inside. “Couldn’t stay away, could I?” I replied.
KARENHe looked at me, and I went to him and sat beside his chair.“Get him here,” the police commissioner said to the policeman who was standing beside him. He went inside and came back with a man, his face covered with a black mask.“Here he is,” the policeman said to Devon.“And here are your things,” the commissioner said to Devon, while placing my handbag and mobile phone on the table from his drawer.I looked at my things with shocked eyes.“This can’t be true,” I thought to myself.“Check if anything is missing,” the police commissioner said, while pointing at my things.I looked at Devon, seeing him already smirking at me.I took my purse from the table and started looking into it. There was everything inside my bag that the thief took tomorrow.“What should we do with him?” the commissioner asked Devon.&
KAREN“By the way, I’m Jack,” he said, extending his hand in greeting.I shook his hand, smiling. “Nice to meet you, Jack. I’m Karen,” I replied.“And what’s your name?” he asked, directing his attention to her.“Linda,” she replied with a smile.“So, Karen,” he began, turning to me, “when did you start this salon? I don’t remember seeing it here before.”“I started working here a few months ago,” I replied.He nodded and looked at Linda again; she was already looking at him.“So, Linda,” he began, “how long have you been working here?” he asked, directing his attention to her.Linda looked surprised by the sudden attention, but she smiled and answered his questions, starting a conversation with him. As they talked, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there