Grace was seated in the living room, as she watched the news with a smile on her face. She listened to the reporter go on and on, castigating Jamie and tearing his reputation apart with the lies she’d fed to her source to sell to the press. It had been quite easy to get them to release the news on him without worrying about him pressing charges because over the years, Jamie had led a private life and had also hidden the truth that he was attached to the Henderson’s family. To put it lightly, he’d been living behind the shadows hence the press found him quite mysterious and were all too happy to take any piece of information Grace had on him and spread it to the general public as juicy gossip.As she listened to the reporter tell how Jamie had connived with the family’s attorney to take away her beloved son’s inheritance and fortune from him, a sense of satisfaction filled her. She was just getting started with him. If he wouldn’t take his eyes off Edward’s business empire and fortune
As quickly as the shocked expression had registered on Grace’s face, it was gone, replaced by a hardened expression, her eyes narrowing with resentment for the woman but Sylvia didn’t mind. She didn’t expect anything less from Grace. She’d done her research on the woman and was well aware of how nasty she could be, but she would let it slide and play into her hands just to get her in her web.“I have no idea what you’re talking about, and these documents must be forged,” Grace said at last with an edge to her voice that Sylvia recognized as weariness, and a bit of fear and she was going to play on that.“Oh, but I bet the press would be elated to hop on this news and make it the next trending topic while pushing James aside, don’t you think so?”“Who do you think you are to make such threats? And you think they’d believe you over me?”“Oh, Gracie,” Sylvia chuckled, shaking her head in mockery with a sweet smile etched on her face. “I don’t need to think. I know the news would spread l
In the coming days, as Robert had promised Jamie, he released a public speech, stating that it had been his decision to let Jamie take over the family’s business while he focuses on his acting career. He’d also clarified the issue of Jamie conniving with the family’s attorney by taking a copy of his late father’s will with him, where it was stated that the business empire was willed to Jamie. He talked about the meeting that was held in the Henderson’s mansion after his father’s death and how Jamie had declared to everyone that was present that he had no interest in taking over the family’s businesses.Although Robert’s speech had helped to lessen the hate on Jamie, it also brought up doubts and new questions from the curious press. At the end of his speech, they’d thrown different questions at him, wondering why Jamie would give up such a huge opportunity. Others had asked if Grace was fine with Robert's decision, to let his adopted brother take over his rightful inheritance. To thes
The bright light from the Chandeliers illuminated the ballroom, shining down on all of the guests, all impeccably dressed in their best and most expensive attires. It was the birthday party of one of Grace's friends and as one of the elites of society and a social butterfly, Grace was in attendance, dressed to the nines with the aim of seeking attention to herself, to get more of people’s sympathy from the trending news and to thrash Jamie’s reputation but little did she know that things have taken a different turn. It all came as a rude awakening to her at the party when she gradually began noticing the hostile and curious glances most of the guests were directing at her. Even the ones she grouped as her social circle all began avoiding her and whispering behind her back with sheepish smiles directed at her whenever she got close to them to start up a conversation.At first, she was at a loss for what was happening until one of her rivals approached her with a sinister smile.“Oh, lo
That evening, Grace got home and began pacing in the living room as she began to realize that things were spiraling out of hand. While she was still pacing, her eyes darted to the television screen to see images of Jamie dressed impeccably in business suits pasted all over the screen with the headline:The truth about the self-made billionaire and secretly wealthy business tycoon, Jamie Henderson, revealed.At first, Grace couldn’t believe what she was seeing on the screen. She took a step forward and squinted her eyes to re-read the words on the tv screen but they were the same, claiming Jamie was a self-made billionaire who had been secretly building a business empire for years and had hidden it while pretending to be a CFO for a growing financial company, whereas, his many businesses were being handled by his most trusted manager, Aiden Kings.At that moment, Grace’s mouth popped open in shock and her eyes widened to the size of saucers as she listened to the news with images and u
It’s been two days since Jamie received the text from Grace, asking him to meet up with her in London. At first, he’d been skeptical and had decided to seek advice from a third party, hence, he called his cousin, Chase to inform him of Grace’s text and to share his suspicions that the trending rumors and scandals may not be Grace’s handiwork as they’d initially thought but may be from a third party, hiding in the shadows and whose sole purpose was to cause a big rift between the family members. Although Chase agreed to Jamie’s deductions, he still didn’t believe that Grace was completely innocent. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to meet with Grace. You have no idea what she could be planning,” Chase said matter of factly but Jamie’s doubt still remained. “And on the other hand, she could be completely innocent and only wants to help me find my family roots,” “And of all the times she could have done it, it has to be now that there’s a trendy scandal involving the both of you that’s
The news of Jamie’s true identity spread like wildfire, drawing more attention to him than the scandal involving him and the Henderson family but he didn’t care. He had more things to worry about, such as the identity of his true parents and why they had to put him up for adoption. Hence, ignoring his cousin’s advice, he had fixed a meeting with Grace, while hoping he wasn’t falling into another one of her traps or making a mistake he’d later regret.Just as he’d promised Grace, the day he was set to meet with her arrived but that morning, he sent him a text telling him her plans had suddenly changed. The meeting was meant to take place in the Henderson’s mansion but she sent him the address to one of the family’s old warehouses, asking him to meet there as whatever they had to discuss was highly confidential and she couldn’t risk any of the staff working in her home getting the information.At first, he was puzzled and began feeling skeptical but another text came in from her, remind
“Hi,” Sylvia started in a small voice, her velvety voice sailing into Jamie’s ears and pulling his attention back to her as he’d been staring at the entrance with which Grace had left after dropping the bomb on him.His eyes trailed back to the middle-aged woman staring at him with an expression he couldn’t place. He didn’t know what to say as he was suddenly blank and the only thought that revolved in his head was that he’d seen the woman before but he couldn’t quite recall where or when. As if Sylvia could read into his thoughts, she spoke.“You may have seen me at Ryan Davidson’s wedding,” and then it suddenly clicked. That was where he’d seen her.The moment he’d stepped into the large room during the wedding reception, as he glanced around in search of Amelia, his eyes had briefly landed on this woman who had a radiant smile on her face then, but he hadn’t let his gaze linger on her as he was there just for Amelia, and to him, she was just a stranger then. But who could have thou
APRIL 4TH, 2023 Hello lovelies, Thank you so much for sticking with me through the slow updates and for following Cookie and Jamie’s story after the first book. I appreciate your support and it means a lot to me as a growing author. I’m glad to announce that this is the end of Cookie and Jamie’s love story and this is the end of the second book in the series. If you’d love to know more about the teaser at the end of the epilogue and also know of Rose’s secrets and crimes, then look out for the next book and the last book in the series, titled THE BILLIONAIRE’S CAPTIVE, coming out on APRIL 2OTH, 2023. Insight into the series: TITLE: The Ruthless Billionaires Book One: A Contract with the Billionaire (exclusively available on Goodnovel and completed) Book Two: Pleasing the Billionaire (Also exclusively available on Goodnovel and completed) Book Three: The Billionaire’s Captive (upcoming) Don’t forget to vote with gems and leave your comments and reviews on the book’s main page. T
It's been a month after the incident and everyone is slowly getting used to the reality of it. Williams was still finding it hard to move on and sadly, Rose hasn't returned home since that night.As for Jamie and Cookie, they decided to take some time off from everyone and from all the life drama they’ve experienced. Together with Julia, they went on a vacation.Cookie has gradually accepted the reality that she will never birth a child of her own and she’s discussed it with Jamie on multiple occasions. They weren’t ready to adopt but they wanted to be happy. They were fine with just Julia and they couldn't have asked for more.Sitting on the beach blanket, she watched with a huge smile on her face as Jamie and Julia played in the water, splashing water on each other and laughing hysterically. Though she was surrounded by others, she couldn’t see past her husband and daughter. They were all she needed to be truly happy and she was glad she had them.Jamie caught her eyes and winked at
It’s been two weeks since Sylvia's accident. Immediately Williams divulged the news of the accident, together with Ryan, they drove down to the scene, just about ten minutes out of state to see she’d been escaping from her calamities. She was rushed to the hospital for immediate treatment and she underwent surgery. At the accident scene, her luggage was found coupled with the original documents she’d gotten Clifford to sign that she was meant to pass on to Jamie to finally start off her takeover plan.After the surgery, her legs were badly injured so she had to rely on a wheelchair and the doctor said she may be paralyzed forever. Due to this, the family had pity on her and didn’t involve the police but they made sure to destroy whatever documents she had in her possession. They fired her from the company too and she was left in a nursing home as she couldn’t care for herself and Williams wasn’t yet over the shock of the terrible secrets she’s been hiding. He couldn't be tasked with
According to Jamie’s plan, they all assembled at Ryan’s family home in New York the next day, to reveal Sylvia’s decades-old secret. Before then, he called Sylvia the previous night after his meeting with Ryan, to set up a meeting with her in Texas, just to keep her away from New York during the meeting, as a means of evading her. During his call, he assured her he was ready to take on the task and he made her believe he was still annoyed at how Ryan had treated him in the past. It was believable enough to Sylvia and she praised him for finally manning up to do the right thing.Disregarding that they were still on call, she went about spewing her hate for the Davidson’s and how she’d gotten Clifford to sign the documents that would give up his properties and business empire to Jamie, all in the name of partnering with him. She even shared a soft copy of the document to him after the call and asked him to sign it through electronic means but Jamie refused. He stated that they’d need a
The next day, as planned, Ryan flew to Texas to meet with Jamie in a private location. Jamie had tried retelling Sylvia’s evil plans to him on the phone but he couldn’t get himself to convince the man that Sylvia isn't who they all thought she was. Ryan wanted to confirm for himself, so they set up the meeting.It was held in one of the branches of Ryan’s companies in Texas, to avoid suspicions and to make it look like a business meeting if the news ever gets out. Jamie didn’t put it past Sylvia to secretly keep a watch on him just to monitor his next moves.As soon as they settled into the conference room, he handed the copy of the document that Sylvia had given to him to Ryan as a piece of evidence.“There’s the document your family has been searching for, for the past two years,” he stated, settling into his seat and allowing Ryan to flip through the pages as the realization began to dawn on him. A frown marred his face, the more he read through the pages of the contract.“You’re t
That night, Jamie sat in his home office, still pondering on everything Sylvia had confided in him. He couldn’t believe she was the same woman that had committed such evil acts. The same woman that came off as a saint to guilt trip him into forgiving her and accepting her as his biological mother. But it turned out she only needed him to finalize her revenge plans.It hurt him deeply to realize the truth that Sylvia was only using him. She only came back because she needed him as the final piece to achieve her aim. These thoughts swarmed his head as he sat in the plush leather seat, staring at the document she’d handed to him. He didn’t know what was inside except it contained ten percent of the Davidson's assets that she’d somehow acquired, as she’d informed him earlier that day.Slowly, he pulled it closer and flipped it open to see it was a draft business contract that had been signed. Slowly, his gaze traveled through the page as he read the document. It stated that Benjamin David
It was the weekend and Jamie was seated in his car in the parking lot of the restaurant Sylvia had chosen for their meeting. He’d thought it would be at her home or even his home but surprisingly, she sent the address of a restaurant in Texas to him. He thought it was meant to be a private meeting to avoid drawing attention to themselves as her husband and daughter may not take the news well, but then, he didn’t object to her decision. He gave his word that he’d show up and he did. He was in his car for another ten minutes before he got the call from Sylvia that she’d arrived.Drawing in a deep breath, he alighted from his car in time to see her heading into the building. He caught up with her and they exchanged pleasantries before walking into the room, where she’d already made reservations at a private booth in a corner that could grant them the privacy she wanted.At first, Jamie was a bit confused that her husband and daughter were nowhere to be found and he mentioned it as soon a
It was almost an hour later before Cookie could drive back to the house. To her surprise, Jamie’s car was in the garage. She drew in a shaky breath and stared at her puffy eyes through the rearview mirror. Her heart was palpitating and she wasn’t sure she was ready to face him, confront him, and get the truth out of him. What if he confesses that he truly married her out of pity? Considering he already has a child, what if he says he can’t be with her anymore since he has Julia and may not even need to be married? Although she trusted the man, she still couldn’t help worrying and coming up with different self-damaging thoughts. She sat outside for a few minutes before her phone rang and it was Jamie calling. She thought of answering the call but she let it go to voicemail as she finally gathered the nerves to get out of the car and head into the house. She got in to see him in the living room, still dressed in his custom-tailored suit, pacing with his phone in his ear but as soon as
The cold water from the shower nozzles cascaded over them, as Jamie took his time to wash every inch of Cookie’s body. His skilled fingers rubbed her torso, down to her thighs, slipping between her legs to clean her up and she let out a little whimper, her body sagging against his, with her eyes closed. He chuckled and lightly kissed her neck.“I wish I could stay here forever,” she murmured, releasing a deep breath.Jamie chuckled again, loving how she was melting against him.“You had that luxury for a month but you chose to spend more than half of the time in bed, with me,”“And whose fault was it?” she snapped back but again, he laughed.“Not mine, but I made sure you had a good time, didn’t you?” he latched onto her neck, drinking in the droplets of water from the shower and taking his time to suck hard on her soft spot until a hickey was beginning to form.She released a deep moan, feeling like putty in his arms as he toyed with her body.“You know we’re running late right?” she