“We have a bigger problem on our hands now,” Ruby admitted finally as they all sat in their living room and deliberated on the information they had gotten from the local hotel receptionist, Lottie.Linda became agitated at the sound of her mother’s voice. Ruby’s confidence and ability to handle every kind of situation always boost her confidence in such a way that no one knew. So hearing her speak that way meant that they were actually in a deep shit.“We cannot let this happen, mum,” Linda said. She willed her voice not to come off as shaky and scared, but she could barely handle that.Ruby turned and looked at Linda when she sensed the fear and agitation in her voice. “Uh, sweetie, come here,” Ruby said tenderly.For a moment, Linda was surprised. She grew up to take Ruby as her mother, respecting and looking up to her, as well as doing her bidding and trying her best to fill her shoes, but one thing Linda had lacked from Ruby was emotional understanding and support. Whenever Linda
Ciara sat beside Aunt Mary and hummed gently. She took her hand in hers and caressed it tenderly. Aunt Mary’s hand was soft and frail, as though it would break from just holding it.“It has been two days now, and we are hoping that you would surprise us and open your beautiful eyes,” Ciara said as she stared at Aunt Mary with a warm smile on her face. She figured that feeling pity or scared for Aunt Mary would not help at all.If she was truly going to get a good result from this, it had to be from a place of warmth and love, not pity or anything like it.Ciara was now doing this, not as a job or threat, but from the depth of her heart, because she wanted Aunt Mary to get well, especially now that Samuel Fury had accepted her own part of the deal. He had been worried about Ciara telling the story of being watched while bathing that he had agreed to help Ciara use his connections to make those allegations go away.“Anybody can have power over anyone, as long as you have them in a situa
A reconciliation dinner, Ciara thought to herself. She could not shake off Ruby’s invitation. It was the first time she had heard Ruby sound so genuinely nice and polite.Ciara swallowed the rest of the food in her mouth, dropped the food, and got up. “Why?” Ciara could not help but ask.“Like I said, dear, my husband and I had a long talk about you, and we realized how horrible we have been to you. You did not deserve any of it. We are sorry, and we would like a chance to rebuild a better relationship with you,” Ruby said. She sounded as though she was at the verge of tears to Ciara.Something was definitely going on, because even when Ruby forcefully took Ciara away from her mother, she had not been the least remorseful about it. “Please, do not say no to us,” Ruby pleaded.Tears gathered in Ciara’s eyes. For years, especially after she was separated from her mother, all thanks to Ruby, she had yearned for the love that a family gave. Even growing up, she had loved the idea of a fu
Samuel stopped kissing Linda who became weak in the knees. “We should do this more often,” she purred and reached out for Samuel’s hands.But Samuel stared down at her with an unreadable expression. He allowed Linda to hold him, and in return, squeezed hers. “You came unexpectedly. We…I wasn’t expecting you,” Linda said as she stretched her neck towards the gate.There was a feeling of agitation about her, and Samuel was sensitive enough to notice. “Are you expecting someone else?” Samuel asked as he also turned to look at the gate.“Um, no, not at all. I am just surprised to see that you came to see me, and the kiss, of course,” Linda said with excitement mixed with apprehension. “How is the baby?” Samuel asked.“What baby?” For a minute, Linda was confused, but she was quick to pick herself up. “Oh, yeah, about that, I am doing just fine. Do you mind coming in?” Linda asked trying to patronize Samuel.“No, I would like to take my leave now,” Samuel said and before Linda could try
Samuel knew now that Linda was not the woman he spent almost the entire night with. Aside speaking with Jess and getting an eye-opener about it, his test proved everything. There was no feeling at all. There were no signs that Linda was the woman.Samuel clearly remembered that that night, as he had gone close to the woman, there had been something he had felt; something that he still hadn’t been able to put into words. “Are you a dying man?” she had whispered to him.Recalling the sound of her voice now, it sounded nothing like Linda Luscious. “Why hadn’t I thought of this from the outset?” Samuel berated himself.He felt like a complete mess.“Don’t ask me silly questions,” Samuel had barked at her, thinking she was the call girl that had been arranged for him.“I am sorry, I just wanted to know,” she had said.Although it had been dark, Samuel had known that she had tears in her eyes. All the few times Samuel had spent in the presence of Linda, she never came off as someone who wo
Ciara was glad that she came out when she did otherwise Kingston might have ratted her out. She was not even so sure that he still wouldn’t do so, but then again, she would have to do something about it. “What is it?” Samuel asked immediately they climbed up the stairs. “Is something wrong with my mother?” he asked gruffly. His tone had some form of suspicion to it, but Ciara had her own grievances as well.Her face was as straight as a ruler when she responded. “Your mother is fine,” she said icily. Ciara had been unable to shake off what she saw, which had basically ruined her chances of not only a reconciliation, but also getting to know what happened to her mother in full details.“Shouldn’t you be with her right now? Your duty is to be by her side all day long, Ciara. Have you forgotten that so soon?” Samuel queried. “And I have been doing my job just fine, Samuel,” Ciara answered confidently, staring up at Samuel.Samuel looked taken aback. He could not understand the reason f
Samuel felt the sting of Ciara’s palm on his cheeks, but what even stung him more was the sound of her voice as she called him a monster.“How dare you?!” Ciara yelled as tears gathered in her eyes. “Is this your latest means of manipulation?” Ciara asked Samuel, looking right into his eyes.The anger and hurt in Ciara’s eyes were so glaring that Samuel did not need to look deeply before seeing it.“I am not a manipulator,” Samuel said calmly.There had been several occasions where being close to Ciara or even grabbing her had taken his mind back to that unfortunate night. Something about her just seemed to remind him so much about that night, unlike it was with Linda. Samuel had lived in regret after that night, and that was why he had refused to talk about it with anyone. By morning when he woke up, he discovered that she had already left; he did not even get to see her face, just to know who it was that he had spent an arranged night with, and few weeks later, Colt came to him and
“It has been over two hours and she is yet to arrive,” Ruby Luscious said as she paced about the living room. Something did not feel right.“Are you sure you convinced her enough?” Colt asked, equally confused.“I did, and she promised that she would come. We all know that Ciara is not someone to just say something like that and not mean it. She wants to belong to a family so badly, and to her, this was her chance,” Ruby answered.“And it was our chance to get things sorted out once and for all,” Colt said as his eyes went to the fully set dining table and the bottle of wine on it. Every damn thing had been set, and all they needed was for Ciara to show up, because Colt kept having the nagging feeling that if Ciara wasn’t handled, she could spoil everything for them. From the moment he heard that she traveled to her hometown and was digging up the past, he knew that she would be so much trouble for them.Meanwhile, Linda could not stop thinking about Samuel’s abrupt and brief appearan
Ciara heard a knock on the door and she went to open it without an iota of fear or dread; all her enemies have been put behind bars.Ciara got discharged from the hospital two days ago, and she was yet to make that call to Samuel Fury that she had wanted to make, because she was still dazed about the revelation.“The world is truly a small place,” Ciara had said to herself, breathlessly.Who would have thought that Samuel’s son would be birthed by the same doctor? Heck, who would have thought that the mysterious man that Ciara had spent that night with was Samuel Fury? Ciara trembled at the thought of telling Samuel that her son was his, because she fully believed the doctor even though she was yet to see Samuel’s left thigh, and that was primarily because they hadn’t been really intimate.Ciara almost passed out when she opened the door and found Samuel Fury standing before her. They stared deeply into each other’s eyes for a couple of minutes without saying anything, and Ciara could
It had been several months now, and Ciara was glad that she hadn’t been found, because deep down, she knew that Samuel Fury would be looking all over the country for her. Her bump was big now, and the doctor she had begun seeing already told her that she would be due any moment from now. Ciara wanted Samuel to find her, desperately for that matter, but she knew that if she let Samuel find her without closing this chapter of her life, she would never be complete.Ciara was free now, and she knew this because she was lucky to be present at a coffee shop when Colt and Ruby’s court verdict was read. She wondered why Linda Luscious wasn’t also in the stand, but Ciara pushed that out of her mind.Her only goal and desire right now, before she had her baby, was to see her mother’s grave.“Coffee, as usual?” The coffee server asked Ciara.He was an elderly man who seemed to have seen better years, Ciara almost felt pity for the man, but then again, he seemed to be doing what he loved.“Yes,
“Mr. and Mrs. Luscious, you are both under arrest,” the cops rounded up Ruby and Colt in their home a few days later.“We did nothing wrong!” Colt tried to play defensive, but it was already over for them.“Martin and Hayes have testified against you, Mr. Luscious,” one of the cops informed Ruby and Colt.“What about our daughter, Linda?” Ruby asked.“Mr. Samuel Fury decided not to charge her, but the both of you must answer for your grievous crimes,” the cop told them.Colt and Ruby hung their heads in shame and sadness as the cops handcuffed them and took them away.A month later, Samuel sat in the courtroom, waiting for the judge to pass her verdict on Colt and Ruby. They looked devastated, but Samuel was not moved. As he sat there, he felt relieved that he would be getting the justice he deserved, as well as Ciara Summers. Jess had tracked Hayes down when he was trying to run away, and had handed him over to the cops. A lot had happened since Ciara walked away and never returned,
“It happened two years ago…” Linda began as her mind drifted back to that day years ago.Linda was involved with a perverted old man. This was all because of how reckless she had been living.“Why don't you show me some love toots?” The old man crossed the line, touching her in ways that were unacceptable.“Stop it...” She did her best to resist the man’s grip and the two engaged in a struggle. Eventually, Linda drove her stiletto heel into his skull. The man plopped to the floor completely lifeless.Linda’s heart pounded as she stared at the lifeless body, “He’s dead.” Linda covered her mouth after realising that she had taken the old man’s life.“Think Linda, now is not the time to panic.” She took a series of deep breaths to calm herself as she wiped off her fingerprints from the heel. “What do I do now?” After a while, Linda called her mother.“Mom...” Her voice was shaky.“What is it?” Her mother asked, a hint of worry was evident in her voice.Linda shared her current predica
Ciara waited patiently for Rudge to show up in the location that he sent to her. She was not agitated. She was not afraid. She just wanted to be fully and completely free. When it would happen, she would no longer live her life in bondage, or under the mercy of anyone, but she would know what happened that exact day, and she would be completely free, because Ciara knew that she did not kill that man. Ciara was not even capable of murder, and what happened with Lori’s baby had been a huge mistake. Ciara hadn’t thought of it before now, but she was certain now that Linda and her parents framed her and caused her to spend time in prison for a crime that she did not commit. She wouldn’t be surprised, because several times, aside from the incident that happened on Linda’s twentieth birthday party, there had been other cases that Linda had lied on Ciara, and Ciara had taken the fall for Linda’s recklessness.The only problem was that Ciara did not know exactly what happened.Once Rudge tel
Ciara was still shaken from the whole episode that happened at the cabin. She had been dazed for hours now, unable to react at all. Martin had meant to kill her. He would have driven the sharp knife into her stomach, and then, he would have killed not just her, but also her baby. Martin hadn’t called her to confess a thing to her. Instead, he had tricked her into coming just so that he could avenge the death of Lori and their baby.Suddenly, instinctively, abruptly, Ciara got out of her shock. She looked around frantically; she was back at the penthouse. Ciara jumped up as though the couch she sat on had caught fire.“How did I get back here?!” Ciara asked no one in particular, because she was alone in the living room. “Samuel?” She called out, but no response.She continued to turn around frantically until Jess arrived from the kitchen, carrying a glass of warm water.“Who are you and how did you get in here?” Ciara asked Jess as though she was about to launch an attack on her.“Don
“Miss Luscious, this is not a risk I would advise you to take,” the doctor said to Linda.It was still morning, and Linda had left the house without her parent’s knowledge, but she knew that she had to do what needed to be done. Linda was still angry with her parents, especially with everything that was unfolding, and it was beginning to dawn on Linda the severity of the situation.“I have to do something,” Linda had said to herself the night before, “Because I cannot go down with my patients, because I wasn’t even there when they did most of what they did.”Linda had begun to make escape plans. For days now, she had been starving, although she usually sneaked into the kitchen, but it was usually almost futile, because she only met crumbs of canned food. Linda could not make coffee to save her life, because she had helps around the house for those things, but now that they were all gone, Linda could not recall the last time she had a proper meal.“I am too young to go down with my par
Ciara entered the cabin, and she was met with an eerie silence that threw her off balance. At first, she thought Martin had tricked her into coming to the cabin, because it looked and felt oddly deserted. “Hello?” Ciara called out calmly, not wanting to be too loud so that Samuel who was outside would not get the wrong signal.It was late and quiet, which meant that any noise at all was liable to travel far. “Is anyone home?” Ciara asked, but she remained rooted in her spot.She could not bring herself to even check the other parts of the cabin to be sure that it was completely empty, because somehow, even though Ciara could not explain it, there was something dreadfully dangerous about the cabin. It did not feel like the cabin that hosted her some weeks ago.“Is anyone home?” Ciara called out again, but she was met with absolute silence.Then her shoulders dropped in disappointment; Martin had tricked her into coming here. When would this ever end? Why did it always feel like Ciara
Jess slipped into the car beside Samuel, replacing Ciara, and Samuel jumped in fright.“Jeez, you scared me!” Samuel said after he was able to catch his breath.“What is the fear for? You have been in worse situations, Samuel Fury, so why are you jumpy?” Jess asked and looked at Samuel, and she became more shocked when she saw that Samuel was visibly shaking and sweating. “Damn, Samuel, are you about to faint?” Jess could not help but ask.Jess looked at Samuel, seeing him vulnerable and scared to his bones for the very first time since she had known him, and it dawned on her that Samuel was this way, because Theresa went to the cabin on her own, in danger. There was no other logical explanation to why Samuel was acting as though he was being faced with death.“Oh, I see,” Jess said with a grin.Samuel looked at her, confused. “When you grin like that, you are being mischievous, and now is honestly not the time for that,” Samuel said, angry and irritated. “Don’t you read the room? Did