After about an hour, Ivy rings Anita once again to come into her office."You asked for me?""What time is the meeting for today?""It's in an hour at the Conference hall on the fifth floor.""Okay. I just wanted to be really sure. Pending that time, bring me all the documents of what they want from us and the one we gave to them so I can go through it once again. I don't want any surprises..."While working so busily, an hour literally flies by and soon it's time for her to head downstairs to meet the representatives from the company that requires an audit from them.She takes the elevator with Anita right behind her, carrying all the documents that will be needed at the meeting. Also behind Anita are Ivy's own Manager, Accountant and Auditor, along with their own people who has come along with them for the meeting. Ivy can't do it all on her own and that's what they get paid for anyway.They exit the elevator and walk to the conference room where there are three people waiting.Ivy
Ashton deposits the money taken from Richard's house in a new bank account and locks it, making sure no one except himself and Ivy will have access to it, whatever they want to use it for, still unknown to them both.While at work, he receives a call from his mum, asking him about his welfare and about Ivy, how they are doing and all that. He smiles as he responds to her, his heart warmed.At least even if he didn't have his mother for most of his life, he has a woman he can call one."I just wanted to check up on you both but I'm sure she will be at work now as well. I'll give her a call as well.""Alright Mum. Take care of yourself.""Before I leave, have you seen or heard from Richard lately?" She asks, her voice taking on a small tone.Ashton sighs... "Yes, I saw him yesterday. I went..." He pauses as he hears a voice climb into the receiver."Ma'am, Mr Richard is here and he is asking to see you.""Send him off." Judith responds, putting the phone away from her ears and covers th
About two hours later, Judith sees him off to his car and waves as he drives away.She trudges back into the house, her heart very very heavy. She knows her son very well and she's quite aware that he could have done something really bad to get that amount to money and not to tell his wife, Ivy about it but is taking every single dollar away from him not too harsh?She contemplates on calling Ivy and then thinks maybe Ashton is the best idea but she sighs and just drops her phone by her side, exhausted and worried sick about what her children are coming to become.The only one that seems to not lack the problems at the moment is Raine and Judith knows that Raine's own can start any moment so she's not as free as she would like to think.There's the sound of the door opening and Judith stands up, knowing it's her husband."Welcome darling. Would like to wash up first or eat?" She asks, her usual energy depleted."Are you okay? You seem stressed..."Judith sighs and hugs her husband. "W
Both men in the room look at the polygraph and then looks at one another. The detective adjusts his clothes and sit back down, looking at the woman who's eyes is now filled with tears and running down her face. "So you don't remember what happened?""Not at all." She replies tearily. "When I woke up, I met myself on the ground, nobody else in the ground and her phone in my hands.""It didn't worry you that she was nowhere to be found even after she threatened you with a knife?"Arielle goes silent and then looks up, using her free hand to wipe her eyes. "I did. Honest to God, I did. But there was nothing I could do even when the news started to announce her missing. I tried so hard and so much to remember but nothing came back to...""Why did you deny everything at first then?""Because I knew that everything was going to work against me. If it came out that I saw her last, I would be the main suspect. The Wright's already had their eyes on me and traced her to my house, that was my
Judith sits back down, her eyes red and very swollen, very very guilty about what she had said."Did he hear...?""Yes. He heard everything. He only entered when I asked the final question. I'm sure of it.""Did you see him and still ask me that? Even when you knew I was very angry?"Hanson scoffs. "Judy, I am not to be blamed here. You were the one who said the wrong things to the ears of our son. We adopted him then because you wanted a child of yours so much but now, he's not your son anymore? Angry or not, that's not something a mother should ever say." He retorts, his two hands on the table and his body leaning forward towards Judy who's sitting in the chair right opposite."How do I fix this kind of mess?""That's up to you, as for me, I'm going back to work. We'll talk about this when I return. Please, please don't do anything stupid while I am away..."Driving away from the home that he had always and considered himself a child of, a mansion and an estate that had always been
Mike walks around his office, shaking his head from time to time. After a long time, he takes a seat and starts to work on the documents on his table.In a short while, he drops his pen, frustratedly and stands up again, a pool of sweat pooling on his face... He grabs his phone and dials Roger.He picks up soon enough. "Hello bro? Why are you calling me so early in the morning?"Mike grunts. "I need some women right now. I can't seem to calm down and focus."Roger understands immediately. "Okay. I'll arrange for them but you'll need to go home. I'll send them home."Mike nods fast. "I'll leave now, I want to meet them waiting when I arrive."He hangs up and grabs his and coat before heading out.His driver is already waiting by the door when he gets downstairs but he just shoos him away, something he never does. "I'll drive by myself. Take the damn day off."The driver immediately nods and steps out of the way so Mike won't hit him with his car... Which is very something Mike can real
Flustered, frustrated and scared of and for himself, Mike wanders around the room, half naked and alone after chasing the black haired lady out of his house, completely naked.His brain had been playing intense tricks on him because he had been thinking of Ivy for a pretty long time, ever since he looked her up, background and all from the first time he heard her name, tried it on his lips and it was perfect.And then he met her and she had been exactly nothing short of perfect.Perfectly coloured hair, the perfect skin tone, the perfect honey like voice, the perfect figure... A very imperfect relationship status."Get yourself together Michael. No woman ever flusters you." He mutters audibly, slapping himself hard across the cheeks with his own hands and feeling the pain himself as well. He winces slightly and looks outside the window, sighing heavily and watching everyone walk by, they all having something red on them.He turns around and then stops. "She is my fucking rival. I shou
"Arielle Brown." The female police officer from the past few days call her name in the holding cell once again and she stands up, weary and bones all cramped, and they snap into their normal positions as she stands up from her corner in the cell that reeks of sweat."Coming." She replies weakly, shuffling to the metal bars.The officer opens the door and Arielle steps out. She raises her wrists for the handcuffs like has been the routine for days. The officer looks at her, no hint of pity in her eyes.Obviously, she's seen more than her share of Arielles and this is just another female murderer in front of her. She claps the metal bracelets on her wrists and uses them to drag her away from the cell area.This time, instead to walking into the inner halls, she's led towards the exit.Arielle looks at her, waiting for some words or even the most minute explanation of where she's been taken and for what, but the woman just stares ahead like a robot.Arielle shrugs and decides to ask anyw
"Calm down, she'll be fine." "How can I be calm when I can hear her screaming her lungs out here!" Ashton half yells at Grant and then composes himself. "Sorry but I can't help feeling like this when her screams seem to be pushing at my heart right now." Grant smiles and puts a hand on his shoulder. "You'll be fine." In a little bit, the agonizing screams stop and there's calm. Ashton springs to his feet the third time in a minute. A nurse comes out. "She delivered safely. It's a baby girl. She's been dressed now. You can..." She hears her name being called again and goes back inside, not finishing her sentence and the look she gave to Ashton makes him three times more scared. Ivy is in the labour room, her contractions had suddenly started while on a road trip so Ashton had drove like his life depended on it. Well, maybe because his wife's life depended on it and so did his. The baby had come two weeks earlier than the date she's supposed to arrive which has got all of them
She hugs him gently on the bed and presses a blue button above his head.In about a minute, the doctor with his levy of nurses open the door and come inside. Ivy leaves them to it and steps out for the moment. As soon as she steps out, everyone crowds around her."What's wrong?""Why are the doctors rushing in like that?"Ivy smiles and motions them to calm down. "He woke up just now. I called the doctors for their routine check. We may be able to see him after his checkup."They all sigh in relief and some even hug in relief.She waits with them outside and after a little while, the doctors and nurses finally come out of the room."He's fine now. You all can go in to see him."Without waiting for any other confirmation of any sort, they all push past them like the really big family they are portraying and go inside the room, Ivy goes in last but Veronica gives her the chair so she won't stay standing, tired because of the life growing in her belly.At first, there's nothing but then
The next three hours is a flurry of activities as their families begins to troop in, Grant joining them at a point."Where is he?" Judith asks as soon as she arrives, talking Ivy's in his."They just wheeled him out of the surgery room. I was told to wait outside while they set him up or something."Judith nods. "Oh thank goodness. How did you find him?"She glances at Grant who shrugs right back at her. "I had help from a police officer. He helped me locate him.""Don't tell me it was that one on the news?" Veronica chips in as she comes by, coming into the discussion."Yes, it was him. He just wanted Trust Financials as a reward but I knew he was going to betray me anyway so I didn't really give him.""But the news didn't say you were there?" Judith quips this time."Well, I left there with Ashton and came to the hospital so I wasn't really there. Just popped in and out." She smiles, turning slightly red as she covers one lie with another.Grant laughs and then quickly masks it with
"Grant! Watch out!" Ivy yells as she grabs the gun laying closest to her.Grant whips around and stares right into the barrel of a Beretta '94 that had been left behind by one of Mike's own men.Mike chuckles painfully. He glances momentarily at Ivy who's fiddling with the gun in her hand and scoffs. "You can't even handle it, how can you use it?" He takes his eyes off of her and focuses it on Grant. "So you killed my little brother because he raised the gun at you first? Why am I not dead yet?"Grant rolls his eyes. "Is this one of those villain long talks? I'm sick of them, come on. Just drop the gun and accept your fate. Is that so hard? You lost the fight. Well, leave then." Grant mutters disinterestedly even though he's looking right at a loaded gun.Mike shakes his head. "A fight isn't over until it's really over. Do you know why I took that man? Her husband? After she passed out, I was determined to make him a widower who lost his baby by not letting her to go the hospital on t
Recovering from the gunshot and sudden appearance of Grant, Ivy runs for Ashton's who's very weak and his pulse is irregular. She looks around and her eyes land on a bunch of keys on one of Mike's men's trousers.He smirks at her when he sees her eyeing the keys. "Come get them darling."There's a second gunshot and a glaring hole appears right in the middle of his forehead and he falls to the ground. Wordlessly, Ivy runs for his body and removes the key. Mike's men all flee seeing that one dead. They all drop their weapons and run away, leaving Hank and Mike.The fact that her brother just murdered someone doesn't count at in the current circumstances. She loses the chains that he's been tied down with and he falls limply down into her arms. She holds him up with her strength, not letting him hit the ground, the same way he had cushioned her head that night Mike had hit her in the stomach.He moves ever so slightly and his hand come to rest on her legs before he closes his eyes, a ve
True to his words, Hank calls her in thirty minutes. Reminding her that she has thirty minutes to get there. "Where am I meet you?" She asks him on the call."Grey Street Garage..."She immediately springs up from her chair, grabs all the documents from the table and hisses, remembering that place. She had been locked in a warehouse on the same compound for two nights. She inhales sharply and she's sure she's ready to go there.Not like she has a choice anyway.Anita sees her breeze right by but she doesn't say anything, guessing it's about the call that brought back her appetite momentarily. She sighs, wishing her boss well. If everyone in the whole wide world has to go through such thing, she'd never wish it on Ivy. She's basically the best boss she's ever had.The best of the best.Which is why she wishes her luck silently as the elevator doors close with Ivy inside.As soon as she's on the ground floor, she dashes for her car, checking the time every few seconds. It takes about t
The first day went by...So does the second.On the third day, it has Ivy in a bind, pacing in her office.Anita comes in with a plate of vegetable salad and mashed potatoes, and steak in another plate along with another takeout cheeseburger and fries, even chicken nuggets as well, hoping she would eat one of the many dishes.She hardly acknowledges her entrance as she sets all of them down on the table and looks at Ivy as she paces around her table, her eyes not leaving her phone.Even Anita has no idea what she's waiting for but it seems to have so much importance to her so she can't interfere but she can eat while waiting... Right?"Ma'am, you won't eat lunch again? This is the third day you're skipping your breakfast and lunch."Nobody knows about the baby except her family, his family and himself.She looks askance at Anita and then looks away again. "I'm fine. I ate a lot last night.""Really? I was the one who threw the dishes away this morning."Anita has been the one bringing
"Ma'am!" The officer yells as he bangs his palms flatly on the table. "This place is no joking area. There are conclusive evidence against you, all of this interrogations are simply formalities! Do you accept the fact that you did kill Tiara or not?"Yale scoffs. "Technically, Richard killed her not me."In the interrogation room directly upstairs, Richard scoffs. "That bitch said so? She's just trying to shift blames. She was the one who absolutely killed Tiara. As Ivy said in the press conference, I only aided and abetted. I am well aware of that and I am not denying it. But I really didn't kill Tiara."Downstairs. "He aided and abetted? That rat. He was the one who dragged her body to the car and suggested we dump her in the ocean!"Upstairs. "That whore. She said I suggested it? She hit Tiara over the head and make her pass out which I totally witnessed. Then we thought she had died. Thinking of it now, she had not even seemed any scared at all, she just said we should throw the b
A murmur ripples through the whole crowd.Time seems to stand still.The point exactly was that nobody was expecting that was what she had come to say. Nobody, not even Anita who plugs in the flash drive and the presentation begins.Almost soulless and robot-like, Ivy turns around to the projector behind her that has a picture of cars. Not very specific car but a lot of them.Then she begins her presentation, using the laser pointer to point at the things that matter. "We all know Tiara died and her body had been fished out of the sea. Well, she didn't drown, she was murdered so that means she had been carried or somehow transported to where her body had been dumped. There are things called dash cams..." She uses the laser to point just as the image changes into a car's close up view.There is a small device with a blinking red light and she points to it. "That's called a dash cam and not every car has it but every two of five does. Which is why, from the place she had been killed, I