Anastasia chuckled, and it turned into laughter while Dylan kept staring at her and waiting patiently until she would be done. He was damn serious, but he knew she was finding it funny.She took a deep breath in, "Mr Dylan, you joke a lot. Why would you ask me to marry you? You're the son of a multi-billionaire and you want me to marry you? My family's company went under the ground, and I have no good reputation with my past so I'm the wrong person for that job.""I don't care, Anastasia. I'm not looking at your family or where you came from. Also, I'm not looking at your past. I offered this to you because only you can do it, so are you in it not? You should think about your daughter too."To Anna, it felt like Dylan was trying his possible best to convince her."Why me?""Like I said earlier, you're the best person for it. Both of us have something we really want so why don't we help each other? The contract would be for a year plus depending on when I get what I want done, and you
"Why?" Dylan questioned, crossing one leg against the other as he wanted to know why Anna had said that."Because you're a billionaire. A lot of people out there might call me a gold digger or even worse names. Besides, after one year, we'll go our separate ways, so it's better not to have it announced. Just a simple marriage as evidence for your family would do right?" *After one year, we'll go our separate ways?* The words just rushed out of her mouth, and it was then Dylan realized that she had no idea he liked her and his reason for this marriage wasn't just because of his father's wish or order, but also because he wanted to protect and keep a close eye on her. Maybe for a second, he had forgotten."Yes." He responded with just a word, and kept staring at Anna talk,"Then a secret contract marriage would do." Dylan averted his gaze to his wristwatch. He wanted to change the topic, but thankfully, Anna laid back on the bed to rest,"You should go freshen up a bit, I'm not going
HOSPITAL, EMERGENCY UNIT."Please come with me, sir." The doctor uttered, and when they got to the emergency unit, Dylan was allowed to go in. As soon as he stepped in, his eyes turned red seeing Anastasia in the state she was in,"How's she?""Thankfully, she was rushed in on time and so we were able to save her. There's no internal bleeding or something too serious. It's just a few cuts and some broken ribs, but right now I can't say when she will be awake."Bryan walked until he was standing close to her bed, "I left you for a day, and you're in this state, Anna." He muttered, tucking his hand into his pocket as it was so obvious he was worried about her."I'll take my leave now." The doctor uttered, but Bryan didn't move even an inch from where he was standing or cock his head to stare back at the doctor. He took a seat close to Anna and kept watching over her.After about 2 hours of thinking, he tucked his hand into his pocket and brought out his phone to dial Lucas's number,Whe
Ten minutes later, Lucas walked into the ward, and Dylan rose to his feet when he saw him,"I've gotten everything you need, sir. The pictures on the internet have also been taken care of, and this is everything you need to know about Ms Anastasia George.""George?" The last name sounded familiar to Dylan and he arched his brows as he collected the papers from Lucas."Alright, thank you," Dylan said and took a few steps away from Lucas, heading towards the window. When he heard the sound of the door as Lucas stepped out, he didn't look around but began to go through the papers that Lucas had brought to him.His grip on it slowly began to tighten, and he bit his lower lips. One minute later, when Dylan saw the exact words he was looking for, he turned around slowly till he was able to stare at Anastasia who was still unconscious on the bed.It was so hard to believe, but based on Lucas's research, it was stated that Anna was the only daughter of Mr and Mrs George, which meant, she was
"So where are we heading to right now?" Anastasia questioned as Dylan slowly pushed the wheelchair,"To see your daughter. She's waiting for you home."Those words made Anna smile and she relaxed back in the wheelchair. As Dylan approached the car waiting outside, he halted the wheelchair and moved forward a little bit. The car door was opened by Lucas who was standing close to the car."You brought a Lamborghini just to take me home?" Anna had to question Dylan when he came back to where she was,"What did you expect me to bring?" Dylan responded,"I don't know, maybe a car that isn't too shouty.""Well, you'll have to deal with all the different kinds of shouty cars that there are," Dylan responded and squatted to her level. He whispered to her, "I'm gonna carry you now, if it hurts you, just say it." He uttered sweetly, and Anna could only blink twice while she stared at him.Why was he looking this handsome up close? She wondered and nodded her head after a few seconds. Gently, Dy
Once Anna was taken to her room, she took in a relaxing deep breath to inhale the fragrance of her room. Everything had been well prepared for her, and it was so beautiful. The sight of this reminded Anna of her younger days. When she was still an heiress but this time, everything was even better. She knew who Dylan was, and that scared the hell out of her when people would find out that they were together. It would make her look like a gold digger, and that was what she feared the most. A knock was rasped on the door, "Come in," Anna uttered and when the door was opened, two ladies stepped into the room, "If you'd like to freshen up now, we'll have a bath prepared for you immediately. Dinner would be ready in less than an hour, and sir Dylan has requested that you pick anything else you'd like to be prepared alongside some other dishes." One of the ladies said. Anna thought about how hungry she was, and then she responded, "I'm not a picky eater, so anything would be nice. And y
"Your job? You want to get back to working at the hotel?" There was a shocked expression on Dylan's face as he questioned,What ran through his mind after those words were,"He obviously had all the riches in the world and yet she wanted to work?""She could have requested for something even better, but she had to request for her job?""She could have requested to become a manger in one of Kings cooperation, but that wasn't the case.""Yes, I really do." Anna responded while he was still lost in thought, and he heaved,"Just that?""It's been my dream to work at a hotel, and I intend to keep that dream. I know this is so much to ask, and it might be impossible but I really…""No Anastasia, it's not. It's not too much to ask." Dylan responded and watched as she smiled back at him,"I'll tell Lucas to work on it immediately," then he let go of her hand, and placed them on her shoulders,"And maybe it'll be something much more surprising." He continued, and Anna arched her brows as she s
Two kids were standing and waiting right in front of the teachers desk and all the bad stares were given to Emma,"What happened Emma? Why did you do that to Chloe?"Emma remained quiet, trying as best as possible not to let her emotions get the better part of her. She was used to this already, getting bullied by her mates about not having a dad, but today she snapped a little and pulled Chloe's hair, then pushed her making Chloe sprain her ankle a little,"She mentioned my mom. She said my mom cheated with a stranger and he left her."The teacher cocked her head towards Chloe, wondering how the hell the little girl got to know how to use such words,"I need to speak to your mother immediately emma."Emma arched her brows at her teacher's words, but she didn't utter a word after that.Ms Camille knew better than anyone to question Chloe because her mother was a prominent figure in the fashion world, and most especially to the school. Maybe little Chloe was damn blessed after all becau
EPILOGUE. SEVEN MONTHS LATER. A lot had happened in the past seven months since Dylan ran to the airport to stop Anna from leaving. Now, it wasn't smooth sailing between them; they both put in the work by going to therapy and working on their relationship, and they were good now, only choosing to go to therapy twice a month. Dylan stuck to his word, and he was the best husband; the night they came back home, he told her everything about her life, from the moment he was taken away to London, he told her everything, not leaving out any detail. He had also waited on her, hand and foot, since he found out she was pregnant, not letting her do any strenuous activities; he was the perfect husband and father. In those seven months, something else also took place, the cases were tried in court and her father and Mr. Smith were both sentenced for murder and Mr. Smith was first murder and attempted murder. Her father was sentenced to thirty years and Mr. Smith was
Anna and Emma arrived at the airport about forty minutes later, they didn't have much, just two suitcases, one for Anna and one for Emma. Anna paid the driver, and she and Emma got out of the car. She held Emma's hand and used her other hand to wheel in the suitcases. They were about an hour early for their flight. They walked into the airport, and she checked in her bags, and their tickets were scanned. The attendant told her that they would announce when the flight started to board. Anna thanked her, and then she and Emma walked over to some chairs to sit down. Emma had been quiet throughout the journey, and Anna knew it was because she missed her dad; she hated that she was feeling that way; it was all her fault. She was the one that brought Dylan into their lives. “Hey, sweetie, do you want to watch some cartoons on my phone while we wait?” Anna asked Emma. “Sure, I guess.” Emma said as she shrugged. Anna put on Bluey for her and gave Emma t
After Anna was discharged, she spent two days on bed rest by order of Caroline; she didn't complain, though; it gave her enough time to think of her next plan. Just like she thought, Dylan had not come to look for her, and she didn't blame him; in the end, they weren't meant to be together; there were too many secrets and lies between them, but it still didn't change the fact that she loved him. Emma has been asking for him constantly, and Anna has had to lie that he was away on a business trip, but she knew that lie wouldn't last forever. So she had to plan, she knew one thing for sure, and that was she couldn't stay in New York, and if she was settling down in another place, it couldn't be London. So after two days of planning she decided that she and Emma would move to Australia, there was a hotel there that had been trying to poach her for months, so she called them and asked if the job was still available, they said yes and she accepted it. The job came with a
Anna blinked her eyes open and she was hit with a blinding light that she had to close her eyes and groan in pain. “Anna, are you awake?” She heard Caroline ask. She opened her eyes slowly so she could get used to the light, and when they were fully opened, she saw Caroline standing by her side. “Oh, thank God you're awake; you gave me quite a scare, Anna. I'll be right back, let me go and get the nurse.” Caroline said and then she left the hospital room. Anna was confused. How did she get here? The last thing she remembered was watching the press conference with Caroline and Emma was sleeping. Emma? Where is Emma? Anna frantically sat up on her bed as he looked around the room but there was no sign of Emma. Caroline walked back into the room with a nurse. “Welcome back Mrs. Knight.” The nurse said. “Caroline, where's Emma?” Anna asked, her voice was scratchy because her throat was dry. “They have a daycare here; I didn't think that you'd wan
After Dylan saw Anna's car drive off, every atom in his body wanted to go after her but he couldn't. He had to attend the press conference and he wasn't worried because Marcus was with her. Fucking Kate, it was like she planned it or something. He had to come in through the back and go up to his office because everyone thought that he was dead and then a few minutes after he walked into his office, Kate walked in. Her eyes were red and it was clear that she had been crying. When she saw him she hugged him so tight saying that she knew he wasn't dead, Dylan asked her why she was in his office and she said she was there to beg for her life and that Dylan should spare her, she confessed that she was working with James but only to get him away from Anna and they she had nothing to do with the plane crash. Dylan wasn't shocked to hear that she was working with James; I mean, it would explain the pictures they were sent to Anna; someone had to take them. While s
“Let's go to the living room so I'll be able to keep an eye on Emma.” Anna told Caroline. “Why do you need to keep an eye on Emma? Anna, what's going on?” Caroline asked again. “I'll tell you everything, let's just go sit down.” Anna told her and then they both went into the living room and sat on the couch facing the TV and opposite where Emma was sleeping so Anna was able to keep an eye on her. “You better start explaining yourself, Anastasia George, or is it Knight now?” Caroline asked her. Anna released a huge breath and then she proceeded to tell Caroline everything. How she met Dylan at the hotel, how she got into a contract marriage with him and in exchange, he agreed to protect her from James and bring him down. How they went to London, Emma's kidnapping, and her heart condition. She told her how they slowly but surely fell in love and admitted their feelings to each other. How everything was so good and then it all went so bad, from the th
Anna ran as fast as she could, she could hear Dylan call out her name behind her but she didn't stop to look back. It was all too much, he had lied to her about everything. She got into the elevator and frantically tapped on the button for the down floor. She could see Dylan getting closer, but the doors closed just in time. She wasn't free just yet, and she knew it; she wouldn't be until she got as far away from Dylan Knight as possible. The elevator doors opened, and she stepped out; she knew Dylan wasn't far behind, probably opting to use the stairs. She ran out of the lobby. She knew she was drawing attention to herself, but she didn't care. She stepped outside, and thankfully, Marcus listened to her and the car was still parked outside the office. She ran to the car and opened the door. “Drive Marcus now.” Anna told him with urgency. “What's going on Mrs. Knight?” Marcus asked her. “Just drive Marcus.” Anna told him as she looked back at t
Anna slowly brought out the folder that had her name on it. She opened it up and on the first page was her basic information, her name, date of birth, house address, place of work, things like that and then she flipped to the second page and she saw her pictures, pictures from when she was picking Emma up from school, going to work and coming back from work. Did Dylan have her followed? She continued flipping through the pages, and she could see that this folder was like a dossier on her life; everything about her was in that file: her marriage to James and her parents. Anna didn't understand why Dylan had this. It was when she flipped to the next page that her heart dropped to her stomach. They were pictures, and she recognised the place, it was the club, and she was more sure of it because, at the top of that page, it was written in block letters: ANNA SIX YEARS AGO. She looked at the pictures, and the more she flipped through them, the memories from that night
By the time Dylan was done with his call and he went up to their bedroom, Anna was asleep. His talking to her would have to wait till tomorrow, but he had to do it before the arrests were made because once they were made public, she would surely put two and two together. Especially since Lucas informed him that she wanted to find him, something happened when she went to see her parents, that had to be the only reason why she wanted to find him urgently. But what could've happened? Could she have found out the truth? No, that couldn't be it, whatever it was, he would ask her about it tomorrow morning after he told her the truth, that's if she was still talking to him after. He took off his shirt and trousers, left only his briefs on and then he got into bed with Anna and wrapped his arms around her, even in her sleep, Anna turned around, seeking his warmth. ************ The next day, Dylan woke up expecting to have Anna by his side, but when he opened his eyes