CARLTON “You have ruined the company!” My dad paced around, his anger shimmering as he yelled at me. “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 continued seething. “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, an
DAHLIA'S POV Relocating to Texas is supposed to feel homely and enthralling but the feeling I got as soon as I landed in the city made me sick to the stomach. I immediately hated it here. And the urge to deal with Carlton Stewart suddenly increased as everything he did to me came rushing back. But I was hating Texas my kids were the exact opposite. Their joy as we moved down to Texas had known no bounds. They’ve been commenting on every single thing we came across till we arrived at our destination. Sunny’s place. Actually, ever since the Stewarts product launch, me and sunny had kept in touch. She knew about what Carlton did to me aside from Carlton asking me to abort his child though. I intentionally left out the pregnancy part though cause I can’t risk Carlton finding out about my kids. Sunny is a chatterbox and she works for the Stewarts. I couldn’t hide my kids from her of course, she saw them on VC but I Made sure she didn’t know they belonged to Carlton. “Dahlia!!!!” Su
CARLTON’S POV It’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. Right now, We are in the conference room discussing the future of my company. I take a seat at the edge of the table along side of members of the board. He sits on the other end with his team. And by he, I mean the CEO of Tristan Delight, Tristan Martinez. He has so much charisma and aura and if I wasn't the man I am, I would have fumbled immediately he entered the room, just like my P.A did. His long legs are crossed, arms folded across his broad chest as he listens acutely to my P.A explain the terms and conditions of investing in our company, nodding his head when he finishes each sentence. At some point during the presentation, he looks at me and everything about his gaze screams run. Seating across the table from him, I can tell he is a very powerful man who is set out to annihilate his competition, if he even ha
DAHLIA'S POV I walked into 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 w
22 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
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 cal
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
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 some time to
The car comes to a stop in the garage and I open the door for the kids to file out. On their faces are looks of gloom and that might be my fault. Instead of asking, I just let them go into the house.Sunny welcomes us with her usual burst of energy, pulling me into a tight hug the moment I step in through the door. “Oh, finally! You're here! I thought you were planning on ditching me for good.”I force a small smile, letting her hug linger longer than it should for the sake of politeness. “Yeah. Long day.” I pull back, muttering. I try not to reveal too much but Sunny has always had a keen eye for little details and she notices everything. Thankfully, she chooses not to press but turns her attention to the kids. “Hey, sweeties. How was your outing? Was it a lot of fun?” She asked with that enthusiastic smile. “Yes, it was.” Gianna chirps.Gavin shrugs. “I guess.”Grayson and Griffin say nothing but grin at her since the others have spoken for them. Then Sunny starts saying somethi
DAHLIA'S POVAs I step outside, the air is colder than usual and it bites into my skin. It's probably my attempt to sneak up on Tristian and Mr. Stewart that's giving me the chills. All of a sudden, the air grows warmer behind me. There's a crunch on the gravel. I stiffen. Then I hear his voice carrying through the still silence. “Lost your way, Dahlia?”I turn around slowly. There he stands with his hands in his pockets. There's a small smirk playing around his lips like he's enjoying my discomfort. Like nothing is wrong. Like I haven't been pacing around looking for him while doubts claw at my mind. “Where were you?” I don't care that my tone is harsh to him right now. He brought this upon himself. He tilts his head to study me and for a second, I swear that smirk falters before it returns, even smoother this time. “I was having a business talk with Mr. Stewart.”“Business talk?” I echo, ensuring to make my words drip woyj sarcasm and disbelief. “What kind of business talk was i
At last, he tucks his phone into his pocket and turns to me fully now. “What a pleasant surprise.”“You're unbelievable!” The words tumble out in a shriek before I can stop them. “What the hell was that, Tristian? You're threatening Mr. Stewart now?” He doesn't flinch. Instead, he leans against the wall and crosses his arm. His calmness only infuriates me further. “What are you talking about, Dahlia?” “Oh, don't play dumb with me!” I glare at him. My voice rises a tempo. “I heard everything. You blackmailed him, didn't you? Got him to drop the accusation. And for what? To pin it all on Marigold?”“You don't understand.” “Then make me! What dealings do you have with Mr. Stewart? Everytime I asked in the past, you always find a way to wave it off. You can't lie to me now, so start talking.” I demand. “Why Marigold? Why the threats?” At that, anger flashes in his eyes just for a moment but enough for me to catch it. “Marigold deserves worse. As for Stewart, he had this coming for him
Dahlia's POVI make my way to Tristan's lodge after leaving Carlton and Marigold to their issues, my thoughts tangled in knots. It's difficult locating Tristian since it's my first time visiting there but I do anyway. The place isn't why I expected—modern, with sleek glass walls and a polished front desk that feels too impersonal. The admin gives me a polite but curious glance as I ask for Tristian. After a few taps on the computer, she nods and points me down a long corridor. “Room 214,” she says. I walk down the hallway, my heels clicking against the marble floor. Room 214. I stop just outside the door and raise my hand to knock when Tristian’s voice filters through. His tone is sharp, cutting.“You did the right thing withdrawing the accusation,” he says, each word dripping with menace. There's a pause, then he chuckles coldly. “Because if you hadn't, Mr. Stewart, the wold would know all about your past. Every. Ugly. Detail.”My hand freezes mid-air as those cold words slam into
Sorry for the chapters on repeat readers!!!This story will fully resume tomorrow Dahlia’s POV, “Your father-in-Law said you are responsible for his wife death. This couldn’t just be mere accusations could it?” “Is it true that you and Mrs. Stewart don’t get along?” These are the two hot statements We met the reporters throwing at marigold as I and Carlton approach the entrance of the company building. There is a huge ruckus going down. Paparazzi’s are all surrounding marigold, throwing deep questions at her and all we met marigold doing was yelling at the reporters and smuggling to get passed them. Marigold can never be lenient for once even though it would literally save her life. Stopping at a few distance from the scene, I let Carlton storms down to the scene alone. As soon as Carlton emerge in the scene, marigold shows releif but she decides to make a show with it. She shields herself behind Carlton and begin to boost. “My husband is here. He is going to pro
DAHLIA'S POV The smell of the car is making me nauseated. I normally don't react to it, but with the way my senses have heightened lately, it's no surprise. Tristan and I are sitting in his car. We just dropped my kids off at school. He is about to head to the office when I stop him. “Can you take me somewhere else instead? I want to meet a friend of mine who is a lawyer.” He looks at me skeptically before replying, “Why?” “I need her help because I'm going to sue Mr. Stewart for defamation of character. I can't seat back and wait for the police to come searching for me. I need to take action too. He thinks he can just sue anyone he suspects of foul play, well I can easily sue him too. I let them walk over me in the past, I will not let that happen again.” And I mean every word of what I said to Tristan. This must stop. I won't let them ruin my life again. Tristan however doesn't seem to agree with me. “Don't make any rash decisions Dahlia. You don't want to be
Dahlia’s POV, “Your father-in-Law said you are responsible for his wife death. This couldn’t just be mere accusations could it?” “Is it true that you and Mrs. Stewart don’t get along?” These are the two hot statements We met the reporters throwing at marigold as I and Carlton approach the entrance of the company building. There is a huge ruckus going down. Paparazzi’s are all surrounding marigold, throwing deep questions at her and all we met marigold doing was yelling at the reporters and smuggling to get passed them. Marigold can never be lenient for once even though it would literally save her life. Stopping at a few distance from the scene, I let Carlton storms down to the scene alone. As soon as Carlton emerge in the scene, marigold shows releif but she decides to make a show with it. She shields herself behind Carlton and begin to boost. “My husband is here. He is going to prove to you all that whatever his father said are nonsense frabicated from his old head.” A
Dahlia’s POV, “Your father-in-Law said you are responsible for his wife death. This couldn’t just be mere accusations could it?” “Is it true that you and Mrs. Stewart don’t get along?” These are the two hot statements We met the reporters throwing at marigold as I and Carlton approach the entrance of the company building. There is a huge ruckus going down. Paparazzi’s are all surrounding marigold, throwing deep questions at her and all we met marigold doing was yelling at the reporters and smuggling to get passed them. Marigold can never be lenient for once even though it would literally save her life. Stopping at a few distance from the scene, I let Carlton storms down to the scene alone. As soon as Carlton emerge in the scene, marigold shows releif but she decides to make a show with it. She shields herself behind Carlton and begin to boost. “My husband is here. He is going to prove to you all that whatever his father said are nonsense frabicated from his old head.”And not
Sunny’s Pov As much as I will hate to admit, being in the same entity with Tristian got to be the top rated awkward moment of my life. I may have been all tough and sassy outside but I was literally scourging with Agitation. The fact that Tristian saw the lowest version of me yesterday and probably how I must have made a fool out of myself freaks the hell out of me. I had thought hiding beneath the guise of giving him cold shoulders and being feisty with him would suppress it but I had failed. Why the hell he had really came to the bar for me is something I’ll never place my head around. Tristian had been such a jerk to me even though dahlia keeps appraising him. But then again why the hell was Tristian the first person that called to my mind when I needed a helping hand? Fuck sakes there’s dahlia there. We’ve just dropped the kids off at school and right now, Tristian is driving us out of the school compound. The car is suddenly so quiet now as the kids are off and I can bet on