EMMA'S POVIt still shocks me to know that Simeon’s wealth came from gambling. Even now, I struggle to wrap my mind around it. Gambling, to me, has always been one of the most destructive habits a person can have. It isn’t just a harmless game of chance— it’s a trap, a dark hole that consumes everything in its path. The very thought of it fills me with disgust, and my feelings about it have only grown stronger over the years.My hatred for gambling has a history. My uncle Peter, once a respected man in the community, fell victim to its allure. He was the type of person everyone admired, always offering help to neighbors and carrying himself with dignity. But gambling changed him. It started small— bets here and there— but it quickly spiraled out of control. He borrowed so much money to fuel his addiction that, when he couldn’t repay his debts, his entire life crumbled. The shame of it was unbearable. His wife, unable to cope with the constant harassment from debt collectors and the fi
SIMEON'S POVAfter that rough night with Rose, I couldn’t shake off the irritation bubbling inside me. The way she involved Emma— holding her hostage, using her as leverage to get to me— it disgusted me. It wasn’t just about Emma being dragged into my mess; it was the audacity of Rose to think that such a move would somehow make me see her differently. Since that night, I’ve been doing everything possible to make things right with Emma. I’ve called her countless times, tried to explain, but nothing seems to work. It feels like every effort I make just pushes her further away. I keep replaying that night in my head, wondering how things could have gone so wrong, but no answer ever comes.Emma’s words the last time I called her still stung like a fresh wound. I could barely get through the call without hearing the sharp edge in her voice, a tone I had never heard from her before.“Simeon, please don’t ever call me again. Don’t even come down to the office. Go look after your other compa
DANIEL'S POV It’s been six days since Rose made her promise to help me win Emma back. She said I’d have her in two weeks, but honestly, I haven’t seen any real effort from her side. Sure, Simeon hasn’t been around Pixel Forge Studios for the past two days, but does that really mean anything? I can’t help but feel like I’m being played. This question has been stuck in my head, repeating itself over and over, like an annoying tune you can’t get rid of.This morning, I woke up determined to take matters into my own hands. If Rose wouldn’t help me the way I wanted, then I’d have to find my way back into Emma’s heart myself. My plan was simple: pick her up for work. I thought it would be a good way to show her I was serious about fixing things between us.As my car pulled up in front of her house, I spotted her standing in the driveway, looking at her cars. She seemed undecided, her eyes moving back and forth between the vehicles, as if she were struggling to choose which one to take.“Ju
EMMA'S POVI couldn’t believe what I just heard. The message Rose had sent felt like a punch in the stomach, leaving me breathless. The words replayed in my mind like a haunting melody, each repetition more terrifying than the last. “You promised me two weeks to make Emma mine for the exchange of your life, but I haven’t seen anything. So, tell me a reason why I shouldn’t send my men to kill you?” My hands trembled as I clutched my phone, listening to those words over and over again, as if doing so would somehow change their meaning. But no matter how many times the audio kept playing , the words remained the same— cold, sharp, and utterly devastating.It was as if the air had been sucked out of the room. My heart raced, pounding so loudly in my chest that it drowned out every other sound. For a moment, the world around me seemed to blur, my mind unable to process what I had just listened to. Was this some kind of cruel joke? A mistake? I didn’t want to believe it, but deep down, I k
SIMEON'S POVI sat on the edge of the bed, my hands gripping the sides, my head pounding with thoughts of Emma. The guilt swirling inside me felt like a heavy weight pressing down on my chest, suffocating me. My eyes stayed fixed on the floor as if staring at the wooden tiles would somehow bring clarity to the chaos in my mind. Emma’s face flashed in my thoughts— her bright smile, her warmth, her laughter. She didn’t deserve this. None of it.Behind me, Rose lay sprawled across the bed, her body glowing under the dim light of the room. Her hair cascaded over the pillow, and her lips curved into a small, smug smile. There was no denying her beauty; she was captivating in a way that could tempt anyone. But my heart wasn’t here. It wasn’t in this room, with her. It belonged to Emma, even though my actions betrayed every word of my love for her.Taking a deep breath, I forced the words out. "I can’t continue this with you. We can’t keep doing this," I said, my voice firmer than I expected
EMMA'S POVI sat on the couch, my mind swirling with a whirlwind of emotions I could barely process. Aunt Grace had just said something that felt like a slap across my face, and I couldn’t shake off the sting of her words. She stood in front of me, her arms folded tightly across her chest, her expression a mix of frustration and concern. Her sharp tone cut through the silence of the room like a knife."I don’t know why you don’t listen, Emma. Leave those two men alone. They don’t love you," Aunt Grace said, her voice firm and unyielding as we delved into the sensitive topic of Daniel and Simeon, the two men I had convinced myself were important in my life.I inhaled deeply, trying to maintain my composure despite the bubbling frustration threatening to spill over. I didn’t want to argue with her, but Aunt Grace had a way of pushing all the right buttons. "They both love me, Aunt Grace," I said, forcing my voice to remain steady. "I believe one of them is the best for me," I added, hop
EMMA'S POV Three days after my conversation with Rose, she was arrested. Her arrest didn’t surprise me, but her words before she was taken away kept replaying in my mind. She had insisted that Simeon and Daniel had framed her. As much as I didn’t want to believe her, the thought clung to me, refusing to leave. Since her arrest, everything around me had taken a strange turn. Simeon and Daniel began acting oddly, almost like they were trying too hard. They showered me with expensive gifts and compliments that felt excessive. It was as though they were competing for my attention and favor. I couldn’t shake off the echo of Rose's final words to me: “They’ve placed a bet on you. Whoever wins your heart gets something big.” At first, I brushed it off as a desperate attempt to manipulate me, but the constant attention and gifts from Simeon and Daniel made me reconsider. Could there be some truth to her claim? I had no evidence, but the idea planted a seed of doubt in my mind. The more I th
EMMA'S POVI noticed the way Mary was looking at me, probably because of how I was staring at Jason. Her concerned gaze told me she had noticed something unusual about my reaction. “Is there any problem, ma?” she asked, her voice filled with curiosity and a hint of worry. I quickly shook my head, forcing a smile to reassure her. “Nothing,” I replied, hoping to divert her attention. To change the subject, I asked, “Are they all five?” Of course, I already knew the answer. The five candidates scheduled for the interview were waiting.“Yes, ma,” Mary confirmed with a professional tone, her expression now calm.It wasn’t every day you saw a man applying for a secretary position, and that alone would’ve been enough to surprise me. But seeing Jason— the same Jason I had met on the dating app and spent a wonderful evening with— completely left me speechless. It felt like the universe was playing a trick on me. What were the odds of him showing up here, in my office, for this job? I didn’t kn
VERONICA'S POV:I got a call that the city council meeting will be held by 3:00pm in the afternoon. My aim is to build a strong team which will support me when needed.I am secretly building my team. I got dressed, I made sure to wear the best clothes and I hired a convoy to escort me to the meeting. “Madam, you look so pretty”. My new assistant, Bella said as I came out to enter the car.“Thank you”. I got into the car and we drove off.When I got to the meeting venue, I saw different candidates who were interested in becoming the mayor of the city.I need to influence these people so that I will be the mayor, and I will do it either by crook or by hook.And the first step to take in order to achieve that goal is to dig into their past and expose any secret that will make the masses not vote for them.I will get very close to them and strike when they least expect it.I walked into the conference hall with a smile on my face. Everyone looked at me in shock except the head of the pa
DANIEL'S POVWhen I left the restaurant I went straight to my mother's house. I needed to know if she had a hand in the incident that happened last night.When I got to the family house she was in the garden sipping her juice and holding a newspaper in her hand.“Why did you ask someone to drug me last night mum?”. I asked her as I got to the garden.“Now, you can't even greet your own mother and you walked in here rudely and accused me of drugging you”.“If you didn't drug me, then who did? You were the one that arranged a blind date for me”.“What evidence do you have to prove that I drugged you?”.I was speechless at her question. And the way she spoke so calmly it seems she is innocent of the whole thing.“I don't have any evidence yet, but I will definitely get to the bottom of this”. I said to her and tried to walk out but she stopped me. “I want you to go to the office, there is urgent work that needs your attention. I will help you investigate who drugged you. But if you have
CHERRY'S POVI woke up when I heard the noise in the room. I opened my eyes to see a nurse and big sis with her fiance in the room.When I checked the time, it was 10:00am in the morning. I stood up to go and say hi to my big sis and her fiance.“You are finally awake, sleepy head”. Big sis said with sarcasm.“Actually it was the game you downloaded on the phone that made me sleep late. I played the game till 4:00am this morning”. Her eyes widened at my words and I smiled shyly.“Mum, how are you? Do you feel better today?”. I asked my mum who was playing a game on her phone. “Yes, my dear. I feel so Much better today”. She said with a smile on her face. “I have already met the doctor and he said she would be discharged home this morning”. Big sis fiancé said with a calm voice. He looks so handsome.My stomach rumbled loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear. I felt like slapping it. Must it tell everyone in the room that I didn't feed it last night? No one will believe me an
DANIEL'S POVMy eyes opened gradually because I was trying to adjust to the light in the room.When I tried to turn my head, I felt an excruciating pain. I had a migraine. I heard a noise that sounded as if someone was sobbing. I covered my eyes with my palms in order for me to open my eyes.When my eyes opened, the first thing I noticed was that I wasn't in my room. Where was I? My eyes observed the room until it met a lady sitting on the bed while sobbing. I didn't recognize her at all.“Lady, what's going on here? Why are we both in this room? How did I get here?”. “Are you pretending not to know what happened last night?”. She asked with a furious facial expression. “I am clueless right now. Please explain to me what happened?”.“You forced yourself on me yesterday because you were drugged. And it's my first time. You took my pride away”. I looked under the duvet and noticed that I was naked. I tried to remember what really happened last night.I was able to remember a litt
CHERRY'S POVWhile I was in the hospital, I decided to step out for a while and explore the hospital, with Miss Emma's permission, I left.On my way to the ground floor, I bumped into Daniel's mother who looked so unhappy.“You are the one that I saw with Daniel, right?” I nodded and greeted her. “Please I need your help, I think my son is in some sort of trouble”. She said in a panicked voice.I wanted to ignore her and tell her that I won't help him because he betrayed me.But I thought of it again and decided to help, not for Daniel's sake but for the sake of his mother.“What can I do in this situation ma'am?”. “He needs his inhaler. This is an expensive inhaler and this only works for him. I would have gone there myself but my daughter is in labour right now and I need to be here for her”.“Alright I will give him the inhaler”. She gave me the address of the restaurant and also money to get there.I treated this matter as an emergency. I was so worried about him. I almost fough
DANIEL'S POVI packed the car at the underground parking lot with a screeching sound. I got down and took the elevator upstairs to meet up with Simeon.When I got to his apartment, he was on a call. “I killed her because she was ready to expose me and the bomb implant was already removed by the person that kidnapped her. And I want you to find out who this person is as well because he is also a threat”.What is Simeon up to now? And who did he kill? I hid myself so that he wouldn't know that I had been eavesdropping on his conversation. I knocked by the time I noticed that he was done with the call and he asked me to come in.“What's up man?” I asked with a mocking smile on my face.“It's been bad. Veronica wants to ruin my life but I won't let her do so”. He complained with gritted teeth.“That's why I didn't fight much for the baby because I knew that Veronica would be an issue in my life. So why did you call me here? Do you have any plans?”“Yeah I do have a plan. I want you to p
EMMA'S POVI woke up the next day with pains all over my body. I couldn't even get off the bed.When I checked the time, it was 1:00 pm at noon. How could I have slept for so long? And Jason didn't even bother to wake me up.Maybe he didn't want to disturb me but I planned to visit the office today.I searched the table close to my bed for my phone, that was when my eyes caught a paper that was folded.I took it to read the content.Good morning or probably afternoon depending on when you must have woken up. I had to rush to the office for something important. I made breakfast for you. You can eat and have some rest. I will be back to eat you, you were so delicious last night”I blushed at his last sentence. I wanted to go to the office today to attend to some official matters but since he is there, I will stay back.I need to go and see madam Susan to know how she's faring. I need to find out their financial situation.I freshened up and rewarmed the food he made. I ate the food be
DANIEL'S POVWhen I turned around, I saw someone I never expected to see, and my heart skipped a beat. What was she doing here, of all places?"Mum?" I blurted out in shock, my grip loosening on the silly girl’s hand. The moment I let go, she clung to me even tighter, wrapping her legs securely around my waist as if her life depended on it."Can we leave the pool now? I'm scared," she whispered softly into my ear, her voice trembling slightly.Without hesitation, I lifted her out of the pool, holding her close. My mother stood nearby, her arms folded, her expression one of pure disgust as she watched us."I want to see you inside immediately," she ordered, her voice sharp and filled with anger. Then, without waiting for a response, she spun around and stormed off, her heels clicking furiously against the floor.Just as I was about to follow, the silly girl in my arms started sneezing uncontrollably. Worried, I quickly reached for a towel hanging on the pool railing and wrapped it arou
DANIEL'S POVI came back from the office feeling so tired. I couldn’t concentrate at work; all I thought about was her smile and playful behavior.I came home early because of her. I wanted to see her so badly. I was sure she would lift my mood and make me feel better.I thought of a way to make her come over, and a perfect idea popped into my mind.I called Rose to prepare the same meal she mentioned the day she came here.I also instructed her to call Cherry over once she was done cooking."Master, Miss Cherry was really worried yesterday. Though she didn’t say anything, I could sense it," Rose informed me."Why didn't I notice this when she was with me?""She was fine when she was with you, but after you left, she came asking for you. She said she needed your help with something.""Why didn't you call me and tell me about it?" I got mad at Rose."Master, you said we shouldn't disturb you when you're at work. That’s why I didn’t bother to call you." She was right. I had actually ins