DAHLIA'S POV I slowly turn around, my chest heaving, as I stare wide-eyed at the woman in front of me.“Sunny?”“Dahlia, I knew it was you”“You look amazing girl, where have you been?”My lips curve into a wide grin as I stare at my high school friend. Sunny and I used to be close friends in high school and we were still in touch after high school. But at some point, we couldn't keep up with each other's lives because of how busy our schedules in college were.She still has that mischievous look in her eyes, and it reminds me of the times she would pressure me into sneaking out to parties, pranking some of our mutual friends or even skipping classes. I rarely succumbed to her requests, knowing how strict my parents were. Marigold had freedom to do anything she wanted, but I couldn't. I was barely allowed to go to social events let alone parties and I always had to put in twice as much effort into school. My grades were good and that was the only recognition I could get from my par
CHAPTER 15 TRISTAN'S POV Anyone would think the huge grin on my face is because I am staring at good news but on the contrary, I am reading about some bad and devastating news. I turn to the next page of the paper, and the Stewart's Foods Co. building fills up the whole page. The headlines of today's paper is ‘the downfall of a major food company in the world. One that has been existing and standing strong for many years.’After the disastrous event, the company was sued for using hard substances in their product. People had described the CEO…and I quote…as a greedy, cruel and heartless MF. As I flip through the pages, reading the nasty articles people have written about the company, I can't help but feel a sense of achievement. Phase one of the plan turned out even better than I had imagined. It turns out that the company has a lot more enemies, and people were just looking for the slightest slip to capitalize on. Whoever they are, they should be grateful to me. I created a reck
CARLTON'S POV “You have ruined the company!”“Dad, let me explain myself”, I scratch the scruff on my chin in frustration. “Explain yourself, I've given you a lot of chances boy and you keep messing up. You've damaged the company beyond return,” he continues, raising his voice.“It can be fixed, just…”“I don't want to hear it. I blame you for the downfall of this company, your nonchalant behavior, you ignored the company to the point where your product was sabotaged right under your nose,” he angrily throws files off my desk and I have to get up and maintain my distance before the next thing he throws is me.“What the hell is wrong with you?”, he yells stomping angrily as he sits on the chair I had offered him earlier when he first walked into my office.“Nothing Dad, I'm doing my best.” “Are you? Because it doesn't look like you are”, he doesn't even look at me as he speaks anymore. “I'm the CEO of this company, and I will bring…”“You're a failure, that's what you are”, he fina
DAHLIA'S POV “Take the next turn on your right and drive into the gardened street. After about three blocks, you'll see a white brick house, that's me,” Sunny directs on the phone. I am moving to Texas with the kids. Actually, we are in Texas already, but I can't exactly stay at a hotel with the kids. And we will be staying here for a while so Tristan decided to rent a house for us but when I spoke to Sunny over the phone, she offered to accommodate us. Let me rephrase that, she persuaded me to come live with her saying her house is big enough for ten people to live in. Sunny's parents are rich, so I believed her. After much back and forth of me stating how I don't want to be a burden and her faking a cry about how sad and lonely she is in that big house, I finally accepted that the kids and I will stay with her. The street is beautiful with gardens in front of most houses, tall trees, shrubs, small fencing around certain houses, roadside benches made with rich wood and well tarr
CARLTON’S POVIt’s been two days since my P.A informed me about the proposal from Tristan Delight. He was able to schedule a meeting date, and that is today. My heart beats rapidly as I put on my shirt. I am having mixed feelings of anxiety and excitement. I open the drawers in the dressing room, and carefully select a tie that says rich and approachable but don’t fuck with me. You can have on a very elegant suit that radiates class, but your tie option is the deal breaker. I’ve been in the business of engaging investors and shareholders for a long time, and I have mastered the art of impressing them. I pick up a thick dark blue tie with little recurrent square boxes designed in the same shade as the tie. It is rich, simple yet assertive. Wearing a fancy tie to a board meeting isn’t exactly ideal, but your tie game differentiates you from others seated at the table. I stare at my reflection, I am putting on a dark blue suit with a light blue shirt. The tie compliments the outfit trem
DAHLIA'S POVI enter the office and my eyes subconsciously search for Carlton. He is seated at the far end of the office but even with the distance and space between us, I suddenly feel nauseated as anger seeps through me. I clench my fist tightly glaring at him, like if we were left alone in the room, I would kill him immediately. I stare at the face that had brought so much pain and anguish to my life. The face of a betrayer. Left to me, if this was truly a business endeavor, for the purpose of generating income, I would never partner with someone like Carlton. Not only is he a traitor, but he is a manipulator and a self-centered person, who doesn't care if people around him are hurt. I came to the conclusion of this, the day he told me to my face that I should abort my babies. And the rest of the foreplay from then was just icing on the cake.As I glare at him, I remember how much his face had tormented me in prison. How it kept recurring in my dream and I would wake soaked in m
CARLTON’S POV “Why is Dahlia here? Why was she in your company? Why did she came back? Since when have you been seeing each other?!” Mari-gold had been ranting the same thing right from when we were in the car driving back to the mansion and as soon as we gets in, she doesn’t waste time to attack me. She didn’t even give me room to breath. I throw my keys to the table collapse on on couch. “Answer me, Carlton,” “Get a grip Mari-gold!” I scoff, getting really irritated. “No, why is she here?,” she asks again, impatiently tapping her feet to the floor. “We are business partners. The man you saw beside her, that's Tristan Martinez, CEO of Tristan delight. Dahlia bought shares in my company through him. This partnership will get the company back on its feet and redeem our reputation.” “At least that's the plan…,” I add. “Terminate it.” I sharply turn to look at her in her akimbo stance. Hands placed on the waist, head held high. “What?” “You heard me,” she replie
CARLTON'S POV “How could you do that?” The room is as still as ice as my Father paces back and forth. His eyes inflamed as they glared at me. Apparently, there are already rumours of my collaboration with Tristan Delights. People think I may be framing the company and that is where Marigold's father's speculations came from. “I am only trying to promote the company,” I quietly reply him. “Promote? Don't be a joker. You're destroying everything we have worked for. How could you make such a drastic decision, all on your own. You didn't deem it right to inform me, huh?” I nod my head, recalling our past argument on the company, and the numerous ones before that. When will he ever support my decision. To be frank, I am getting frustrated of all this back and forth. “Do you know how furious the Campbells are? They are partners and you didn't even inform them. How can you make such a reckless decision, Carlton?” The Campbells are Marigold's parents. Her Father has been call
DAHLIA’S POVI look around warily my eyes searching the room for a tall and muscular man. There aren’t many in the room so this should be easy, besides Tristan stands out wherever he goes. But the more I look, the more the appearance of even his silhouette seems vague. Where the hell could he be? I don’t want to spend one more minute than I have to here.I take out my phone from my Hermes bag which every female that passed by me stared at. Tristan’s phone number is the first on my call log since I speak to him on a regular basis. I dial in the number and it goes straight to voice mail. I impatiently stuff the phone back in my bag as my eyes dart around the room again. Still no sign of him. I have to find him, I can’t leave without him, besides we came in his car. As much as I don’t want to speak to anybody here, I’d have to if I intend to find Tristan quickly. The room is getting less crowded as people make their way out. Maybe he’s already outside waiting for me, and like me he
DAHLIA'S POV As I stare at my reflection in the mirror, I recall how this has become a frequent action for me since commencing my revenge on Carlton. First the mask party, then the lunch meeting and now this. The press conference is set to begin soon yet I am here in front of a mirror unable to bring myself to move. We are going to be late, Tristan and I. But I can't care less, the though that occupies the bulk of my mind is, am I truly ready to see the faces of the people I despise the most in this world and actual converse with them. “Tristan is here,” Sunny announces as she quickly runs back to the kitchen to continue cooking. I take in a deep breath, and pat myself on the cheek.“You can do this, Dahlia.”Then I put on perfume and leave the room. *^^* The hall is rowdy as reporters and paparazzi are everywhere. I immediately spot familiar faces and my rage begins to build. Carlton's parents are seated at a corner and my parents are seated at
CHAPTER 24DAHLIA'S POV I had just gotten off the phone with Tristen and to say I’m infuriated is an understatement. I’m boiling really hard right now. How could Tristian Agree for me to meet with Carlton Alone at some Restaurant to Discuss about the press conference? Yes, I know we would eventually get to discuss it but why a restaurant. Why not the office? It’s already bad enough that I’ve to stand the sight of that Face of the man I hate so much and now we’ve to meet in a restaurant like some couples on a date? The thought of that Alone is making me cringe right now. I need something to calm my system down right now. so I walk to the wine cabinet, pick out my favorite white wine and pour myself a glass. Circling the glass, before bringing it to my lip, I allow the taste of the wine to remain under my tongue before swallowing. I take in a deep breath to calm myself but Gavin barges into the kitchen in frantic motion. “What's wrong?,” I ask, reaching out for him but he flinche
CHAPTER 23 CARLTON'S POV It’s a relief that the doctor was able to revive Andre After I rushed him to the hospital. And it also took high level of discipline to not go wild on the teachers. Fuck sakes they knows Andre is a special kid, Aren’t they supposed to keep an eye on him? Once again, My whole days went into watching over Andre, neglecting piles of work I’ve to Fix at the office. I called and literally spammed marigold with Text messages, informing her of Audre condition so she could watch Andre while I return to the office. But who was I kidding? Marigold didn’t Take my calls or returned my Texts. Honestly, I’m getting fed up of Mari-gold! Audre got discharged few hours Ago and when we arrive home, I takes my time to prepare his Favourite for him. Spaghetti bolognese. Thankfully he didn’t stress me. He was extremely weak Anyways so he just complied. After feeding him, I got him to shower. I gave him his medicine and now he’s up in his room sleeping. I finally got
DAHLIA'S POV A feeling of satisfaction washes over me as I relish the dreadful news about Stewart's Foods Co. that I had seen on TV. As usual, the media arrived at so many conclusions as to why a company like ours would partner with a drowning company. As much as we are supposed to be helping them, alleviating the company's current state, I still enjoy seeing the hate speech on the news and social media about Stewart's Foods Co. I live for these moments. Our company is posing to be Stewart's Foods Co’s savior but the irony of it, is that deep down, we are thrilled about all the slander they are receiving. People even speculate they may have some dirt on us and that's why we are helping them. Although they know better than to expatiate on that rumor. Tristan will end it before it even starts. Lately, the news and social media has been endearing to me and I always anticipate the nasty articles posted on the downfall of a big company. A lot of reporters don't even bother filtering
CARLTON'S POV “How could you do that?” The room is as still as ice as my Father paces back and forth. His eyes inflamed as they glared at me. Apparently, there are already rumours of my collaboration with Tristan Delights. People think I may be framing the company and that is where Marigold's father's speculations came from. “I am only trying to promote the company,” I quietly reply him. “Promote? Don't be a joker. You're destroying everything we have worked for. How could you make such a drastic decision, all on your own. You didn't deem it right to inform me, huh?” I nod my head, recalling our past argument on the company, and the numerous ones before that. When will he ever support my decision. To be frank, I am getting frustrated of all this back and forth. “Do you know how furious the Campbells are? They are partners and you didn't even inform them. How can you make such a reckless decision, Carlton?” The Campbells are Marigold's parents. Her Father has been call
CARLTON’S POV “Why is Dahlia here? Why was she in your company? Why did she came back? Since when have you been seeing each other?!” Mari-gold had been ranting the same thing right from when we were in the car driving back to the mansion and as soon as we gets in, she doesn’t waste time to attack me. She didn’t even give me room to breath. I throw my keys to the table collapse on on couch. “Answer me, Carlton,” “Get a grip Mari-gold!” I scoff, getting really irritated. “No, why is she here?,” she asks again, impatiently tapping her feet to the floor. “We are business partners. The man you saw beside her, that's Tristan Martinez, CEO of Tristan delight. Dahlia bought shares in my company through him. This partnership will get the company back on its feet and redeem our reputation.” “At least that's the plan…,” I add. “Terminate it.” I sharply turn to look at her in her akimbo stance. Hands placed on the waist, head held high. “What?” “You heard me,” she replie
DAHLIA'S POVI enter the office and my eyes subconsciously search for Carlton. He is seated at the far end of the office but even with the distance and space between us, I suddenly feel nauseated as anger seeps through me. I clench my fist tightly glaring at him, like if we were left alone in the room, I would kill him immediately. I stare at the face that had brought so much pain and anguish to my life. The face of a betrayer. Left to me, if this was truly a business endeavor, for the purpose of generating income, I would never partner with someone like Carlton. Not only is he a traitor, but he is a manipulator and a self-centered person, who doesn't care if people around him are hurt. I came to the conclusion of this, the day he told me to my face that I should abort my babies. And the rest of the foreplay from then was just icing on the cake.As I glare at him, I remember how much his face had tormented me in prison. How it kept recurring in my dream and I would wake soaked in m
CARLTON’S POVIt’s been two days since my P.A informed me about the proposal from Tristan Delight. He was able to schedule a meeting date, and that is today. My heart beats rapidly as I put on my shirt. I am having mixed feelings of anxiety and excitement. I open the drawers in the dressing room, and carefully select a tie that says rich and approachable but don’t fuck with me. You can have on a very elegant suit that radiates class, but your tie option is the deal breaker. I’ve been in the business of engaging investors and shareholders for a long time, and I have mastered the art of impressing them. I pick up a thick dark blue tie with little recurrent square boxes designed in the same shade as the tie. It is rich, simple yet assertive. Wearing a fancy tie to a board meeting isn’t exactly ideal, but your tie game differentiates you from others seated at the table. I stare at my reflection, I am putting on a dark blue suit with a light blue shirt. The tie compliments the outfit trem