“Come and see, Nathan!”Natalie’s scream literally threw Nathan off his bed and then rushed to his sister who sat in front of the TV.He had not even asked what was going on before he saw the picture plastered on the huge screen and a wide smile plastered across his face.He stood up, rushed to the door, and then turned the door locked. He would not want to risk getting caught by their mother again.It literally took him three days before he got his iPad back.“Nat, I thought you were watching anime!” He whispered and collected the remote control from her.“I did well, right?” she smiled and he nodded his head.“Is that not Mum’s company?” Nathan asked as he pointed at the screen.The big screen had their mother and their supposed daddy’s picture there. They were walking side by side and they seemed to have gotten caught on the camera before they entered the company.“But… Do mummy and daddy have issues?” Natalie pouted.“Why?”“The television always talks as if it is some big deal th
“The twins know about Zeke.”Ramon stated, as Elena walked him to the car and she stopped walking.“How did you know?”She asked and turned to look at him.“They asked if I knew Zeke.”“And what did you say?”Ramon swallowed before he shook his head and smiled, “I don’t know him.”He watched as Elena switched into panic mode for about thirty seconds before he moved over to her and then dropped his hand on her shoulder.“What are you worried about?”“They have never talked about him, and now…” she exhaled and slapped her forehead.“All of a sudden, they wanna know him.”“They are just kids.”“They don’t even act like one, Nathan especially!” Ramon laughed at her words and then nodded his head. He could testify to that fact.“They would soon get over it. You said they are resuming school tomorrow, then, they will stop talking about him before you know it,” he tried to calm her by caressing her shoulder gently but she shook her head.“Are you really talking as though you don’t know them
As soon as Zeke entered the office and saw the man with Elena, his facial expression turned cold and he hissed out unconsciously.Both raising their heads to look at him, they returned to what they were doing for a while before Elena raised her head to look at him again.“Were you a timekeeper in college?” She glanced at the time.“You can’t blame a man who only knows how to be punctual and accurate,” he entered fully, strolled the chair, and then settled on the empty seat opposite Ramon.Ramon did not also show his displeasure in seeing the man. It was so evident that he hated that he was around Elena again.“Or maybe he was killed in his past life for being overly late or something,” he shrugged his shoulders off rather sarcastically.“You think that is funny?” Zeke raised his brows with a straight expression at the stupid ‘joke’ the man had just made.“Is it not?”“You need help if you laugh at something like that,” he shook his head and adjusted his tie.“That should be the other
YOU ARE ‘LOW’Ramon scoffed and then adjusted his crumpled shirt and stood up straight before the man who also adjusted his shirt.“What do you want from Elena? It’s been six fucking years. Why are you lurking around her!”“I see that she has told you everything about me,” Zeke nodded his head.“Which is why I agree to the fact that you are indeed a devil incarnate.”“I like that,” Zeke nodded his head and pointed his index finger at the man. “You are smart.”“I am not here to toy with you. Back off from Elena!” He snapped as he watched Zeke walk to the washing hand basin.“You do not get to tell me what to do,” Zeke opened the tap and then rinsed his hands.“Back off from her. She is mine.”Zeke turned off the tap, grabbed a tissue, and then turned to face Ramon, his brows snapped together.“Is she a toy?” he asked as he dabbed his hands with the tissue paper.“What?”“Is she a toy that you could own?”“Do I look like I care?”“If you want her, earn her. Is that not how it sh
“What do you mean by you don’t want to attend the ball event?” Elena ignored and leaned comfortably in the cushioned chair as her parents dropped their eyes on her after Aria asked.“You don’t wanna answer?”“Oh, come on, Aria. Do I need to be there?” She frowned.“Of course! Many affluent business tycoons will be in attendance! You should be there to represent your company too,” Aria said.“There is no need for that.”“You might not know, but the event is really not about balling or partying, okay? It is about being exposed to new people who could help you and your company in return. You don’t understand the whole game?”Still, Elena remained unmoved as she stared at the blank space.It’s been five days since she received the invitation parcel and she had said nothing to her family because she believed that she would not be going.Ariana suddenly talking about it tonight was surely not what she wanted.“Besides, it will change people’s perspective about you!”“Which is?”“You know e
“Yes, room 303. Alright.”After Aria dropped the call, she hurried to the other room where Elena was, leaving the make-up artists in the room.“She’s almost here.”“Okay,” Elena nodded her head as she stared at herself in the mirror again.“I can’t believe we’re getting ready in a hotel room when we have a house. A mansion!” Elena smacked her tongue and turned her head to look at Aria.“If she comes to the house and meets the twins, what will you say? Will you say they are your kids?”“You said you are not hiding them,” Ariana frowned.“I am not.”“It seems to me like you are.”Elena swallowed and exhaled before she shook her head.“If she meets them now, she will know they are her brother’s children, which makes her their aunt. I don’t want them attached to each other. Not yet, at least.”“You said you liked Chloe. At least, she is the only person in that family that you liked so much.”“And?”“It does not matter if she meets them, does it?”“She could tell her family!” Elena snappe
When Elena said he had never said a word to her all through the three years she was married to their family, she meant it, literally. She was not exaggerating.Jeremy was neutral about her. He was apathetic in everything that concerned her and not to lie, she had never bothered about him.In fact, she could say that he took after his mother.Brenda was quite uninterested in her too. All she cared about was her son having a wife which would boost his reputation and he got one.Whether they loved each other or not was the least of her concerns.Maybe what Elena was grateful all through her marriage was that she didn’t have trouble with her in-laws like she had thought she would.Maybe she would have run away a long time even before the three years if the Russo were unnecessarily bad to her.But then again, if they really liked her and showed that they were on her side, maybe what happened might never have.She blamed no one, them especially.She did not even care about them!But staring
His hands in his pockets, Zeke’s lips tugged into a soft smile as he sighted Elena from where he stood and a sigh of relief escaped his lips.He ignored the people who turned to pay him respect and then some who stopped dancing just to acknowledge him and then walked gently to Elena.The woman looked like heaven. He does not know what heaven looks like but he was sure that she could pass for one.She was very beautiful. Maybe too much, in fact.She glowed effortlessly under the light, her eyes reflecting the chandeliers’ sparkle and amplifying the room's sense of opulence.“Elena,” he called her name softly as he stopped in front of her, not minding the people who were looking at him, and somehow, in this extravagant ballroom, it seemed as if the world outside was fading away and all that was left is the magic of the moment—— The music, and the enchantment of her beauty.“Elena, you…” he started, about to say when suddenly, someone got in between them and his face hardened at the sudd
Before he stepped out of the car, he dialed Jeremy’s number first and then waited for the man to pick up which he did after the call was almost ending.“I hope you are calling for something very important. It’s so early in the morning, dang it,” Jeremy hissed.“There is a problem,” Ryan exhaled.“Good, I love to hear that. What is wrong?”“It is Zeke. You need to leave everything you are doing and come over here, right now. Please.”“What is wrong with Zeke?”Ryan glanced out to look at his friend before he answered Jeremy and a long silence ensued.“Share me your location,” he said and then dropped the call.After he ended the call, he placed a call across to Chloe too, and then explained the situation at hand before he finally stepped out of the car.He moved over to Zeke, palmed his forehead, and then dropped his other hand on his waist.“W… what in the name of madness is this?” He moved to his front, leaned down, and then lifted his chin up with his hand.Staring down at his frie
“Is he truly outside?” Karina rushed to her husband as he entered the room and he swallowed, entering fully.“I have told him to leave. He is leaving already,” he answered and then looked around the living room.“Where is Ramon? I ran into him outside the door here.”“He has gone to see Elena,” she replied.“Was he truly on his knees?”“You worry too much, Karina.”“Answer me, Raymond.”“Do you think that man has what it takes to do that?”He knew so well that his wife would not agree to the fact that he had left Zeke on his knees outside their mansion.“Honey, I really think you should stop interfering in their business.”“Whose business?” He feigned ignorance and settled on the chair.“Elena and Zeke. Raymond, they are not children.”“You are not honestly rooting for them again, are you?”“I am in support of whatever Elena chooses. I can’t make decisions for her and you need to know that too.”“In the past, you were against their union! I should have listened to you.”“That was beca
“Who did you say is asking for Elena?”“A Zeke Russo, sir.”Ray drew his brows together and turned to look at Karina who sat on the couch away from him.“Don’t let him in.”“Raymond,” Karina called him softly.“Let him return to wherever he is coming from or you will be losing your job!”The gateman bowed and then rushed out back.Delivering the message to the man in a rather harsh way, he closed the gate and returned inside.“Something happening?” His partner asked him as he returned inside his quarter.“The man outside. Boss said he does not want to see him in this compound or I will lose my job.”“Wait, really?”“I am telling you,” he exhaled and then settled on the chair in front of the big screen.“W… what is he doing?” He stuttered as he watched the screen.The other man rushed to him, drew his brows together, and then parted his lips.“Is that what I think it is?”“He is on his knees?” The gatekeeper asked rhetorically and then stood up hurriedly.___________“Hey, are you craz
“Take, one more spoon,” Elena patted her daughter as she took the last spoon of her food and after the girl collected it from her, she cleaned her mouth with a handkerchief and then leaned back.“Are you full?”Natalie nodded her head and then turned to look at her plate where Nathan had dropped a piece of meat in.She raised her brows, smiled gently, and then picked it up.“Thank you.”Nathan watched her sister chew it completely and then asked. “Do you want more?”She shook her head and then instead pulled off her cap. “See, my hair is starting to grow.”Nathan stared at her head where he could barely see a strand and then chuckled. He pulled off his cap too, bowed his head, and then showed her his. “Mine too.”“But…” Natalie tilted her head. “I can’t see any hair there.”“Same. There is no hair on your head either.”They dropped eyes on each other, and Elena pressed her lips, thinking Natalie had taken offense at his comment when her facial expressions literally went unreadable.Sh
“So, you’re not going? Really?”Zeke ignored Ryan totally, his head buried in his laptop and the man shook his head. Ryan exhaled and collapsed in the chair opposite Zeke and palmed his face.“Your daughter… Natalie is getting discharged today and you really are not going there?!”Still, he was mute. Maybe if Ryan peeped to check what Zeke was typing continuously on the keyboard, he would see that the only word he kept typing was ‘Natalie.’“You know, you are an asshole, right?”Still, he was mute.“She is leaving the hospital today. It means she is hale and healthy already. It means she can move around freely and you can meet her as you please, you know?” Ryan reminded him.When Zeke did not answer, he leaned closer, pushed the laptop shut, and then hissed.“What are you planning? I can swear that you are not busy and you were typing shit right there.”“C… could you see them home safely?”“Dude, that is your duty, not mine!” Ryan snapped with creased brows.Zeke nodded his head, exh
Elena looked out of the door for the umpteenth time and then sighed before she returned to stab a piece of apple in the bowl in her hand.“Give up. He’s not coming,” Ariana breathed out.“Who?”“I know you are waiting for Zeke.”“I am not!” She denied and Ariana nodded her head.“Besides… how did you know he is not coming?” She asked.“It’s been almost a week. He left without telling you and has not returned since then. He didn’t call you either.”“Something… might be wrong with him,” she shrugged her shoulders off.“Something like? Chloe was here and she didn’t deliver any bad news, so, what something?” Ariana asked.Elena sniffed, bit her lower lips, and then turned to look outside again.She did not want to admit that she was worried, but deep down, she knew she was.He was supposed to be here…He had promised he would be by her side till Natalie got discharged.He left that morning and had not returned since then.He didn’t even call her!She suspected so strongly that her father
“Did something happen?” Ryan asked Zeke again. This time, he had pulled the car gently into his compound and had followed him out of the car.Zeke had kept mute the entire time in the car and even though he and Chloe had thrown random jokes, or started random conversations with the hope that he was going to join, he kept mute still.Still, Zeke said nothing and made an entrance to the big door of his house.“No, I am certain something happened. What is wrong? You said you were going to stay for a while. You said you wanted to see your daughter.”“Ryan…” Zeke finally exhaled and swallowed.Entering the living room fully, he turned around, dropped his eyes on the couple, and then palmed his forehead.He was keeping his feelings bottled up. He felt like he wanted to cry.But, he was a man and he should not cry, right?But, fuck that.He had little regret in his life, but this…?He would forever regret it.It was something he could have controlled. He did it anyway. He thought it was the
When Ray suddenly burst into laughter, Zeke’s eyes fluttered as though he had said something very funny. He tilted his head and then sighed.“Sir?”“Is this some movie show?”“You asked…”“How much do you want, Zeke?”“I have answered you.”Ray shook his head, “My daughter is not an option.”“Everything I did is for my family, father.”“I am no father of yours and they are not your family either.”Dumbfounded, Zeke nodded his head and then smacked his tongue. “Sir.”“I am grateful to you for what you have done for our family. For my grand daughter.”“It is my responsibility as her father.”“You have no responsibility to fulfill, dear,” he chuckled rather sarcastically.“So, see her as much as you want to while we are still in the hospital. Elena included. I can assure you that will not happen again after she has been discharged.”“Fath—”“You can’t have her again!” He snapped and then palmed his forehead.“You don’t even deserve her.”“I will make myself worthy of her again,” he said.
“Are you sure? If it were up to me, I’d suggest that you stay here for a few more days,” Elena said, worry plastered across her face as she watched the man who did his shirt button.It was early the next morning and Zeke had already asked to be discharged even though the doctor had suggested that he should spend at least a day more.He insisted that he was good already and that he had no other complaints and if he did, he'd let the doctor know.“He does not listen,” Chloe who stood beside Ryan rolled her eyes and hissed.“I don’t like it here. I could not sleep well in that bed,” Zeke snapped his brows together as he glanced at the bed.“As if you’ve ever slept well in any bed,” Ryan rolled his eyes.Zeke swallowed, moved over to Elena, and then dropped his hands on her shoulders.“I am fine. I promise.”She exhaled, nodded her head, and then sniffed. “You better let me know if anything goes wrong again.”“I promise. Now, we gotta wait till Natalie gets discharged, right? The surgery