Damien sat in his room, his eyes pale as usual. It was his best friend’s wedding, but he couldn’t share his happiness. How could he when his world was dark? It had been that way since she left four years ago. After countless failed efforts at finding her, Damien finally gave up and became a shell of himself. He was barely living, only surviving. One thing he did very well was drown himself in his work. It was the only thing that kept him alive. He also focused on it with all his might with the hope that it would take his mind off her. It didn’t work, of course. He stayed away from any public gatherings and even avoided his own family. To him, it was a way of punishing himself for what he did to her. But Eric was his friend, and his feelings didn’t matter. It was a joyous occasion, and so he wasn’t going to ruin it for Eric. So, he would attend the wedding and share in his friend’s joy. “I can’t believe you’re finally settling down, man. Your wife is something.” Damien said
Damien thought his heart would explode as his hand touched her skin. He couldn’t believe that she was standing in front of him. After four whole years of looking for her, he was sure that she had escaped to another planet. But, she had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. “Harriet?” He breathed out, his heart pounding harshly against his chest as he looked into her eyes. “It is you. You are here. God, Harriet! How have you been?” He said with ragged breathing. “Where did you go, Harriet? I looked everywhere for you. Did you leave the country? Was that why I couldn’t find you?” He rapped, still holding her tightly. He was so excited to see her that he didn’t notice that she had been silent the entire time, only staring at him coldly. When she opened her mouth to speak, he could only focus on her voice, which he had missed for four years. “I’m sorry? Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to ask me these things, huh?” She said with a scoff, but Damien shook his head an
Harriet was sick of all these drama and the scene was tiring. All she wanted to leave. She had come here to wish for and support her friend, but she had become the center of attraction because of Damien. Harriet turned to Tony, who had followed her down to New York from Paris, and gave him a reassuring look. “Fine. Let’s talk.” She told Damien, and a soft sigh left his lips, his eyes softening. Damien led her out of the hall, leaving Evelyn with her mouth hanging open. As they walked to the balcony, Damien’s mind was racing with questions. He didn’t know what question to ask first. He wanted to apologize first, but he didn’t know how she would feel about him talking about that incident. What the man just said made him even more confused. Who was the man and why was he calling her the mother of his children? “Jesus, Harriet. Are you married? You… already have children with that man?” He didn’t know when the words let him. Even though they were not the right thing to start a
Damien couldn’t believe how much Harriett had changed in just four years. He didn’t know what to believe anymore. Hearing the little girl who looked just like him call the strange man ‘ daddy ’ made him tremble as he feared that Harriett had remarried and given birth. But, the years weren’t adding up so Harriett was definitely hiding the truth from him. He opened his mouth to speak when Evelyn snuck up from behind and linked her arms together with his. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you, my love.” She wore a pretentious smile on her face to make Harriett jealous, little did she know that Damien was getting pissed off by her act instead. She turned to Harriett, acting like she had only just noticed her presence. “Harriett. So good to see you. I’m so happy for you, you know. You have a husband and two beautiful children. It seems like you were in the wrong marriage after all.” She smiled. When Damien heard the word ‘ husband ’ he looked at Harriett’s finger to see if sh
Harriett was too busy with helping her children not make a mess of themselves that she didn’t see Damien walk to her table. It is only when she heard his voice that she realized that he was now standing before her.“We need to talk.” He said, ignoring the glare from Tony who was ready to pounce on him the second he tried touching Harriett.Harriett looked up at him and shook her head with a low sigh. “We have nothing to talk about.”“Do not make me create a scene, Harriett. Come with me while I am being nice.” Damien replied and Tony growled angrily from his seat and was about to give Damien a piece of his mind when Harriett reached out to him.“I’ll be fine. Take care of the them.” She said, referring to Addison and Adrian. She got up and let Damien lead the way as they both walked out of the hall. Immediately Evelyn saw this, she abandoned her wine and hurried after them to eavesdrop on their conversation. Damien led her to a secluded spot where he was sure it would be hard for Ton
The wedding finally came to an end and Harriett went back to her parent’s house with Tony. When she arrived, her mood was sour as she occasionally remembered her previous encounter with Damien.“How dare he come up to me when he is still with that woman.” Harriet grumbled, referring to Evelyn as she tucked her children to bed and retired to her room.While she laid on her bed, she tried forcing herself to sleep but it proved to be fruitless as she found her thoughts continuously drifting to her ex-husband. By the time she was finally able to sleep, it was already 12:45am.**“Su ji. Since it is Tony’s first time in New York after ten whole years, why don’t you show him around. I’m sure New York has changed a lot since the last time he was here.” Harriett’s mother suggested and Jake Edwards nodded in agreement.“Mum, please. It’s not like I’ve been here all along. You’re forgetting that I have been away for four years.” Harriett countered with a groan. “Oh, come on. Four years isn’t a
“This park was my favorite when I was younger. I remember crying because Dad refused bringing me here on my thirteenth birthday.” She laughed as they walked through a lively park. Tony joined her and laughed at her silliness. Throughout their outing, his eyes were glued to her face, watching as her eyes gleamed whenever she saw somewhere familiar. They had driven around the city and it was already 4pm and he could see that she was already getting worried that she had left her children for too long. So, he quickly placed a call to her mother.“Hey, Aunt.” He greeted and Harriett looked at him, wondering why he was calling her mother. “Are you with the twins? How are they?” He asked. Firstly because he genuinely cared about them and secondly because he wanted Harriett to relax and enjoy the outing.“Goodness, Tony. They are with Jake right now getting ice cream. How’s the date going?” She asked and Tony had to hurriedly reduce his phone’s volume when she got to the last part.
Harriett retouched her makeup in the restroom and took a deep breath, reminding herself that she had no business caring about who Damien was with. “I see you’re still not over Damien.” The overly familiar voice of Evelyn boomed through the walls and Harriett rolled her eyes as soon as she saw her standing by the door. Deciding to be the mature one, Harriett remained quiet and continued with her business. Evelyn clenched her fists and walked closer to her until she was sure Harriett could no longer ignore her. “Damien doesn’t love you, Harriett. He never did and he never will. I hope this sinks into your stupid brain.” Evelyn continued and Harriett couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her lips as she put her lip gloss into her purse and turned her full attention to her. “Is that your insecurity speaking?” She smiled sweetly but her eyes were filled with terror. “You know so well that I have made no approach on Damien since I returned. Instead, he has been the one running after
“We finally meet, Draco. I have been trying to catch you for years.” Rico said with a smirk as he pulled out his police ID and shoved it in Mehdi’s face. Rico was a detective who had been in charge of a few cases that related to the Snakers gang and each time he thought he was finally close to catching them, he was faced with a stumbling block even his superiors advised and warned him against going them. After several failed attempts at getting them, he realized that the problem was their leader. He understood that the gang leader was someone powerful which was why everyone in the police force, including the commander was scared to touch him. He knew if they really wanted to, they would have caught them a long time ago. It annoyed him to see that they were turning a blind eye to the killing and crisis the gang caused daily just because their leader was someone powerful. Just a few months ago, he also found out that they were involved in the massive human trafficking of young
“We are under attack, " the man screamed, and Mehdi’s eyes flew open as shock rippled through him. “What? Under attack? By who?” He asked his attention now on the frightened guard. “I don’t know who they are, boss, but it didn’t look like they belonged to a gang. They looked too sophisticated for that.” He answered. “What about the other men at the gate? How the fuck did they even get in?” Mehdi asked, his mind racing. He wasn’t sure if he was to leave the basement or run to safety. But then again, the basement was hidden so it would be safer to stay in there. “Secure the entrance and make sure I am safe.” He instructed the men in the room, and they nodded before taking off. Lily heard everything they said and understood they were under attack, which meant it could be a perfect time for her to escape. Her only worry was that Mehdi didn’t look like he would be leaving the basement soon and if that happened, no one would know she was in there, so, she decided that the only thin
Tony and the hired men discreetly followed Mehdi’s car until it entered a white mansion that was known to belong to Mehdi. It had been shown countless times on the news so everyone knew it was his. The mansion was as big as a small community with gigantic gates and tall walls. It had a state-of-the-art design and exuded wealth. In the mansion were armed guards stationed both in and out to secure the building as well as surveillance cameras scanning the ground. The mansion was built like a fortress, proof of Mehdi’s wealth and power. Tony surveyed the area, wondering why he was home so early. It was rare to see a man like Mehdi who was always busy actually spend time in his house. To make things worse, he didn’t have a wife and his parents lived in a different city. “Could he be hiding Lily here?” Tony wondered. It would make sense since no one would expect him to keep a hostage in his residence. It would be absurd to think that. But, Tony had a feeling. One of the hired men who
Tony sensed that Louis was being truthful. He knew that if he was indeed responsible for Lily’s kidnap, he wouldn’t deny it.“Fuck!” Tony hissed and punched the wall in front of him.“What the fuck did you do? Where did you keep her that she’d get kidnapped?” Louis asked, raging.Tony looked at the phone in his hand and ended the call. He had no use speaking to Louis if he wasn’t behind the kidnap.Tony looked around, searching for answers when a thought popped in.“If they weren’t sent by Louis but had the gang tattoo on their wrists, that means…..” His eyes widened as the realization dawned on him.“Fucking hell! Mehdi, you son of a bitch!”**After the call with Tony, Louis sat in his room, his mind racing as he struggled to process the news of Lily’s kidnap. He wondered who would have done that. For all he knew, he was the only one threatening her so who could this new person be?If she had been kidnapped, it would mean that she was out of his reach and he was not going to let th
“You?” Lily’s brows furrowed in confusion as she stared at the man standing before her. It was none other than Mehdi King.His gaze was sharp on her and he had a sinister smirk dancing on his lips, the type that made chills run down Lily’s spine. She stared at him in disbelief but her heart shook with fear. She knew what kind of man Mehdi was so she knew that he was not to be messed with.“Did you do this?” She asked with fear in her eyes and Mehdi chuckled, his laughter cold and unbothered.“Do what you exactly?” He asked, feigning ignorance.“Did you bring me here?” She asked and then looked around to see the men behind him. That was when she realized how foolish her question was.Of course, he kidnapped her.“Why have you brought me here?! What do you want from me?” She said in a low but audible tone and Mehdi walked up to her and squatted down to her level.“Come on, Lily. There’s no need to pretend.” He snickered and fear flashed across her face.“What…what are you talking about?
Tony arrived at the restaurant in less than an hour. The whole area was filled with panic but, not a single person was hurt. Tony looked around and realized that the scene looked too clean which meant that the thugs only came to get Lily. “The CCTV footage.” He said to Marcus who immediately nodded and went in search of the manager. Since Tony was well known in Paris, especially in a restaurant that was a few blocks away from his hospital, he was immediately granted access to the CCTV footage. Two minutes later, Marcus came back with the manager, a young French man with dark hair. He looked like he had run miles just to get to the main restaurant as he was sweaty and filled with panic but Tony knew that it was because of what had happened in his restaurant. “Mr Martinez…” He stuttered, shaking fearfully as he wondered why Tony was in his restaurant after such chaos. “The footage, now.” Tony requested. He didn’t have the time to explain to him as every minute he wasted could put Li
Tony glanced at his watch as the meeting with the investors came to a close. He had met most of them at Mehdi’s party and to his surprise, they attended the event just because they knew he'd be there. They had been trying to get in touch with him for a while but, since Tony was not just a businessman but also a doctor, he was always busy. The meeting had gone well and he had successfully acquired over two billion dollars from fifteen of them to add to his company. ‘Looks like attending Mehdi’s party wasn’t so bad after all.’ He thought. “Alright. I guess we can call it a day.” He said and stood up, satisfied with the outcome and they all clapped happily. “Thank you for your time. My assistant will be in touch with you to finalize the paperwork.” He said with a confident smile as he shook their hands. He was the first to leave the conference room as he had a major surgery to perform in thirty minutes so, he needed to get ready. As he exited the building, his thoughts drifted to Li
TWO DAYS LATER It was a Monday morning and the break from the hospital had come to an end. Lily woke up feeling restless. Since the party, she had been unable to sleep properly as the events of the Mehdi’s party continued replaying in her head. All she seemed to think about was Louis's words. It had been haunting her like a ghost and no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t shake it off. What annoyed her was that she didn’t know what he planned to do. She didn’t have a single idea so, she was scared he would strike at any time. “Get yourself together, Lily!” She tapped her cheeks with her hands as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. “Don’t think about it. Please, don’t think about it.” She whispered as she brushed her hair into place. “Focus, Lily. Focus!” She said own last time before going into the bathroom to get ready for the day. By the time she got out of the bathroom, it was already a few minutes past eight and she was to be at the hospital by 9 am. She dressed u
As the party continued, Tony mingled with some of the people he was familiar with. He also made sure that Lily was by his side at all times.“Who is this beautiful lady, Tony?” Various people asked and he gave them the same response which still came as a shock to all of them.As the conversation with some of Tony’s business partners got more intense, Lily decided to leave them for a bit.“I’ll be in the restroom for a bit.” She whispered to Tony who gave a brief nod. His eyes followed her until she disappeared, making sure no one followed her into the restroom.As she walked, she couldn’t help but admire the hallway that led to the restroom. It had been decorated beautifully with flowers as though it was a part of the party hall.Mehdi might be a terrible person but he had good taste.She entered the restroom and to her relief, it was empty. She washed her hands for some relief and leaned on the wall, hoping to give Tony and his friends some time to finish up their conversation.A few