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Chapter 9
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Adrian's POV:
8:00 am. The elevator opened to my office and I was greeted by my personal assistant, Ms. Natalie Carter. At least that's what I think was her name because I never called anyone by their first names unless they were family or very close friends. Well, there was an exception but it was not for my P.A. It was for someone else. I noticed her flirtatious smile and her choice of wardrobe which said one thing- I was supposed to notice that. I hid my irritation and with a curt nod, walked into my office.
Ms. Carter had been providing these subtle hints for some time now and recently it was starting to be more blatant. I was considering firing her because I hated it when my employees forgot their place and the rules and regulations of my company. And most of my previous assistants were fired for the same reason. Ms. Carter was excellent in her job though which was why I was hoping it wouldn't come to that. I
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Back to EvelynI finally ended the call and sat down on my chair with a small sigh. It was almost 3 PM now and I hadn't eaten anything apart from a cup of coffee and a blueberry muffin Leah had brought when she arrived earlier. That was around six hours ago.I had a meeting with my team regarding the changes with advertising strategies and additional resources required for the company. The meeting was tiresome to say the least. When it finally ended, I had a video conference scheduled with an investor from Italy. He was not fluent in English at all and his thick accent made it difficult to catch a word he said. Fortunately, I'd learnt Italian and had been to Italy several times so we were finally able to come up to a common ground although my Italian was barely passable.And now I was just a second away from chewing my nails out while I waited for Leah to bring me the papers that required my signature. She was supposed to bring them ten minutes
Pride and Promises Chapter 11
Lunch with Adrian turned out be...nice, surprisingly. We talked about basic things about each other and he told me about Maggs, who turned out to be his aunt. He told me that she lived somewhere near the restaurant with her husband. She was his mother's elder sister and had a son who was a couple years older than Adrian. Adrian had a fond smile on his face as he talked about Maggs and it was clear to see that Maggs had the equal amount of love for him, if not more."Sometimes I can't decide whether to call her my aunt or my friend or even an annoying younger sister." Adrian shared with a hint of smile. It was a rare sight, Adrian smiling genuinely, not just a smirk or a mere amused expression, but a real genuine smile. It almost made me want to keep looking at him all day. But I did not. Because it would seem weird. And Evelyn White was not weird.We finished our lunch with light conversations here and there with him talking the most of course, and me co
Pride and Promises Chapter 12
It had been a week now since my little outburst with Adrian and I'd been going out of my way to avoid any encounter with him. It hadn't been really difficult so far because he'd only been inEva'sthree times since then.He did try to talk to me a couple of times butcoincidentallyI was quite busy on all of the occasions and hence had to cut the meeting short. But other than that, he hadn't made any comment about my behavior if he'd noticed anything, although I'd caught him staring at me with a weird look on his face. It was as if he knew me more than he let on, which was quite unnerving at times.To be honest, I was quite ashamed of my outburst. I didn’t know what had come over me that evening but the moment I heard him call me by the name which was only reserved for one specific person in my life, it was like coming out from a long duration amnesia. Memories I'd suppressed for so long came back and hit me with fresh waves
Pride and Promises Chapter 13
"Ms. White, I think you should take a look at this." Leah entered my office with a newspaper in one hand and her iPad in the other.I eyed a photo of mine in the newspaper. It must have been another news or rather, another rumor about the ice cold CEO. I briefly wondered what it was this time around. Other times, it was either my mysterious lover or my secret child. Once, there was a news about how I'd chosen fashion industry because my ex-boyfriend dumped me due to my bad sense of dressing. And they'd published a photo of myex neighborwho worked at a thrift shop. That guy called and thanked me a thousand times because apparently it was his dream to have his photo published in newspapers someday."What is it this time, Leah? You know I don't care about this. As you can see, I'm busy right now. So please keep those things to yourself, and keep the reporters away." I said, not bothering to see the news. They were always sprouting nonsense and I
Pride and Promises Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14:"Right on time, as always."I smiled at the replica of me sitting on the bed. She looked so much like me that people would mistake us for twins if not for our age difference. My sister, Evangeline was younger than me by eight years and now that she was nearly eighteen years old, we both looked more alike than ever. We had inherited almost all our features from our mother. Same facial structure and same auburn hair.The only difference in our appearance was our eyes. While she had our mother's beautiful sea green eyes, I was the one to inherit dad's boring chocolate brown ones. I remember when I used to complain that the only thing I did not inherit from my mother had to be her most alluring feature. Oh, how I missed her. Missedthem.Shaking those melancholic thoughts out of my mind, I entered the room and grinned at my sister, my grin matching her own. "I would be a hypocrite if I go on preaching my employees about punctuality a
Pride and Promises Chapter 15
I'd been called a heartless, emotionless, ice-cold and many other names over the time and I must confess that those names didn't really come out of nowhere. Despite what I said about the media earlier, I was willing to admit that they were actually accurate on naming me because I was exactly that. At least one of that, for sure.Emotionless.Over the years, I'd mastered the art of schooling my emotions and fixing a stoic expression on my face whenever I interacted with the general population. Meaning anyone out of 'Eves' list of good people'.They were correct about the other things too because I was exactly what they'd portrayed. I’d never let anyone get close to me except the people from'Eves' list of good people'which included my sister Eva, my best friend Allie, Jake, my Granns and I was surprised and grumpy and ashamed to admit... Adrian. Thankfully he was still in trial phase, though. I didn't even know when he ma
Pride and Promises Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16:"Eve! Eve! Whereareyou? Ineedto show you something! Minnie!"The boy camerunningso fast that he nearly tackled the little girl who was just coming out of her houseat theboy's call."Addie! Why are you running like you saw a boogeyman in your room? Oh, wait! Did you see a boogeyman? Don't worry, my Mickey. I'll protect you!" She stood in front of the boy in a protective stance, trying to shield his taller body with her shorter one."No! There's no boogeyman! And even if there was, you couldn't protect me anyway. You're so small!" The boy huffed, crossing his arms.She scowled at him and crossed her own arms. "I am not small! I am stronger than you because unlike you, I dwink milk. You never dwink milk so you're weak! Momma told me and auntie Bwinny said that too. And I'm not afraid of boogeyman! I can punch his tummy and hit him with my skating board.
Pride and Promises Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17:Love. Hate. Rage. I called them a triad of intense emotions. Each with potential to be equally toxic. Which is why I'd always avoided these emotions as much as possible. Because I knew, indulging myself with any of these would only mean that I would eventually lose myself into them.Sure, I loved some people. I loved my sister Eva to death. I loved my best friend Allie, Jake, and I loved my Granns. Similarly, I also hated some things- about which I'd already given a good introduction earlier. Spiders and irresponsibility for instance.But rage was an emotion I had always tried to stay away from. I did get angry at times, in fact, quite a lot of times with my employees, especially my assistant. But rage is something different. It's not just a mere anger at something that goes away after some minutes. I believed that rage to be stronger than anger in so many levels. In fact, I'd always thought it to be the most dangerous of the triad. So I wanted to av
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Pride and Promises Epilogue
"I want to thank everyone present here for making this day successful. And I also thank everyone who made this possible. We wouldn't been here today if not for your aids in building this brand new branch ofEva'shere in Paris. I am honored to have such dedicated and smart people working with me to establish this brand here and I am very thankful for everyone. I want to announce with immense pride that all of these stunning designs from our summer collection were made by my extremely talented sister, Ms. Evangeline White." There were a series of claps as Eva shyly waved from where she was sitting.I continued. "There's another person I want to thank from the bottom of my heart for making this possible. My husband, Adrian Stone. You've been there with me throughout every step of the way, and more often than not, you've been there as the receiving end of my anger
Pride and Promises Chapter 63
Whoever said handling a baby was difficult, hadn't made the adult version of the baby named Adrian Isaac Stone."He better drink this or I'm going to kill him with my bare hands." I mumbled to myself as I opened the door to the hospital room Adrian was staying on. He was sitting up on the bed while his brother Aaron sat beside him. It had been three days since he'd woken up and the man had been complaining continually about having to drink soup every day. Granted, it wasn't not an ideal thing anyone would want to live on but still, there was no need to be so fussy.That wasn't even half of it. He had been throwing tantrums about everything. The bed was creaky for him- which it wasn't because I'd been sleeping in the same bed, the colors of the walls weren't to his liking, the hospital TV was dull, his phone wasn't beeping muc
Pride and Promises Chapter 62
Dear Adrian,Ifyou'rereadingthis now, it mustmeanthatI'mnot... alive anymore. I applied precautions but perhapsIwent ahead of myself. AndIwantyou to know thatIamsolelyresponsible forthis.Iwritethis now in the middle of Monday night. I justheardyou throughtherecorderI'dfittedinside the unicorn. And you knowwhat? I cried along with you.I've
Pride and Promises Chapter 61
"Remember me, Evelyn White?"I looked shell shocked at the person standing in front of me. Never in millions of years would I have imagined he would be behind it all. My mouth opened and closed a several times but no words came out. My brain was still trying to process everything."What? The famous, the smart Evelyn White has no words now? 'Cat got your tongue?' would have been a phrase I'd use but you are too smart for that cliché, aren't you? So, surprised to see me?"I finally managed to get my voice back."Mike?"He smirked in response before bowing dramatically. "The one and only.""I
Pride and Promises Chapter 60
Adrian's POV"F*ck! What do you mean he's dead? Are you sure?" Nate asked, looking alarmed.I read the text once again before nodding. "Yeah, this person is authentic. It seems that the bastard died of sudden cardiac arrest. As if he even had a heart to begin with." I scoffed."He got off easy despite his evil doings. But what does it mean now? If the sick murderer is dead, who is behind this then? Who is trying to frame Eves?" Nate asked the question that was burning in my mind."F*ck!"I threw the phone away once again in frustration, stepping on it until the screen broke to several pieces. I had no answer to his question. Just when I thought I had figured it all out, I foun
Pride and Promises Chapter 59
Adrian's POV"Don'tshow me yourfaceever again.""Was I so much of a horrible person back then that you hate me to the point of hurting me in the worst possible way one could ever hurt me?""I'll never forgive you for that. Never.""It saved me from the additional heartache I would've had if I really loved you.""I wish I had died that day with my parents.""I regret the very day you came into my life."I slammed the gla
Pride and Promises Chapter 58
"So he is the reason for your nightmares, isn't he? He hurt you to the point that you can't even sleep well?" Eva demanded to know as soon as she caught up to me.I shook my head. "No, Eva. We just had a small disagreement. It's nothing."She scoffed. "It's notnothing,Evie. You can't lie well enough for me to not see through it. He hurt you, I can see that clearly. You might be my elder sister, but I won't let anyone get away easily after hurting you. You wait here, I'll go give him a piece of my mind.""No, Eva, wait!" I called out but she had already marched off towards the exit. I sighed at her retreating form. Just then, I heard another demanding voice."What just happened? Why did you just
Pride and Promises Chapter 57
"Due to lack of strong evidences claiming otherwise, it is clear that Ms. Evelyn White has willingly signed the contract stating the ownership of her company to Mr. Adrian Stone. I hereby declare that the legal rights ofEva's and Co.goes to Mr. Adrian Stone. The winning party may now begin their processing. A warning is also issued for Ms. Evelyn White to refrain from wasting the time of the court by making false claims. The court is adjourned."The judge stood up and left, effectively cutting off the only straw of hope I was hanging on.The company now belonged to Adrian. I had lost. Everything I had worked for was now gone.It was silent in the courtroom, since only the four of us were present- him and Nate, me and my lawyer. Somehow the media wasn't aware of the happenings in my office. T
Pride and Promises Chapter 56
It turned out, third time isn't always a charm, after all. Adrian didn't call me back. I didn't know if he even got my voicemail. Nevertheless, I didn't stop hoping, didn't stop waiting. I waited for his call the whole night, for the call that never came even after the dark night faded away with first rays of sun.Adrian's silence hurt me more than the incident last night. I felt pathetic depending on a man to comfort me. It wasn't like I needed him to save me last night. I managed to do that on my own. All I needed was someone to talk to, someone to hold me together when I was breaking down. His lack of response only meant that he wasn't going to be that anchor to my sinking ship. The message was loud and clear. So why couldn't I get it inside my thick heart?It was nearing 8 am in the morning. I wanted to return back home, away from t
