Racheal noticed that Roni’s convoy had not followed them here. In fact, she did not remember seeing them for a while now. She casually wondered what happened to them. The air outside was freezing in the snow.She walked beside her mother, and they went up in an elevator she did not use when she first visited this resort. They stopped just two floors away from the rooftop. She knew the penthouse on their first getaway was just a floor above.“Are you OK sweetheart?” Her mother said, glancing at her in concern as they walked into a shiny marble-floored hallway. She nodded.“You can stay back if you do not want to witness this.”“I will come.” She said. Although Roni’s groaning was eating at her heart, she was not hesitant to see him suffer because she knew he deserved every bit of it. He was a horrible president, husband and father.“It will be quick.” Her mother squeezed her shoulder and kissed her cheek as they stood in front of two heavy doors. As the doors were pulled inwar
Racheal sat in front of the mirror as Luna and Leah prepared her dress. Her short haircut did not need their assistance, it was easy to just comb and style at the edges.She finished her makeup and stood up. She took the linen dressing gown off, and stepped into her red dress with a very deep slit.“Do I look good?” She asked the girls. They nodded, smiling at her. She nodded, took her purse and went out. Leo was waiting for her and at the foot of the stairs with beautiful red roses. She smiled at him, trying to push some unwelcome thoughts away.She had once told Steffan she would always think of him whenever she saw a rose. And it was true. There was no day her mother or Leo got her roses in the last few months that he did not come to her mind.But she did not ask any of them to stop giving her roses though. She did not want to stop something she absolutely loved because of him.She stopped at the foot of the stairs and smiled at Leo. “You look lovely.” He said, leaning in
Racheal smiled at Leo's comment. She should feel excitement at the thought that he wanted them to be married, but she did not.. She shook her head. It was all too soon. That had to be the reason. And after Steffan she no longer associated positive feelings with marriage. She needed time to heal and rediscover herself.“Well. We would have to be dating first, then engaged, and then married,” she finally responded. If she was going to get married again, she wanted the whole experience this time. Especially for someone as young as she was.“I would ask you to be my girlfriend here.” He smiled sadly. “But you are still someone else’s wife.”She said nothing for a long time.“I will start the process next week.” She said finally. There was no need to delay it, especially as she did not plan on going back to him.“No. Do it at your own pace.” She frowned. What exactly did he want?He shook his head at her. “I just wanted you to think about it. Do it at your own pace.” He took her h
Racheal continued looking at the document till they arrived at the hospital. Isaac led her up to her appointment with the doctor. The woman smiled as she shook her hand while Isaac stood alert by the door.“You have to know that you may not remember everything, or anything, even at first try.” The doctor said, as Racheal lay back on the soft couch in her office.She nodded. She just wanted to know for sure if her brain had blocked a memory out. She may not be able to find out what that memory was on her first try, but she could find another way to discover what happened on that night.Surprisingly though, she remembered everything during this first session.It was like her brain had patiently been waiting for a little assistance. As she sat up, her body shook with tears. The doctor tried to calm her down, and Isaac stood with uncertainty, hovering around her.She finally quieted down and sat still. She was not going to say all she remembered in front of the doctor. The few wor
“Figures," Racheal said, "because when Steffan found the text I allegedly sent to Roni in my trash folder, it showed that the message had been sent around the time Skylar left, when in fact it was sent later that night”Racheal looked around the table. Leo sighed.“From your phone, it would have been easy to do that.” He said. “The doctor just had to change the time before he started. But in the telecommunication records? They needed a worker to manipulate it.”Racheal stared at the document Isaac was holding. It meant these new records were the ones that had been untampered with.“I need this doctor.’ Iris said quietly. Her face was dark with something that frightened Racheal a little.“He resigned last year,” Isaac said.“I need him. I will find him.” She said, stood up from the table and left. Racheal watched her leave with a mix of pride and dread. She wondered just what her mother would do to the man. She turned to see Leo watching her from across the table.Isaac and her mai
He was in his office that Monday afternoon when his PA rang him up about a package from a courier.“Who is it from?”“Your wife, sir.”He sat frozen. What had the little woman sent him after so long? “Send it in.”He had been glued to his phone since pictures of her went viral two days ago. Although the pictures were taken from a distance, it was clear to anyone that she looked different. He felt relieved that she looked healthier than the woman he saw the last time. But he felt fear too. The little woman looked like her mother now. It was in the way she walked. That softness and openness was all gone. He shook his head. It did not matter anyway. She would never accept him back. He tried not to think about the necklace she still had around her neck. That was many months ago. She probably didn't have it on anymore.He waited for his P.A who came in and placed the folder in front of him. He nodded as she left, squinted at the package. The envelope was too big to contain just d
He froze, staring at the video.Danna Sherrod? How could his mother have been involved in a plan to get her own family hurt? It did not make sense. Coincidentally, he heard Iris’s voice ask the question that was on his mind.“You could be lying.”“I am not.” The doctor responded fearfully, looking at the person behind the video frame.“It does not make sense that a mother would be a part of a plan that would get her child hurt, no matter how much she hated that child,” Iris said.“I swear to you. I am not lying.” The doctor said. “She brought the job to me.”“Job.” Iris laughed darkly. “You call what you did to my daughter a job. Who was Danna Sherrod working with?”“Rosyln Rana.”“Good. But it still does not explain why Danna Sherrod would want to harm her own child.” She said.“She was desperate. She was anxious about her secret your daughter knew, and was afraid her family would find out soon.” The villa doctor said.He paused the video. This cannot be about the vault robbery.
Racheal got down from her car, and went into the familiar building of the hospital. A place that had technically been her home and world at one point. The air was getting even colder now outside as the holidays drew near. She wanted to be done with all these by the end of the year so she could start the next year on a new note.She smiled at the nurse sitting at the front desk. “Danna Sherrod?” She asked. The nurse nodded eagerly.“She is in the only private ward on the top floor.”“Thank you.” Racheal smiled and left. She knew they were allowing her through because they still thought she was married to the Sherrods. Even the guards outside the private ward let her through, although she heard them whispering into their radio earphones.She walked into the cool ward that smelled of antiseptics and medication. Danna was lying on the bed, hooked to an oxygen tank. It made her remember that time Steffan had been in a coma. She sighed, and walked towards the bed. She took off he
“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