Stephanie sighed as she glanced around the room which was much bigger than her previous apartment entirely. It was beautiful and everything was pink and fresh,with the smell of daises overwhelming her senses.
It was either he had decorated the room for her,or this used to be a woman’s room. She was very sure it was the former as she would have known if a woman lived with him. “It’s your room. Make yourself at home” Paul said and turned to leave. “Thanks,I’ll be sure to lock myself in it for the next few months” she quipped sardonically,noting that indeed her things had been arranged in the room. “I brought all your things.And bought a few more” he said before leaving,ignoring her statement. True to his words,she opened the wardrobe to find it filled with all kind of dresses!. They were designer and she gasped in surprise. She found her own dress among them,looking like it belonged anywhere else but this room. She believed that indeed he had arranged the room for her and the clothes were just part of the payment for her child. She closed her eyes as she clenched her fist in pain,wishing she was powerful enough to face Paul,to keep her child with her. ============ The shrill ring of the phone made Stephanie open her eyes slowly before jolting up in confusion. She glanced at the door,realizing where she was and muttered a curse. She picked up the phone,sighing when she saw Ciara’s picture and name pop up on the screen. “Hello” she called out.“Where the hell are you?!. I’ve been banging on your door and you aren’t answering! And they said you got discharged from the hospital earlier this evening!!. Are you okay?,where are you!”“Calm down Cy!,i’m fine” she said,closing the door and sitting down on the bed.“I’m about to lose my mind right now!,where are you!” Ciara yelled out again.“I didn’t get a chance to tell you—“ she began.“Tell me what?!!” Ciara cut in quickly.Stephanie exhaled,wondering how her friend would react to the news.“I signed the contract” she said,almost in a whisper.“Well finally!,you can’t waste your time hoping to win this matter!,but that doesn’t answer my question. Where the hell are you!” Ciara yelled out.Stephanie removed the phone from her ear and exhaled loudly. Ciara was a good friend but sometimes—,sometimes she was just too much. “I —just meet me at the playground in thirty minutes ” she said finally,putting the phone back on her ear and hoping that Ciara doesn’t yell again.“What is going on Steph?,please talk to me!” Ciara ‘s voice was laced with concern,hoping that her friend hadn't done something stupid. “You'll find out as soon as we meet” she said, ending the call.She glanced down at her attire and contemplated on going out with it or changing to something more appropriate. She decided to go with something else even though it was already late and the playground will be empty by this time. She rummaged through the closet and pulled out a pair of tight fitted jeans and a purple off shoulder blouse. A dress caught her eyes,she recognized it as a limited edition Sophie wang’s dress that Ciara was always talking about as she daydreamed of being rich. Apparently that dress cost a fortune and she was tempted to wear it to show Ciara but she refused to touch any of the clothes he bought for her. She wanted nothing to do with his money. Her child wasn’t for sale and she hoped that if it grew up,it’ll understand that she never took a dime from him,she was only manipulated into signing a contract. She wiped a tear from her eyes and looked at herself In the mirror,trying out different smiles and voicing out words of encouragement to herself. “Where the hell are you going to at this time of the night?” Paul asked as Stephanie was about to go outside. She didn’t even see him standing by the wine cellar. She wanted to leave as quietly as possible and be back before he notices her absence.“Out”“It’s 10:30” he said,his gaze unwavering.“I’m going out” she huffed in annoyance and made to leave.“Where!!!” His voice boomed as he stared daggers at her.“I’m going to meet a friend!!!” She exclaimed in frustration.“You can’t!. It’s late” he said firmly and she snorted.“Am I a hostage here?”, “You manipulated me into signing an evil contract and now you want to hold me hostage?,” she chuckled in disbelief.“You have to think of the baby..” he was still saying when she cut in.“The baby?” She exhaled. “The baby is all I think about all day!!,the baby is what brought me into this mess. So don’t you dare talk to me about the baby!!” She yelled in rage and Paul looked at her,wondering how his gentle personal assistant suddenly transformed into something he was unable to define.“You won’t leave this house tonight” he said firmly,his eyes daring her.“Try stopping me”she snarled and went through the door,shutting it loudly,leaving Paul looking belwildered. ==============================“I’ve been here for almost an hour” Ciara huffed in annoyance as Stephanie made to sit beside her. She was expecting Paul to chase her down to the playground and was glad when he didn’t. Just because she signed the contract does not mean that he could order her around. She doesn’t work for him anymore anyways.“Hey” she said as she sat down.“What the fuck is going on?” Ciara asked as she took a sip of her milkshake. “Want some?” She asked, offering it to Stephanie who declined.“The thing is….”Ciara cut in again, “why weren’t you at your apartment?”“I..er…well you see….” She trailed off,feeling like a child explaining bad deeds to her parents.“I moved in with Paul” she said quickly after a while as Ciara looked at her intently.“You….what??!!!!” She yelled.almost choking on her milkshake. “You’re joking right?”“I wish I was!!. You know I didn’t want to sign that contract!. He manipulated me into doing that!. He knows I can’t say no to him after being so kind to me” Stephanie said,her voice depicting how sad she was.“So..one of the contract clauses was you moving in with him?”“Yes!. And not working anywhere,even at Costa inc. until the baby is born. Cy,I feel like I sold myself and my baby to this man” she said in regret.“Damn!!! And you absolutely cannot do anything about it!. People like us dare not challenge people like him else they’ll use their money to crush us” Ciara said and Stephanie nodded silently.“But the house is beautiful at least” ciara quipped and Stephanie smiled sadly. It was only the bed and her baby that brought her joy.“You know I’ve been there several times,but not into any of the rooms…” Stephanie began and then proceeded to tell Ciara everything about the room,including the clothes and the Sophie wang’s dress and Ciara gushed about how at least she was being held hostage in a mansion. “I don’t mind being held hostage for a Sophie wang dress” she had said. They talked for a while with Ciara promising to visit next time before they both left.Unknown to Stephanie,as she entered the house,someone in a car by the corner saw her and looked on in surprise,noting that it was late and the gate was opened for her as if she lived there. The onlooker sighed sadly and stepped out of the car.I’m sorry for the irregular update,but I promise at least three chapters a week from now on.
‘You don’t own me!’,she yelled back at him.Stephanie had entered the house and was about to head straight to her room when Paul stopped her and asked her why she spent such a long time outside the house.‘no!,but I own the baby in your stomach,so it could be said that I own you too!. He fired back and soon the house became filled with their yellings as Paul’s voice reverberated.‘I regret seeing you that night’,she spat out bitterly,remembering the night that led to these chain of events.‘same!,’he replied. Out of hundreds of women in the club that night,why didn’t he pick any of them instead of his personal assistant!Why did he even go there that night!!,he mentally questioned himself. Women like Stephanie were only meant to be for fun,not carrying his child!. Stephanie was about to say something when the door opened,followed by a very familiar voice.‘What is going on here?’All eyes turned to the blonde woman that
Paul sat at the counter of the dimly lit bar, fiddling with the drink in his hand. He had been sitting and waiting for Kenneth for almost thirty minutes and was really losing his patience. The two women at his home really bothered him. Victoria had tried to get him to lay with her so many times that he believed she got tired and stopped. He saw the hurt in her face each time he rejected her and it bothered him, leaving him feeling awful about deceiving her, but it had to be done. He had to marry her or risk losing the company to his cousin, whom he absolutely despised. But he was happy that she was making an effort to be close to Stephanie, who has avoided him ever since Victoria showed up.He pulled his phone from his pocket and began to dial Kenneth’s number when he felt a pat on his shoulder.He shoved the phone back into his pocket, sighing as he saw the familiar face. It was Kenneth.‘I thought I was going to grow grey hairs here waiting for
A day before the fundraising event,Stephanie came back from Ciara’s house feeling a bit uneasy. She had told Ciara everything about the incident with Victoria and they decided to find out about the woman named Helena by themselves instead of asking paul. She feared what she would hear. She had never heard that name but it did sound familiar,like she's heard it somewhere before.As soon as she arrived in her room,she plopped down on the bed,trying to rid herself of the gnawing feeling in her belly. She groaned when a knock on her door prevented her from doing so. It was probably Victoria or the cleaning lady. After that incident,Victoria hadn’t even bothered to talk to her at all and frankly,she preferred it like that. She knew Victoria hated her but what was she to do?,she was here against her own volition.‘It's open’ ,she called out,easing herself upwards. The door opened and she sighed upon seeing who it was,she definitely wasn’t expecting him,it was paul.
Theresa Costa was a woman who hated nothing more than embarrassments, but what she had experienced the night before was something she totally wasn't expecting.She had pleaded with The Ross’ to not call the marriage off, that it was just a small issue and her son wasn't in his right senses. The Ross’ had angrily left the ceremony and she had paid her most trusted bodyguard to make sure that news didn't spread about what had happened that evening.That night, she tossed and turned as she thought of what she and her husband had worked for, going down the drain because of her son's stupidity. If it were another woman, she might not have been this bothered, but it was Stephanie! A common personal assistant! A nobody!It was just too much for her to believe and as soon as it was dawn, she got up and dressed up. Her maid, Cara glanced at her, wondering why she had put on a very dark lipstick. She knew the woman she served and she knew that her lipsticks were worn according to how she felt,
“I’m pregnant” She said in the calmest voice she could muster with her blue eyes looking everywhere else but his. Paul Costa’s grey eyes shot up to the woman before him, easing his back onto the chair in his huge office. The Woman has been working for him for the past six years since he became the executive director of Costa Incorporation. There was something different about her this afternoon, perhaps it was the way she styled her hair or the Color of her eyes, He had never seen her without her glasses. That was probably why she seemed so different. Heck! It could even be the perfume she was wearing, it was jasmine. Paul couldn’t remember if her hair had always been this black or her eyes this blue. He wasn’t sure if any of those things were attributed to the difference he saw in her, But then, he had never paid any attention to her, all he knows was that she could do her job right, she was the ‘perfect assistant’ and that was why she still worked for him after 6 years. Stephani
“Excuse me, sir?!” Stephanie’s eyes shot up as she stared at him,gasping as she realized what he meant. He was offering her such a huge amount of money to get rid of the baby, her baby!!. She was not prepared for this at all, She shouldn’t even be here but here She was,being told to kill her baby for a fee,a huge one. She thought the best thing to do after finding out about her pregnancy was to let the father of the baby know, She didn’t think about his reaction and the fact that He wouldn’t be too pleased to father a child with her or could even deny the pregnancy. A highly respected multibillionaire like him could suffer from such scandal and this would have a huge effect on the company, stock prices will go down. Of course,the best way to prevent that was to not father a child with her,therefore,the baby must be terminated. But she loves children, she had always wanted children of her own with a man she loves and She is about to have a child now, with a man she is head over he
It was around 8:00 a.m. when Paul Costa strode into his office building. It was a huge building, the headquarters of Costa incorporations, in the very Heart of New York. He was wearing an Armani suit and a blue tie, he looked as handsome as always and had a smile etched on his face. The moment his foot touched the marble floor, everyone fell quiet. Nobody was expecting him until 9:00 a.m. and they certainly didn’t expect to see him smiling, it was strange. He never smiled, he was always scowling and frowning. People parted as he made his way to the elevator, they had the notion that his smile was dangerous. He went all the way up,to the top floor. He walked past an empty desk, where the personal assistant should be, and noting her absence he nodded. Immediately he got into his office,he reached for the telephone and stopped after seeing the letter across his desk. “Dear Mr. Costa, You are to sign the documents in the envelope under this letter. You also have a conference call wi
“Work stress?” He asked, noting the worry etched on his friend’s face. Kenneth smith has been Paul’s best friend and close confidante since childhood. He knew all about Paul’s problems and “sexcapades”. Paul nodded his head in disagreement, and Kenneth chuckled lightly. “Ross?” He asked,knowing how Paul felt towards his intended marriage to Victoria. “There is also that,” Paul said with a sigh,dropping his glass on the table. “There’s nothing you can do about that one” Keneth said with a soft smile, “besides,i heard she’s good down there” he added again and that caused Paul to look at him with a murderous glare. Victoria’s adventures weren’t a secret and apparently that did not bother his mother as she was hell bent on him marrying her and acquiring Ross incorporation. “Thought you didn’t care about that,” Keneth said and raised his hands defensively. “But really,why can’t we do anything about it?” Paul asked and Kenneth looked at him puzzled.“Do what?” He questioned,looking co