Oblivious from the brewing war in the online world, Ashley still knew of Atasha’s arrival. Since Atasha was a co-star in the movie, of course Ashley had to make a courtesy greeting. So, she looked back, met Atasha’s eyes, and smiled warmly at her.
Atasha, who was about to pose for the media, met Ashley’s glaring look. She quickly ignored the smile as she was more focused on the dress color code they shared. Her smile froze.
Why was she wearing the same shade of blue?! But most importantly, why was the Ashley more compatible than her who spent the entire afternoon for this event?! Atasha was screaming crazily at the back of her mind. But she immediately recovered her momentary gaffe and smiled sweetly like nothing happened.
But who were these people watching them? They were the press people! They smelled gossip and gunpowder like those k-nine dogs to bombs! Nothing could escape their eagle-like eyes!
Talia rejected her doctor’s call for the nth time. As someone who had a big chance to have a heart attack any moment now, Talia chose to cut off the communication. After being rejected by Harold, after not getting through Jaxon’s phone, she chose not to stay in the hospital.Her fever did not subside. She even had some small episodes wherein she felt chest tightness which was a big no-no for someone like her who was at risk with heart attacks. Since she fell from the bottom list of the recipient for possible heart transplants that would extend her life for ten more years, Talia heard that the Elijah Consortium was utilizing its influence to find a donor for her. But she also knew why the Old Man was doing this—the Elijah Family wanted to cut ties with her.Talia did not know what magic potion Ashley gave to the Old Man or was it the works of that little bastard, but as long as the Old Man was still there of that little bast
The premiere night was in full swing.The movie started with all the lights off except the screen in front of them. The bustling cinema quickly became silent as they focused on the movie that was about to start.The entire time, Scottie was seated between Wolf and Ashley. She held her son’s hand the entire time, observing his every reaction the entire time. Ashley watched him got excited especially when she first appeared on screen. She also saw how his expressions kept on changing as the movie progressed.Scottie’s little mouth pouted when he saw his mother crying silently on screen. He showed fear when the police was about to take his mother away. And he showed unprecedented need to destroy everything around him when he watched them hurt his mother in the prison cell.Scottie knew that it was all a drama. But his young mind was influenced by his mother’s amazing acting skills and
Flashes of blue and red entered the right-wing entrance of the Peninsula Hotel. Located at the most secluded area of the Peninsula Hotel, this entrance was only used by the VVIP. Mostly, it was used when Jaxon Elijah came to visit V City and he would stay in the hotel for a night rest or a quick nap.No one ever envisioned that the 9-1-1 firetruck along with its paramedics would use this very special entrance this day.Notified by the general manager in advance to open the right-wing entrance, the firetruck and the paramedic car arrived which was immediately welcomed by the two monitoring room security guards.At the same time, at the highest floor of the Peninsula Hotel, Jaxon Elijah just received the news from Harold who also just got the urgent report from the general hotel.Jaxon dropped his pen. Blood drained from his face as he opened the interface that connected him to all of the monitoring of
Ashley closed the door behind her in a very gentle way, too scared to wake up the exhausted child inside the hospital’s VVIP room. Her eyes quickly met Jaxon who was the only one who remained after an exhausting night. Although they were the only ones in the hallway, she could still see the patrolling soldiers, policemen, and their k-nine dogs outside the glass wall of the hallway.Jaxon handed Ashley a warm knitted blanket and a cup of steaming coffee which she took before she sat on the chair right outside her son’s private ward. “Did they answer?”Jaxon was in a dilemma. His team found out from the leader’s phone that his son was photographed secretly during the premiere night. They used this as a lead and found out about an actress named Atasha who had a beef with Ashley. His team focused on this motive and found out about another connection—Talia. The team had Atasha’s manager surrender Atasha’s phone as soon as possible. There, they found more traces of Talia. The same picture w
Nexus was at the rooftop of Orion Hotel when all shit went downhill on Ashley’s side.He was just done with the meeting with all the gang leaders of V City. Nexus changed into simple homely clothes, bought all the things from the nearest shopping mall, and readied everything from the finest detail to the other.He was planning to have a picnic under the starry night with the mother and son. It was not leaning on the romantic way but Nexus wanted to introduce himself formally to Scottie.According to his men working in the weather center of the city, tonight, a phenomenon in which the fog that veiled the city for many years would be swept away by the monsoon near the northern area of the city. With this monsoon, the wind would chase away the fog—even the clouds—giving way for the stars to show off its luster in its once in a blue moon opportunity! After all, a monsoon would not happen every other day.
Ashley never thought she would be able to drive like this again—as if she discarded her life.She once learned how to drive as if being chased by the devil. In the last life, Nexus once brought her to his racetrack. The cold wind against her face woke her up from her drunkenness that time and she fell in love with cars almost instantly.Who would have thought that she would be using this skill—the skill that she thought she would never touch in this life—once more?As Ashley maneuvered the car’s steering wheel, she just took from the monitoring room guard, her mind wandered. She remembered how she dashed to the nearest parking lot and saw the tail of the car. One of these two cars was clearly chasing the SUV in the front—it should belong to Wolf.While speeding up, she looked for a cellphone on the dashboard or in the small compartments that she could reach while letting
The moment the north bridge shut down; half of the city was immediately paralyzed. Traffic jams could be seen every corner of the city. From green to red then from orange to red, everyone was put to a halt as if the city became still as water.Curses from all the people stuck in the traffic intertwined with the symphony of car honks. The sirens from the local police started to spread like wild fire across the city. These traffic police officers mobilized their one hundred percent in order to keep peace and order despite the sudden ruckus.The lower-ranked policemen wondered if something big happened to push the city mayor to leave a very important investment meeting. Was it a terrorist attack? Was it something that involved the dark side of the society? No one in the lower command level knew. They could only follow the chain of command silently.With the way the entire city was mobilized, they still had the common sense
Jaxon never felt this way ever since he was young.Standing twenty meters away from the SUV, he did not wear any bulletproof vests or helmets in which his bodyguards were against to begin with yet they could not do anything about it. Jaxon did not want to set off these criminals since he did not know what they were after for.Was it for money? Was it a revenge scheme from his business rivals?Jaxon did not know.So, he waited. As soon as he received his Grandfather’s call that gave him the go, the city was immediately under martial law.With the help of the young lad provided by Nexus, his team was able to lock down the SUV where his son was taken and kept hostage by these unknown people. From land to the air, the police and the military locked it down.Computing its possible route, his team locked the roads, stopped the flow of traffic, and forced the
Ever since their first fight, life had not gotten any easier for Talia. If anything, it had become even harder.Lucas, once patient and composed, had grown irritable and restless. He hated being weak, hated relying on her, and the frustration bled into everything he did. He snapped more often, his words sharper than he likely intended, but the damage was done each time. And Talia—Talia, who had already carried so much weight on her shoulders—chose to step back instead of fueling the fire.Not for herself, but for Tasha.Their daughter, still too young to understand the depth of their struggles, had always been a bright spark in their darkest days. Talia refused to let that spark fade.So when Lucas’s voice took on that cold edge, when his temper flared over something as small as her adjusting his pillow or offering to help him sit up, Talia swallowed her own frustration and let it go. She bit back the pain, the hurt, and the urge to lash back. She stepped away before Tasha could see,
The days had turned into months, and Talia had settled into a relentless routine.Between taking care of Lucas, working at the library, and making sure Tasha had everything she needed, there was never enough time. But today—today was different. Today, something miraculous had happened.Lucas had woken up.After months of watching him waste away in his coma, after months of feeding him, cleaning him, speaking to him without response—he had opened his eyes. He had whispered her name in a voice so weak and fragile that it had nearly broken her. But he was awake. He was alive.“W-Wife…” He whispered.Talia froze in shock for a split second before she cried out in surprise and happiness. “Lucas?!”And for the first time in what felt like forever, Talia saw hope.She had spent the day by his side, holding his hand, talking to him, helping him sip water from a straw. His body was weak, too weak to even sit up on his own, but he was there. He was present. It was more than she could have ever
The days blurred into an endless cycle of exhaustion.Talia barely slept anymore.Between tending to Tasha at the hospital, checking on Lucas at home, and working at the library to keep them afloat, there was no time to rest. Every hour of her day was spoken for, every moment accounted for. It was a delicate balance, one that she couldn’t afford to lose, but the weight of it pressed down on her like a vice.Her body was slowly giving out.Tasha’s fever had finally broken, but she was still weak. The doctors wanted to keep her in the hospital for a few more days to monitor her condition. Lucas, on the other hand, had taken a turn for the worse. His body was growing frailer by the day, and without proper medical intervention, she feared the inevitable. She knew he needed professional care, but there was no money for that. Every cent she had went into keeping a roof over their heads and putting food—what little she could afford—on the table.She had no one to turn to. No allies. No suppo
The apartment was small—too small for three people, especially when one of them needed around-the-clock care. Talia stared at the single bed pushed against the wall, where Lucas lay unmoving, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm, unaware of the world around him. In the other corner, her daughter, Tasha, sat cross-legged on the floor, coloring with the few crayons she had managed to bring from their old home.Talia let out a slow breath, exhaustion pressing against her shoulders like an invisible weight. She had lived many lives, died twice, and yet, nothing could have prepared her for this.Her old lives had been filled with power, darkness, and control. She had never known the taste of struggle, not like this. It was absurd, really. Once, she had commanded armies of men, had resources at her fingertips, had struck fear into the hearts of people with nothing but her name. And now, she was in a rundown apartment with peeling wallpaper and a rickety heater that barely worked.
Five months had passed since Ashley and Jaxon decided to give their family a true second chance.Now, seated in the plush back seat of their luxury SUV, Ashley’s fingers traced over the financial reports on her tablet screen. The elegant logo of Rosemary Jewelry and Rosemary Real Estate gleamed in the corner, a reminder of the empire she had built with her own hands. At the time, these companies were meant to be her insurance, a safeguard in case she had to walk away from Jaxon and start anew. But now, things had changed. She had chosen to stay. To build not just a business empire, but a family.The numbers on the reports reflected her hard work.Rosemary Jewelry, a brand that had once been a small passion project, was now a name whispered among high society. Celebrities, heiresses, and tycoons adorned themselves with her pieces, and international boutiques clamored for exclusive contracts. On the other hand, Rosemary Real Estate was a rising force, acquiring prime properties and maki
The steam clung to Ashley’s skin as she stepped out of the bathroom, her damp hair cascading over her shoulders. A plush towel was wrapped securely around her body, but she hardly paid attention to the fabric covering her as she reached for the hairdryer on the vanity. The sound of movement near the closet made her pause.She turned her head—and then froze.Jaxon stood with his back to her, his broad shoulders flexing as he ran a towel through his damp hair. The dim lighting of their bedroom accentuated every ridge and valley of his toned muscles, the chiseled perfection of his body honed through years of discipline and training. But it wasn’t just the raw masculinity of his physique that stole Ashley’s breath—it was the dark, intricate ink stretching across his back.Her name was there.Ashley Elijah.Just beneath it, an elegant script detailed a date—one that sent an icy shiver down her spine. The date of her death in her past life.Her breath hitched in her throat, her pulse thrumm
Jaxon Elijah sat in his office, his fingers pressed against his temples as he listened to Harold recount the details of Henry Deneuve’s confrontation with Ashley. The more Harold spoke, the more Jaxon’s fury burned like an unrelenting inferno. His jaw clenched, his breathing steady yet deep—a dangerous calm before the inevitable storm.Henry Deneuve had dared to threaten his wife? To speak to Ashley as if she were some scheming outsider rather than the woman who had suffered and endured to reclaim her rightful place? Jaxon would not tolerate it. Not now. Not ever."Prepare the package," Jaxon finally spoke, his voice devoid of emotion but carrying an unshakable weight. "Everything we've collected on Henry over the years. I want him to see every dark secret, every skeleton buried in his past."Harold nodded without hesitation. He knew his boss well enough to recognize that this was not a moment for questioning. This was a moment of execution. The Elijah Consortium did not deal in empty
Ashley stood before the towering glass doors of an exclusive luxury boutique, her heart thudding in her chest. It was a strange sensation—one part excitement, one part apprehension. She had never done this before, never had the chance to bond with a mother over something as trivial yet meaningful as shopping. The mother she had known, the one who had raised her until she passed away, was a distant memory, blurred and bittersweet. And Camilla Connor, the woman who played the role of stepmother, had only ever used the idea of motherhood as a tool to manipulate and belittle her. But now, standing beside Uriel Deneuve, her real mother, Ashley was finally about to experience something she never had before.Uriel, graceful and poised, exuded the quiet confidence of someone who had spent her life in wealth and power yet carried an air of warmth that Ashley hadn’t expected. She reached out, gently squeezing Ashley’s hand. “Are you ready, ma chérie?” she asked in a soft voice, her foreign acce
Ashley stood in front of the grand estate, her heart pounding against her ribcage. The Deneuve estate was nothing short of magnificent, with its towering gates, sprawling gardens, and a mansion that exuded centuries of prestige and power. She had been through countless battles in life—both emotional and physical—but standing here, waiting to meet the people who had given her life, felt like the hardest thing she had ever faced.Jaxon stood beside her, his presence a solid wall of support. He hadn't said much on the way here, knowing that no words could ease the storm brewing inside her. Instead, he simply held her hand, giving her strength in his silence. Ashley squeezed his hand briefly, grateful that despite everything, he was here.The gates opened slowly, revealing a long driveway lined with aged oak trees. A butler approached them with practiced grace, bowing slightly. "Madam Ashley, Master Jaxon, welcome. Mr. and Mrs. Deneuve are waiting for you inside."Ashley took a deep breat