Rudney turned the shop sign to open, but his mind was not really on what he was doing. It had been weeks now, and he had not heard a single word from Lily. The last time he saw her was that evening when Lily was too impatient to wait for him.“Hey, don’t just stand there looking, get to work immediately!” their boss at the shop bellowed at Rudney, making him to jerk back to reality and continue with what he is doing. On a second thought, Rudney decided to ask their boss. If there was anyone who would know something, it would be him. Rudney had tried to get answers from Joe, Lily’s brother, but the poor boy seemed to also be in the dark, which made Rudney even more worried.“What if something bad had happened to Lily?” Rudney asked himself as he made his way to the boss’s office. The thought alone sent shivers down his spine. If anything happened to Lily, Rudney would never survive it. In fact, how he had been showing up at work since Lily’s mysterious disappearance and getting throu
Lily woke up just as early as Christopher so that he would not go to work without getting some money from him. The threats coming from Don Grander and Hedge were getting too much, and Lily was scared that Don Grander would pull through with his and hurt her baby brother, Joe.They weren’t sleeping in the same room, so Lily made her way to Christopher’s room and knocked on his door.“Who is there?” Christopher asked in irritation.“Li…Ashley,” Lily said and corrected quickly. She had just woken up, and her mind was still foggy, which was why she almost mistakenly called her real name. Now that she was back to impersonating Ashley Grander, she would do well to remember to act just like her.Christopher yanked the door open, facing Lily squarely. He was half-dressed, but he was yet to button his shirt, and so the curly hairs on his chest stood out, tempting Lily and inviting her to rub her hands over them.“What do you want?” Christopher asked harshly, jolting Lily back to reality.Lily
Lily looked at the money as her mouth dropped open. This was the biggest amount of money she was seeing, and it was just lying there in the first drawer that she checked. Lily could bet that if she checked other parts of the room, she might find out that he had stashed money everywhere.“He is probably richer than I thought,” Lily said to herself.Without wasting time, Lily took some bundles of dollars from the money and left Christopher’s bedroom. When she got to her room, she began to feel like shit, because this would be the first time she would be stealing, but there was nothing she could do.“I was left with no choice,” Lily said.It did not make her feel any better, but it certainly gave her a reason why she took it. Now, Lily was left with two worries; how to send the money to both Don Grander and Emily; she was grounded, and therefore, not allowed to step foot out of the house, and Hedge, and her second worry was what would happen if Christopher returned and discovered that hi
While Lily waited for Emily to come, because she knew that as long as it involved money, Emily would stick to her words, Lily racked her head on how she could send the money to Hedge. The last thing Lily wanted was for him to call her first, because if he did, he would start demanding for a freaking affair.“What kind of lifestyle did you live, Ashley?” Lily asked.If Hedge was asking for an affair, it means that Ashley was very capable of having an affair, and that was not something Lily could do, no matter how well she had been asked to impersonate Ashley. The mere thought of Hedge running his hands over Lily’s body literally made her skin crawl, talk more of having a full blown affair with him.About an hour later, after Lily had showered and changed into something nice but a little casual, she heard a soft knock on the door.“Who is that?” Lily asked.“It is Maggie,” Maggie’s voice floated from the other side of the door. “May I come in?” Maggie asked.“Yes,” Lily simply answered
Lily was not just stunned, but she was also speechless.“What are you doing here? How did you get in here?” Lily asked in a rasped breath.For crying out loud, Hedge was in her bedroom, and this could spell doom for Lily; she certainly could not risk that at all, because if she got caught, it would be more tragic than she ever dreamed of.“To see you, my lover,” Hedge said lustily, licking his lips.Lily almost puked when he did that, and for the life of her, she could not imagine what Ashley could possible see in a man like Hedge. Judging from her escapades, Lily felt that Ashley should have better taste and choices when it came to lovers. Lily’s breath almost caught in her throat when Hedge walked into the room and gently closed the door.“What?!” Lily was alarmed. She immediately went to the door and yanked it open. “Do you want to ruin things for me?” Lily asked.Her heart was beating, and although it had something to do with the risk of being caught in her bedroom with a man. It
“He didn’t just take all the money,” Lily almost sobbed. “What am I going to tell Emily now for crying out loud?” Lily asked herself, utterly dejected.She knew she should have stopped him, but how would she have been able to stop a man like Hedge from taking all the money. The first mistake she made was letting him come to her room, and that was another thing to be worried about, because Lily highly doubted that it would not come to the knowledge of Christopher, but then again, if Maggie had explained to her why she was surprised when she asked her to send the guest upstairs, she would never have allowed her to bring Hedge to her room.Someone cleared her throat, and when Lily looked towards the door, she saw that it was Maggie.“I am terribly sorry to interrupt you, ma’am, but you have another guest,” Maggie said.Lily knew that it was Emily, and her heart already began to beat faster than normal with just the mere thought of facing Emily, but she was not about to let her assumption
Lily was foolish to think that Emily would have answered the question that she asked, but now, Lily could not stop thinking about what Hedge said, and she could not stop wondering what they had forced Ashley to do.“I need to know,” Lily said to herself.Lily spent the entire day dreading what was to come, because coupled with thinking about what they might have forced Ashley to do, she still had to worry about Emily’s threat. More than ever before, Lily knew that it wasn’t an empty threat. They were two money-hungry people who could do something as terrible as looking for someone to impersonate their dead daughter when they could have easily just told Christopher that his bride was dead.Lily almost jumped out of her skin when Christopher came into the house in the evening. She was surprised that he came back this early, because usually, he came home at almost midnight. What could have possibly made him come back this early?“Welcome,” Lily said.“We need to talk,” Christopher said g
“Ashley, get in here immediately!” Christopher bellowed angrily, causing Lily to jump in fright.She left his room just a couple of minutes ago, so how come he had already discovered that his money was missing? Something wasn’t exactly right, and even though Lily could not exactly pinpoint exactly what it was, she just believed that it was unreal. First of all, there was a chunk of money there, so he would have to count it first to know that a fraction of it was missing, and secondly, he reacted too quickly.“Ashley!” Christopher’s loud and angry voice cut through Lily thoughts, making Lily jump again.Lilly’s heart began to beat faster as she approached Christopher’s bedroom. She also began to think about what she would say or do that would completely get her out of this situation.“Thank God I sent Maggie to clean the room,” Lily said to herself gratefully. All she needed to do was play defensive.Lily took a few deep breaths to calm her steady raging nerves and also summon enough c
“It isn’t something you should be worried about for now. Just do it, as you have promised. I will send you his code and full name,” she said before stepping out of Christopher’s office and shutting the door quietly before Christopher could say another word.After she left, Christopher was thrown into utter confusion.The Ashley he knew, at least the most that he knew about her, rarely cared about anything in life. The only thing that she was interested in was going to parties, and squandering money, which was why her demand for dates did not quite surprise Christopher.But baseball?Christopher knew without a doubt that betting on a football player, especially during their tournament was a lot of money, and secondly, one had to be really interested in baseball game to be betting on their players, and the fact that she had specifically mentioned a baseball player’s name made him more confused.Again, there was something off with Ashley Grander.One minute she was acting like Ashley Gra
“What?! Why would I do something like that?!” Christopher asked, turning blue.Lily almost burst out laughing, and at the same time, she was very jealous, because Christopher seemed liked he was going to pass out simply because she asked that he demoted Aimee. It pained Lily that he was that attached to Aimee.Christopher might deny all he wanted, but Lily was not stupid. She might be a virgin and a naïve girl who had never had a boyfriend, but she certainly wasn’t stupid; there was definitely something going on between them. At least, Aimee was not denying it, because she accosted Lily right there in their wedding reception, but Christopher on the other hand, would continue to deny it even if a gun was placed on his head, even though he had been caught in almost compromising positions with Aimee. Lily wondered why.If he liked Aimee, and Aimee was obviously crazy about him, why didn’t he just go for her? Granted, he and Ashley Grander were bound by a contract, but Lily knew that a l
“Do you give me your word?” Lily asked.Even though he already said it, she still did not want to take chances. Lily knew that whatever she was asking Christopher for had nothing to do with Don Grander, which meant that if Christopher doesn’t honor his word, she would not be able to do anything to him.Knowing how Ashley was treated by her own father, Lily was certain that even if Don Grander hears of the manhandling, he would not fight for her. Don Grander was a man that would literally stand by and watch his own daughter get tortured without standing up for her, as long as it benefited it. So if he could be that way with his biological daughter, Lily only wondered how he would be towards her, knowing that she was only impersonating his dead daughter.“I have never promised something and gone back on my words,” Christopher said, his breathing harder than normal; he was obviously still affected by what happened.Lily was also worried about Christopher in a way, because there was somet
Lily stood still, unable to move from the spot that Christopher had had her pinned against his wall. She could still feel the pain of his tight grasp on her neck, and Lily was white with fright. He could have killed her right this minute!Lily swallowed hard, trying to fathom what was going on.Before she was plunged into the world of the rich, powerful, and influential, she had never known violence. Her parents had raised Joe and her with love, compassion, and tenderness. They always frowned at Lily whenever she even tried to be a little rough with Joe when they were playing. Whenever they fought, her parents were always quick to create reconciliation between them, and they always ensured that they hugged each other and shared each other’s snacks afterwards.That was why she and Joe shared an unbreakable bond even after the passing away of their parents. Lily would rather die than watch anything happen to Joe. She would protect Joe with her life, and even though she did not live wi
Christopher only recognized what he was doing when he saw the raw look of fright in her eyes, and immediately, he pulled away from her and stepped back. Then he also turned back, unable to look at her as a result of what he just did. If she decided to sue him for violence, he would sink to the ground.It was happening again, and Christopher thought that he would never touch a woman in that manner ever again. He was not a violent man, but women always had a way of bringing out the beast in him.“What did I do?” Christopher asked himself in agony.He had thought that he had been able to do away with this part of his life, and this was another reason why he intentionally stayed far away from women. Aside from the fact that their presence, especially when it was seductive or alluring, made him scared to his bones, he never wanted what happened before now with Nanny Brenda to ever repeat itself.It was the one mistake that Christopher ever made, and he knew that if it ever got out, he woul
Lily had not expected the attack from Christopher, because that was exactly how his question sounded to her, but she was more than ready for him.“I made the choice to,” Lily lied.“Why?” Christopher asked firmly.“Wouldn’t you have been embarrassed that your trophy wife still had indecent things out there for the world to consume? What if bloggers got hold of it and decided to circulate it just to ruin something important for you, huh?” Lily asked Christopher firmly.It might be a lie, and Lily was definitely still in the dark about this issue, because just like other times, Don Grander and Emily hadn’t deemed it fit to tell her that they had wiped off everything about Ashley’s lifestyle from the internet, but this was the only logical and convincing explanation that Lily could think of, and she was certain that this was the exact reason Don Grander and Emily might have done what they did.No one would ever have been proud of the lifestyle Ashley lived, including her father, even tho
Lily had arrived at Christopher’s company with the help of his driver, and she had been awed by how big it was.Now she understood why the city called it one of the most thriving and biggest companies in the city. Lily had never seen anything as huge as this, and she wondered why she had never come to his company until now. More so, she wondered why Christopher had never invited her. Well, judging from how ice-cold he had been towards her, she did not expect anything different anyway. After successfully leaving Don Grander’s mansion, Lily had decided to take her assignment seriously by paying Christopher a surprise visit in his company. It dawned on Lily that she would never get anything done for Don Grander if she just stayed in the mansion as Christopher’s dutiful wife.“Step out of the car for a moment,” Lily had told the driver and bodyguard after they had arrived at Christopher’s company and had parked in the parking lot.Thankfully, the car had tinted glasses, so it was quite
“Come with me, Aimee,” Christopher had said after the meeting was over, making Aimee exceedingly glad.Actually, the meeting had ended a couple of minutes ago, but Christopher had continued discussing with two of the senior associate male staff members, and somehow, Aimee had just found a way to remain in the boardroom.However, she had also been itching to hear from Derek. He had made her slightly uncomfortable with the last conversation that they had before she had gone in for the meeting, and there was nothing Aimee hated than the feeling of a misunderstood task, so she had seized the opportunity to speak with Derek over the phone as she had excused herself and called Derek in the restroom connected to the boardroom. The moment she had come out, Christopher had asked her to go with him.Aimee knew that some of the men, especially the ones who were still unmarried had eyes for her, and were even jealous of her closeness with Christopher, but Aimee never gave them a second look, beca
“Damn!” Derek expressed in awe.It was though Derek was laying eyes on the most beautiful woman in the entire universe, and he was completely enamored. Derek stood right there and allowed his eyes to follow Trisha all the way to her post box. She was casually dressed and had her hair in a bun, but she gripped Derek’s heart already. For years now, Derek had not been remotely attracted to any woman. At first, he had been worried, because usually, he should have craved the presence of a woman, but then again, he had been too busy taking on assignments and digging out dirty information for his clients to even have the time to think about a woman.The only times that Derek ever allowed himself to have a good time was when he went to the bar occasionally to pass time for an hour or two, and most times, those bars were filled with whores; Derek was not a man that got enticed by a woman that any man could have, so he had never given any prostitute a second look.But this woman right here had