"Is this the place?" Ashton questions, alighting the car, his gaze fixed on the dimly lit apartment in front of them. He had taken the location from the man in his office earlier and he and Ivy now stands in front of the apartment that Tiara's phone tracking stands right over."Yeah, this is the exact location we traced Tiara's number. Tiara must be in there, and also whoever is keeping her," Ivy responds with a slight look of nervousness. No one knew what happened to Tiara, no one knew if she was dead or kidnapped, so they knew the best thing they could do was keep their guards high while going into the apartment in case they encounter any dangerous entity."Stay close," Ashton bellows cautiously as they began to advance forward and head towards the building. The building looked like a two-story building with cracked walls and faded paint. There was no light around the environment, making it give some kind of creepy vibe."The door is unlocked?" Surprised, Ashton speaks softly as he
"What? What do you mean switched off?" Ashton blurts out with a surprised look after hearing Ivy's words."Wait, I'll try it again." Ivy then proceeded to dial the number again, but was met with the same result. "It is switched off," Ivy informed, her voice filled with disappointment."It means someone heard the phone ring when we called earlier and must have suspected that we would track it down, so they turned the phone off," Ashton spoke, his gaze fixated on Arielle who just stood there in silence, a look of indifference evident on her face, amidst her inner turmoil."What have you done with Tiara!" Ivy exclaimed, attempting to attack Arielle, but Ashton held her back. "She wasn't the best human but I'm certain she was way better than you. Didn't go behind anyone to get another's man for herself and betraying her friend for the man, but you? You're the worst of the lot.""What's with you guys? Why are you still suspecting me when my innocence has been proven?" Arielle questioned wi
Inside what is a neatly and well made room in the Hall family mansion, Veronica Hall is standing in front of a round mirror while applying some slight makeup to her face. She hadn't realized earlier that she ran out of groceries, and now that she was in need of them, she had to head over to the grocery store quickly to get some. After applying some makeup and making sure she was decently dressed, she picked up her purse and headed out of the room, informing Damien of her whereabouts.She took a car from home and chose a driver to drop her off, choosing to enjoy the breeze at the back of the car rather than drive. At the market and grocery store, she walks along the streets where several other people could be seen going about their own businesses, each trying to lure her into buying from them. Having the rich woman look around her and the elegance that seems to not be so far from her, Veronica manages to take note of everything around her, smiling at the cute things and frowning at som
Ashton and Ivy makes their way back to the car after their unfruitful meeting with Arielle, and they both sat down inside with a look of defeat etched on their faces."Arielle is definitely hiding something," Ivy spoke up, still doubting the fact that Arielle was innocent."Well, I did search every corner of her apartment, but Tiara was nowhere to be found," Ashton let out a sigh of defeat while resting his hands on the wheel."It's possible she hid Tiara before we arrived. Didn't you see how nervous she looked when we asked to search the apartment?" The nervous expression that appeared on Arielle's face back then was really hard for Ivy to forget.It was almost like she didn't want Ashton searching the place, but if she should protest, it would only make her look suspicious."Let's just head back and carry out more investigation on Arielle since she's our main suspect right now," Ashton responded as he attempted to start the car, but the sound of Ivy's phone ringing made him pause in
"Yeah, I do remember her coming in. Her name was, I think, Veronica. I got her name because she's a regular customer. Just like you said, when she came in to buy groceries, something happened. She met a man in here who seemed to have a wild look around her, he followed her out few seconds after he left, not even paying or taking the can of sweet corn he came for." Anna explains.Hearing her words, Ashton now had a serious look on his face as he asked, "What man?" His suspicions are probably about to be confirmed."I don't really know. I didn't see his face clearly, but based on what I saw, it looked like the two were having an argument... no, it looked like the man was harassing Veronica while they were shopping but she came to pay and left first." Anna responded as she remembers the incident clearly from earlier."What the hell? Harassing?" Ashton blurted out in disbelief."Before I could approach them about the commotion, it seemed to stop and she came to pay and then, Veronica left
Ashton exited the mall after thanking Anna and also getting her phone number. He went to his car and had a little time with his thoughts about all what he just witnessed before driving off and heading back to the hospital.He drove through the dimly lit highway, the video he watched earlier kept replaying in his head as he clutched the wheel tightly while driving.After driving for what seemed like forever, he finally pulled over inside the hospital compound and got off the car. Things around the area were already calm unlike before.Without wasting any time, he swiftly made his way into the building and headed straight to the elevator that led to the ward.*PING*The elevator pinged with the door sliding open, and Ashton dashed out of it and headed straight to the room.Damien could be seen sitting on a bench outside alone, and he was currently lost in thoughts."Hey..." Ashton speaks up, unsure about what to say to a man who's wife was in an accident, Damien shifted his gaze towards
Sitting on a cold, metal in the dimly lit hallway were Damien and Ashton, and the duo seemed to be having a deep conversation. "If the phone was traced to Arielle's apartment, then doesn't that mean Arielle is holding Tiara hostage?" Damien questioned with a look of disbelief."That's what we all thought, but when we searched the house, we found nothing. Not even a single trace of Tiara nor the phone we tracked," Ashton explained."Strange," Damien commented while rubbing his chin in contemplation."I know, right... It surely is strange," Ashton remarked with his voice raised slightly. "I could tell Arielle was hiding something, but I had no proof," he added."And you are sure you searched everywhere? You didn't accidentally avoid a certain area?" Damien inquired."I searched every goddamn corner, opened doors, even below the staircase. There was no one there. It's either the tracker must have malfunctioned, or Arielle managed to take Tiara away from the house before we arrived. I mea
Back in the hospital, Veronica had woken up and all her children including Ashton and Damien already gathered there. None of them left the hospital last night even when the doctor informed them she was already stable and it's okay to leave."How are you feeling?" Ivy beckoned on Veronica with an expresson of relief. She was truly worried, she had held her hand all night long, worried about her mum. Liam sat by her other side on the bed and held her other hand, his eyes puffy."I am good, darling. I can't believe you two are here also." Veronica responded before moving her gaze towards where Ashton and Grant."Of course we should be here." Grant respons with a small smile on his lips while Ashton nods in agreement."Thank you guys." Veronica smiled back at them but they just smile with their worries still imprinted on their faces. "What's with all these long faces, I said I'm fine." Veronica spoke after noticing the long faces on everyone's faces and she laughed slightly to ease the te
"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