Eliaz's POV Life could be a bitch, but I never really understood that concept until now. Or more specifically, a couple of minutes ago. Growing up, I'd always heard stories or people say you had to be careful of how you treated other people. As usual, I saw it as total bullshit, but now, I wasn't so sure anymore. My agenda for tonight had been very simple; come to the auction, bid the highest and win the contract for the company. I'd been looking forward to this all year, and I had made plans, set certain things place just so I could get it, and just while I was on the verge of success, the unexpected happened. Alora. If someone has walked up to me and told her that I was going to bump into her again, I would have laughed my head off. Or more specifically, I would have perceived them as a beggar and handed them a couple of dollars for the night. Alora was dead, so how the fuck was she able to not only show up here, but win the contract too? “Eliaz.” Cynthia's angry grunt c
Alora's POV I should have known nothing good would have come out of it. I had opened my mind to the possibility of anything happening tonight, but what u didn't see coming, was Eliaz actually approaching me. What in the world? Eliaz had a track record of being audacious and I couldn't believe there was a point in my life where I found it dashing. I was completely enamoured by the fact that he went for whoever and whatever he wanted, but right now, I couldn't be more disgusted. “If you keep your face like that for so long “ Fredrick spoke beside me, his voice pulling me out of my thoughts. “I'm afraid your face just might freeze.” I threw him a hard glare and he raised his hands in moxj surrender. I knew it was a light jab at trying to make laugh or at least crack a smile, but it was worthless, completely useless. .“Bad joke?” He let out and I sighed. “I'm sorry, I was just trying to cheer you up.”.He was, and that had to be the sweetest thing ever. It was Eliaz’s fault t
Fredrick's POV It stung, and I wasn't even going to try to deny it. The meal sitting in front of me had lost its taste a long time ago, but I still forced myself to swallow it, spoonful after spoonful. Why? Because it was Alora's favourite and I didn't want anything that was going to sour her mood. As she slowly picked at the plate in front of her, I couldn't help but feel like her mood had already been ruined, and by no one else asides me. Shit. I was a fool, and I'd only confirmed it this evening.Even a toddler would be able to see how happy I was to see alora on stage a couple of hours ago. She looked regal, right from the moment she got into her designated seat, the moment she outbid Eliaz and the moment she was called to receive the contract. Everything had been planned down to the last detail. My highlight of the night had to be the shocked look on Eliaz's face when Alora was announced the winner. Even though it didn't last long and was replaced by a faint sense of
Eliaz’s POV A yawn bubbled at the back of my throat, but I struggled to keep it in. It was one thing to present, or pretend to be present, and it was another thing to fail while totally at it. While pretending was hard and absolutely not worth it, I would always pick that over being called out for what someone else termed inefficiency. “Mr Deutchmond?” Someone's gruff voice called out to me. I blinked back till all I could see again was my screen. “Is anything the problem?” “Not at all.” I shook my head, before adjusting my tie. “My apologies, I zoned out a bit. Please continue.” “I'm not sure that's the right thing to do.” I bit back a groan. My eyes flickered shut before popping open again, and just as I feared, Mr Dumont’s angry face was staring at me. “Are you even interested in this collaboration?” No. I wanted to let out, but for the sake of my company and my sanity, I kept mute. “Yes Mr Dumont.” I nodded.. “I'm more than interested in partnering with you.”While th
013 Eliaz's POV I let out a breath I had no idea I was holding when I stepped into the living room. I counted to ten, then twenty and thirty, and when the stillness I had walked into still remained, I let out another sigh of relief. Heaven knows I'd had a really long day at the office today. As promised, I had hopped on another call with Mr Dumont again, and it didn't go as planned. He was beyond furious. I didn't know the man on a personal level, but I think it was safe to say that if he could, he would stripped me of the little dignity I had left and made me the laughing stick of the business world. The first hour of the call was filled with constant pleas from me, just to get another chance. Before that, I'd contacted a couple of other investors, but they weren't really interested. A whole lot of them were polite by telling me they would get in touch, while the others simply didn't bother to pick up. Yes, it was that bad. I shook off the events of the day before head
014Eliaz's POV This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening at all. I wasn't an avid believer of bad luck, I thought of it as complete bullshit. If you wanted something, all you had to do was work towards it, and it would all work out. But just because a certain human might have elapsed in his calculations or planning , which led to his failure or things not working out, he decided to term it bad luck, or worse still karma. That wasn't even the worst part. Not only did he make himself believe that, somehow, he was able to spread the concept to the rest of the world. I didn't believe in bad luck, so why were so many bad things happening to me all at once? First it was the contract, then Mr Dumont, and now this? I scrubbed my face with my hands, hoping that things would go back to normal again, and by normal, I meant, Mr Dumont would have considered me, even if it was only part time. But even after scrubbing for a total of ten minutes, nothing changed and in that mom
015 Alora's POV “Breaking news.” The newscaster’s voice reached my ears the moment I tuned into the news channel. Even though she tries to maintain a neutral face as she stared at the screen, I could easily tell the emotions that ran through her mind. She was both scared and excited. Scared to ruin the Deutchmond’s reputation even more and super excited for the hot piece of information she had in her grip.“The Deutchmond's have been under thick surveillance in the past couple of years and just while they were on the verge of fixing their barely existent reputation, everything fell through.” She allowed a couple of seconds to pass before she continued. “Just recently, news articles have began to come up, highlighting the fact Deutchmond Corporation has record a downward tank in their investments. Insiders tell us that about fifty percent worth of the company's stocks and shares have diminished, all thanks to their investors pulling out suddenly.”“Is that what I think it is?”
016Eliaz's POV I couldn't believe my ears, not my life either. I'd always watched movies and read books that described the moment in someone's life where their world came crashing down. I couldn't exactly say I'd experienced it before, except now. I just did, and it wasn't an experience I would recommend to someone else. I felt every bit of oxygen seep out of every pore in my body. I lost my balance tempo, but at the same time I didn't see myself tumbling to the ground. Even if it did happen, I would prefer I was standing next to one of the windows on the second floor. That way, my death would be certain the moment I hit rock bottom. No way. There was no way this could be possible. Alora's words echoed loudly in my head with each passing second. I tried my level best to push her words aside, but no matter how hard I pushed, they came back with more force. ‘Come on, Eliaz. Think. Did you ever meet them? Ever hop on a call with them? Ever try to figure out their real identi
147 Cynthia's POV A small smile made its way to my face as I said the black pair of sunshades down my face. It wasn't exactly a particularly sunny day, but I wasn't going to let that spoil my plans of relaxing in the open. It was one thing to relax, and another thing to relax in the comfort of your home, with no issues whatsoever, no rivals, and definitely no stranger trying to ruin all you've worked hard for. My smile didn't leave my lips, even as I reached for my glass of pineapple juice sitting on the table next to me. I reveles in how cool it was as it slid down my throat, cooling me from the inside out, and also reminding me that life really was a beautiful concept, so long as things were right in your life. Whoever had come up with the saying There's always light at the end of the tunnel was right, all I needed to do was find my light, and coincidentally, it meant snuffing out someone else's light. Alora's fucking light. It wasn't news that we didn't see eye to eye, an
146Alora's POV A low groan slid past my lips as I slowly peeled my eyes open. I turned, just to come in contact with the soft surface of what seemed like a mattress. It was comfy, but it still did nothing to numb the pain that shot up my spine and entire body. Pain couldn't even begin to describe how bad what I was feeling. My entire body was on fire, and I felt like one wrong move was all it would take for me to finally meet my creator. It was a surprise how I wasn't even dead yet, or was I? Suddenly, the thought of being dead didn't exactly sit well with me, and before I could second guess what I was about to do, I jerked up immediately. Bright light poured into my eyes, and I pressed them shut again. A massive throb formed all around my head, and I couldn't help but let out a gutteral cry. “Easy, Alora.” The sound of my name reached my ears. I recognized the voice immediately, and I would be lying if I said I didn't feel any better. “Please open your eyes. Just take it e
145Alora's POV Revenge was a dish best served cold they said, what they didn't say was exactly how it tasted. It was pure bliss, and the shock on Cynthia's face confirmed every bit of it. Silence settled between us, bit it wasn't enough to hide the tension that simmered underneath. It was tiny, but I felt it grow with each passing second. Whole I gave my sister time to process what had just happened, I decided to take in my surroundings. The hallway wasn't anything special, just a long line of doors with doors that looked too alike. The walls were painted a cream color that I could swear looked nice before, but now, it just made my eyes hurt. I'd almost gotten lost, and if that had happened, then I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself. When I woke up this morning, trailing Cynthia was the last thing on my mind. In fact, right from the day before, I was so stunned that I had no idea what I was going to do with the results. The DNA results had come back positive, with b
144Cynthia's POV My heels clicked with every step I took, but I couldn't help but be bothered. In fact, I liked how they clicked against the tiles so violently. I was mad, and I wasn't even going to bother hide it. If my peace was going to get constantly disturbed, then so was everyone else's. I slung my bag over my shoulder again, before adjusting my stels. I'd been doing that since I arrived at this damn place, and it wasn't helping. My phone beeped for the umpteenth time, and I let out a groan. Immediately, I ignored it, but my groans only increased as the phone kept on beeping. Who the hell could that be now? I knew who it was, and the fact that I knew,only increased my anger. I pulled out my phone, and just like I suspected, it was him. Henry. I stared at the phone in my hand. It rang and rang and rang, but I couldn't bring myself to pick it up. After so much internal debate, I finally succumbed. “What is it?” I yelled into the phone immediately. “Why are you consta
143Alora's POV I'd never been more tensed up in my life, than I'd been in this exact moment. Well, maybe not quite. Deep down, I knew I'd used that phrase more times than I would like to count, but right now, I liked to think it was pretty normal. I was a big bag of nerves and it didn't help that nothing I did to stop it or calm myself down was working. Oh good lord. I pressed the bridge of my nose firmly, before lowering my head a bit. I was previously reclining on one of the hospital benches they'd offered us, and while it was comfortable in the beginning, I couldn't stand the cold seeping into my back and bones. I tapped my feet anxiously against the ground, not wanting to make any noise, and at the same time , trying to keep my mental health in check. Just because I was anxious and on the verge of losing my mind didn't mean I had to inconvenience the others around me. We were in a hospital for heavens sake, and it was none of the patients fault that I was going through
142Alora's POV Time seemed to slow to a halt, as I tried to figure out what to do next. My mind whirled with a million and one things, but none of them seemed even the least bit reasonable. So far, my mind had come up with running away and simply pretending like Cynthia didn't exist and wasn't behind me. None of them would work and I knew it. There was no way I would be able to bolt, I had barely gotten what I came here for, and if I decided to ignore Cynthia, I wouldn't put it past her to cause a scene. A huge one too. “What do you think you're doing?” Cynthia called, her sharp tone pulling me back to the present. “Just explain to me what the hell you're doing here.” I didn't move, neither did I speak, not because I didn't want to, but because I was still torn on what I was going to say. Think, Alora. Think. Unfortunately for me, I didn't even have any time to do that. One minute I was still deliberating on what I was going to do, and the next I was being yanked upwards b
141Alora's POV I adjusted my hat, just so I could stop any ray of sun from slipping through. I wasn't a big fan of the outdoors, so best believe that if I had a chance, I wouldn't even be here. I knew I didn't, so what did I do? I pressed my lips into a thin line, while forcing myself to enjoy the view. If I was being honest, it wasn't too bad. My only annoyance was the fact that it was way too sunny, despite the weather forecaster saying we were going to have a cool and almost rainy day. I'd been in the park for the past hour and some minutes, and I wasn't exaggerating when I said I hadn't seen a single cloud in the sky. It was all sun and sun, and if I hadn't brought out my sunscreen, I probably would be melting by now. A small giggle was all it took to pull me out of my mini rant. I was miserable, yrs, but apparently, all I needed to pull me out of that foul mood was a glance at the little bundle of joy just standing a couple of feet away from me. A little girl not olde
140Alora's POV I couldn't believe my ears. The words echoed in my head and all around me, but no matter how many times I heard it, I just didn't want to believe it. It sounded too bad to be true, didn't it? “Henry..” he stuttered, clearly breathless. “Henry's the father of Cynthia's child.” When I'd rushed home to tell Henry, I wasn't exactly sure what I was expecting. The little boy and his refence to Henry was surprising, but right now, I was flabbergasted, or whatever word that could debote the highest level of surprise. I knew Cynthia was a shrewd woman, but cheating, that was where I kind of expected her to draw the line. I pressed my eyes shut, and memories I didn't want to remember came rushing at me. The main reason she and Eliaz had actually gotten together in the first place, was because she had snatched him away from me. It was pretty obvious the reason she did that was to spite me, but with how long they'd lasted, I actually thought there had to be a tiny bit of
139Cynthia's POV I pressed my lips together, careful not to make sound. It wasn't that important, but any slip up right now could mess things up and that was the last thing I needed right now. I'd stressed so much, thought about it so much that I was certain I was going to run psycho at some point, but since that didn't happen, there was no way I was going to let my plans fall through at the last moment. Never. I wrung my hands together, before casting a small glare at the staircase. It led to our bedroom, but that wasn't what stood out to me. It was the fact that it was empty that made my heart boil. Where the hell was he? .I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration. I was tensed up, and Eliaz wasting my time was only worsening matters for me. What the hell was he still doing up there? I had timed his movement perfectly, and by now he should be well on his way downstairs. So what the hell was keeping him for so long? Cynthia?” Someone called from behind me,