Detective Jameson's eyes narrowed as he watched Charlie being handcuffed and led away. The confession had come unexpectedly, but the motive was all too familiar. "Revenge," he muttered to his partner. "The oldest motive in the book." Rodriguez, Jameson's partner shook her head. "Family dynamics can be toxic. Brothers, especially." As Charlie was taken into custody, Elisa finally felt a sense of closure. Her daughter, Emily, was safe, and the kidnapper had been caught. But the truth was harder to swallow. Charlie, her husband's brother abd the man whom she had once thought of soending her life with had orchestrated the kidnapping. "It was all about revenge," Charlie spat during the interrogation. " He took everything from me – our parents' attention, the family business... He left me with nothing." Jameson's expression remained stoic. "And you thought kidnapping an innocent child would even the score?" Charlie's eyes flashed with anger. "You don't understand. Russellalways got e
Two years.Two fucking years, that’s how much time I wasted on that asshole Charlie, and the fact that I didn’t figure him out sooner makes me feel so stupid.To me, he was the perfect package, a man sent directly from God with a heart of gold.Little did I know that he was just a fantastic actor, because how else can you explain the fact that I never even suspected him? Not once, and not because I didn’t have reasons to, but I just trusted him too much, and that was my first mistake.Our entire relationship had been a lie.All the promises, the whispers we shared in the dark, the undying love he said he had for me, the dreams about our future, all blatant lies.It was his birthday last Tuesday and after proposing to me two weeks before that, I thought that there was no better way to celebrate his special day than to give him some wonderful news, news that we were expecting a baby. I thought that it was the perfect birthday present but apparently, he had other ideas.I had only just f
I couldn’t sleep.I was having a literal panic attack in the hours leading up to the interview because if I didn’t get this job, I didn’t know when next I was going to get a similar opportunity. It was a miracle that I even got an interview in the first place, and I just knew that I could not mess this up. I couldn’t afford to. Not with my rent being due in a few weeks, and a baby on the way.It wasn’t just about me anymore, and the meager salary I was earning at the laundry shop wasn’t going to cut it. This had to work, there was no other way around it.Still, I decided not to let my anxiety get the better of me. Instead, I put on my big girl pants and dressed up in my most presentable outfit. I took one last glance at my reflection in the mirror, and subconsciously, I found my hand going up to my belly, caressing it and feeling for any signs of life. It hadn’t started to swell yet, but I knew a little human was growing in there and I just couldn’t get used to that.I booked an uber
“He’s my twin brother.” Those were the only words that kept echoing in my mind as I followed meekly behind Russell as he led me out of the office and towards a nearby coffee shop. After his big revelation, I was stunned to silence and I half expected him to call the cops immediately and have me dragged out in cuffs. But he did no such thing. Instead, he asked me to follow him to a place where we could speak comfortably. I couldn’t understand what he wanted to speak about that couldn’t be said in his office. Granted, I had already made a massive mess of the place but still, I’m sure we could have concluded our business in there because walking out into the lobby of the company felt like a literal walk of shame and I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole. “Stupid, stupid Charlie.” I groaned in my mind. How could he never bother to mention that he had a twin brother who had exactly the same face, build, and voice as him? Now I had gone and made a fool out of myself. Final
To say that my day had taken an unexpected turn was nothing if not the biggest understatement of the century. One moment, I was depressing over being rejected by the father of my child and the next moment, I was signing documents that validated me as an auditor at NNT cooperation.When Russell had said the position had already been occupied, I couldn’t hide my disappointment because I thought I had done really well during the interview, but apparently, there was someone who had done much better than me. Still, that did not mean that they needed the job more than me because God knows I needed that job, and that person whoever he or she was had gone and stolen it from me.I wanted to mind my business and keep my thoughts to myself. Besides, I knew that it went against some sort of policy to disclose the information of employees except when extremely necessary but honestly, curiosity was gnawing at my insides, and when I couldn’t take it anymore, I blurted out the question which I knew t
RUSSEL'S POV.”One expresso martini, on the rocks please.” I said to the petite looking bartender who batted her eyelashes at me in an attempt to look seductive, but she just came off looking like she had a concoction. She wasn’t bad looking, far from it actually. In fact, she was way over the average looking girl and if I was still as young and immature as I was in high school and my first year of college then I might have offered her a second glance. Unfortunately, at this stage of my life, my priorities had become entirely different and trust me when I say that wasn’t entirely a good thing.I should be used to these advances by now, given that women had been throwing themselves at me at every slight opportunity, from a very young age, simply because I had money and a handsome face, but I just couldn’t get used to it no matter how hard I tried.When I was younger, I reveled in the attention because apparently being famous in high school was an ultimate requirement for having the best
RUSSEL'S POVTo me, getting married, and getting the CEO position were two totally unrelated topics, but apparently the older folks on the board of directors were nauseatingly old fashioned, because why would they chose to believe that my relationship status would somehow affect my performance in the company as soon as I become confirmed as CEO, when I’ve been doing just fine before now. When it came down to it, acting CEO and CEO were pretty much the same thing, and I had been doing just fine in that capacity even without a woman in my life so why did all these people want to make my life a living hell? I loved my grandpa a lot, and I was really fond of him even while he was alive. He was like my mentor and role model whom I looked up to but I really wasn’t sure If I wanted to forgive him for the whole marriage bomb he dropped on me right before his death.“Have you thought about hiring someone?” Sam suggested, pulling me out of my thoughts which were spiraling out of control by the
When Russell told me that he hadn’t told anyone the details of how I had gotten the job, I was a little doubtful. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him, I just thought that he was a really nice person who was probably just trying to protect my feelings, but I did not need protecting. I was a big girl and I could damn well take care of my own problems without his help. Which was why I didn’t call him even though I had so many questions about the company. In fact, his number in my pocket was burning a hole into my skin but I ignored it because I was sure he had his own problems to deal with. Being the CEO of a company as huge as NNT couldn’t be easy, and I couldn’t start bothering him simply because I was nervous. As I walked through the front door that morning for my actual first day, I braced myself for all the possibilities. I mentally prepared myself for the snares, for the whispers, for the gossip, and for all the side glances. I was prepared for literally anything they wanted to throw
Detective Jameson's eyes narrowed as he watched Charlie being handcuffed and led away. The confession had come unexpectedly, but the motive was all too familiar. "Revenge," he muttered to his partner. "The oldest motive in the book." Rodriguez, Jameson's partner shook her head. "Family dynamics can be toxic. Brothers, especially." As Charlie was taken into custody, Elisa finally felt a sense of closure. Her daughter, Emily, was safe, and the kidnapper had been caught. But the truth was harder to swallow. Charlie, her husband's brother abd the man whom she had once thought of soending her life with had orchestrated the kidnapping. "It was all about revenge," Charlie spat during the interrogation. " He took everything from me – our parents' attention, the family business... He left me with nothing." Jameson's expression remained stoic. "And you thought kidnapping an innocent child would even the score?" Charlie's eyes flashed with anger. "You don't understand. Russellalways got e
“What are you doing here?” He asked, composing himself and trying to pretend like he wasn’t affected by my presence but I could see through his charade. He wa spanicking a lot and although he thought that his hideout had been pretty secure, here i was standing right there in the flesh. Still, he couldn't show his fears or he was going to appear guilty.“What do you mean?” I came to see you.” I replied, pretending to play his game.“Cut the crap Russ. What are you doing here and how the fuck did you find me?”“What can i say? I was just passing by. i mean i was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by to say hello to my only brother.”At my words, he huffed and went over to his bedside to put on his shirt, and boxers on pretending to ignore me."Are you going to stand there and watch me get dressed?" He asked probably in a bid to get rid of me."Its nothing i've not seen before so you can relax."Charlie sighed in frustration at my adamancy.“Well, you’ve said hello now so you can
I had faced a lot of challenges in my life. I mean, that was avoidable considering what i had achieved. No great achievement came without challenges and I was proud to say that I was fairly successful myself. I also prided myself in the knowledge that I was a troubleshooter and a problem solver. I always had an idea on how to get out of complicated situations, and if i couldn't get an answer right away, all i had to do was sleep over it and come morning, I'd have a solution on my hand.But two days had passed and I was yet to discover a solution to my most prominent life problem. My daughter was missing and I had no idea where she was or where to look. With every passing day, I felt as though the very world in which I live d was crumbling in on me and I simply felt suffocated and helpless. The police had no leads and the one sure lead I had; they were not giving me the go ahead to look into. They weren’t looking into it themselves either or at least they weren’t look into it fast eno
“But according to Miss. Jones’ statement,” The judge continued. “It appears that she told you that she was pregnant but you refused to acknowledge it and rather accused her of lying.”“That’s true your honor.” Charlie agreed. “But in my defense, the first time she told me about her pregnancy, she called me through my brother’s phone. Now prior to the time, she and my brother Russell had never met before. In fact, I had never even told her that I had a brother, so it didn’t make sense to me that she was calling me from his phone. I took it as it was a prank planned by my brother seeing as my brother and I often play such pranks on each other.”Wow, Charlie was really going in for the kill with his calculated lies and fabricated lines. I never knew he had it in him, but then again, he had enough money to hire the best lawyers to give him legal advice. But unfortunately for him, our lawyers were just as good, maybe even better, and that is why he was bound to lose.“You claim that you lo
As expected, the news that Charlie was suing for custody spread like wildfire. In less than 24 hours, media houses had carried the news. Social media hashtags were eating this up and even my family and friends somehow got a wind of the situation. My phone was constantly pinging with calls and texts and calls and Russell’s phone was honesty not any different. At this point, I had still not gotten around to telling my parents the real story behind how Russell and I met and the circumstances surrounding our marriage so when I received a call from them as well, my anxiety creeped in. I thought about ignoring them for a little while longer, just until I could gather my thoughts and gains dome courage, but with the issue of Emily’s paternity being debated, I knew that there was no more hiding it from them. So the very next day, I got on a flight and flew home. Russell offered to go with me and knowing how much I hated flying, I honestly wished he could accompany me. Him holding my hand duri
Elisa’s POV“…And you should have seen April’s face. She looked like someone who had swallowed a turtle shell. And Amy, she was so horrified, she couldn’t even bring herself to say hello to me. Apparently, they hadn’t been expecting me to show up as soon as I did. They thought that I’ll take at least a couple of days off, giving them enough time to recuperate and get used to the latest developments.” I said laughing. After the close of work, I decided to use my evening to give Russell a recap of my day and apparently he had some pretty satisfying stories to share as well.“I thought you said Amy was the nicer one?” He asked, fully invested in my story. “How comes she is the one who couldn’t stand to speak to you." “Honestly, she and Amy switch up on most days and I can hardly choose which of them I prefer. I think that they both have their moments.”“Hmmm.” Russell replied thoughtfully. “I Can’t even tell them apart honestly. They look exactly the same to me.”“No they do not.” I rep
Elisa’s POV\I couldn’t believe my eyes, or my eyes for that matter.I was standing in the center of our living room, staring at the massive LED screen that served as a television in our home. I was already on my way to work that morning but I was forced to stop and take a closer look because of what was showing on the screen, or rather who was showing. A gasp of surprise left my throat as I realized the scene that was playing before me. My mouth fell open without me even realizing it, and even after realizing, I couldn’t bring myself to pick it back up.On the screen, Russell was sitting in an interview segment with one of the most popular TV shows in the city while looking as fabulous as always in his signature three piece although this time, it was a dark shade of maroon red and an auburn tie. His lean legs were crossed leisurely in front of him and he sat with an air of confidence that was peculiar to him. He was the guest on the show but yet somehow, he managed to look like he ow
Russell's POV I sat still, criss legged at the tv station as I waited for everything to be sorted out. Skipping work on a day like this may seem like a bad idea to a regular onlookers, and they'd probably be right considering everything that was going on. An emergency board meeting had been scheduled in line with the new information that my beloved brother had been so kind to release to the public. Logically speaking, I was supposed to be seated with my lawyers, buried in a mountain of paperwork, trying to find loopholes in my grandfather's will that allowed my contracted marriage to Elisa. As expected, Charlie was the leader of the team seeking to bring me down and their argument was that I had not fulfilled grandfather's conditions in honesty and hence didn't deserve the position of CEO. The board was meeting today to come up with a final decision, but rather than getting ready, here I was, waiting for a TV segment interview which most might consider unimportant, while
“Are you really married to CEO Russell?”“Was it really a contract marriage?”“Are you two getting divorced soon as per the details of the contract?’’“Has he paid you the settlement money?”“Are you really asking for more money than was agreed in the initial contract?”“Did you really seduce him and trap him with a pregnancy?”“Who is the real father of your child?”“Are you a gold digger who is only with Russell for his money, and fame?”The questions were endless, all of them unkind, and for some reason they all seemed to be directed my direction and my direction alone as if I was some kind of villain in my own love story. It was all so fucking ridiculous. Like, why was I getting stabbed with all the shards of glass, like everything was my fault. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want Russell receiving any heat, but I also didn’t feel like I deserved any either. If anything I felt like I was supposed to be comforted and consoled, especially since my only offence was falling in love with