CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE JAMESI checked my wristwatch. I was already feeling empty, so I decided to grab lunch. I wasn't able to eat lunch during the lunch break because I I had too much to do so I decided to grab something light. I was walking down the stairs when a woman rushed up to me. She looked pregnant. I looked down at her stomach and up to her face. Her face didn't look familiar at first. In fact, I didn't recall seeing her from anywhere. She stopped in front of me, and two of my guards rushed up o grab her. "Wait!" I ordered them, with my hands lifted in the air. They both stopped, and I waved them away. "What do you want?" I asked her with a raised eyebrow. "My name is Beverly, and I...""You are here to beg for some cash," I completed before she could finish talking. Her expression got soured, and I saw her fold her fist. A smile appeared on my lips because I knew she couldn't punch me. I was excited to see how pained she was, and there was nothing she
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY SIXALEXANDER "Can we meet up for a few minutes? We have a lot of catching up to do."That was Diana over the phone. Or rather, my mother. I rolled my eyes and hesitated for a while before I finally spoke up. "What for?" I asked. I didn't care about her feelings. I cared more about mine. I was still hurt, and I wanted her to feel that I was hurt. I wanted her to know how I felt and to feel the pain. "Alex, please," she pleaded. "I am your mother, and I want us to catch up. I want to get to know my son. I want you to...""Mom, you know that this would have been avoided if you had done all of these things long ago."There was a pause for a while before she finally spoke again. "That's why I'm trying so hard to make you see the truth. To make you understand that things would have worked out better, but not in the way you think it. I want you to see that everything is not about what you think or feel.""Fine."I finally agreed to meet my mom. We agreed
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY SEVENALEXANDER "What?" I shouted. "She has been rushed to the hospital, sir. She fainted immediately...""Text me the address immediately," I cut in before she could finish speaking. I picked up my bag to leave immediately, but my mom grabbed my arm before I could. "What's the matter?" Diana asked as she glared at me worriedly. "Sally was rushed to the hospital after she passed out," I replied to her. "I'd go with you," she told me. I didn't argue cause I didn't have the energy to, so I just simply nodded and kept walking while she followed behind me. My phone beeped. I ignored it because I knew that it was the address that was texted to me. I got into my car with my mom before I opened the text. I drove hurriedly to the hospital. "Do you know how hurt I was when I found out you got married?" Diana asked me during the drive. "Your dad couldn't even say anything to me about it."I sighed. Whatever she was saying kept skipping my ears. I was mor
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY EIGHTSALLYWhile Alex and I were discussing it. I heard footsteps outside the door. I felt the presence of someone around. I knew that it was Beverly who was eavesdropping. I decided to go out and show off. "I need to grab a drink," I told Alex as I stood up and tried to walk out, but Alex grabbed me and pulled me back. "Hold on," Alex told me as he held me back. "I would get you water instead." "I'm craving," I lied to Alex. "If you get me water, I wouldn't be able to take it because I may no longer want it. I don't even know what I want. I'd find out once I get to the kitchen."Alex pecked my forehead before letting me go. I stood up and walked out of the room. Immediately when I opened the door, I saw Beverly standing by the door, and she quickly bent down and screamed. "Ahh!"I stared at her as she held her toe, crying out in pain. I scoffed. She was only being dramatic because I caught her red-handed eavesdropping on us. She was trying to cove
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY NINEALEXANDER "Sir, your next meeting is about to start," Clinton came to inform me. I had so much adrenaline running through my system. I could feel the butterflies dancing around in my tummy as I walked into the meeting room. I hadn't gotten over the joy of Sally's pregnancy yet. It was hard not to feel too excited. I walked into the meeting room and met the board members already gathered and waiting for my arrival. I advised that we all comported ourselves since the construction company was one of the biggest, if not the biggest in the state. We had been trying so hard to book a meeting with the company, and it was seemingly impossible. Finally, we were able to get them here like this. I was excited about the fact that they finally agreed to meet with us and hoped that they would not turn us down. I was too excited to feel nervous about meeting with them. They soon arrived, and after all the greetings and formalities, the meeting began proper.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTYALEXANDER My eyes opened widely, and my mouth was also widely opened. I stared at the picture in disbelief for a while. Clinton noticed that I was shocked, so he moved even closer to me and stood beside me. He dipped his head into my phone. He furrowed his brow and faced me. "What is the matter?" He inquired. "I... I... uhm... have a look," I told Clinton. I lost my voice trying to explain to Clinton what was going on. He took my phone and stared at the same pictures he sent to me. His brows were still furrowed, which meant that he didn't even realise what was going on. I wondered how Clinton wasn't able to recognise the man in the picture, even though he had sent it to me. "Go through the documents," I told Clinton. Clinton began to go through the documents, and his eyes widened. I was no longer as angry as I was when I walked into the office. My anger had been replaced with shock. How the fuck did this happen? The son of the victim who died d
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY ONE SALLY It was finally the day of the party. I was aware that Alex didn't want to be there. Not after what he told me, but I wouldn't let him waste away at home when he could just go to the party and pretend that all was well. Alex's phone began to ring. I walked towards the bed and picked up the phone. Alex was still in the toilet. "Alex, it's Damien," I called out loudly. "Pick it up," Alex responded. I picked up the call. "I'm almost at the venue already. Where the fuck are you bro!" Damien shouted without even realising that it was me, and not Alex. "Alex and I would be on our way soon.""Soon? That means you haven't even left your house yet?" Damien's voice was calmer now. He didn't raise his voice the way he did earlier, any longer. "Yes, we are still home. We apologise for wasting your time."Alex and I finished dressing up, and his drive drove us to the party hall. We were accompanied by three of Alex's guards. Alex called Damien whe
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWOJAMESWhen I saw Damien walk into the party, I walked behind him and took the table tight behind his. I knew that Sally and Alex would definitely join him.Immediately after I settled in my chair, I brought out a face cap and wore it. I didn't want my identity to be revealed immediately. My table was directly behind theirs. That way, I would be able to monitor them. Damien walked out after a while. I tried to keep my eyes on him in case he wanted to switch seats. He left the hall completely and returned with Sally and Alex. I sat up when I saw them. My heart shook for Sally, and it got triggered with anger when I saw Alex holding her hands. It hurt me whenever I saw them together. The party began properly, and I listened carefully to every of their conversation. I was happy to see how Alex was affected by the new CEO. That was the second reason I was here. The first was to see Sally. "Sir, do you have a standing order?" One of the servers asked m
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY SEVEN SALLYSEVEN YEARS LATER I walked around the kitchen as the maid prepared the banquet for dinner. While I was supervising the dinner, I could hear my kids laughing and playing in the sitting room.Alex had already left the house a while ago. He gad gone to pick his father up from the prison. We were glad that they had to reduce the term he was supposed to serve in prison, seeing that he was good during his stay. I was excited that we would no longer have to frequent the prison with my kids just to say hello to their grandpa."Mom!" Lucy cried as she rushed into the kitchen. "Lucas hit my eyes."I patted her head and whispered, "Sorry," to her.She ran off, feeling excited about the fact that I apologised on behalf of her twin brother. I didn't meddle in their fights. I just apologised on behalf of the other person, and it was okay.I knew that Lucy was more troublesome, but I would never take sides. I didn't want any of them to feel that I loved t
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY SIXSALLYI felt my life slipping away from me. All I saw was darkness. I felt like I was floating. I couldn't open my eyes even though I wanted to..I could hear people running around, even though the sounds echoed. I could hear the machine beeping very loudly. I heard the doctor asking the nurses to chathe the defibrillator. I could feel it on my chest severally. I wanted to just rest. I wished that they would stop trying to revive me and let me be. I could feel my floating body moving up and down without my consent.I thought I was going to die, but the doctors and Alex were not ready to give up on me. They kept trying until I opened my eyes. Alex gasped when he noticed that I opened my eyes. Everything stopped, and everyone stopped moving."Sally," Alex whispered under his breath before rushing towards me. He hugged me tightly and whimpered. There was a celebration in the room. My parents rushed in with Jessica and Diana when they heard the celebrat
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY FIVEALEXANDER Before we got to the hospital with the ambulance carrying Sally, I already called her parents and told them to be on their way there. I had to hold Jessica throughout the journey because she was having a panic attack. She kept asking me if her sister would die. I didn't know how else to assure her that Sally would be fine. I was also hoping, just like her. I didn't have any supernatural powers.We got to the hospital, and while she was being transferred to the bed, her parents drove in. Her mom alighted from the car before it even stopped and rushed towards us. Her heart was racing as she approached us. "My daughter," she cried out in pain. She held Sally and began to cry and call out Sally's name. She was pulled away from Sally by the nurses, and they wheeled Sally into the ward where surgery would be conducted on her.Jessica hugged her parents tightly. "Thanl goodness, you are safe," Mrs Anderson said as she turned her daughter arou
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY FOURNARRATORSally's heart sank immediately when she heard the gunshot. She turned to Jessica immediately. She sighed when she noticed that Jessica wasn't hurt. She only shut her eyes tightly with her fist clenched. "This is not a toy, Sally," Beverly warned.She intentionally shot at the wall to make Sally see that they weren't joking about killing Jessica if she didn't sign the papers. "One," Beverly counted. Sally was already shaken. She remembered how she felt after hearing the gunshot. When she thought that Beverly killed her sister for real. Her hands were shaking.She knew what Beverly could do, and she could not afford to lose her sister. She knew that she would end up signing the papers even after they killed her sister."Let me have the papers," she requested. James handed the papers to her, and she quickly placed her signature in every single place that it requested.James collected the papers from her. He had a triumphant smile on his fac
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THREEALEXANDER I was panicking, but I stayed calm until we got to the office. I told Clinton what was going on, and he advised that I tried calling Sally again, which I quickly did, but I could not reach her..I became alarmed. I kept calling going Sally's number. Sometimes, it rang, other time, it didn't. I kept trying to reach Sally even though it was getting frustrating. When I called again, it was switched off. This made me stand up to my feet. "Calm down, Alex," Clinton advised me. I could not think straight. I logged into the app and tried to track Sally's phone again, but it got disconnected. I could no longer track her, and it was because her phone was switched off. "Let me have your phone," I asked Clinton. "Of course," he replied as he dipped his hands into his pocket and brought out his phone. He handed his phone over to me. I took it from Clinton and dialled Sally's number. It was still switched off. My head began to spin.I had a bad
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY TWO SALLYI tried to steady my thoughts as I drove to the location on the map Beverly forwarded to me. I was sure that I didn't leave any traces, and I was certain that no one followed me down to this place.As I drove, I could feel my hands shaking terribly. A lot ran through my head at the same time. I finally got to the location. I parked my car outside the building, and alighted from the car..I called Beverly to inform her that I was at the location. After a while, she arrived with two men. I opened the car boot for them to get the money. They pulled the bag out of the car and dropped it on the floor. They opened the zip and quickly searched through it."It's intact," one of them to Beverly. "We can't trust this woman," Beverly told them. "We have to count the money first.""Where's she?" I asked Beverly. "We would only release her to you after counting the money and making sure that it is complete."I didn't want to go in with them, but my sister
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY ONEALEXANDER I found it difficult to sleep. I had walled in on Sally when she was demanding money from her mom. I knew that she cried the moment I walked in and saw her eyes. Even though Sally kept insisting that she was fine until she slept off, I knew that she was not fine. She was only saying so to get me off her back. I tried to go through her phone, but it seemed like she had deleted her recent calls. The only call I saw was that of her mom and other unimportant calls. I walked back to the bag lying on the floor of our room. I opened the bag and stared into it for a while. I hoped that all was well. I returned to the bed and kept rolling there. I didn't even notice when I slept off.The next morning, I felt someone shaking me tenderly. I opened my eyes slowly, and I rubbed them with both hands. When I opened my eyes widely, I saw Sally seated in front of me. She was smiling, but I could tell that the smile was a fake smile."Morning, love," she
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY BEVERLYI was excited when my driver walked into the small house with Jessica. I didn't believe my eyes at first. How would I have known that it would be so easy to get Jessica."Hard nut to crack," I teased her as I touched her chin.She whimpered fearfully."Was this the reason you came to my school the other day pretending to be nice?" She asked me.I was just smiling at her as I touched her chin. She slapped my hands off."Hold her!" I ordered the driver who had brought her in. He held her hands tightly, and she struggled with him. "Let go of me!" She commanded with so much authority.I grabbed her chin and squeezed her face.She whimpered as she struggled to free herself from my grip, but I wouldn't let her go. "Who do you think you are to think that you can behave whichever way that pleases you?"She spat on my face immediately after I freed her from my grip. My eyes and mouth opened widely."I knew that a prostitute like you should not be trust
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTY NINESALLYI walked out of the meeting room and went straight to my office. immediately when I sat down, my phone began to ring. I stared at the screen and saw that it was Jessica who was calling me. I smiled because I had missed her. I wondered what she had to say this time.Nevertheless, I picked up the call. "Hello, Jessi," I called out, but there was no response.I continued calling out Jessica, but there was no response from her end. I kept calling Jessica's name, but still, there was no reply until it hung up. I tried calling her again, but there was no response. I dialled her number thrice. When she didn't pick the third time, I decided to let her be..I left my phone in my office and decided to go supervise the packaging of the scandal goods that had been reproduced. I strolled around the room and made sure that everyone present there had something doing.I also supervised the faces of those who were in the team just to ensure that there were n