The next morning, Emily left the Dally Villa much more excited and relieved than she'd been when she went there. Jason was disappointed to see her leave but even he realised that there were limits to where his power stretched out to. As much as he wanted to be with her all day long, all the time, Emily had to go to work.In his thirty-five years on earth, Jason had been with a lot of women. Tall, short, black, white, you name it and even though he hated the word, 'womaniser,' that was exactly what he was, although he would rather have his tongue cut out than admit that to anybody.But one thing stood out clearly before his eyes. He'd never met a woman like Emily before. And it wasn't just because of her outstanding natural beauty which was slowly becoming a rarity in the modern world where ladies rather preferred to doll themselves up rather than being their natural selves, but because there was an aura of peace and love that radiated from her, one that he'd never seen before.Not eve
Emily glanced at the rearview mirror for the umpteenth time. Something was happening. She could feel it in her guts. Two police cars had passed her by, their sirens blaring as they went. An ambulance followed from the opposite direction.Something is wrong! Her chest tightened as she weighed the possibilities of what could be happening. Was there a fire outbreak somewhere? Had there been an accident? She veered the car at the bending of the road and sped it up. As she neared her stop, she dropped the speed of the car until she came to a stop before the enormous ten-storey building before her. Killing the engine, Emily jumped down from the car and hurried towards the main door at once. As she got closer to the entrance, she started noticing something she'd not seen before. There were clusters of people everywhere and they all seemed to be looking at her. They looked away the moment their eyes met.Confused, she tried to keep a straight face and went straight to the elevator. The door
A surge of relief went through her instantly and she almost fell to the ground before the doctor who looked far more pleased to be sharing the information with her.Mr. Sean Cornwell merely grinned from ear to ear. He was visibly elated."Can we see him now?" Emily asked eagerly."No," Dr. Miller said. An explanation followed. "I'm afraid that's not possible because he's just out of surgery and needs full bedrest now."Emily's countenance fell."Does not that mean that I have to wait until he's awake before I see him?""Of course not. You can see him right after the chat I'm going to have with you at my office."Emily's adrenaline shot up. So, there was going to be a chat? And what was it going to be about? Had things suddenly gone bad and Dr. Miller did not know how to say it out?She gazed at Dr. Miller again whose eyes had riveted to Mr. Cornwell."I'd like to talk with only family," Dr. Miller said.Mr. Cornwell took the hint immediately and started to leave but Emily stepped in j
Emily jumped into the car, feeling like a log of wood. The day had moved so fast and had brought so many woes that now, all she wanted to do was crash into her bed and have a long sleep.She'd still not heard from Edmund or Dre or even Jason. Not that she would have known if they'd tried to call her. Her phone was lying deep in her handbag, silenced. Thankfully, Mr. Cornwell did not try to start a conversation throughout the entire ride. The older man was probably busy with his own thoughts. It was not every day that one learnt that somebody hated his boss enough to want to see him dead.Still, there was a strange aura about his quietness. He heaved a heavy sigh from time to time but every time she turned to him with a questioning look, he waved it away with a weak smile.Emily knew that all was not well, but sadly, this was not the time to tend to the wounds of others when she had her own wounds to tend to.When they arrived back at the company's premises, the crowd had reduced for
She must have dozed off at the dining table. She was suddenly awoken by the sound of the main door as it burst open. Edmund walked in, clutching his briefcase in one hand while the other hand rubbed his temple. Charlotte rose to her feet to have a good glimpse of him. And at that moment, he saw her too. Surprised, he walked over to the dining table, their eyes locked together. He stopped a few inches away from her and gazed at her for a long moment. A frown started to form on his face. "What's the meaning of this?" He asked. "Why are you still awake?" He looked further behind her. "Were you cooking?" "What do you think?" Charlotte said, Glancing over her shoulders at the smoky remains of the beef. "It was supposed to be a surprise." Edmund stared ahead, nothing agape. "I'm surprised. But why did you cook for me? I never asked you to cook for me." Charlotte's shoulders fell. Not even a thank you. She'd always known Edmund to be icy and cold with words but at least, he would accep
"What the hell is the meaning of this, Lucy?" She fumed on the line. "The agreement was to give you half of the money, not a sixty to forty percent share. What are you feeling like? A thief?"Lucy's tone was surprisingly cheerful, like this was perfectly normal."Relax, sister. It's surely not as bad as you're making it sound."Charlotte clenched her fist."Are you kidding me right now? If this isn't bread daylight robbery, then I dint know what is.""I was going to tell you," Lucy began, defending herself. "The truth is, I thought about it all and I realised that sharing dad's money fifty-fifty with you was not a fair deal, especially now that you have a rich man by your side. I'm helping you to keep a secret that could ruin everything you've ever worked for from dad. Surely, you didn't think that was going to settle for such a meagre payment, did you?"Charlotte lost her cool at once."You're forgetting one very important thing here. I did all the work and now, you coming out of now
Emily inhaled the cold morning air and savored the refreshing feeling that followed as it hit her lungs. She tried to sit up but a sharp headache stung her at once. Struggling to sit, she rested on the bedpost and rubbed her forehead with one hand while the other hand searched for her cell phone beside the bed. She looked down at herself and realised that she was still wearing her work clothes, a pair of trousers under a white silky blouse. Slowly, the memories of what had happened the previous day started to return, stabbing her like a blade. It all seemed like it happened a lifetime ago. Maybe it was a bad dream. Maybe her father was sitting right now in his office drafting out his plans for the day like he usually did at this time of the day. The thought of what time it was caused her to jerk at once from the bed, spurring her to action. She glanced at her phone. 10:30 am. She had to be at work. Just then, the door creaked open abs Dre sauntered into the room. She was holding a
Twirling around, Dre planted a smile on her face. Emily was still seated on the couch, motionless, her eyes staring at the vacant space before her, as if she saw something. But there was nothing there.She gave her a moment to come back to herself and when she did, she started a conversation between them."Are you okay?"Emily shook her head."Do you think Edmund is right?""Right about what?""His speculations," Emily blurted out, her voice becoming increasingly desperate. "I mean, if he's right, then we can't trust anybody. You do realize that, right? Anybody could have poisoned my father."Dre drew a deep breath."Let's not get ahead of ourselves now. I'm sure the security detail has everything under control."Emily thought for a moment."Yes. I told Max Walker to involve the police in the case.""There you have it," she said, sounding relieved. "Everything's going to be sorted out.""You're right." A weak smile crossed her face. "I should just relax. I'm going to go see my father
Life had suddenly turned good for Emily. It was barely a week into her engagement and the soles of her feet had stepped into more bridal shops than she'd stepped into restaurants in her entire life.It wasn't exactly her fault. Jason wanted a quick wedding. The wait was killing him and he needed the wedding to be over and dine with in no time. He'd reintroduced her to his family and his mother had even begun warming up to her, despite her earlier cold feelings towards her.Emily wasn't sure whether it was the universe that was tired of seeing her suffering and had decided to make things better for her or it was just purely out of merit but whatever it was, she was grateful for it.Today, she was going to go with Mia and her soon-to-be mother-in-law, Mrs. Wendy Campbell to yet another boutique that had a bridal shop to pick a wedding dress.The boutique was owned by one of Mrs. Campbell's influential friends. She was going to take the ladies there to show them around and also catch up
Seeing Edmund jump down from his jeep and advancing towards her like some maniac made her blood to suddenly stop flowing. She stood rooted at the spot and plotted her next move.Directly across from her, Jason was standing on his own, waiting for her. No matter the direction that Edmund came from, he was going to see him.There was no need to run away. Edmund didn't look like he was going to back away easily. The only decision she now saw was to stand back and contend with him or maybe reason with him.They didn't have to cause a scene here. In fact, if Edmund cooperated, no one would have to know what the problem with them was.As Edmund continued to take quick strides to reach her, all her hopes of reasoning with him evaporated into thin air.Edmund didn't look anything like the Edmund she knew. He wore nothing else but a fades shirt that shouldn't have been seen outside and a pair of trousers that were at least two sizes smaller than him.He looked even worse. His facial hair was s
All around the garden, black umbrellas formed pinnacle of covering over the over hundred people that had come to witness the lowering of her coffin to the ground.It was unarguably the most horrifying scene that Emily had ever witnessed. It was hard to just stand there and not shed tears while the burial proceedings for Dre Sinclair who was amongst other things, her friend was ongoing. She thought she had her acts together all this time. Not even when the priest had delivered a pitiful sermon about how people ought to lead good lives when they were alive so that when they died like Dre had just done, their spirit would not be filled with regret, had Emily shed a single tear.The high point of the event was when everyone was led to the graveside, dug in the middle of a beautiful garden. It was just the kind of place that Dre would have wanted to rest in, had she been alive to make her decision. A place filled with so much calmness and serenity, where she would forever commune with th
The man slipped out of the door unnoticed, feet barely touching the ground as he struggled to make it out of there without making a sound.Just a few meters away behind him, Jerry Ishag's body lay lifeless, his face bent over on the table. He'd died with tears rolling down his face.A part of him felt guilty for what he'd done but there was no undoing his action neither was there another option. It was a dog-eat-dog world. You either ate or got eaten. If he chose to disobey the order that had come for him to kill Jerry, that would be him signing his death warrant with his own hands.It was best to obey and stay alive to fight another day. The image of Jerry lying helplessly while the poison worked inside his body, killing him slowly was certainly going to haunt him for life. But Andre had no regrets, only guilt. Even if he'd refused to get the job done, another person would have been hired to finish Jerry off once and for all. And afterwards, come after him.By killing him, he'd save
Charlotte arrived breathlessly at his door. It'd taken a lot of guys to admit to her fault and finally make the trip here but in the end, she decided that it was all worth it. She was never really welcome back at Edmund's house anyway. At least here, she had a man that loved her, a man that wanted to be with her and most of all, a man that was determined to take care of her.Those were things that Edmund could never ever do for her. So, her fall was a blessing in disguise. At least now she'd get to love her truth and loving her truth wasn't as hard as the lies she'd been trying to keep up with all along.She didn't bother to knock on his door. He barely went anywhere these days. He just stayed at home and read all the books on his shelf. When she was around, they would make love from sunrise to sunset.As happy as she was about this new development, she still had her doubts about the new life that he'd adopted for himself. Would he be able to take care of her if he continued to live
Outside, Emily could barely focus on the road that lay ahead or any other thing for that matter. It was hard to focus on anything knowing that she could be in the police cell any minute.The idea of trusting Edmund to keep everything that had happened between them simply did not appeal to her. He wasn't just going to allow her to get away with everything she'd done.That's why she needed to clean up her mess and get out of town. This town had taken so much from her. Now, all she wanted to do was stay far away from it and count her losses.In reflective moments such as these, Emily couldn't help but think about how lonely her life had just gotten. With Dre dead and Mia grieving, there was really nobody else to talk to.Well, except for Jason who'd gotten so busy with work that he barely had time for her anymore. There was also her father. But surely, he too would be busy with work.Emily was in the mood to throw in a surprise on her old man. She didn't bother to think about it or call
She struggled to breathe but the stubborn burning sensation in her chest was so great that every attempt to breathe made her feel a lot worse than before.Everyone was looking down at her on the floor, waiting for her to say something, to clear the air and to answer all the questions that they had, both the ones that were said and the ones that weren't said yet. But the most demanding of them all was Edmund, maybe because she was betrayed on a very personal level. He refused to give in to her show of being hurt and continued to probe her to know what was going on."I'm sorry I lied," she said, making an effort to speak. "I didn't mean to lie. And I'm very sorry about it. ""What do you mean by you didn't mean to lie?" Edmund probed. "You did what you did with very clear eyes, so why are you pretending that it was a mistake now?" He rose from his squatting position, scratched his head rather roughly and paced to the end of the room. When he returned, he faced Charlotte squarely in the
From the first day he was arrested and brought in here, his hope had wavered. For people like him that weren't worth a ransom, no one would even notice he was missing and no one would come looking for him.The only thing Jerry Iahag now lived for was to know the truth. The moment he knew the truth about who sold him out and punished the offender accordingly, he would gladly tell the truth and accept whatever penalties went with it.But he was quite sure of one thing. He wasn't going down this path alone. It was either he brought everyone else who was involved down with him or he told the truth and struck a deal with the detectives, a deal that would allow him to return to the outside world again, to hunt down whoever had betrayed him.But with Andre's presence in the station, his hopes were restored. He suddenly didn't look forward to dying anymore. Like an animal who'd been caged for too long, he longed for freedom. He longed to breathe the air outside the walls of the police station
About thirty miles away, an unknown visitor slipped into the premises of the police station. Dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a blue UCLA T-shirt, he looked very ordinary.But there was nothing ordinary about this man. His name was Andre Anderson and he was a very well-known friend of Jerry Ishag who was still being held in the station.Today, however, he was not there at the police station as Jerry Ishag's friend. He was there as a traitor, ready to perform the last act of betrayal to his friend.Getting into the station was made very easy as he'd had access to the map of the entire building and chosen to go through the places which were less guarded than the others. He got in noiselessly, slipping in like he was invisible. Taking the front door was suicidal as there would be many officers waiting to receive him. But Andre had a better plan. There were two main doors in the station. One opened up at the entrance of the building while the other one was at the rear of it.He chos