August 2024 , Harper.“You’re useless,” My mother yelled in my face, her voice and face dripping with disdain, I swallowed hard, my hands crossed behind me, my eyes remained on my feet, I dared not look her in the face as she speaks, I took one fearful step backwards as she moved closer to me.“I don’t know why I bother trying to teach you anything! You never learn!” I sniffled in deeply, tears dropping from my eyes, I gently raised my hands to my hair and tucked the strands of hair falling carelessly on my face behind my ear, I slowly turned to look at Michelle where she was seated, her legs crossed in a corner in the office, typing away on her phone.“Michelle was .…”“All I hear is cheap baseless excuses! Set up a press meeting we have to clear this up immediately!” She yelled, without letting me have a word in, “I’m sorry,” I apologized my body shaking with a bow, I turned around and dashed out of her office.DMW is the leading construction company in Massachusetts, it is our
As I sprinted through the streets, my breaths coming in ragged gasps, the weight of my shame and despair pressing down on me like a suffocating blanket. Each step I took felt like a useless attempt to outrun the heart breaking reality of my wretched life.As I ran, the street blurred around me, the familiar sights and sounds distorted by my tears. I had no destination in mind, no solace to seek, my world felt dark, empty and alone. All I wanted was to just escape, to disappear into the darkness and leave behind the wreckage of my life.And then, as if on cue, the heavens opened up, drenching me to the bone. At first, I barely registered the change in weather, too consumed by my own misery to notice the cold droplets of rain pelting against my skin.As the rain intensified, I raised my hands to my face trying to wipe it but it was an obvious futile effort, my legs couldn’t go further anymore, I slowed to a stop, my chest heaving with exhaustion and despair.I slowly bent to a squat in
Harper.Beep Beep Beep, Groaning lightly I gently reached out to my bedside alarm and turned it off, immediately my hands touched the alarm clocked I jolted awake into full consciousness and sat up on the bed.W-w-wait what?!! I thought they said the dead doesn’t have any relationship with earthly things again, why the hell did I feel the alarm clock beneath my hands.My heart began to pound in my chest, with shaky hand I reached out again, immediately I brushed my fingertips against the cold metal surface, I recoiled instinctively as if burnt, shivers shot down my spine as I glanced around nervously, my breath coming in sharp and ragged intakes. Where the hell was I?! I mean I know I’m in my room but why the hell am I in my room?! I fucking died! Is this my after life?! Why can I still feel my body without any scratch or pain, what the -, the loud blaring of my phone intercepts my thoughts, my heart hadn’t stop racing a bit, infact it’s rate increased with every passing second, wit
Harper I got into my car parked a few meter away from the Mansion and slammed the door shut, my hands trembled slightly as I tried to steady my breathing, my hands flung to my chest and I squeezed on it tightly to get my outraging heart into place, but it wasn’t working, I was super scared.I just made an attempt to snatch my life from my Mother’s grip and I don’t even have a solid plan yet, what if this impulsive act is bad for me?! Ofcourse Mother won’t sit still and watch me behave the way I just did and get away with it, my heart pounded in my chest as I considered these thoughts, tears threatened to spill from my eyes, but I clenched my jaw, refusing to let them fall.I slowly looked up and turned to look at our house building, I need to come up with a plan as soon as possible, with what I’ve done today, if I don’t come up with one as soon as possible, my life would definitely become more miserable than in the past, I raised my hands to my face and wiped the line of tears in
Harper Geraldine’s Office (Her mother!)“What are you doing?! Are you trying to draw attention to yourself?! This outfit is inappropriate for work!” Mother yelled, pacing my front, I was seated on a three seater with my legs crossed and my hands delicately placed on my legs.I gently reached out and plucked out a grape from the tray on the table, I raised it to my mouth and crushed it beneath my teeth, “Why?!” I asked with raised brows tilting my head to the side, I slowly reached out and plucked out another grape, my movement slow, precise and unbothered much to her annoyance, I slowly chewed on the grape and looked up at her, “Michelle wears them, why can’t I?!” I retorted, she snorted and stepped closer to me, “I’m speaking to you! You should be on your feet!” She snapped as ,she bent towards the table picked up the tray of fruit and flinged it away smashing it on the wall, “You have no right to cancel the wedding! Call your parent inlaw and apologize for your dirty attitude l
Damon. Next day, Tuesday 2:30pm…I stood at the front of the conference room beside the projector as Lisa my assistant tried to set it up, the wooden table stretched out in front of me, it could comfortably seat up to thirty people but it only contained two this time, My twin sister and Co- owner- Daphne and our potential investor Mr Cassano.I turned to look at my sister and held her gaze for a while, she gave me a slight nod, if things go well for us today Mr Cassano would be our biggest client, and we really need his investment funds for an huge project we are embarking on, she was putting all her trust in me, I haven’t disappointed her before and I wasn’t going to start now, I replied her with a firm nod, The projection screen behind me displayed the first slide of my presentation and I began,“This is the result of the market survey of our product,” I said raising my hand to the screen, “D&D’s is well known for its very unique taste across all of our products, it’s made from n
Harper.Meanwhile,Tuesday 09:30am …I put the last one of my books in a small crate I brought along with me to pack up, every other staff sharing an office with me just watched quietly as I packed up my things, since they realized that I was owner’s daughter also, their behaviour to me all changed, This morning, when I walked in here they all got up on their feet and bowed to me in greeting, I gently covered up the crate, I picked up my MacBook on the table and carefully placed it in my hand bag, just as I was about to carry the carts and walk out, the door pushed open and Mother’s assistant- Rose walked in, quietly she walked towards me and bowed politely, she was one of the few people that had always known my true identity.“Ma’am Geraldine wants to see you in her office,” she said, I simply nodded signalling for her to go on and I’ll catch up with her, she nodded again as she turned around and walked out of the room, I picked up the crate, just as I was about to walk out one staf
Harper.The door to their Rolls Royce opened and he slowly stepped out, his pair of black shiny shoes caught my eyes as he stepped out and slammed the door shut behind him, the other lady beside him pushed the door open also and stepped out of the car, I looked between the both of them, they were putting on Matching office wears, they had such a striking resemblance and I could tell right away that they were siblings. Exchanging glances, they both made their way towards me and stood in front of their car also facing me , I looked into the Damon guy’s eyes and his eyes didn’t leave mine also, as if contemplating who would speak first. “Enough with the games, you found us out, what are you going to do?!” The lady said, I relunctantly lifted my gaze from Damon and turned to look at her, I raised my brows at her dramatically tilting my heads to the side, I changed my posture and stood more upright, “Why not let’s start with what you want from me?!” I whispered turning back to look at D
One months later .Harper.As Damon and I walked out of the wedding reception hall, hand in hand, the sound of cheers and applause surrounded us. The air was filled with excitement, love, and celebration as our family and friends gathered around, clapping and throwing rose petals into the air. My heart pounded in my chest, the reality of what we had just accomplished sinking in—we were finally married. After all had been said and done, I was finally spending the rest of my life with the man I loved the most.I looked up at him, my husband, and he gave me that smile, the one that made my knees weak every time. It felt surreal. After everything we had been through to get here, after all the obstacles and moments of doubt, we had made it. We were bound together, forever.The cool evening breeze hit my face as we stepped outside, but all I could feel was the warmth radiating from his hand in mine. Our family followed close behind, their joyful laughter echoing around us as they took pict
Five days later. Geraldine.I paced through the bustling terminal of the international airport, I was putting on sunglases and an oversized hoodie and sweatpants to hide my identity.I had carefully been planning my escape, I had prepared these travel documents a long time ago as plan B, I used my maiden name nobody ever knew me as. Two days ago, Michelle was arrested, the investigations Harper began were finally completed, also she happened to have been involved in Damon’s Ex plans, she was taken into custody alongside Jade awaiting trial. Novan was also caught trying to kill Harper, and trust these little bastard to drag me right into the mud with them, they both became very sentimental and unreasonable after Michelle got pregnant. These are the issues! These are the exact reasons I hate children. My grip on my box tightened as I pushed it along, as if that wasn’t enough, Evidences of what happened Eighteen years ago began to resurface, I thought I had wiped clean all eveidence b
4:00pmDamon. “Harper was dismissed?!” I repeated immediately Collin mentioned it, he nodded slowly in response to my words and he went on to explain how it happened.“Shit!” “How is she ?! Is she doing fine?!” I asked as I looked up at Rose.“Obviously not, she’s still in her feelings and she says she just wants to be alone,” Rose replied.“How can she just want to be alone, someone has to be with her,” I said, she shook her head slowly.“No I think she should be left alone,” Rose said, I exhaled deeply and leaned into the chair, I dipped my hands in my hair ruffling it slightly. “What do we do guys, honestly we channeled all our effort in one direction, we didn’t have any plan B,” I muttered, Rose sat up straight in her chair looking between Collin and I.“There’s someone I’ll like you to meet,” she muttered and almost immediately the door open revealing Lisa and someone else behind her, “Thank you Lisa,” Rose said, she responded with a slight bow and with that she turned arou
Meanwhile, that same morning.Damon. I parked in front of the Jade apartment, I stepped out of my car and dashed to her front porch, I banged my hands on her door continuously, my patience waning by the second. The door went open, without even letting her say a word I violently pushed the door wider and walked in, she flinched lightly as she let go of the door knob and stepped away immediately. “It was you! You did this!”“You saw that I was drunk and you took advantage of me!” I yelled the veins in my neck popping out, she scoffed as she slowly folded her hands around her chest, “I took advantage of you?! Everyone saw the video and it seems to be the other way around,” “Your hands were all over me, you couldn’t get enough of me! You enjoyed it as much as I did!”“Can’t you see Damon?! We are meant to be, you love me,” she muttered stepping close to me, as she raised her hands to my chest, I angrily grabbed her hands and twisted it behind her,“Oww, that hurts!” She squeaked and
(Immediately after the meeting)Rose. “Have you found Michelle?!!” I paused in my tracks, my hands slowly loosened around the knob to Geraldine’s office , I stepped close and pressed my ear against the door“No ma’am, she’s not at her place , Novan is confused also, her friend’s apartment have been under locks for a while, I guess they ran away together,” “Leslie at this point I don’t need any negative answers from you, you should do your job perfectly,” I raised my hands over my mouth immediately she mentioned the name of the person she was having a conversation with. Oh my God! Who would have thought! Leslie?!“What about Harper?! Anything I need to know?!”“Ma’am Everything is under control, you’ve ruined all their evidences against you, at the moment everything is going south for them,”“Good! Now get back to your work station before anybody suspects anything,” I heard Geraldine say, I immediately stepped away and hurried over to the next passage way, after some seconds, I peak
Next Day Damon.My eyes slowly fluttered open, the moment I opened my eyes I felt a banging ache in my head, I winced in pain as I raised my hands to my head and rubbed my forehead slowly, I slowly sat up on the sofa where I was seated. There was a glass of alcoholic wine and a cup on the floor, I mistakenly kicked the glass with my legs but luckily it didn’t break. I looked down at my self, my shirt was undone, even the zip of my pant trousers, I exhaled deeply, the pain in my head still as prevalent as ever, just how much did I have to drink yesterday. I picked up my phone laying carelessly on the floor and stared in it, 07:00 am. It was already morning, I’m sure some workers would have arrived, I buttoned up my shirt and dressed up properly, I wanted to pick up my laptop bag but I decided against it, I’ll be coming back to the office very soon, I just wanted to go home and get changed, and come back to the office. I picked up my jacket and headed out of the office. “Ohh!” Lisa s
Damon.9:00pm I didn’t even know what to think right now, my head was empty, very empty, I already drank every single thing in my head away. I was dead drunk, I don’t usually drink talk more of getting drunk but with everything that had been happening recently I drank way more than my liquor limit. I’m amazed at the fact that I was able to drive without getting into an accident. I slowly looked up at the building I was parked in front of, ohh shit! The office. How can I be here, I really thought I was driving home and had gotten home. Ohh boy, I might as well pass the night here, I pushed the door open, staggered out barely keeping my acts together, I almost fell but I quickly grabbed onto the car door to steady myself, I squeezed my eyes shut tightly hoping to steady all the images spiralling before my eyes but I couldn’t, I gave up, slammed the door shut, locked it and headed into the office. Everyone had locked up and gone home, I fumbled with the lock for quite some minutes befo
Harper.“You misplaced the drive?!” Mr Henry exclaimed over the phone, I dipped my hands in my hair and ruffled it rigorously, pacing my office aimlessly. “I’ll make sure to find it I promise,”“There’s no need for that, Geraldine just left my office, she had it and she has destroyed it,” he said, I paused in my tracks immediately and looked up.“What!”“Yes! Obviously,”“But who could have told her about it,” he exhaled, I exhaled deeply and slowly dropped on to the sofa behind me,“That’s the thing! I have no idea,” I sighed frustratingly, I heard him exhale deeply over the phone,“Okay, let’s talk later, I’ve got to go” he said, I nodded slowly as I gently removed the phone from my ear and dropped it on the table. Just then the door opened and Collin walked in, “Harper ..”“Mr Henry just called,” I said cutting Collin off, he stepped forward and propped closer to me,“What did he say?!”“That we shouldn’t bother searching for it, Geraldine destroyed it right in front of his eye
Meanwhile.Michelle.“Tell me why you haven’t been picking up my calls!”I looked up to see Novan barge into my hospital room and slammed the door behind me, I rolled my eyes to the back of my head, obviously he’d be able to enter now, I sent the guy my mom out to monitor me on an endless exhausting errand, he paused in his tracks and looked up at me,“You’re packing, you’re leaving?! Did the doctor say you can leave?!” He asked all at once, I ignored him and kept on packing my things, I didn’t want to stay here anymore, it’s no longer safe for me, I want to leave. “Atleast tell me where you’re going!” He said as he grabbed my hands and turned me to face him, I bit the insides of my lips and snatched my hands away from him, I looked around the room, immediately I sighted the CCTV camera, I took off my platform slippers and aimed it at it, I didn’t miss, the CCTV camera came shattering down, “I’m going somewhere safe!” I finally said as I walked up to where I threw my slippers , pick