Isaac appeared with a tray, not long after Racheal took her seat behind her desk.“Ma’am. He said.She nodded toward the sitting area, and he went in with the tray and dropped it on the table.She turned back to the desktop, and finished looking at the sheets from yesterday.She was happy to mark the project as complete. She did not want to have to look at anything that reminded her of that camp.It was too painful.She hoped Spencer Sherrod would reap the fruits of his wickedness.First the journalist, now a whole camp that housed thousands of people. He had killed even his own citizens.If the news ever got out he would be cooked.Maybe she would do that, when she and Steffan were safely out of Yin, she would turn the information of what Spencer did to her father.If anyone would be able to make the man pay, it was her father.She stood up, and went to the sitting area.She took the napkin covering the tray off, and saw the usual breakfast. Toast, eggs, bacon, coffee, fruit juice, b
“The odds that I find you on seat, Pretty Lady.” Racheal said, as the store manager ushered her into Jade’s office.Jade’s eyes lit up when she saw her. She stood up, and hurried around the table to pull Racheal into a hug. “You look good.” Jade said, moving back to look at her outfit.“I would ask you to influence my fashion items, but the whole presidency would come for my head.” she continued, leading her to the sitting area in her office.“I am no fashion icon.” Racheal laughed.“Says someone who has a whole page created for her outfits.”Racheal laughed again, and took a seat on the couch. She placed the Burr-basket she got Jade on the table. “That cannot be true.” Jade gave her a look of mock hurt, and went to her desk to pick up her phone. She was frantically scrolling through it as she walked back to the couch.“Here.” She said, placing the phone in Racheal's hand. Racheal scrolled through the page and saw pictures of her in different outfits. The last post was a pictur
Racheal’s phone vibrated, as she walked out of the office behind Jade.“That is not mine.” Jade stopped, staring at the phone in her hand.“It’s mine.” Racheal said, pulling her phone out from her purse. She checked to see it was a random notification about a trending news. She looked back up to see Jade staring at her.“You have a phone?”“Yes. Steffan.” She said as a quick way of explanation. Jade was looking at her with a completely shocked expression. “I meant to get your contact information before I left.” Racheal added.Jade threw her hands around her friend and hugged her. “This is so good.” She said.Racheal nodded. She thought it was too. She was hopeful for the first time since she arrived in Yin. If she could clear this Asad Achille assignment out of the way, then there was a possibility of her and Steffan having a bright future, and peace too.She gently pulled away from the embrace, and Jade shook her head, smiling at her.”With a husband like this, you are winning
“Chloe likes you.” Jade said, as she walked with Racheal to a private changing room.“I think I like her too.” Racheal replied, putting her purse on the floor.“What?”“I know you don’t like mistresses, I don’t think I do either, but Chloe looks like a decent person.”“Oh Racheal.” Jade said in a sad voice. She turned to her. “What?”“She LIKES you.”“Oh.” Racheal stopped, shocked. “How do you know?”“It’s so obvious, she was looking at you with stars in her eyes, the way my brother, Steffan, and even that hot Dalloz heir looks at you.”“That’s sad. It is wasted on me.” Racheal said, turning away quietly, “I have never even been curious about women.” She thought of Skylar in the moment, would the women have liked each other, maybe Chloe would have been a better partner for Skylar than that miserable Hamza.Her eyes widened suddenly, was that why Chloe accepted her ridiculous excuse to visit? Had she gotten the wrong idea?“She is coming to look at my books.” Jade mimicked Chloe, pu
“Are you sure about this?” Jade asked.“Yes,” Racheal replied.“But how do you plan to get it? The man is heavily guarded at all times.”“I know. My solution is in his schedule. Asad Achillie is a meticulous man. He follows a strict schedule, like some robot. But recently, one hour on his schedule every Thursday has gone blank."“He is not at work, with his family, or on any official assignment. My father did not give me any more information about this. But I thought for a man so disciplined and strict, whatever Asad Achillie was doing in that hour had to be a vice of some kind.”Jade was nodding. “You mentioned his relationship with Chloe, and she just told me she would be busy on Thursday morning.” Racheal continued. Her phone vibrated, she ignored it. It was probably Steffan texting her. It could wait.“I may be on to something, or not. But it is worth giving it a shot. This is the only shot I have.” She said to Jade.“How will you get the permit from him this way?”“Thursday ev
“Steffan.” Racheal said, in partial alarm, as she felt his strong arms pulling her close.He paused, and frowned.“You think I will hurt you?”“No.” She lied.“Racheal.” He whispered, pulling her more gently this time. He knew she was lying.“You are the annoying one,” He said as he deeply inhaled the scent on her neck. “You know how to make my blood steam. In many ways.”He quickly released her again.“I will call Skylar now. Promise to not get worried anymore.” He said.She nodded.If she heard Skylar’s voice again, she would know for sure if there was truly cause for alarm, or if she was worrying over nothing.Steffan pulled out his phone and started scrolling.“Skylar, you are sending my wife into a panic,” He said.Racheal hurriedly went to his side and stared into the phone. Skylar was sitting beside an indoor pool.“Skylar. I got your message, are you OK? You can tell me the truth.”“I’m sorry. I wanted to send that text to Hamza, it was an order at a bar.” Skylar said, smiling
Racheal was ready to go with Steffan, even though she had to abandon her Asad Achillie project that was in just two days.But Steffan refused.He wanted to be able to search for his sister without worrying about her too.He went off in his Jet, and his father went with presidential guards on another flight.They kept the search hush-hsuh though.The villa was large, and they could not risk anyone alerting the Almirs that they were coming for their son.Racheal paced the living room upstairs in her long nightrobe as she dialed Skylar’s number for the hundreth time.It was still unreachable.Hamza’s phone was now unreachable too even before Steffan left.“Ma’am, would you like to sit down for a bit?” Luna asked.Racheal shook her head, and the movement made her head spin.“Water?” Luna asked, her voice sounding more anxious, as Racheal reached out to hold a sofa for support.“Yes please.” Danna Sherrod’s voice said.Everyone turned to look at her.She still managed to look intimidatingl
By the next morning, Skylar’s phone was still switched off, and Steffan called to tell her that he had still not found his sister, or Hamza.Racheal stared at the phone after the call, and burst into tears. She was not sure she could forgive herself if anything happened to Skylar. She should have believed her instincts more, and forced Steffan to look for his sister earlier.She sighed, and finally wiped her eyes after an hour. She logged on to the website of a popular shop, and ordered different brands of pregnancy test kits. She walked in to the bathroom with her phone, and turned on the shower. She stepped back, and dialed Jade’s number.“Hey beautiful.’Racheal broke into a fresh set of tears. “Do you think I should still go ahead with the plan?”“Hey. Are you fine?”“No. Skylar is missing.”“Steffan’s sister, who had the wedding three weeks ago?”“Yes.”“My goodness. How bad is it?”“Bad. Steffan and Spencer have been searching all night. I don’t know if I can still continu
“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