Andrew knew there was more and asked, "Is that all she said?" There was no expression on his face so the receptionist was clueless about his reason for asking. She pursed her lips thoughtfully. Something told her that she couldn't lie to this man. "She also called you a loser." Now Andrew was certain that it was the right person. He wanted to be sure before leaving the items behind,"Have this given to her will you?""Okay, goodbye sir." When the receptionist took the bouquet to the office, everyone began to laugh out loud. It was an open office so Lily had no privacy. "Your loser boyfriend is back,” one of her colleagues said with an odd smile.Lily had a scowl on her face. "He isn't my boyfriend, never was, and never will be,” she explained with difficulty, regret nudging her. If she hadn’t taken Andrew home that night, she wouldn’t have become a laughing stock."Lily, he looked familiar," the receptionist cut in with the bouquet in hand, feeling that Lily might just regret her ac
Andrew was at a loss but instantly guessed who the woman whose arms wrapped around him was by her fragrance without seeing her face. Her grip was so tight that he had to apply force to push her away. His emotions were all over the place, as he looked at how chagrined Susan was. He had to clarify everything in front of her. He turned to the woman who was now standing beside him, looking offended, and lifted his eyes to meet her gaze since he was still sitting.“Christen, what are you talking about?” He frowned and asked. Christen confirmed it. It only meant that Andrew had been wearing a contact lens when he lived with her. How could she not know? Well, it wasn't too late. If she could get Susan away from him, he would forgive her for the past. Seeing Susan’s disarray, she said, “Come on, Andrew, why are you pretending? My colleagues were there, or, is it because of her?”She exchanged glances between him and Susan. Her plan seemed to be working because Susan wasn't defending Andrew
A few hours later, they were in Andrew’s private jet headed for NY. If it was Andrew alone, he would have used a chopper but with her, he made new arrangements. Susan decided to sell her car and put her apartment up for rent so Andrew had made arrangements for someone to take care of it. She had even gone ahead of Amelia and Charlotte but was happy with the fact that they’d be joining them soon.They might not live and work together but they’ll meet each other regularly. Susan rested her head on Andrew's chest throughout the journey but she had another request. Andrew didn't like it but was forced to accept it.“I don't want to work as your PA and I don't want anyone in the office to know me as your girlfriend because I don't want any special favors either,” she paused and stared at him hopefully. “Just treat me like every other employee.”“For how long?” Andrew frowned and asked. She was hers yet he couldn't let anyone in the company know that. Andrew didn't like the idea at all.“T
‘How was I able to sleep on her couch?’ Andrew pondered over the question. He had no idea. Determination blinded his need for comfort so much that never for once did he feel uncomfortable on her couch.“That couch was quite cozy if you ask me.” Susan thought he was just trying to make her soothe her and wasn’t convinced. No, the couch was half of your length and you had to coil in there,” she analyzed, while her eyes moved from one direction to the other.Everywhere was captivating. The pool was so clear with beach beds well arranged beside it. The lawns were neatly and professionally designed, they looked artistic. The flowers were carefully designed, the roads between the lawns paved in an exquisite design. As a child, everyone dreamt about being a princess and living in a castle but as one grew, those expectations were cut. Susan felt her childhood dreams were just materializing. Living a wealthy life wasn’t in her plan but now, she could never escape it. She would just think of
Susan’s simple life was now a complicated one. Dinner for two seemed like a feast for twenty, it got her confused as to exactly what to eat. She began to think about squeezing some time for workouts into her routine to stay fit or Andrew might turn her into a pig.Chef Dinah was so friendly as she served their meal and would ask them how each delicacy tasted. Susan was genuinely happy. Nothing could trigger her germaphobe because the maids were always at work, cleaning every spill as if it was something gross.That night, Andrew and Susan made love once again before giving in to sleep. Andrew ensured to wear her out, so she’d change her mind about being treated like a normal employee in the company she was about to co-own. Leaving the house early in the morning to attend to some urgent matters, Andrew smirked as he left her a note.When she woke up, it took a while for her to accept the new life thrown at her. She looked here and there for Andrew but there was no sign of him. Beside
“Here, your office,” West spoke coldly. Susan looked around, her germaphobe kicking in. West didn’t know about her condition but only thought to make her uncomfortable in the company. If she couldn’t withstand it, she would leave.“I can see that but it’s also unkempt,” Susan said with disdain, while she stood stiff at the spot. She didn’t mind cleaning and mopping the office but she didn’t have extra clothes, which would make her to feel worse. “So clean it yourself,” West said unfazed. Seeing her demeanor, he already knew that he had won. It was just a matter of time before she run with her tail between her legs without looking back. Susan was depressed, as she never faced anything like this before. Her voice turned low because there was no way she’d stay in this office.“I don’t mind doing chores but if there’s someone paid to do it, then I don’t see why I should add their job to mine. So unless I’ll get paid for it, I need a janitor,” she regained herself and insisted. West sigh
Susan felt like a failure, as tears dropped down her cheeks, her hope lost. Left with no option, she would have to run back to Andrew but she didn’t feel like the evidence she had against West was enough. No, she couldn’t accept it.“For what?” She wiped her tears and asked. This was gross injustice.West was in a good mood. He finally managed to break her. “Look at you? Just take a good look at yourself. Is this how a manager should behave? You already know that the customer is always right.”Susan knew that cliche well and if it was indeed a customer, her reaction would have been different. “She isn’t a cust..”“Shut up and get out!” West cut her off. She wanted to explain the details of the matter to make him understand that Lily wasn’t a customer but unknown to her, West had already figured that out and was using this means to get back at her.Susan felt wronged and she had paled within the short space of time. “Even if I’m wrong, I should be served a query for a first time offens
Lily was at the airport about to board her flight back to Michigan when her phone beeped. She checked and saw an email. The title made her disturbed. ‘Termination of contract with immediate effect.’Lily was confused. She had worked for four years, passed the probation, worked from the officer level and was now a manager. She had even received money from the big man himself for what she spent on him, which meant he couldn’t just fire her after thanking her with such a lump sum.The content of the email wasn’t detailed so she called the HR, who answered it immediately, seemingly expecting her call.“Lily Pierce, how may I help you,” she asked formally.“I just received an email, terminating my contract. What did I do?” The desperation in her voice made the HR helpless. There were structures but the CEO had veto power in such cases.“The order came from the top. I don’t know what happened. Did you offend the CEO?” The HRM asked. From how she received the order, she could only guess that
Andrew and Susan had just returned from Fiona’s wedding in Holland. Susan soaked her heavy and tired body in a bubble bath in the jacuzzi as Andrew washed her with lather. Since they had a healthy pregnancy, they made love almost every night after making sure that Sophia was sound asleep. Today, their little flower was equally exhausted by the trip to Holland and slept as soon as she had her shower and dinner respectively.Before, the girl would slip into their room countless times and sleep in between them. Andrew made sure to send her back to her room anytime she fell asleep, so he could make good use of the private moment with his wife. They loved Sophia and always tried to be there for her but also ensured to make time for each other.“The doctor said I’m due,” Susan reminded him. She was too tired to give in tonight and she could feel some light contractions as well. Since her first labor lasted for 48 hours, she decided to wait until the pain became unbearable.“Point of correcti
Two weeks Later “Now you may kiss the bride,” the priest announced. There were cheers of excitement as their lips met. The kiss was unusually long, in that Greg had to remind Andrew that they could continue during the honeymoon. It was agreed that since Greg was the best man, Mia should be given the role of the maid of honor. Amelia, Charlotte and Dora were the bridesmaids. The tail of Susan’s wedding gown swept the aisle, as the pair walked out of the auditorium amidst cheers. Two families were united today. Mr and Mrs Stack were the proudest parents ever known. The media took over, announcing the wedding as one of the biggest in the history of New York. Youngsters could only wish to have such a wedding one day. Dora bid her foster parents farewell as promised to Susan and left for Canada. Andrew and Susan had secured admission for her in one of the prestigious universities so she returned the money given to her by Melissa’s brother’s men to the police. However, she kept Susan’
Susan frowned slightly. If there was even the slightest hint that Dora had not changed, she was going to get even. “I have to know what it is first.”“Can I be one of your bridesmaids? It’s the last thing I want to do before I leave. I will understand if you don’t want me at your wedding but I mean everything I’m saying. It’s useless trying to tear apart two people who love each other. I don’t want to end up as a desperate woman. I want my life to be better with the lessons I’ve learnt.”Susan stared strangely at her before she said, “I don’t know why I’m doing this but I will grant your wish.” It seemed to Susan that Dora genuinely wanted to be close to her but they just got off from a wrong start. “Thanks sis, you’ve made me happy but please make sure that that bitch rots in prison,” Dora said and was about to give in to sleep when Susan asked, “How did you know the one who attacked you?” Since Dora was pretending to be asleep by then, she shouldn’t have seen her attacker right?“
“Dora?” Andrew spoke in a whisper. He was shocked but also disturbed. What was Dora doing in his room in Susan’s clothes and ring and where was Susan? The bed was soaked with blood and so was Dora. Andrew’s white shirt was already marked with a few stains as well, as he held her in his arms.The siren outside showed that the police and emergency teams had arrived so he gave the body to the driver to convey to the ambulance while he continued searching for Susan. He checked the washrooms and any and every room with no sign of her. The more he searched the greater his disappointment, as he kept calling her number but there was no answer and her phone was nowhere to be found. He decided to wake Melissa to ask her a few questions, since the security personnel authorized to retrieve the CCTV was also unconscious. If Andrew wanted to do it himself, it would take too long and there weren’t any cameras in his room for the sake of privacy. Luckily, the police walked in with paramedics who kep
Susan walked past Andrew and stopped when she saw Dora. Her anger boiled as she saw Dora’s hair. Light brown and wavy, just like Susan’s. She was also wet from the rain and shivering like a chicken. Melissa and Fiona had also come out, same as Amelia and Charlotte. It seemed to be a full house, as the maids began to gossip.‘The boss allowed another woman to come to his home and she looks like Miss Susan. Might be her sister.”“Too many people are coming into the house these days but it takes away the boredom.”“Don’t you girls have anything to do? You could begin by going out there and washing the rain,” Yvonne said sarcastically in a hushed tone to the two maids. They paled and went to get themselves busy.“What do you want Dora?” Susan asked with a deep gaze. Since her parents hadn’t come with Dora, she felt that they weren’t even aware or Dora must have lied to them before coming. Afterall, her parents were satisfied with all that Andrew gave them. Dora put on an innocent look.“N
Susan couldn’t believe that when she was trying to secretly help Xavier’s sister, she was running into trouble. If Andrew hadn’t followed her, she couldn’t imagine the worst. Andrew wasn’t surprised. He never trusted or liked Xavier because of what he did to Susan previously. “What are you talking about?” Andrew asked Xavier with blood shot eyes. He was greatly upset. Xavier was afraid. Not of Andrew per se but the man who called him. He sounded like a psycho. His face dulled and he refused to give any information.“I'm sorry I can't give details, just keep her safe.”Andrew suspected that Xavier was afraid of something or someone. “How about I get you arrested?” He threatened him. Going to jail or losing his business? None of the options seemed appetizing.“Look, my business will go down if I give out any more details,” he said. He had hurt Susan in the past and slowly caused her another one. It was time for him to pay his debts with interest.Since it concerned Susan’s safety, Andre
“You think she’s up to something?” Susan asked Andrew when he got off the phone. She was still conflicted as to why Andrew answered Melissa’s phone and the way the latter didn’t refuse. ‘Were they on such terms back then?’ Phones were private and if someone did what Andrew did, then it meant that they were really close. Andrew was still in deep thought, not knowing what was going through Susan’s mind. Till he hears news from Greg, he wasn’t going to write his own conclusion.“Didn’t you hear her? I’m the only one she remembers so why would someone else call her?” Andrew asked strategically. When Susan got a hint of what he had done, she felt ashamed to think that Andrew felt anything for Melissa, for which reason he jealously answered her phone. It was just a matter of mere suspicion. Meanwhile, Susan recalled something and asked,“What if it’s Letty? They are quite close.”Andrew shook his head and sat on the bed in deep thought. “The voice I heard was a male one.”Susan was taken ab
Amelia was startled and slightly guilty but Susan had already jumped into the arms of Andrew. Out of breath from kissing so deep and passionately, they finally pulled away as Andrew said with a frown, “don’t jump like that next time. What if you hurt the baby?”His hands caressed her flat stomach while he spoke. Susan was amused. “Come on, the baby is in a safe place and won’t get hurt when I jump a little. I missed you Andy,” she kissed him again. It's been just two days away from each other but it seemed to them like a decade. "I miss you too, for which reason I had to take your reckless advice," Andrew grimaced while leading her back to the dining table. Susan's gaze swiped around and she asked curiously, "where is Melissa?" "In the hospital. She had ulcer crises after eating the sorbet," Andrew explained. His expression was calm. Susan felt pity for Melissa. ‘She might be going through a lot of pain. Poor girl.’"Sorry for her but is she better?" Susan asked Andrew worriedly. If
Andrew went back to the ward after his video call with Susan and asked the doctor, “So you think the best way to help her to recover fast is to live with her and do the things we did before?”“Yes.” The doctor confirmed.“Alright then.” He turned to Fiona. “Pack her stuff, we are leaving for NY.”“Why?” Melissa was awed. Letty had told her that Andrew was getting married but since Andrew never mentioned it when he arrived, she sensed that he was concerned about her. She couldn’t allow another woman to be around Andrew till he fell in love with her. She had been awake for exactly four weeks now but Letty wanted her to recover well because Susan was a very attractive woman. If the wedding hadn’t been announced, Letty would have still waited for Melissa to be completely well before arranging for her and Andrew to meet.“You heard the doctor. We have to live together and I’m not based here.” He spoke impatiently because he was annoyed. If not for Susan, he wouldn’t have done this.“But..”