No, she wasn't. She was always dressed in cheap dresses. She looked poor and unkept. But the woman before him now looks impeccable and sweet. "This is your car key," Jace offered her. Since they have to act officially in the office, she has to come to the office on her own and return as well. Arianna placed a hand on her chest. A car key? She collected it and hugged Jace "Thank you darling. I love you" she chimed, kissing his chin. She quickly cleaned the lipstick that touched his chin. Jace smiled and said "you're welcome my love. I will leave earlier than you. So meet me in the office" he said. They came downstairs and Jace took a few pieces of pizza and a glass of beverages. He stood up and kissed Arianna's temple. He left. When Arianna stepped out, twenty minutes later, she was dazed when she saw that the car Jace bought for her was a Lamborghini. This car was too expensive for her. She walked around it and was all smiles. Jace bought her a brand new
Arianna nodded and followed behind. Sarah knocked and the thick masculine voice answered. They stepped in. It was the same as the last time she stepped in. Jace was head bent, writing on a file. A glass of coffee was in front of him and the two women just stood, waiting for him to raise his head. Arianna admired him. It's nice waking up to see his cute handsome face every morning. This is the man who held her in his arms until she slept off the previous evening. He placed his pen down and raised his head to glance at the two women before him. "Yes," he said, glancing from one to the other. His face was expressionless and it doesn't seem as if he's met Arianna before. "Our new Chief designer sir. She'll introduce herself" Sara said and bowed slightly. She glanced at Arianna and the latter nodded. "Good morning sir. I am Arianna Jason, the new designer for the company,"Arianna said and bowed slightly. "I think you should say a returnee employee. Anyway
Chase glared at Arianna. This woman is intelligent. None of the previous designers ever asked about the theme. No wonder they were designing nonsense and rubbish. Stanley and Lily Ambrose exchange glances again. They look inferior to Arianna immediately she asked that question. "You are to make a design. What are you trying to prove by asking for the theme of the contest? Look Miss Jason, don't try to make a show here of anything. We are in this field before you and you should learn to be quiet whenever we are around" Lily snapped at her. "Excuse me Lily Ambrose. What are you saying? I may be new here but I am a chief and a senior designer in my previous work place and I know my job well. How can you go into a contest with other competent designers when you don't even know what the theme of the contest is? There are different designs for different purposes and for different occasions. So, what am I designing and for what purpose? What should I present to t
Jane shivered when she heard the noise of glass shattering. She walked over quickly and saw her husband's ashen face. He was dazed, just staring at Derick. "You still haven't known? She kept her away from you all these years?" Derick demanded. He saw the shock and puzzle on his brother's face and knew that Susan did exactly what she said. Adrian Delmark just remained mute, staring at his brother helplessly. How come? How is it that Susan conceived and didn't tell him, how can she keep his daughter a secret from him? "Are you kidding me or are you being serious with what you just said?" Adrian asked. He turned and glared at his wife. Jane was trying to understand the whole scenario. "Adrian, are you alright?" Jane asked. She walked over and placed her hand on Adrian's shoulder. She is not strong enough to stand without support. "How can he be,Jane? No man would be, after discovering he has a daughter that's over 25 years old" Derick declared. Jane felt
Jane was speechless. She watched as Derick stood up and went out. Derick was estranged from his brother because of her. He didn't want Adrian and herself to end up together, he had always preferred Susan. But Adrian loves her the most. They all know how much Susan crushed, loved and adores Adrian but he didn't have that feelings for Susan like he did for her. Adrian was in his study, he tried to be calm but he couldn't. She loves him. She begged, sobbed and wished that he loved her. He tried to explain to her, he loves her friend, Jane. His heart was beating for Jane. He was crazily in love with her and cannot lie to her. He told her not to expect anything from him, he cannot give her what she wants. Adrian stood up and went to stand by the window. He glanced out, not looking at anything in particular. He was guilty. He broke her heart, truncated her expectation of a happy ending with him. He didn't know, he never knew. How did their daughter survive after
When she hung up,she glanced at Jace. He shut down his laptop and placed it aside. He glanced at Arianna and said "do you feel so excited when you are with me like you were a few minutes ago?" "Yes,but in my heart" Arianna replied. Jace giggled and said "I don't want it in your heart, I want it in your expression and words" he said. They soon arrived at the boutique. Jace sat down and Arianna went to the dressing room. She would change into a dress and Jace would assess it. If he likes it, he will nod his head and the cloth will be placed in the selected bag. Soon she selected a dinner gown, fish styled backless dress that went down to her feet. Her hourglass figure was outlined, her boobs were obvious and the front part of the dress had a cleavage. When Arianna looked at herself in the mirror, she undoubtedly admired herself. She turned to glance at Jace and caught him staring at her affectionately. His eyes went from her feet upwards until it stopped at her
Flashes of camera were all over them. Some journalists were asking questions about Jace and Arianna's relationship but he didn't even spare them a glance,he treated them as air. As they approached the large garden where the party was being held, Richard and Genesis came out and welcomed them. The stewards bow slightly when Jace passes by them. "Good to have you here, CEO Jace Hudson" Richard paid courtesy. Jace nodded but didn't show any slight interest in shaking hands with him. "You're welcome,Miss Jason," Richard said and kissed Arianna's chin. Genesis hugged her friend but was surprised that Jace didn't leave Arianna's hand. Jace stood at a strategic place, many people started walking over and paying him courtesy. He would talk in one or two sentences and wouldn't say anything else. He sighted Chase Hudson, his brother, holding the hands of a woman. He sighed softly and looked away. Women are not a scarce commodity to Chase. "CEO Jace, can we leave t
"Are you nuts, Tessa?" Richard snapped at her and threw her hand off his body. He glared at Tessa, his happy cheerful face turned ghostly. "Hi dear" Tessa chimed. She glanced at Richard seductively and wanted to touch him but Richard held her hand firmly and looked around before letting her hand off violently. "I am not your dear. And what the hell are you doing here?" Richard asked, snorting in disgust. He turned briefly and glanced towards Genesis and saw her staring at him in fury. Before Tessa could answer Richard turned to glance at Jace "CEO Jace, have me excused" He said and walked Tessa out, holding her by her upper arm. Jace glared at them and looked away. Just then Senator Adrian Delmark and his wife walked over. "It's my honour to have you here, CEO Jace Hudson" he said, stretching his hand for a handshake. "My pleasure, Senator Delmark," Jace Hudson replied, taking his hand. The two men smiled broadly at each other. The younger and the older man see
When the couple alighted, Chase held Rosalinda's hand, intertwining his fingers ders with hers. They drew closer, and a few securities walked over to their boss. When Chase walked over he turned and glared at the securities in hostility "the next time you opened that gate to some unwanted guests, your job in this house is ended!" He thundered. "We are not unwanted guests Mr Hudson. We are law enforcement agencies with a search warrant…" One of the police officers was saying when Chase snapped at him. "If you have a search warrant, do you also have a gate pass?" He asked, his usual arrogant personality taking over the calmness he portrayed at the orphanage. For a few seconds, none could say a word until the man next to Amanda Smith introduced himself "I am Barr. Clifford,Miss Amanda Smith's lawyer" he said, dissipating the awkwardness in the air. "We have a search warrant from the head office to search your mansion for Miss Bella Smith, a girl you adopted fr
How dare he say she needs the advice the most when he was the one who hurt her and rejected the baby? How can he refer to himself as Bella's father after ordering her to have an abortion back then. If she had gone ahead, she would have flushed Bella away. Now, he brought his face before her and said he is Bella's father? She's not afraid of him anymore. What she wants is her daughter and nothing else. "Amanda, I know that you are hurt. I also know that I made you hurt. But please, I'm begging you let's talk about our daughter please" Chase pleaded. "Yes, Miss Amanda. Just give him a chance and talk to him. This mother is pleading with you as a mother, listen to Chase" Rosalinda coaxed. "I don't have anything to talk to him about. You wanted me to have an abortion back then. You paid for it and told me not to come before you again. And I didn't, I never came to find you ever again. And today you call yourself my daughter's father? How is that possible?
The both of them stared at each other in shock. Chase remembered the dream. Everything played fresh in his memory and he was afraid of the rest of the dream becoming a reality. Amanda Smith glared at him. She was thinking about him without knowing he was standing next to her. What is going on here? She remembered the past. How she was involved with Chase and became pregnant. How he urged and persuaded her for an abortion. He transferred a large sum of money into her account and told her not to come before him again or return someday with some damn baby to blackmail him. He is a Hudson. A billionaire and has power. But she's a nobody. She had to hide away and carried her baby in her belly and gave birth to her without his knowledge. She doesn't have the ability or the name to fight him. Now, after a few years she met with him again. But she hopes he's not the man who adopted her daughter? From the words of the matron, she hopes her daughter hasn't found h
Chase kept his gaze on her confused facial expression. He chuckled softly and said "No. She's my daughter by adoption. And now, the orphanage wants to see me along with her" Rosalinda shook her head in disapproval. She'd always thought she's his daughter for real, that is, by blood connection. And she didn't bother asking him about the girl's Mom. And the resemblance, how come about it then? She takes after Chase 50% in appearance. Her eyes looked a lot like Eli and his dad. "But Bella looks like you and your family…" Rosalinda interjected. This is unbelievable. If Chase hadn't told her himself, she wouldn't have believed it if someone else told her. "It's a coincidence. We're not related by blood" Chase replied, smiling. Somehow the girl looks like the Hudson's. That's one other reason he insisted he would adopt her. She would fit perfectly into the family. "Are you sure none of your ex…"Rosalinda trailed off. It's enough. If Chase said she's his daughter by
The matron nodded and smiled. The only kid in the orphanage that goes by the name Bella was the one adopted a few months ago. "Can we get the information about your daughter and the legal documentation you signed? Amanda smiled and brought out all the necessary documents and placed them before the matron. After glancing over it and comparing it with the copies in the orphanage. She realised that it's her daughter indeed that has been given off in adoption. "We waited for you for many years. Other parents returned to get their kids and many were adopted except Bella…"the matron trailed off. They couldn't reach her. She changed her address and her contacts were forever switched off. Since there was no information about her, they couldn't inform her that her daughter had been adopted. "I'm sorry about that ma'am. Life was unfair to me so I decided to go away for a few years. But I'm back now. I have a job and I've returned to fetch my daughter" Amanda Smith
Jace couldn't curtail the excitement surging in him. Arianna is pregnant again, it only means he's eventually going to be a father again. "Thank you" Jace chimed. He smiled broadly. Richard smiled too. He can't wait for the day when he will also receive such good news as an expectant father. "Watch her diet Jace, if you can. Especially the intake of alcohol is not good for the baby" Richard advised. "Yeah, sure" Jace nodded. He glanced at the direction where the ladies went and felt like going after her and hugging her affectionately. She's carrying his child, Eli will have his request granted in a couple of months. They had hardly finished the party when Jace had Arianna come upstairs. There's a kind of excitement in him that she hasn't seen before. He almost was going to spoon-feed her. This deep expression of love, she doesn't know what she'd done to deserve it. Anyways she accompanied him. "You'll have to do a test. I bought five different brands
Her heartbeat almost skipped. She stood gazing at the two people she least expected to come and see her. Is she dreaming or hallucinating? She blinked her eyes and opened them again, but they remained at the same spot, smiling broadly at her. She turned and glanced at Chase,the latter shrugged. Chase went to see them, is that why she didn't wake up to find him next to her? She swallowed hard and wanted to say something but her words choked in her throat. Chase has impressed her over and over with his ability to reconcile people together. "Congratulations baby" Pricillia Black was the first to make an utterance. She opened her arms and walked towards Rosalinda. The latter mumbled "mummy" and her eyes went cloudy with tears. She got into her mom's arms and hugged her. Her tears gave way and for some seconds, they both couldn't say anything but remained in each other's arms. "Mummy,I missed you," Rosalinda confessed. She sniffled and swallowed hard. Her mom's t
"... I'm sorry . I know I have been stupid in the past. I trespassed. I bruised your ego and I said demeaning words to you, but I sincerely apologise to you and I seek nothing but your forgiveness. Even if you don't want to forgive me, for your daughter's sake, forgive me. Rosalinda is broken and unhappy. For the rest of yesterday, she's sobbing secretly. Do you want your daughter to be unhappy? No mother or brother ever wishes so for their daughter and sister. I humbly request you to forgive me for her sake. Rosalinda loves me a lot. She hadn't stop loving me for once. I fell in love with her after she miscarried my baby. I swear that I regretted my actions. I tried to apologise, but you both didn't give me a chance. I am a different person now. I love your daughter more than anything else in this world. Please give us your blessings, dear mother inlaw…" Chase pleaded. Pricillia Black was speechless. She doesn't know if she's to be angry or just walk away. Bu
She had been unexceptionally quiet all the way from the registry. After her encounter with her family, her excitement went down and she had only been forcing herself to appear happy. But Chase wouldn't forfeit the pleasure of his wedding night simply because the bride wasn't looking cheerful. He has to take his conjugal right. Rosalinda was not giving him the expected cooperation. She wasn't in the slightest mood or interested to consummate her wedding. If Chase can just spare her that night. Before the next day, she would have been able to put her emotions together and willingly give herself to him. And she cannot tell Chase about it. And the latter refused to interpret the attitude she was giving him. Chase just doesn't want to understand at all. "What's happening Rosa? Don't you want me to make love to you?" Chase asked, feeling annoyed already. He had to undress her and despite that, she was stiffening her body. He suspected that she doesn't want to cons