Racheal felt like she was in a trance as she looked towards the door and saw a woman who looked exactly like her. The same features, and a rare shade of blond hair. The woman stopped halfway to the bed and began sobbing.Racheal just stared, her body frozen, her brain on a sudden leave, as she watched the woman. This was Iris, Iris Rana. She did not seem to have aged a day. Her face was still like the one she had in her memory from when she was a little girl.But she still did not want to believe it. Even her brain refused to process the information.Her mother was dead. Had been dead for years now.“Racheal,” Leo called, the smile in his voice was gone, it had been replaced with worry.She continued to stare at the woman, familiar but a stranger. A stunning stranger who looked exactly like her, or was it the other way around?“Malysh.” Baby The woman said, finally able to speak up through all her tears. That word transported Racheal back to all those years ago when her mother
11:00 am 03-09-2021The presidency’s office, Yin capital.He sat in his father's office, waiting for the man to finish his meeting, so they could talk about the organization. He wanted to be able to leave on time, so he could make it to the scheduled zoom call with the doctor he had found for the little woman.He was not paying attention, so when he lifted his head to see the guards tense and his father frowning, he was surprised.“What is going on?” He asked, turning the tablet face down on his thighs. His father opened his mouth to respond, when a knock came on the door.“Come.” His father said, standing straight.He turned to look at the door, but nearly fell off his seat as the little woman walked in. She looked way more stunning than he had ever seen her, and she looked fierce. She had on a pair of sunglasses, and her hair fell shinny to her waist. The way she walked…He paused. This was not the little woman.“Good day Mr Sherrod.” She stopped before the heavy desk, and pl
01:00 pm08-09-2021Capital hospital, YinRacheal lay quietly, weakly, trying to recover from the last chemo session she had. She was in the best ward, and her mother had hired an interior decor team to change the whole ward.She remembered one time that Jade had said that the Sherrods were rich-rich, and the other families were nowhere close to their wealth. She had finally met someone richer than the Sherrods, her mother.She feared a little that the money might just be illegal. She did not dwell on those thoughts though. Her mother was a good and just person above all else. She seemed fiercer than she remembered, at least towards other people, but she understood that the suffering she had to go through all alone had changed her.As she watched her mother quietly take a call near the door, she wondered if she too would change, or have changed after all she had to go through.Her mother turned around with a broad smile on her face.“Malysh. It’s done.” She walked towards her. “Y
“Then why did she not make it to the safe?” Astson asked, leaning back in his seat. It was good to see him finally relaxing. “I was really looking forward to that balance check.”He looked at the man a little irritated, but tried not to show it. When did Aston become so money-driven? For the few minutes he’s been here, all he’s talked about was the money.“How much is it?” He said, fishing out his phone. It seemed he was not going to make any progress with the man if they did not clear the money issue.“How much is it?” “300k. I thought she told you or something.”He looked up, his jaw hanging low.“Racheal paid you three hundred thousand dollars?” He asked in disbelief. Why would she pay so much for a video of his father? Was it for him? He frowned, or was it for her own father? That would be such ammunition for Roni Rana to use against Spencer Sherrod. But it had been months, and she didn't send it to her father.Roni would have shown his card already, making some threats or
03:45 pm10-10-2021Capital hospital, YinRacheal inhaled deeply as Leo wheeled her out into the open air and sunlight. She looked up, the sun was bright, but warm on the skin.“How are you feeling?” Leo stopped the wheelchair, and came to stand in front of her. He had taken a long leave at her mother’s request so he could concentrate all his time on just her.She was surprised he accepted. Although her mother was paying two times what he usually earned, she knew how important his work was to him. To leave all those patients, and devote all his time to just her. It was just shocking.“Warm.” She smiled as she touched her clean-shaven scalp.“You seem to like being bald. You do not stop touching your head.” Leo said, smiling as he took a seat on the bench beside her.“I do not exactly like it.” She responded. She often missed her gorgeous hair. “But the skin feels nice to touch.” He nodded, watching her.“So should I continue with the book we stopped yesterday, or the day before?”
11:00 am10-12-2021The presidency’s office, Yin CapitalHe sat in his father’s office listening to him complain about the international journalist that had been attacking him non-stop these last few months,revealing things only the Sherrods were supposed to know.This anonymous journalist’s articles revealed how the presidential bride had been attacked in her villa and Spencer Sherrod had killed the only journalist who had proof.“I am so certain that Racheal is behind this.” Spencer Sherrod said, pacing the office. “Why would she want to do all this? I was so good to her and protected her even from your mother.”“Were you?” He almost asked, but he said nothing. The only reason he was still here was because of his plans to bring the man down without him knowing what hit him.He would take down what mattered to the man most, the organization.That would bring the man more pain than any physical torture he could give him before killing him.Since he wanted to play games, he was ready
04:00 pm 10-12-2021Quagmire, Shelton city, YinHe got out of the taxi dressed in a cheap hoodie and slacks. He kept his head down, and walked casually in the alley like he was one of the people who lived there. After the discussion he had with his father earlier today, he was desperate to hurry things up and bring Spencer Sherrod down before he could hurt the little woman.If that was the last thing he could do for her before he left Yin, he would be able to live a little better with his conscience. He could not help the pull he felt to come back to this place. This place, Jordan Leroy, had died.He remembered that night they had combed the whole area, looking for the man, and then searching for clues after finding his body. They had searched and searched and found nothing, so he did not know why he was back here, or what he hoped to find after over six months. He walked down the alleys two times over, staring at faces, the floor, and even went up to the apartment Jordan had be
07:00 pm10-12-2021Lavender gates, Yin capital.Racheal sat on the couch, stringing the ornament balls for Leo, who placed them on the Christmas tree. The maids had offered to help again and again, but Racheal had turned them all away.She wanted to do this herself, feel even a little alive on her first Christmas with her mother. She sighed. This would have been her first Christmas with Steffan too.“You will have to go faster than that Ma’am, or I’ll call the maids.” Leo said, pulling her out of her thoughts. When she looked up at him, he was smiling.“I’ll be tempted to beat them off with a stick this time.” She said, as she handed him a green ornament ball.“Glad to see you have enough strength for that." Leo said. She laughed. She liked that he had a sense of humor.She did not know she could laugh again. She looked around the spacious living room of the house she now shared with her mother on a beautiful estate. As soon as she had been strong enough and showing progress,
“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