“I cannot leave without that file,” Ciara said stubbornly as they drove out of her hometown. She had been saying these exact words to Samuel for the umpteenth time, but he was deliberating ignoring her and pretending not to hear what she was saying.“Please,” Ciara begged. She was hundred percent certain that when she was arrested, her mother’s file had been in her backpack, and now, they were not there. “It is not enough that you are having an affair outside our marriage and you even had to murder him, now you are talking to me about going back? Do you have an idea the strings I had to pull to get you out of there?” Samuel’s voice was taut was anger.Ciara was taken aback by the tone of his voice. “I am innocent,” Ciara said even though she knew that it was as good as pointless.“Why, Ciara?” Samuel eventually turned to her and asked.It was the first time that Samuel was calling her name. It was the first time that Samuel was actually calling her name without yelling or raising the
“That cannot be true!” Ciara cried out. She could not believe her ears. She was here barely twenty-four hours ago, and she was certain that Lottie had been the one who had attended to her, so what the heck was she saying about not knowing Ciara?“I don’t want a scene here,” Lottie said. She was struggling to keep her voice from trembling. “Perhaps there was another receptionist on duty when she came here?” Samuel asked. He was growing impatient as the seconds ticked by.“No sir, I am the only receptionist who has been working here all week,” Lottie said.“But it cannot be true that you do not recognize me, Lottie!” Ciara was confused and perplexed, and she deliberately mentioned her name so that she would know. How is it possible that a hotel, even though it wasn’t a luxurious one, would hire someone with dementia? Lottie’s gaze darted sideways again. Something was making her agitated, and now that she had denied Ciara, she could see that Lottie was a bit uncomfortable and restless.
“You are toast, Ciara.”Ciara could not get those cold words from Samuel out of her head. Everything had fallen more apart than she had anticipated. She had lost everything more now, and what was worse, she might end up in prison again, and this time around, forever. Nobody would be there to save her, and since she saw Samuel, he hadn’t said anything about his mother, Aunt Mary.Indeed, Ciara was toast.As they drove back to the city, Ciara could not help but think about how pathetic her life was. She was in a deep shit, and just when she thought she was doing any better or making headway, something just comes up and ruins it. Maybe she should have just let sleeping dogs lie when she realized that she did not even know what made her mother sick, but then again, she could not fault herself for letting curiosity get the better part of her.This was her mother they were talking about.The same woman that made her do the dirty thing she did with the supposed dying man as negotiated by the
Ruby had returned after taking the call and hearing Ciara’s frantic cry over the phone about her mother’s failing health and she had rushed Ciara’s mother to the medical house in Ciara’s hometown.“Why not a hospital?” Ciara had summoned courage and challenged Ruby when they had arrived at the medical house. With the worsened condition of her mother, she had thought that Ruby would take her mother to a big hospital where she would get better treatment and bounce back to life in no time. Ciara had been so worried about her mother’s health that what she saw on their living room table had almost evaded her.Before Ruby arrived at their house, that glass of liquid hadn’t been there at all, which then made Ciara think that that could be the reason why her mother’s health failed drastically. Granted, her mother had been sick, but she was still going about her daily activities, but after that visit on that particular day, she had just completely almost turned into a vegetable.“This is where
Ciara had arrived at the Luscious house with Ruby some hours later. After Ruby’s lame attempt at conversing with Ciara failed, she had completely given up, so they had had quite a quiet ride all the way.Ciara had looked at the building and thought it was big and beautiful compared to the one she shared with her mother, but she was not swooned. She would even pick the gutters to living in a mansion if her mother was not going to be there.“Welcome home,” Ruby had said tightly. Her voice was very hostile, and Ciara had noticed it the moment the words came out of her mouth.Now Ciara was certain that she hadn’t been imagining things when she had felt that Ruby’s kindness was faked. The words sounded more like “Welcome to hell” in Ciara’s ears. “This is not my home,” Ciara disagreed stubbornly. It was never her desire to come here, and as long as she remained here, she would continue to act in ways that would make Ruby and Colt Luscious realize that she did not want to stay. Ciara had f
Ciara had fallen on the floor and cried bitterly after Ruby had said those harsh words to her. She had rolled and cried and cried until she became weak and tired. “I still have a mother,” Ciara had kept telling herself hoping that as she did, some magic would transport her to her mother’s bedside that very minute, but of course, nothing like that happened.Ciara had continued to cry and wish for her mother. She was in a new house that felt like she was in hell. She could not still understand why Ruby had forcefully uprooted her from her mother’s side all the way here when she had known that deep down, she hadn’t even remotely liked Ciara or even wanted her to live in her house.What had Ruby meant by Ciara did not have a mother anymore? Before they left the medical house, her mother had definitely been weak and very sick, but she had been alive, because Ciara had spoken to her before they had left, and if Ruby had gotten a call from the doctor that her mother had died after they had l
Ciara had startled and jumped when Linda had called her an eavesdropper. Worse, Ruby and Colt had heard the sound and rushed out of their rooms. They had been shocked to find both Linda and Ciara outside their door.“She was eavesdropping,” Linda had immediately said the moment they came out.“It’s a lie!” Ciara had tried to deny it and set herself free, because she scowl she saw on Ruby’s face made her realize that she would be severely dealt with.“Into your room, right now,” Colt ordered Linda. Linda sulked and whimpered at the same time before stalking off to her room angrily. Ciara had also turned cautiously to return to her own room, but Ruby’s angry voice stopped her instantly.“And you, where do you think you are going?” Ruby had asked Ciara.“To my room,” Ciara had answered calmly while praying that they would let her off just as easily as they had let Linda off. In that moment, Ciara was not even thinking about the scary conversation she had heard from Ruby and Colt. Inste
Ciara took some seconds to wipe her red puffy eyes and gather herself. She had spent the entire ride remembering what she should have kept buried deep inside, but how could she? Ciara had known then that something was off, but now, she knew without a doubt that Ruby Luscious definitely had something to with her mother’s condition and all that Ciara had been through ever since, but unless she was able to come out with proof, she could not say a word about it otherwise it would be termed false accusation.But how would she ever be able to when forces just seemed to be blocking her every move?Samuel tapped at the car window where Ciara sat impatiently. From the tinted glass, she could see that he was very upset and impatient. What did Samuel mean by crying would not save her? Did he have intentions of dumping her at the station and leaving? He already thought she was guilty of an affair with Johnway and then his murder. He hadn’t interrupted Ciara’s cry all through the ride back to the
“…You have fallen in love with Ciara Summers.”The words of Doctor Pedro continued to tug Samuel’s heartstrings.“That is a blatant lie. Doctor Pedro has no idea what he has said,” Samuel said vehemently to himself, fighting strongly against Doctor Pedro’s words. “He is a bloody medical doctor, not a love therapist,” Samuel added as he stubbornly resumed his position by the door of Ciara’s ward.He had convinced himself that Doctor Pedro was lying, so why couldn’t he discard the words. Usually, Samuel never engaged himself in words that were even remotely related to love, so he could not understand why he couldn’t stop thinking of those words. In order to distract himself, he called Kingston.“Have you run the errands, Kingston?” Samuel asked.“Yes, I have,” Kingston answered without stuttering this time around.Samuel still felt skeptical about his delivery, but he did not have the time to dwell on that.“That is impressive,” Samuel said, and for someone who acted as though it was im
“Mr. Fury, you were supposed to meet me in my office. I have been waiting for you,” Doctor Pedro said as he walked over to Sanuel who was still standing by Ciara’s door like a guard.Samuel just couldn’t bring himself to leave Ciara’s door. He hadn’t still gone in to check up on her, but he believed the doctor when he said that Ciara was doing just fine.“I have to stay here until she is ready to be discharged,” Samuel said.Doctor Pedro looked at him in shock. “You can’t possibly stand here until then. You have been standing right on this spot for hours, Mr. Fury. You will get yourself exhausted if you continue to do so,” Doctor Pedro tried to warn Samuel.Samuel had been in the worst situations. He almost told Doctor Pedro that he had been in more tedious situations, and hadn’t broken down, so this was little compared to what he had been through before.“I am good, thank you,” Samuel said firmly.He had a lot of things he was worrying about, so it would not be ideal to add Ciara’s s
Samuel remained in the hospital after what the doctor told him, although he was battling with the urge to pay the Luscious family a visit.Things were gradually coming to light now, and all fingers were just pointing to the same family. “Gosh, I can’t believe this,” Samuel said to himself.He could not believe that this was the same family he had a contract with. He still had unfinished discussion with Jess; Ciara’s distress call had interrupted it. The moment Samuel had picked Ciara’s call, he had dashed out of Jess’s place, but Jess’s last statement stayed glued in Samuel’s head.Something was wrong, and he knew now that he was close to finding out. Jess already told him that Colt Luscious was responsible for the most horrible experience of his life, but he needed to know why, and without a doubt now, Samuel knew that Linda was not the woman he spent that night with.“Then who was she?” Samuel asked himself, deeply worried. “Oh, Jess is going to be swamped with a whole lot of craz
Samuel tried to drive as fast as he could without drawing the attention of the patrol officers, because that would only make things messier and more complicated. Ciara had stopped screaming now, but she was groaning in deep pain that Samuel felt deep in his bones.“Ciara, are you okay?” Samuel asked, turning to take a quick glance at her. His heart, against his will, shattered at the sight of Ciara in severe pain.“Mm-hmm,” Ciara hummed in response, unable to talk. Her voice was overwhelmed with the pain she was experiencing. Samuel’s heart squeezed in agony. Looking at Ciara now made him remember seeing his mother in her own pain. Samuel did not understand why women, who are tender and fragile, needed to be going through pain. If he could, he would have gladly taken on the pain from them, especially his mother, and now, Ciara Summers.“Just hang in there. We are close already,” Samuel said in an attempt to soothe Ciara. Deep down, he was scared that something would happen to her…or
“What should we do now, Ruby?” Colt asked his wife, tensed.They had both been restless ever since Colt got off the phone with the head cop who informed him that things did not go as planned. “I need a moment to think,” Ruby said.“We don’t have a moment, Ruby!” Colt said desperately, his voice almost reaching the roof; he was losing control again. “Samuel Fury is up to something, and I know it. If he ever finds out, then we are doomed!” Colt continued.“Well, I will not be able to come up with a concrete plan if I keep hearing your loud voice in my ears,” Ruby said, but deep down, she was deeply worried; more worried than she was letting on.She knew the consequences of being caught by both Samuel and Ciara. All their dirty dealings from the past would come to light, and they would all go to jail. Ruby couldn’t let that happen.But then again, she was even more worried because she had been unable to come up with anything useful recently. It was as though her mind was beginning to f
Ciara paced about the penthouse as Martin’s words kept ringing in her head. He eventually wanted to talk to her, and here she was, locked up and unable to go anywhere. She still hasn’t been able to get in touch with Rudge and meet his demands, because clearly now, he definitely knew something that would help her. “I am so close. So close!” Ciara said desperately to herself.All that she had fought for were coming to her with ease, but yet again, Samuel had managed to make it far from her reach. If she was still in the woods, she would have just driven down to the cabin. The last time she was there, he refused to tell her what she needed to know, but now, by some sheer luck, he was even offering to talk. Ciara wasn’t exactly sure why he now had a change of heart, but she knew that sometimes, conscience did lead people into doing the right thing.“I need to get out of here,” Ciara said desperately to herself.If only Samuel would show up, then she would be able to get out at night, whe
It had been hours, and it was getting dark, Samuel was yet to return. Ciara became increasingly worried.She had eaten as many times as she had gotten hungry for, and did everything else, like launder her clothes, and hid in her room while she got it dried, but still, no sign of Samuel. “Where could he be?” Was the question that Ciara asked herself all day.Then she was beginning to regret falling asleep, but she could not have controlled it, even if she wanted to. As the pregnancy progressed, Ciara noticed that she had become easily hungry, tired, and sleepy now, and this really scared her, because it also meant that she might not be able to achieve most of what she wanted to achieve.Ciara was yet to visit the hospital and register for antenatal health care, and that was another problem that plagued her mind.It would be difficult to achieve, especially now that she was hiding out in Samuel’s penthouse, and was being sought by the cops.Ciara’s phone rang, jolting her out of her t
"That’s a joke, right?” Samuel asked Jess.“You know I only tease on the phone, and not physically,” Jess answered.She was right, and Samuel knew this. He was just overwhelmed by shock to believe what Jess said. Samuel turned and looked at where he parked his car, and everywhere seemed peaceful and clear. Jess’s place was very open, so it would have been easy to spot anything amiss.“You don’t think your trailer would still be right there waiting for you to see him or her, right?” Jess asked, shaking her head when she noticed that Samuel was looking around, searching for his trailer.“Now I know that you are lying, because you can’t even tell if it was a male or female,” Samuel said, wanting to believe his own words so that he would feel relieved.“It is a black Mercedes with tinted glasses,” Jess said, indicating why she couldn’t catch the identity of the person. “And unfortunately, I didn’t get the plate number,” Jess added.“Are you being serious, Jess?” Samuel said, confused and
Samuel got into his car and zoomed off, headed straight to the penthouse. He knew that Ciara might be worried about where he went, and also, he needed to tell Ciara about the recent development, and they did need to have a long discussion about what to do next. One thing that Samuel was grateful for was keeping his penthouse completely private, and even so, no one would ever be able to get in except he gave them the code.His phone rang, and when he looked at his screen, it was Jess that was calling him.“What have you found?” Samuel said the moment the call connected.“Slow down, mate!” Jess said, laughing. “Days ago, you weren’t so eager, so what changed?” Jess asked lightly.“Not everything is a joke, Jess,” Samuel said. There were a lot of things running through his mind, and the more he had knowledge of what was going on, the faster he could fix everything. “Don’t bite my head off,” Jess warned. “I am not one of your puppets, Fury, and you know I am not afraid of you,” Jess sa