The bodyguard named Chris walked out of Mr Hemsworth's room, looking dejected. He met his fellow bodyguards, who caught the worry in his face."What's up with the old man again?" one of them asked him.Chris shook his head and shrugged. "He gave me an order, but said it's confidential."They frowned. "Even to us?"He nodded. "Yes, but the only thing I can say is, it concerns Liam. And it's not good." He was blubbering and sweating. "Shit, I hate this job."The other guards glanced at themselves, as all sorts of ideas formed in their heads. What indeed had Mr Hemsworth asked Chris to do with Liam? But their hands were tied to an oath of loyalty; they couldn't push their comrade to reveal the order.Chris made to turn away."What do you advise us to do?" one of them asked. "Certainly there's some way we could help."As Chris wanted to answer, his eyes went up and met those of Mr Hemsworth glowering down to him."Shit, I gotta go," he whispered. "If he asks what we're talking about, tell
Chris was aware of Liam's car behind him. Aware that his boss was breathing down his neck, and would seize any opportunity to beat him down. Liam had become suspicious of him, he had seen his eyes and knew he was one one of the bodyguards.Now, what to do?He rode at top speed. He had Elena's address in his head, as he had gone to pick her up for Liam on one of the occasions when she was working as his secretary. But he needed to lay Liam off his back.And he had the perfect plan for it. His buddy, Gideon, would be of immense help now. With his left hand, he dug out his phone, and spoke to the iPhone. "Hey, Siri" "Mmmhmmm," came Siri's voice."Call Gideon on loud speaker."The robot called him and they got talking. In no time, Gideon agreed to the plan. Who would turn down a five grand reward? ***Liam cursed under his breath when a truck blocked him, and gave no passing room. He pounded at his horn, and poked out his head, shouting at the driver. But the latter was determined to d
Rosa chased after her. "Are you out of your mind, Elena? Can you not see this looks fishy?"Elena had no idea what Rosa was talking about, and she told her so. "If this is all geared towards Liam being your ex, then I'm sorry," Elena said. "But I have to keep the peace. Moreover, he's with my phone.""He took your phone?""Sort of got into his hands. Look, no questions. Just help me gather my stuff up and leave my room, alongside your ugly luggage." It was meant to be a joke but Rosa did not smile.When Elena had left with Chris, George leaned near Rosa and asked if there was any problem. "You seem to be against all of this.""I know Elena," she said. "And I know when she's happy about something or faking it. Being Liam's wife isn't giving her any happiness.""You don't understand anything, Rose." He was suddenly annoyed. "You have no single idea what that marriage means to me. You don't."Rosa shook her head and walked away. From the door, she called. "I'd be leaving this evening. Yo
The sun was in her eyes, and it made her dizzy. The fever was returning."What is your name?" the policeman asked Chris. "Chris.""And what is your business with the lady? Young lady, what's your name?""My name is Elena.""Elena what?""Elena Cooper," she said, then corrected herself. "Elena Hemsworth." It felt strange saying Liam's name after her own name. "And what is he doing with you?" asked the policeman. "We have orders that this is an illegal detention.""Detention?" Chris said, turning briefly to Elena with an amused face. "I am just taking her to my boss, her husband. He's waiting in his mansion.""What is the name of this boss, if I may ask?""Liam, of course. Liam Hemsworth." He sounded irritated, but Elena could hear a little nervous strain in his voice. "Everyone knows him.""Is he the same Liam," the cop asked, "who called us to search for you? Are you aware there is a curfew all over the city, just because of you two?"Chris shrugged. "I have no idea of such a thing.
Liam sat in his car, eagerly waiting for the call from the cops to announce that they'd seen where they took Elena to. But he waited in vain.Instead, he got a call from one of his bodyguards, the one who had gone home to take care of his wife who'd just put to bed."Hi, boss," he said cheerfully. He seemed to have missed working with him. "How's it going?""How do you do, Luke?" Liam said, trying out the luxury of a smile. "How's the baby and your wife?""All bouncing and thanking you for the big tip you gave us.""Alright." He didn't know what else to say. The plight he was into was making him confused."Is everything alright, sir?" Liam was amazed that Luke was able to catch the strain in his voice."Not really," Liam said, feeling a need to pour his heart out. "My father and Chris are playing a dirty game with my wife, Elena."Luke didn't sense the danger immediately. "What sort of game?" he laughed. "Hide and seek where you get to stab anyone you find?""C'mon, Luke. Thing is..."
Elena watched with tired eyes as the doctor prepared the syringe. Her eyes wandered to the gloves on his hands and wondered why there were always spaces left at the end of the fingers.Liam was flashing in and out of the room, inspecting the doctor, asking petty questions, and zooming out again. He was having a meeting with his staff from the company in the living room, and it didn't sound like everything was alright. For them to have brought the meeting to his house, something was going wrong in the company.Elena could hear Liam's father's voice raised above the others. And whenever she heard it, she was filled with fear and guilt, because she felt she must be the reason why Liam wasn't putting much effort as he should into the running of the company. She was the problem."Elena," the doctor called, jolting her back to reality. "Are you ready?"She glanced at the covered syringe in the doctor's hand and it became a penknife, cutting through her hair. She blinked rapidly, the images
Liam just concluded a call with his step brother, Ethan. After so many years of ghosting from both brothers. And it was nothing short of surprising and suspicious.The guy had developed one hell of an accent and seemed to be speaking through smoke fumes. He asked about "the family company", and Liam said it was fine."And ya new wife?" he asked. "You think man is gonna know what is going on, right?"Whatever that meant, Liam told him Elena was okay, and switched the conversation back to Ethan. Ethan announced proudly that he would be releasing his latest art exhibit this year, and would love to see his stepbrother attend the exhibition ceremony. Liam laughed and said he might come. The call ended afterwards in an awkward note.Now, Liam sighed as he headed back home on his bicycle, after an evening cycling. Ethan wore him out. But also terrified him. At surface level, it might look like the 25 year old had nothing upstairs. But Ethan was one of the most cunning people Liam had known.
The door to Rosa's room creaked open. She appeared at the doorway. In her background a man in orange overalls was drilling screws into her cabinet."Hi," she said. "I thought I heard someone shouting."Elena watched her very keenly, and saw it: the tiny flash of anger that appeared on Rosa's face when she saw Elena and Liam together."Oh," Rosa said, failing at trying to smile. "You two seem busy." Then she added excitedly: "You wanna come see my room, Elena?""Er, Liam wanted us to go somewhere," she said.But to her horror, Liam replied: "It's nothing, actually. You can join your friend. I need to go wash up. I have a virtual conference by 8 pm. Would have loved you to be there, too.""Oh," was all Elena could say. "Are we slowly switching back to the old culture?" she thought. Just when I believed something was going...She felt colder when Liam's arms left her. He walked upstairs to his room, and Elena wondered what it'd take to run after him, smack his face, then drag him to the