“So, what was that supposed to mean?” Ryan blurted out in a sharp tone, glaring hard at Anne. “That you want a share in it as well?” Ryan thought he heard wrong, that supposed to be a statement from her at all? He doubts that she is in her right senses at the moment. “You heard me right, Ryan.” Anne fielded his question with a sarcastic reply, her arms folded across her chest as she dramatically moves her left leg, tapping it continuously on the hard marbled floor.Ryan sighed under his breath, trying his possible best to tame his uprising anger. “You have all you want from me, Anne, even though…”Anne quickly cut him off abruptly, giving him no chance to complete his words. “No everything, I did not have of all the things I wanted from you, Ryan.” She told him, returning the same vibe as his; her voice was as hard as his. “Stop making it look like you gave me your life span in the process of having all I want from you.”In as much as she sounded far from the kind of sensible person
Ryan sighed for the umpteenth times as he rubbed his temples continuously, probably frustrated from Anne's nonstop dramas and escapades. “Fine…” He breathed out slowly. “What did you want from me?”“That wasn't supposed to be a sane question, Ryan.” She lilted, her sharp and glaring stare was hard on him. “You already know what I want, stop putting up a pretense like you don't know. It doesn't suit you.”This is getting harder than expected. “You of all people should know I don't have that much amount on me.” He told her, trying to make her see reasons with him —but as always, he knows it was another wasted effort on his part. “Where do I get such a huge amount of money from?”Anne hissed out very loudly, her hard gaze wasn't softening any time soon, and they seemed to be covered with invincible iced glaciers. “How do I know where you should get the money from, do I look like I care?” She blurted out, her voice slowly rising to it peak.Ryan was not just physically tired of her, but h
“Listen here, woman…" Ryan called out in a loud voice. “I'm sick and tired of your never-ending drama and can't keep up with your attitude anymore. I'm desperately in need of a break from you.”“I see you really do need a break, Ryan.” She blurted out in a grouchy tone, irritated by his choice of response. “This must have been the reason you've been frantically searching for Ciara since all these while, is it not?”Ryan thought he heard her wrong, did those words just come out of Anne? He doubts it. If she really did say the words, how was she able to find out about it? He had told no one about this except his mother.The more he thought about it, there is no way his mother would have ranted him out to Anne —even if she tells on him, definitely not to Anne of all people.‘How then did she find out?’ He pondered, unable to get any tangible reply to his curiosity. For Anne to find out about what was supposed to be between himself and his mother, then there are lots of things he thought
Ryan had left home so late that morning, even without being in the mood to go to work, he was left with no choice to it; coupled with the state of his company —if the sky should fall, he still had to go.The tension in the air was very much unpleasing and Ryan did not like it a bit, but he paid less attention to it —his present mood was likely enough to cause another tension in additional to the already existing one.He did say no word as he walked past the receptionist, finding it hard to respond to her greeting; the receptionist's voice, on the other hand, wasn't as cheerily as it used to sound, something was off about it.Ryan wasn't that daft not to find out, but at that moment, whatever thing that might have happened to request such a reaction from her was far from his business; he didn't want to get himself involved in it.“Where is Miriam?” Ryan, who still couldn't pinpoint the reason behind his question, asked the receptionist in demand. “Has she resumed work already?”“Earlie
Ryan breathed in for the umpteenth times before he was able to gather the supposed courage to face his mother. He tapped on his mother's huge oak door, as usual, ignoring the doorbell, and patiently waited on his mother's reply.“It's not locked, Ryan…" He heard her voice from with in, his face was with that of surprise. She always knew he was the one at the door, and how she was always able to sound that loud was usually enough reason to baffle him.Ryan, putting whatever thought he was having at the moment aside, pushed the oak door instead and walked in slowly like he was trying to watch his steps to prevent him from stumbling.“Ah, Son —you came.” She called out to him like she's been expecting his arrival as her almost aging lips broke into a small smile; even though it was a small smile, it was radiant enough to reach her eyes —it reflects how glad she was to see him again.His mother wasn't sitting in her usual favorite seat, this time, she was standing next to the fireplace an
Ryan should have known better, his mother is barely taken aback by things like this —it's hard to see a surprised reaction on her, maybe she did have but was always quick to conceal it.“…I've seen much relatable situations like this, son —and this won't be the last of it, either…” She always claimed, and Ryan himself, couldn't count how many times he's heard such line from her that he could memorize it even in his sleep.“Aren't you surprised at this, mother?” He unconsciously muttered his question, his brows raised —he was the confused one instead of his mother.“Why should I be?” She asked him, her brows knotted into a tight frown. “There is nothing to be surprised about in it, she left —so what?”“I was seriously expecting much from you, mother.” Ryan muttered with his eyes tightly shut, as he rubbed his fingers on his temples continuously. “The fact that I did not expect this from her makes it even more frustrating.”Mrs. Lerman shrugged her shoulders lightly. “This is very much
Ryan could barely sleep throughout the night as he was eager for the day to break, he seemed to be in a haste for something bothering him hard —he was restless and could barely wait for whatever was bothering him to be solved.Immediately he realized it was dawn, he hastily did his morning routine and was ready for work without breakfast —he'll be lucky to have a bite or two before lunch. Ever since Anne had left him, he barely had breakfast and most times, he had to be on an empty stomach until lunch.Though reluctantly and wasn't in the mood to go anywhere for the day, even with his anxious self, he still has the mixed feeling of staying back home. But on the other hand, he needed to get to the office. ******“I don't think we will go ahead with the idea of taking a loan from the bank anymore.” Ryan told Miriam with a straight face that was holding no expression.Miriam was astonished, why did he change plan all of a sudden? Not when the company had concluded that they were going t
Her walking steps were majestic and graceful as her heels clicked against the marbled floor. Her aura was not the type that no one wouldn't dare notice, and her presence screamed authority.The little boy who seemed to hold her left hand with his grip tightened around it beamed with smiles, the type that was reaching his eyes and doesn't seem like it will be leaving his face anytime soon.He stared around, his gaze roaming the surrounding frantically. He seemed to be looking for someone or something, but soon enough, he was snapped out of his eye search at the sudden voice that came out of nowhere.“Ma'am…" The soft but audible voice called out, and she stopped on her track, same as the little boy, before facing the source of the voice. “Good morning, ma'am.”Instead of a reply, she nodded her head to the greeting in response. “What's the news, Milan?” She requested sharply, her voice was laced with the authority she carried.The lady, whose name turned out to be Milan, nodded curtly
"There she is..." Jamel whispered but audible enough to Alex's hearing, who only nodded with out a reply as he strode towards Ms. Carter. They both exchanged pleasantries before he had his seat opposite her."It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Carter." Alex said as he sat down. Ms. Carter looked at him with an inscrutable expression, her green eyes glittering."The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Alex." she replied, her voice smooth and calm. "I understand you're the CEO of The Williams cooperation. It's quite an impressive company, I've heard lots about it."Alex smiled slightly but it was enough to brighten the atmosphere. "Thank you, but I'm hardly the only one responsible for its success. I'm lucky to have a great team." He uttered, still maintaining his slight smile. "A great team, and a great leader." Ms. Carter vocalized with a few head nod. With out much further ado, she cleared her throat, deciding to go straight to the point. "I supposed you are yet to find a shareholder yet, or ha
The long ride was slow and as well as a quiet one too. Alex sighed for the umpteenth times, unable to fathom the reason behind his sigh that seems not to be coming to an end — of course, he has many reasons for his continuous sigh, but he could not pinpoint which one of it was gnawing at him.Though his mind and thoughts seems to be in fuzzy, he managed to forced his focus on the wheels —he can't repeat the same mistakes twice and this time, he might not be lucky enough and might lose his life. Alex did not want that to happen to me once again, he dreaded the thought of it. He had almost seen death once —he won't face it this time.He's currently facing a lot but losing his life shouldn't be the thought on his mind. His mother —he had stressed her enough with his continuous and never seems to end escapades lately, should he add more to it? No, right? And his daughter too, what would happen to her if she's left behind? Times like this, Alex wished he could turn the hand of time and go
When Lisa walked into her office, she was surprised to find that Judas was not there. On a normal day, Judas would be the first one to greet her upon her arrival. But today, he was nowhere to be found. Lisa was confused and concerned, so she decided to call him to find out what was going on.When she pulled out her phone, she quickly dialed Judas's number. The phone rang and rang, but there was no answer after two try. She had wanted to dial the number for the third time but shrug it off, and decided to keep her phone.Just when she was about to do as thought, the phone rang, vibrating softly in her grip. She checked the caller — it was Judas. With a deep frown settling on her face, she reluctantly picked the call. "Hey..." Judas hailed dryly from the other end. "Sorry, I screened your call. I was about parking when you called so I couldn't answer the phone." "Where are you?" Lisa questioned instead, ignoring his excuses. "I just entered my office and find it empty — you aren't her
"I know what I'm saying is true, Lisa." Andy insisted, seeing the doubt in Lisa's eyes. "Since you left for Los Angeles and made me the acting chairman, my father has been pressuring me to take over the company." Andy went as far as explaining every little detail to Lisa not leaving one out of it. He went as far as telling her how Xavier left home since he refuse to dance to his tunes and even him going to apologize to his father thinking maybe he had change. Lisa was dumbfounded after listening to all what Andy had said, even though she had expected those cunning men not to back away easily. The one she mostly find hard to believe was Xavier cutting ties with his son over his petty greed but since it's coming out from Andy's mouth, she has no other choice than to believe it. "— I shouldn't be saying this, but I can't let them hurt you. I've watched you grown up and I see how kind and considerate you've been..." Andy muttered slowly in conclusion. "I won't possibly be at peace if I
As Andy stood there, staring at his father, he knew that their relationship was irreparably broken. No matter what he said or did, he would never be able to repair the damage that had been done.The man standing in front of him was not the father he had once known and loved. He was a stranger, a man consumed by greed and ambition. He was lost to him forever.Slowly, he turned and began to walk away. He didn't look back, didn't say another word. He simply left, and never looked back.Andy couldn't help but wondered how his father had turned this way — at this stage, he's beyond repair and no matter the amount of words said could bring back his old self which seems to be lost forever.‘Am I really doing the right thing?’ He asked himself, giving his actions a second thought. ‘Leaving him and walking out of his life the moment he's alone and needed someone by his side, is it really okay to desert him like this?’He's not alone, he has his brother who are always supporting him, no matter
"Whether it's sinful or not doesn't matter to me." Xavier cut his son off, matching his angry tone. "Did you think I wish to remain hidden while that bitch enjoy all the luxury to herself and her illegitimate kids?"Andy would have calmed down a bit but his father was only adding more fuel to his anger. "How dare you, father..." He uttered repulsively, trying to defend Lisa. "Why would you speak such ill words of her and her kids who had done nothing wrong against you?""Nothing wrong, eh?" Xavier muttered with a scoff. "Her existence alone has wronged me greatly. Now that I'm into it already, I won't back down until I see her got ruined completely."Andy shook his head sideways, the look of disgust that was on his his face deepen. "You aren't worth living with, Mr. Xavier. It's a good thing you left me on your own." He said with scoff. "I see why mom left you two decades, taking Stephanie along with her.""You..." Xavier yelled with anger written all over him, pointing his index fing
Ever since Andy could remember, he has never been anxious as he is at the moment. He wasn't even sure of the best words to say to his father when he see him. It was at that moment it all dawned on him that he has not planned all of these well enough which made him let out a low but tiring sigh.The moment Andy stepped in and as though his father had been expecting him to come, Andy was welcomed by his father's blazing gaze — if only looks were capable of ending one's life, Andy was sure to have dropped death on spot."What is this ungrateful brat doing here?" Xavier's thundered in anger, his voice laced with hatred and he did not hesitate to give his son that same look as well —hatred, anger, frustration and fury! He turned towards his brother's direction. "Fred, why did you allow this boy in?""I think he has something to say to you." Fred muttered, though audibly to Xavier's hearing with a slight shoulder shrug, collapsing on the nearest couch. "Let's listen to what he has to say. H
It was barely past noon when Andy had returned home from work that afternoon, he couldn't come back home the previous day because it was already late in the night when he finished from the theatre room so he took his rest at the hospital instead. Andy sat on his favorite couch with a heavy sigh of relief but his relief did not last more than a few moment, because his relief was swallowed with his gnawing feeling of emptiness. Everything seems empty to him — and he felt as though he's alone in the whole big world. He knew something was amiss somewhere and tried figuring it out. Alas! He figured out that it was the absence of his father. He had missed his father's presence in the house, his nagging and miss seeing his scowling face as well —all of these had made the past five years bearable for him but for the past one week, he has no one else to do all of these to him. Andy couldn't help but blamed himself for the emptiness he was feeling, he was the one who had sent his own biolog
Once they were gone, Lisa let out a sigh of relief. She was glad to have a moment to herself, and she was looking forward to the peace and quiet. Although she couldn't help but feel a bit guilty about sending the kids away but she had things to discuss about with Judas.Judas moved closer and sat down on the seat opposite Lisa's desk. Lisa, as well, sat down in her usual position, her eyes fixed on the man before her. His facial expression says it all, of course he has a lot o say to Lisa and could not wait to be permitted so he could relay his words. "It seems you have something to say, Judas." Lisa finally voiced out after observing Judas for a while. She's not too blind not to have noticed —she knows Judas too well. "What have you come up with this time around?" "Uh, yeah." He nodded his head in agreement, adjusting slightly on his seat. "You can guess..." his voice was drawling and far from usual.Lisa raised her left brow slightly. "Beats me. What are you up to this time, Jude