078Alora's POV I tossed and turned, but apparently, it did nothing to ease the torture I was in. Red hot pain seared at my sides, and I found myself whimpering. A dull ache spread through the back of my head, but it did nothing to numb the frequent banging at my left and right cranium. Even though I felt all of this, I didn't find anything more strange than the fact that even though I wasn't exactly sure if I was conscious or not, I still felt like I was on the verge of dying. Shit. What the hell was going on? My question, obviously, wasn't a priority to whoever was listening, because despite my laments and silent cries, nothing changed. If anything, the pain seemed to be growing by the minute. I pressed my eyes tighter, and that was when it dawned on me that I must have my eyes closed. I wanted to open it, badly too, but I couldn't help this strange sense of fear that enveloped me. What the hell was going on? I knew what I needed to do, but it didn't make it any less dr
079Alora's POV I hated confrontations, but if anything, I hated the very person who was about to do it all the more. My heart skipped a beat, and as I stared at the man in front of me, I allowed my head to do the math. It was going to determine which was more dangerous; the man or his words. If you asked me though, I was going to say both. An unsettling silence settled between both of us. His words echoed in my ears, and it sent goosebumps down my spine but it did nothing to calm my curiosity. When had Eliaz gotten so bold? I snuck a glance at the man in question. He stood his ground, and in the past minute, I wasn't sure he'd moved a muscle. His face looked stoic and even though I wasn't a mind reader, I could already tell he had come here just for ulterior motives. But what kind, and what was he going to be on about?A sharp throb formed at the side of my head, and I winced. Eliaz hadn't even started speaking yet and I was already feeling this tensed up. What would happen
080Alora's POV The devil really was after me, and I had all the proof I needed in the world. In fact, one of them was standing, no, sitting next to me right now. I couldn't believe my ears or eyes. The entire scenario replayed itself over and over again in my mind, but no matter how many times it did that, I just couldn't make any sense out of it. At all. “Not only do you want me to pull out from the real estate contract and everything that has to do with it, you want me to sign off a percentage of my company to you?” They were my own words, but somehow, I wanted to believe that I had a mistake. That Eliaz hadn't really just offered that bullshit as a way to help me. My eyes snapped back to the man in question. He had a sickly smile on his face and I wanted nothing more than to wipe it off his face with a slap.At first, I was worried about his threat of not leaving till he got what he wanted, but now I was just plain mad at his audacity and stupidity combined. “Get out.
081Fredrick's POV The drive back home was silent. I hated it, but there was really nothing I could do about it. I wanted to speak, to try and ease out the tension that brewed in the car, but no matter how hard I tried or wanted to, I just couldn't bring myself to do anything. It just didn't feel right. I let out a sigh. I'd been doing that for the past couple of minutes now, but Alora didn't seem to complain. In fact, she hadn't reacted to anything I'd done and I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me. I snuck a glance at the woman in question. She had her head tilted towards the window, with her eyes trained on the scenery whizzing past. I knew Alora well enough to know that she wasn't staring at anything. She was looking at it, but she couldn't see anything. Even after Eliaz had left the ward, the tension that once brewed between the three of us didnt just go away. I'd stared at her for a couple of seconds, and it was obvious something was wrong . Very wrong. I was
082Alora's POV I had no idea which was weird, the entire moments that led up to me fainting and waking up in the hospital, or Fredrick's weird energy. If I was being honest though, I would say it was Fredrick. I watched him from the windows in the living room as his car pulled out of the compound. I wasn't sure why, but his departure just didn't sit right with me. It sounded weird, and funny in a way. My mind went in a million directions, and so many thoughts crowded my head, but no matter how frazzled my brain was, my uncertainty didn't hint at the fact that he was probably cheating on me. It didn't. At all. For most women, that would be their first thought, but not for me. Fredrick wasn't that type of man, and he never would be. But at the same time, he had never been the kind to keep something from me. It was pretty obvious at this point. Usually, whenever he saw I was in a bad mood, he would do everything in his power to cheer me up. But throughout the drive home, he'
083Alora's POV One would think that at this point, and with everything I've been through, I would have gotten used to it by now. But no matter how much shit I've been through, I like to think that's the last. That doesn't necessarily work, and the phone call I received last night, was all the proof I needed in the world to finally understand that. I drummed my fingernails against the surface of my steering wheel. An unruly rhythm reached my ears, but I tuned them out the moment they got closer to my earlobe. On the outside, horns blared and honked at the traffic light that had been stuck at the red light for the past thirty minutes. At this point, I was beginning to think it might be a malfunction, because I had no idea what was causing the holdup. The zebra crossing in front of me was as empty as could be, so why wasn't the light changing? I sighed. If anything, it gave me some time to think. I'd sworn I wasn't going to do that too often, but life obviously had other plans
084Alora's POV No. There was no way this was happening. I'd lost count of the number of times I'd said that since my move back to Los Angeles and while I could swear that the previous time I'd said that would be the last, my life has a funny way of rubbing it in my face. Over and over again. It was one thing to be hopeless, and another thing to have no sight of things turning around for you, but you still decide to hold on to that tiny piece of faith, that somehow, something good would come out of it. In case, you were doubting the latter was worse, because if life decided to pull out the rug from under your feet, then you were going to fall, hard. My ears buzzed, and even though Laura's voice echoed in my head, I refused to believe that what she'd said was true. “They're gone.” Her words swarm all around me. “The messages are gone.” While I was in prison and especially after my conversation with Laura, that was the only thing I could think about. Those messages. I knew
085Alora's POV Was I crazy? Well, we were about to find out. This wasn't going to be the first time I would think I was a little mental upstairs. I mean, if so many people had told me that, I liked to think it was true, even if it was only by a fraction. I used to get mad when I heard the word crazy being used to describe me. It ticked me off in most ways, but not anymore. Instead of always getting upset over it and all the time, I trained myself to see it as a compliment somehow and use it to better myself. If you thought about it, it was better to be referred to as the crazy lady, or crazy Laura rather than being pitied whenever your name came up. If they all thought I'd been crazy all this while, then they were about to get the biggest shock of their lives. For the second time, and more than I would actually like, I drummed my fingers against the steering wheel, anxiously waiting for the lights to turn green. It was almost the same scenario as this morning, the only diffe
160Alora's POV I couldn't believe my ears, at all. I'd heard of moments when one would be so shocked, that one would be forced to think that time had somehow rolled to a halt. I'd experienced my fair share of that moment, but I never thought another occurrence could top the charts of the most shocking one. If anything, what had just happened now was something I wouldn't be forgetting in a long time, even if I died, or went into a coma. “You’re alone now, Alora.” his words echoed painfully in my ears. “Abandon Fredrick, sign over your shares to me, and we could go back to being a couple”. The words seemed to be on loop, and the more I tried to get his voice out of my head, the more they settled into my mind. As they did that, I struggled to find the motivation behind it all. Was he really that audacious for him to think that I was going to agree to his terms? Or perhaps he was delusional and was only playing a prank on me. I raised my gaze to meet his face. My eyes scanned the
159Alora's POV I was conscious, but for the life of me, I didn't even want to open my eyes. Call it embarrassment, or probably depression, I didn't care. All I knew was that I didn't want to feel like this, at all. I couldn't even remember the last time I felt this way. I'd been through hell and back, literally, from the contract being ripped from me the first time, to bring framed for something I had no idea about, to you g to jail, to dealing with Ethan and a whole lot of other troubles I didn't wabt to remember, I wasn't sure I felt the way I was feeling now, and i hated it. I let out a deep breath, before finally forcing my eyes open, and the all too familiar sight of my ceiling greeted me. I knew I should be happy, or at least feel a tiny bit of comfort, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't summon it. All that ran through my mind, were the events that led to this moment. It wasn't a lot, but it was still embarrassing. I'd passed out in the Inspector's office a
158Fredrick’s POV A small groan slid past my lips as I slowly peeled my eyes open. A dull throb spread through the back of my head, and all around me, but I didn't let it get to me. My body ached, and I felt like I was going to pass out again. My lungs burned, and even the side of my torso too. I had no idea why it hurt, but for the life of me, I couldn't even bring myself to check. More groans slid past my lips as I forced myself into a sitting position. My back came in contact with the wall behind me, and I regretted it immediately. Something slimy seeped into my clothes, and I jerked forward immediately. Even that wasn't a good choice, because the moment my hands came in contact with the floor, a burning sensation raced up my body. I scrambled to my feet, and my legs ached. I tried to walk to the other side of the room, but I just couldn't. With all the strength I could mutter, I found myself limping to a part of the tiny room I felt was clean enough. Once there, I pressed
157Alora's POV I paced around the room, my footsteps slapping loudly against the clear tiles. I hadn't expected the sound from beneath my shoes to be so loud, but in my defense, I also hadn't expected to end up here of all places too. What the hell was wrong with my life? Why was there always some evil plan lurking around in the background and waiting for the right time to rear it's ugly head? I pinched the bridge of my nose as I continued my pacing. While I did that, I didn't miss the angry glares that the other people in the room threw my way. Did I care? Not in the slightest. It was selfish of me, but if nothing was going well for me, then I honestly didn't mind ruining a couple of other people's day too. I shook my head slowly. For the past hour now, I struggled to comprehend what the hell had just happened. One minute, things were going relatively fine, if you excluded the missing funds, and the next, Fredrick was being arrested. Fucking arrested. My mind darted back t
156Alora's POV An additional week had passed since we started the real estate contract in earnest, and I knew I should be glad that things were beginning to shape up, but I just couldn't shake off the unease that lodged itself in my chest every now and then. It didn't always come when I was distracted, I only seemed to feel that way anytime I set my eyes on our two new employees, Marcus and Phineas. They'd been eagerly at work, making choices and decisions that were sometimes out of my reach, but there wasn't a lot I could say. I didn't agree with half of their thought process, but Fredrick was always ever ready to back them up. “This is the new innovation I was talking about.” He'd said. “let's just let them do their thing, I'm sure it'll come out great.” I had so many questions, but for the sake of global prace, I'd decided to shelf them, until today that is. I'd arrived at the office like any pretty normal day. Once in a while, Fredrick and I often did routine checks, to
155Alora's POV It'd been a week since we started the real estate contract in earnest, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't proud of myself. It was stressful and overwhelming, and in the past week, I could swear I'd lost count of how many times I wanted to give up. From the preparations, down to going to the site and managing the workers, everything was a lot. I'd cried to Fredrick more times than I wanted to, and at a point, i honestly deliberated giving it all up. “Do we really have to do this?” I'd said to Fredrick a couple of days back. “Is it really too late now?” “Yes.” Fredrick had let out admit a series of chuckles. “We can do this Alora. We fought so hard for this, from the very beginning too. We can't give up now. You're saying all of this because you're stressed. I'm sure once your vision starts coming to light, you'll forget all about it.” To further support his reassurance, Fredrick had taken me out to dinner. He insisted it wasn't a date, but just an avenue
154Alora's POV I wasn't one to look forward to office days, but I would be lying to myself if I said I wasn't excited this morning. I couldn't even hide it even if I wabted to. From the moment I woke up, I'd been in a beautiful mood, and nothing, absolutely nothing was going to change that. Apparently, my excitement had been passed to Fredrick as well, but he was doing a good job at keeping his in. After the interview slash live session a couple of days ago, it felt like our luck had turned around significantly. We had more partnership deals than we'd ever had since we got back and our stocks profit had skyrocketed more than expected. Fredrick and I had finalized the details for the real estate contract, and we officially supposed to start the project today. Fredrick had headed to the office earlier than me, just to make some final decisions before my arrival. I was so excited, that I literally completed my morning routine with twenty five minutes extra to spare. I tapped m
153Cynthia’s POV The sun was up, and shining, and I couldn't help but bask in it. I mean, who wouldn't, especially when I had a huge dick sitting on one of my fingers. I'd been wanting to get this ring for a while, but Eliaz never really came around to getting it for me. Now, I didn't have to wait around to be able to get what I wanted, I could easily get it for myself, and through Halo too. A wide grin made its way to my face at the mere thought of it. To the people at the counter and probably the other customers miling about the mall, they would probably think that I had gone psycho, but I knew better. I was psycho, but in a happy way. While the total cost of my goods was being calculated, I couldn't help but recall the events that led me to this moment. I saw my world crashing down the moment Eliaz thrust those DNA reports in my face. When Alora had said she was going to expose me, she really did mean it. I'd run her over just to stop her, but I guess I let a tiny detail
152Henry's POV A pungent smell hit my nose, and I fought the urge to throw up. I pressed my fingers against the bridge of my nose and my nostrils, but it did nothing to stop the stench from getting in. The stale stench had hit my nose the moment I got in here. One would think that with how posh the building looked from the outside, a small part of it would be bearable, but I guess I knew better now. I cursed underneath my breath as I walked to the other side of the shoebox of a room I'd been tossed into. Maybe the rancid smell wasn't coming from every part of the room. Perhaps I'd been unfortunate to walk to one of the walls where the stench was more prominent. But I was wrong, very wrong. Every part of this stupid room felt like it had been forsaken by both God and the devil. In fact, if someone were to walk up to me, just to tell me that this place used to be a dumping site for every sort of waste product you could think, then I wouldn't even bat an eyelid to doubt him. In