24.Roland sat in his office going over what has just happened, he seriously can't believe the kind of effect Annabel has on him, he took his phone and placed a call through to Ashton, the sooner he gets all this cleared up the better, he needs to be sure if Annabel is the woman he's been searching for and if she isn't, then all this craziness about her will have to stop.The phone rang for quite sometime before Ashton answered the call."Hello Sir.""Hey, how are you and how's the search going?" He asked."I'm well and the search is going well.""Did you find him?""Not yet, I went to his home but the neighbors told me he already moved out, I was able to get his new address from someone close to him, I'll be heading there soon.""That's good news, just keep me posted okay?" "I will.""Do take care of yourself." Roland said, then he hung up.A satisfied smile appeared on his lips, he was glad things were finally going as planned, soon the truth will be out and he'll get to know for s
25.Annabel walked to her table and plopped down in the chair, reminiscing over what Jacinthe said to her. Even though she was able to threaten and get her scared, she still felt nervous. The last thing she wanted was a scandal with Roland. If it were with Brian, she wouldn't mind, but Roland? That scumbag is the reason she was in this situation in the first place, and now the employees were spreading fake rumors about them.She sighed, massaging her forehead as she used her free hand to turn on her laptop. “Good morning, Anna.” She recognized that voice anywhere. She turned to look at Brian with a smile. “Good morning, Brian. Did you sleep well?” She asked and he flashed her a smile.“Yes, and I'm sure you did too because you're looking extra beautiful this morning.” He commented and she chuckled.“Thanks for the compliment.” “Anna, have you heard what has been going on in the company?” Brian moved close, so she could hear him, since he was whispering.“What's going on? Tell me.”
26.Roland was startled. “Can you start by not breaking my table first?” He asked.She didn't answer him and sat down. There was silence for a while before Roland broke it since she wasn't ready to talk to him.“What are we talking about, Miss. Annabel Walter?” He asked.Annabel sighed and massaged her forehead. “Sir, this has to stop. All of this has to end right now.” She said and Roland furrowed his brows, not knowing what she was talking about.“What has to stop?” He asked, wondering what was going on? Was she referring to her job or something else? He tried to think but couldn't place his fingers on anything.“Your closeness to me has to stop,” She dropped the bombshell and Roland wondered what had come over her. He was about to open his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it. “I don't want you to treat me differently from the rest of your employees. The kind of relationship we should have is a boss/employee relationship. Your closeness and interference in everything concerning me
27.“Calm down, Olivia. You'll see daddy soon.” Annabel tried to calm her down.Olivia couldn't stop crying. She wanted her own dad so she can boast to her friends as well. She wanted to show them how handsome her daddy was and tell them what he had bought for her. She wanted to be like them and it hurt her that her dad wasn't here so she could take a picture with him at least.She didn't want to feel inferior amongst her mates and she didn't want to be silent whenever they talked either, but how was she supposed to make friends when she had nothing to boast about her father?Annabel held back her tears. She was hurt, seeing Olivia that way. The least thing she wanted was to see Olivia's tears. But now she was seeing it; she was seeing her beloved daughter in tears. And it was all her fault. She knew there was nothing she could do. She can't pick up a random stranger from the street and ask him to act as her dad — that was way too low even for her. The least she could do was coax the l
28.Roland sat on the chair and wondered why Annabel had acted that way towards him. Why was she giving him that attitude? He wondered if it was because of their conversation the previous day.He wanted so much to meet her and ask what has come over her but not wanting to get her angry again over seeing them together, he changed his mind.He took his phone and decided to called Ashton. The search for Mr. Mike was already taking too long and he wanted to know where things were really headed."Any lead?" He asked immediately after Ashton answered the call.Ashton scoffed audible enough for him to hear. “Are you trying to tell me that finding Mr. Mike is the only thing you care about right now?” Ashton asked.Roland sighed. “How are you doing?” He asked but Ashton only scoffed.“I know you don't mean that question from your heart but anyways, I still haven't found him. He seemed not to stay in a place. I think he's a wanderer.” Ashton answered and Roland sighed.“Keep looking for ways to
29.“Annabel! Anna… Anna—” He quickly kicked open the door of the car and rushed out, running to the other side to carry her.Police gathered around the area, asking questions but he wasn't in the mood to answer any of their questions now. His main concern was the woman he was holding.He looked around and saw a nearby clinic then rushed into it immediately. “Help me check on her, please.” He pleaded.When they saw that it was Roland D. Ville, their eyes widened and they quickly came to his aid. The nurses rushed in with a stretcher as they quickly took her to the clinic room.Roland tried to rush in with them but the doctor in charge stopped him. He paced to and fro in the clinic room with his hands tucked into his pockets.He was worried and angry. He vowed to teach the person responsible for the accident a valuable lesson. That person wasn't going to be spared and he would make sure of it.A few minutes later, the doctor walked out and he rushed to her. “How is she?” He asked.“She'
30.“I don't think it was necessary to say that. You've caused an uproar on the internet and they all think something is going on between the two of us. This is the kind of attention I don't like!” She snapped at him after they stopped at the company.“I didn't lie to them.” He answered.“You made it look like what they're thinking of us is true, Mr. Roland.”“Quit the formalities, okay?” He requested.“I can't! I'll call you Mr. Roland because that's who you are. You're my boss, I'm your employee. Stop forgetting that.” She ruffled her hair. This guy was frustrating her and she was stopping herself from going crazy at this point.“We'll talk about this after I find out who caused the accident that almost claimed our lives, okay?” He said and started walking away.“What are you planning to do?” She followed him.“First of all, I'm going to question them, then from there, I'll get my suspects.” He answered.“I'll be with you when that happens. I want to know what's going on as well.” Sh
31.When they got to the hospital, she made him step down and took him in. The doctors came to meet them and after exchanging pleasantries, Annabel went straight to the point."I think he hurt his arm. Please, look at it for me." She requested.The doctor smiled. "Follow us, Mr. D. Ville," she said and Roland hesitated but when Annabel threw a glare his way, he had no choice but to do as told."I heard what happened and I'm sorry about that," The doctor said as she attended to him. Roland said nothing. All he knew was that he was going to put that person behind bars for a very long time. "Your hand is pretty swollen. Why didn't you come earlier, sir?" She questioned.Roland ran his hands through his hair. How is he going to tell her that, he was so worried about a particular person that at that moment, his own safety didn't matter to him. All he wanted was to save her, rescue her and make sure she was alive at all cost. He didn't bother about himself, he was ready to get hurt protectin