“Yes!” I answered excitedly“Can I have your contact, so we can meet up and you’d show me some of your works?” he offered.“Of course, yes.” I collected his phone and saved my number on it,“Thanks, I’ll see you later.” He smiled softly before approaching the counter and Shayla dragged me away.“Sean Ryan just got my number!” I panted heavily; I was so excited that I could hyperventilate.“Things are getting so much better! I mean, I don’t see how my day could go bad…” And just before I finished that sentence, my supposed arch-nemesis walked in.“I didn’t think I’d be seeing you here, oh right I guess. You worked here; it would be bad not to go back to your root.” She cussed with a fake smile.“Cassidy, it’s always a nightmare to see you.”“Oh, it would be a nightmare for only you when I expose whatever secret you and Christian are hiding.”RIELE’S POV[FLASHBACK]“This man got hit pretty bad, I pray he makes it.” I heard a woman tell the other lady beside her, I told my driver to st
CHRISTIAN’S POV“Mr. Montgomery, I was thinking of giving you a call again.” Monica approached me as I walked into my company, I paused by the secretary. I noticed something had changed, I turned and my eyes met a different one. They weren’t seductive or needy, they looked self-conscious and reserved and weren’t Rebecca’s.“Good morning sir,” The brown haired lady secretary sprung up,“What’s your name?” I asked“Emily Clarke, sir.” She responded sharply, I took another keen look at her.“That’s okay, get back to work.” I approached the elevator, “I see you’ve been working hard, Monica. She isn’t my exact taste for a secretary but you tried.”Monica quickly pressed a button on the elevator, “Thank you, sir.” She smiled.The elevator dinged and opened, and there was a nervous-looking lady inside, she looked up and her eyes widened at the sight of me. I recognized her, Rebecca.“Christian!" She yelled as her voice was starting to break, she rushed out from the elevator.I was taken abac
“This is why Father could never give you the company, he needed someone man enough to handle something of this magnitude and you just keep showing how big of a pussy you are.”He chuckled softly, “Your words mean nothing to me, I would keep tormenting you with everything I have until you hand over the company to me.”“Then have at it! Do whatever the fuck you want but I won’t give you that satisfaction of seeing me suffer.”“Have it your way, now that I think about it, using Jennifer was just an introduction to what is to come. Since you’re man enough, you can brace yourself for my vengeful impact when it hits!’“Watch your back, brother.” He dropped the call.I inhaled sharply, my fists clenched in anger. I could feel myself sweating even with the air conditioning; I wanted to do more than just lay my hands on him.There was a slight knock on my door, “I don’t want to see anyone for now.” I yelled.But then the door opened regardless, “what’s got you in a frenzy?” a male voice said,
CHRISTIAN’S POV“Give me one of your strongest liquor,” I said to the brown-haired waitress as I sat on a bar stool behind the counter. Khalid had to drag me away from the office before I got too self-absorbed and plotted my brother’s demise after his little phone call confrontation.Some very important guests came in for Khalid that he had to attend to, he also had to review some things in the club and hold a little meeting with his staff. But he was doing it one after the other, of course, he didn’t say I couldn’t be a part of it but my current mood would rather help myself to a drink.She gave me a dirty look before turning to mix up a drink for me, “Here, drown whatever is making you drink in the daytime.” She said with heavy sarcasm in her voice as she dropped the glass in front of me. who said people could only drink at night and not in the day?I shot her a glare before gulping down the liquid and it hit hard, “Fuck” I cussed under my breath as I shook my head, and she scoffed
“He tried to rape me.” she finished, my head sparked like a light bulb. No one gets to touch Hayley, absolutely no one but me.I was denying my feelings for Hayley, but this was an eye-opener. I don’t want anyone touching her, I want to own her, to have her all to myself.“Wait for me, while I come for the bastard.”RIELE’S POVI dragged myself lazily as I walked into Christian’s house; I flung my shoes off my feet and threw my bag anywhere. Hopefully, it’d land somewhere safe.I lost Jayden once, and now that I found him I lost him again. Because of Alexander, because of how this family is. But he didn’t understand, just because one egg was bad doesn’t mean the rest would be too.Alexander in this proverb is the bad egg here, even in his absence he still managed to ruin my life. I approached the bar and grabbed a bottle of vodka without a glass, I planned to get drunk. What have I got to lose? I’m probably going to give up on finding my real mom anyway.“Nice house, I never doubted t
HAYLEY’S POVIt felt like the traffic was going to last forever; I tapped my feet impatiently in the taxi. I couldn’t meet up with Sean yesterday, and I couldn’t help but think that I screwed up. It was going to be my first time to impress him with my portfolio, and I couldn’t even make it.“Girl, don’t get worked up. I’m sure Sean will understand.” Kitty said over the phone. I exhaled deeply as I stretched from where I sat at the back of the taxi to see if I could figure out what was causing the traffic.“I don’t expect him to understand, Kitty. We’re not friends, or at least I haven’t even started watering the relationship to that title. For now, I’m just an aspiring artist who spilled coffee on him.”"Look, a word of advice from me. Don’t overthink it; be natural. If he likes your work, then good for you, but if he starts to criticize like all these creepy professional artists, then walk away, love.” I heard her moan after taking a bite of something."Thanks, Kitty; I needed that.
“Of course Sean, I would love to. Honestly this is a ground breaker for me, thank you so much.” I grinned, I was so happy that I couldn’t even hide my excitement.“It’s nothing Hayley, your art is what is bringing you this opportunity. Don’t stop painting, don’t lose this unique pattern that you have, nurture it and I can assure you that you might even be bigger than I am. Not that I’m big or anything…” He tried to downplay himself,“Are you kidding me? I’ve looked up to your work all my life! You inspired me, if you aren’t big to anyone you’re very much big to me.”Sean smiled before standing up from the seat, I got up from my chair too.“Anyways thank you, for coming and for sharing your art with me. the fundraiser is in two days, so I would contact you if I need anything else.” He said,“No problem, honestly I don’t even know how to pay you for the big help.”“Um-if you won’t mind, I was hoping you could join me for coffee.” He shrugged casually and I let out a small smile.“Sure,
CHRISTIAN’S POVI sat down impatiently in the backseat as Terry drove as fast as he could to the hospital, Hermione had called that Dad had passed out again. The only thing coming to my mind is the fact that he was poisoned and maybe it’s still in his system. There are slow-acting poisons, so what if this was one of them? In a few minutes Terry parked in front of the hospital, I hurriedly got down and rushed towards the main entrance.As my eyes scoured the waiting area hoping I would see my mom, my eyes caught a pair of familiar ones. I recognized they were Hayley’s.“Christian,” she called as she noticed me too, I slowly walked up to her. There was someone else standing beside her, I didn’t know who she was but they looked very much alike so I could only guess they were related.“What are you doing here?” I asked, the girl beside her kept her gaze fixated on me.“I could ask you the same thing, but then your dad was just rushed in so that answers my question.” Hayley responded, she
ONE WEEK LATERCHRISTIAN’S POV “Yes, Officer Gavin. I appreciate your efforts. Thank you.” I said, and the call dropped. I turned from the window and faced Hayley, who was lying down on the bed. We were both fully discharged from the hospital, and Khalid was still there. And I always made sure I checked on him every day. Hayley, on the other hand, still had to go to the hospital for her antenatal. Officer Gavin was telling me about Denver, and they caught him. He didn’t even hesitate to cooperate with the police; he sold Alexander out. The police were now looking for him, he and Alexander made the deal about putting the bomb under my car. And other news aside, the person who was trying to poison Bernard was a maid in the house. Her motives weren’t clear yet, but she was with the police now. I also heard that Cassidy fell to her death—not that I was being insensitive, but she deserved it. That would be the last time I would ever see Cassidy in my life, and I was thrilled, to be hon
CHRISTIAN’S POV My eyes fluttered open, and immediately I became conscious. Pain surged through my head. I raised my hand slowly to touch my head, and I realised there was a bandage on it. My body ached all through; it was like all the pain I hadn’t felt for the few moments I was asleep was all coming to me at once. The accident replayed vividly: Khalid, the screeching of metals, the flames licking at the car, and Khalid’s shriek of pain as the car engulfed in flames with his legs still trapped while his body was out of the car. Panic seized me as I scanned the unfamiliar surroundings I was in. I figured I was at the hospital; the curtains and the beeping sound of the heart monitor gave that away instantly. “Where’s Khalid, Khalid?" The words fell from my lips in a desperate plea, and my voice was hoarse from the terror that had gripped me in my sleep. The fear that my friend could be dead was the only true friend I ever had. And it would be my fault; I wouldn’t be able to forgive
HAYLEY’S POVIt’s been three days since Cassidy and Rebecca held me captive. I haven’t had food or water and am hungry and tired. My vision is starting to blur as I am slowly losing strength.I slowly closed my eyes. Maybe if I could get a little rest, it would take my mind off the hunger. But then Cassidy splashed me with another round of cold water. I opened my eyes and raised my head, gasping for breath.I shook my head to get the water out of my eye, and the sound of a stainless steel bucket falling on the floor drew my attention to Cassidy, who was standing right in front of me.“I told Christian, he has to meet me here by 1 p.m. Well, would you look at the time? And still no Christian.” She exhaled, almost disappointed.Christian was coming here? I almost felt a sense of relief, but then coming here was a trap. Cassidy was just going to kill us anyway.“Can you see that we can’t trust men and that they are all the same, but don’t worry, I’ll get revenge for us?” she teased, my
72 HOURS CHRISTIAN’S POV The sunlight penetrated the room as I stood by the crack in the window and sipped wine from a small glass. My phone was in my ear when Officer Gavin called. Different things were going through my mind; everything was my fault. From the start, I had always been the problem. Not once have any of Hayley’s mistakes occurred if she even had any. None of them had come back to either haunt me or get me kidnapped. But here I was, putting her in danger yet again because of my bad choices. I just kept proving her mother’s point that I was no good for her. And now that she was carrying my baby, what good could I possibly be to the innocent creature? “Officer Gavin, it’s been three days, and you still haven’t found her,” I complained as I turned away from the window. “What if something else happens to her? I don’t trust those two girls who have her. i…I already told you that I didn’t know where they were. Fuck! If I did, I would drive straight down and get my woman
HAYLEY’S POVI became conscious of the splash of cold water all over my face and tried to jerk up. But my eyes darted down to the rope tied around my legs to the chair, and my hands were tied to the chair behind my back.I struggled to see if I could loosen the rope on my hands, but all my efforts were useless. I exhaled heavily and raised my head to hear someone’s heels hurting the floor.I was sure that it was the person who abducted me. A petite lady with brown hair and blue eyes walked towards me with a bowl, and she smirked.“Re-Rebecca?” I mouthed as my eyes widened in disbelief. She used to be Christian’s secretary. Of course, she would want my head; Christian wasn’t paying her attention anymore. They weren’t having any of that good sex, and then he fired her.I could tell the minute I saw how he looked at her that day when I went to his office. They had something going on, but then I thought it would be Cassidy, but the turns of events were rather shocking.“I’m happy you rem
CHRISTIAN’S POV“Come on, Hayley. Pick up the phone."I mouthed as I paced around in the living room. I reacted stupidly yesterday; I shouldn’t have talked to her like that. I shouldn’t have told her to abort the baby; what stupid suggestion was that?And now that she had left home, I had no idea where she was. I couldn’t reach her; she was picking up my calls, and she still hadn’t come back home.Maybe she was right, and having a baby would change me. It would make my life in a different light. She wanted me to listen to her so badly. It wasn’t like she was forcing the baby on me; she understood even my own plight.She just wanted to talk, to figure out a solution, and I completely shut her down. It was like I was now making my own life more miserable than it already is.“She won’t pick up your calls, Christian." I turned to the sound of Riele’s voice; she was coming from the kitchen holding a glass of booze.“Thanks a lot for the help,” I replied sarcastically.She rolled her eyes.
His eyes widened, and then a storm of emotions brewed on his face. My hands started shaking nervously, and I could tell that he was pissed—like pissed as fuck.“Pregnant? Are you kidding me, Hayley? Is this some sick joke?”I shook my head. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes. I thought having a baby was a good thing. Whether planned or unplanned, we had the resources to take care of it. But then I understood that Christian wasn’t ready because of what he was going through at the moment.“No, Christian. It’s true. I know we didn’t plan it, and I swear I was scared to tell you." He cut me off“How long have you known?” He dropped the whisky bottle on the bedside drawer and faced me, his back resting comfortably on the bed's headboard.The scenario looked like a teenage girl opening up to her father about her unwanted pregnancy."Yesterday, the doctor said I’m three weeks pregnant. And that I was going through too much stress.”He scoffed, “Too much stress? I guess he’s a stupid doc
HAYLEY’S POVMy heart had been pounding in my chest like crazy since last night; I had blacked out suddenly. When I woke up, I was being treated by a doctor, and Riele was by my side.She had told me that Christian went to trash the wedding; to be honest, I wasn’t exactly expecting him to be calm about things. Ever since my dad almost overdosed and died, he just left again and never came back. So if I heard he was starting a new life after all the pain he had put us through, I would crash the wedding too.But that wasn’t my problem out of the many problems on the ground. Hermione had come to see Christian to clear things up, and coincidentally, she came with Liam.“It’s safe to say that we are both victims, Christian.” Hermione started, and the air in the living room was thick with tension as she and Liam faced Christian.I wasn’t sure what Hermione wanted—maybe reconciliation? But she was also a victim of Bernard’s lies and secrets. Liam, on the other hand, just wanted to be clear
CHRISTIAN’S POVIt felt like everything hidden was slowly unraveling itself for me, and each time I found out the truth, I couldn’t help but feel like I had been fooled my whole life. No one cared enough to tell me the truth about anything; I had been living in a lie.Looking for truths that were right under my nose the whole time, the feeling of betrayal suddenly turned into a fresh wound again. I couldn’t possibly trust anyone anymore—Hayley, maybe, or even Riele.My grip on my steering wheel tightened as my car was almost going full throttle. Hayley fainted out of nowhere, so I called the doctor to attend to her at home. I also made sure I called Riele before I left the house.I thought maybe I would be mature enough to deal with the new truth I found out about my mum, but I couldn’t sit back knowing I could see her again after so many years. And she was under a new identity and getting married too. I would lose my mind if I didn’t get closure.I parked like a crazy person in front