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
Christopher had been in a meeting for hours now with his senior staff members who were associates in his company, including Aimee Landon. Christopher went to his office as soon as the meeting ended.He had an international business call to make.Even though Christopher Bridger had trusted senior staff members who were associates, he sometimes handled some of the work himself, and discreetly. Christopher had always known even before he took over the company that in business, no matter how trustworthy or loyal one’s associates were, you could never trust them completely, and you should never show them all the reigns of the company, because sometimes, they either got greedy, or your enemies could get to them.When Christopher’s father was alive and dealing with a strong enemy at that time, the enemy had kidnapped one of his most senior and trusted partners, asking for vital details about the company that would help him sabotage the company, but because the man had no idea about it, he ha
Lily arrived in the house and went straight upstairs. She made certain that she bowed her head as she made her way into the house. She had no idea what she looked like, but her cheek bone still hurt like hell and her scalp was also hurting bad. On Lily’s way back, she had to touch her head to be sure that blood wasn’t coming out, or to be sure that that area of her hair that Don Grander had pulled hadn’t become bald.Lily got to her room and opened her door, but she was met with harsh resistance.“Who the heck locked up this room?” Lily asked angrily. She shook the doorknob again, willing the door to open, but to no avail.“Who shut this door?!” Lily asked, her voice hitting the roof.When she had left this house a couple of hours ago, she had left an open room, and she knew that Christopher had not been at home, so who had the guts to shut her bedroom door in her absence? Being here, Lily realized that it would be better to actually act like Ashley Grander, because the domestic work
"Shit! Shit! Shit!” Lily became frantic as she thought of what to do quick and fast.“He cannot see me like this,” Lily said to herself.“Ashley!” Christopher’s enraged voice reached Lily in the room again. This time around, the voice was closer, and for Lily to hear the pounding of his footsteps against the stairs, she knew that he was enraged, and that was when Lily remembered that she had actually stepped out with one of Christopher’s securities who she never came back with.In fact, after Don Grander was done hitting her, threatening her, and ensuring that she never did anything that would jeopardize their chances of getting what they wanted from Christopher, Lily had had to jump a bus to get back to the house. It wasn’t a big deal for her, because all her life, when she wasn’t walking, she was jumping buses. Anyway, Lily had ensured that she bowed her head low enough so that no one would recognize her, because that would be more dangerous. “What do I do now?” Lily asked hersel
Lily could not believe that Christopher Bridger, one of Mexico’s wealthiest and most handsome bachelor was in her grandmother’s hidden cabin with her.He had come to find her!“I have been combing the entire country for you with the best investigators I could hire, Lily,” Christopher said softly as they talked in the living room, alone while Joe stayed outside with Christopher’s driver and bodyguard to give them privacy.It was the second time that Christopher was calling her by her real name and identity, and he did so with such tenderness and gentleness that it melted Lily’s heart. It was very different from the gruff and angry manner with which he always called Ashley.“I thought I had lost you. I was afraid that I would never get the chance to see you, until I got an information that your brother, Joe, contacted his teammates, and then we were able to trace the connection to this cabin,” Christopher explained.Lily ground her teeth in exasperation. “And I warned him,” Lily said, t
Lily stared at her reflection in the mirror with sheer horror and then down to the test strip on her hand which showed two thick red lines; she was pregnant.Then Lily broke down in tears.“How could this be happening?” She asked herself, sobbing.It had been almost a week now that she ran away to her grandmother’s cabin in the woods with Joe. It had been a miracle; one that Lily never thought would happen, but it had happened, and she and Joe had been hiding there since then. She had no idea when it would be safe for her and Joe to return to their lives, but Lily was ready to hide in this abandoned cabin for as long as possible as long as they were both alive. They had agreed not to make contact with anyone at all so that their hideout would not be known.And now, she had fallen pregnant for Christopher Bridger; the man whom she had fallen in love with but would never have.A knock on the door interrupted Lily, and she knew without a doubt that it was Joe; they were the only ones in
Christopher arrived at the company from the hotel in a grand style. He was looking dashing and stunning, and more, he was impressed with what Aimee had come up with in the crunch of time.His company was buzzing with elegance and class, and with everything that had been scheduled to happen tonight, Christopher had no doubt that it would be a successful night for him. The papers he would use in sealing the best deal the company had ever had was with him.However, Christopher was troubled.In all honesty, he had a pretty rough night last time, because while at the hotel room, he kept battling his conscience.“I should have gone home to her,” Christopher told himself.Lately, especially after their intimate affair, he had been unable to get her off his mind, and last night, he regretted allowing Aimee persuade him into sleeping in a hotel home. Christopher had also battled with anxiety and nervousness, and he knew that if he simply wrapped his arms around her, he would have felt better.
Lily stayed in the bedroom and waited for Christopher, but she was downright scared to her bones that something might go wrong and nervous.It was as though the time was ticking by too slowly, but she had no choice but to wait for him in his mansion. However, she was very restless.Lily thought of Don Grander who she guessed must have realized that his papers were missing and would be searching frantically for them. He would kill Lily if he knew that she had taken it, and worse, wanted to show them to Christopher.In thinking of the devil, Don Grander began to call Ashley’s phone, and she jumped in fright.Lily contemplated on not answering the call, but then if she did that, Don Grander might suspect her, because she had never ignored his call before, so Lily took a split second to catch her breath before picking the call.She would have to act normal otherwise Don Grander would know that something was amiss.“Where are you?” Don Grander asked gruffly as soon as the call connected.“
“Monk!” Don Grander yelled at the top of his voice, almost tearing out his lungs. He was in his bedroom, and he paced furiously. Some minutes later, Monk rushed into his room.“Boss, you sent for me,” Monk said, confused, because he was just with Don Grander about an hour ago in the study where they talked at length.“Something has happened,” Don Grander said through clenched teeth.“What might that be?” Monk asked.“Before you and I went out, I was going through the original and fake document that I and Bridger signed before his demise, and the one that Benedict drafted for me which he showed to Christopher to make him believe and succumb to what we want,” Don Grander explained.“Okay…” Monk said, paying rapt attention to what Don Grander was saying even though he was wondering why Don Grander decided to go through the papers in the first place.It was as though Don Grander could read Monk’s thoughts, because he answered right away. “You know that this last deal is very huge; it is t
Aimee threw herself into planning this special event for Christopher and his company. He did not give her the full details, but she worked with what she had anyway.She had been busy contacting vendors and planners, making plans and readjustments; Aimee wanted complete perfection, because this was the event that she was banking on completely. She was fed up of waiting for Christopher to come by, and even though he had reinstated her with even better promotion, Aimee feared that Christopher had fallen for Ashley, and she could not let that happen.After this event, she would have exactly what was hers!Aimee was still in deep thoughts when her phone rang. When she checked the caller ID, it was the new man that she had hired to do her dirty business. The moment Aimee realized that Derek was no longer on board, she had had to find someone else. This time around, Aimee ensured that she went for someone who was fierce and dangerous.“What news do you have for me?” Aimee asked.Now that she
Lily covered her mouth in shock and dreadful fright as her heart slammed against her ribs. At first, she thought that Don Grander was going to hear her gasp, and she feared for her life. If she was caught hiding by the stairs and eavesdropping, she would be dead even before the actual time, but thankfully, Don Grander and Monk were too engrossed in the whole conversation to even hear her.“I just want this to be over and done with so that Emily and I can finally go for that vacation. We have already missed our flight and she is breathing down my neck…it can be really frustrating,” Don Grander said to Monk.Then the two men stopped right close to Lily, making Lily more afraid.She needed to get away from this mansion before they either discovered that she was here, or that the papers were missing. As far as Lily knew, no one saw her come in except the security at the gate, and hopefully, she would be able to get out before Don Grander declares that anything is missing.“When she steals
“What?!” Lily was stunned and afraid and alert.Her mind instantly went to Monk and Don Grander’s threats that they would kill Joe if she failed on any of her tasks.“Yeah, and it was pretty weird. It made me feel uncomfortable,” Joe said over the phone.She could feel the discomfort in his voice, and Lily’s heart broke into more pieces. She even began to wonder how much heartache she could take at once.“I really wish you were here, Lily; I feel safe with you around,” Joe said warmly and sadly. “It has been over a year, and this is beginning to look creepy to me. Even Rudney does not exactly know where you are,” Joe admitted.Lily did not think that Joe would think too deeply about everything. She hadn’t even really been thinking about Joe and how her absence might have affected him. More tears dropped from Lily’s eyes in pain and regret. If only she could tell Joe exactly what was going on, but then again, she did not even have the liberty of brooding about that for so long, because
Lily felt like she had been hit with a ton of bricks at the harshness and cruelty of Christopher’s words, and when she managed to look into his eyes, she could see all the emotions right there.“Let me say what I came here to tell you, please,” Lily begged deeply.“How did you manage to bleed like a virgin when everyone knows that you are not, huh?” Christopher asked bitterly and angrily.Lily opened her mouth to say that it was because she was a virgin, but no words came out of her mouth, and Christopher mistook Lily’s inability to say the words as guiltiness.Christopher shook his head. “You are my worst mistake, Ashley, and I blame myself for not fighting this arrangement when I was told. After this party, you are going to return to your father’s house discreetly until this whole crap of a marriage is over; I never want to see your face again,” Christopher said firmly.Lily squeezed her eyes shut as the words sliced through her heart. She felt like Christopher had literally taken a