Inside the coffee shop, baristas could be seen behind the coffee machines. There were customers sitting quietly and discussing their businesses over coffee when the rich lady barged in and yelled with anger radiating from her. “Where is the manager of this place?!”Cora’s friend and everyone else was stunned. This lady was standing with Cora just now. Hope she’s not here because of Cora? Cora’s friend dragged Cora to the side and asked in a hush voice. “Did you do anything to her?” “She’s a spoiled brat.” Cora replied. “Fuck! How could you offend someone like her?... Wait, who slapped you? Your face is swollen.” Her friend frowned. Cora touched her face and sighed. “Are you all dead? I’ll ask this for the last time, where the hell is your manager!!” “I’m right here… Good afternoon, Miss, how may I help you?” a middle-aged man hurried out from a small side room and stood in front of the rich lady. He smiled to reassure the customers who were looking curious that nothing was wr
“CEO Mika is talking to you!!” “Yes, yes, CEO Mika. Please, what do we offer you?” Mr. Clem hurried forward to take their order. “Mr, I believe it’s her work. Let her do it.” Anamika said. “Oh,” Mr. Clem stepped aside. “I– I’ll just go in and change. I won’t take long.” Cora forced herself not to cry. Anamika chuckled. “Why? Why should I wait for you to go change before I take my drink? I came here because I wanted to drink coffee, not to wait for a barista to change uniforms.” Anamika’s face was devoid of emotions after that. One couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Cora bit the inside of her mouth hard while fumbling with her fingers. She lowered her head, “I’m sorry.” She was so emotional that one could see she was holding back tears. “It seems at this point, I’ll starve to death. Asher, let’s go somewhere else.” All this while, Anamika’s eyes were focused on her sister, totally not seeing the seductress sitting adjacent to them. Mr. Clem immediately raised his head and s
At this point, the matter had escalated to the point where Mr. Clem and the other employees had to rush over to start apologizing and apportioning blame. All the while, Anamika said nothing in Cora’s defence. She just sat there and allowed the matter to keep spreading like wildfire, while Asher was busy drinking his coffee in peace. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that,” Cora kept apologizing and by now, she was already crying. “Cora, you are a professional. You’ve been working for this establishment for three years and such mistakes and complaints have never been made on you. What the heck happened to you today? Did you freak out because of the status of the customers we have today? I’m sure that’s what happened.”Even though the matter was so bad, Mr. Clem was still trying to give her the benefit of the doubt and also change the people’s opinions of her. It was clear that the few customers who dropped by today were new people who had never been attended to by Cora. Anamika start
Cora froze. She slowly looked up at her sister. Yes, this is her sister! This is how forgiving she had always been. Others might offend her and she’d seek revenge but her family was different. No matter what they did to her, she used it as body lotion and never allowed it to sink into her heart. Of course, she’s a human, sometimes she sits alone to think about her life especially when their mother said something hurtful to her but before the day ends, she’d return to the big sister who does all the chores and play with Martin. Remembering everything made Cora feel horrible. She crawled on her knees to her sister and held the hem of her black skirt. “I’m sorry, sister. I… I thought you would hate me. I thought you… I thought… I’m sorry. Waah!” Anamika watched her as she continued to cry like a baby. Her eyes stung with tears too but it won’t be good for her to cry at a place like this. Asher saw she was struggling to hold back tears, so he helped her up. “Let’s return home.” “Hm,
A short while later… Aiden and Nadia could be seen, assessing Cora as they sat in front of her. “They have the same lips, nose, same eyes, thick brows… Smile, I want to confirm something.” Aiden urged Cora. “What do you think you’re doing?” Nadia asked sluggishly. “I want to confirm if she is Mom’s sister.”“Get over it. She’s family.” Nadia continued working on her laptop. “Then, why haven’t we seen her for so many years? Mom even said grandma traveled… I can’t help but think grandma and Aunt don’t like mom.”“No! That’s not true!” Cora panicked. “Knock it off. Aunt is here now.” All the while that Nadia was speaking, she didn’t raise her head from her laptop. “See, she flinched just now.” Aiden refused to give up. Nadia lifted her eyes and glanced at him, then slowly shook her head and continued with her work. Aiden got down from his couch and said, “Miss, can you stand up for a moment?” The kids are super cute and likable at first sight until you start interacting with th
That evening, Asher returned to Anamika’s home to a fuming Anamika waiting for him in the sitting room. Just when he was about to hug her, she pushed him away and yelled;“What’s the meaning of your actions?” “What’s that?” he asked.“Why did you have your men replace my people without my permission?!” She frowned. “Oh, that.” He tried to hold her but she avoided him. “Fine. I changed them because your guards’ skills are too poor.”“And what makes you think that your guards are the best?” He smiled and grabbed her without her consent, then allowed her struggle until she was calm. “My guards are not the best, but trust me, they won’t allow you or the kids to go through what you went through last week.” “My men were hired from ESC, best security agency in Rivera.” She said. “They can’t beat mine in a fight. Mine are better.” Anamika looked at him for a long time, then slowly asked, “Asher, who are you?” Asher also stopped moving and looked intently at her without answering. “Is
The next day, Anamika was seen heading to Emma’s apartment. On her way there, she stopped at the grocery store to get some ingredients. She wasn’t scared that she might not meet her friend at home because she has a spare key to her apartment. On getting to the front door, it was unlocked, so she pushed the door open and walked in. “Emma… Emma? Get down, I’m here.” While saying that, she was putting her bag on the couch and taking the groceries to the kitchen. Getting to the kitchen, she opened the fridge and sighed at the clean and empty space. “She’ll never change.” She stocked the fridge up with everything she bought before heading to Emma’s room to check on her. Emma has a small device in her room that tells her if there’s an intruder in her house, so by now, she was supposed to have known that she was here. Taking the stairs, she arrived at the passageway. Getting to Emma’s bedroom door, she was about to knock when she heard a muffled groan coming from the room. Alarmed, she
“Charlie and I weren’t such a great couple like you thought.”“What do you mean?” “He was a cheating bastard… he put his hands on me when he’s annoyed and even… he rapes me sometimes.”“What? And you put up with that?! For how long?” “It’s been four years now. You know how much I love him. Whenever he apologized and started acting like he’s repented, I couldn’t help going back to him. I hate myself for that too but… I’m weak against him, Mika!” She started crying again. Anamika pulled her friend into a tight hug. “Shhh… it’s ok. I’m not judging you, I promise. But I’m upset that you’ve been hiding this from me for so long. Do you still consider me your friend? Do you?!” Emma broke the hug and nodded. “Yes, yes I do! You’re my family. You’ve been going through a lot for the past five years. So, how can I bother you with my problems?” Anamika sighed. “True, I’ve been going through a lot. But recently, my problems have subsided. That is why you should have told me and that bastard w
At the hotel… Mr. Richard was amazed and proud of Anamika. Watching her teach those old men a lesson reminded him of how her mother was back then. The man sighed and emptied the glass of wine he was holding. The result of his investigation came out yesterday. Anamika is his daughter. After finding out, he told his family before embarking on the journey to seek his daughter. The Quinn family didn’t have much to say, except that they blamed him for just finding out. As for Lisa, she was having a hard time accepting the revelation. The sound of his phone ringing snapped him out of his thoughts. He picked the phone and checked the caller ID. It was an unknown number, but he decided to answer the call. “Hello,” his voice sounded. ‘Mr. Quinn, the Emperor is back from the meeting.’ Mr. Richard bolted up and hurried out of the hotel. … Arriving at the palace, he was brought to see Anamika in the throne room. Anamika hadn’t even stepped on the dais when the man entered. The father and
The other Presidents cleared their throats and shifted in their seats. They all owe debts. What if she asks them to pay up too? Scrapping their country banks together to pay off the billions they owe Hassride would crumble their economy, so, it would be better they all mind their businesses and live Country B’s president to handle his matter on his own. The old man glanced around, seeing that no president would come to his aid, he swallowed the lump of pride that was stuck at the back of his throat and sat down. “Your Majesty, it hasn’t come to that.” His heavy voice earlier suddenly went low. “As a businesswoman like you called us, we’re strict on marking our allies and curbing our enemies. If you could boldly look at our face and disregard our authority to vomit such atrocious venom, we can’t be guaranteed that you won’t stab us in the back when you see something that would jeopardize our country. So, on this basis, we hereby vote for your country’s removal from the Alliance Nati
Sitting on the deck with a bottle of wine and cake, the two watched the numerous stars in the sky. They’ve gone a bit far from their residence, but Anamika still doesn’t know why she was brought into the yacht. Neither did Asher want to say. Well, the sky looks beautiful from here, so it’s not a loss. Asher fed her a piece of cake. Just as she was about to accept it, her gaze zoomed in on a multi-coloured and sparkling something from afar. “What’s that?” she pointed. “We’re here.” The yacht moved closer until Anamika saw it was a multi-coloured waterfall! “Oh. My. God! How is this possible?!” “It’s the reason I purchased the island. It’s beautiful, right?” He asked. “No, the view is spectacular! Wow!” The yacht stopped a distance away from the waterfall where they could view it clearly. The light coming from the yacht and the multi-coloured Illumination from the waterfall brightened the area, so much so that one would almost forget it was night. “This, I must bring Emma here,
Asher and Anamika didn’t bring their bags, except for the roses she placed in a vase beside the window. The sun was slowly giving way to the moon by the time Anamika was done re-pruning the 99 roses and setting them in a vase of warm water to keep them alive for much longer. “We didn’t bring anything along.” She sat on the bed. From inside, she could view the surroundings, thanks to the glass doors and windows. The place only has one room, a kitchen, and bathroom. “Roy brought your necessities… everything is in here,” he opened the wardrobe for her to see. “Oh, you came prepared,” she looked down at her ring. She’s been caressing it ever since he wore it on her finger. A smile settled on her lips as she remembered his cheeky confession. Suddenly, she chuckled. “Mind breaking the good news to me?” he got into bed and hugged her from behind. “I was wondering. Since when did you realize you loved me?” She asked. Asher pulled her so she was sitting in between his legs while he wrapp
For the next couple of weeks, Anamika was trying to put the country together. She must learn all there was about the country and her Ancestors, replace some workers, bestow titles on the deserving ones, amend the rules to straighten the country and lots more. It would not be easy, which was why Asher didn’t return to Country A as planned. He stayed behind to help her in whatever way he could. Inside the office, Anamika was going through some documents when Lady Seraphina, who has officially been bestowed the title of Minister of communication, knocked and entered. “Your Majesty, Richard Quinn’s men are trying to spy into our data.” “What are they trying to find?” she asked. “About your mother and you.” Anamika raised her head from the document and looked at her, “Do what you think my mother would have done if she was alive.” Lady Seraphina understood the assignment. She bowed and left. Asher entered afterwards and hugged her from behind. “You’ve been on these documents for three
While Anamika and Asher were having the greatest time of their lives, their friends and families in Country A were having a hard time believing what they were seeing on the news. How did CEO Mika suddenly become the ruler of the greatest nations to ever exist? To crown it all, their worst nightmare! Aiden was excited when he found out he was a prince but for Nadia, she was worried about her mother’s safety. Their mother didn’t tell them she was going anywhere. In fact, they thought the ruler was probably their mother’s lookalike, or twin sister, until their great grandfather explained the situation to them. As for Emma, she was lost for words on what to say. She and her husband were supposed to go for their honeymoon today, but with Anamika’s case making waves in the country, she refused to go for her honeymoon until her friend returns. Who knows, she might be facing a lot there. If only she knows that the “a lot” her friend is going through is moaning while Asher’s rod thrust in
Inside the hall… Only Asher and Anamika remained. The two continued to stare at each other. One sitting on a high level and staring down at the other. “Your Majesty, may I come closer?” “One more disrespectful word from you and you’ll have your head severed!” “Thank you, Your Majesty!” Asher closed the distance and walked up the dais. Totally ignoring her warning. Anamika’s heart danced with glee but her face was as stoic as ever. Standing right in front of her, he said. “Your Majesty, I plead not guilty.” “...” Anamika was left speechless. This man… “Hassride has always had prejudice against my country, so when they saw me, they didn’t give me the benefit of the doubt and just apprehended me,” he flattened his lips. “Oh? Are you saying my country is unreasonable?” “Your people treated me with injustice. I was chained to the wall like a criminal…I also didn’t get anything to eat. I’m starving.” His gaze softened to the likes of Aiden’s when he’s trying to talk his way out o
In a dark dungeon, Asher, Milo, and Roy were chained to the wall. Roy had sighed in helplessness for a thousand times already. “Boss, what should we do now? If help doesn’t come, we’ll be killed before we know it. I feel sorry for madam and the kids,” he sighed again. “There’s still time,” Asher responded languidly with his eyes closed. “The situation looks brim. I shouldn’t have given this suggestion. At this point, I finally realized I was stupid.” “Right, you’ve always been stupid,” Milo stole the word from his mouth. “Milo, when was the last time we spared? I think we need to compare notes after leaving here.” “All I can see is death hovering over your head,” Milo said with a straight face. He’s never one to talk too much but at this point, he was angry at himself and everyone. When they came to Hassride, they tried to spy into the country’s history but failed to find anything. Later, they found out the man who can help them was put in the dungeon. Infiltrating the dungeon
This was exactly what Anamika wanted. To plant doubt in the man’s mind. Now, with him not knowing who to trust anymore or what to believe right now, his power has decreased greatly. Too bad she doesn’t have what it takes to back up her power of the tongue. Even though Seraphina said that everything is in place, Anamika has no idea what is in place. There was absolutely no time to discuss the preparations they’ve made, but anyhow, she’ll use her voice to fight for her rights. If it doesn’t work, then, Seraphina and the others can step in.“So, this is how you intend to unseat me? What if I kill you, I’ll be the only Emperor available and your people will no longer be able to fight against me. Before they groom another Female Emperor, it would be too late. How’s that?” Anamika smiled, “It’s your call. But do you honestly think you can kill me right here?” “No, everyone here is your supporter, and killing you in front of them would mean I leave evidence. Like you said, the people will