Christopher decided that the first thing he would do when he got home was to remove the punishment he placed on Ashley by asking her to return to their bedroom.“I can only figure things out when I have her within eyesight,” Christopher said to himself.As Christopher sat at the back of his expensive car while his driver and bodyguard drove him home, his mind drifted back to about a year ago when his father’s lawyer, Benedict, had informed him about his father’s arrangement with Don Grander right after Christopher’s father’s death and his takeover as heir and CEO to the company.“Christopher, can I have a moment?” Benedict, a man who happened to be the same age as Christopher’s father and his lawyer for decades, had said.There had been mourners and well-wishers in the Bridger living room, because they had all just returned from the funeral. Christopher and everyone else present were putting on black, and as Christopher raised his head to look at Benedict, he wondered what the man wou
Christopher just kept ruminating over that very day on his father’s funeral. Maybe if he had stood his ground and firmly said no, or better still, fight against the agreement in court, he would probably not be in this situation in the first place. Christopher could not explain how much he hated Don Grander, way before now, and to think that he would be his father-in-law for one year was too excruciating to bear.Christopher wanted to scream.That particular day had been the beginning of his problems, and now he felt like a fool for succumbing to it even though Benedict showed a legal agreement between his father and Don Grander.Christopher arrived home a couple of minutes later. He would ask Ashley to return to the bedroom they were supposed to be sharing, so that he could have access to do his own personal investigation on her.“Welcome back, Mr. Christopher,” Maggie greeted Christopher.The way she stood indicated that she had been waiting for him for a while now, and he wondered
Lily heard voices downstairs, and she knew already that it was Christopher, even though she did not hear him drive in.His mansion was like an estate; so large that it was almost impossible to hear when anyone drives in.She had been contemplating going downstairs, but she changed her min. Something just felt awkward, and Lily began to smell trouble, but she could not tell what it was. It was just like when she was a little girl; she always knew when her parents were mad at her and intended to either scold or punish her when she had done things that she shouldn’t have done even without seeing them.Anyway, Lily did not have to worry for long, as Christopher barged into her room, almost pulling out the door in the process. Lily jumped in shock.“Ashley!” Christopher barked the same time that he barged into the room.For the very first time, Lily saw an enraged Christopher, and fear gripped her. It was as though she was being faced with an angry lion that was ready to eat her up alive.
Lily woke up much later feeling light-headed. She didn’t understand what happened. The only thing Lily remembered is that when Christopher had scared the shit out of her, she had passed out.Then Lily heard some voices and when she turned, she saw Christopher and a strange man who seemed like a doctor talking.“What exactly happened to her?” Christopher was asking the doctor.“I have looked at her vital signs, but nothing seems to be wrong with her,” the doctor said. He sounded worried and somewhat confused.“Are you sure? I have never heard of someone passing out just like that,” Christopher said.“Beats me too, Mr. Bridger, trust me,” the doctor said.Lily bit her lower lip with her upper teeth; she was in a deep trouble. How would she explain passing out just because she and Christopher had an intense confrontation, because what if Ashley Grander was never known to pass out? Lily was greatly troubled. Christopher was already doubting her identity, and although he barely knew Ashley
Thankfully, Lily was no longer grounded, so she could actually stop Rudney from destroying her life before he went ahead with his plan. It was even a good thing that she spoke with Joe the day she did otherwise, they would all be doomed.So Lily grabbed Ashley’s phone and sent a quick text to Rudney, saying “Meet me up at that spot where we usually go to clear our head in an hour time. Please, do not call me; just be there.” Lily knew that even without including her name, Rudney would know that she was the sender. They were so close that they both had a garden where they usually went to clear their head on their off-days. It was Lily who discovered the quiet garden at a time in her life where guilt, regret, and her past trauma were eating her up. The garden was usually quiet and deserted and it brought untold peace to Lily’s soul. So when she and Rudney became close and Lily discovered that he also had things he was dealing with, she decided to show him the garden.When they were bot
“Kidnapped by who, Lily?” Lily’s voice cut through Lily’s reverie and when Rudney noticed that Lily was staring at something intently behind him, he turned to also see what it was, but Rudney only saw nothing.“Lily?” Rudney called again, shaking Lily.Lily shook and looked at Rudney, snatching her gaze away from where she had seen the man standing a few seconds ago. Lily also saw the man swiftly disappear when Rudney turned to look, and shivers ran down Lily’s spine. She swallowed dreadfully.Don Grander sent his monster to follow her.What Lily still can’t fathom is how Don Grander knew that she was coming to this isolated garden to meet up with Rudney. Another thing that made Lily shiver in fear was the deadly and threatening look the man gave her; more like, “Say a single word and you are dead.”“Lily, what is wrong?” Rudney asked again, deeply worried.All of a sudden, Lily was too tongue-tied to say anything. Now, she just stared at Rudney like a freaking zombie. She had almost
Lily thought that the man was going to strike her right after he made that statement, so she closed her eyes and waited for the worse to happen.When she waited for a few seconds and a punch did not land on her and she did not feel any sharp painful piercing on her skin, she opened her eyes.The man was still standing right in front of her. “Don Grander wants to have a word with you,” he said strictly.“But…I came with the driver assigned to me by Christopher,” Lily managed to say. She never even thought that she would ever have the courage to speak to him because of how dangerous and menacing his appearance was. “If I just come with you, Christopher is going to get a report that I delayed or never showed up, and he is going to suspect that something is…amiss,” Lily explained.It was the logical truth, but she hoped that the man would buy it.“Tell that to Don Grander,” the man said, unmoving.Lily’s shoulders sagged in defeat. Then the man gestured to the car parked by the side of th
When Don Grander’s palm connected with Lily’s left cheek, she staggered backwards from the impact as her eyes saw stars. This was the first time that Lily was getting slapped in her entire existence.The fact that the slap came from an enraged strong man almost sent Lily to her grave. For a moment, Lily thought that she was going to die, or maybe if she had seen it coming, she would have either prevented it, or gotten herself ready for it, although Lily doubted that anyone could ever be ready enough for such violence. Lily held her left cheek and cried in pains.It was as though Don Grander had broken her cheek bone, because the pain that Lily was feeling was worse than she had ever felt.“I see that you have a lover somewhere,” Don Grander spoke.Lily could not respond, even though it came out more like a statement than a question, but she knew that she was meant to say something, but then again, Lily was nursing her face and pain, so much that she did not even think she would be a
“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