The dimly lit room was filled with seated men and women while few preferred to stand. "In light of the recent appearance of Ghost, an unanimous decision has been made by the mafia council to revoke your right of competing for godfather." Edward was the first to say something. Because he was representing the Forbes tonight, he had been given the power to do whatever he wanted as long as it didn't harm the Forbes in any way. Gabriel said nothing, but his eyes were firm and deep. "Ghost's appearance is being taken care of by me. There's no need to strip him of it." Marco butted in, walking forward a little. "I did this, my right to stay in the mafia should be revoked." "As I said, it was a unanimous decision by the mafia council. Although you failed to deliver your promise, Gabriel failed in disciplining you. If he can exempt you despite making such a mistake, it only goes to show he'll keep exempting you in the future." Edward countered, the corners of his lips curling up into an e
"How did you know about the plot?" Carrie asked Andrea as they walked back to the party. Gabriel and Ryker were up taking care of the mess while trying to find out who was responsible for the attack. Andrea on the other hand became dizzy and had to be supported by Carrie as they headed back to the party. "Not to brag, but I'm someone very important." Andrea chuckled, tilting her head to look at Carrie. "With Ryker Darius, Gabriel Accardo and who knows, maybe the Forbes, protecting me, it'll be a suicide attempt to try assassinating me. No one would dare it." "Your father also received a call that night that his daughter was going to be killed tonight. Could it have been a mistake?" Carrie thought. "It wasn't a mistake if that's what you're thinking." Andrea sighed, "Whoever did this knows what he did. Gabriel and Ryker's attention were all on me that they forgot to protect themselves. With Gabriel's men watching me like a hawk, he was left all alone." "Making it easier for him to
"I was starting to think you were dead." Gabriel said as soon as he saw Alessandro stir. Alessandro, who was bandaged from head to toe, smiled painfully but still tried to get out of bed. "With a bullet wound near your heart, it won't take long for it to tear open once again, with the blood surging towards your heart, you'll probably die." Gabriel said from the side. Alessandro didn't stop. He successfully got out of bed and walked up to Gabriel. Then with a loud thud, he fell on his knees in front of him. "It doesn't matter what happens to me, I failed in protecting you. Hence, I deserve to die." Gabriel said nothing. Turning to look at Alessandro, he scoffed, "Death is too easy an escape for you. Moreover, I wouldn't get you treated if I was going to kill you. Get yourself together, I need the heads of those who tried to kill me on my table as soon as possible." "As you please, boss." Alessandro nodded, still having his head down. Gabriel said nothing for a long time before
"I think I forgot something at home. Just drop me off by the junction." Andrea said as Ryker drove out of the airport. "What is that? I asked Hayden to help me with something in my office. He can bring it to the junction for you." Ryker replied, briefly glancing at her, then taking his eyes back to the road. "He won't find it." Andrea breathed out. Ryker glanced at her again and nodded. When he got to the junction, he stopped and said in distress, "Why don't I call Hayden to come pick you up?" "I'll be fine. Besides, who'd dare attack me in Ryker Darius' manor?" She chuckled and reached for the doorknob. However, Ryker held her back, when she turned, he grinned, "You really didn't think you'd be able to escape after the stunt you pulled earlier at the airport?" "Stunt? What stunt?" Andrea asked, acting clueless. Ryker stared at her for a long time before he smiled, "One day, you'll walk into my trap and there'll be no way out." Andrea raised an amused brow, but said nothing. T
Carrie opened the door to an unfamiliar face. "I think you have the wrong address." She said and tried to close the door, but Jordan placed his leg in the way. Whipping out his phone, he showed her the address Andrea forwarded to him. Andrea's name was also visible which made Carrie reconsider. "She said she was going to come." "Something probably came up so she called and asked me to take care of things around here." Jordan said as he walked into the room. He glanced around, but caught no sight of any other person, "I was told you have six men with you." "They should be in the other room. You can go talk to them." Carrie replied, reaching into her pocket almost immediately. Without raising her eyes again, she walked out of the door, leaving the words, "I'll be back." "Yes." She answered the call when she had gone a distance from the house. "You've been there for quite some time, but you're not making any progress. Isn't it too early to show your incompetence?" A harsh voice so
In a coffee shop"So, I was able to gather some data on who might've attacked your father." Cheryl said as she took out a black envelope. Then she handed it over to Andrea. Andrea raised a brow and took it. Flipping it open, her eyes quickly rummaged through it. "Elaborate." She said after a moment of silence. "Your father was attacked by a group called Dark Knights. They're a small criminal organization who usually keep to themselves." "So they were hired to assassinate?" Andrea asked. Seeing Cheryl nod, she added, "But I've never heard of them before. How long have they been in existence?" "As I said, they are a small organization who keep to themselves. And they've been in existence for more than five years. They don't do business with just anybody and only a few even know how to identify them, which is that symbol there." Cheryl retorted, pointing to the opened file. "I see." "So my conclusion is; someone close to them asked them to kill your father because they don't take
"Is there something I am missing, Davis?" Andrea broke the silence in the car. Davis who had been hoping she wouldn't ask, almost stepped on the brakes in fright. He met her eyes through the rearview mirror and quickly took down his eyes in fright. "What? Of course not." Davis replied in a stoic voice. Andrea tilted her head outside the car's window and went silent. "Stop the car." Davis immediately found somewhere to park and killed the car's engine. The silence in the car was once again broken by Andrea who took up her phone, "Do you remember the 14-year-old who got molested by Reuben Mark?" "Yes, I do." "Do you know she's dead?" She asked again and Davis' eyes immediately went to her. Recalling the way she looked that day, he had a bad feeling regarding her involvement with Reuben Mark. "I had no idea I was supposed to keep tabs on her. I'm sorry." He muttered. Andrea chuckled and glanced up at him, "There's no need to keep things away from me or be wary of me since I'm n
Seeing Carrie's apartment door open, Andrea got up, but stopped seeing a lady walk out. Before she walked away, she kissed Carrie on the lips. Feeling someone's eyes on her, Carrie turned towards Andrea's direction and the corner of her lip spasmed. "I didn't think you'd be the female type. I guess it's true looks can be really deceiving." Andrea chuckled as she walked into the house. "It's a little creepy to see you outside my house when I don't remember telling you where I live." Carrie said instead, glancing around before closing the door. "You don't need to tell me, Carrie. That's why I have people like Davis and Cheryl." Andrea uttered, walking towards the vending machine. Andrea was surprised when Davis told her about Carrie's apartment. The room wasn't bad, but her old self would never step foot in it no matter what. "I expected a penthouse or a house in the beach with a tall, muscular man." Andrea mumbeld looking around the room. "I must confess, your choices leaves me b
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