Ryker raised a brow in surprise. "Why? Is the almighty Gabriel Accardo running from a confrontation by his daughter who he hasn't seen for more than a decade?" Ryker asked, finding the whole talk silly. Gabriel stared straight at Ryker for a full minute before he responded. "I do not mind going head-on with Aindrea, what I do mind is that my grandson will be caught in the crossfire." Grandson. The only word that made sense to Ryker and wiped the taunting smile off his face. "Does Aindrea have a son?" "Yes, she does. And that person is Newton. Obviously." Gabriel scoffed. "But you don't seem pani—" Ryker paused, "But that's not the grandson you're talking about." "Aindrea has Luca with her. I don't know how, but she does. And that's the reason she dared to spew her plans to Andrea because she knew we won't do anything in fear of hurting Luca in the process." Gabriel breathed out and walked past Ryker. Ryker rubbed his hair as he walked behind Gabriel. "I'm still thinking of ho
"I think we should find somewhere comfortable to sit in while we wait for your friend." Andrea suggested, looking down at Anna who held onto her left hand. Anna tugged Andrea's hand as she shook her head, "I don't think he'll be able to see us if we leave here." Andrea could only sigh and await Luca's presence. After a couple of minutes, she took out a wad of dollar notes from her pocket and directed it at Anna. "Why don't you run along to get us ice-cream? The sun is pretty hurt and I'm sure our bodies need it." Andrea mentioned. Anna took the money and left. Andrea found a shade closeby and relaxed on it, then crossed both hands across her chest as she glanced around her. She waited for two minutes before she felt the phone in her pocket vibrate. "The hospital said I was in the same room with Carrie, but when I woke up minutes ago, I searched the whole ward and there's no record of her." Kirby's worried voice came through as soon as Andrea answered the phone. Andrea went sile
Not long after Luca left in the BMW, a silver Porsche stopped right where it had been and a nervous Ryker alighted from it. He glanced around him a couple of times before catching sight of a familiar figure. Without hesitating, he followed behind her. "Andrea, just give me a chance to explain to you. Just listen to me, please. Andrea?" Ryker said consecutively. However, Andrea who was seemingly walking in front of him didn't bother turning. He frowned slightly as he got closer to her. Suddenly, she turned to face Ryker and smiled broadly. Ryker came to an instant halt as his face darkened. From a distance, Aindrea looked a lot like Andrea. Even the face looked the same except that the sight of insanity in Aindrea's eyes was absent from Andrea's eyes. "What a pity, Ryker. You missed three of them." Aindrea tsked, walking around him. "What do you mean by I missed three of them?" Ryker asked, turning his body to wherever she walked. Aindrea stopped and raised three fingers, then
State Prison In one of the cells, one of the prison mates was being pushed about by the others in the cell. "Home boy, what else will your mama do once he gets back?" One of the bald headed men in the cell asked, wheezing from laughter.There was a figure lying underneath his feet, struggling to push his legs away. "Oh, come on, homeboy. How many times do I have to tell you to talk to me when I ask you something?" The baldheaded man hissed, grabbing the latter's somewhat full hair.The person's face came into view. "My dad is going to bail me out of here and I'll make each and everyone of your lives miserable as soon as I'm out of this place." Damon laughed weakly. "You think your family is still all rich and powerful? You bastard, I bet I'm even richer than them even though I'm in jail!" The baldheaded man laughed and the rest of the prisoners laughed. He slammed Damon's head on his knees and the latter fell to the hard floor in pain. Before he could be beaten again, a prison
There was silence for a couple of seconds, before Damon crossed both hands across his chest. "What about my parents? How are they? Why didn't they come to bail me?" He asked both of them. Marco glanced at Aindrea who didn't return his look. She refused to give an answer to his question. So in the end, Marco chose to say something. "Your parents are no longer in Italy. No one knows where they are." "Someone does. And it's definitely Andrea, Ryker and Gabriel. Forgive me, I mean, people." Aindrea suddenly butted in. "What do you mean? You're telling me Gabriel kidnapped my mother?" Damon asked, releasing his crossed hands. "What? Did you really think they view you and your family like people? To people like Andrea Accardo, Gabriel Accardo and Ryker Darius, we are not worth being treated like we're human." Aindrea scoffed, inching closer to him. "But they are all powerful, so you calling them out doesn't matter because they can easily override the public opinion and turn it in thei
Carrie's Apartment"She didn't remember coming to Italy?" Kirby asked as she looked down at the sleeping Carrie. Andrea sat on a stool not far from the bed. She had both fingers interlocked which she rested her chin on. "How many times do I have to say it, Kirby?" She sighed weakly, getting onto her feet. She walked up to Carrie and stared at her peaceful face. The only person who hadn't lied to her was lying here unconscious. "Then how did you get her here?" Kirby chose to ask another question. However, the next second, her eyes caught sight of the chains used in binding Carrie's hands and feets. Andrea realized she had seen the chains and shrugged, "Don't blame me, she was really strong." "What did Anna say when she saw you backing her?" "She doesn't have to think anything other than the fact there's something wrong with her aunty." Andrea breathed out. Kirby asked nothing else. She reached out and held Carrie's lukewarm hand. Almost immediately, the door opened and Cheryl
Ryker stopped his car in the parking lot of a five-star hotel. He alighted from it, glanced behind him to see Hayden slighting from a black SUV. "Boss, I didn't make a reservation because I had no idea we were coming here. Wait in that car while I get you a room." Hayden said, trying to walk past Ryker. So I'll"No need." Ryker merely mumbled and walked ahead of Hayden. Hayden nodded and walked behind him, but the confusion in his eyes couldn't be erased.They walked into the hotel and straight to the receptionist. Hayden waited behind while Ryker said something to the receptionist. Soon, they were on their way towards the elevator. Hayden caught sight of a room key in his hand and concluded Ryker might've reserved a room beforehand. "Wait here." Ryker said, stopping before a room. Hayden nodded and stepped backward. As Ryker opened the door and stepped in, Hayden happened to catch sight of a feminine figure. He widened his eyes in shock as the thought of Ryker cheating on Andre
The Forbes' Manor, New York"Ms. Forbes, the board of directors are worried about the sudden change of company ownership which you've stated is bound to happen." A man's voice came from the laptop before Elaine. Elaine pinned her eyes on the four men on her screen. Her silence was so deafening that the man who had spoken last, crosschecked his words in his head. "There's nothing to worry about, gentlemen. My daughter is a skilled business man. It won't surprise me if the first thing she does once she takes over the company is to change investors." Elaine replied, flashing a toothy smile at them. A knock sounded on her office door before it was pushed open. Then Presley's face appeared. Elaine didn't look at her immediately. But after a few minutes, she took her eyes towards her. "Andrea is here." Presley mouthed. Elaine first froze before she reached out and turned off her computer, cutting off the men she was in an executive meeting with. "What do you mean Andrea is here? Gab
Three months later Carrie and Andrea sat on the roof of Ryker's house overlooking that buzzing city. Life had gone back to normal for them. Or at least for the moment. Gabriel had taken back his entire after Andrea refused to take over it just like before. Elaine also bailed out of being the head of the Forbes and the mafia boss. And so did Andrea. Hence, it fell on Carrie's shoulder. Carrie held up the jug of coffee in her hand and chuckled sheepishly, "I've always hated coffee, but for the last three months, it's been my very good friend." "It must be hard finally being at the top of the pyramid, isn't it?" Andrea grinned. "Hard isn't the word you should use. I think difficult and impossible should fit just right. At the rate at which my life is going, being the boss will soon become an impossible task for me. How did you deal with it when you were there?" Carrie breathed out in exasperation. "As a woman, it was hard. Marco dared me, a lot of men in the mafia also dared. All I
"What do you intend to get with all of these, Aindrea? I mean, with me, father and mother gone, you'll have no one on your side. That's going to be such a sad and pathetic life, don't you think?" Andrea tutted. "I've been living that pathetic life since the day I was born because my parents thought my younger sister was the cuter twin. So they did a lot of things for her." "You always talk about being the firstborn and everything. The responsibility of being the first born is to be self-sacrificing. You certainly do not have such quality." Andrea chuckled, her eyes almost losing. Aindrea smiled and squatted beside her, "Do you think I care?" "I know you don't, which is why I'm offering you the best thing that could ever happen to you; take as much money as possible and go far away from us. Start up a new life with your son and live the luxurious life you've always wanted. You can start up your own empire and in the future, we will act like we have no idea who we are to each other.
The Accardo's Manor Gabriel glanced towards Andrea's room where Aindrea now occupied as he heard the sound of so many things smashing and breaking. "Does anyone have any idea what's going on?" He asked no one in particular, but his workers who were in front of him shook their heads. Even those in the mafia who had come into the house on Gabriel's order had no idea. They couldn't go up to check up on Aindrea as she was now their boss. "She's obviously upset and breaking things." Damon said walking into the house. Gabriel tilted his head to look at him before taking his eyes away. He no longer had any control over who came into the house and who didn't. And since Damon was with Aindrea, there was nothing he could do about his appearance. "You don't look surprised to see me? You probably knew I wouldn't spend the rest of my life in jail, didn't you?" Damon hissed, inching closer to Gabriel. "If you're working for Aindrea, you're making the wrong choice. A very wrong choice which
Presley rushed to the station less than ten minutes later, but to her dismay, she found Carrie seated beside Luca as they drank sodas. Luca squirmed closer to Carrie when he saw Presley. He recognized her to be the woman who led him to the warehouse. Carrie takes another can of soda beside her and extends it towards Presley. "I think he recognizes you." "And I think you should return him to me." Presley responded, sitting beside her. Luca held onto Carrie even tighter when he heard Presley. "You're scaring Ryker's son and you're actually admitting to have kidnapped him. Are you, perhaps, tired of loving?" Carrie hissed. "I didn't kidnap him, I only took him in and kept him in a safe place for his parents." Presley corrected. "You took him in without the consent of his parents and have kept silent all these while despite being aware that's one of Andrea's realism for coming to New York, a city she vowed never to visit." Presley snorted, opening her can of soda. "I don't care a
The following morning, Carrie walked out of the ward's bathroom fully dressed to meet the doctor in charge of Cheryl inside the ward. Cheryl was still fast asleep."She seems a whole lot better now." Carrie was the first to comment. The doctor agreed with her as he nodded. Then he pushed the file in his hand towards her, "Her vitals are stable and we've monitored and checked her numerous times to see if she'd have any relapse in the future, but our system states she won't. However, we'll require her to come once a week for regular check-ups until we deem her fit to return back to her normal activities." "Okay, sure." Carrie mumbled, taking the file. He handed her a file and she took and signed on it. Afterwards, they were ready to leave the hospital. Carrie sat on a chair waiting for Cheryl to wake up. Cheryl woke up an hour later, prepared and they were ready to go. The ride back to Carrie's place was slow and silent as none of them wanted to talk about the events of the past few
One hour after Ryker left, two lawyers had been summoned; one for Gabriel and the other for Georgina.Georgina stood defiantly on the other side of the room, her eyes locked with Aindrea's. "I want what's rightfully mine," she insisted, her voice laced with anger. "I deserve half of everything Gabriel owns.""Georgina, you have to understand that Gabriel doesn't have anything anymore. He gave it all to me. There's nothing left to divide. Frankly speaking, since you're the richer spouse, you should be the one giving to my father." Aindrea tutted. Georgina's face twisted with disbelief. "How can that be? He was wealthy. I won't walk away empty-handed. I won't allow it!"Aindrea didn't expect Georgina to understand, so she could only nudge at the family's lawyer to draft out a divorce agreement which would favor both of them.The lawyer quietly began drafting the divorce agreement, carefully outlining the terms and conditions. The pen moved swiftly across the paper as he kept a blank fa
The Accardo's Manor Early that morning, Valerie heads out of the building to jog within the vicinity. Two hours later, she turns and jogs back. However, she is forced to stop when she sights a familiar figure standing in her way. Taking off her earpiece, she tuts silently and asks, "I didn't know you were out of jail. Did Gabriel release you?" "No, he didn't. Aindrea did. She even brought me to live here until I get an apartment." Damon responded, taking slow strides towards her. For each step he took, she took two steps backwards. Seeing this, he scoffed and stopped walking. "Why are you moving away from me? You don't think I'm going to hurt you, do you?""I heard people pick up bad behaviours in jail. I don't think we should continue our relationship. I think it's best if we both go our separate ways." She stated in a righteous voice. "Go our separate ways? Are you trying to abandon me now that I'm worth nothing?" He hissed and continued walking towards her. "Don't take it pe
The Forbes' Manor The next day Elaine walked down the stairs the next morning and straight to the dining room to see Andrea seated already and enjoying her breakfast. "I didn't know you were still around." "I'm not leaving until I find what I came for." Andrea stated, forking a pancake into her mouth. "Why do I have a feeling you're about to do something crazy? Maybe like, umm, snatch my empire from me?" Elaine chuckled, taking her seat opposite Andrea. "I have no business with your empire." Andrea thought she should clarify. "And you're not also upset that the more you hesitate to do what we talked about the other day, the more things you hold dear will keep getting snatched from you?" Elaine inquired, and raised her phone provocatively. She tapped a few things on it before sliding it over to Andrea. "Seen it?"Andrea dropped her fork and took up the phone. When she saw the heading of the news, she paused the video and slid it back to Elaine. "I watched the live broadcast.""
The Forbes' Manor Andrea slipped her phone out of her pocket when she felt it vibrate. It was a text message from Ryker. She read the words on it with a blank face before slipping back into her pocket. "You should respond to his messages." She heard Presley say behind her, but didn't turn to acknowledge her presence. "I'll talk with him when I've organized my thoughts." Andrea breathed out. Presley chuckled and walked towards her. She stood beside her and sighed. "You think you know Ryker Darius, don't you? What if I tell you there are a lot of things you don't know about him." "I'll believe you." Andrea replied almost immediately, catching Presley off guard. "Then you should know better than to believe any word that comes out of his mouth." Presley admonished, getting a grip on her emotions. "Thank you very much, aunt. I'll do well to keep that in mind." Andrea turned to her and smiled. "You're welcome." Presley nodded, returning the smile, "I also know you've been snooping