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
After the agreement, Christopher grudgingly left.Lily knew that he was dying to have the discussion of her whereabouts that day, but he could not, because there was nothing he would have said that would have made Lily opened the door for him. Her face was still battered and swollen.Lily took the ice pack and placed it on her face. She sat on the bedroom couch and tried to close her eyes so that the ice pack would be able to work its magic, but then again, her head started banging. She could not tell if Don Grander had done any real damage to her head, especially internally, because she could not feel any blood, but the pain was so excruciating that it caused a dull headache at the center of Lily’s head. Lily used the intercom in the bedroom to ring Maggie.“Get me some painkillers for my banging head,” Lily said into the phone.In less than five minutes, Maggie arrived with some painkillers. Without turning to face her, Lily said, “Just drop it where you are and leave.”But Maggie h
Don, why haven’t I gotten an alert for my spa and shopping apartment?” Emily asked as she stepped into Don’s study without bothering to knock.Don Grander was sipping on his liquor and waiting for Monk. Something had been bothering his mind since their last arrangement, and until he spoke with Monk, he would not be at peace. Monk had left to sort out a few of his personal things, and had promised to be back as soon as possible, but he was taking longer than necessary.“Not now, darling,” Don Grander responded. He sometimes wished that Emily was both understanding and sensitive, especially when it came to money, but that was like wishing that pigs could fly.“What do you mean by that?” Emily asked, her voice getting high, and Don knew that he was in for another bout of whining and nagging. “It has been a week!” Emily complained.“And you can wait another couple of days more; it can’t be that hard,” Don Grander said, his mind wandering back to the worry in his heart.“You know damn well
Time was ticking for Lily, and she was still confused with what to do. She could not go to Mr. Yang and fulfill his desires. Heck, she was a virgin! How was she supposed to just give that to anyone all because she needed to play Ashley’s role to the finish line? Lily sobbed and sobbed until she felt as though she could no longer sob. It was even more hurting that without knowing what Mr. Yang requested of her, Christopher had asked her to do it. Or what if he was just like them? Growing up in a middle-class family, Lily was raised with dignity and morals, which was why while most of her age mates were having boyfriends and getting pregnant, Lily stayed disciplined. She had never even had a boyfriend, and one morning, boom! She woke up with a husband. According to what her mother had taught her, Lily was to wait patiently until she found the love of her life, get married, have kids and raise a family just like the one her mother had raised.She was not about to throw all of that away
For a moment, Aimee froze in shock.Rosa was shivering on the floor and battling to breathe while more blood came out of the spot that Aimee had hit her with. “Help me…help me…” Rosa pleaded in rasped breath, her words coming out as a painful and muffled sound. Aimee was shocked at what she had done, because she never expected it to turn out this way. Granted, she had been very upset that Rosa was trying to play smart with her. If it hadn’t been for her, a woman like Rosa would never have had access to Christopher Bridger’s home. Christopher was not a man who was keen on interviews and blogs, and he was also a very private person. Regardless of how close they were and how long they had been working together, Aimee could literally count the number of times that she had visited Christopher’s mansion, and ever since he married the wild Ashley Grander, he had not made any attempt to invite Aimee over. In fact, Aimee knew that as long as Christopher remained married to Ashley, chances of
As soon as Aimee arrived at Rosa’s apartment, she turned to Derek and said, “Don’t worry, I will handle this myself.”Derek seemed surprised. “I thought we were in this together, and don’t forget that I brought this information to you,” Derek said.“If you wanted to get a pat for a job well done, Derek, you would have gotten the full information, not bring something to me in halves,” Aimee said tightly. “I know Rosa, and I personally hired her to create ruins and damage for Christopher and Ashley’s interview, and trust me, she is going to talk to me faster than she would talk to you, and besides, seeing you might unnerve her,” Aimee added logically.She knew that Derek liked to feel important, especially when it was his area of expertise, but then again, Aimee was too desperate to leave this all to him to handle. All she needed to do was go in there, speak with Rosa and that was all.“Whatever you say,” Derek was not cool with the decision, but he also did not want to push it, because
Aimee Landon waited for Derek in her car that she had parked by the road.“I hope he doesn’t delay much,” Aimee said to herself.Not that she had anything else to do, especially now that Christopher was out of the country, but since Derek told her that he found something about Ashley, she had been eager. She could not wait to get her hands on something that she could use against Ashley.“Christopher is mine, and no one is going to take him away from me,” Aimee told herself firmly.These were the words she continued to say to herself, because they made her believe that they were true, and they also made her fight for him. Aimee already knew that loving a man like Christopher meant competitions, and it was a good thing that she was a good player. She had worked so hard to not also be by Christopher’s side, but to also make him see her. She had been able to maintain her position by his side, and one task had been successfully achieved so far, and all she needed to do was put in a little
Lily had just been placed between the devil and the deep blue sea, and she had no idea what to do, but what Lily knew was that she would not give herself to Mr. Yang for anything in the world.“You always have a way of making things difficult for me,” Lily said angrily under her breath as she hurried to their hotel room.She couldn’t even wait for Christopher to return from the room.As soon as Lily arrived at the room, she barged in like a wild dog, startling Christopher who was going through his documents with ease.“Jeez, Ashley, what is it?!” Christopher asked after recovering from the shock that Lily had just put him through.“We need to leave, right now!” Lily said frantically.Christopher was surprised. “Why are we leaving? What are you talking about?” Christopher asked without standing up from his sitting position; he did not share in Lily’s need for haste.“Can you just listen to me for once and let us leave?” Lily practically pleaded.When she had rushed upstairs, she hadn’t
About two hours later, Christopher and Mr. Yang were done with the meeting.Lily was bored and tired of listening to a conversation that she did not understand at all, and the only thing that kept her from dozing off was watching Christopher Bridger in his element, but then again, she could not deny the fact that Christopher was extremely upset. Lily could not tell if he was upset with her, even though she had said things that she shouldn’t have said, but it did not ruin anything, as Mr. Yang still seemed very much interested in whatever Christopher was saying.“Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Yang,” Christopher said as the two men shook hands.“We are happy to host you, and I know that you were supposed to have this meeting with the full team, but everyone else had other delegations,” Mr. Yang explained. “Anyway, we will put all that you have said into consideration, and since you fit into our requirement, you will be highly considered,” Mr. Yang addedChristopher seemed pleased t
Lily coughed, as though the tea was choking her, but by the time she was done acting up, she realized that the men were still looking at her, and expecting a response, especially Mr. Yang.“Um, her name is…” Lily stuttered and she hoped that her drama would not cost her the biggest mistake of her life, because she did not know why they had shifted from Christopher’s business to Ashley’s family.It would have been better if she had an idea about what she was being asked, but Don Grander never saw it fit to give her all the details regarding Ashley, and now she was left stuttering.“I think my wife is having a difficult time because she had a rough night,” Christopher immediately chipped in.“Oh my, is that so?” Mr. Yang asked, instantly getting worried.“Yes, it is,” Lily quickly answered, grateful that Christopher had come to her rescue. “I had a banging headache, which was why I couldn’t join Christopher for yesterday’s dinner,” Lily answered.Christopher cleared his throat uncomfort
The show is yours, Mrs. Bridger, please regale me,” Mr. Yang said, looking at Lily with an expectant smile.“That’s right, honey,” Christopher added tightly. “Please tell Mr. Yang the beautiful story of how we met,” Christopher said. Then he muttered something that only Lily could hear. “Hell save you from my wrath if you don’t do this well.”Lily began to shiver inside again while struggling to maintain a better appearance; one that did not say that she was shaking and in dread.“Um…” Lily started. She had no idea what Christopher had sent to her, because she did not even get access to it, and at the same time, Lily could not keep the gentlemen waiting, especially Mr. Yang. “Our parents were very good friends,” Lily started.From the corner of her eyes, she saw Christopher’s jaw tighten in anger, and she knew right away that she had said something contradictory to his story, but whatever the case, Lily could not stop now, which only meant that Christopher would have to abandon his ow