RachelCrack!Something crashed on the floor and then, we all look towards the place the sound came from.My great grandmother was standing there with a look of shock on her face and the plate she was holding was the one that caused the noise. The whole hall was in a pandemonium.We were panicking and everybody was shocked. It was like everything wasn't real. The males of the family that was present rushed to Grandpa Theo as my great grandmother stared at them blankly.Everyone looked at Grandmother Rua as she stood there in shock. The males of the family grabbed my great grandfather and cleaned his stained face.The women wasn't idle.Rosette brought her phone out and dialed a number."Hello, doctor. Father collapsed!" She said in panic.She kept stealing glances at Grandpa Theo."Where are you? You have to take him to a clean and noiseless environment. The most probable thing that could have caused his collapse is an heart issue." The doctor advised."Okay, doctor. Please, come righ
RachelThe alarm screeched with alarming ferocity before I stretched out my hand to keep it quiet.The sunlight seeping through the light blue curtains highlighted the sparse decorations adorning the room. There wasn't any hint of a feminine color at all.I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Today was going to be a good day because I and my brother are going to visit his best friend.My brother, Norman had a best friend since his college years. I, my brother and his best friend, Chase had always been together because as far as I could remember, I had always been Norman's handbag. With me detesting feminine things and embracing things the society called masculine, I was practically with my brother and his clique.I cleaned up before wearing jean trousers and a red t-shirt that made my green eyes pop.I ran my hand through my short hair that hung around my head in ruffling curls. I felt keeping longer hair is very troublesome.Taking care of my short hair is more relaxing. I didn
RachelI knew the moment Chase entered the hall. The atmosphere changed, it became charged with some sort of undercurrent that sizzled.Subconsciously, I raised my head up to meet Chase' deep gaze. His eyes scanned me up and down thoroughly that for a moment, I felt naked.Chase moved his gaze to Norman before sitting down on the chair facing I and my brother.I watched Chase as he and Norman talked. I did not join them.Previously, I was wondering if Chase had changed and now I had my answer.The boyish features that made him the acclaimed ice prince of our college gave way to deeper and mature ones that oozed sensuality.His grey eyes seemed to have darkened a little when he observed me but their color returned to normal swiftly so I did not know what he thought of my present appearance.Chase looked like he had faced trials and that he overcame them. He seemed successful and I wondered if I had the capability to stand by his side.Without any regard for whether I was a worthy fit f
RachelI almost wanted to strangle Norman in my mounting fury. Although I did not tell him of my crush on his friend and with our sibling relationship, he could ask that question, it didn't stop me from getting mad at him.I couldn't help but wonder if there was a person dumber than my brother. He was infuriating!He knew no tact at all.I could feel the burn of Chase's fiery gaze on me the moment my stupid brother finished his alarming sentence.I coughed awkwardly, "Haha, Greg is just a friend."A tech company outsourced me from the freelance market and Greg was one of their in-house technicians. I and Greg clicked as friends but it seemed my stupid brother thought something else might be going on.If I couldn't come to the company, Greg comes over to my house at times.I felt like digging my way underground.Here I was, trying to get a man into my honey trap while my brother opted for the option of scaring the man away.I shifted nearer to my brother before giving him a fierce pinc
RachelAfter my mother caught me snooping around on the internet for seduction techniques, she did not make any more moves. What she left was just her words about her teaching me the right way to seduce and get a man. I was burning with intense anticipation and the day seemed to move slower than it should but I persevered to the next day. I was ready to bombard my mother now. I felt like I had given her enough time to prepare her teaching materials and whatnot. I habitually checked my phone and I saw that there was message on my school group chat. We had all graduated but the chat hadn't been disbanded and someone would occasionally share something. Now, the class monitor of our set of students had posted a message about a school gathering for our group. I dismissed it. I walked past my brother's room habitually. The door wasn't locked. I poked my head in to see Norman on his computer. He was playing games. Normally, I would hang out with him and join him in his games. I loved
RachelI decided to focus more on her protecting action instead of the cringy nickname that dropped from her lips.My mouth twitched a little and I stumped the urge to argue about that nickname. This was not the time. We have an enemy to face off with.There should not be infighting within allies.At least, I used those words to console myself or I would have gotten my mother to change the nickname immediately.What in the world was baby chick? Who would give their child that kind of nickname?What happened to sweetie, darling and other similar endearments?She had not called me that nickname for years and I have forgotten about it.She just had to bring it up again."Oh! It is Mrs Micheals." Julie said but there was no hint of respect in her tone.I had to curb the urge to run forward to smack her head."We touched this dress first." My mother began.Julie rolled her eyes.It seemed she did not want to keep her barely veiled disrespect under her superficial layer of respect anymore.
RachelImmediately we reached our house, it was time for choosing how the outfits and clothes would be arranged in my closet.We spent tiring hours arranging the clothes and before we knew it, the time that had been decided for the school reunion was close.My mother knew that this was my first time doing something like this so she planned to start slowly. She wanted me to be steady in my improvement.She did not want to throw me into the expert level glam. She wanted me to start with the basics.I never knew that categorizing how and where my clothes should go was this exhausting.After going back and forth between the outfits that caught her eyes, my mother finally settled on the beautiful red dress that was decorated with sequins.I knew she chose this dress with malicious intentions. She had not given up on teaching Julie a lesson.After freshening up, I had to sit down for minutes. My mother said she was going to do a bare makeup but I still had to sit for hours for something tha
RachelI quieted down and silence reigned in the car.My phone's blaring ringtone shattered the silence to pieces.I took a glance at the screen and saw that it was Ryan Jenkins, the class monitor of our group of students.Back in our time of schooling, there was only one class monitor for all departments but nowadays, there are separate class monitors for each departments.Ryan was the only class monitor we have.He was an handsome hunk and I was friends with him. Our friendship started with a chance encounter.That fateful day, I dropped a slip of paper while I was hurrying to the library to cram for the exams. I had read before the exams began but I still had to do last minute cramming. Those few moments of cramming does wonders in the exam.He tapped my shoulder but I was absentminded and the next thing I did was to go into a defensive stance.It was awkward when I found out that he was just trying to help me. I released my hold on him and I treated him to a coffee outing.Our fri
RachelCrack!Something crashed on the floor and then, we all look towards the place the sound came from.My great grandmother was standing there with a look of shock on her face and the plate she was holding was the one that caused the noise. The whole hall was in a pandemonium.We were panicking and everybody was shocked. It was like everything wasn't real. The males of the family that was present rushed to Grandpa Theo as my great grandmother stared at them blankly.Everyone looked at Grandmother Rua as she stood there in shock. The males of the family grabbed my great grandfather and cleaned his stained face.The women wasn't idle.Rosette brought her phone out and dialed a number."Hello, doctor. Father collapsed!" She said in panic.She kept stealing glances at Grandpa Theo."Where are you? You have to take him to a clean and noiseless environment. The most probable thing that could have caused his collapse is an heart issue." The doctor advised."Okay, doctor. Please, come righ
RachelThe D-day finally arrived. Mirabelle's engagement party was holding today.Rosette was like a mama bear. She was involved in everything.She took precautions against me.Everytime I see her try to make me avoid anything related to Mirabelle's engagement party, I wanted to laugh.She was behaving like I was the bad guy.I did not have enough time for myself. Why would I chose to disturb Mirabelle's life instead?Mirabelle's engagement was held in the hall my introductory banquet was held in.Life can be very ironical sometimes.I am sure the hall gave Mirabelle bad memories. It was the source of her ruin after all.I left my room in my outfit.Thanks to Grandmother Rua, everybody in the family that was going to attend the engagement party had to wear beautiful clothes.She wanted to make this day a memorable day for Mirabelle.I headed towards the hall.I had delayed my appearance in the banquet for as long as I could.Grandmother Rua had sent a text message.I can't refuse to s
RachelThe days flew by quickly.The chosen date for Mirabelle's engagement was approaching.Mr Poyles refused to budge on this matter. The wedding was up to us but the engagement party was a must.I knew what he wanted.As long as Mirabelle is associated with him, the Claude family would do the wedding.They would not be able to lie like that.Public opinion can be very fatal.Sebastian had been very busy so I didn't see him often. If I saw him, it would be a brief meet and greet.Grandpa Theo had reduced the number of times he would go downstairs to relax.Nowadays, he would stay in his study for a long time.The incident Mirabelle caused really affected him negatively.I came out of my room and I headed to the North Wing of the mansion.I wanted to spend some time with Grandmother Rua.She didn't show any outward signs but I knew she was like Grandpa Theo.She was affected by the mess Mirabelle caused.Grandpa Theo's study was near his bedroom. Grandmother Rua had a lounging hall
RachelEverybody that had witnessed Mirabelle's slipup took their seats. The silence hanging in the atmostphere was choking.Mirabelle and Mr Poyles came downstairs to join us after wearing some clothes.After Mr Poyles took his seat, my great grandfather leveled his gaze at him."What do you want? Name your terms and we would satisfy it. You have to delete the pictures and videos you took if we agree on a deal." My great grandfather started.The aura of power he had gained from navigating the business life spilled out.Mr Poyles didn't flinch. He straightened his posture while returning my great grandfather's gaze.His demeanor was neither servile or overbearing."I want to marry her." His voice rang out.I knew he would not choose me. I have fooled his plans.Still, for a businessman like Mr Poyles, I feel like his company comes before his desires.He knew what he had access to and he was going to keep clamping on the Claude family's flesh till they give him something.The benefits
RachelHer scream pierced through the dreary atmostphere.I rubbed my ears to relieve the sharp ringing I felt when Mirabelle screamed.Her voice woke Mr Poyles up.He surveyed the room.His eyes widened when he saw Mirabelle beside him. His gaze stared on me for a brief moment.His eyes reminded me of a wild wolf.He didn't show any other signs of shock.He came down from the bed and went to the area his rumpled clothes were.Nobody stopped him because it seemed like he wanted to get his clothes.Mr Poyles found his phone from his wrinkled pile of clothes.He pressed something on the phone before aiming his phone's camera at the scene in the room.The sound of the camera capturing pictures was loud.He took photos of the unpresentable bed and he didn't forget to get some photos of himself.Mirabelle was captured by his phone's camera too. She didn't have time to cover her bare body before Mr Poyles took a photo of her.After taking a few pictures, all of us snapped to our senses.Mir
RachelMy words sent everyone into a frenzy.The worry in their eyes was clear. These people really cared about Mirabelle and their love would not change even with my arrival.They had brought her up after all. She had been their adored princess before I came.I don't know why Mirabelle failed to see all this. There was no need to attack me.I didn't like trouble and I stayed on my lane.We would have stayed in the Claude family peacefully.Now, it had come to this and there was no way back.The moment they decided to give me away to Mr Poyles, they had cut off any chance for us to reconcile."Where could she be? Is she resting in her room?" Grandpa Theo asked.He beckoned to the butler."Go and check Mirabelle's room. She might be relaxing in her bedroom and we would be here panicking." He instructed.The butler nodded respectfully before exiting the all.Silence reigned.A few minutes later, the butler came back. Mirabelle wasn't with him and his face was scrunched up in worry."Mis
RachelDragging a grown woman was a little tedious but I managed to do it. I was subtly supporting her and the ground did most of the work.The whole time, my heart was in my throat. There was a higher chance that my plan would fail.Thankfully, it didn't.Mirabelle was a little gullible.How can she follow a server out because an unknown gentleman sent her a private gift. I noticed something about Mirabelle.She liked to be adored. She wants people to like her presence.Still, I could understand why she didn't think too much before following me. The wine she drank had a great part in her decision.Before I could even serve her any wine, she had been taking some from the other servers. It was like the wine was an equivalent for water.I searched my memory for room Mirabelle had lured me to. I brought her there.The door was locked and there was no key in the keyhole.Mirabelle must have removed it.I dropped her and searched her body. I did not find anything.The key wasn't on her bod
RachelThe doors leading to the hall was open.I glanced at the hall's interior.Mirabelle was back in the hall. I don't think the rest of the Claude family had discovered her yet.I would have let this incident go bit I had boundaries. Trying to get someone to rape me was sick and I was going to pay her back in her own coin.She would stop trying to attack me like a rabid dog after this.These people would continue to think I was a pushover if I let this matter go.I gesticulated to get a server's attention.The server looked worried. She brought her empty tray and came to me quickly.She must be conjuring various reasons for me right now. I felt sorry for what I am about to do to her but I really need her help.Her uniform would go a long way in realizing my plan.I left the entrance of the hall and stood in the hallway.The female server approached me with the worried expression still on her face."Is there something wrong, ma'am?" She asked.I shook my head, "I just need a favor f
Rachel"Mirabelle told you to wait here?" I asked.I stayed where I was.I did not take any more steps into the room.I bit my lips.I was gullible.I thought leaving the party early would put a stop to the schemes of Mirabelle and Rosette.I finally knew where the slimy gaze from the party came from."Yes, she said you would be here." Mr Poyles replied.He was sitting on the only bed in the room."What do you think is going to happen by waiting here?" I asked.My hands touched the pen knife I strapped to my thigh."Miss Rachel, you are the one I would be with in this life. The moment I saw you, I knew you were the one." Mr Poyles replied.I smelled a particular scent.It was coming from an incense burner beside the bed.The scent caused my mouth to go dey.For some reason, the scent gave me bad memories.Some images flashed in my mind. The memories wasn't as clear as I would want it to be but it gave me all the information I need.The scent coming from the incense was an aphrodisiac.