As Ava dropped the call, there was a warm smile on her face. She looked from the car key in her hands to the car in front of her."Do you need someone to drive you?" Kyla asked, coming up behind Ava.Ava shook her head and responded, "Hmmm, no, I think I've got it from here, although I won't mind having a driver on the long run."Kyla nodded and responded, "Okay, I'll take note of that.""Sure, and also we would have to share a lot of time together starting next week; let's just get used to this new arrangement for now," Ava added.Kyla smiled and replied, "Sure, that comes with the job.""Hmm, hmm, okay, see you tomorrow, and thanks for this," Ava stated as she got into the car.She had been surprised when Kyla had handed her the keys just as she had stepped out of her office earlier.After putting the key in the ignition, she started the car and pulled out of the underground garage."Bella is in for a shock," Ava muttered, chuckling softly as she thought of the look Bella was going
"What's wrong?" Ava asked as she saw the look on Bella's face."I just got a text from the Imperial College, and I have no idea what that…" Bella responded, trailing off as her eyes widened in clarity."It's the kids school," Ava stated."Yes, I just kind of remembered now," Bella replied, as she slid up the screen of her phone to read the text."What does it say?" Ava asked."Well, something to do with the competition," Bella replied, her eyes narrowed as she continued to scroll down her phone."Okay, but wait, why are you the one getting the text?" Ava asked."How do I know? Maybe one of you dropped my contact with the school," Bella replied."One of who?" Ava asked as she turned into their street."You and Brad, of course," Bella stated."Oh," Ava mumbled as she realized what she had meant."So, it turns out the competition has been moved to the week before school resumption."Why? Did it say anything as to why it has been moved?" Ava asked."No, only apologizing for any inconvenie
Nora stared at the unknown number for a while, wondering who it was from. The text was hidden, so she had to unlock her phone to get the full message.'We should catch up, especially now that you are married to Nathan. Don't you think we have a lot to talk about?Save my number; you just might need to reach out. I just figured you would still use the same contact.love,Phillip'There was a wink emoji right underneath the text, which only served to increase her anger."What nonsense," Nora exclaimed as she shut her phone.Her driver looked at her through the rearview mirror, wise enough to know he was not supposed to comment."What the h*ll is he trying to do?" Nora muttered to herself.As she spoke, her driver turned into the drive down the estate towards the house."I need to do something fast," Nora mumbled under her breath as she got out of the car."Good night, Ms. Nora," her driver said.She didn't bother to answer as her mind was occupied with other thoughts.As she opened the
"You are going to what, Grandpa?" Nathan asked, his voice still hardened in anger.The whole room became silent as they looked from Nathan to Timothy."Can we stop this? Nathan, do not get your grandfather more angry," Nora pleaded."I will take the Crawford group from your hands and hand it over to Tyler," Timothy shouted, stomping his walking stick on the floor.It was like Timothy had dropped a bombshell in the room. There were several reactions to his statement."What?" Nathan exclaimed in shock."What?" Tyler stated in surprise."Oh," Clara muttered in excitement.Peter stood there, his face completely neutral as he looked from his father to his sons."No, you can't do that, Grandpa; I'm sure Nathan is sorry," Nora said quickly, rushing to Nathan's side."That is final, Nathan; my judgment is final." Timothy stated, his voice firm, leaving no room for argument as he turned towards the stairs."You can't do this, Grandpa. My mother worked for this; she sacrificed her life for this
"What text?" Ava asked, trying to stifle a yawn."From the Imperial College," Brad clarified as Lucy came out to set the table."How was work today?" Lucy asked them."It was exhausting," Bella exclaimed."All you need to get your stomach filled and you will be alright," Lucy replied with a warm smile.Ava looked at Brad and asked, "How did you know about the text?""Well, that's a short story I would like to tell," Brad replied with a smile."Okay, hold that thought; I need to get changed," Ava responded."We'll be right back," Bella added as they went up the stairs.A few seconds later, they headed down to the dining room where Brad was already seated with the kids."So, what is the story?" Bella asked."I met this Crawford lady at the school, remember the one with the attitude I told you about?" Brad asked."Yes, you mean Nora," Bella replied with a scoff."Hmm hmm, that's her," Brad stated."So what really happened?" Ava asked.Brad narrated the whole ordeal to them, and by the ti
Clara looked around to ensure they were alone again before she continued."I am talking about the workers we moved from the head office," Clara stated."Oh, I see," Wyatt responded, finally understanding what she meant."Yes, what have you done about them?" Clara asked."Nothing yet, but I'm planning to move them to another branch," Wyatt stated.Clara shook her head as she replied, "I do not think another branch would work; that would mean their names could be easily traced on the staff file, and we would have to involve the human resource department.""Then what do you have in mind?" Wyatt asked her."You're not going to like what I have in mind, but that seems to be the final decision right now," Clara replied."Let's hear it first, then I will decide if it's worth implementing," Wyatt told her."Okay, how about we do what we did all those years ago, the final one that would make us not worry about them anymore?" Clara whispered, her voice barely above a whisper.Wyatt's face became
"I mean, you have never really been so focused on one thing as much as you have on Ava." Beth said.Noah turned back to focus on the road ahead. He had no words with which to explain to her how exactly he felt, so he kept mute."I sincerely hope everything works out fine, though," Beth stated."Me too," Noah murmured."That reminds me, why the sudden change? You were supposed to work the night shift." Beth asked."I had some things I needed to get to tonight, one of which was to drive you home," Noah responded with a wink."Hey, don't put that on me," Beth replied with a chuckle."Okay, I won't," Noah responded."I just hope all our plans work out and all the effort we have put into them does not just go to waste," Beth stated as she sighed deeply."Hmm, hmmm," Noah muttered.As Noah drove into his street, Beth looked at him and stated, "You know when you said you were going to go into the clothing line, I didn't really think you were going to do so well."Noah raised his brow at her
He walked into the office like he owned it, looking straight at her.For a minute, Ava thought she was dreaming as she blinked again to be sure.“You look like I’m a ghost; you must really think me dead,” Nathan said as he stopped in front of her desk.“What are you doing here?” Ava asked, standing up abruptly from her seat.There was no way he would voluntarily come see her of his own accord, Ava thought.“That is no way to treat a guest.” Nathan stated with raised brows.Considering the awful day and night he had yesterday, he was pretty much being very calm, Nathan thought as he turned around.“Last time I was here I could not say congratulations; I guess it’s not too late to say it now,” Nathan stated.“You were here?” Ava asked.“Oh yeah, I just didn’t come up to see you,” Nathan replied.Ava’s brow rose up as his words sank in, and then after a few seconds, she shook her head and thought, What are you doing? you should be asking him why he is in your office.“What do you want, N
Ava took a step towards the door, but Bella held her back, shaking her head at Ava."No," Bella said.There was a bit of silence in the room before they heard Noah speak again."She does not know, nor does she know about the contract," Noah said."Wow, I can't seem to believe that she does not. Well, it's a good thing that she accepted your proposal; all we need to do now is speed up the wedding process." Beth said."Of course, that should be real easy." Noah said."After all the groundwork you have put in, it should be easy. I actually thought Philip was going to spoil things for us; it turned out he was only after his own pocket," Beth said."Yeah, there was no need to worry. As long as it did not affect what I had planned with Ava." Noah replied."It all feels like yesterday, though," Beth muttered."Yeah, it's a good thing my proposal to partner with Elegance and Style all those years ago was not successful. Now I get to own a part of it all, which is much better. My dream to ventu
Nathan was frozen, unable to move an inch as he stared at Noah on his knees before locking his gaze with Ava."Say yes," people chorused around them.Ava took a deep breath and then looked at Noah and said, "Yes."A round of applause and gleeful cheer rose from the group around them as Noah slipped the ring on Ava's finger."Thank you," Noah said as he stood up and hugged her."Congratulations," everyone said as they walked past them."Let's find our table," Ava said.They both walked into the main hall, leaving a frozen Nathan still standing there.As soon as Bella saw Ava, she jumped up and walked over to her and hugged her tightly."Didn't seem like you both were that serious yet," Bella whispered, a forced smile plastered on her face."Neither did I," Ava whispered back with a forced smile."I need to check something at the back; my store is showcasing some of our latest collection." Noah explained."Okay," Ava said.Noah kissed the back of her hand and excused himself. Ava watche
The room went silent as they all looked up to see who the man was pointing at."Oh my god!" Ava exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand as she stared at her.She could not believe her eyes. How could she do something so wicked, so heartless?"Mom?" Tyler called, looking confused, "Did you do it?"Clara had her head to the ground, unable to lift it up to face Timothy."Oh, God," Peter said, falling back against the couch as he held his chest.Nathan's hand clenched into a fist at his side as he looked at Clara through death-stricken eyes."Take him outside; there are a lot more persons that would need to follow him to the police station." Timothy instructed the security guys.Clara went to her knees and begged, "I didn't know what I was doing; I'm sorry.""So you killed my mother? Why? What did she do to you? And then you threatened me to leave town. What did I ever do to you?" Ava asked, choking back tears."No, your mother's accident was a natural cause; I had nothing to do with
Nathan's words fell like a bomb as jaws dropped in shock. Everyone in the room looked from him to Nora, waiting for her to refute his statement."Did he speak with you?" Nora slipped, the words coming out of her lips before she could think."Oh my god," Wyatt exclaimed.Everyone started to speak at the same time, the whole room going into an uproar as they all tried to speak over each other.Ava sat there, her face neutral as she took in what was happening."Quiet!" Tyler shouted, bringing the room to a sudden silence.Nora's eyes darted from Nathan's to Timothy's, who sat awestruck, staring at her."Where is Thomas?" Ava asked."None of your f*cking business!" Nora shouted at her.Nathan turned, noticing Ava for the first time since he walked into the house."Ava?" Nathan called softly."Surely you do not want him to hear all this, right?" Ava snapped, getting visibly angry at Nora's lack of consideration."I will go make sure he isn't anywhere near and get one of the housekeepers to
"Thank you for having me, doctor. So you're saying he can get the transfusion tomorrow?" Nathan asked."Yes, he can. We have taken quite a bit from you, and it's a good thing that it matches, and we can give it to him. However, this might be a temporary fix, but let's get over this hurdle first, and then we can talk about the next step." The doctor explained"Okay, thank you so much. Do I get the results?" Nathan asked."Of course, I believe you would want to have a read-through yourself." The doctor replied and added, "You can pick it up at the lab on your way.""Thank you, doctor. I'll be on my way. Tomorrow, I'll be here with Thomas," Nathan said."We will be expecting you." The doctor replied, standing up to shake his hands before Nathan left.Nathan walked over to the lab and requested his results from the nurse at the station."Good day, Mr. Crawford, give me a minute, please." The nurse said and walked towards a table.She picked up an envelope and discovered there was another
"They have taken the sample; we would get the results tomorrow," Nathan explained."That was fast," Clara muttered."I will stay with him; you guys can go home; it's been a long day already," Nathan said."Okay, call us if you need anything, okay?" Peter said."I will," Nathan responded."I am staying with my son too," Nora insisted.There was no reasoning with her, so Nathan allowed her.The night was long, but by the time it was morning, Thomas was feeling much better."The results are not out yet, but he can be discharged. We should be able to book an appointment for when he would come in for the transfusion in the next two days," the doctor said."Okay, that's good. Thank you, doctor." Nathan responded.By the time they got home, it was almost midday. Everyone was waiting for them in the living room."Hey there, champ, How are you feeling?" Tyler asked."I'm fine, Uncle Tyler," Thomas responded.Timothy walked down the stairs at the moment, smiled at Thomas, and said, "You feel bet
By the time they got to the garage, the sun was setting, and Nathan was already exhausted."Now it's good we all came here as Nora suggested. We haven't been seen in public together for a while." Peter said, a satisfied smile on his face."I agree," Wyatt seconded.Thomas held his mother's hand, who had refused to give him a smile or say as much as a word to him since losing the competition."Why do you look so sad, champ? You'll win the next one, okay? Tyler said, ruffling his hair.Nora pulled Thomas away from him and placed him behind her.Nathan picked him up and smiled at him, saying, "Do you want ice cream? Don't worry about the competition, okay? You'll get another chance."Thomas nodded, finally smiling at his father as he replied, "Okay."Nathan touched his forehead and looked over at Nora to ask, "Is Thomas on any medication? Why is he running a temperature?""Nothing is wrong with him. He is probably just pretending since he does not want to get scolded for losing the compe
"How did you find out?" Timothy asked."That has nothing to do with the answer you are supposed to give me," Ava responded as she folded the tissue and walked over to a wastebasket in the corner of the room.Timothy stood up and walked over to the window, a grim expression on his face.Ava stood silently behind him, waiting for him to speak, and at last he did."Your mother saved me from a car accident," Timothy stated.Ava was not so sure what he was talking about. She was vaguely aware of the accident but not her mother's involvement in it."Olivia was at the location of the accident that day. Ruth, Nathan's mother, and I were on our way to the factory that fateful day when it happened." Timothy narrated."The same accident Nathan's mother died in?" Ava asked."Yes, your mother pulled me out of the car, but it was too late for Ruth; she died as the car blew up." Timothy said, his voice cracking up, so he paused for a second."Is this why you built a whole textile factory with my mom
Nathan turned back to face Nora and asked, "What are you talking about?""I... I mean, did he…" Nora replied, trailing off as she took in the confused look on his face."Did who?" Nathan asked again, before adding, "I really don't get a word of what you are saying.""Oh, I mean, did you have a discussion with Tyler because you sound like him blaming me for whatnot?" Nora quickly said to cover up her slip."What in God's name did Tyler do this time around?" Tyler asked, coming up behind Nathan."What don't you do?" Nora asked, not really in the mood to get on his bad side since she still needed his help."This is not the time for this. Where is Grandpa?" Nathan asked the both of them."Where else? He has gone home, something you would know if he had told you, but oops," Tyler muttered, covering his mouth as he added, "You both aren't exactly on good terms right now, right?"Nathan's face hardened, but he forced himself to relax, keeping in mind they were at a public event."Tyler, you'