Feather-light kisses fluttering around her naked back and neck woke Eve up after a stressful previous night. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she turned, her eyes coming in contact with the man above her. She groaned and managed to sit up on the bed, her hair falling around her shoulder and naked chest. She massaged the sides of her head before bringing her attention to the man. “You didn’t have to wake me up, Noah. I felt exhausted last night. My head hurt like crazy.”He stepped out of the bed and walked around her, helping her massage her temple. “Forgive me. Though I’m not sorry.”She slapped his hands away from her head and used the blanket to cover her body before letting out a loud yawn. “I still want to sleep some more. Don’t wake me up again.”She intended to return back to her position on the bed but before her head could hit the pillow again, he grabbed her arms and pulled her forward. “Enough sleep for the day, wifey. Go get dressed.”“It’s still early.”Noah grabbed hi
“Don’t worry about me.” Eve pulled away from the man and looked him over from his head downward. “Is she treating you well? I should end her miserable life now that I’m aware you’re on my side. Do you know what she did? She changed the interiors of your office and replaced it with something cringy like it’s a club. I tried to stop her but she wouldn’t listen.”“Relax, you’ll get yourself worked up,” Mr Gray said amid laughter. He held her at shoulder length and wiped her tears with his thumbs. “We’ll fight through this and come out victorious, okay?”Eve shook her head, her tears perhaps on a mission to create a dam. “Father, I was so scared,” she cried. “I…I thought that you hated me and that…that you disowned me. I thought…”He cut her off, his voice firm and gentle. “That would never happen. I’ll never disown you, never. Come here.” He pulled her into his embrace and let her cry on his chest, patting her hair without a single word. It was only after a few minutes of sobs that Eve f
In hindsight, accepting Liam’s invitation to occupy a part of his space was the worst mistake Ella ever made. Because right outside the room she occupied was the man that she had unrequited feelings for. With a loud groan, she roughly scratched her head, her hair falling over her face and back as she sat on the bed. She’d barely had a wink of sleep all throughout the night. It was way too loud outside even though Liam barely made any noise. But every footstep and every phone call of his were noticed by her. The little movements were enough to have her heart race a marathon. And the smell of his shirt that she wore? Lord, it had assaulted her nose throughout. It had been so overbearing that she had to take the shirt off her and throw it across the room. “Fuck, I need to find a solution to this,” she groaned, muffling her scream as she ruffled her hair with her fingers again. She needed a solution to the undying love, to the obsession, she needed a remedy. “I need to fucking think.”
With her hands on her chest, Ella raced to Liam’s private garage. Once she got to her car, she flung the door open and threw herself in, taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart. As usual, she’d run off from Liam after he handed her key over. Why did he have to be so thoughtful? She wondered. It would be so hard to get over him if he continuously acts so thoughtful. He brought in her car knowing that she would need it to go around the city and it would be inconvenient if she took a cab. Worse, her betrayal of an heart and body were reacting even more to it. It was like in her attempt to fall out of love, she fell deeper in love with him. Her pounding heart and throbbing pussy whenever he was around her were enough evidence. “Get a grip of yourself, Ella,” she scolded herself. She couldn’t believe how easily she lost herself whenever Liam was around. Every single time. It was terrifying. And she was scared that she might lose herself fully if this unrequited love of hers continu
“You always know how to change the topic whenever we’re speaking about you, Ella.” Eve rolled her eyes and scolded. “I know you’re hurt, I can see it in your eyes.”With a chuckle, Ella closed her palms around her eyes. “What do you mean? Is it written all over me?” She joked while taking her hands off her eyes and digging into the food before them. “Not to others but to me. If you like him, don’t let anything stop you from getting him. Go for him.”“How can you say that? What if he loves someone else?” She asked. Eve didn’t mean to but she threw her head backward again and let out her laughter. “Liam? Love someone else?” She pondered. “All throughout the year, I’ve not seen him smile at a single lady. I don’t think he’s in love with someone else. Besides, you never know unless you try.”“You know nothing, Eve.” She looked away, hiding the sadness in her eyes. ‘He’s in love with you. He’s been in love with you for as long as I can remember,’ she wanted to spill it out to her friend
The scent of tobacco, secrets, and food hung thick in the restaurant. Outside the door, voices of lovers, business conversations, and the smooching sounds of one-night standers could be heard but the only thing that Ella could hear was the blaring sound of her phone and the warning ring of her ears as her eyes remained fixated on the phone. “Ella?” She sucked in a deep breath at Eve’s yell, her eyes snapping to Eve. “Ye…yeah?” She stuttered. “Yeah? Your phone is ringing for the third time. Third means important.”“Ye…yeah. That’s right.”“Who is it?”She glanced at the caller ID again and raised her head to reply. “It’s him. My stepfather. “What?” Eve couldn’t help the amusement from curling her lips. “Your stepfather? After abandoning you for ages? Impressive.”“The truth is that I've been sending money home for a year.”“What?”She closed her forefinger around her mouth, gesturing for Eve to stay silent while she picked up the phone. “I’ll be back. I’ll explain everything.”She
Ella had lied when she told Eve that it was an emergency. Perhaps it was but she couldn’t care less. She was way too numb to care if their lives were in danger or not or if they were at the bridge of death. She’d also lied when she told Liam that she wouldn’t return to her apartment alone. Truly, she’d wanted to ask Eve to accompany her but it slipped her mind before she could think of it. And so, seated outside the building of her apartment, she couldn’t help but rest her head on the steering wheel, a sigh of exhaustion escaping her lips. Her life was a total mess at the moment and she didn’t know how exactly to fix it. All she knew was that she needed to get out of the god-forsaken body-clinging dress that she wore and get into something comfortable. Raising her head off the wheel, she grabbed her phone and pushed the door open, strolling to the front door of her apartment. As she stepped into her home, she couldn’t help the fear that overshadowed her from the darkness and the sh
“I did all the work, Noah. So you’ll give me a massage once we get home and that’s final.” Eve snapped at Noah and afterward snatched the brown food bag that she held. She took out her burger and drank from it before throwing it to the floor. “Here.” She held her drink to him. “Don’t take a single sip. You said you didn’t want any.”“I won’t. When are you going to stop being petty…” An annoyed roll of her eyes caused him to swallow his remaining words. He stared at the dark road ahead of them and sighed, his other hand fiddling his hair in frustration. They still had about fifteen minutes before they’d get to the car. In the late hours of the night, the only sounds they could hear were their arguments and the chirping of birds. He looked at the time on his watch. It was way past midnight. “Are you saying that I’m nagging?”“You know I didn’t. I’m only saying that you’re killing me by acting this way. I’m sorry, okay? I told you it happened…” He froze and his foot stopped when he lo
“If you’d brought her in any later than you did, we would be telling another story by now.” All six eyes peered keenly at the doctor as he began, their expressions filled with concern and worry. On both sides of Eve in the hospital room were Noah and Ella and they both shared the same look of worry on their faces. The middle-aged doctor continued. “For now, Mrs Hank and the baby are fine but you must watch and avoid situations that might put the baby in danger. Congratulations on your pregnancy once again.”Eve let out a loud sigh of relief once the doctor was done with his words, a smile spreading on her lips afterward as she glanced at Noah. They shared a smile, his hands caressing her hair gently.“We're going to have a baby, hubby.”“Fuck we are. I guess my hard work paid off then.” He leaned in and pecked her forehead before rising from the chair. “I'll go with the doctor and sort things out, okay? You'll be fine, right?”“En.”His eyes darted downward to her flat stomach and he
“Me…me…Melissa?” Tiala faked a gasp of surprise and stepped backward away from both girls. “I don't know what you're saying. I don't know who Melissa is.” She might get killed after this by Melissa but she still had a little faith that Melissa would put things into place and come to save her. Her boss, she knew, was the expert at scheming and drawing out plans. She prayed to the heavens that Melissa would be able to save her now.“You think Melissa will save you by hiding who she is? I told you we have a train of police officers outside and nothing you do will be able to stop them from taking you away.”“They can't take me away. I did nothing.”“Then lure Melissa here. Lure her here and you might receive lighter punishment from the court.”The girl’s body was trembling all over. Her legs were threatening to give away underneath her and she was holding herself so badly from peeing her pants from the fear that enveloped her. She never planned to return to prison after everything that s
FLASHBACKJust an hour after Eve got out of the Gray corporation, Tiala paced around the office, her perfectly manicured nails in between her teeth as she tried to think of Eve’s words. On one hand, she was happy that Eve would make her mission easier for her but on the other hand, she couldn’t bring herself to trust the girl fully and agree to the truce. But she had to. Mainly because she had barely two weeks to finalize everything and leave. A gasp escaped her lips when the door of her office flung open abruptly and closed with a bag, a slightly shorter slim woman stepping in. Tiala gasped when she realized who it was.“Wh…why are you doing here, Melissa?” She gasped. With annoyance, Melissa tore her scarf and glasses off her and threw them to one of the couches. Afterward, she walked closer until she stood before Tiala. “Why the fuck you didn’t ask that lowlife secretary of yours to let me in whenever I get here?”“I…I’m sorry, boss.” Her head lowered and she found her fingers cu
Eve’s anger burned over. The room suddenly became twice as cold as usual from the glare that the two parties passed each other. She slammed her hand on the table and rose, her eyes glaring daggers at the girl. “No, you didn’t get deceived. You deceived us and we’re here to have you pay for it.”“Wait.” Genevieve chuckled but there was no hint of amusement on her face. She had a panicked expression as she shook her head from side to side. “You mean that everything was a lie? That you’re not on the same page as me? Yesterday you told me.”“Yeah yeah, I deceived you. But that was little compared to the lie that you told. Unfortunately for you, you’ve been busted. Right there is the proof that you fixed your face to look like my father’s and of course, you have someone behind you, directing you and ordering you around like a fucking puppet.”“I’m not a puppet,” the girl screamed. “I told you I’m not a puppet and you’re lying. I’d never fix my face…”Ella cut her off. “I think it’s high ti
A day later, Ella and Eve parked their car in the same spot that they did the previous day. They both had a veil and thick sunglasses on their eyes and their gazes were fixated on the entrance of the company. “How did you get in yesterday?” Ella couldn’t help but ask about the tight security of the company. “By using the pass father gave me.”“They’re not going to question our attire?”“They won’t. They wouldn’t dare question people sent by their boss. Come on, let’s leave. Is everything ready?”“Never been more ready. Although, yesterday, I almost lost the envelope.”Eve’s eyes widened and her head whipped to Ella. “What? Where is it now?”“Relax,” Ella laughed. “I found it at the bottom of Liam’s passenger’s seat after finding it for minutes. It’s a miracle.” If Liam hadn’t sighted the envelope under her chair and picked it up for her, she wondered what she’d have done considering that the success of the operation lies in it. Eve would’ve nagged her to death. Eve let out a breath
A few minutes later, the girls strode hand in hand into the top floor of Noah’s company. As they drew closer, Adam’s eyes rose from his desk and they widened when they fell on them. “Mrs Hank,” he greeted.“Adam. There is no need to give him a call. He knows.”“Sure, please go in.”As they stepped into the office, their eyes fell on Noah who had his back to them. His right hand was dipped into his pocket and the other held his phone to his ears as he stared down at the city from the floor-to-ceiling window. At the click of the door shutting close, he looked behind him and his lips stretched into a smile at the sight of Eve.“I’ll give you a call when the file is ready,” he spoke into the phone before retracting it from his ear and throwing it to the desk. He sidestepped the table and walked to stand before her. “How was it?” His words were followed with a kiss on her neck that rode up to her cheek and he acknowledged Ella with a nod. “Superb. I told you I’m going to be fine. We suc
“A truce. We’re done being enemies. Why don’t we be friends and work together?”In Genevieve’s moment of shock, Eve sidestepped her and walked to the table, leaning against it with her hands squeezing together under her breast. She picked up the new nameplate on the table and ran her hand through it. “Pink is quite pretty for you, you know.”Her words made the girl snap out of her daze. She stormed toward Eve and snatched the nameplate from her. “I’m quite particular about my belongings. I suggest that you don’t touch anything here.”“Don’t worry. I won’t steal anything. Like I said, I’m here for peace. I want us to reconcile.”“Reconcile? Don’t be daft. You offended me by stealing my identity. I can never be friends with you.”Eve clicked her tongue severally and pushed away from the table, her eyes on Genevieve. “You know, it’s the opposite. Look around you.” She stretched her hands around the office, Genevieve’s eyes following every move. “Just look around. Everything here is mine
Two hours later, their car stopped before the building of the Gray Corporation. Eve wore a face mask on her lower face with a scarf around her hair and turned to Ella who sat behind the wheel. “I’m ready,” she announced. “Great. I’ll be waiting here. You got what we practiced, right?”“One hundred percent.”Simultaneously, their lips curled into a smile and after clapping their hands together in a high-five motion, Eve stepped out of the car. “I’ll be back real quick.”“Good luck, babe.”Eve nodded and continued her journey into the company. As she was about to step into the main building, the security man at the door stood before her. He was way tall and huge and he was a new face in the company. “You are?” He eyed her suspiciously. “Me? Here.” She dipped her hand into her purse and handed him a card. It was a free pass that her father had gotten her to get into the company freely. “I’m Mr Gray’s messenger. I need to deliver something to the CEO.”At the sight of the card, the secu
The dim morning sun seeping from the windows assaulted Ella’s eyes and pulled her from sleep. Her eyelids slowly fluttered open, a small yawn escaping her lips. She tried to raise her head from the slightly uncomfortable position that she was in only to find a strong force holding her down. She gasped when she fully woke from the daze of sleep, realizing that she was not laying her head on her pillow as she’d imagined but in fact, her head was on a hard surface. Liam’s shoulder. The smell of lavender and mint aftershave assaulted her nose and she felt her heart immediately skip a beat as always. She glanced back at his hand that was around her upper back, keeping her close to him with a blue blanket around them. Slowly and gently, she held his hand and pulled it away from herself before retracting her head off his shoulder. Ella grunted at the pounding headache that hit her when her eyes fell on the dozens of beer cans on the table and floor before them, the memories of the previou