Ethan Hemsworth tried to appear happy during the inauguration. It was indeed a big party; the gates had been thrown wide open, and anyone could come in. But there was tight security, both at the gate and everywhere else. The DJ was still giving out jams. And most of the girls, drunk from the excess wine, danced wildly among the scattered chairs in the large hall.The five truckloads of wine, which Ethan's mother had forced him to order, had long arrived. And the guards and maidservants spent almost an hour unloading these delicate monsters into the six wine cubicles in the mansion. All the old wines were removed and given out to the guards and maidservants, who really didn't need them. Yet, after this, there were still four trucks untouched. And even after the ceremony, it still remained the same.Ethan was standing outside the hall, trying to calm his head away from the bustle. He had met and shaken hands of congratulations with thousands of people, old
His first thought when he saw her in that cab was that Elena had "other businesses" she was attending to. If not, why would she pretend she was going to see Liam, and end up in a cab, arriving much later? She must have something up her sleeves. And if he wasn't so busy with work, he was going to find out. Gratefully, as the convoy began its journey back to the mansion, he had her attention now. Full blown attention."You found him?" she asked. Her eyes were rounded with a frenzied interest. "How's that possible?"He smirked, deciding to ride the waves of her vulnerability. "How is it possible, you ask? Now, can I ask a question?""Sure.""What is EliteCorp known for? Just two keywords."She thought for just a second. "I'd say robotics and extraterrestrial technology."Ethan had to mumble "wow" within himself. He didn't imagine she'd use such a high sounding word. "Yes, you are right," he continued, taking his time to cement in what he had in mind. "Look. I love my brother. A lot. Du
She sat still, staring dead into the detective's eyes. "Go on with your questions, sir."He scoffed, and pulled out a cigarette. "Hope you don't mind," he said to no one in particular, and went on to light it."You must have met Mr Packwood before, Elena," he began in the assertive style, "tell us how you met him.""I never said I met Mr Packwood. I saw him for the first time when he came here to threaten Liam.""There are no mistakes about that?""Certainly none.""What did he threaten Liam about?" He asked this question half-heartedly, as though the answer really didn't matter to him."It was about his granddaughter." She stopped here, having remembered that Lola had died while on the phone call with her. Panic rose in her, and she prayed the detective didn't notice this. He did."Go on," he said, leaning forward. "Be liberal with detail, please. It is essential."She glanced at Ethan, and found him looking very interested. She had no friends here. "Lola was Liam's ex. So..." She
"Where are you, man?" Fred, Ethan's friend, shouted into the phone."Um, tidying stuff up," Ethan said. "I'm moving to my new office on Monday.""Yes! That's the real reason I called you. I'm sorry I missed your party, but I'm back now, and you know what that means."More booze, girls and music all night. It was going to be fun, all right, but Ethan had a huge mountain before him to move first. The parties and girls could wait for all he cared."You're home alone, bro?" Fred asked.It was noon on Sunday and Elena had just left the house, probably to be with Liam again. The pathetic angel. His parents had gone out too, to wherever they had; he didn't care. This was one of the moments he cherished; when he was home alone."More or less," he said. "Any development?""You stay right there; I'm bringing to you the biggest surprise of your life."He rolled his eyes. "What surprise? Are you bringing Anna Wilson?" His highschool crush. He had lost her contact — well, never had it, she was tha
His fingers were amazing on her shoulder and her upper back. She felt herself melting on him. He was half sitting on Liam's high bed, in a position that made her lean in more, squashing her ass on his groin, though she didn't want to. But her body was weak.They spoke about random things, to keep the awkwardness away."You have great hair," he mumbled."My mom says so, too," she blubbered, and then realized the crap she said.He grabbed a chunk of her neck between his fingers and pulled. It was slightly painful. But left a calming residue.She felt a hardening pressed on her ass, and she knew if she did not stop this now, she might not anymore."Thank you," she abruptly said, pulling away. "I needed that." She tried a grateful smile.But both of them knew there had been a spark of lust between them. And Elena had quenched it, or so she thought. She saw Charlie with a different eye now. If they could allow this small moment of intimacy to exist between them, then the future — six freak
"Are you Elena Hemsworth?" Mr Simeon, the bank manager asked. He had just gone over the note the security had given him. A wide middle-aged man with a beardless jaw. Elena nodded. "Yes.""Okay. Please leave us," he said to stern security, who seemed to want to stay around, so as to throw her in jail if it called for that. But he left."Are you aware, ma, that a case of fraud has been accredited to your account?" Simeon asked.She made a face of puzzlement. "I don't know why or how that happens. I've been calling you on phone, which you severally declined."He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his table. His eyes were dead serious. "Mrs Liam," he began, "you've been one of our favorite customers in this bank. I don't understand why you'd reduce yourself into doing such a thing as this."Anger broke out of Elena. "What the hell are you talking about, Mr Simeon? Tell me what it is that happened, and stop this acting. It helps nothing."He then leaned back on his chair, shaking his
The weeks that followed the embarrassing incident at the bank manager's office, Ethan went wild. The fear of what Elena could do, the anger of the shame he had incurred before his mother, the dread that she was about to destroy him, drove him to do extreme things. To exert his dominance."How did it go?" His mother had cornered him when he arrived from the bank that day."We're still working on it," he said, brushing past her to his room. His head twirled. Fred had postponed his visit, and Ethan knew Fred was only angry that Ethan said he wasn't home."Answer my question with detail, boy," his mother said, a stern look on her face. How would he tell her he had failed in this small task? It would be so devastating. The taint of it would remain unerasable. She would always bring it up in their future discussions. Even worse, she'd tell his father, too. And some of the uncles."This is who we are going to give the position of the CEO?" she would say. "He trembles at the feet of a mere l
"Listen to me, man, I do not want anything less inferior to the latest model. I don't care about the price. Just have it delivered to my doorstep and get your cash."This was the voice of Elena in her office. Rosa was sitting across her, her lips turned down at the corners in an amused surprise. She had many questions on her mind, Elena could guess.And the moment the call ended, she dived at her with questions."Babe, did you just order a 5 million dollar yacht as though it was a box of pizza?"But instead of answering, Elena beamed and raised a finger, as she had another call."Hi, Mr. Donald, how is the process of the customisation going?" she asked . A pause of wait. "Good. I shall be sending three men to your company in an hour. Men who are skilled in gold and jewelry, and they will test the authenticity of that Rolex watch. Are we clear, sir?"After another pause that left Elena nodding in satisfaction, she ended the call. Then she placed her hands on the table and leaned forwar
Liam listened to Ethan's lawyer speak. There was a dying flicker of hope in his voice. He had long lost the battle, and the jurors weren't listening to him anymore. But he tried his last weapon: appeal for leniency.And for the record, not long ago, Ethan had been sentenced to twenty-five years in prison, and a wave of terror and silence had coursed through the hundreds of people gathered there.In the offender's box Ethan stood, a shadow of his former self. It was a week since his arrest. And even though his mother, through his plea and Liam's mercy, had been set free on bail, Ethan couldn't get his doom over his head. Liam watched him closely, at his overgrown beards, his unkempt hair, the blood in his eyes. "Your honor," the counsel said, "I understand the seriousness of my client's crime, and I do not condone it. However, I would like to ask for leniency in sentencing. My client has no previous criminal record, and I believe that a sentence of 25 years is excessive. A reduced sen
After the incident with Plum, she became a ghost in the mansion. Elena looked everywhere for her, casually sent other maids to find her, but Plum was always where they had not been.When a maid said she heard her crying in a restroom situated in the basement, Elena ran to the basement. When she got there, the crying had stopped. There was a deep silence. "Break the door open!" Elena shouted with a sense of dread and urgency.The maid went for it, but the door wasn't locked. She opened it and Plum was not there anymore. But Elena had the gut feeling that she was still around there, somewhere."Look, Plum, I know you can hear me," Elena called out, "Whatever game you think you are playing, whatever stunt you want to pull by this shit, would not work. Not in my house. Okay?"She was met with even deeper silence. Her anger built up. "If you want to go crazy, my dear, you can send in your resignation letter, and I'll see you off to the gates myself! Then you can wield your insanity to its
"I don't know how to describe how happy I am," Liam said, "hearing you're pregnant."Elena frowned, as she remembered something. "No, boo, you certainly knew what you were doing. Why didn't you let us have sex all this while?"She saw Liam frown. "Oh, really? I didn't really think about it that way. I was only having fun." He turned to her. "You wanted a baby, too?""I guess as at then," she said, "I didn't. It's all changed now. Then, I only wanted to enjoy this" — she reached out to touch and caress his flaccid dick lying on his belly — "to the fullest. Wanted to suck out every juice you could ever produce.""Eww, I don't produce juice," Liam laughed. "You do.""Let's see who gives the juice first!"she declared, sitting up. Liam was grinning too, perhaps wondering how he got so lucky with a wife who was both an introvert and a sexual creative."What are you trying to do?" he asked, feigning suspicion."How would you like your blowjob? Fast and aggressive, or slow and deep.""This lo
When Liam told Elena to go upstairs, so he would handle his family, she was filled with dread. Not by what the family would to to her as revenge, but for what Liam would do to them. There was so much anger and bitterness in his voice. His eyes were dark and revengeful.And when she passed through their midst, her heart beat with doubled pace. In her room, she couldn't sit quietly. She peeked from the window, saw her husband raving, commanding so much power that even the birds in the sky didn't as much as flicker their wings.She didn't hear some of what was what said, but she picked out the key phrases. And she couldn't help but marvel at the extent her husband was ready to go in his revenge.Not once did she try to interfere, by either calling him on phone to interrupt him, or call his name from the balcony. But she held her reins. Their altercation skyrocketed to a climax, when the gates opened and police sirens filled the air. The police cars rolled into the compound, and everyone
"Liam, you cannot do this to your brother!" Ethan's mother shouted the moment Liam stepped out of the car. "You cannot claim to love him and do this wicked thing to him.""Is he even listening to you?" Mr Paul asked. "He doesn't even remember who you are, talk more of Ethan."Liam allowed his eyes skim through the men and women gathered in front of his mansion. It was just as Chris told. They weren't even sitting. Only his father, whose health was seriously on the decline, was on a chair just behind them, smoking a pipe.Mr Paul spoke again about Liam. "See how he mopes listlessly? I tell you, what he should work on firstly is recovering —""Every dime you all have looted from my company while I was away," Liam cut in, blending in so well that the effect of his statement was an astounded silence.They didn't respond for a while. Maybe they thought not responding would help prove how much of a clueless man Liam was. But Liam had this all prepared. "Hey, El," Liam said to his wife besi
Elena saw the flash from behind Luke. It happened so fast. First, a clean hole on the roof appeared, accentuated by a flash of light. Something metallic hit a pan, bounced off and went through Luke's stomach. Elena heard the bullet — or whatever it was — wheeze past her ear. Her hairs stood on edge.Before her, Luke still stood with his penis in his hand, but a new hole on his chest. He didn't fall immediately, but when there were movements from the roof, he did fall.Elena saw them descend like black angels from the rooftop, or anywhere they might have come from. They were clothed in black, regaled in darkness. Their eyes were flashes of stealth, precision and ruthlessness. In their hands were stout guns, poised to end in a instant the life of anyone who tried to play smart. The red dots of their targets were everywhere on Ethan and his men's clothes. Ethan had more dots."Freeze," a voice said again. "We shall not hesitate to kill whoever moves a muscle."Ethan yelped and tried to
"You see what's inside?" Ethan asked."Ethan, what is the meaning of this?" Liam asked through the phone."I asked, what is inside!""An agreement for transfer of ownership, Liam whispered."That's right. I want you to sign the paper and place it back into the case. I'll get the notification here if that has been done."There was a prolonged silence from Liam's side. Ethan idly shook his feet which were propped on a table. Then he looked to his right to see Elena, tied to a chair. She had long stopped crying now, and all that left her throat was a hollow moan.Ethan motioned to Luke and the four other men who were with him in that underground. "Take the gag off her mouth," he ordered.Liam heard this, and reacted immediately. "You gagged my wife?!" he shouted. "Ethan, you had the temerity to put a gag on Elena's mouth?"Ethan chuckled. "Oh. Look who's hurt and shaky. But that's not even all." He glanced over to see Elena immediately double up to throw up. Ethan smiled and turned back
Liam sat there, gasping, and moving his head back and forth. A lot was going on in his brain, in his mind and heart. He could feel each throb, bringing back with it a cascade of memories."Where's Elena?" he asked himself, remembering he had a wife, who he had been treating like trash. She was right, after all! Liam's hands began to shake against the wheel. The world seemed to slow down around him."Where are Charlie, Olive and James?"The name Charlie stuck to his mind. Charlie. The last image he remembered of him was when he was down on the alley, being pumped by bullets, shaking.He had done that to save him.Liam swallowed and glanced away. The tears that streamed from his eyes had become heavy. Flowing from the depth of his soul. His nose ran freely.Charlie had given himself for him.Liam's thoughts were violently interrupted by a blast on his windshield. He turned to see his chasers lined up shoulder to shoulder, their guns raised to their eyes. They began to fire bullets on L
Liam stared at the man standing before him, anger and frustration in Liam's face. Something was seeping into his brain. He was trying hard to remember who the man was. And he was so close to it!"Here are pictures of us," Charlie said, showing him a screen full of pictures. Liam recognized himself in the pictures. But the man next to him... Good heavens.They were standing under the shade of a random tree in the streets. Liam had no idea how Charlie had found him there. Liam was about concluding his arrangements for the soldiers to go arrest Ethan. "I'm trying," Liam finally admitted. "I do recognize myself, but it is like looking into a photoshopped picture. I can't explain how this is happening."Charlie's face was kind. "I understand. The doctor gave us a forewarning, so I really understand. You're already doing great. I just want to be by your side.""Why?" Liam asked."Because the men who had tried to killer you are back again."Liam's eyebrows crinkled. "What sre you talking ab