Vivian’s POV“Slow down, Manny, what are you saying?” I said, my heart beating really fast. “The very bad man I told you about that Ted owed a lot of money,” Manny started again.“Yes,” I said to notify him that I was following up.Manny’s information was making my head bang in confusion, and the fact that Manny was sounding extremely shaky and scared made me more agitated.“So apparently, he has been looking for Ted for a while now, and last night, he broke into our home and took Ted away,” Manny explained.“You saw him?” I asked, shocked. I didn’t understand why I was asking that question, because thinking about it after the question left my mouth made me realize how silly it was; whether or not Manny saw the drug lord, of what use would it be to me?“He sent thugs,” Manny answered anyway.I could feel tears gathering in Manny’s eyes, and my heart went out to him. “Did you say last night?” I asked Manny, recalling his earlier statement when he first broke the news to me.“Yes,” M
Syrus’s POVSyrus was having a rough morning, so much so that he got back home from Davis’s office and decided to stay indoors. Maybe he would go to the office much later, or tomorrow, but whatever the case, he just needed to rest so that he could get his thoughts right.Thankfully, the living room was empty.He did not really check if his mother’s car or Bonnie’s was outside, so he couldn’t tell if they were home or not, but Syrus plopped on the couch and closed his eyes, trying to get some rest.But his mind kept drifting back to Vivian. He could not shake off the feeling that something was off. Her family would never include him in the search, Belinda would not tell him more than she already did; not that she knew much herself, because according to her, she was out of town when Vivian went missing, and all attempts to reach her have been futile, and now, he had gone to punch Vivian’s ex-manager in the face.“Damn, I really messed up,” Syrus scolded himself.He could not tell Davis
Georgia’s POV“Hi, is this the private investigator from the secret firm?” Georgia asked as soon as the call connected.She had been finding a way to bring that bloody interviewer down by all means. “She thinks she can humiliate and insult me, and go scot free? I will end her career,” Georgia had vowed to herself.She would rather die than let this slide. She had gone over and beyond to get to where she was, and in the process, had crushed anyone who stood in her way; she would definitely do the same to this interviewer and whoever put her up to it.Georgia suspected Vivian at first, because Vivian was the only person she had been antagonizing recently using Syrus, but then again, Georgia doubted Vivian would ever be able to pull such strings. Georgia knew Vivian and what she was capable of doing. What a lot of people didn’t know was that Georgia had known Vivian, and she could guess what she could do and couldn’t do. Anyway, Georgia was about to find out.So she had sneaked into the
Vivian’s POVI was more than relieved that Syrus did not hesitate to help me. In truth, deep down, I knew that I could count on him regardless of the fact that I ghosted him for weeks.“Keep your phone on and active, so that we don’t miss each other,” Syrus told me before we ended the call. His voice was a soothing balm to all that had been going on around me lately.The challenge now was how to get out of the coffee shop, and leave without being held back, and whatever I needed to do, I needed to do it before Ken returned, because Lori already mentioned that he would be back soon to pick me up. Going for the little clothes I had was not an option now, because they would suspect.I cleared my throat, straightened my shoulders, chinned up, summoned all the courage in me and walked out of the dressing room. I met Leo and Lori seated on one of the chairs that the customers usually sat on. They spoke in low tones, but when they saw me, they became instantly mute, which made me realize th
Vivian’s POV“Is everything okay? Why are you running away from that man?” The taxi driver asked after he had driven me far away from Ken’s reach.He was so smart that he went really fast and took a quick turn, so even if Ken had tried to trail us, it would be difficult for him to do so, even though I did not see his car when I turned and looked at him. I could not bank on that anyway; I was in a haste to escape, so maybe it was there and my eyes just did not catch it.Whatever the case may be, I was grateful that we had escaped him.I opened my mouth to answer him, but Syrus’s voice boomed over the receiver, reminding me that I was still on the phone with him.“Vivian? What is going on?!” He asked frantically.“I am safe now,” was all I could say. “Please text me the address like you said, and I will call you when I get there,” I told Syrus.“Yeah, of course, but I want to stay on the call with you, so that I would be sure that you are fine and safe,” Syrus insisted.“Just send the a
Georgia’s POVGeorgia waited and waited after making payment, and a few minutes later, she got a call from the firm.“Hello, your payment has been confirmed, and the details of your victim have been received. We are proceeding with the investigations immediately, and you should get all the information you need before the end of the day,” the voice rolled out the words like it was rehearsed.Georgia recognized the voice as the same investigator that she spoke with earlier. She was relieved and relaxed.“Now, we will see who runs this city,” Georgia said. She knew that once she got all necessary information needed about the silly ass interviewer, she would definitely know who put her up to what she did to Georgia, and that way, she would be able to have the upper hand in the whole situation. Georgia received the money from Bonnie through a wired network, and directly from her account, so she knew that there was no way Syrus would be able to trace the transfer to her account. She had al
Syrus’s POVSyrus almost jumped out of his skin in waiting for Vivian. He tried not to call her every passing second.“This is just because of my babies. I am doing this because of my babies, and nothing more,” Syrus kept telling himself as he paced about.He kept telling himself all that just to ensure that he wasn’t this worried and frantic because he was still into Vivian. Hell no! He was only worried about his babies, which was just very normal, because every sane man would be concerned about the welfare of the woman carrying his child or children, because a healthy mother produces a healthy baby.Syrus’s phone rang, it was Davis. Syrus hissed. This was the same lawyer he asked to find Vivian.“Davis, what?” Syrus asked as he picked the call. “I asked you to get me results before the end of today. Do you have it now?” Syrus asked, knowing that Vivian was safely on his way to him.“I called to apologize for being such a jackass and speaking to you the way I did today. You are my
Georgia’s POVGeorgia lingered in the restaurant after Bonnie left. Thankfully, Bonnie had payed for everything, and Georgia ensured that she would not be telling another soul about it, including her mother. She still had a couple of hours on Bonnie’s reservation before she would have to leave, so that would give her enough ample time to think and plan about her next line of action.Georgia called the waitress; she wasn’t satisfied. She didn’t take much when Bonnie was here, because she did not want to come off as hungry, poor, and desperate. Anyway, once she is able to get the necessary information she would use to blackmail the silly interviewer into doing her bidding, she would bounce back financially, or even better. Georgia had a good feeling about this, and she could barely wait.“Is Bonnie’s card still an open one?” Georgia asked the young girl.She remembered clearly that Nancy and Bonnie always left their cards open when they dined here, which means that for the duration of
Syrus’s POVSyrus had been broken since his altercation with his mother and he had simply continued to stay locked in.He had had to send a formal email telling his senior associate staff members that he was taking a few days off. This was the first time since Syrus took over the Vale company that he would ever be taking a break. He was always up and doing, but what he was going through now was just too much. First, Anderson’s death, which he had intended to mourn in peace, and now, his mother’s firm threat to disown him. Syrus had never seen his mother like that. He had never even heard her say words like that to either him or Bonnie, no matter what. Syrus had always taken pride in the fact that his mother was fiercely protective over them, especially after his father walked out on them. She had been a mother-hen to Bonnie and him. Even when he had stubbornly ended things with Georgia whom his mother had approved completely and married Vivian whom his mother had vehemently and openl
Georgia’s POV“That was you?” Belinda asked, stupefied.She would never have thought that this was their college roommate from years ago. The revelation in the past hour by Georgia shook her to her core, and her insides quivered. Talk about nemesis coming to bite them in the face!Now she understood why Georgia was so hell bent on making life miserable for Vivian. Now she understood why Georgia wanted their years of friendship to be destroyed. After college, she and Vivian only talked about her once, a few years after they graduated anyway, and life wasn’t even as rosy as it had been after college, especially for Belinda who had had to fend for herself.“Do you remember our college roommate?” Belinda had asked Vivian one night when Vivian had passed the night in her apartment and as usual, they had been knee-deep into their late night conversations.Vivian had laughed fondly. “Why wouldn’t I? The girl with the weird face. It’s just so crazy that we lived with her and never bothered t
Georgia’s POVAfter that introduction, Georgia had googled about Syrus Vale and the Vale company, and she had gotten all she needed to know. After that, she kept close contact as best as possible.“This is my once in a lifetime opportunity to finally get into wealth and fame permanently,” Georgia vowed to herself even though she and Syrus were only just talking as friends.It had been months since they met and had kept in touch ever since, but Georgia never relented. She knew that Syrus had a keen liking for her, but he wasn’t forthcoming with officially asking her to be his girlfriend, and Georgia was getting desperate.“What if while I am here playing the good friend, he goes right ahead and falls in love with someone else?” Georgia asked herself.She and Syrus could talk all day without getting tired, and they talked about everything, from spots, to politics, games, places, fashion, including his company and her career. Sometimes, Syrus would tell Georgia about a hitch he was havin
Georgia’s POVGeorgia was in the theater for hours, after trusting the doctor to give her a complete face transformation; one that was completely different from her true face, beautiful of course, and also matched her body at the same time, and also paid with most of the money that she had stolen. After that, Georgia spent about three weeks in the hospital, recuperating. She still had some money left, so she used it to take care of herself and her basic needs.The first day that Georgia looked at her new face in the mirror, she had been so awed by what she saw that she could only say, “Wow.”That expression carried all the emotions that she felt. Indeed, money was the ruler of life. If Georgia hadn’t taken the risk of stealing that money, she would never have looked this beautiful. Her face and skin were alluring. As Georgia touched her face in the mirror, she felt as though she was touching the face of a star.Georgia’s insides tingled with delight.“If I looked like this in college
Georgia’s POVGeorgia continued to work as a cleaner, but she did not forget the words that the male client said to her. Every morning, before she left for her cleaning job, she would stay in front of her cracked mirror and look at her face. Georgia had the body, but just like the male client had said, Georgia began to believe that she was ugly.“This is why they treated me badly. This is why they never wanted to be my friend. This is why they called me all sorts of ugly names,” Georgia would tell herself, sadly touching her face.She had never thought that her face was the problem before now, and she secretly wished that she could be half as beautiful as Vivian or Belinda, her college roommates, or any other beautiful girl out there.More than ever before, Georgia wanted to be a star.She wanted to excel where her mother failed. She wanted the world to know her. “I bet she’s going back to the dungeon she came from and no one is going to hear from her again.”Those were the mean word
Georgia’s POVGeorgia had thought that the hostile reception she got from Belinda and Georgia would stop at that first acquaintance, but it got worse as she lived with them.“Get up, you dolt!” Belinda had tapped Georgia rudely.Georgia had slept really late, because Belinda and Vivian had stayed up almost all night dancing, talking, and giggling, and Georgia wasn’t one to sleep under such disturbances. Meanwhile, she had lived with the two cruel girls for the entire time they stayed in college, and neither of them knew her name. Every time Georgia attempted to tell them her name, they always cut her off or waved her off. They disliked her so much that they wanted absolutely nothing to do with her.“What?” Georgia had woken up, feeling groggy and sleepy. It wasn’t even up to 8am, and she still had an hour and thirty minutes to rest before getting set for class.“Is she up now?” Vivian asked as she played with her phone on the bed.“Well, the ugly frog is still sleeping as though she
Georgia’s POVGeorgia was just a young girl when she was miraculously granted admission into their city’s college. She had been ecstatic and joyous, because she never thought she would get it, especially without any help.Her mother was struggling with the heartbreak of being abandoned by Georgia’s father whom Georgia never got to meet, her failures as a model simply because she had a child, Georgia, and so she had become embittered, and a complete shadow of herself.Georgia had applied into college all by herself with the hopes of getting a degree, but her hope had dwindled when she didn’t get it initially, and she overheard that if she had someone, maybe a responsible parent to stand in for her, she might have gotten in. Georgia had been devastated, because she was desperate to leave her mother; her mother kept unleashing her anger and bitterness on Georgia, and she kept blaming her for being jilted by her lover and getting kicked off the modeling world.Georgia had almost screamed
Georgia’s POV“What are you doing here?” Belinda, shocked to see Georgia, asked worriedly.This was her work hour, and when she was told that someone important wanted to see her, she hadn’t known what to expect at all, but certainly not Georgia.Georgia smiled coyly, glad that she could still get this reaction out of Belinda. She was always happy to know that she always had an edge over Vivian and Belinda…always.“That is not a polite way to speak to an old enemy,” Georgia said.Belinda looked around, worried that anyone would hear them, even though they were speaking at a private corner in her office.“You shouldn’t have come here, Georgia,” Belinda said angrily. “You have done enough damage, and the least you could do is simply leave me alone. Do you know what would happen if I lost my job?” Belinda asked, deeply worried and irritated.She had always hated Georgia, but Belinda never knew that she could hate Georgia the way she did right now, especially after the havoc that Georgia h
Syrus’s POVSyrus had paid Anderson’s family a visit after the heartbreaking news of his passing. He had been thoroughly devastated by the news, especially because he didn’t get enough time with Anderson to tell him what he needed to know.“You died without explaining to me the issue with my parents, and what exactly to do with Ken,” Syrus said, as though Anderson was right in front of him. Syrus didn’t tell his mum, because he knew that she never liked the man, but he had stayed in his room and wept. That was the closest thing to a father that Syrus ever had, and it pained him deeply that he didn’t even give Anderson enough of his time. After Anderson fell ill and couldn’t continue working at the company, Syrus had simply never paid him a visit. Yes, he had been completely financially responsible for Anderson, but that had been it, and now, Syrus regretted it deeply. He wished his only time of visiting Anderson was the only time. He wished he had actually taken out time to visit And