Chapter Thirty-Seven Travis pov Sitting in the lounge, I just could not get Anna out of my mind. ‘How could I have been so foolish not to see past everything and notice her genuine love for me? Shit! Why must I always be the one who destroys everything?’ I asked myself. Annabella was the best thing that happened to me, but I was just blinded by Samantha. Sighing, I ran my hands through my hair while I took another shot of tequila, the hot liquid went down my throat burning my throat. Wincing in pain, I smiled crazily, this amount of pain is what I truly deserve. The way I treated Annabella was inhumane, looking back now I realized I only used her. Trying to get her back now would be almost impossible. My Dad is just hell-bent on getting a partnership deal with her family, and he is still using me. That's the only thing he is ever good at, he has never been a good father to me just using me to get what he wants. My dad did not even care how much I had been broken after th
Chapter Thirty-eight. Annabelle pov I sat behind my large mahogany desk, gesturing for Brenda to take a seat in the plush leather chair across from me. We chatted for a bit, catching up on old times and sharing stories. I was impressed by her intelligence and drive, and I found myself thinking she would be a great asset to the IT team. "Thank you for coming in, Brenda," I said, trying to sound professional despite my curiosity.”how're you feeling?” questioned. “I am good.” She replied with so much enthusiasm as always. “That's great…uhmm, there is something I would like to discuss with you if you don't mind.” I started. She adjusted her chair forward and became serious. “Okay, I am all ears ma'am, hit me.” She replied. “Uhmm, well I would–” I was about to say when a knock was heard on the door and Sophia stood by the door without entering fully. “Sorry to interrupt you ma'am but the chairman is around and he demands to see you as soon as possible.” She said, I looked at her
Chapter Thirty-nine. Annabelle pov I scanned it quickly, my eyes widening as I saw the list of Brenda's skills and certifications. Cyber security, penetration testing, ethical hacking...it was all there. No wonder she was so good at finding vulnerabilities in our systems. Then I saw something that made my heart skip a beat. A note from James, indicating that Brenda had been involved in some shady online activities in the past. Hacking into corporate databases, exposing sensitive information...it was all there. I felt a chill run down my spine. ‘Had I just offered a promotion to a former cyber criminal? And what was she doing working for me in the first place?’ I questioned myself as I read the file over and over again but I wasn't feeling comfortable about it. I needed to get to the bottom of this. I called Rachel back in. "Get Brenda's file ready for a thorough review. And find out everything you can about her past online activities. I want to know what we're dealing with here
Chapter Fourty. Annabelle pov I turned back to look at the sad expression he had on his face, took a breath in and out. “I never loved you, I wasn't in love with you, maybe I just wanted to pass a way time with, maybe I just wanted to have fun and you seemed to be available when I needed someone and I appreciate it, I thought we were on same page about knowing our full intentions and what we want, marriage isn't something I want to do again, after…everything that went down with Travis and I.” I said, holding back my soft spot. He chuckled as he walked further. “Are you saying…that I was just playing with you?” He asked. I nodded. “And I am sorry, I thought we…knew what we were doing.” I said. “Ohh, wow…I didn't have to know that.” He said and stopped directly in front of me. “Do you still want him back?” He asked and I got choked immediately. I didn't know what to say back to him, I don't know if he was right or if I was lying to myself about not wanting Travis back. “No, I don
Chapter Fourty one. Annabelle pov I was so curious and worried about what and who just called me but the voice kept coming back to my head and I was trying so hard to figure out who it was. I called James and as soon as he answered me, “Hey, good evening…I need your help with something.” I said immediately forgetting the pleasantries stage. “Good evening ma'am, what's that?” He asked. “I would send you a voice recording, I want you to get the owner of the voice and send it to me.” I said. “That would take much time ma'am but I should get it down.” He replied. “Thank you, how many hours would it take?” I asked. The call went silent for a little while. “Uhmm, I should get it done by tomorrow ma'am.” He said. “Alright, thank you very much… please will you get back to me?” I questioned. “Yes ma'am, I will get back to you.” James replied and he hung up afterwards. I was restless for a while but with so much thoughts in my head, I slept off, my phone resting on my face and the s
Chapter Fourty-Two.Annabelle pov I rushed to get water from the water dispenser that was standing beside the desk, I drank all in one gulp but my chest was still very tight and my breathing was uneven.Racheal knocked on the door then walked in with a bottle of juice in her hand. “Here is the juice you requested for ma'am.” She said.I pointed towards the desk, gesturing her to drop it down there but didn't say anything. “Is everything okay ma'am?” She asked, looking at me with questions written all over her face.I nodded slowly, trying to maintain my breathing but it wasn't helping.She moved closer to me and saw I was gasping for air. “Ma, are you okay? Do you need me to get the medics?” She asked but I shook my head.“Just…just help me down the–” I was about to say when I fell down and everything went black.“Ma'am, please stay with me, please.” Rachael said but slowly her voice began to fade out.After a few minutes later, I slowly open my eyes and blink twice before trying t
Chapter Fourty-three. Travis pov I walked into my empty house, feeling a sense of sadness and loneliness wash over me. My mind was still reeling from my thoughts of Anabelle, my ex-wife. We had been divorced for a while now, but the pain still lingered. I was married to a wonderful woman, but I couldn't shake off the feeling of loss. Anabelle and I had shared so many memories, and I couldn't help but wonder what could have been if we had worked things out. I thought about my daughter Norah, who was only 6 years old. She was the light of my life, but even her presence couldn't fill the void I felt. I missed Anabelle, and I wished she would reach out to me, just to talk. But she hadn't called, and I was left with my thoughts, wondering if she was happy, if she had moved on. I felt a pang of regret, wishing I could turn back time and make things right between us. I sighed, dropping my bag on the floor, I just stood there, lost in thoughts of what could have been, feeling the ache
Chapter Forty-Four. Annabelle pov I was lounging on my couch, binge-watching my favorite show and indulging in a lazy thursday afternoon. The sun was shining through the windows, casting a warm glow over my cozy apartment. I had just grabbed a bag of popcorn from the kitchen and was settling in for a marathon viewing session when my phone rang. I groaned, not wanting to be disturbed from my relaxing afternoon, but I got up to answer it anyway. It was Henry. "Hey, I'm on my way over, are you good?," he said, his deep voice sending a shiver down my spine. I couldn't help but feel a flutter in my chest whenever he called. We had been friends and things hadn't been the same for a while now, but there was something about his commanding presence that always left me a little breathless. "What's up?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant and hide the curiosity from my voice. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much I looked forward to seeing him after everything tha
Epilogue Chapter One Hundred and Sixty Six Annabelle_ Months after the nightmare I had with Henry. I woke up in my new home with the perfect peace of mind I had always wanted. My life was in a better shape and even though It wasn't perfect, I was living the future I had always dreamed and hoped for. I stood in front of the large windows in the parlor, looked out of it and took a very deep breath. “Come back here! If I catch you, I will eat all your candy.” “You won't catch me then!” Johnson was running after Norah. It was not going to be my first time experiencing such as they have both been best of friends since we all moved in together. “I've told you two. No running around.” I said and shook my head. Travis was the one handling the major companies owned by my dad. He and my dad had become very close following the incident with Henry. Travis held his suitcase, walked down the stairs of our new home and said, “Anna, do you know where my car keys are? I couldn't find them
Chapter One Hundred and Sixty Five Annabelle_ The tunnel led to one of the trees in the compound. I walked out of it and snuck to the back of the several police vans that were parked in the compound. I was on the lookout for Alex because I wasn't sure of who to trust. I saw Henry and hid behind the car. I couldn't afford him to see me and then come up with another lie that he wasn't the one behind my kidnap. Someone touched me from behind and I lost my breath for a while. I turned back slowly towards the person and found that it was Alex. I took a deep breath of relief and hugged him. “What happened?” He asked, concerned. I was still trying to get my breath, when he yelled, “Medics, medics.” And the whole attention drifted towards us. Immediately, I could see them putting handcuffs on his hands and leading him into the car like the criminal that he was. “Travis, Travis is badly injured. He has lost a lot of blood.” Those were the first words I said to Henry so they could go a
Chapter One Hundred and Sixty Four Annabelle _Henry went out of the basement he kept us in. He went out through a different door this time. I saw him but I was not fully conscious.I didn't know what to do to get us out of his place but I knew that if we did not try to get help from the cops or whoever was around, things would get worse for us all and Travis could die.“Travis,” I called out to Travis who lay in his blood on the floor with his eyes swollen. I wasn't even sure if he was still alive. “Travis, can you hear me? Travis!” I yelled. I couldn't afford his death.“Yes, I can hear you.” He said in a very low voice. I knew he was losing a lot of blood and he was in severe pain.“Can you loosen me? I know it's hard for you to get up but if you can try, it would help us out. We can't stay here. Now is our time to get out of this house because I can hear people walking back and forth in his house. I'm sure they are looking for us.” I said to him to encourage him to get up. Travi
Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-ThreeAnnabelle_All I saw was the blood of Travis spilling on the floor like someone had made an incision on a bottle.I picked a cloth that I saw in the room and used it to tie around his arm. I was very displeased with Henry as he stood and watched me take care of Travis' hands unremorsefully.“What has gotten into you? Why are you doing all this?” I asked with so much pain in my heart. I couldn't understand how Henry became the way he was all of a sudden.“Get back to your seat and tie yourself at this moment, Annabelle.” He yelled at me. “You should not have pushed me to the wall all these years. You are the reason why I'm like this. Yes, it's all your fault.”Travis tried to help himself up from the chair I sat him on so that I could help him with his hand and reduce his bleeding. The cloth I had used to tie his hand was filled in no time and I could see that Travis was losing a lot of blood at that time.“Let's take him to the hospital. You know he
Chapter One Hundred and Sixty Two Travis_I broke into the house through Henry's kitchen window after I was sure he had gone out of the kitchen.I walked to the slap where knives were kept and I picked one very sharp one.“This should do a good job,” I said and hid the knife behind my back.“What you don't understand is, I'd catch a grenade for ya!” I could hear Travis as he sang in his voice to the song he played out. I used that opportunity to search around the room for any sign of Annabelle and Johnson.“Annabelle! Annabelle!” I whispered as I entered every part of the room downstairs.Then while walking on the corridor, I walked on a part of the floor that felt like something was beneath it.I went back to look at the stairs to be sure I could still hear Travis playing his song, which he was before I went down to check what it was.“This very strange man. Heaven knows where he kept Annabelle.” I tried to open the thing but I couldn't get how it was being handled. It had a complex
Chapter One Hundred and Sixty OneTravis_I received a call from an unknown number. It was very late at night. I had thought it was probably Annabelle because I had been expecting her to call me but I did not receive any calls from her.When I saw that it was unknown, I did not take the call because I was still hurting from the fact that Henry was playing the hero when he did not help to find Johnson at all from the onset. “He's my son. She's supposed to allow me to come along irrespective of what Henry was going to say or do. Don't I deserve to see him too?” I said to myself inwardly.Norah had slept off on my leg. We sat together in the parlor watching a movie.My phone kept ringing and ringing so I became forced to pick up the call. I did not say anything after picking up the call.“Can you hear me?” The person whispered and it made me curious. I placed Norah's head properly on the chair and stood up to receive the call in a place where she would not be disturbed.“Who is this?” I
Chapter One Hundred and Sixty Annabelle_ I was scared that Henry might hurt me so I began to yell at him before he got closer to me, “Henry, what is wrong with you? Do not try anything funny. I'm warning you. You know how this will end. It will surely end badly for both of us. Just let me leave peacefully.” “You are not leaving through that door. Not today and not until you sign the wedding document.” He said and got closer to me. He pulled me with force to himself and began to kiss my body against my will. “Get off me! Get off!” He disgusted me but he held me so strong. It was very hard for me to move my body away from him. It was as though he wasn't the same Henry I had known. “Stop it, now!” I continued to shout at him but he would not let me go. I stretched my hand to reach the vase that was used to decorate his parlor. I was able to reach it and I slammed it on his head with all the force I had. I didn't know what to do next and he did not give me any option. All that was
Chapter One Hundred and Fifty NineAnnabelle_Brooklyn and I got to Henry's place very late at night. We had to drive for a long time for us to get to Henry's place. “Why does it look as if Henry is not around?” We were able to get into the house because the gate was not locked. “It's very strange that Henry's gate is open. He never opens his gate.” I said to Brooklyn who was driving the car.“Just be patient. It's late already and he was expecting you. So why wouldn't he leave his gate open?” I knew Brooklyn was tired of hearing all my complaints.“I don't feel good about this honestly. Something is wrong somewhere.” I said to Brooklyn, “Don't drive to the front of the building itself. Park around here.” Henry's compound had some gardens and big trees that one would go through before one would get to his house. I just wasn't comfortable with the way I felt.She sighed but did as I said.“I'd go in by myself alone. You should stay in the car in case anything bad happens.”Brooklyn ga
Chapter One Hundred and Fifty EightAnnabelle_Travis drove us into a very nice apartment that he said belonged to Samantha. It was a more beautiful apartment than the one that he lived in. “This apartment is nice. You guys could have lived here instead of where you're presently living though.” Brooklyn said. I was surprised she said that out loud so I turned to look at her.Travis smiled and said, “Well, Samantha loves her things to be perfectly the way she likes them. She fixed it several times, that's why it looks as good as this.” We got out of the vehicle and we could tell that Johnson was not in that building because everything there was so calm but we walked into it irrespective of how the environment felt, leaving Brooklyn and Norah alone in the car.Travis unlocked the door and led me into the room. “I don't think anyone is here at the moment but we can search the apartment to see if there might be any lead in the house,” Travis said to me as he walked into the living room