While headed our way back to the mansion, it was already approaching evening hours so we had to drop Samuel off at his hotel. Their parents had other properties but I guess he did not want to stay there since he could not stay in the mansion. I kissed and embraced him before he was dropped off. So now, it was only Sterling and me in the car. He drove us in silence until we reached the mansion. There was hardly any traffic, and I was grateful for that because I just wanted to get home. Home. I can’t believe that I was now calling the mansion home. The car came to a stop in the compound next to the other fancy cars. As soon as the engine shut off, I opened my side of the car and got out. I headed for the huge building and when I reached the porch, one of the guards opened the front door, allowing me to walk in. “Thank you.” I flashed him a smile when I walked in. I glanced back, curious as to what Sterling was doing. But I saw that he was right on my tail; not far from me. Each tim
I chuckled lightly. “What do you mean by the plan has changed?” I asked Sterling. He stood to his feet and was now almost fully dressed. “We were supposed to go to the office together.” I folded my arms on my chest. He fastened his shirt button and put on his jacket before running his hand through his hair. “Heather, your mom threatened to kill Samuel, might I remind you? Don’t you think that she would expect us all to be in the same car heading to the office?” He walked close to me. I did not like the idea. I had a bad feeling about it. “I mean, yeah. But to me, it makes more sense if we go together. My mom wouldn’t hurt me, so I think we would save if I was with you two.” He gave me a look and then touched my arm gently. “You really believe your mom won’t hurt you to get what she wants?” He scoffed softly. “She already has; just not physically.” He pressed his lips into a straight line. He did have a good point. I took a few seconds to take in his words and actually consider his
I broke. Something deep inside me broke. It felt like my soul was ripped from my body; like I did not have all enough time to process what I had just heard. It had to be a lie. She had to be joking or pranking me. “Where is Sammy, mom?” I asked her in a breathy voice. She was crying and it made me annoyed. “You need to come over before the police take the body away. We’re at the mansion. It happened at the mansion.” “Okay.” I sniffled as tears escaped my eyes freely. “Know that if I meet you there, I will kill you with my bare hands.” ‘Look, Heather. I didn’t do anything. I swear to you!” I dropped the call and placed the phone in my purse. I looked at Gabe and caught him staring at me. He did not even flinch, but I saw that his eyes were filled with an emotion that I could not decipher. Maybe sadness, maybe pity. But it was clear that he felt sorry for me. “Let’s head home, I will deal with the lawyers later,” I told him and he nodded. He led the way back to the car and wh
I was now back at home. It had officially been three days since I saw the lifeless eyes of Samuel, the love of my life. My heart kept bleeding and no matter how hard I tried to get it to stop, it didn’t.The more I tried to forget or feel better, the worse I felt. Life looked meaningless, and everything seemed so random. What was the purpose of life? Why was I even walking around on this planet if I was going to eventually die?We have such brief times living before we die, and why we live, we have no idea what purpose we were given when we were brought into this world. “You need to eat, honey,” My dad begged me. He was sitting by my side on the unmade bed. He had really been there for me for the past few days. Sterling had also tried to be a rock for me but I either ended up snapping at him or throwing something at him in anger or pain. When I saw him, it was like I was seeing Samuel. He literally was an identical twin to his brother. And he reminded me of the fact that it all may
I ignored him. I ignored my dad’s talk about getting a therapist even though I knew that he was right. But I just did not have the energy in me right now to face that. I just wanted to see my Sammy. One more time before he was on display for a bunch of people to cry over at the funeral. I lay on Sterling’s lap and curled myself in a ball. I closed my eyes and pretended that it was his brother. It was easier when I was looking at him, but with my eyes closed, I knew that it was not him. I could not feel that connection while laying on his lap. I could not smell the cologne that I had fallen in love with and made Samuel buy every month. I could not feel his actual presence. Because…just because. He was gone. He was ripped out of this life and all we had left of him was a rotting corpse and memories. “Dad? How long till we reach the funeral home?” I asked while my eyes remained closed. “We’re already here, baby. We’re already here,” he replied, and then the car came to a stop. I ope
After spending an hour talking to Samuel as if he was alive, I decided that it was time to leave. Believe it or not, after the time I had spent with him even though he was dead and I was mostly crying, I actually felt better and lighter. I turned away from the casket and walked towards Bob. “I’m ready to go,” I told him, and he nodded. His eyes were red and it appeared like he had been crying. “Okay, okay, good.” He walked past me and closed the casket. When he walked back to me so we could get out of the room, he said, “You know, I thought it would have been easy for me by now, considering that I see people do this every single day. But each time hits just as hard.” He chuckled lightly. I could not help but smile. We walked out and back to the first hallway. “I guess it’s time to part ways, huh?” He shrugged lightly. “I guess,” he replied softly. But he stopped me before I could leave. “Um…would it be okay if I come to the funeral tomorrow? Just to be there for you.” He smiled ne
Loud music blared in the nightclub. The vibrations were so strong that I felt them in my body. The lights were blue then they would turn pink, and it just went on and on; different colors bounced around the room. I was on my feet and swaying my body to the music after I had had almost seven shots of vodka. When I had one with my mom that one time, I was literally lightheaded, so imagine now. I felt like I was going to faint at any moment, but I felt incredibly good. The pain; the darn pain had fled, it was too afraid of the alcohol in my system. As I danced to the music, I continue to keep tripping over my feet. I had no good balance and my vision was getting blurred in and out after every minute or two. The entire room seemed to float like a boat. I felt a bit nauseous but I ignored that. I lifted my hands in the air and shook my hips side to side as I danced to the techno music. I kept bumping into a few people but they did not mind. My eyes lagged every time I looked in a new d
My eyes were heavy but I was awake, it was clear that I was. After a few seconds, I was finally able to open them. My heartbeat was normal but my head felt like I was riding a roller coaster or being tossed back and forth by a tornado. I was wrapped in the gray duvet on the soft bed and my throat was so dry that it hurt a bit to swallow. My phone was on the floor and it pinged with message after message; even though it was not too close for me to see the screen, I knew that those alerts were from either my dad or Sterling. Or maybe both. The lights beaming from the window kept screaming the fact that it was morning. I had to get the hell out of wherever I was. As I moved my body and adjusted myself to get into a sitting position, I felt a weird sensation in my head. It felt like my brain was swelling beyond the capacity of my skull, and dehydration was too obvious to ignore. I ran my hand through my hair and looked to my left. Then I saw a man. His back was turned to me. For a se
My heart was pounding and I stood up from the chair and breathed out a labored sigh. I stared at the screen on the computer and it was still loading. There was literally one minute remaining and waiting for the one minute felt like torture. I knew that the guys that the IT guys had sent were already on their way, and that made me even more anxious. “Come on, come on,” I repeated to myself like a mantra as I stared at the screen of the computer. “Come on!” I yelled and then the countdown started. There were only forty seconds left. “Excuse me, ma’am, would you kindly step away from the computer?” One of the guys said as he entered the office with two more guys with him. My heart dropped and it was like everything was in slow motion for a few seconds as my brain tried to process everything that was happening. Then my mind resumed back into real-time. I turned in the direction of the computer and quickly pulled out the small device expertly. The screen of the computer went back t
It was the next day and the morning was beautiful. The sun was shining brightly in the sky and the birds were chirping away. The air was warm and the smell of pancakes lingered. Sterling was dressed in a really nice black business suit and a red tie. His hair was styled to perfection and he looked really good. He smelled really good too. I watched him as he admired himself in the full-length mirror until he turned and locked eyes with me. “How do I look?” He asked as he flashed me a gleeful smile. “Hmm, okay, I guess,” I replied to him as I shrugged. I walked past him and checked myself up in the mirror. I was wearing a beautiful red dress that was a bit short. It stopped me right above my knees. I allowed my hair to flow down my shoulders and I even did my make-up. I was a bit skinnier than I usually was because of everything that had been happening but I looked really good regardless. I turned back in his direction and asked, “How do I look?”“Smoking hot!” He did not miss a be
The car radio was playing a popular African song as Sterling and I were being driven to the hospital. It was a few minutes past midnight and the windows were rolled all the way up, as the AC blasted, producing cold air. Sterling and I were sitting in the backseat and the one who was driving was Zack. I could not stop my heart from racing and maybe would have had a panic attack if Zack was not there with me. “You look nervous,” Sterling pointed out and then chuckled. “You should not be if you’re telling the truth about your dad being at the hospital.” He smirked and then tried to touch my arm but I pulled away from him. “I’m not nervous, I’m just pissed that you think I’m lying and that you’re dragging me out at this hour because you’re insecure,” I said in response and he made a small throaty sound before looking out the window. I caught Zack glancing at me from the rearview mirror, there was worry in his eyes and I was praying that he would come up with some kind of plan to get m
My heart dropped and I swallowed as I tried to compose myself. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I stood to my feet and still held the device behind me. “I’d suggest you leave, I would like to be alone.” The guard stared at me as humor danced in his eyes. “Let’s talk outside, hmm?” He smiled lopsidedly. I furrowed my eyebrows and scoffed. “There is no way I’m walking even two steps with you.” I kept my eyes on him and kept scanning his body for any kind of weapon. My mind kept asking the same question over and over and I could not get it to stop. It kept asking, “Is this guy going to kill me because he knows what I have?” “Will you calm down for a second?” He chuckled and ran his hand through his wavy brown hair. He took a few steps closer to me but I backed away in caution. “I’m Zack.” He extended his hand for a handshake but I only stared at it. “Okay? Look, Zack, I don’t know what you’re trying to do; maybe you just want to be my friend, but I am really not in the mood
The AC was on in the car and even outside was cold but after Sterling asked me, I felt hot. I looked everywhere but at him, refusing to make eye contact with him. I fidgeted with the tips of my hair and my mind reminded me of what to say. “Was I not clear on the phone?” I asked him boldly, despite how wildly my nerves were. “The accident happened out of nowhere. A billionaire helped my dad and me by taking us to the hospital.” “I know, I called the hospital.” He breathed out a short sigh. “There is a record of you being there.” “Then why are you pressing me for information that I have already given you?” He stared at me for a few seconds and then chuckled to himself. “You know what? My bad, I’m sorry. I’m just a little paranoid. And you can’t blame me, can you? Considering the family that I come from.” He reached for the steering wheel. He pressed on the gas and we were on the move in no time. “It’s okay,” I brushed him off as I release a breath of relief before looking out the
We all watched my dad with pleasantly shocked expressions on our faces. “Dad, are you for real?” I asked him, and he chuckled as he nodded slowly. “The truth is I actually forgot about that until now. I too, thought that we had lost it all. But I remembered that I BC’d my work email when I send those copies,” He explained. “Wow, that is great. Oh my gosh,” Patty could not contain her happiness. She took her laptop and typed on the keyboard a couple of times before handing it over to my dad. “Is that for him to log in?” Daniel asked as he stood to his feet and walked from behind his desk. Patty nodded as she sat on the other side of the couch. I was sitting on the left side of him so I had a great view. Daniel and his colleague soon joined us and had to stand but it was worth it, of course. My dad used the laptop to log in to his email account and in a full minute, the display showed a bunch of emails; it was now logged in. There were a lot of new emails but the main one that we w
When the car finally came to a stop, I could not help but look out the window at the huge building that we had stopped right in front of. It was an impressive glass building. “Come on, you two, let’s get going,” The driver said when he turned off the engine and proceeded to get down. “Yeah, yeah,” I mumbled under my breath as I opened the door at my side so I could get down. When I got down, my dad followed shortly after and we were led into the building. We got a lot of stares when we reached the lobby. Almost everyone was staring at us. It made me feel a bit uncomfortable and I was trying to weigh if being here was better than going back to America. We finally had the chance to get back to our old lives, but we were pulled right back into the drama of the Williams. I wanted it to be over but I could not deny the fact that this was an opportunity to do what my dad and I could not do on our own: take down Sterling for what he did.The doors of the elevator opened and we got in. Th
It was the next day; all our bags had been packed and were being placed in the back of one of the many cars parked in the compound. My dad and I were standing on the porch as it drizzled. The air smelled of wet soil and the clouds were dark and gloomy. We had an hour to get to the airport so we could check in. I could not believe that we were finally leaving London. But it was indeed happening. What made my spirit heavy and my heart bleed was that I was going back to America without Samuel. It pained me that I was going to go back to our apartment and get to sleep on the bed that we had been sleeping on for years. I was pretty sure that that apartment had a lot of reminders of Samuel. His scent on the bedsheets, his clothes in the closet, his favorite cereal in the cabinet. There would be so much that would remind me of him. I wished that I had the guts to take Sterling down. I wished that I could continue to try to vindicate Samuel and give him the justice that he deserved. But I
My dad and I waited for Sterling to say something. We had our eyes trained on him and I could not stop my heart from racing. “I love how you two are looking at me,” He walked away from me and towards the door. He gestured for the guards to exit the room. But they were tentative about that. “Are you sure, sir? He’s not tied up.” One of the guards pointed out. “I would be okay,” Sterling replied and waited until the guards walked out of the room. Even though they left the room, I could still hear them mumbling right outside of the closed door. “Sterling, you promised to let us go. Please do as you have promised.” I locked eyes with him. “He won’t,” My dad scoffed the words out. “He scammed us. He tricked us into doing his bidding. Now, he is going to do whatever the hell he wants.” He stood to his feet and paced and walked towards me. “Glad to see that you have no faith in me.” Sterling chuckled. “You two have nothing to worry about. I would have a flight booked for you two by tom