Racheal turned to see her mother watching her. “Are you fine, Malysh?” “Yes, Maman.”“You don’t look it. Nervous about finally returning?” her mother asked. That had not exactly been what she had been thinking about, but she nodded anyway.“There is nothing to be nervous about. They are the intruders.” Her mother said, taking her hand. Racheal looked at her. She wondered how she was taking this so well. This was the first time she was returning to Xen too after all that happened to her there. Why was she not nervous or sad?She may be the exact copy of her mother physically, but they were the exact opposite in character. She often wished she was as strong as her. She was resilient, that was the only way she had gotten over all that happened to her. But she was not as strong-hearted as her mother.“By the way,” her mother said, drawing her attention again. Racheal turned to see her mother smiling. She knew immediately that whatever she had to say, had something to do with Le
“You have more questions, Malysh. Ask.”“How did you know I had more questions?” Racheal asked.“Your eyes.” Her mother smiled.Racheal sighed, hesitated. She was not sure she wanted to hear the answer to the one question in her mind, the one that bothered her so much. The one that would bother her even more now that she knew her mother had been rewarded with a freaking gold mine.“You want to know what I did to get such a gift?” her mother asked.Racheal shook her head. “You don’t have to tell me.” “Because you are worried it's something awful.” Her mother was smiling sweetly.“Is it not?” Racheal asked, her voice was a fearful whisper.“Not exactly.” Her mother responded. “I actually saved someone I was supposed to kill.”“What?” Racheal drew close, all attentive.Her mother smiled. “I only told you half the story of what I was up to when I was away. When everyone thought I was dead.”“Oh.”“I was not keeping it a secret, Malysh. You were so sick at the time, I wanted you to get
Racheal and Iris arrived at Xen in the evening. They went first to the countryside mansion Racheal had grown up in, before Roni became the vice president and moved them to the presidential palace they had stayed at till she left Xen.As she walked through the garden, she took her mother’s hand.“Most of the memories I had of you were from this place.”“Malysh.” Her mother said, looking at her.“Yes. How you would chase me around here, scold me for discarding my shoes, and sniffling the flowers together.”Her mother laughed. “You liked to mimic me then. Sniff the flowers when I did, concentrate on a bud when I did.” She caressed her hair. “My mini version”Racheal smiled, and they continued their stroll in the garden. A walk they had often taken when her head had been around her mother’s waist. Now they were around the same height.“Why did you never pay someone to get me out of Xen?” Racheal suddenly asked. “You could afford it later on in life.”“I could. But since I was dying and
Racheal stared up, surprised. Why did everyone always try to pull her into these things? This was none of her business. It was entirely between her mother and them. The call to keep or take anything was entirely up to her mother, not her.“They are not my sisters.” She said finally.“What?” Celia asked. Racheal looked at the hypocrite that chose to sleep with a man she had been with. She was surprised she did not consider them sisters? Same people that had made sure she had Cinderella's fate.“Ignore her. I personally prefer not to be sisters with someone like that. Evil and cunning and sly.” Claire said to her sister, staring at Racheal with daggers in her eyes.Racheal watched her. Except they have had some major savings all these years, they were at the brink of poverty. Maybe Claire had not realized that yet. She would have it worse than all the other Ranas since she was expecting a child all on her own.“Let’s go, Malysh.” Her mother said, beginning to turn away.“Can’t we
They arrived at A&U, the company’s headquarters in Xen. Racheal stared out the car in awe at the building. It was large and huge. She had never come here all the time she lived in Xen because she knew how much it would annoy Roslyn.“It’s all yours now, Malysh.” Her mother took her hand.She looked at her mother in confusion. “You think I have any interest in this? I fought for it for your sake. You should have been the CEO here as soon as you turned eighteen.”Racheal looked back at the building. Her mother was watching her.“You will love the one in France even more.” She said, "Let's go see your company, little Miss CEO.”Racheal giggled and got out of the car. As they walked into the grand large lobby, she saw a few older men in suits were standing by the door waiting. They bowed as soon as she walked in. She returned their bow, feeling awkward.The men introduced themselves to Racheal as they walked with her to her new office. They were all the top directors of the compan
Maxwell looked shocked, but he did not deny it. Racheal stepped back. Shocked. Who was this person? This was a man she loved at one point, but did she know him at all?“You dated three sisters and f*cked two? Who are you, Maxwell?”“Don’t judge me.”“Don’t judge you?” She found herself yelling. Then she stopped. She was in front of her company. A company she just became the CEO of. She should not be seen acting like this outside on her first day.She turned and started to walk towards her car. Maxwell followed her. She should have known. He only cared about his child, not exactly the Rana sisters.She got in her car, but he followed, and sat in it. Isaac was watching her for a signal to haul him out. She shook her head. The last thing she wanted was to cause a scene.She signaled for Isaac to get in, and turned to Maxwell.“This is your chance to leave now. I am going home.”“You have not given me a response.”The car began to move as the chauffeur pulled out of the building.
Racheal was at the office in A&U Xen, two days later, getting familiar with how the company operated, when Claire’s former P.A, who was now her P.A, walked in with a bouquet and a box.Racheal asked the staff who had been doing a presentation on the business plan for the next quarter to leave. The young woman bowed, and exited the room behind the P.A.Racheal turned to the box and opened it. It had a beautiful golden statue. The statue was a hand in a thumb’s up sign. She giggled. Leo was so cute.She found a note in the box and turned it.Congratulations on your new position. You deserve it.SteffanShe dropped the note and stepped back. Why was he making things so difficult for her? What the hell was this? She wanted to be civil with him, not friends. Why the hell would he send this to her? She looked at the roses. She picked the bouquet up, and rang for her P.A“Throw it in the trash.” She said as soon as the woman came in. Her P.A nodded and took it from her. Racheal glanc
He pulled out a flash drive from the envelope, and held his breath as he plugged it in. He had recently discovered too many secrets at this point through a flash drive, and he had a familiar feeling of dread in his belly as he watched the file load.The audio clip was short, but it was the date that mattered, July 10, 2021. It was a call made in the early hours of the morning that Skylar died.“Still on for today?”That was clearly Roberts Sanders’ voice. “Yes.”It was a one-word response from Roni, but it meant everything. Just when he thought the clip would end with nothing more. He heard.“You should be the president in six hours.”He moved his chair back and stood up. He walked to a wall and screamed, not minding if anyone could hear him through the open windows.This was what they had killed Skylar for? Power? The stupid presidential seat was what he had lost his sister for? And his parents had somehow stupidly let that happen, especially Danna, because of her unreasonable
“Mind Skylar’s head.” Steffan said, watching her get out of the car. Racheal cradled six month-old Skylar’s head in her arms and got out of the car. Steffan turned and walked ahead towards the courthouse. She knew he did not like this, neither did her mother, but she wanted to lead a new life from now on.She would only allow any dispute to be settled by the court no matter how long it took, instead of the torture, killing and all they had done up to the point that she had Sterling.“Maman," Sterling said, peeking his head around his father’s shoulders.“Yes, baby.”“Maman.” He said again, and she smiled at him. Steffan adjusted him in his arms as they walked into the building.It was an informal courtroom, and the biggest case in Xen. This case was what had disgraced Roslyn and made her lose the elections. Journalists waited outside for the final hearing.She and Steffan sat side by side after the judge took her seat, and the accused began to be escorted in by the cops. Roslyl
Racheal followed Steffan into his house quietly. His housekeeper greeted her warmly. She nodded at the woman. She was surprised to see Chef Bennett come out.“Dinner in five minutes, sir.” Then he paused. “Mrs Sherrod.” He bowed.“Make a place for two,” Steffan said. Those were the first words he had said, since she told him she missed him.“Sure, Sir.” Chef Bennett responded.“You kept him?” Racheal asked, as Steffan led the way upstairs. “You liked him.” He said simply.She said nothing more. He surprisingly led the way to his bedroom on the second floor. It was a dark masculine room, wide, dark and intimidating.She stood in the middle, unsure of how to act, or what to do next.He dropped his bag on the bed, and glanced at her.“I am sorry I hurt you.” She said. He paused, midway into sitting on the bed, then started to take his tie off.“That’s rare. Women never apologize.”She made a face at him. But continued anyway. “I was conflicted. I wanted to be with you, but I was
Racheal sat on the toilet bowl, staring at the pregnancy test kit. It clearly read positive. In denial, she took others. They read the same thing.She hurried back to her room and pulled on a dress. It would be stupid to make the same mistake twice. She sat nervously in the backseat as her chauffeur took her to the hospital.She waited nervously as her blood got drawn, and patiently waited for the doctor.She could not smile back as the doctor said.“Congratulations Mrs Sherrod. Would you like to see your baby?”She climbed the table, and stared at the ceiling as the doctor smeared a cold gel on her flat belly.“You are about seven weeks pregnant.” The doctor said excitedly. “Look at your baby.” She held her breath and turned.She could hear the heartbeat of the fetus as the doctor pointed out where the baby was in the sac. It was so tiny, she burst into tears.The doctor helped her up and soothed her, telling her it was OK to cry, that days like these were an emotional day for
The president is dead did not cover the horror of how Spencer Sherrod had died. He stared at his father’s coffin the next morning as the priest talked on and on. He had wanted to kill this man. He had wanted to kill him with his own hand, so why was he reacting this way to the man’s death?His mind kept going back to how Spencer had looked in the video he had seen. He was headed for a meeting, surrounded by his guards, edgy and nervous, and alone.The old woman had come from the crowd, begging an audience. He had hesitated, but asked them to let her through. The woman had hugged him, even as his guards had yelled that it was against protocol.One had even reached out to pull her away. Then flames. He shook his head as he remembered the explosion sound. They had quickly found out the woman was the journalist’s aged mother. The journalist Spencer had killed at Racheal’s office.He felt someone squeeze his arm. He looked down at the little woman. She was the only good thing in
“We should start moving. I don’t want Limuel’s men to find us here," he said as he stocked the fire. She dropped a plate of Ramen in front of him. He smiled up at her, and she smiled back.He did not mind if he lost all his wealth, and became doomed to this kind of life, as long as he had her. She was all he wanted now, all he had ever wanted really from the day he met her.“It will be a few hours still before we can start moving.” She responded. He nodded and picked up his meal. She walked closer and sat beside him. He turned to her, caressed her cheek, and kissed her lightly. She returned his kiss, enthusiastically, the way he remembered, the way he liked.He loved how much she loved his touch. They were soon grappling at each other, their meal forgotten. He squeezed her warm soft body as she moaned his name and dug into his back. He savored the warmness of her, the fullness of her curve, the lusty way she matched his thrusts, squeezing tight around him.He did not want to
Racheal sat shocked, staring at Steffan’s face, just barely able to see it in the near darkness. But she could see clearly enough the honesty in there. His blue eyes were clear and honest, open and pleading.“You should have said that when I wanted to hear it.” She said, shaking her head, starting to move away. But he held her.“I should have. I was a fool not to have.”“I even told you once that I loved you. You said nothing.”“I am sorry.”“Stop apologising. It won’t fix anything," she said, trying to pull away. She did not have to hear this, she did not want to hear this. It would make leaving him that much more difficult. It was easier walking away from a man who hurt her, and had never admitted to loving her even once. But now…“Racheal.” He said, taking her face between his hands. “I love you. I have always loved you. My heart stops at the thought of losing you. The day Isaac told me you were dying, the day you sent that divorce document, my heart completely stopped beatin
“I thought you changed. Apparently, you did not," Steffan said finally, looking away. “You are still as stubborn and careless as ever.”His words stung her.“Careless? You sound like I got some warning that a certain Limuel was after me and ignored it.”“I tried to warn you. I sent a dozen messages, tried to make an appointment,” he blew up.She shrank back. Well. There was no way she would have known. She had his number blocked, so there was no way she could have seen his messages. She still did not know how he had gotten her new contact number by the way. She could not think of any of her staff who could have given him her personal number.She knew he was in contact with Isaac, but could Isaac have given him the number?“After all that has happened to you, I don’t know how you can still put yourself in danger like this.”“One could say I was in danger, hiding with you in a storm like this. At least Maman would think so.” She said quietly, lowering herself to the floor. That got
“What are you doing?” Racheal asked as she watched Steffan walk towards one of the many couches in the room. He said nothing.He placed a bright flashlight she suspected he must have found wherever he found the axe on the floor, lighting the whole room up. He raised the axe, and began to hack at the couch.She stared at him in shock, at first not understanding what he was doing. Then she turned back, and shut the heavy bolt on the door. He had to make fire somehow, or they would freeze to death before the storm was over. Between the both of them, they could probably buy a million couches for this family.She walked further into the living room, past him, checking the whole place out. The only place that was open to them was the hallway, the open kitchen in the living room, and a tiny bathroom at the end of the hallway. All the other rooms were firmly locked. She was not very eager to ruin their locks like she did the front door.She walked towards the kitchen, and turned on th
“What? Why?” Racheal screamed in confusion as she watched Limuel’s guards pull a limp Steffan up.Then they began to pull him to pull him away, his tall frame causing his foot to drag behind him.“I had a suspicion he might come here.” Limuel said, pulling out a big cigar.“What did we do to you?” She asked, looking from Limuel to Steffan, who was being dragged away.“I have no problems with the Sherrods. Just you.”“What?” She asked just as she saw Limuel’s toddler run out of the house. The guards tried to stop the child who was not warmly dressed for the weather. The toddler screamed. He just wanted his father.Lukas Limuel turned at the commotion. “Let him through," he said, standing up. The child broke through the barrier of guards, and ran into his father’s arms.“I don’t have the time to explain anything. I hear your mother has suddenly returned from the dead. I believe she will pay a decent price in exchange for you as compensation for what your family did to us.” Lukas sa