I awoke with a start,i was momentarily startled by the awareness that a presence other than mine was in the same bed as me. His long muscular arms were draped heavily against my middle as he slept, and as i listened to the soft inhale and exhale of his breathing, i realized he was sleeping so peacefully, i didn't want to disturb him with any sudden movement.It didn't help though that i really, really wanted to pee so i kept squurming, trying to get comfortable until i just couldn't take it anymore.I shifted as carefully as i could in a bid to get out of bed without waking him but that turned out to be a very bad idea because not only did i end up waking him from his peaceful slumber, i also ended up face to face with his muscular, naked torso, and there he was wordlessly staring down at me with sleepy, hooded eyes.I had never been so embarassed in all ny life, except for that time back at the office, but even that time felt so long ago and right now, I simply wished the ground wo
Chapter 18{I think?}The last time I had been home, I had been attending the funeral of my aunt Layla.Cancer, they said.And although she had been sick for a while, and we knew that her death was imminent, it wasn’t any less painful when it happened.In fact it broke my heart much more than I could ever have imagined because she was such a sweet soul, she didn’t deserve to suffer like that.Like my mother, her only sister, she also loved to drill me about finding love and eventually getting married, but while mum’s reasons had been religious, hers were simply out of pure concern that I might end up like her. Sick and alone.Now here I was, about a year later, showing up with a fiance just like she had always wanted, and I couldn’t help but think that if she was here, she would have been so proud, provided of course that she didn’t know the details of my so called marriage. Still, I would have loved to give her that satisfaction because heaven knows I loved the woman.“Are you ready f
“You know it’s nothing personal right?” I asked Russell as soon as we were up the stairs and away from the prying eyes and ears of my parents.“Isn’t it?””He replied solemnly.“No, it’s not I promise. Dad just has his principles.” He looked like he did not believe me but I kept going anyway because I needed him to understand that it was less about him as a person and more about what my parents stood for. “Mum also has her principles. She just really wished you were someone else.”“She already had a candidate for son in law, huh?” There was humor in his voice. “I hate that I had to go and ruin her plans.”“Trust me, I would never have married Timothy whether or not you were in the picture.”“Well, that’s relief. I’d feel bad if you had to spend the rest of your life with a man named Timothy.”“What do you mean? Timothy is a really nice name.” I argued, shoving him playfully.“For a pastor maybe.”“He’s actually aspiring to become one.” I confessed.“What? A pastor?”“A Bishop actually
I'm going to head out to the gym." I declared suddenly, standing up from my seat at the table, and the reason for this was less because i actually wanted to work out and more because i was in desperate need of an excuse to escape my own home. What started as a normal, carefree morning had now become an array of awkwardness and tension and i was not going to stick around and wait for the roof to come crashing down on us before i made my escape. Ever since Timothy walked through the front doors this morning with the so called "flowers" he brought for my mum, everything had become so weird, it was a pain to endure. Before introductions had even been concluded, Timothy and Russell had immediately began glaring daggers at each other, each man probably suspecting who the other was and their suspicions probably didn't seat right with each other. More accurately, Timothy was glaring daggers while Russell was simply returning the favor, which was great for them and all, i mean it wasn't as
“We really shouldn’t be doing this.” I whispered as Russell kissed a delicious trail down my throat.“Hmm.” He muttered in response, simultaneously biting my earlobe and effectively drawing a gasp from me.Earlier when I was ogling him, I had been quick to blame it on the hormones like I had done every time I had these lustful thoughts about my boss, and the brother of my baby’s father. But this, there was no explanation for this. None whatsoever. I knew what we were doing was wrong on so many levels but I didn’t have the strength to stop it, heck I didn’t want to stop it. The way he was kneading my breasts so sensually wasn’t encouraging me to make any outstanding efforts either.“Come.” he said simply, letting go of me only long enough to grab hold of my wrists and lead me to the bedroom.I followed him meekly without a word as he led me towards the bed and laid me down not so carefully before getting right back to work. My heart was beating erratically in my chest as he released th
RUSSELL'S POVI knew that abandoning her when I had literally been the one who cajoled her into my bed was a jerk move but Charlie’s call coming in when it did seemed to have been an eye opener for me.It was like a confirmation of all the things that Elisa had been trying to tell me which were the very things that I had been trying my hardest to ignore, but not anymore.I wasn’t quite sure when my attraction towards Elisa began, but one day I was offering her a job at my company and the next I was asking her to get into a contract marriage with me. Between now and then, the only thing I could really say for sure was that there isn’t a single day that passes by when I don’t think about her, when I don’t miss her, when I don’t wish she was right next to me.It didn’t matter if she was in the same room as me or if she was thousands of miles away, she always found a way to creep up into my thoughts without even trying. Before now, I had been very good at finding ways to keep these feelin
Russell was avoiding me.No, scratch that.He was going well out of his way to ensure that he didn’t share the same space as me for more than thirty seconds, or at least not if he could help it.Between the time we sent together in his room and now that we were on the flight back to California, that much had become quite obvious.During breakfast with my parents, he barely said more than two words to me, or to anyone for that matter. He did answer when my father asked him a question though and he gave my mum a compliment about her cooking, but I think that was him trying to be polite.I just couldn’t understand what had changed so suddenly. Had I done something to offend him or did he just decide all of a sudden that he had had enough of my company? I thought back to our interactions over the last couple of days and I didn’t think I had done anything to make him so cold towards me.Throughout the flight and during the ride from the airport home, he still proceeded to ignore my existenc
Ever since i was a little girl, i had always dreamed about how i wanted my wedding to be. I dreamed of wearing the prettiest dress and the shinniest tiara as my daddy walked me down the aisle. I would look like a princess, wearing the brightest smile as i walked towards the alter to meet my prince charming. That fantasy felt like such a distant memory. In my childhood fantasies, i never imagined that i was going to be walking down an aisle while being a 3 months. But here i was. Turns out there was going to be no walking down any aisle at all, except for the long corridor that led up to the magistrate court where we were to sign the legal documents that would bind Russell and I as a married couple. Yesterday, when Russell asked me to meet him at surfs cafe to discuss the details of the marriage, i was a little surprised. "Why the rush all of a sudden?" I asked. "Well unfortunately." He replied grimly, "The shareholders meeting has been brought forward. Its happening in 2
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