CHAPTER 3018 Months laterNICK“We have lost five contracts in the last six months, five! Does anyone want to tell me when we became the losing team?” I was pissed to no end, a year ago a company popped out of nowhere and started making waves. I didn’t notice it until we were in the same room bidding for the same contract.I didn’t know where they came from or who the owners are, but they are giving us a run for our money. They won that contract and they have been winning them since. It’s been six months now and we have lost five bloody contracts to them, and I wanted to know why. I needed to know how as well.Granted, they were good, but they had no background or reputation to speak of. I didn’t understand how investors and others put their trust in them. Because of that, we were losing, and they were winning. I called a deep briefing to try and find out what the hell is going on with my team.“Lina, what have you found about them?” I have asked her to do some digging on those people
NICKI have been going out of my mind since Ethan told me about Olivia being the owner of that business. I still couldn’t understand how she got investors to work with her after the scandal of two years ago. She must have a big backer because there was no way in hell, she managed to do that all on her own and within a year.“Now I see why the business has been suffering, you sit behind that desk and daydream all day instead of working.” I snapped out of it and my father was standing by the door. He didn’t look pleased at all. “Father, what are you doing here?” he walked in then came and sat in front of me.“I am here to help you save the business since you can’t seem to do it on your own.” I sighed, he didn’t understand, if it were anyone else, then I would have taken them out already, but this was my wife, the mother of my son, I couldn’t hurt her like that a second time.“I understand you have been trying to find out who owns that MW&O Corporation, and I am here to offer a solution.”
OLIVIA“When did you decide that our partnership was over?” Mr Ryan asked, I knew from his facial expression the day we started the partnership a year ago that he was willing to do anything to bring the Jones’s down. That was when I started looking for another investor.“I decided the moment you started using dirty tricks to get their contracts and approaching their clients behind their backs to sign with you. I told you from the start that if this was going to work then there should not be any dirty tricks. But you went back on your word and hired one of his people to work for you. I can’t work with someone like that.”He chuckled. “I thought you of all people would understand why I did what I did. James had a hand in my wife’s death and Nick sent you to prison for something you didn’t do. I thought you would want revenge as much as I do.”I leaned forward. “Mr Ryan, I want revenge as much as you do but I want to get it the right way. I don’t want to be involved in corporate espionag
OLIVIAI have not been at ease since the visit we got from father. His threat was real, and it got me scared that he was going to do something awful either to Marcas or the business. When I told him about my concerns, Marcas told me not to worry about it and that he was going to take care of it. So, I left everything in his capable hands.Right now, I was with Ethan, and we were picking up Samuel from Tyger Valley. I was worried sick about his reaction when he saw me. I wasn’t sure if he was going to remember me or not. I only saw him once after I gave birth to him and now, he was two years old and talking.“Don’t worry, he will remember you. No child could ever forget his mother.” Ethan tried to assure me, but it wasn’t working. “What does he like? I don’t want to get there empty handed.” We were at the airport gift shop. “You are enough gift for him, but if you want to get him something then get him a toy car, the transformers. He is obsessed with those.”I nodded; I was not a good
NICK“Nick look, isn’t that Olivia?” I turned to look; I didn’t need to be told twice that was my wife I was seeing. Even with her back on me, I could tell it was her and her laughter confirmed it. I would recognize that laugh anywhere, the kind that made my world stand still and everything in it disappear then it would just be she and I. with her laughing like that.“Oh, my God! She is with Marcus Walker, her high school boyfriend and your friend. Dear Lord, we will never find good men and get married because Olivia has all of them wrapped around her little finger.” My blood boiled when Sandra made that comment. I wasn’t going to go there but thinking about it, it made me angry.I walked there and with each step I took. I could feel my anger rising. I stood behind her with that Marcus guy facing me and Ethen facing the other way doing God knows what. “So, is this what you do?” she said nothing, didn’t even turn to look at me. “If it isn’t Nicky boy, it’s nice to finally meet you.”I
OLIVIAHe let her call me names in front of our son. He might have stopped her and took my side, but I could see that she still had a hold on him. I wished I knew what Sandra has on him to make him so loyal to her like that. The man never even showed emotion the day I gave him signed divorce papers.He brought them to my office, placed them in front of me and waited for me to sign them. Since he said nothing, there was no need for me to say anything as well. I just signed and gave him the papers so he could sign them as well and file them with the court.The man took the papers and walked out. It was like nothing happened, like I just signed another contract with a client and not a document that marked the end of our union. But then again, I was the one who asked for those divorce papers, I didn’t know why I was so emotional that day.“Hey, turn that frown upside down. That woman is beneath you. Her words should not have an effect on you and so is Nick’s. They deserve each other, they
OLIVIA“Beautiful flowers, who are they from?” asked Marcus coming in and standing next to me. “I think they are from Nick.” He didn’t say a word and just moved away from me. “They mean nothing, flowers are not going to erase everything Nick did to me, and they will not change our plans. Nick Jones is still going to pay for what he did to me, and I am going to make sure of it.”I didn’t know who I was trying to convince by saying that, the truth was that the flowers affected me and left me with many questions. Like what made him send me flowers suddenly, what was going through his mind, and did he think they were going to fix anything?“Phase two is underway. It will be any day now; we just have to wait.” Okay changing the subject was a clear indication that he didn’t want to talk about Nick. “The flowers don’t change anything Marcus, really.” I didn’t know why I felt the need to convince him of this. I just did.“I understand, don’t worry about me.” I nodded and went back to the loun
UNKOWN POVSomewhere downtown of New Village City, the shadiest place in the city, two individuals were meeting. The other was a young master of one of the prestigious families in New Village. The young master’s luxurious car was sticking out like a sore thumb in that place. One could tell it didn’t belong there.But to him, the car was unmarked and mysterious, not like the other cars he owned that were marked and could be easily recognised. The other was in disguise, no one could tell who the person was. Or what gender.The voice was modified and had a mask cover the whole face. Even the young master didn’t know who the individual was, but he was happy with the information the stranger was providing for him. “Are you prepared to enter the next stage? You saw that Walker was not affected in the slightest by what we did today. I want us to do more.”The young master said, he thought that burning that warehouse down was going to stop Olivia and Marcus, but the stubborn man appeared on t
OLIVIA I didn't stay after asking that question to Marcus, I know that he doesn't know the answer to that question as well. I might be hurt by everything that is happening but I know he is hurting as well. He doesn't show it but he is a shadow of the man I married. I have my doubts some days, especially when he is enjoying himself too much with that woman. I pour myself a glass of warm milk trying to get myself to sleep. Just when i lift the glass to take a sip, a knock comes on the door. I glance at the wall clock and it's after ten. Who could it be at this time? The person knocked again. "Who is it?" I asked moving away from the door. If it was Ethan, he would have called first and he has a key.I moved back some more worried to death. "Olivia, open the door." I stop moving and frown. That sounded like my father, what could he be doing here at this time of the night? "Olivia! Open the door." I rush to the door and open. Indeed, it is him with Nick by his side. "What are you two d
MARCUSI should have never suggested we have a baby, it is all my fault that this is happening now. If I didn't suggested it, my wife wouldn't be suffering, she, Samuel and I would be happy now. Going to the park together, trips, movies, dinners. Doing everything a happy couple should be doing. But I got greedy, I wasn't conted with what I had and I wanted more. Why, why did i want more, why couldn't I be content with things the way they were? Was it because Samuel is not my biological son? No that's not it. It was because I was afraid I would lose him to his real father when the truth came out.I wanted to have a child of my own so that it wouldn't hurt much when he left. Basically, I wanted a consolation prize which I was not meant to have. Now I am stuck with that disgusting woman and hurting my wife. As if she has not been hurt enough, as if the pain Nick caused her wasn't enough. Why the fuck aren't humans ever content? Men to be specific. We always want more.More money, more s
NICKI sat on that jet with the image of Olivia's sunken face engraved in my mind. I wanted to talk to her, find out if she was alright but as soon as the pitch was over, she disappeared. I thought of going over to her house to find out what was going on. Use the excuse that she invited me over not so long ago. But I held back, if she still wanted to talk to me, then she would have done so at the hotel after the pitch. But instead she left, that meant she was not ready to talk yet. But the image of her walking around looking like the dead hurt me. What could have happened to her? It's only been two months since I last saw her and she was happy. "Sir, we are here." I looked out and saw that we were outside Luke's office. Did he know what was happening with his daughter? I doubt it, he would have been there for her if he knew. A sigh left me. Owen opened the door for me and I got out. When I got to his office, i knocked once and let myself in. "I knew it could only be you who would h
OLIVIAI have tried, the Lord knows, I have tried. I have tried to keep the promise i made to my husband for the sake of our child. I have tried to be brave, to endure but it's too difficult. Each day I see less and less of my husband. Each day i lose a part of me, a part of my marriage, my happiness. I feel like I was never meant to be happy in this world. At least not with someone by myside, maybe my destiny is to remain alone, rasing my kids and working to make a life for them. One that will be way better than the one I had. Maybe I should just give up on love and focus on those who need me the most. My kids.I have desperately tried to love, first it was Nick, I gave him my all and he betrayed me. Now Marcus, the man is doing the most for the woman who came into my home as a nobody, just carrier for my child but now seems to own my home. My house no longer feels like home and I find myself not wanting to go back at the end of the day.I used to look forward to going home but now
OLIVIAMy blood boiled, “Excuse me, what did you just say?” Lupita was right, the woman did think she was the madame of the house. Where the hell did, she get the audacity to say something like that to me and in my own house. Treating my son like that in his home, she was the guest, and she seemed to forget that.“I asked what are you going to do if I call him a brat?” she repeated herself and I closed the distance between us. Marcus was quick to pull me aside. “Let us all calm down here,” he turned to Jennifer. “I know you are emotional, and little thing might upset you, but Samuel is a child. You don’t treat him like that.”She laughed as if she was a crazy woman. “Then what am I carrying Marcus? Is it not your child that I am carrying and trying to protect? Why would you even reprimand me and not this boy for being so careless? I could have been holding hot tea and it would have spil
OLIVIAI trusted my husband, besides our recent disagreements about Jennifer. I felt like there was something else going on. I didn’t want to think he was cheating on me with her, he was not that kind of man. Well, I also thought Nick was not that kind of man.He said he never cheated as well, that nothing ever happened between him and Sandra. But in my opinion, what he did with her was far worse than cheating. He neglected me, trusted her over me and even sent me to jail. I had a criminal record under my name because of him.Then there was my current husband, he looked hurt when he said he would do better, when he said he thought he was better than only to find out that they were the same. Then he told me to always remember that I was his, that he loved me.That alone told me that something was going on with him, something that might make me doubt his love for me. I wished I knew what it was, I wished he would talk to me and tell m
MARCUSI was going crazy; it was like Jennifer was possessed. The way she was threatening me, it made me wonder what happened to her, the woman we met and interviewed. Or was the person she was showing me now the real her and the woman we interviewed was fake.Was it all a lie? I did say there was something with her that I couldn’t put my finger on. I guess this was it, she was a psychopath and a pathological liar. There was no way a normal person could act the way she did. I feared for my wife as she didn’t seem to like her much.I feared for my baby even though she seemed to think that it was hers and mine. Just what kind of psychological test did the do with these women in the clinic and how did they miss that Jennifer was fucking crazy!When I was done with her feet she was yawning. I left when she was about to get out of the bath. I didn’t know what to do. All I knew was that I needed to tell someone. My wife? No, i
JENNIFERI clenched my hands into fists. Olivia, what the fuck have you done now? Marcus was warming up to me and doing everything I wanted. Then you went and ruined it all. You are starting to piss me off and you don’t want me to be pissed off. there is a lot I can do to make your life a living hell.“Of course, I can run myself a bath.”“Do that then.” He was so cold to me, colder than I have ever seen him and it was all Olivia’s fault. That woman doesn’t like seeing other people happy, she thinks she is the only one who deserves happiness. He turned and started walking away.“She might be working all day, but I am the one growing a human inside me, your baby. I would think my job is more important than hers, not unless you don’t really want this baby then I will understand.” He stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to look at me.His face void of emotions and if looks
MARCUSI couldn’t believe what I was hearing, so, she decided to tell Nick about Samuel. She even called him her son’s real father, like I was nothing but a replacement. I saw how tired she was, and I went to call the masseuse, I had booked for her, Lupita, grandma and Jennifer.I wanted them to relax and be pampered. She and I had a long way to go when the baby arrived. I wanted to spoil her now before all our time was taken by the baby. I guess, she was eager for her and Nick to get back together. Maybe I was just wasting my time trying to show her that I only wanted to be with her.I turned back without saying a word going straight to our room. I laid down staring at the ceiling as if it was going to provide me with answers or great wisdom on how to deal with what was happening. I didn’t know how long I laid there for when the door opened.My beautiful wife walked in, and I could not help but take in the sight of her. she looks radiant but the look in her eyes was distant and sad.