“Don’t you realize what you’ve done, and what you’re on the verge of throwing away? If I ever had a daughter and made her feel half as crappy about herself as you do, or ever gave one tiny hint that I wasn’t overjoyed to have been blessed with my child’s presence in my life – no matter what their sex – I’d go right out and jump off a bridge.” Adrian ground out.He was breathing hard, feeling the heat in his face, and glowering at the older man, so it took a second before he heard the clapping. Casting a quick glance at Liz’s grandmother, he saw her applauding and nodding in agreement.As for Mr. Walters, he was so red in the face he looked like his head was about to pop off. His mouth kept jerking, and his head shaking, like he was forming an entire count of scathing retorts, but couldn’t come up with just the right one to lead off the assault.Liz was watching in silence, tears streaming down her face.And Adrian had just had enough. He’d kept quiet this whole time believing it would
Liz Walters couldn’t control her tears. She didn’t want Adrian to prove his love for her. He’d proven himself enough.Still, she could sense the conflict building between her grandpa and Adrian. None of them would accept defeat this readily. If her grandpa was arrogant, Adrian was stead-fast. And once Adrian had been challenged, there would be no going back unless her grandpa…But that was impossible knowing his nature…“Fine, I accept your love,” her grandpa declared, meeting her eyes.Liz was shocked, totally speechless seeing the old man stepping back.“But,” he held out a hand, palm out.She held her breath in anticipation. She knew this was coming.“If I ever find out that he made you cry or hurt you, I will see to it that he doesn’t get to see the morning sun the very next day.” Her grandpa warned both of them.A short laugh escaped her mouth. She couldn’t help it. She knew that day would never come because she has faith in Adrian. There won’t be a repeat of the past ever again.
The paramedics had gotten Logan out on a back board and loaded him into an ambulance to take him to the closest hospital – St Richard’s.Liz had tried to help as much as she could, but eventually she’s realized she was just getting in the way and so she’d stood back and watched, feeling very strange at the turn of events.Had she not listened to her grandpa and stayed in her office, things might have not escalated this far. She would have stopped Adrian. She would have stopped them both from fighting.Logan’s state wasn’t good. His pulse was very weak.Now, she stood in the hospital corridor, feeling at a loss as to what to do next. Feeling stunned… the enormity of what had just gone down in the office was slowly sinking in.“Liz!”She turned at the sound of his voice, feeling a rush of relief, a surge of relief in her heart at seeing Adrian again, standing there waiting for her. Some police officers were taking his statement.He looked ruffled and stressed, and his hair was going eve
Adrian Moore rolled over in time to see a naked ass – a very fine naked ass – disappear into his bathroom for the fourth time in a row.Liz had stayed at his apartment since that incident with Logan. They’d each gone to work, with her leaving before he got up every day. He’d decided to resign from his job at her company.It wasn’t about the incident that had gone down at the office. He wasn’t embarrassed for his behavior. He did what he had to do to protect his woman and after he’d told Liz about his thoughts, she’d reassured him that the way he’d reacted was pretty normal. Any man would have stepped forward and beat the man who’d tried to touch his woman.He now stayed at home and was freer to attend to his business matters through conference video-calls and online meetings. He would be at home every day, work done, anxious to be there when she walked through the door. He was totally gone on her and loving every minute.Speaking of minute, he glanced at the clock and winced. A few mi
Liz Walters quickly closed the file she’d been reading and stood up to shake hands with the investor when he walked inside the room but froze in surprise upon seeing the man – Ethan Scott, Adrian’s friend and school pal – and also the CEO and president of Scott Enterprises with whom they were supposed to have this meeting.Unlike Liz, Ethan looked unfazed. He slipped his hand into hers and shook it firmly.“I would be lying if I said I didn’t already know I would be meeting up with you for this presentation.” Ethan said with a smirk, placing his bag onto the table before taking off his suit jacket.“Well, I totally forgot that you’re the Ethan Scott.” Liz blurted out. All I heard was that I would be presenting to some CEO who’s a real dick, Liz thought to herself.“Ouch,” Ethan pressed a hand over his chest, hissing in pain as though hurt by her honesty.Liz rolled her eyes at him before shaking her head. “Let’s have a seat, Mr. Scott.” She pointed to the chair to her left just as her
Adrian Moore ran his fingers through his hair out of frustration and threw his head back against the back of the couch with an exasperated sigh. Despite his urgent request and reassurance that their money would be doubled and even tripled once this project will be set into action, the investors didn't want to bid in any more money. More so than that, he regretted ending the conference call out of annoyance and that too, on a bad note.Now, there would be no stopping his father from finding out about his absence. Did he just pour water all over his efforts with his own hands? Although he hadn't been to his office for so long, he'd been trying so hard to look after his company. He'd made no such mistake that could have alerted his father but now...He was screwed! If only those investors had listened to him, this wouldn't have happened. "Fuck!" He mumbled under his breath. Sitting upright, he stared at his black laptop screen for a whole minute, lost in his own thoughts. That wa
Adrian Moore stared at his laptop screen, a whole range of emotions tumbling through him, yet he couldn't seem to grasp hold of a single one of them. He was still sitting in that exact same spot minutes... weeks... years later, when Liz shifted uneasily. He heard her speak, somewhere in the recesses of his mind, knew she was upset and probably apprehensive, but nothing registered. Not until she moved impossibly closer to him and tightened her arms around his, her tone changing to one of curiosity. "When do you plan on leaving?" Adrian hesitated for a moment but knew that the earliest he'd leave for New York City the better it would be for his company. "Tonight," he disclosed.He still hadn't booked himself a flight. He wanted to talk it out first with Liz but after that conversation with his father, he just knew that taking the next available flight to New York City would be best. Besides, the sooner he'd deal with this issue regarding the investors, the sooner he'd be free to
Adrian Moore pulled the car right in front of Liz’s house and shut off the engine.He thought it would be best if Liz would stay at her grandparents’ house while he was away. As long as she wasn’t all by herself at their house and staying here with her grandparents, he would be less worried about her and their babies.It was already half past six and he had to catch his flight to New York at exactly eight o’clock.He didn’t think much about having to cover the two hours journey to the airport in one hour and a half. As long as he was able to spend some more time with Liz, he didn’t mind that at all.Turning to his right, he looked at Liz.She was nervously fidgeting with her fingers until he’d had her gazes locked with his. They found themselves staring at one another for a moment.Adrian wished time would stop right there just so he could stay here with her forever but…“I’ll see you soon,” one corner of his mouth fluttered up.“Don’t take too long,” she teased, leaning in to give hi
Liz Walters stared at him for a minute. “I believe you, I… was just mad when I learnt that you didn’t care to tell me about that solution you’d come up with,” she managed. “So you’re really here to stay?”“For good… the only travelling I intend to do is to visit my family back home and that too, with you and our babies tagging along with me.”Liz found herself smiling at his words.Adrian has a brother? The thought struck her mind. “Wait, you have a brother?”He met her eyes and then nodded. “Asher is my little brother. He just graduated college and has obtained a high level of knowledge and skill when it comes to business and finance. I believe he’d take good care of the company.”“He definitely will. After all he’s the brother of Adrian Moore.” She said with pride.Adrian slowly shook his head at her. “Don’t be so proud of me. Last time, you said I’d be back in no time after solving that issue with the investors. It took me a week to sort it out. The wait damn near killed me.”“If y
Adrian Moore shoved his hands into his pockets and bounced his shoulders up and down a little. The night was drawing in, so, it was chilly and damp. “I guess I’ll see you guys soon.”Anna smiled at her brother. “I’ll see you. Take good care of my sister-in-law.” She warned him with her eyes narrowed down into slits. “Otherwise…” She left that hanging for her brother to imagine the pretty images by himself.Adrian raised his hands up in surrender. “I get it! There’s no need for you to get so threatening.”“Yeah, I really hope I won’t have to get physical with you the next time I see you. Liz has my number so be careful!” She said with a nonchalant shrug.Adrian simply rolled his eyes at his sister.“This is what I get to deal with every day.” James quietly complained as he gave Adrian a nudge.“Did you say something?” Anna asked James with a murderous glare.James quickly shook his head from side to side. “I said nothing!”“Good! No one wants to hear your ugly voice.” Anna crossed her
Adrian Moore placed his hand on their office door, ready to push it wide open when James held his shoulder to stop him.“Wait! If we walk in like that, it would be a sign of disrespect.” James warned him.“But I want to have this problem solved as soon as possible.” Adrian turned to look at him with an impatient look on his face.“I know but,” James gave him a sympathetic look.Before they could start an argument of their own, the door was swung open from the inside and standing right in front of them, was one of the investors, Mr. Williams.“Excuse me; can I help you with something?” The old man gave him a long, cold unfriendly stare.“Is it really necessary to remind you why we’re here? Well, in case you forgot our meeting yesterday…” Adrian trailed off when James threw him a pointed look.‘What?’ Adrian pursed his lips at him.‘We’re here to solve the issue, not to aggravate the situation.’ James made sure he got his words across his moody and snappy best-friend – the same best-fri
Liz Walters watched as her grandpa nodded his head, a knowing look on his face.She narrowed her eyes a trifle at him and nudge him with her elbow, “Grandpa?”Mr. Walters snapped out of his reverie and turned to look at Liz. “Yes…”“Is there anything you aren’t telling me?” She asked him, her frown deepening.“Actually, I’ve had a talk with Adrian about this matter.” The old man revealed after some hesitation as though he wasn’t so sure whether he should be telling her about this or not. “Grandpa, I told you not to discuss this with him –”He held his right hand up to stop her. “I know but I had to talk to him. And we came up with a solution.” He said calmly and reassuringly.“Solution…? What is it?” She asked as she folded her arms across her chest.He opened his mouth to tell her about it when he decided otherwise. “I think it would be better if Adrian tells you about it himself.”“Why won’t you tell me?” Liz was annoyed and a bit frustrated that her own grandpa was keeping stuffs
Adrian Moore walked through his office, navigating cubicles, stopping here and there to exchange a word of encouragement and sometimes a laugh, with his employees. By now, everyone at the company learnt about the mishap with the investors.Unlike his father, none of his employees blamed him for it. They believed it was entirely the investors’ fault for overreacting.His company, the same company his father had founded on dollar bills and a dream, was on the cusp of a huge deal – the same deal he’d messed up – well those investors messed up because of their weird problem with video conference calls.After securing the rights to develop the resort on Lake Washington in a battle with Dwayne Jameson, an established developer, that had, at times, been brutal, they were waiting for the approval of the environmental engineer’s plan.More importantly, they were waiting for the investors to agree to fund the plan. That was the last thing left to do. If only Adrian hadn’t found out that they wo
Liz Walters’s mood had definitely lifted once Adrian had showed her around his house. “You should be thankful that bitch left.” She mumbled under her breath.“Woah, chill out on the crude words,” Adrian held out a hand at her as though to shush her. “Our babies are listening to you.”Liz simply rolled her eyes at him.“You look exhausted.” His eyebrows furrowed as he studied her face.“Yeah,” she said, her voice low, toneless.“I found the mole at work. It’s the guy from my team who prints our documents and everything. Aaron was supposed to be the most trustworthy person in my department. I gave him the responsibility of taking care of our confidential papers but…” she trailed off, deep in thought.“But you managed to save your first project from getting sabotaged.” He pointed out. “I’ve said this to you before and I’ll say it again. You’re too good at your job to let anyone become an obstruction for you,” he said.Liz’s eyes lit up in admiration and contentment as she smiled at the m
Adrian Moore stood up in surprise. He didn’t want to ignore Liz but he was too shocked to say anything. “What are you doing in my house? How did you get inside?” He asked the woman who’d frozen in place like a deer caught in headlights.“She’s at your place? What is she doing over there, Adrian?” Liz questioned him, sounding suspicious all of a sudden and… hurt.Fuck no!He was torn in between questioning Jocelyn and answering Liz’s questions. What the fuck did he get himself caught into?“Wait a second, Liz.” Adrian held out a finger as he looked at Jocelyn, seemingly troubled.“What is she doing at your place, Adrian?” Liz demanded.“Baby, listen to me,” he turned his back on Jocelyn to have some privacy. “Do you trust me?”“Adrian –”“Liz, do you trust me?” He asked with more urgency.There was a moment of silence before Liz whispered, “Yes, I do.”“Let me handle this thing,” he said disdainfully as he threw Jocelyn a disgusted look. “– then, I’ll call you back.”“Promise…?” Liz as
Adrian Moore sensed rather than saw his father come into his office.He felt a tension, a kind of palpability, as he heard the door close quietly beside him and he just knew it was him. He didn’t turn around.He continued swirling his pen around in his fingers as he read through the file he had been reading except that he wasn’t reading it no more.He glanced over briefly to see where his father was and saw him standing right in front of his table, one hand in his pocket while the other one was fisted tightly.“Busy…?” He asked.“Yeah…” He hadn’t intended to sound so gruff, but he knew he had. It wasn’t really because of his father.It was the worrying thoughts running through his mind. He still hasn’t decided on a way to negotiate with those investors and knowing his father, he wouldn’t take long before asking him about it. He wouldn’t be surprised if he jumped straight to the point.His father looked at him, his face filled with suppressed anger. “What have you thought? I need those
Adrian Moore pulled the car right in front of Liz’s house and shut off the engine.He thought it would be best if Liz would stay at her grandparents’ house while he was away. As long as she wasn’t all by herself at their house and staying here with her grandparents, he would be less worried about her and their babies.It was already half past six and he had to catch his flight to New York at exactly eight o’clock.He didn’t think much about having to cover the two hours journey to the airport in one hour and a half. As long as he was able to spend some more time with Liz, he didn’t mind that at all.Turning to his right, he looked at Liz.She was nervously fidgeting with her fingers until he’d had her gazes locked with his. They found themselves staring at one another for a moment.Adrian wished time would stop right there just so he could stay here with her forever but…“I’ll see you soon,” one corner of his mouth fluttered up.“Don’t take too long,” she teased, leaning in to give hi