Chapter 28ROBERT’S POV“Please exercise a little more patience,” I said with an awkward smile to the client waiting. “She’ll be here any moment from now.”The client rolled her eyes away angrily, impatiently tapping her feet against the floor. She’d been waiting for almost an hour now. Anyone in her position will be angry. And she was a new client, the owner of a five-star restaurant with branches all over the country. The offer she made us was very good. I won’t want to lose it at all.Beads of sweat were forming on top of my brows and my tie suddenly felt like it was too tight around my neck, almost to the point of choking me. Glancing around nervously and restlessly, I loosened it a bit. I checked my wristwatch for the umpteenth time to see it was almost mid-day. This appointment was scheduled to take place in the morning to accommodate other appointments that will be coming later in the afternoon. We were running dangerously behind.“I will be back shortly,” I said to the client
Chapter 29ROBERT’S POV“Scarlett! Scarlett!! What are you doing?” I couldn’t believe the sight before me as I rushed in to intervene. The client was thrashing under Scarlett’s grip around her neck. Her eyes had become bulgy and her face red as she was gasping for breath.I managed to free her from Scarlett. I moved Scarlett away from her to the corner of the room. The client cradled her neck, coughing violently and trying to catch her breath.“You tried to kill me…” she said through laboured breath, her face only reddening more with fear and utter disbelief. “You all in this company are crazy!” Grabbing her handbag, she scurried out of the room.Returning my attention to Scarlett who was glowering in the direction the client left as if she wanted to chase after her, I scolded her harshly. “What has gotten into you? You almost killed our client…what if she presses charges?”“I couldn’t just sit back and watch her bad mouth the company like that,” she said, looking away defiantly.“Sh
CHAPTER 30LILY’S POVThe boardroom fell silent, tension hanging in the air like a heavy cloud. I could feel that almost everyone wanted to say something but was holding back as if something was stopping them.Noah remained calm and firm. “Cassandra, I understand you’re upset, but this decision is based on performance. Lily has consistently gone above and beyond.”“So you mean to say I haven’t gone above and beyond?” She used his words against him, making it seem like she was being treated unfairly. “You mean to say everyone in this room that deserved this promotion more than her hasn’t gone above and beyond? That we haven’t been putting in our best over the years.”“I didn’t say that…” Noah tried to say but Cassandra cut him off.“You didn’t have to say it for us to understand. Everyone here knows you have been all over her from the first day she stepped foot into this company. You think we haven’t noticed how you favour her more than anyone else in the company. I mean she didn’t ev
Chapter 31LILY’S POVI was momentarily rebuffed from what Miley said. Relocating to this part of the country, my only intentions were to start a new away from my ugly past and take care of my children. I didn’t want to be considered a threat to anybody neither did I want to make anybody feel angry or jealous.I always knew Noah had feelings for me, but I have always been beating around the bush with him, never giving in to the feelings. And I didn’t even know Cassandra liked him. The last thing I want is to fight over a man with another woman. That was what got me into the mess with Scarlett. Cassandra can have Noah for all I cared. I wasn’t interested in him. I wasn’t interested in falling in love again.“Poor thing,” Miley looked at me with a pitiful gaze. “Don’t feel bad. It’s not your fault Boss Noah likes you. I won’t blame him either. You’re very pretty. Any man will like you at first sight.”She reached across the table for my hands, trying to rub them and make me feel better
CHAPTER 32ROBERT’S POV“What confession are you talking about Frank?” My brows furrowed as I asked.He looked away in somewhat fear, hesitant to talk. I couldn't help but notice that colour had drained from his face and his eyes looked like they were on the verge of tears.Realizing I had to make him feel comfortable to open up to me, I stopped what I was doing and got up from my seat. I approached him like a father to a worried son and held him by the shoulder, reassuring him. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”He looked back at me but struggled to maintain eye contact and nodded slowly. Whatever was bothering him must be something very serious because, in his nine years of working here, I have never seen him like this. He was an important member of this company. I didn’t want anything that would derail and make him not give his best for the company.“So then talk to me,” I said gently as I came closer to him, trying my best not to put pressure. “Whatever the problem is, I
CHAPTER 33ROBERT’S POVWhen Frank mentioned Scarlett was behind this, I thought perhaps it was one of Lily’s schemes to get back at her and make me hate her for exposing her deeds now that she was probably out of prison. But that phone recording proved me wrong beyond measure. Now it was all making sense why Scarlett has been spending a lot and constantly asking for a raise in her salary lately. Once I came across her transferring a huge sum of money to an unknown bank account. When I asked her who it was for and the reason for it, she had lied, saying she was repaying a loan she borrowed from a friend years back. I didn’t make a big deal out of it because I loved and trusted her. Little did I know the money was for silencing Frank and keeping his betrayal hidden.As Frank’s voice broke with regret, the weight of his guilt was palpable, raw and unfiltered. His remorse was genuine, so deep that he might have even accepted death as penance. But none of it mattered now. The damage has
CHAPTER 34 ROBERT’S POV I scoffed in confusion and disbelief as my eyes raked the man standing before me from head to toe. Was he lost or something because it seemed like it? “Excuse me?” I cocked a brow, growing impatient as time was running out and I needed to get to Jake’s school. “Does this building look like a place for keeping women and children? If your wife and kid are missing you might as well go to the police station to report the case instead of wasting your time here.” Before he could open his mouth to say something, I turned to Martin and glared at him coldly. “How could you have let this man come into our house? What if he is a thief or something worse?” I heard the man scoff in infuriation over my words. But I couldn't care less. The earlier he left this house the better because I was losing my temper. “He’s no thief, Robert,” Martin said. I couldn’t help noticing his expression was becoming bleaker by the moment as if something bad had happened and he
CHAPTER 35ROBERT’S POVAfter everything that happened, I was so heartbroken and angry I had to retire to bed earlier than usual. My half-sister, Ginny and one of the servants had informed me earlier that Jake was asking for me after he came back from school. He must have seen my car out on the driveway and known I was around. But I told them to let him know I was tired and off to bed. I didn’t have the courage to face him. I didn’t even know what to think or say to him. I couldn’t believe that for the past nine years, I had fathered and loved deeply a child that wasn’t mine. Sometime after he was born, people questioned his resemblance, saying he looked nothing like me. But since he had some of his mother’s features, we didn’t worry about that. Little did I know he was never mine. That it wasn’t the Wilson’s blood running through his veins. He shared similar features with Raphael – light brown eyes and tawny gold hair that fell in loose waves on his forehead. I had observed that cl
CHAPTER 103LILY’S POV~ I lifted my head and looked at her. “What about Liam?”“He’s playing a video game in his room.”I smiled, glad he was doing well. But didn’t he hear the sound of the glasses shattering? It was loud enough and could even be heard from outside the house. Since Nana Mae was coming from upstairs on hearing it, that meant he too must have heard it. Why didn’t he come rushing downstairs? Was she sure he was really upstairs in his room or was there something she wasn’t telling me? ~“I know what you’re thinking,” Nana Mae said as if she could read my mind. “You don’t have to worry. He has earphones on. He didn’t hear anything. And I think he’ll probably take a nap when he’s done playing to rest his eyes.”I sighed in quiet relief on hearing that. The eye doctor had mentioned that the antibiotics she prescribed would make him feel drowsy and inactive for a while, so it was important to let him rest and take time off school as needed. I fell silent, staring into sp
CHAPTER 102LILY’S POVAfter I got out of the taxi, I quickly rushed into the house. I slammed the door shut and pressed my back against it as though I just encountered something horrifying. That horrifying thing was Robert. I broke down in sobs that I had been holding back all through the ride as I screeched my back against the door and crumpled hopelessly on the floor. I tried to hold back my outburst as Liam was probably upstairs in his room and I didn’t want him to hear me crying. But my sharp intake of breath was making it extremely difficult.Shaking my head in agony, I managed to get a grip and pushed myself up. I dragged myself to the refrigerator in the kitchen. I pulled its door open and rummaged through but didn’t find what I was looking for. A frustrated groan escaped my lips as I slammed it shut and checked the shelves but still couldn’t find it.I was desperately searching for a strong alcoholic drink to drown the storm of emotions raging inside me and hope it would som
CHAPTER 101ROBERT’S POV~ “Who does he think he is?” “We’re all CEOs, he’s no better or richer than us.” “What makes him think he can just walk in and out of this boardroom like he owns the place after that cringe episode with that lady?” “I bet he wooed her to his bed and fucked her and now, she had come to her senses, realizing what an arrogant jerk he is.” “If he feels he’s way above our league and can’t sit down to listen to what the chairman has to say then he should have continued fucking his whore and not bothered coming.” “Why is the side of his cheek red? He must have been slapped by his whore.” ~“Not only is his agency sinking lower than the gutter in the rankings, but he’s also stooped so low as to resort to screwing desperate whores and dragging them into professional meetings like this.”Their sniggering voices and prickly comments had me baring my teeth, hissing at them. I wanted to find whoever made the last comment and gouge his eyes from their sockets
CHAPTER 100 ROBERT’S POV “Don’t you dare call that name again! You lost the right to do that nine years ago. Stay the fuck away from me and keep pretending I don’t exist to you. I’m not the same Lily from nine years back. If you fuck around with me I’ll show you the other side of me. And if you ever think of following me, I’ll call the police on you and make sure you taste what it feels to be locked behind bars.” Lily barked at me and slapped me. A powerful one at that. No one has slapped me this hard before. In all my time of knowing her, I have never seen her this angry. She was always calm and collected even in the worst of situations. But now, it was as if a wild beast of anger and hatred had been festering inside her all these years and saw this as the perfect opportunity to unleash its ferality. I held my cheek where she had slapped me. It was throbbing with pain yet I was oblivious of it. I just held it and continued staring at her, almost on the brink of tears as I
CHAPTER 99 LILY’S POV My heels went click clack as I raced into the building which was the venue for the meeting. I was almost breathless and flustered as I was running dangerously late. The meeting was scheduled to hold at 10:00 am but it was 10:30 already. In important meetings like this, every company representative needed to arrive early. I didn’t want anyone looking down on me as if I were unprofessional, and Noah wouldn’t be happy with me if I missed it. I woke up this morning only for Liam to come complaining to me he was feeling pain around his right eye. I checked it to see a boil growing inside, under the base of his eyelids. Because of that, he couldn’t go to school which resumed for a new session today. I had to take him to the eye doctor. That was what made me arrive late. However, upon entering the boardroom where the meeting was held, I was fortunate and relieved to see they were about to start. Everyone was taking their seats. I didn’t expect to see this man
CHAPTER 98 LILY’S POV ~ I picked up the fork and strengthened myself up. I was about to hand it to him when the sight that greeted me had my jaw falling to the table. Noah was holding out a small opened black box towards me. Inside the box was an expensive-looking diamond ring beautifully sitting on the plush casing. ~ The fork I was holding fell from my grasp as I froze. My eyes which were large from my shock locked unto Noah’s. He had a dreamy smile spread across his face. “Lily Jones, meeting you and spending time with you has been some of the best moments of my life. You are the perfect woman for me, and I want what we share to last forever. So I ask, will you make the happiest man on earth by agreeing to marry me?” The question reverberated in my head over and over again. I felt like I was caught in a daze. Like my reality was twisted or something. What could possibly make him think I was ready for marriage? What made him think I was the perfect woman for him? Was it
CHAPTER 97 LILY’S POV Clad in a black evening gown with a thigh-high slit, I sat on my vanity, doing my makeup after fixing my hair. I was preparing to go on a date with Noah. He’d asked me out the day after our intense hot make-out in my office. I finally agreed to give it a shot because I know I have kept him waiting for too long. He’d been asking me out for over a year now and I keep making excuses on why I can’t accept. Accepting to go on this date with him will be like my own little way of thanking him for everything he has done for me and my kids. He’ll be taking me on a dinner date in one of those fancy restaurants in the city. Deep down, I kind of wished it was something simpler like a movie date or sightseeing just I don’t have to waste this much time dressing up like I was going to contest for a beauty pageant. After finishing my makeup, I used a setting spray to make sure it stayed in place. I cast one last glance at my reflection and I was satisfied with the res
CHAPTER 96 LILY’S POV ~ Suddenly, I felt his hands, warm and soft rest on my shoulders. My breath hitched and I froze like I had been poured a bucketful of ice cubes. “Noah…” confusion had me stuttering like a fool. “What are you doing…?” ~ But then my voice trailed off as I felt his fingers sink in softly into the valley of my shoulders, kneading and massaging gently. “If you won’t agree to go then at least let me make you feel at home,” his voice came off seductively in my ears. “You know, ease off the stress a bit.” I wanted to resist because this didn’t seem right to me. But the magic of his fingers had me melting like butter under this touch so I let him continue, enjoying the heavenly feeling as my focus completely drifted to my laptop. I couldn’t remember the last time I had gone for a massage or even had a steam bath in one of those luxurious spas. It made me realize just how much I needed this. I didn’t know Noah was good at giving massages. If his fingers
CHAPTER 95 LILY’S POV~ “So speaking about men,” she drawled dreamily before quickly adding. “Responsible men to be precise and not foolish ones like Robert, how is your boss doing?”“I think it’s time you got out of my phone…”“So I checked him out on IG,” she cut me off, completely ignoring me. “He’s really hot and is fast becoming one of the country’s most eligible bachelors. Now tell me Lily Jones, why don’t you want to ride that horse even though it’s coming to you!” She screamed on the phone, irritating my ear. Just then, Noah suddenly walked in on us. ~‘Oh my goodness…’ The shock of seeing him made my heart nearly fly out of my chest. I lost control as I flinched and my phone unknowingly fell from my grasp. My movements were awkward and embarrassing but quick as I reflexively caught it, preventing it from falling to the floor.I looked at Noah and a nervous smile made my lips tremble. His sudden presence when we were just talking about him had caught me unawares. He had a