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 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
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
Genevieve anxiously paced around the living room, her perfectly manicured nails in between her teeth. “Where did Noah go?” She muttered to herself. “No no, Eve. Calm down and stop overthinking. He said he’ll be back,” she cautioned, calming her racing thoughts. It was 6 pm already and Noah was nowhere to be found. He’d left two hours ago when they were dressing up for their anniversary dinner. She’d suggested that they have a romantic dinner in a fancy restaurant and for the first time ever, Noah agreed. How happy was she about that? She’d barely kept herself from screaming out loud in excitement. Only heaven knew how much she had been anticipating this day. Plus she was putting on his favorite color. Black and white. And if he doesn’t show up, it will all go to…. Eve stopped pacing around and rushed to the kitchen to grab a glass of water to calm her nerves. The thoughts were getting out of hand and she might faint from thinking negative things. “Genevieve!” The sudden call
“Noah, please you…you’re scaring me,” Eve stuttered. “I don’t understand.” “You're still going to act like you don't know what you did? You’ve fooled me all these years.” Noah ignored her cries as he held her tighter. “To think that three years ago, you did not think twice before accepting the marriage proposal. Your mask is out.” “Noah.” “Stop acting dumb, Genevieve. You made me in this condition,” Melissa screamed with tears streaming down her cheeks. “Brother Noah, please take her away. This is too much. She made me cripple. The doctor said that I won't be able to use my legs ever. Who's going to get married to me this way? It's all her fault.” “I… I did noth…” her words were cut off as a rough hand caught her arm from behind and she turned only to regret it instantly as an eye-blinding slap fell on her cheek. From her mother-in-law. When did she even arrive? Older Mrs Hank’s hits had always been so painful and she couldn't help but let out her tears. She was innocent, yet sh
~A Year Later~ “Welcome, everyone to the grand anniversary ball of the Hank family.” Melissa’s voice echoed confidently from the platform. “On behalf of my soon-to-be-husband, my mother-in-law, and the entire Hank family, I express our gratitude for acknowledging our invitation.” Claps and cheers reverberated in the large hall as everyone gazed admirably at her. “We also want to use this means to announce that our biggest project and deal is taking place soon and we can't help but add this to our celebration. Tonight, we also celebrate the Hank Corporation partnership announcement with the Grays. Cheers everyone.” The audience applauded again and Melissa raised her glass of drink in a toast followed by the guests and at the count of three, they all took a sip. “Melissa Johan?” One of the guests whispered to another. “Yes. I heard that she got engaged to Mr Hank a few months back. You don't know that? Everyone does.” “I’ve been out of the loop lately. She must be so happy. Des
“Genevieve?” Melissa gasped, her heart pounding so loud in her chest. “Who the hell let you in? Stop there. I'm talking to you.” “Me?” “Who else am I speaking to? How dare you show your face here again and how dare you come here as an imposter?” She took steps to stand before the woman. “Goodness! To think that I was acting nice to you.” She flipped her hair backward in anger, her fake smile crumbling. Her voice was loud enough to gather attention and Eve watched as the crowd started looking in their direction one after the other. “What is going on, Melissa?” Mrs Hank rushed to the scene. “Mother, look who is here.” “You.” Mrs Hank followed Melissa’s gaze and her face paled. “How dare you show your face here after what you did? Have you no shame?” Eve stood tall, a smile spreading across her lips as she watched them panic at her arrival. “Come on, get out of here else I'll call the cops,” Melissa roared. “What?” “Don't dare me. Get out,” Melissa yelled and limped forward
“That was a good performance out there, Eve. It pains me a lot that I was not able to record their pale faces at that moment.” Eve let out a chuckle at the words of her assistant and best friend. “You should’ve, Ella.” Ella giggled. “Now, they can’t have peace in their own party.” She smiled. It was what she wanted. She wished for them to live in horror. She wanted them to dread her, to live their life in misery and if it was the last thing that she gets to do, she surely was going to have the last laugh. Throughout her marriage with Noah, she’d been nothing but kind and forgiving but what did she get in return? Schemes and more schemes from them. She was no longer the Genevieve that they used to know, the Genevieve who was docile and the perfect submissive wife that everyone knew. Her eyes scanned the dance floor and finally fell on a couple that everyone deemed adorable. “They look compatible together. A schemer must be with a schemer. What an unfortunate union.” Ella foll
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
After slamming those words to Matthew’s face, Ella got into her car and drove out of the impoverished compound and then the town. By the time she arrived back in the city, it was already night’s time and she made her way to Liam’s apartment. Speaking about Liam. Ella’s eyes fell on her phone on the phone stand beside her in the car. She’d purposely switched it off after she arrived at the town days ago and she knew there would be bunches of calls that she missed. Did he call? She wondered, considering that he never called her except when he needed to ask about Eve. Her week had taken a toll on her and she knew she wasn’t in the right state of mind to think of Liam with other issues that she had. Her mother needed surgery and at least for Jaden’s sake, she needed to provide for her surgery. She wouldn’t want the child to go through something like the death of a parent at such an early age. Finally, she arrived at the garage and parked, a deep sigh escaping her lips. Was she in the
“Why can’t I come with you, big sister? I promise I’ll be good.”Ella looked down at the boy beneath her. He fisted her tailored pants with his small fist and looked up at her in pleading glossy eyes. He was way skinnier than the last time she saw him a few months ago. Her younger brother was barely nine years old yet he had to see how fucked up things were with their family. As she stared at his dark wet eyes, she suddenly had the urge to pull him into her embrace and take him away from the toxic household. Fuck, she wanted to do that more than anything. She wanted to take him away and make sure that he lived a better life than she did. But she was in no good position to have him. She didn’t have a good place or a stable job and her mental health was something else. But one day though. One day. She could still remember when the little boy was born nine years ago. Might she add, out of accident? They neglected him. Their parents. And they didn’t care to give him a name or celebrat
“Noah, where the hell are you taking me,” Eve demanded as he led her away from the garden into the mansion. “Adventure, darling. You’re not tired of socializing yet?”“I’m not. Let go of me. We’re not in a talking situation.”“You’re my wife. You can’t avoid me.”“Where are we even going? It’s someone else’s house.”“Don’t know.”She realized he didn’t know the way around the house when he looked twice before turning in a hallway, his grip on her wrist tightening. She sighed and let him pull her. Well, she was due for an adventure after all, and right, it’s sucked to socialize with old friends and guests that looked at her with cold judgy eyes. She could tell that they had the scandal in mind and they regarded her as a shameless imposter. She’d rather be away from them.“You better don’t get caught and accused of being a spy or a thief.”“Thief?” He chuckled. “I could buy everything in this house for you.”“Yeah yeah, you don’t have to boast about your wealth.”“Shh.” Suddenly, he pu