Ray spent a few days with Mei before he flew back to Lisbon while Petals spent some days at home trying to recover before she finally resumes work since her leave days were over. She didn’t want to bother Mei so she didn’t inform him about the accident and flatly refused when Pamela wanted to come over.“I don’t want to burden you again when you are as busy as hell at the office. It’s a busy season so you will be tightened down with work. Since I didn’t even get injured, there is no reason for you to come around” she had told Pamela who was forced to surrender when she would not give her the chance.“Come back to work healthy as always” Pamela declared and she assured her that she would take good care of herself.****Chairman Antonio finally came back home fully as the date of the election drew nearer so he would be under premium protection and so that some other things would be fixed and put in place for the final elections.His PR team intensified their promotions using the article
Bea walked out to me and finally released her laughter when she was sure that the model was gone.“Will he be okay? He seems affected so much with the diffuser” she asked over my shoulder and I snortedI turned and responded “He should learn how to take what he give others too. How dare he spray my face with some rubbish he tagged an air freshener. All I did was clean the air for him as much as he wanted” Bea slowly raised her thumb up and gave me a wink before rushing to pack up the things we used for the shoot.I took a look around the room to see if there was anything else to fix and when I was assured that everything was in place, I marched towards the door before Bea called my attention.“Can I have two hours off? I have to see someone off and it is very important” she said trying to act cuteI needed no one to tell me that it was about the guy I saw with her at the hospital but I wanted to play dumb.“You want to see someone off? Who could it be? I don’t know anyone you’d be ha
I wanted to turn back immediately but I kicked against the idea and faced her instead. She descended the mini stairs in front of the orphanage to close in on me. Since I didn’t want to cause any unnecessary issues, I decided not to be rude because truthfully, all I know about her are what I had assumed and as a journalist, I should be able to draw a line between personal feelings and facts.“Good afternoon ma’am” I greeted with a small bow and watched her still maintaining the smile“How have you been? You’ve gotten prettier than the last time we met” she complimented and I gave a soft fake blush.We both walked deeper into the field as we talked even though I was forced into the session with her.“I never knew that you visit our orphanage. It’s nice seeing you here” she stated and I was forced to ask if she owned the orphanage.She denied immediately.“I only sponsor it because of the kids. That was how we were raised, I grew up watching my father do charity and he would always tell
Madam Antonio was about heading for the stairs when Laura came out of Chairman Antonio’s home office with all her eyeballs red and her face was squeezed with anger. She paused at the sight of her and they both engaged in a staring battle, their gazes were so intense that it could bore a hole in their heads.“To whom do we owe this honor?” Madam Antonio finally broke the silence“Oh come on Josie. Don’t pretend as if you don’t know that I am not here for you” Laura slammed with a smirkMadam Antonio returned the smirk and walked close to her“Laura, we both know that you do not have the best interest of me and my husband at heart. Stop trying to seduce him into signing stuffs that only you will benefit from. You are not a friend but a businesswoman” she statedLaura released a cackle, “Sure, I am a politician and a businesswoman. Do you want me to lose at both ends? If I can’t have him, then I should have his support at least” Laura spat out and Madam Antonio almost raised her hand to
PETALS’S POVI was so pissed at all the questions my mother was throwing at me when she was just seeing me for the first time in years. We had cut ties with each other ever since she got married in less than six months our father died. I was so mad at her for moving on so quick and even told her that she was already befriending the man before our father died and she might even be the one that killed our father.I knew the words I spoke to her were heavy and harsh when my anger got subdued but it was already too late, we had gone our several ways.If we both stepped inside the house, we would never stop arguing throughout the night so I opened the door for her to have the house to herself while I go elsewhere to cool my head off before deciding if I will come back for the night or not.“Are you going to leave me here? Alone to myself?” she yelled and stopped me from leaving“Then should we continue shouting at each other? And wake all the neighbors? To tell them that what? I don’t even
Stanley’s mom had previous spoken to him that he should break whatever relationship it is he has with Petals nicely before she takes action but he told her to try everything she could because he will never let her go this time.After suddenly receiving a package that was brought by one of the securities to his office, he saw the first move of his mother and couldn’t believe that she took such a step.“Is this woman serious right now?” he muttered as he read through the document claiming that his mother had pulled out her investment in his company.His hand got heavy with the document and several thoughts ran through his head as he went over it several times to be sure that he was seeing well.“Are you going to play your game this way? You are really trying to break me” he sighed and decided to stop looking at it before it affects his condition.He was already feeling some constriction in his chest so he rushed up to pick his pill and took the required amount before he gets a sudden at
A WEEK TO PETAL’S INCIDENTWe all slept over at Irene’s place on the night of the reunion after a long talk into the night. The next morning, we were woken up with the notification that someone was there to pick up Monica.“Me? Pick me up? Who?” she queried with a mouth full of toothpaste’s foam“Your father’s secretary is here. He said your father instructed him to pick you up” Irene passed the message across clearly and she scoffedShe didn’t even reply and went back to the bathroom to finish up what she was doing. We thought she would not give in to the request with the way she was just going on about her business without bothering that someone was outside waiting for her until she dressed up and picked her bag.Irene sprang up “You are going with him?” she asked and Monica noddedHer reply got Irene puzzled because no one believed that she would want to go back inside that house when she got kicked out by her father and have been left hanging for several weeks.“Let’s calm ourselv
The adopted parents of Matina served both the twins and Stanley some fried chicken as they talked about how Matina’s life went with the little time to they shared together before she died.“Matina would always talk about her friends that she lost. She would constantly talk about how she wanted to see them so bad and how they promised to have a hangout at the age of twenty. She was so excited about the hangout on her nineteenth birthday even though she was hooked in the hospital but till she drew her last breath, she had her hope high that she would be able to meet them” the mother explained, dabbing the edge of her eyes with her apron to avoid the tears from dropping.The father added, “Matina never for once forgot where she came from and that didn’t bother us too. We understood that she grew up there all her life and her heart must still lie with them so we made sure to give her the best treatment. It’s a pity that she left us so soon. Also, she didn’t want to be remembered as a Fren
Ray finally proposed to Mei who agreed right away and they planned to leave Lisbon but she couldn’t due to the contract she had signed with Pamela. She didn’t know that she wouldn’t be able to break off the contract for three years. Pamela did that because she knew the price of their stocks would be affected when her father’s crime is exposed but with the success of Mei in the modelling world, she would be able to sustain the company over the three years when it would be balanced and would let her go.“That’s some crazy contract” Ray remarked and tried looking for a way to pay the fine so she would be free but Mei told him that she wanted to help her in return because she gave up her company to help them solve the case so he had no choice but to retreat.Pamela explained that she can go anywhere she wanted but must be always available to carry out her the terms of the contract whenever she was needed.“That is no problem. We both have to find a common ground. She has to finish school
FEW HOURS AGOMei was summoned by Pamela to her office and was given a necklace as a gift for her successful oversea deal. She expressed her happiness about how she was raking in so much money for her company because of her excellent modeling skills.“Well, I only tried my best but it worked out by luck” Mei said meekly“There’s no such thing as luck. You only got to show the work you have prepared hard for, so you deserve every credit” she told her and Mei appreciated her for the gift before leaving for the house where she saw Stanley waiting for herStanley took her to his villa after apologizing for not coming sooner to explain things to her. He told her everything about her sister to her when he found out that she also know that her sister was not biologically related to her.“Can I speak to her? Can I talk to her on the phone? She would have been worried sick about me” she said with a shaky voice and Stanley put a call through which was luckily picked up by her sister.They were
TOLU’S POVI was preparing to wash off the sweat of the day and was battling with my robe’s rope when Ray burst into my room unannounced. In horror, I jumped under the blanket, my eyes shining hard as I questioned why he would come inside without knocking but he only apologized and came in further.“I found it!” he screamed and my face frowned in confusion, what was he talking about all of a sudden? My pressurized brain couldn’t process anything. I just wanted him to get out of my room so I can take my bath before heat strangle me under the blanket.“Found what?” I snapped angrily at him“The evidence!” he screamed and I didn’t know when I rolled out of the sheet, the robe dropping off my body“Cover your damn body!” he screamed, covered his eyes and turned away.It was then I realized that I was standing in front of him in my birthday suit. With a loud gasp, I bent and pulled my robe up, tying it tightly across my waist.“It’s covered, now show me the evidence you are talking about”
Since Petals was not in a good state of mind and would be away for the time being, they were short of hand and Ray suggested that they bring in Tolu as a helping hand since she was capable and already told them to let her know when her help was needed.“She’s also good at sniffing out information” Stanley added“I know right. She had this detective spirit ever since we were little” Ray remarked, a slight chuckle dancing in his throatAs soon as Petals’ plane took off, he went to the arrivals and waited a bit before Tolu that he had been waiting for showed up. She was the first to sight him and waved towards his direction to get his attention.“Thank you for coming all the way here and I am sorry for the inconveniences it might have caused” he said with a grin and a smile appeared on her lips“What do you mean by inconveniences? I actually lived all these while for this moment. Let’s go catch the bad guys” she remarked and left for the car with him.Gabriel walked towards them and got
It took a whole week for Gemma to come to her senses. She always cowered in fear whenever anyone came close to her, even to the point of food. They had to leave her food on the table and disappear from the surroundings before she could eat peacefully.“I shouldn’t have shouted at her and startled her that way” Petals kept blaming herself and hoped that she would come back to her senses soon because she almost died of the curiosity of how Jane was not the sibling she thought she had.During those times, Stanley had successfully gotten her a temporary guidance permit for Pureza and she was able to transfer him out of the hospital to the place she trusted so he could get the ultimate and proper treatment he deserved.“Just take it slow. We have gotten to this point and we will find out everything till the end so put your mind at rest and just approach them one by one” Stanley consoled her when he noticed how tensed and anxious she was every time.Finally, after a week, Gemma was back to
They were all at home in the evening when a news of a body being found near the burnt orphanage and the guess was that the body must have belonged to one of the children in the orphanage because it was the built of a child. They also stated that some of the organs were missing which gave room for the suspicions of organ trafficking.Stanley rushed up immediately and ran inside one of the rooms where he kept the pictures. Since she was also curious and he wouldn’t come out to tell them why he ran inside, she rushed to the room too to check what was happening.“Did something happen? Did you find out about something?” she asked, staring at her“The news reminded me of a case I found out while I was making some research. There was a time when the case of organ trafficking was so rampant and they were kids. Their corpses were found at different locations but they had one thing in common and that was missing organs” he explained, flipping through the old newspaper in his hand“So do you thi
Michael and Gabriel went out to club and were busy dancing and drinking when someone said a foul language to Michael whom he thought didn’t understood the language. They both fought and were arrested by the police, then Michael was asked to provide his passport but refused.“Why is he not presenting his passport? Did he perhaps lost it?” Stanley asked on their way to the police station“I’m not sure he did that and I don’t know why he’s so adamant. It’s tiring” Gabriel sighed“He might have his reasons. He wouldn’t just act without a plan” Petals chipped inNo matter what anyone said, Michael kept denying that he had a passport. He said he was an illegal immigrant and there was nothing Stanley could do at that point. He was to be sent to the detention center and deported when his identity has been confirmed.“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine” he said to Gabriel who kept panicking after hearing that he would be detained“Croyez-moi mo frére, mon chien n’aboie pas sans voir quelque ch
MONICA’S POVTruth be told, I had forgotten all about the beach house, maybe because it reminded me of my mom so much and I didn’t want to wallow in the pain longer. I stopped going to her room, I had everything connected to her packed off from my reach and just let her lived in my heart instead.She was always insisting that I know how to take care of myself because of a situation where she would not be around but I didn’t get all she was saying until she finally passed away.“I don’t know if I’m strong enough to face this” I mumbled as I puffed out the pent up air in my lungs.Immediately I got there, I ran inside as if she was there waiting for me in person and I didn’t come to my senses until disappointment coupled with reality slapped me in the face.“What was I thinking? What was I even expecting?” I sighed as I sank into the lemon sofa by my right.I had to catch my breath for a bit before I stood up to look around. Every corners I hid in back then whenever we were playing catc
By the time we rushed into the bathroom, she had collapsed to the side and was holding unto one of the stands in the bathroom for support.“Fcking Christ!” Monica spat out and I rushed forward to help her up“Irene! Can you hear me? Can you stand up?” I called out desperately to her as I helped her to her feet.The maid was swift enough to push the emergency button and her attending doctor rushed in with immediate effect. She was attended to immediately and several drugs and injections were administered to her to keep her calm.“What’s wrong with her? Is she getting worse? Should we be concerned?” Monica asked, her eyes getting damped with tears“She upgraded her treatment today so her system has not gotten used to this kind of treatment. There’s nothing to be afraid of but she needs to be taken care of and leave to rest very well so her system can get used to it” the doctor told them and a sigh of relief dropped from Petals’ lips.“Let’s hope for the best” Petals chipped in but Monic